I concur on sitting Murph regularly- especially when Marcel is having the month he’s having.
I concur on sitting Murph regularly- especially when Marcel is having the month he’s having.
It's a good problem to find when you have too many bats that are producing to fit into the lineup. The problem is that we don't have the versatility to give other guys an occasional day off. For instance, we don't have anyone that can spell Riley or Olson for a day off their feet, even if it is just to DH for the day. I wouldn't mind seeing Harris getting a mental day off soon. Acuna could use a day off his feet and go in as DH.
Get off my lawn!
Funny I literally don't have a single post complaining about other guys not being rested, albeit I do agree with others that Snit is horrendous at it. Case and point, no reason Acuna shouldn't get a single day off to continue to at least monitor over working him.
The Murphy one is different. We don't need to overwork him, the concern is that out of respect to TD, snit is playing Murphy like a part-time player as opposed to an all star. He is an elite player this year so it costs us valuable wins if he literally sits 1 out of every 3 games. Not suggesting he needs to play a 150 rate, but at least more than a 110 games played rate. Especially with the DH.
Currently, Murph is the better hitter and the better defender, he should get a lions share of the games behind the dish. I think the reason TdA isn't getting a ton of DH appearances is a mixture of Ozunas hot bat and inability to play defense and no third catcher to guard against injury are main reasons.
Get off my lawn!
Olson had a tremendous April (driven by an unsustainable BABIP and FB/HR) but there was a concern with his strikeout rate. While his overall numbers are down in May, his underlying metrics are improved across the board
April vs May
.252/.369/.563 vs .219/.350/.510
BABIP: .346 vs .213
K %: 35% vs 23%
Sw Strike %: 15.4% vs 13%
B% 14.8% vs 16.2%
EV: 95.2 vs 95.0
With how hard Olson hits the ball and plate discipline, keeping the k rate below 25% seems like the break even point for him to be a top 5 1B.
Last edited by chop2chip; 05-29-2023 at 02:51 PM.
Super (05-29-2023)
Hopefully we can pound Oakland into oblivion early in each game and let Charlie play first and third and Hilliard and Pilar cover the OF - ideally in the fourth inning each night.
Never happen, I know.
I suspect that the usage pattern for Murphy has been thoroughly discussed by Murphy and Snit, and Murphy has had some significant input. I believe that they are in agreement on the need for rest, and further, that when Ozuna cools off, as he will, that Murphy and d’Arnaud will both see significant AB’s at DH.
Snit is not beloved by the players because he makes unpopular decisions without their input.
The Braves' broadcast kept alluding to tough part of the schedule being done, but it's not quite over yet outside of the next 3 games.
Just in the next 12 days, the Braves will see:
Merrill Kelly
Zac Gallen
Max Scherzer
Justin Verlander
MacKenzie Gore
Atlanta needs to feast when they get to the Washington/Detroit/Colorado/Philadelphia/Cincinnati stretch
If TDA is being used in an ideal fashion he's platooning with Rosario. Let Murphy DH and put Ozuna in LF. Gets everyone plenty of usage and rest.
I will no longer question the way the Braves handle the catcher position. They have proven beyond all doubt they know exactly how to get value behind the plate.