Braves

[msstate7]

Since beginning of June, braves are 17-19. This slump is becoming pretty long. Won't lie... I'm worried.

Ender isn't in the lineup today with Acuna in CF and culberson in LF. Not feeling this... I get it that ender is struggling and a lhp on the mound. Acuna is pretty abysmal as a defender though. I saw his first game in pearl, and after 2 balls hit his way I knew he was not a CF. Bad angles on both... this has continued to his play in LF this season. Fangraphs has him at -2.3 def value in 42 games (-.05 per game). Matt kemp is at -4.3 in 91 games (-.05 per game). Acuna is Matt kemp level bad in LF.

[shoeless joe]

All star break is definitely coming at a good time.

[MetEdDawg]

Albies Acuna batting 1-2 in the lineup today. No Ender I believe today.

[BoomBoom]

Since beginning of June, braves are 17-19. This slump is becoming pretty long. Won't lie... I'm worried.

Ender isn't in the lineup today with Acuna in CF and culberson in LF. Not feeling this... I get it that ender is struggling and a lhp on the mound. Acuna is pretty abysmal as a defender though. I saw his first game in pearl, and after 2 balls hit his way I knew he was not a CF. Bad angles on both... this has continued to his play in LF this season. Fangraphs has him at -2.3 def value in 42 games (-.05 per game). Matt kemp is at -4.3 in 91 games (-.05 per game). Acuna is Matt kemp level bad in LF.

In Biloxi I saw him misjudge balla but still get to them when others likely wouldnt have. CF is easier to play than the corners too (except requiring more speed) as the balls either break to your left or your right, usually. He has the speed, so I think he'll do well (though not GG caliber like EI), and Culbersons bat against LHP is a major upgrade over ender right now. Plus we dont have a SP caliber bat leading off against a LHP. Double upgrade.

[msstate7]

I really wish snit could ditch the old idea that the leadoff hitter has to be a small, fast guy. Markakis should lead off. He has a .388 obp. Bat albies 2nd. Although FF and markakis hit lhp well, it will make it tougher on a manager late to go lhp with albies in between then.

Markakis
Albies
FF
Catcher
Acuna
Camargo
Ender
Swanson

[msstate7]

First challenging play for Acuna, he broke in, and then had to go hard on a ball over his head. Probably doesn't catch it anyway, but I'm not confident in Acuna out there

[msstate7]

Julio getting out of 1st and 2nd 0 outs may have sparked this team. Big inning

[klong-dog]

Was glad to see Ender out of lineup. He's been painful to watch. Wouldn't have been any better against Corbin. Glad to see the shakeup. Even if it doesn't help much on D. Hopefully the ASB can help EI regroup.

[shoeless joe]

I really wish snit could ditch the old idea that the leadoff hitter has to be a small, fast guy. Markakis should lead off. He has a .388 obp. Bat albies 2nd. Although FF and markakis hit lhp well, it will make it tougher on a manager late to go lhp with albies in between then.

Markakis
Albies
FF
Catcher
Acuna
Camargo
Ender
Swanson

Agree with this. No reason the keadoff guy has to be fast. Get on base and get knocked in.

[MetEdDawg]

First challenging play for Acuna, he broke in, and then had to go hard on a ball over his head. Probably doesn't catch it anyway, but I'm not confident in Acuna out there

Acu?a is too cocky. I don't like his body language. He's getting owned right now. He might end up being all world but right now he doesn't add anything to the team. He's a big hole.

[msstate7]

3 outs away from an absolute huge win. Marlins are beating Phillies, so could be .5 game out at break. Trade deadline coming up, and we need a LH reliever and a bat. I prefer a LH platoon 3b with camargo, moose.

[msstate7]

Acuna with a nice jump on final out. Way to be a stopper, Julio.

[shoeless joe]

Acu?a is too cocky. I don't like his body language. He's getting owned right now. He might end up being all world but right now he doesn't add anything to the team. He's a big hole.

You must not recall when Andrew first came up. Exactly the same. Hopefully it won't take acuna as long to figure that part out. He's got all the tools and is exciting. Not a coincidence that the team began to struggle once he went down.

[MetEdDawg]

You must not recall when Andrew first came up. Exactly the same. Hopefully it won't take acuna as long to figure that part out. He's got all the tools and is exciting. Not a coincidence that the team began to struggle once he went down.

Oh no I remember. They actually have similar stats from their age 20 time. But this time just seems a little different. Not sure why. I'm sure he will be good but I'm just concerned a little that he's been so out of sorts since returning from injury.

[MetEdDawg]

Good thing is that the Phillies lost today. So we go into the All Star break a half game out fo 1st place with the Nationals 5 games behind us. I have to imagine we all would have taken that before the season started. Question now is what moves do we make?

Looks like Machado is a no go. No game changers are SP unless we want Eovaldi whom I actually really like. What bullpen pieces do we add if any? I'm not convinced AA is gonna pull the trigger on anything big. Maybe a underwhelming reliever but I have a feeling they are going to play this tight and not go after anything big.

[Really Clark?]

You must not recall when Andrew first came up. Exactly the same. Hopefully it won't take acuna as long to figure that part out. He's got all the tools and is exciting. Not a coincidence that the team began to struggle once he went down.

What? Acuna comes back right at the end of June and hasn’t hit and this has been a much worse stretch for the team since his return vs the month of June. That’s just incorrect

[shoeless joe]

What? Acuna comes back right at the end of June and hasn’t hit and this has been a much worse stretch for the team since his return vs the month of June. That’s just incorrect

No...it's very correct. The teams record before he was hurt versus since he got hurt. You are correct that his return hasn't lit the world on fire although he did help get a W in New York.

[Really Clark?]

No...it's very correct. The teams record before he was hurt versus since he got hurt. You are correct that his return hasn't lit the world on fire although he did help get a W in New York.

No. .560 win percentage in June while he was out vs .333 win percentage so far in July while he has been back. How is that win percentage better? And if you want compare May vs June....586 in May vs .560 in June which was .65 of a game difference between the May and June. And he is hitting .186 in July with a .548 OPS. For reference in May he hit .235 with a .677 OPS. He wasn’t putting up great numbers then either. I’m not saying he is the sole reason of this slump in July but he wasn’t the catalyst for May either and his being out in June did not change the wins/losses for the Atlanta. Basically the same team and as a team they averaged .5 runs more per game in June with him out than they did with him in May

[Matty Dispatch]

Acuna is a microcosm of the Braves trade deadline dilemma. Stick with the youth for the promise of a bright future, or buy into the 2018 team and worry about the future later.

Acuna needs to keep playing to become a good MLB hitter. And long term, it's probably a good thing he's struggling - maybe he'll take some advise from Freddie and Markakis, although with the language barrier he's probably just playing tiddlywinks with Albies.

I say just play the season as is and see what happens. The Braves don't really have the top level starting pitching to expect a deep postseason run if they do get in. Hopefully that will come as Folty, Newcombe and Soroka mature. It's good to be in the mix this year and actually have a team that's fun to watch, but that should probably be the extent of it. 2019 and the years to follow look promising.

[MetEdDawg]

Acuna is a microcosm of the Braves trade deadline dilemma. Stick with the youth for the promise of a bright future, or buy into the 2018 team and worry about the future later.

Acuna needs to keep playing to become a good MLB hitter. And long term, it's probably a good thing he's struggling - maybe he'll take some advise from Freddie and Markakis, although with the language barrier he's probably just playing tiddlywinks with Albies.

I say just play the season as is and see what happens. The Braves don't really have the top level starting pitching to expect a deep postseason run if they do get in. Hopefully that will come as Folty, Newcombe and Soroka mature. It's good to be in the mix this year and actually have a team that's fun to watch, but that should probably be the extent of it. 2019 and the years to follow look promising.

Here's the thing I like. Folty and Newcomb have top tier stuff. They just have to work on consistency. Teheran has pitched like a solid 2 recently. They all have good enough stuff but it is a waiting game.

I would probably be fine if we only got controllable bullpen help this trade deadline. The hitting is a function of time and just waiting on the right pieces. We need to upgrade at catcher. Camargo is good enough at 3B for now. Swanson is getting more comfortable. Ender and Acu?a will hopefully get out of their funk from the break. The team can hit well enough for this year to make the playoffs. But an Eovaldi and a couple bullpen arms will give us a shot to get to the playoffs this year without giving up a ton.