I hope Acuña was watching Inciarte and Flowers closely right there. That's how major leaguers do it.
2018 Atlanta Braves thread
- Thread starter TarHeelNation11
- Start date
Although it's been a bummer that he's struggling, I'm not worried. He'll learn. He's so young and raw.
Also, call me crazy, but this lineup has been missing Dansby.
Also... Flaherty, bro, that was your opportunity to grasp the starting 3B job by the nuts.
I'm not really worried about him either, but I hope he took some notes on those 8th inning ABs.
I hope so, but it won't be any earlier than August 1st. He needs a ton of time in AAA.
But if he can progress, it really would be a good idea for the Braves to bring him up so they can watch him for a month and a half at the big league level. The front office needs to know if Riley is the guy so they know if they need to spend money on a 3B in free agency or not.
Btw, @coolwaterunc, another 0-3 night for Camargo (yes I know he had the good walk). His average is down to .191
He cannot hit well enough to justify a starting role at 3B. He's even struggling from the right side of the plate too.
He cannot hit well enough to justify a starting role at 3B. He's even struggling from the right side of the plate too.
Ideally, he wouldn't be the starting 3B, but he's still my pick for this team, as currently constructed. He's going through a rough patch, but he'll come around.
Pick for what, though? Culberson is a better utility infielder in terms of his glove.
The Yankees definitely need to start hitting for average a little better. They won’t get three home runs every game. Other than Torres, Judge, and Didi, no one is hitting for average that well.
As for pitching, well hopefully it holds up before the trade deadline.
As for pitching, well hopefully it holds up before the trade deadline.
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I agree.
Acuña needs to be moved down the lineup. I get wanting to protect him, but he's kinda killing some of our innings. Maybe hit him like 6th?
Come on guys, let's not turn Newcomb in to Shelby Miller in terms of (lack of) run support we give him.
For Gwinnett, Allard pitching a gem and Riley has two homers. I would honestly say both are ready, but Allard is definitely ready. I don't care about his low velocity. Greinke pitches with with low velo and he's pretty good lol.
I'm a broken record saying this, but I don't give a shit... replay is a joke. Get it out of the game.
Yeah I have no idea how it was clear and convincing evidence that Prado got Inciarte.
And as for Riley... It's hard not to call him up if he keeps mashing like this. Especially when 3B is pretty much a black hole for us right now offensively.
Anthopoulos with an interesting decision with respect to Riley. He JUST got called up, and the Braves keep winning, but 3B offense is such a weak spot for us, how long can AA wait?
I have a feeling the FO wants to wait til June 1st at least, but for that to happen, Flaherty or Camargo (or Bautista) needs to start hitting.
As Camargo fukks up on a groundball.
I have a feeling the FO wants to wait til June 1st at least, but for that to happen, Flaherty or Camargo (or Bautista) needs to start hitting.
As Camargo fukks up on a groundball.
Smh. I'll take the win, but Vizcaino irritates me so much. Your closer cannot pitch to contact that much. He got hit hard three times. And on his strikeout of Brinson, he hung a slider that Brinson missed.
I'm loving it, but things are about to get real interesting:
14 of our next 21 games are:
- four vs. the Cubs (1 makeup at Wrigley tmo and then 3 in Atlanta)
- three at Philly, followed by
- three at Boston
- four vs. Washington
That's a big ol' yikes. We get three vs. the Marlins sprinkled in during that stretch, which is nice, but we also have four vs. the Mets in that stretch too... who I honestly could've included in the "tough" groupings above because they could easily put the pieces together by then. And the projections have us facing deGrom and Syndergaard.
So, that's 14 divisional games in our next 21. The good news is so far we have feasted on divisional foes (17-8 by my count), but there's no guarantee that will continue. Also, this team has to stay healthy because we are thin at multiple key positions in terms of backup depth.
Also, and this last but not least, Washington is now officially ON FIRE (4 wins in a row; 8-2 in their last 10), so it's a matter of when, not if, Washington surpasses us for first place, and it will be interesting to see how this young Braves team copes with that mentally.
TL;DR: These next 21 games are huge. June's schedule is pretty easy on paper, so if we can survive this 21-game stretch with a ~12-9 or so record, we could fatten up in June and really be in business in terms of hunting for one of the two wild cards. I'm gonna keep a tally of how we do during this stretch. My stated goal is 12-9. Anything better will be gravy.
If he's like first-year Brave B.J., I'm fine with it. He's gonna stay on the team and platoon against lefties. I'm okay with it. He won us the game today indirectly.
Acuña needs a day or two to sit, hit the reset button and just go back to playing baseball. When you're taking a fastball right down the middle for strike three, you are thinking waaaaay too much. Dude just needs to relax and let his talent take over
@coolwaterunc -- the only way Folty is going to make it as a starting pitcher long-term is if he is comfortable throwing 115 pitches a start. Don't get me wrong, it's great that he's K'ing so many people and limiting runs allowed, but if you can't pitch economically enough to get through 6 innings on a good night..... you lose a ton of your value as a starter because you tax your bullpen too much.
I really don't know what to do with Folty except say "okay, you need to be okay with going 115+ a start."
I really don't know what to do with Folty except say "okay, you need to be okay with going 115+ a start."
@coolwaterunc thoughts? I mean, damn, 10 Ks against that lineup is quite impressive. That's big time stuff. But being at 107 pitches through 5.0 IP.... I mean, that's so tough. Only McCullers can get away with only going 5 every start lol
Yeah, I get it. I still think he has potential, but I'm starting to believe this is just who he is. He needs to develop another pitch, IMO, and I think a changeup would do wonders for him, even if he only throws it about five times a game. He's basically a two pitch pitcher right now, so it's hard for him to keep guys off balance. He needs to calm down and not try to throw 110 MPH every pitch though. That will be a big step with his inconsistent location.
I'll tell you what though, and I'm not saying this should be his career move right now or anything, but if he ever wants to really commit to it, I think he could be devastating as a reliever.
