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Comments
While waiting for Cantwell to commit, I'm wondering what has happened to the Braves' hitting.
They have only 5 guys near or above the MLB average for OPS. I know some will put the blame on Snit. But (and the new hitting coach) can't swing the bats for the players. Their struggles prevent both a successful long ball or small ball approach. After hitting 50 HR's, Matt Olson has me longing for Freddie Freeman. I also wish we still had Dansby. And don't get me started on Max Fried, who the last time I checked was unbeaten for the Yankees with an ERA of slightly over 1. Hated that we decided not to keep them.
Braves on top 2-1 in the fifth. Michael Harris with a stunning over-the-head catch right before crashing into the wall in the fourth.
Make it 3-1. Ozuna hit a no-doubter.
In other news, Bud Black fired from the Rockies. Not his fault. The Rockies are so bad this year. I guess the 21-0 loss to the Padres Saturday was the final straw.
The person in charge of putting that club together needed to be the one who was fired.
Fifth times the charm?
By my count this is the 5th chance the Braves have had to get back to .500
I think you are correct. What an amazing streak of 1 run games. The product of good pitching and below average hitting. Mark Richt has lost control of their bats!!
Braves beat Nats 5-2. We're now .500 after starting 0-8. Pretty nice turnaround.
pitching has been quite good during that stretch. Hitting IMO has been too inconsistent. Maybe Ronald's return can provide a spark. But for now, kudos for reaching .500. It's a start.
Something positive I’ve seen…IMO Baldwin already has the best hand eye ability on the team as a hitter. It’s nice when a player surprises me I had never heard of before this season. Also, Eli white is emerging as a team leader. I don’t see how he comes out of the lineup when Ronald returns.
I also wonder what will happen to that 3rd OF position. Verdugo has suddenly become "average". White has been among the most pleasant of surprises. Maybe he takes over in LF and Verdugo becomes a bench player…or a non-Brave. Will be interesting to see what they do.
Verdugo becomes the reserve outfielder and White moves to left most likely. Verdugo might get some starts against the really tough righties.
Next up, the Red Sox in Fenway. Should be fun.
What I'd really like to know is can we get revenge on the Padres when they come to our place next weekend? For that awful start, O-4 including back-to-back shutouts?
Our pitching has been consistently good to very good. Can we keep it up vs better teams, the teams ahead of us? It might even improve when Strider returns. More importantly, can we start hitting more consistently? If, and it's a BIG if, we can, I like our chances for a bit of revenge.
Can we keep it up vs better teams, the teams ahead of us?
This concerns me. The Braves have clawed back to .500 but they did it against the Reds, Pirates and Nationals. Not exactly the best teams.
I would argue they have been hitting consistently. Poorly.
Remember 2023? Same guys for the most part. They were crushing it. Record breaking. As a fan Im waiting for them to find that again. Is there an Acuna effect? He did hit 50 homers and steal 70 bases that year.
I hope so because he is almost back and maybe that gets things rolling.
One things for sure, Smith Shawver ain't coming out of the rotation when Strider comes back. He was pumping it 99 yesterday, gave up zero. I think I read he's given up one run in his last three starts. Yessirrrrr
He looks like the real deal, for sure. I just hope this is the last sentence with the name Smith-Shawyer and Tommy John in the same sentence.