Braves pitchers work on covering first base during pitcher’s fielding practice every day in spring training. Rookie left-hander Ian Thomas got a painful reminder why.
He was late covering first base on a grounder to the right side of the infield by Brock Holt in the seventh inning of a 6-6 game against the Red Sox Monday afternoon. Holt beat him to the base for an infield hit that helped start a two-run rally in an 8-6 Red Sox win.
Instead of having two outs and nobody on, Thomas had to deal with the leadoff man at first base. He said thinking about Holt, and changing up his move to the plate, probably contributed to his two walks (and two wild pitches) that followed to Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia.
Those loaded the bases for David Ortiz, who gave the Red Sox the lead on a sacrifice fly. A.J. Pierzyski padded it with a broken bat RBI base hit.
“I might have taken a second of a delay to go over to first,” Thomas said. “That’s all it took. I usually bust my butt over there pretty good, on balls over to the right side. As a pitcher, I’m not an athlete like BJ Upton, Justin Upton. I don’t have that speed, but I’ve got to make up for it however I can, maybe cheat over right after I release a pitch to move over that way. That can make a difference, and yesterday I learned the hard way.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said pitching coach Roger McDowell will often coach left-handers, who fall off toward third base on their deliveries, to go ahead and spin toward their right to get toward first, with their back to the plate, since their momentum is carrying them that way anyway.
“We’ll keep an eye on him, if we feel like we need to change him,” Gonzalez said. “If he falls over and just keep going towards your right, make a circle and get there, we’ll make that adjustment.”
Loe signed to minor league deal
The Braves signed pitcher Kameron Loe to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Loe returns to the Braves organization after a stint with them last year. He pitched in nine games at the major league level, including a start Sept. 4 against the Mets, and went 1-2 with a 6.17 ERA.
Loe, a 6-foot-8 right-hander, went 4-4 with a 3.07 ERA in 27 games (10 starts) last year for Triple-A Gwinnett. He was recently released by the Royals where he had a 4.09 ERA in seven games, allowing five earned runs in 11 innings, with seven walks and only four strikeouts.
