Watching the Braves take on Marlins 21-year-old phenom Jose Fernandez Friday night was entertaining in and of itself, but then the interaction between the standout young pitcher and Freddie Freeman? Priceless.
Freeman and Fernandez first got to know each other as National League teammates at the July 16th All-Star game, but their introduction as opponents came with Freeman sending a first-pitch change-up to center field for a two-run homer, the eventual winning runs of a 2-1 Braves win.
The second time up, Freeman hit a first-pitch 95 mph fastball over Justin Ruggiano’s head in center field. Fernandez smiled out at Freeman standing at second base.
“I told Freeman, ‘How can I get you out?’” Fernandez said to reporters after Friday’s game. “And he starts laughing.”
Fernandez said when Freeman was on deck and he was warming in the sixth, he was already telling Freeman to “go back to the dugout” before he led off the inning. Shortly thereafter, in his third at-bat, Freeman swung at the first pitch again – which he does at a 47.7 percent rate, second highest in the majors – and fouled off a fastball. Fernandez couldn’t help but smile at Freeman. Freeman smiled back.
He got a big kick out of the whole exchange.
“That’s why he’s so good,” said Freeman, who struck out in that final at-bat. “He doesn’t get too wrapped up in everything. He has a lot of fun out there and I think that’s going to go a long way for him. It’s kind of like (Clayton) Kershaw, with that kind of stuff, and that personality, it’s going to go a long way in this game.”
The Marlins are planning to shut down Fernandez at 170 innings and he’s 12 away, which means the Braves will likely see him for at least a few innings two starts from now on Sept. 11 in Miami.
You get the feeling Fernandez vs. Freeman will be something to watch in a couple of weeks, not to mention a couple of years from now. And Freeman looks forward to both the challenge – “he doesn’t give in, he’s going after you,” Freeman said – and the interaction.
“I actually love it,” Freeman said. “I like people having fun out there. He’s almost like a Kris Medlen personality.”
Schafer save: Anthony Varvaro didn't need to give outfielder Jordan Schafer any grief for tossing the ball from his first career save into the right field stands Friday night. The rest of the team apparently did, and the manager too.
“I was going through the (handshake) line and everyone was making fun of me,” Schafer said. “Then Fredi wouldn’t even shake my hand. I was like ‘I didn’t know.’ I felt bad.”
Said Gonzalez: “I’ve never seen a team win a game 2-1 and everybody happy and everybody yelling at Schafer the whole time.”
Gonzalez told him, rather sternly, to go get the ball back and Schafer took the hint. He went and got one of his bats – “It’s not like they worked the last two games anyway,” Schafer quipped. He asked fans which one he threw the ball to and then traded his bat for it.
“9The fan’s) dad wrote me on Twitter saying ‘I’m glad you came back out because he liked the bat a lot better than the ball,’” Schafer said.
For his part, Varvaro said he told Schafer it wasn’t that big a deal, but then couldn’t resist poking fun at Schafer too: “Apparently he went back out there and somehow got ahold of it. I don’t know if he went into the batting cage and picked one up or what, but he came back with one.”
Varvaro earned the save after pitching two scoreless innings, with closer Craig Kimbrel unavailable having pitched three days in a row. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Varvaro was the first Braves pitcher to record a save after holding a one-run lead for the eighth and ninth innings since 2005 when Chris Reitsma got a six-out save for John Smoltz.
Sept. call-ups: Outfielder Jose Constanza joined the Braves roster Saturday, one of a handful of players the Braves are expected to call on as rosters expand in September.
Constanza just arrived a day early to replace Evan Gattis, who was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett after Friday’s game to get some at-bats over the final three games of Gwinnett’s season. Gattis, who had been 0-for-17 in limited action of late, doubled in his first two at-bats against Charlotte on Saturday night.
Gonzalez said he expected no more than about five players to join the expanded roster in September, and that would include both Gattis and Reed Johnson who is still nursing Achilles tendinitis.
Outfielder Todd Cunningham is likely to return, though he’s not eligible to rejoin the roster until Tuesday after Gwinnett’s season is over. The Braves could use an extra arm or two for their pitching staff and candidates include right-handers Freddy Garcia, whom they acquired from Baltimore on Aug. 23, and David Hale – both of whom are already on the 40-man roster.
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