I'm worried last year was from PEDs. Hopefully clean Profar can still hitQuote:
Originally Posted by KOdawg1
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I'm worried last year was from PEDs. Hopefully clean Profar can still hitQuote:
Originally Posted by KOdawg1
albies takes the most selfish at bats over and over and over. i understand loving his effort but the dude could help the team win in so many ways but he refuses to do so. if you can locate off speed away and FB up/in he's a K or a pop out EVERY SINGLE TIME. lay a bunt down once every two weeks and watch how everything would change. but hey he's on a team friendly contract....
should have traded him after that one good season.
the positive on the offense is that some of these guys will get going and then it'll all play itself out. ozuna and harris are the two i expect to get hot. olson is who he is. .220-.240 hitter that hopefully gives you 25-35 homers...if he can square up a FB.
the pen is the absolute biggest concern right now.
even with all the positive potential things coming up the bottom line is this is MAYBE a wild card team that will get bounced early due to lack of pen depth. you absolutely cannot let every free agent lynch pen of the organization walk and expect to continue to get great results. thankfully the one championship came from this group cuz a second does not seem likely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shoeless joe
Ehh, I kinda disagree on the pen. As a whole, they've done a great job. Iggy has decent underlying peripheral numbers and he's been a bit unlucky.
The Braves have the 2nd best record in all of the NL after their 0-7 start and are currently on pace to win 95 games.
Bullpen management is a completely different story. Snitker is asleep most games and is stuck in 2005 bullpen roles. I was really excited to see PJ pitch the 9th last night.
Also Snits lineup management is atrocious at times too.
Baldwin is the front runner for ROY right now. Need to stick him in LF when Murphy is catching.
Getting Acuna back next week will be huge. Also, Strider should be back in a few days.
I think the Braves are in a good spot, all things considered with injuries and the putrid 0-7 start.
They should do what some of the local talking heads have suggested and trade Murphy and/or Ozuna while you can get a good haul for them, although the shine has come off Ozuna a bit since that was suggested. They can't afford to gamble on another long term contract with Ozuna and SS is a glaring hole that cant be ignored for another offseason. Let Baldwin have the full time catching duties and bring up one of the depth pieces from AAA for 1 start a week.Quote:
Originally Posted by trob115
Tell me again how the pen isn’t a major issue…Quote:
Originally Posted by trob115
Snitker was the issue, not the pen. Also if Olson would pull his head out of his rear, we win too
All of this.Quote:
Originally Posted by trob115
In the 8th, they had their best (only) 2 hitters up. Snit has to use our best available there.
What's so frustrating to me, is that the Braves have lost at least 4 games this year you can easily say due to poor in game management.Quote:
Originally Posted by msstate7
If we had a competent manager, we would be in much better shape.
AA is frustrating to me too. I'm ready for him to put up or shut up.
definitely agree on AAQuote:
Originally Posted by trob115
Agree here too. I guess you can call it bad luck on Profar but he shoulda done his homework. Ignoring the SS position for 2 years now baffles me. You go into this season AGAIN depending on Arcia and Snit gives up on him in week 1 and now we are stuck with a AAA shortstop.Quote:
Originally Posted by shoeless joe
You lose Fried and Morton and replace them with nothing. Depending on Sale and/or Lopez not to fall off was a huge gamble. These are positions that could have been shored up last season, at the trade deadline, and this offseason and chose not to
Drake Baldwin and AJSS look like absolute studs. As a big AA critic, we probably should consider this when we critique AA. I was mad we didn't try to swing a trade for a proven SS or SP, but man, I am really happy we held these two.
Allen is an old school light hitting good glove SS...if the rest of the lineup does what they're supposed to then he is an asset. if you're relying on him for offense then he's not good enough.
the two major problems right now are ozzie and olson. harris could be better and ozuna but both of them are streaky guys...and they can go on extended, month long, hot streaks and just about carry the team. hopefully acuna coming back will help lighten the load some of those guys feel. and we can blame snit and his managing of it all we want but the pen just doesn't have what it's had and at some point that will need to be addressed. nothing is as demoralizing for a team as to lose a late inning lead cuz the pen can't get ahead in the count and throw a slider with break or locate a heater to put somebody away.
Acuna was 2-3 last night with a double and an assist. Just missed a hr in back-to-back rehab games. I can't wait to put him at the top of this lineup
Tell me again how the bullpen isn’t a major concern…
Holmes should be in the pen and would quickly shore up middle reliefQuote:
Originally Posted by shoeless joe
1. Snitker continues to cost this team games
2. That bullpen is absolute ass.
Snit needs to be turned loose yesterday.
My 8 year old called us losing this game when he put in Montero. He's literally the worst option in the pen. It's so bad even kids know what is coming.
Also brining in PJ to face Duran was stooopid. Dodd and Lee both were available. I promise you Snit has now cost us 5 games with lack of decision making.
This team used to be so talented they could overcome snit's idiocy. They aren't good enough to that now. Need someone to make optimal moves. And Acuna is ready... he better be in DC Tuesday night
It's been time to fire Snitker. It's pretty clear that Ron Washington was the magic behind the team prior to last year.
I’m not saying snit isn’t making some questionable decisions. But putting all the blame on him when the pen clearly sucks is stupid. He put 4 different arms in with the lead last nite. None of them got the job done. None. That’s not a snit issue that’s a bullpen issue and an AA issue.
And 100% agree on Ron Washington. That plus the losses of leaders for numbers and cheaper is costing them big time when those numbers guys aren’t producing numbers.
Lee hadn't pitched since Thursday.
Iggy pitched 2 of last 3 with day off between.
Hernandez pitched Monday and Friday.
Snit shoulda absolutely deployed these guys to secure the win last night. Then he could rest them today and Monday's day off.
It's completely understandable when you look at the SS market. You either ridiculously overpay for the handful of elite SSs.....or you take value in the scrubs. There's not really a market of anything in between. Most MLB teams have a hole at SS in the lineup. No one is dealing away a SS or SS prospect with value.Quote:
Originally Posted by BravesDoggy
SP isn't much better of a market these days. If we had given Morton another $20M and gotten nothing out of him at 40-whatever, AA would rightfully be pilloried for it. I don't think he was depending on no drop-off, but he put together a good staff without overpaying for anyone. He got Sale and Lopez for nothing, Strider is underpaid, and AJSS is on track. I don't even know where Holmes came from. Even Elder has performed. That's a pretty good job from the GM!
The main problem is all the money on this roster is paid to the hitters in the middle of the lineup, and they are not performing to their contracts.
The pen though, that's all on AA. That, and the lack of one better corner OF. There are options aplenty for those, and AA has just stood pat with scrubs.
The luck from 2021 and the crazy offensive output from 2022 is not coming back. AA needs to stop pinching the pennies and come up with a new approach with this team or he and Snit need to both find new jobs.
It?s time to seriously explore the market value for Ozuna and Murphy. Shortstop can?t be ignored any longer, need another SP (in addition to Strider coming back), and fix the pen.
Agreed, we overperformed in 21 and 22.Quote:
Originally Posted by BravesDoggy
But, they're not pinching pennies. They're above the luxury tax threshold or just below it. They're not going to spend more.
They're in a bit of a pickle with Murphy and Ozuna. You don't really want to trade a catcher like Murphy for a rookie to take over. And Ozuna can't play the OF, which prevents them from DHing one of the catchers or Acuna. And no one wants Ozuna because of his history. And they'd be dumb to trade one of their few hitters right now. The worst part of that is that for any given game, they can only start 2 of Ozuna, Acuna, Murphy, and Baldwin. With Eli White or Verdugo getting a start instead. But it is what it is.
Maybe pinching pennies is an exaggeration, but you get what I mean. In the past 5 years, Dansby, Freddie, Fried and Morton have come off the books and the only player that has been signed of any significance is Profar. The core group is fine to ride with, but you see what happens when 2, 3 or 4 of them underperform. It's obvious that the 22 season was lightning in a bottle, so when you aren't getting crazy production from Ozuna, Albies, Acuna, Riley, and Olson, you better not have any black hole positions or it just magnifies the struggles of the big five. The SS position has been a glaring hole for about a season and a half now. You let Fried and Morton walk and replace them with Grant Holmes, a reliever to SP project which they've already tried with Lopez and he's out long term.Quote:
Originally Posted by BoomBoom
I don't know if Allen can keep it up, but ...
16th among SS in fWAR (0.9)
1st in def value
He's on pace for a 3.6 fWAR season. That's pretty damn good
as i said earlier. allen is not the problem. and once some of the others start putting up their typical numbers his lack of offense won't be near as noticeable to the end results.Quote:
Originally Posted by msstate7
We still need to use him better. He should bunt anytime a runner gets on in front of him with 0 outs. He's a pretty terrible hitter that's rocking an unsustainable .340 babip.Quote:
Originally Posted by shoeless joe
But that's kinda the point i made in my previous post. People have pretty much assumed those "typical numbers" are what the big five produced in 2022, and that is just not happening again. So, when Ozuna is hitting single digit homeruns, Olson is hitting .220 and his power is down and you have a struggling Harris (who often isn't even counted in the big 5) and a struggling Ozzie, those non-producing OF and SS positions just become much more glaring.Quote:
Originally Posted by shoeless joe
Everybody used to talk about how fearsome the lineup was 1 through 9, but when your lineup ends with Stuart Fairchild, Michael Harris, Eli White and Nick Allen it is not instilling fear.
dont' disagree with this. we have a track record on riley, he's gonna hit 270 with 30 homers if healthy. ozuna will probably catch fire at some point and end with 30 homers, harris is streaky and will end up doing some things. and acuna should add some level of production above what they have been getting from the corners. those things are based on more than one season.Quote:
Originally Posted by BravesDoggy
the two that in my opinion are concerning are ozzie and olsen. olsen cant barrel a fastball consistently and ozzie thinks he's barry bonds.
At least Olson appears to be getting on a bit of a heater. He had a great weekend.
For a team that was labeled the most dangerous 1 thru 9 for the last couple of years, the numbers this season almost through 2 months of play are a bit concerning. Sorry I don't get into all the BABIP and those crazy ass stats, I'm just old school and look at the basic offensive numbers.
Nobody in the top 20 in BA (Riley at 22)
Riley is tied for 19th in RBI
the HR numbers are way down compared to previous years' pace
The positives are that nobody leads the league in K's although Riley is close. Ozuna is leading the NL in walks and Olson isn't far behind which is helping their OBP greatly.
Olson xwoba in 2022 (54 hrs) was .392; it's .389 right now. Olson had a launch angle problem to start the season, but he's getting lift again.
I hate this team.
Looked like the 7u rec league tonight
Tho organization is run by idiots, so don't be surprised by dumb playQuote:
Originally Posted by trob115
Fire Snit or blow it up. This team is sinking.
selfish...selfish...selfish...
i'm not questioning how hard anyone plays or wants to win but you can just watch the swings and see this team plays a selfish brand of baseball at the plate. Losing wash, EY, dansby and freddie like they did was the death nail. money ball has never won jack crap when it matters. you need leaders and captains the hold clout to keep everyone accountable.
oh...and the bullpen still sucks. can't throw strikes in the 9th to keep it a one run game. AA is beyond over rated.
The problem is all these hitters are streaky, and they never line up 3 at the same time. Riley's last 30 games are absolutely horrendous. Ozuna has cooled off. Acuna came in hitting, but Olson stopped. Ozzie is actually rounding into form, but no one around him is hitting at all. I believe hitting with RISP and sequencing has a lot of luck involved, and the braves just have none right now.
This made me feel a little more hopeful...
Braves record the last 5 years:
May 28, 2021: 24-25
May 28, 2022: 22-25
May 28, 2023: 32-21
May 28, 2024: 31-21
May 28, 2025: 25-28