6/21 gigantes

Super said:
Probably not. And when they didn't, the screaming about not drafting BPA would've been amusing.
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You're as bad as thethe making random straw men and having arguments against things absolutely nobody has said ever. If we had drafted either of those two over Benintendi, Tucker, Happ, or Stephenson (dodged a bullet there) people would have been livid, because 90% of the board wanted a bat that draft. But really I don't remember anyone complaining about the Allard pick after all the bats were off the board.

There were many that didn't like the Soroka pick though (myself included), not so much because of Soroka himself but because we wanted a bat with that pick and thought we could have grabbed Soroka with the Riley pick. Ironically, the best move that draft would have probably been to go all pitching, and grab Tristan Mckenzie over Riley.
 
WaitingFor2017 said:
I also find it interesting at how it seemed like the Braves have been on the road for forever. They have finally caught up. They have now played 1 more home game than road game.
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Just in time to play 10 of our last 15 games on the road going into the all star break. And yeah, our schedule has been a joke so far. The good news is that our division is so bad that a good portion of our schedule will remain easy, bad news is that the rest off it is going to be filled with solid teams. We've also kinda handled the Nats so far, which has helped. I don't see anyway we hit .500 this year unless we can get to .500 before the break. The next 16 games will be big for determining how things shake out for us this season recordwise.
 
auyushu said:
You're as bad as thethe making random straw men and having arguments against things absolutely nobody has said ever. If we had drafted either of those two over Benintendi, Tucker, Happ, or Stephenson (dodged a bullet there) people would have been livid, because 90% of the board wanted a bat that draft. But really I don't remember anyone complaining about the Allard pick after all the bats were off the board.

There were many that didn't like the Soroka pick though (myself included), not so much because of Soroka himself but because we wanted a bat with that pick and thought we could have grabbed Soroka with the Riley pick. Ironically, the best move that draft would have probably been to go all pitching, and grab Tristan Mckenzie over Riley.
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Haha, my response to him was a response to two straw men he posed ("Do you think they would've drafted those guys?" "Gods of drafting"). But let's not address those.

If we're talking BPA, Tate and Jay were rated, by most people, ahead of all those guys you listed. Tate definitely was.

My point was I don't hope to lose games as if this is NBA, and the drafting the last couple of years justifies that thought.
 
thethe said:
Newcomb has been fantastic so far. All those control issues look to be a minor league thing versus a Newcomb thing.
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I haven't been able to watch the games.

Has someone gone through the pitchfx again?

I'm surprised by the walks. I am more worried about the lack of Ks. Is he taking something off his stuff to get better command?

A two pitch pitcher that only has 3 Ks in 6 innings is Chuck James, right?

Is that sustainable? We want Newcombe to be TOR. He should be striking more guys out, right?
 
Russ2dollas said:
I like Snit not letting him go through the 3rd time until he has a third pitch
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I feel like he was throwing a slider and a curve last night, but I could be wrong.
He was also throwing like a 90-91 MPH pitch as well as getting it up to 95-96.
 
Super said:
I feel like he was throwing a slider and a curve last night, but I could be wrong.
He was also throwing like a 90-91 MPH pitch as well as getting it up to 95-96.
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I'd love to hear more. I haven't gotten to watch. I think Newk says he has a slider and curve. What I've seen in the past is sort of a slurve that looks to change more based on how hard he throws it.

I think he's got to get that change for next year.
 
Despite the schedule weakness, this Braves team has actually, you know, been kinda good lately. 22-18 in their last 40, which is wildcard game caliber.

The offense has been good all year. The bullpen righted the ship after a horrid first month, and eventually the SP didn't simply suck. (It's still not good).

Sadly the season in the NL is so strange that I doubt we could catch anyone for any playoff spot. There's really only 4 good teams in the NL and whoever wins the Central. That leaves everyone else out no matter what they do the rest of the way. The only slim chance we have is the Nats bullpen issues to boil over and the team collapses. It kinda almost happened yesterday when Baker left Scherzer in there for 120 pitches because he has no bullpen, and of course he ran out of gas.
 
Super said:
I feel like he was throwing a slider and a curve last night, but I could be wrong.
He was also throwing like a 90-91 MPH pitch as well as getting it up to 95-96.
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I've never heard Newcomb described as a two-pitch guy before. Or compared to Chuck James. Seems like a reasonable comparison after Newcomb's first three appearances.
 
Newcomb is looking like he has the potential to be the real deal. Of all our latest rookies that have come up in the past couple years, we've never had a starter who's shown dominance in the first few starts.
 
Just saw that the Braves hit a stretch of 16 of 20 games after the all-star break that is against the Cubs, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks. The only 4 game break in that stretch is 4 at Philly whom Atlanta has struggled with. That stretch will show the cajones of this team.
 
Russ2dollas said:
I'd love to hear more. I haven't gotten to watch. I think Newk says he has a slider and curve. What I've seen in the past is sort of a slurve that looks to change more based on how hard he throws it.

I think he's got to get that change for next year.
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His curve is obviously good. Gotta be his best pitch when it's on. I actually didn't think it looked as good last night as it did his first start, but my eyes could easily be wrong.
He threw a really nasty slider to Samardzija last night that I felt was wasted on the pitcher. But he got the K, so meh. IF he can get both of them going consistently, he's in business. But I've felt, in each start, his inability to put guys away has been a much bigger problem than his control. That issue has caused at least a few of his walks. Guys are hanging around in ABs, fouling off pitches, with some balls thrown in between, until Newcomb walks them. Even MLB hitters haven't been able to square him up (yet) though. It's hard not to be encouraged. His issue seems to be more command than control at this point. His curve or slider thrown with more consistency would go a long way, IMO.
 
Southcack77 said:
I've never heard Newcomb described as a two-pitch guy before. Or compared to Chuck James. Seems like a reasonable comparison after Newcomb's first three appearances.
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I haven't either. But I do hope he develops a reliable change, which I don't think he has right now.
 
Super said:
If I completely detach myself from the team, I can hope they lose for draft picks. When I'm watching them, and specifically watching young guys play, I can't root for anything but success. We got Wright at 5. Allard at 14. Soroka at 28. We can draft well no matter where we are.
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I want the Braves to win a World Series. Winning games in 2017 is immaterial to that, and losing games may marginally improve their 2018 draft outcomes.

The bigger issue for me, though, is not the team on the field winning "too many" games; it's the team in the front-office making "win this season" decisions. But I'll wait until the trade-deadline has passed to fully judge them on that score.
 
I also really like how quickly Newcomb works. Sometimes he'll reset between pitches and take a bit of time, but for the most part he keeps it moving. I've always liked that in a pitcher.
 
jpx7 said:
I want the Braves to win a World Series. Winning games in 2017 is immaterial to that, and losing games may marginally improve their 2018 draft outcomes.

The bigger issue for me, though, is not the team on the field winning "too many" games; it's the team in the front-office making "win this season" decisions. But I'll wait until the trade-deadline has passed to fully judged them on that score.
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I definitely don't want to directly sacrifice the future for anything this season. I want to trade vets and keep all young guys. I'm not particularly worried about the trading of prospects, but I am a little worried we'll hold onto the vets too long.
But I can't follow the team day-to-day and watch them and hope they don't do well. I just can't.
 
Russ2dollas said:
I haven't been able to watch the games.

Has someone gone through the pitchfx again?

I'm surprised by the walks. I am more worried about the lack of Ks. Is he taking something off his stuff to get better command?

A two pitch pitcher that only has 3 Ks in 6 innings is Chuck James, right?

Is that sustainable? We want Newcombe to be TOR. He should be striking more guys out, right?
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His velo is holding very consistent. Other than that single FA he threw at 96.2 in his first game, he has held right at 92-94. While that isn't the 96+ MPH monster we were sold his entire minor league career, that is certainly enough velo to be a TOR.

He is going to need that change if he is going to have long term success vs RHers. Having a CU and a SL is great, even if a bit redundant, but he needs something that stays away from RHers. In fact, it already looks like he is starting to shelve the slider, throwing only 2 last night that were classified as SL by statcast. He also threw 2 change ups last night, so he was a 2 pitch guy last night. That is NOT good enough to be a TOR guy. That is a BP guy or a #4 SP.

He also needs to tighten up location, as too many pitches are left in hittable spots. Look at his FA location to RHers last night:

http://www.fangraphs.com/zonegrid.a...l&blur=1&grid=10&view=pit&pitch=FA&season=all

That is a lot of red pumped right down the middle of the plate.

Same thing with his CU vs RHers:

http://www.fangraphs.com/zonegrid.a...l&blur=1&grid=10&view=pit&pitch=CU&season=all

So the conclusion for Newcomb after 3 starts is the same it was after his first start...

4 seamer at 93 with good movement, a 60+ pitch

curve with good break, a 60+ pitch

non-existent change that will be required

needs to work on pitching to spots rather than just throwing strikes, 45 command
 
zbhargrove said:
Newcomb is looking like he has the potential to be the real deal. Of all our latest rookies that have come up in the past couple years, we've never had a starter who's shown dominance in the first few starts.
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Immediate success is not always indicative of long-term success. I'm encouraged by Newcomb's first two starts, but I also wouldn't quite say he's showcased "dominance".
 
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