Veteran Brandon McCarthy was 4-0 with a 3.09 ERA in his first six starts for the Braves through April 29, but to say he’s hit a wall in his past two starts would be an understatement.
McCarthy is 0-2 with a 15.12 ERA in his past two starts after allowing 11 hits, six runs, two homers and two walks with three strikeouts in five innings of Friday night’s 6-3 loss to the Marlins, which snapped the Braves’ eight-game road winning streak and also snapped a five-game road streak in which no Braves starter allowed an earned run.
Coupled with the 12 hits and eight runs he allowed without getting out of the fourth inning of Saturday’s loss against the Giants, McCarthy has allowed an alarming 23 hits, 14 earned runs, three homers and three walks with five strikeouts in only 8-1/3 innings over his past two starts.
He gave up leadoff hits in four of five innings Friday including two homers, and McCarthy has allowed a .432 average (16-for-37) leading off innings this season, the second-worst among major league qualifiers.
Here’s what the 34-year-old pitcher, plus Braves manager Brian Snitker and catcher Kurt Suzuki, had to say about the McCarthy situation and Friday’s game.
BRIAN SNITKER
On McCarthy’s performance
“From the first ball of the game that Realmuto hit that kind of walked the line there (for a leadoff double in first inning), and some balls over the infielder’s heads and some balls centered up pretty good, just wasn’t as crisp as he has been.”
“Sinker just didn’t have the normal life and I didn’t feel like his breaking ball was…. Just wasn’t real sharp.”
On Realmuto being an elite hitter (Marlins catcher had single, double and homer off McCarthy)
“Yeah, I’ve known that ever since he’s been here. I mean, he’s a really good player. Just got a sinker that didn’t sink for the homer. Just one of them nights.”
You view it as just a couple of nights where McCarthy’s sinker and cutter were just over the middle of the zone too much?
“Yeah, I hope. I mean, that’s all I can because he was so good for so many before. Players are like teams, like batting – the whole thing, you go through some stretches where it’s just things aren’t clicking real good. Nothing’s wrong but it’s just not happening for you and you’ve just got to keep grinding and fighting through it.”
He’s a guy that doesn’t really throw hard enough to get good results if the sinker’s not sinking, right?
“Yeah, that’s his game -- the command, the sink, secondary’s stuff really good. And it’s just been kind of off-tick for a little bit.”
BRANDON McCARTHY
On his performance Friday
“I really don’t know how it turned into 11 hits and six runs. I didn’t feel like I threw that poorly. I didn’t feel like the quality of pitches (translated) to that kind of results. I’m pretty confused right now.”
On what he can do to address it
“Might work on…we might be settling into some grooves pitch-calling, but that’s where I’ve got to do a better job of adjusting and seeing what’s happening. But it’s still typically, as a movement pitcher you’re trying to rely on that to get some weak contact, and the last two starts a lot of it’s falling in, a lot of it’s finding holes, and when they do hit a ball hard it’s done some damage. So I’ve got to figure out a way to kind of mitigate all this.”
Do you feel like you’ve gotten the same sink on your sinker in the past couple of starts?
“I mean, I guess. Looking at it, I don’t tinker with it too much. Balls are still generally going down. There were some bad pitches; the Realmuto homer was a bad pitch, and that can happen. But a lot of balls are hit on the ground and they’re going through, so I assume a lot of the movement’s still there. Maybe not. But overall, I’m just kind of at a loss.”
On this game compared to last start against Giants
“I felt like the pitch quality was better tonight than last night, but on the whole it’s pretty similar. Confused as to why it keeps happening, or at least why the end of the game looks the way it does when I don’t feel like it was there. So it’s some mystery that I have to solve that brings it back to a good place.”
KURT SUZUKI
On McCarthy’s frustration over not knowing what exactly went wrong and how they got 11 hits and six runs off him in five innings
“It was a tough night. I mean, he was executing some pitches. You get a couple of hits that find some holes, then the big blow, that’s kind of how it’s been the last couple of games (pitched by McCarthy). And I just think he’s kind of frustrated by the fact that results aren’t there and he still feels like he’s throwing the ball well, which he is. It’s just one of those games, just a two-game bad stretch. I mean, he’s been so good. The last two games have been a little bit tougher, but he’s such a perfectionist that this bothers him. I’m sure he’ll get back on the horse and figure it out.”
Anything to the leadoff problems he’s having, any patterns that teams might be capitalizing on to start innings against him?
“I don’t think so. Everybody knows he throws strikes. When I caught him before in Oakland, that was kind of his deal, where guys are going to swing. The guy throws strikes, they’re going to be aggressive, and sometimes he throws too many strikes where he’s either going to have a real good game and goes seven innings, or he’s going to get hit around a little bit. But he’s got the sinker, he’s got good breaking balls, he’s got the stuff where it’s hard to square up. So there’s going to be a couple of days – this is the big leagues, against teams he’ll have some games where it’s good and there’s going to be some tough ones as well.”
On Realmuto (singe, double, homer for Marlins off McCarthy)
“He is, to me, one of the toughest outs in the league. I mean, the guy’s a good player. Really good player.”
More on McCarthy’s sinker and whether it was good or not so good Friday
“I mean, if you want to nit-pick a little bit it could be location. He’s given up his hits and he’s always going to give up hits, because he throws strikes and he’s not a strikeout pitcher. But at the same time, I think he just gets more frustrated when balls find holes, like any pitcher. You make a good pitch and in the big leagues guys spoil it, they put the bat on it and sometimes it finds holes. There’s nothing you can really do but just keep trying to make pitches.”
On Ozzie Albies hitting his 12th homer and second in as many nights
“I saw it coming. I always say, pound-for-pound he’s got the most pop in the big leagues. This guy, I mean I watch him hit BP all the time, he’s a joke. He’s fun to watch, man.”
