Braves Report: Shaking off the rust

Happy hump day, folks.

We’ll talk about Spencer Strider’s rough return (plus that weird glove situation with Rafael Montero) momentarily. Tonight’s game, too.

But first: Go ahead and check out this story about the respective statuses of Ronald Acuña Jr. and Craig Kimbrel.

You know you wanna know.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

Experiencing Nationals fatigue? Yes. Enjoying these slightly earlier start times? Also yes.

📺 How to watch: First pitch at 6:45 p.m. on FanDuel Sports.

⚾ The pitching matchup: AJ Smith-Shawver (3-2, 2.33) vs. Trevor Williams (2-5, 5.91)

📝 Scouting report: This is a rematch of last Thursday’s series finale in Atlanta, which the Braves won 5-2. Smith-Shawver threw six innings of two-hit, shutout ball while Williams failed to make it out of the fourth.

UNACCEPTABLE OR UNDERSTANDABLE?

Credit: Terrance Williams/AP

Credit: Terrance Williams/AP

Spencer Strider’s secondary season debut unraveled right from the start.

Single. Single. Double. Single. Wild pitch. Wild pitch. Three first-inning Nationals runs, just like that.

The returning ace ultimately lasted 4 1/3 innings, with the only other scoring coming on a second-inning solo homer by Dylan Crews.

Let’s take a closer look.

📈 Strider threw 75 pitches, including 46 for strikes.

📈 The AJC’s Gabe Burns reports that Strider’s fastball velocity averaged about 95 mph, about 2 mph slower than his 2023 pre-injury average.

📈 Barrett Sallee of the Braves Radio Network wrote that batters’ whiff percentage on Strider’s slider was 36%. Historically, that sits above 50%.

Is any of that reason for big-picture concern? Nah. Chalk it up to rust.

Not that Strider’s apt to go easy on himself. He was OK with the movement on his pitches but otherwise said a lot of things like this:

“I don’t enjoy failing, and certainly not at the expense of the team. We sent a pretty good guy down (Bryce Elder) that was supposed to pitch in my spot. That’s not lost on me. It’s kind of the nature of the game.

“I think it’s important to have that perspective that the goal is to win. That takes 26 guys. The guy who’s starting on the mound is a big component in coming out and winning every day, so if I can’t be better, I don’t need to be out there. I think everybody has that mentality at any position. I’m going to have to work to be better.”

Love the attitude. But maybe cut yourself some slack, king.

Manager Brian Snitker is: “The more he throws, the better he’s going to get. We have to start somewhere. As long as he’s healthy, does his sides and makes his next start on Sunday, it’s going to continue to get better.

“The more pitches, the sharper everything is going to get.”

GLOVE TROUBLE

Credit: Terrance Williams/AP

Braves reliever Rafael Montero came out to pitch the eighth inning last night — and then got confronted by umpire Marvin Hudson.

The problem? His two-toned glove, apparently.

🧐 Here’s what official MLB rules say about pitchers’ mitts: “The pitcher’s glove may not, exclusive of piping, be white, gray, nor, in the judgment of an umpire, distracting in any manner.”

Does that clarify things? Not especially. But Montero eventually settled upon a borrowed glove that satisfied Hudson’s sensibilities.

🧐 Snitker summed the situation up like this, per the aforementioned Mr. Burns: “He’s used it all year. I think they just got a memo — evidently, after two months, they’re going to start cracking down on gloves that nobody pays any attention to.”

FREDDIE VS. MATT

Yesterday I wrote about MLB Network host Brian Kenny’s oddly timed rant about Freddie Freeman’s departure and Matt Olson’s arrival in Atlanta. Then I asked y’all to weigh in.

Here are a few of your thoughts.

🗣️ Reader Becky: “No two people are the same whether they are first basemen or plumbers, so let’s stop with the comparisons! I celebrate Matt’s achievements and appreciate what he brings overall to my Braves!”

🗣️ Reader Diane: “It finally dawned on me that Freddie Freeman did what was best for him and as a fan I felt betrayed. We could not have gotten a better replacement than Matt Olson. Yes, it took me awhile but Freddie is no longer my guy. Go Braves! Go Matt! Let’s win!”

🗣️ Reader Scott: “The biggest mistake in Anthopoulos’ tenure. He’s the one guy that should have been paid if you’re talking championships.”

🗣️ Reader Kim: “You are wrong and Brian Kenny is right.”

Points for brevity on that last one.