Well then … that was a pretty disappointing weekend of Braves baseball, eh?
Losing a series to a team that just fired its manager ain’t fun.
Especially so when your closer’s not closing and the offense puts up a grand total of eight runs.
THE SERIES AHEAD
The quest for .500 continues. The Nationals are in town for a four-game set at Truist Park. What could go wrong?
📺 How to watch: The games tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday all start at 7:15 p.m. on FanDuel Sports. Thursday is a 12:15 p.m. affair.
⚾ The starters: Tonight we’ll see Grant Holmes (2-3, 4.58) vs. Jake Irvin (2-1, 3.94).
Tuesday brings Spencer Schwellenbach (1-3, 3.61) vs. Michael Soroka (0-2, 7.20), with Bryce Elder (2-2, 4.97) vs. LH Mitchell Parker (3-3, 3.97) on Wednesday, and AJ Smith-Shawver (2-2, 2.76) vs. Trevor Williams (2-3, 5.86) slated for Thursday.
📝 The scouting report: The Nationals are 17-24 on the season and just got swept by the Cardinals.
- You may have noticed former bad-luck Brave Michael Soroka is slated to start Tuesday.
- He made his second start of the year for the Nats last week, striking out eight but allowing four earned runs against the Guardians.
THE BRAVES: ARE THEY ANY GOOD?
That headline’s mostly a joke. But only mostly.
We’re about a quarter of the way through the season (yep, 40 games down) and still talking about the same old stuff.
Mediocre offense. Solid enough starting pitching. And a struggling Raisel Iglesias.
📉 Sunday’s game had it all
- Starter Chris Sale went 5⅔, giving up three runs (two earned).
- Offensively, the Braves mustered base runners, but nothing else, in five of the first six innings. They rallied in the eighth, with Sean Murphy’s bases-clearing double tying things up at three.
- Only for Iglesias to get dinked and dunked to death in the ninth. Pittsburgh’s winning run scored on a grounder to shortstop, with Adam Frazier beating the throw to home.
📉 Are there signs of hope?
Sure.
The team’s recent penchant for late-inning runs is better than nothing. Sale’s looking more like himself, as is Spencer Schwellenbach. And most of the bullpen has genuinely outperformed expectations.
Man it’s getting old talking about this stuff, though.
“We’ll turn this thing around,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We’re going to hit. We’re not going to not hit for the next five months or four months.”
He’s probably right.
But only probably.
STRIDER WATCH
As you saw above, Spencer Strider is not currently slated to start a game against the Nationals.
It’s possible he joins the big league club during the subsequent series in Boston, but we’re still awaiting word on whether his recovery from a hamstring strain requires a minor league rehab start first.
🧐 Here’s what Strider said Sunday: “Obviously, we’re in the middle of a 17-game stretch, so I’m sure that’s going to play a factor in what pitch count they feel is safe and that kind of stuff, in terms of where the bullpen’s at and where the pitching staff’s at. I feel good about my chances to give us a chance to win if I’m out there, but it’s not up to me.”
🧐 The bigger picture: Whenever Strider returns to the rotation, he’ll be most welcome. But he’ll birth a bit of a logjam, too, what with the fellas at the back end exceeding expectations.
- As our pal Ken Sugiura reports, the only starters with minor league options remaining are AJ Smith-Shawver and Bryce Elder.
- Relievers Dylan Lee and Daysbel Hernandez could theoretically be sent down, too, but it’s hard to believe they’re going anywhere.
DOWN ON THE FARM
😯 JR Ritchie, a top 10 Braves prospect, threw a complete game, one-hit shutout for High-A Rome over the weekend. Here’s video of him striking a bunch of guys out.
👌 At Triple-A Gwinnett, Ian Anderson threw five hitless innings Sunday. Shortstop Eddys Leonard isn’t a highly ranked prospect, but don’t tell him that: H two homers continued a torrid May at the plate.
👋 Eddie Rosario cleared waivers after being demoted, but the outfielder and former NLCS hero elected free agency over a minor league assignment.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
The Marcell Ozuna bobblehead (center) has arms that wave up and down, just like the Big Bear when a big fly takes flight.
The first 15,000 folks through Truist’s gates Wednesday will score one.
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Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
