Search results

Totally different era with longer benches and shorter bullpens (Braves had the big advantage of having starting pitchers that could easily get to the 7th inning). When you have a couple of extra position players, you can mix-and-match more effectively. Game has changed dramatically. Pitchers...

I think you're being a bit generous on the Top 5 designations for some of these guys, but that really isn't the point that I drove at. It's the entirety of the extensions that have caused the problems because a portion of the more lucrative out-years of the contract has to be rolled forward...

His 1.884 WHIP will bolster the bullpen.

Olson is one of the slowest runners in all of the major leagues. Riley has very good sprint speed but low baserunning value. Albies' sprint speed is down, but remains a very good baserunner. Allen is below average in both sprint speed and baserunning value. Harris ranks high in both...

A short time ago, I posted that the Braves aren't as good as a lot of fans think they are (of course, every fan thinks their team is better--or should be better--than they actually are). Someone wanted to know the reason for my stance and I never did respond. If I had, this would have been at...

It's traditionally been difficult for a pitcher to be the locker room leader. There are exceptions (I think of a guy like Scherzer), but leadership roles usually land with everyday players. I agree that Sale is one of the only guys on the team that seems to have a sense of urgency about him.

What? I thought Blewett's Baseball Savant page had him headed for this year's Cy Young award.

I didn't hold a seance or anything, but I thought this year was going to be a bit of a slog. I didn't think it would be this bad, but I thought some guys would decline. I haven't totally waved the white flag, but the team has shown no additional buzz with the return of Acuna and Strider and...

Agree. Let Ozuna walk and cycle through guys at DH starting next year. I know Olson is damned determined to play first base every day, but it shouldn't be up to him. Have him DH periodically. Have Acuna DH one-half to three-quarters of the time. Have Baldwin and Murphy (unless he's traded)...

Under this regime, I was thinking about Dylan Lee and Holmes. A couple of others that I can't seem to place at the moment.

Braves have done a pretty good job finding second-tier reclamation guys and getting good innings out of them.

It's funny but not in an amusing sense that when a team is heading in the wrong direction and the manager's seat should be warming up to the medium toast level, often times managers just start pulling out all stops and make it look like they are trying everything to get a win. I sometimes feel...

Crooked numbers on the way!

Olson's so streaky that he may prove me dreadfully wrong in the next month, but I always thought the he and to some extent Riley would have steep declining curves. I don't think the extensions made these guys lazy, but I do think that the extensions have limited payroll flexibility and when a...

I agree with Cy more than you. I haven't looked at the Statcast data (I rarely do), but did his velocity dip after the ball off the ankle? If it did, then Snitker should share in the blame. The player has to dictate his condition to the staff in these instances. There's the old adage that...

I don't know where Snitker fits in this whole thing. Smith-Shawver throws very hard and his arm blew up. Unless I am missing something, he didn't throw another pitch after the pop.

Teams are such pussies these days. I obviously don't consume the Atlanta news market, but it's the same up here in Minnesota. Coverage is all duckies and bunnies with no criticism. Terence Moore would sometimes go off on an ill-advised rant, but he laid it out there (of course, he and Furman...

There's a reason they play the games. My only beef with all of the statistical projections is that however thorough and comprehensive they are, they are still based on the assumption that past performance correlates with future results. Going into the season, did anyone think that the Orioles...

It doesn't help that the Braves (at least in my estimation) have a set of the dumbest players in baseball. I don't believe there is a unified field theory regarding the nature of one-run games and the Braves have exhibited the combo platter in ending up on the wrong side of the score in these...