|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 20, 2023 9:42:47 GMT -5
Soroka RHP 1 - 1|5.40 ERA
vs
Peralta, F RHP 6 - 7|4.41 ERA
|
|
|
Post by PABraveFan on Jul 20, 2023 14:04:45 GMT -5
It's hard to believe but I think we have increased our NL East lead since the All Star break, even with the 4 game losing streak!
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 20, 2023 20:41:36 GMT -5
Scott Coleman @scottcoleman55 · 21s Matt Olson's strikeouts by month
35.2% 24.6% 23.7% 17.8%
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 20, 2023 20:42:58 GMT -5
Justin Toscano @justinctoscano · 2h Source: Right-hander Allan Winans will make his MLB debut in a start for the Braves on Saturday in Milwaukee, filling that “TBA.” He has a 2.81 ERA over 102.2 innings in Triple A this season.
@bnightengale had it first.
|
|
joeyg39
Low A Farmhand
Go Phillies!
Posts: 963
Likes: 64
|
Post by joeyg39 on Jul 21, 2023 8:59:09 GMT -5
Was thinking...hoping actually, that this prolonged IL stint by Fried might just convince him to sign a typical AA team friendly type deal... Nothing like the possibility of injury that could be a motivator of sorts. Let me sign now for less ( 6/$180m ?)than possibility getting hurt again next year and screwing myself out of $250m deal, and getting nothing...
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 21, 2023 9:56:34 GMT -5
Braves notes: Forrest Wall’s tears of joy, Travis d’Arnaud staying with team he loves
David O'Brien ATLANTA — When the call came Monday night, nine years after he was a first-round MLB Draft selection and long after many had written him off as a bust, Forrest Wall dropped to his knees and cried.
The Braves, his fourth organization, were bringing him to the majors Tuesday, the first call-up for the speedy outfielder.
“I was in my apartment,” said Wall, 27, who has lived in the Atlanta suburbs while playing for Triple-A Gwinnett this year. “It was late evening — my (Gwinnett) manager called me. My brother was there with me, which was really cool. He had no idea until I literally fell to my knees, in tears. He came over to me and gave me the biggest hug. I’ll never forget it.”
Wall immediately called his wife, Brianna, who by Tuesday afternoon was driving from their home in Orlando to Atlanta while Wall was doing his first interview in a major-league clubhouse. He called his parents, then called his high school coach, Kevin Davidson from Orangewood Christian in Orlando.
Wall’s brother, Rhodes, happened to be visiting when The Call came, the one that he and everyone else who knows Wall hoped he would eventually get but that at times seemed doubtful as the years passed.
Now, after 813 minor-league games, he’s in The Show. He’ll always have this experience. All the hard work, the minor-league bus rides, pre-dawn commercial flights, cramped apartments and budget hotels finally led to the place he dreamed about. For however long it lasts, Wall will relish it.
“Long time coming,” said Wall, who did not play Tuesday night but will provide depth while left fielder Eddie Rosario nurses a sore hamstring. “I’m just so thankful for the opportunity.”
Wall hit a modest .258 with six homers and a .758 OPS in 78 games at Gwinnett but had six triples and a spectacular 45 stolen bases in 49 attempts. He’s so fast that he has “Run Forrest Run” stitched on his glove, a nod to the title character in the movie “Forrest Gump.”
“Yeah, speed’s my game,” Wall said, smiling. “Good thing I’m fast because I’m named Forrest. So, that’d be cool if that (slogan) stuck.”
One of the first texts he received came from Braves outfielder Sam Hilliard, a 15th-round pick by Colorado in 2015, one year after the Rockies selected Wall at the end of the first round.
“We played together two or three years (in the minors),” said Hilliard, who started in left field Tuesday but exited in the third inning of a 16-13 loss to Arizona after jamming his heel on a base. Hilliard was replaced by Kevin Pillar. “Even when (we) weren’t on the same team, we were hanging out at spring training. You’ve got your spring trainings, your instructional leagues, all that stuff. We were really close with the same friend group there. So, we go way back.”
When Hilliard heard his old friend was getting called up by the Braves, he reached out right away. Hilliard made his debut with the Rockies in 2019 and has played all or part of the past five seasons in the majors. To say he admires Wall’s determination would be an understatement.
“It’s so impressive, just the resilience of it,” Hilliard said. “I can’t imagine going through what he went through. Being a first-rounder, going through a position change (Wall was switched from second base to outfield early in the Rockies organization), getting released, bouncing around from club to club, not being on a roster.”
He recalled a conversation with Wall this year at spring training.
“I remember him telling me, ‘I just want one day’” in the majors, Hilliard said. “Obviously, his goals are bigger than that; he wants to play and have a good career. But he’s got (a day) now. I texted him this morning and just told him how happy I was for him. Hopefully, this is the start of a great career for him.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker was pleased to greet Wall in the clubhouse, after getting to know him at spring training.
“Really cool kid,” Snitker said. “I was very impressed with him at spring training. Nice young man. Very talented. First call-up, it’s got to be a little exciting. It’s good to have him.”
Snitker, a former minor-league catcher who never made it past Double A, has a soft spot for guys who toil in the minors, many never getting at least the proverbial cup of coffee Wall is getting.
“It’s awesome,” Snitker said. “Speaking as one of them, you really admire those guys. You have a lot of respect for them, what they go through, just the grind every year. And especially when you get to know a guy like that. He’s just such a great guy. I’m very happy for him.”
Wall is just a .269 career hitter with 53 homers and a .748 OPS in nearly 3,500 plate appearances across nine minor-league seasons with affiliates in the Rockies, Blue Jays, Mariners and Braves organizations. But he has 254 stolen bases, and he’s stealing more and has a higher success rate the older he gets.
He has 97 steals in 198 Triple-A games over the past two seasons, including a career-high 52 in 64 attempts with the Mariners’ Triple-A Tacoma affiliate a year ago. He was on pace to shatter that this season and hopes to get a chance to steal some bases with Atlanta.
Snitker said he wouldn’t put Wall in a game just to watch him try to steal but added, “There might be a situation late in the game. Heck yes, I’ll run him out there and turn him loose.”
Regardless of whether Wall plays or how much during this stint with the Braves, he could be a postseason roster candidate because of his elite speed.
“I mean, his numbers stand out, what he does,” Snitker said of the stolen bases. “It’s crazy.”
Braves re-sign d’Arnaud
Braves catching coach Sal Fasano sought to build an elite catching culture when he came to Atlanta six years ago. He wanted a tandem of frontline catchers rather than the traditional starter and all-glove, no-offense backup, and that’s what the Braves have had almost every season.
But in their current arrangement, with 2023 All-Star Sean Murphy in his first season after being traded to Atlanta in December and 2022 All-Star Travis d’Arnaud assuming a lesser role in terms of playing time but not influence, the Braves have the epitome of what Fasano sought.
Tuesday, they made sure it would continue when they re-signed d’Arnaud, 34, to an $8 million contract for 2024 with an $8 million club option for 2025 and no buyout. Murphy, 28, signed a six-year, $73 million extension two weeks after the Braves traded for him in December, and there was speculation they would trade d’Arnaud — if not by Opening Day, then by the Aug. 1 trade deadline. This should quash all that.
“I love me some Travy. Just a great human through and through,” said Austin Riley, who broke out of a slump with two homers, a double and a career-high seven RBIs in Tuesday’s high-scoring loss. “And behind the dish, him and Murph, that combo — to me, you can’t beat it. So, having him for another year is awesome. I’m super happy for him and his family. Well deserved. Being the glue for everything in that clubhouse, being around the game for as long as he has — he’s been through it all.”
Braves president of baseball operations/general manager Alex Anthopoulos said after acquiring Murphy that he wouldn’t trade d’Arnaud. He reiterated that Tuesday.
“I told Travis, ‘Maybe people will finally stop speculating on trades now,’” Anthopoulos said. “I said so many times over, he was not going anywhere; he was going to stay. He’s really the glue for us, in my mind. He’s part of the furniture here as well. I mean, he’s just so key. Obviously, on the field he’s fantastic and what he does behind the plate is fantastic, but what he brings and what he means — I can’t say enough about him as a person. It was a no-brainer to keep him here, and he wanted to stay.”
Fasano and the Braves have created an environment in which the catchers and Fasano work together for hours each day, game planning, meeting with pitchers, then sharing observations with one another and with the pitchers and pitching coach Rick Kranitz throughout games.
Braves catchers lead the majors in most major offensive categories, including homers (25), OBP (.372), slugging percentage (.559) and OPS (.931), and both catchers are strong defensively — Murphy has a cannon for an arm — and are praised and trusted by Atlanta pitchers young and old.
Anthopoulos has known d’Arnaud since the catcher was a Blue Jays minor leaguer when Anthopoulos was Toronto’s GM. He’s had d’Arnaud for four seasons with the Braves.
“He’s been great on the field and in the clubhouse,” Anthopoulos said. “Beyond being a great player and person, he’s such a good example for everybody. He sets the tone. He’s got a ton of experience. The news (of d’Arnaud’s signing) broke at game time. I can only imagine, as word circulated around our clubhouse and on the bench, how excited guys are going to be. I guarantee there’s going to be a ton of smiles. This guy’s beloved — rightfully so.”
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 21, 2023 10:16:49 GMT -5
Mark Bowman @mlbbowman · 26m Gwinnett was rained out last night. So, Fried will start the first game of tonight’s doubleheader. He’ll attempt to at least pitch into the fifth inning. If the Braves decide he doesn’t need any additional rehab starts, he would be on regular rest for Wednesday’s game at Boston
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 21, 2023 11:59:34 GMT -5
Bob Nightengale @bnightengale · 14m The #STLCards, despite their 6-game winning streak, still plan to sell at the deadline, and started today with reliever Genesis Cabrera to the #BlueJays for catching prospect Sammy Hernandez.
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 21, 2023 12:52:49 GMT -5
Braves have a four-game skid — and a conundrum — as trade deadline approaches
David O'Brien ATLANTA — The frequency of pitching injuries has been alarming across the majors this season. And the Braves — owners of a four-game losing streak and consecutive series losses after Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to Arizona — have been among the teams seemingly placing a pitcher or two on the injured list each week, in addition to the occasional position player.
With that in mind as the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaches, things could get interesting for the Braves, especially in their bullpen.
“We’re having a hard time finding parking spots for the guys we’re bringing up,” manager Brian Snitker said earlier Wednesday, when the Braves brought well-traveled right-handed reliever Seth Elledge from Triple-A Gwinnett, a day after bringing up outfielder Forrest Wall.
Lefty Kolby Allard went on the 60-day IL Monday with nerve inflammation in his pitching shoulder, and backup outfielder Sam Hilliard went on the 10-day IL Tuesday with a heel contusion.
The Braves put top setup man A.J. Minter on the 15-day IL Saturday with left-shoulder inflammation and recalled righty reliever Dereck Rodriguez from Triple A. Last Thursday, they put setup man Nick Anderson on the 60-day IL with a shoulder strain and brought veteran lefty Lucas Luetge up from Gwinnett.
And on and on.
“It’s a lot of guys,” said Snitker, who was presumably joking about looking for parking places. Or maybe he wasn’t. Perhaps he was laughing to keep from crying about the steady stream of aches and pains and IL stints.
“It’s hard to go through that,” he said, but added, “It’s part of it. I just kind of look and I’m thinking all the guys we’ve got I can see getting ready to come back.”
Ah, the positive spin. In this case, it’s legit: The Braves expect to have Minter back from the IL at the end of the month. Veteran righty Jesse Chavez and lefty Dylan Lee, the team’s most consistent relievers before going on the IL — Chavez on June 15 with a shin contusion, Lee on May 19 with shoulder inflammation — could be back by early to mid-August.
And the big one: Max Fried, NL Cy Young Award runner-up in 2022, makes his third injury-rehab start Thursday and could return as soon as next week, though it seems more likely he’d make at least one more rehab start after Thursday. He’s coming back from a forearm strain.
Looking a little further out, Kyle Wright, MLB’s only 20-game winner last season — he went 21-5 with a 3.19 ERA — is progressing steadily, if slowly, from a shoulder strain. He’s aiming for an early September return.
“How I’m looking at it is, Max is getting ready to go out and do another (rehab start), and A.J. is feeling good, Dylan’s starting to throw — guys like that,” Snitker said. “You weather the storm and eventually you’ll get everybody back.”
If the Braves get all of those pitchers back for the stretch drive and avoid additional key injuries, their pitching staff would potentially be as good or better than anyone else’s in the postseason.
They still have a 3.78 ERA that ranks fifth in the majors, even if they’ve stumbled during a four-game losing streak that included a 16-13 loss to Arizona on Tuesday, when All-Star Bryce Elder had his second consecutive poor start, and Wednesday when Charlie Morton allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings and saw his five-start winning streak snapped.
Their four-game skid matches a season high, and they’ve lost consecutive series after winning the previous 11. Atlanta won 27 of 31 games before losing five of its past six and had an 11-game home winning streak before this four-game slide at Truist Park.
“It’s baseball, it happens,” said center fielder Michael Harris II, who tripled with one out in the sixth inning Wednesday but was stranded as the Braves went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. They got two of their three runs on homers by Marcell Ozuna and Austin Riley, the other on a ninth-inning wild pitch that scored Ronald Acuña Jr.
“We were going so good for so long, at some point you kind of think it would switch and momentum would go the other way,” Harris said. “But we’re a good team and we can come back and flip the switch in a second, so we’re just going to go out there tomorrow and do the same thing we did today — try to win a game.”
Snitker said of the skid: “It’s gonna happen. Just didn’t know when. Knew it was. This thing doesn’t run that smooth all the time, no one’s ever been that fortunate. But you know what, we’ve given ourselves a chance. We brought the tying run to the plate again (in the ninth inning Wednesday). When we’re three or four down with an at-bat left, I always kind of feel good, that something good is gonna happen.”
The Marlins and Phillies also lost Wednesday, so the 61-33 Braves maintained their large lead in the NL East — 9 1/2 games over the second-place Phillies, 10 over the Marlins. That’s a big part of why the Braves feel so good about their situation, their 1-4 record since the break notwithstanding. The other part is knowing how many guys they have making their way back from injuries.
“Yeah, it’s huge,” Harris said. “Big pieces to our team that we’ve been missing for a while. Get to come back while we’ve got a pretty decent lead going. They can only help us. We’re in a good position and just looking forward to having them back.”
Maybe you’re thinking that some things don’t look quite as rock-solid for the Braves as they did before the All-Star break. That the offense, an unstoppable machine for six weeks, has sputtered in some recent games. And that given the frequency of pitching injuries, can the Braves really expect to go the rest of the season without more pitchers going down?
That pitching conundrum surely is part of discussions as Braves officials consider the trade deadline.
They’ve pieced together the back two spots in the rotation for most of the season — Fried and Wright made only five starts apiece before landing on the IL — and had reasonable success from the cast who’s filled in, with Michael Soroka currently the most stable among that group and penciled in to start Friday’s series opener at Milwaukee.
With Fried expected back soon, the Braves don’t have a big need for a starter via trade. Like every other contender, the Braves could benefit from trading for a reliever or two before the deadline. But what cost would they consider acceptable in terms of prospects they’d trade, considering they could have Minter back before the deadline and Chavez and Lee soon after?
And if they were to trade, say, an infield prospect — Vaughn Grissom or Braden Shewmake are possibilities — for bullpen help, who would get bumped from the roster to make room for new arrivals, assuming the Braves have Minter, Chavez and Lee back sooner than later?
“If you go trade for a bunch of relievers, and we think these guys will be back sometime in August, how are you going to clear spots?” said Alex Anthopoulos, Braves general manager and president of baseball operations, who has made multiple trades for relievers at the deadline in recent years. “That’s definitely tricky because you can’t make trades in August anymore unless you’re claiming guys on waivers, and you’re trying to make sure you have depth. So that’s definitely a challenge.
“And the guys (in the current bullpen) we have options on, we like them, they’re really good. Everyone else is out of options. So that is a challenge.”
Braves have a four-game skid — and a conundrum — as trade deadline approaches
But even if Minter, Chavez and Lee all make it back, can the Braves expect all three to pick up where they left off before injuries, and for them and the other relievers to stay healthy the rest of the way, given the frequency of IL stints this season? While they’d like to get Anderson back before the end of the season, they can’t count on that.
The Braves don’t have as many needs at the trade deadline as most contenders, but bullpen and possibly utility infield are areas that could be addressed as Anthopoulos seeks to bolster depth.
In the meantime, the Braves need a win Thursday afternoon against Arizona to avoid being swept for the first time since dropping three at Toronto on May 12-14. It’ll be a duel of All-Stars with Arizona’s Zac Gallen (11-4, 3.14) facing MLB strikeout leader Spencer Strider (11-3, 3.66).
“I never thought the guys took anything for granted when we had that unbelievable run,” Snitker said. “I never thought they let off the pedal. I’ve always had so much respect for this team and how they prepare, and they’re consistent every day. And I think those traits right there (will serve them well) when things go a little rough or whatever. Hopefully, it happens tomorrow. It may not. We’ve got a good guy on the mound (Strider) to try and turn it around.
“But if it doesn’t, they’re gonna get ready the next day and make it happen. That’s the thing, these guys are so consistent in everything they do and their approach to the game, they’ll be fine. And then they’ll reel off something on the back end of it.”
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 21, 2023 13:11:19 GMT -5
David O'Brien @dobrienatl · 1h In case you missed it, Max Fried's planned third rehab start got rained out last night at Triple-A Gwinnett. So he'll start Game 1 of tonight's doubleheader at Gwinnett. #Braves and Fried will see how he feels and decide if he needs another or is ready to come off IL after this.
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 21, 2023 17:32:57 GMT -5
Mark Bowman @mlbbowman · 13m Fried allowed six hits (2HRs) and 3 ER in 3.1 IP (65 pitches) tonight. He’ll likely make another rehab start before being activated
David O'Brien @dobrienatl · 21m Max Fried in his third rehab start and second for Triple-A Gwinnett: 3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR. 65 strikes/46 pitches. #Braves likely to have him make another rehab start before activating him.
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 21, 2023 17:39:30 GMT -5
Tonight's lineup: Acuna RF Ozzie 2B Riley 3B Olson 1B Murphy C Ozuna DH Rosario LF Arcia SS Harris II CF
Soroka RHP
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 21, 2023 17:40:20 GMT -5
Mark Bowman @mlbbowman · 21m Fried allowed six hits (2HRs) and 3 ER in 3.1 IP (65 pitches) tonight. He’ll likely make another rehab start before being activated
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on Jul 21, 2023 17:41:00 GMT -5
Jake Mastroianni @shortstopball · 1h Fried keeps rubbing his finger on his shirt like he has a blister.
|
|
|
Post by dirt on Jul 21, 2023 19:03:23 GMT -5
Oh crap, not Moylan again…
|
|