Once the Braves clinched their playoff berth on Friday, JonathanF wrote:
“Braves Journal, like the Braves, will be going into cruise control for the next week. If you worry too much about the results, or the strategy, or obsess over how the Phillies or Dodgers are doing, you’ll wear yourself out. Watch a little college football (Yale’s season starts tomorrow) and clear your mind for the postseason.”
There is cruise control, and there is leaving your car in the garage. Tonight, the Braves looked more like the latter as they lost to the lowly Cincinnati Reds 4-0.
Actually, I was wishing Ronald Acuña, Jr. had not gotten into the car at all. In the bottom of the third, Ronnie gave us all (including himself) a big scare when he fouled a ball off his shin. The way he writhed on the ground it looked like it could be very serious. Fortunately X-rays and the subsequent CT scan were both negative. In the postgame Weiss made it sound like it’s nothing for us to worry about. Ronald is day-to-day going forward.
Ronald’s status was by far the most significant aspect of the game. Otherwise, nothing in this game matters much. JR Ritchie pitched a strong 5 innings, surrendering one run and striking out 8. But the offense once again validated Roger’s oft-stated concerns. They went 1 for 7 with RISP and left 7 on base. But it doesn’t really matter.
Still, I wouldn’t go as far as the final lines of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody:
Nothing really matters, Anyone can see
Nothing really matters
Nothing really matters to me–Any way the wind blows
I was at the game, and despite the lethargic offense, it was still a good experience. My sister-in-law attended Truist for the first time, and it was fun to see it through her eyes. And of course, it helps knowing October baseball is coming.
Speaking of October, Chris Sale has his final warmup for the playoffs tomorrow night at Truist.
P.S. I’m always interested to see what names appear on jerseys, especially for fans of the opponent. For the first time, I saw a Reds fan in a Rose jersey. What is that guy thinking?
Maybe it was Pete Rose Jr.
If there’s one person I would worry about making it through 6 meaningless games without getting hurt, it’s Ronald. Well, maybe Murphy, but I try not to think about him too much.
Wonder how many pitches Sale throws tonight. I’m guessing around 70.
I worry about Fuentes, but that’s mostly just paranoia, his age, the fact that his 89 IP is already 19 over his career high, and the fact that he and Sale are the only pitchers I really trust. (I suppose I should have more faith in Iglesias and Dodd, but even the others with good ERAs all come with caveats – either they don’t strike out many batters or they don’t have a history of consistent success.) WW seems to be managing Fuentes’ workload well, though.
I’m not surprised Ronny responded like that; it looked like the foul ball hit him right on the shin and that hurts like crazy.
what worried me more then losing (everyone knows how I feel about scoring zero runs) is that we looked terrible against another mediocre SP. And he was a lefty meaning the our lefty problems are not solved (espcially with both Acuna and Thomas out). I know it was meaningless and does not matter, it sure didn’t seem like the Braves were tuning up.
P.S. the Braves only lost more than 4 games to two teams – the Giants and Mets.
If I wanted to worry about something, I wouldn’t worry about mediocre SP, because we aren’t likely to see too many of them in the postseason (and/or they’ll be on short leashes). I’d worry about our success against relievers not holding up when opponents are only using their best relievers.
P.S. Excluding two guys with a combined 4.1 IP, the Braves pitcher with the best FIP this year is not Sale, Fuentes, either Perez, Mahle (as a Brave), Mederos, or Iglesias, but…Dylan Lee.
Two runs will not be enough tonight for either team.
Kim and Murphy are in terrible slumps. Both of them are 0 for their last 20. I fully expect one of them to win mvp in one of the playoff series.
Probably the easiest way to become a series MVP is to hit a couple of timely HR (see Soler, Jorge, 2021 WS). It’s not unthinkable that Murphy could do that. Kim, on the other hand, has 1 double and no 3B or HR in 135 PA this year, so I’d say Murphy is about 100 times more likely. Kim did have a nice bunt that contributed to the winning run in the 10th, though.
Recapped