Ted passed away today, and the bats were moribund.
Some days at Safeco are just like this. (I just looked at the box score again to remind myself what they’re calling it now. T-Mobile Park? T-Mobile Park.) It was 58 degrees and cloudy in Seattle on this particular getaway day, and Bryan Woo shook off a recent rough patch to simply stymie the bats.
We just got outplayed in this one – nine hits to four, three runs to one. Martin Perez had another perfectly cromulent outing, and while Tyler Kinley had an extremely shaky time getting the third out in the sixth, Didier Fuentes pitches the last two innings, sparing the rest of the bullpen.
The Braves’ only run came in the 8th inning, after consecutive singles by Sean Murphy and Mike Yastrzemski, who both could badly use a bit of a boost to the back of their baseball card. Dom Smith drove in Yaz with a sac fly, but pinch-runner Jorge Mateo managed to get himself picked off, which really killed the inning.
Ah, well. Ain’t a lot more to say about this one. Everybody’s bats occasionally fall asleep in Seattle. Tomorrow’s an off day, and then on Friday night we’ll play the Dodgers way past my bedtime. As of right now, we’re lined up to see Chris Sale square off against Emmet Sheehan, so we’ve got a good stopper. Get some sleep before the late night series, everybody!
Guess we were gonna lose a series eventually. Gotta get the bats going again in LA.
Cuz I don’t ever want to feel like I did that day (today)
Take me to the place I love (the win column), take me all the way
These one-game losing streaks suck.;)
The club is under 0.500 since DFA’ing Jonah Heim.
Just saying.
Sean Murphy and Austin Riley were both among the best players in baseball, through 2023. Since then, each of them has had two straight miserable injury-plagued seasons, and now it’s 2026. It would be great for both of them to regain their former form, but in the meantime, I think they’re both pressing a lot, and that’s the most important thing.
“Never f*** with a winning streak.” — Crash Davis
Also, with Murphy, his biggest attribute is pitch framing, and that’s less relevant than ever in the ABS era. Sorry, but I’ve hated that trade since the moment it was made and unless Murphy suddenly reverts to early-2023 form and stays there, nothing will change my mind.
We won’t see Ohtani on the Dodger Stadium mound this wknd, but there’s an interesting match-up on Sunday: the amazing Bryce Elder (3-1, 2.02) vs. the suddenly unhittable LHP Justin Wrobleski (5-0, 1.25 ERA).
If you think Elder’s been doing it w/ mirrors, check out Wrobleski’s numbers. The kid from Cherokee County, Ga., is working on 25 consecutive scoreless innings, but he’s not really striking anybody out over that time (9 K), just 10.5% for the season. Apparently, his slider-heavy repertoire (esp. vs. RHH) is inducing some seriously weak contact.
Not that I’m rooting for him, of course, but these kinds of modern-day pitchers intrigue me the most. Always loved to see the sinker-crazy Chen Ming-Wang during his brief, but very good run in The Bronx. Makes for fast games, too.
On another note: Not to jinx anything, but… have we found a place for Didier Fuentes? He’s looked good in his bullpen work since that rough start in Washington. (4 G, 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K)
Actually think this is the way to go with him. He has electric stuff, but doesn’t seem to be able to get through 5-6 innings yet. I’m not sure if its that he gets too amped up and loses it, or if it’s because he’s young and can’t stay focused for that long. Or a variety of other issues. Either way, it seems like using him in the bullpen is a good strategy. It’ll keep his innings down and it strengthens an already strong part of the team.
I wish it were more common to bring along starters as 3-innings game finishers and gradually work up to longer stints over a couple years. But these guys know more about developing starters than I do. Maybe it’s best to stay in the minors and keep throwing 5-6 innings every 5th day until they’re a finished product.
@Stampton
It seems like that’s what they did for the first few weeks with Strider. I agree with you, but like you, what do I know. That said, the numbers of successful call ups suggest that they don’t really know either (nevertheless, I’d trust them more than I would trust me).
FWIW, at the beginning of Strider’s career (when he was really throwing gas), I thought he’d maybe be best as a closer/hi-lev guy. But he obviously had a string of overpowering starts that made that kind of idea seem silly.
They did a version of this with Fried in 2017 and 2018. He started 9 games in those two seasons and relieved in 14. In 2019 he became pretty much a full time starter.
Kinda wild that as good as the Braves have been playing this season, 2 other teams (Cubs and Yankees) are tied with them for the best record. And the Rays are just a half game behind that. (Dodgers are only a couple games behind the pack).
Definitely seems top-heavy so far. Only 2 teams in the AL are more than 1 game over .500. And only 7 teams in MLB have a run differential better than +6. It’s early but I thought it was interesting.
Here’s one I never would have predicted: almost a quarter way into the season, and the fifth place team in the NL Central has a better record than all ten teams in the AL Central and AL West.
Been to 6 Yanks games so far… and every opponent I’ve seen so far has a losing record.
The Yanks have had terrific starting pitching (even w/ 3 of their best starters still on the shelf — sound familiar?) & a scary/top-heavy lineup (lotsa walks, lotsa HRs). They lead the AL in runs & have the lowest ERA… still, FWIW, their early schedule has been soft.
CARLOS CARRASCO RE-SIGNED
I’d say it’s easy for me to quit most things, but I can’t quit you
I could give it up and go my own way, but I can’t follow through
Every time I think about us, think about the reasons why
I know it’s time for giving up on giving up, I gotta try
I’d say it’s easy for me to quit most things, but I can’t quit you
That throw from RF was pretty great
Yastrzemski has been a total disappointment. Decent glove, but otherwise useless. An automatic out. He’s Alex Verdugo with a lesser walk-up song.
Recapped