After an impressive showing in his spring debut, Braves starter Drew Smyly never found his footing in his second appearance. The lefty allowed five runs on eight hits across two innings in the Braves’ 10-1 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday.
Smyly was OK with his day despite the results. Spring training, of course, is much more about process than results.
“Every game in spring training, and regular season, I just try to pinpoint the good things that were happening and how I can improve on the bad things,” said Smyly, an offseason acquisition. “The good things were my grip, how crisp and sharp my pitches were, that was a big improvement (over the first start). Unfortunately, the outcome wasn’t the same. I didn’t do a good job getting first-pitch strikes and didn’t do a good job finishing guys when I had two strikes.”
The first two Pirates reached base to begin the game, but Smyly struck out three consecutive batters to complete a scoreless first. He didn’t recover so smoothly in the next frame. He walked Phillip Evans and surrendered a single to Erik Gonzalez. Left fielder Marcell Ozuna overran the ball, resulting in an error that put runners at second and third.
The next three Pirates singled, which built a 3-0 lead. The team rolled the inning before three outs were recorded. Smyly faced only two batters in the ensuing inning, giving up consecutive doubles to Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds.
While it certainly wasn’t the overall showing Smyly wanted, there’s little reason to be concerned. As Smyly noted, he was “singled to death” and didn’t give up much hard contact. He said he needs to do a better job staying in pitcher-friendly counts.
“Obviously as a competitor you get frustrated when you’re not getting outs and you’re giving up hits,” Smyly said. “It’s not fun. But you know the big picture, these games don’t count. They’re just to get your pitch count up and get in a rhythm. It’s nice to have long innings honestly, even though it’s not the results you want, just to get that bulk in. In the regular season if you get to that point, you’ve already been there and done it in spring training. That’s a quality point to take out of it.”
Notes from Tuesday:
- Second baseman Ozzie Albies was a late scratch because of stiffness in his neck. Veteran Ehire Adrianza started in his place, going 0-for-2.
“We didn’t want to take a chance,” manager Brian Snitker said of Albies, who felt the stiffness when he arrived at the ballpark Tuesday morning. “They worked on him to loosen it up. We don’t need to push anything like that.”
- The Braves, who played most of their regulars to start the game, were outhit 17-1 by the Pirates. At one point, 16 consecutive Braves were retired before shortstop Braden Shewmake drew a walk in the eighth inning.
The Braves ended the no-hit and shutout bids with two outs in the ninth. Phillip Ervin singled for their only hit. Their only run was scored on a bases-loaded balk. Spring training games can be wild, sometimes.
- “He got better as he went,” Snitker said of Bryse Wilson, who allowed two runs over three innings. “He might be the first guy we’ve had where the last inning was the best inning. His stuff was really good. He had a lot of deep counts, but I really liked the stuff.”
Wilson and Kyle Wright are competing for a potential rotation opening. This was only Wilson’s second appearance, so he’ll have several more opportunities to make an impression.
- All-Star starter Mike Soroka has continued giving reason for optimism as he works his way back from a torn Achilles. He’s thrown three live batting practices, which have earned glowing reviews.
“He looked good,” Snitker said. “His last live BP, he threw the ball really well. He’s feeling good. His arm is good. I think there’s just still boxes for the training staff to check off, but everything is going well.”
The conversation tends to center on whether Soroka will be ready for opening day, but more important, it seems the team will have him for the vast majority of the campaign. That will be a major development for the Braves, who endured endless rotation troubles in 2020.
- BetOnline passed along their betting odds for the 2021 managerial awards. Snitker is the NL favorite at 7/1, ahead of the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, Marlins’ Don Mattingly and Padres’ Jayce Tingler, all of whom are listed 8/1.
Snitker last won the award in 2018, when he oversaw the Braves’ 18-win leap. He was named Baseball America’s NL manager of the year in 2020 for his work navigating numerous rotation problems. If the Braves are again among the NL’s best clubs, as they expect, Snitker will be a strong candidate to win this season’s award.
- Left-hander Max Fried is set to make his first start Wednesday against the Red Sox. Fried, who was slightly set back last week after he was potentially exposed to COVID-19, should have at least four exhibition outings before the regular season.
