https://theathletic.com/990072/2019/...rce=dailyemail
cool article on the movement Braves' pitchers are getting
https://theathletic.com/990072/2019/...rce=dailyemail
cool article on the movement Braves' pitchers are getting
"Well, you’ll learn soon enough that this was a massive red wave landslide." - thethe on the 2020 election that trump lost bigly
“I can’t fix my life, but I can fix the world.” - sturg
having Flowers and McCann catching these young pitchers has to be huge.
"Well, you’ll learn soon enough that this was a massive red wave landslide." - thethe on the 2020 election that trump lost bigly
“I can’t fix my life, but I can fix the world.” - sturg
just last year many were bemoaning the Braves focusing so much on pitching and not getting a "guy" out of it.
then Folty turned it on..now there's Fried and Soroka dominating with Folty looking to regain form. these types of guys on the cheap is a beautiful thing.
"Well, you’ll learn soon enough that this was a massive red wave landslide." - thethe on the 2020 election that trump lost bigly
“I can’t fix my life, but I can fix the world.” - sturg
He's been a fair amount better than last year despite not being nearly as lucky, but I'm not really sure why exactly.
His velocity being up has predictably turned out to be a Spring Training anecdote at best.
I suspect he's just having a good stretch (perhaps opponent/park driven?) and we are due for a few bad starts/stretches to come.
Use of advance analytics and perhaps our new pitching coach has something to do with it.
Something interesting is that Nola gave huge props to Kranitz. And Nola is considerably worse thus far. Hmm.
Coppy
This really goes back to last year with Julio. He was excellent down the stretch, fueled by an unsustainable .189 Babip. But really, the difference in Julio from then on is limiting HR. In his last 20 starts (116 IP) he's only allowed 12 HR. To put that in perspective, in his 22 starts (120 IP) prior to that, he gave up 22.
If he can limit the long ball, he generally doesn't give up alot of other hits, so he can work around the walks and navigate the ballgame. He is what he is, and he's really not that bad.
Jaw (05-23-2019), Tapate50 (05-23-2019), UNCBlue012 (05-23-2019)
Fluff articles don't carry much weight with me, and I'm certainly not paying money to read them. The actual stats that matter are free for all to see.
Braves pitcher xwOBA (min 100 PAs, picked to get Folty on the list):
Mike Soroka 0.272
Kevin Gausman 0.289
Max Fried 0.291
Julio Teheran 0.323
Mike Foltynewicz 0.357
The MLB average this year is .322...that's a Grade 50 #4 MLB SP. A Grade is defined as a standard deviation from the mean. A Grade 80 Ace who competes for a CYA is something like .260 or lower.
Soroka is performing like a Grade 75 guy. Whichever semantic (Ace, TOR, #2) folks want to use is pointless, but he is currently a Top 20 SP in MLB right now out of 182 SPs who have faced 100+ batters. He is as advertised.
Gausman is the prototypical good #3, and he is performing as such right now with a Grade 65 xwOBA. This is what he is, and nobody should expect anything else from him.
Fried's ERA has regressed towards his FIP/xFIP exactly as expected. He is also looking like a legit #3 or better. The BB/9 is slowly creeping up as I expected it would, but as long as it stays in the ~3 range he is another legit #3 with the new slider.
Teheran is pitching like a league average #4, back end SP, or whatever semantic you want to use. He is holding down the back end of the rotation, which is the best case realistic scenario we could have hoped for with him.
Folty is performing like a Grade 30 AAAA arm right now, and we have to hope he can figure things out. His last outing was certainly encouraging.
Last edited by Enscheff; 05-23-2019 at 11:28 AM.
AerchAngel (05-23-2019), gamecock4braves (05-23-2019), Jaw (05-23-2019), JohnAdcox (05-23-2019), jpx7 (05-23-2019), salmagundy (05-24-2019), Tapate50 (05-23-2019), TURBO (05-23-2019), UNCBlue012 (05-23-2019)
I would still like for Fried to work on another pitch or master his change up to help get guys off his fastball curve combo. He could be lethal with that. Soroka is already lethal and just needs to stay healthy. I am encouraged that Folty is healthy and will start his climb to the top 2 of our rotation — which is scary for the rest of the East.
Coppy
It's interesting to me that Fried and Gausman statistically have been about the same pitcher but board perceptions of the two have differed wildly.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
jpx7 (05-24-2019)
I love what Gaus is doing but I think the preception is that Gaus is worse because of walks and LOB% being lower. Fried is stranding a ton of runners. So Fried is getting luckier. Which is why he needs to develop that change. His whip needs to drop below 1 to be the #2 he can be.
Like I said if Gaus is our fourth best pitcher the rest of the league is in serious trouble.
Coppy
jpx7 (05-24-2019)
jpx7 (05-24-2019)