10:59pm: Atlanta’s “likely” to replace Martin with Teheran, per Bowman.
9:20pm: The Braves lost Game 1 after a bullpen implosion, and it appears they’ll have to go the rest of the playoffs without Martin. Expectations are he’s done for the postseason, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. It’s not known yet who will replace Martin on Atlanta’s roster.
7:22pm: As of this writing, Atlanta’s bullpen just blew a late lead over St. Louis in the first game of the National League Division Series. The two teams are heading to the bottom of the eighth inning tied at three. The Braves had a 3-1 advantage entering the top of the frame, which turned into a catastrophe for the club. It began when right-hander Chris Martin, whom the Braves initially called on to preserve the lead, exited with tightness in his left oblique, Mark Bowman of MLB.com was among those to report.
Martin left prior to throwing a pitch, leading the Braves to turn to righty Luke Jackson, who struggled over two-thirds of an inning before they pulled him. His replacement, Mark Melancon, also failed to get the job done.
Considering oblique injuries often require absences of at least a few weeks, it seems possible Martin won’t pitch again this season. That would be an awful development for the Braves, who acquired Martin in July with the hope he’d carry his impressive first few months with Texas to Atlanta. It turns out the 33-year-old hasn’t been quite as effective as a Brave, as his ERA has climbed a full run from 3.08 to 4.08, though he did end the regular season in excellent fashion. Martin threw 5 1/3 innings of two-hit ball with no walks and eight strikeouts in September.
Between his two teams this year, Martin posted a fantastic 65 strikeouts against five free passes over 55 2/3 innings. Martin will try to parlay that production into a nice payday when he reaches free agency after the season. In the meantime, the Braves can ill afford to lose him as they attempt to push for a World Series. If Martin is in for a lengthy absence, though, they may end up having to call on one of Julio Teheran, Anthony Swarzak, Jerry Blevins, Kyle Wright or Bryse Wilson – all of whom were left off their NLDS roster.
That inning doesn’t happen if he’s healthy that sucks for them
You know that for a fact?
Obviously not but it’s the wise bet for sure.
Inning doesn’t happen if the colossal idiot that is Snitker leaves Fried in. There was no reason to take Fried out
If the starter goes at least five, you don’t run out of guys. 4 2/3. 70 Something pitches isn’t very #1 like
Yeah. No reason at all to take Fried out. No reason at all to even have Luke Jackson on the playoff roster when you are leaving guys like Julio Teheran and Anthony Swarzak off. I am generally a Snitker supporter but I’ll be darned if the biggest knock I have on the guy didn’t decide this game. For the life of me I cannot understand Snitkers obsession with Luke Jackson. Sure he got most of our saves early in the season but that’s only because Snit kept throwing him in their every single save situation. They weren’t easy saves either. He usually gave up runs and left runners on base. Not to mention the fact that he blew about 5 save opportunities a month. Had the Braves not made bullpen trade deadline acquisitions he would have definitely led MLB in blown saves. Heck… he might have the lead regardless. Anthopolous is going to HAVE to make Luke Jackson a throw in on some other trade he makes next winter just to make sure Snitker stops using him as a high leverage pitcher. I know Martin got hurt but he took out Keuchel too early and Fried was rocking it and had no reason to come out. Not to mention the fact that Swarzak, Teheran and maybe even Blevins are all better than Luke Jackson and Snitker didn’t even deem them good enough to make the playoff roster. The other thing that really gets me is that Snitker made a point to load up on position players on the post season roster and as a result had to reduce pitchers. That means the Braves literally only have 3 left handed pitchers on their roster. The whole plan should have been to preserve pitching and be liberal with hitters. Snitker did the exact opposite. I love Snit but you have to give blame where blame is due. This falls on the manager. The way he set up the pitching roster and the way he utilized it. It’s like he set up the roster with the belief that he didn’t need pitching and then utilized it like he needed more than anyone. Anyhow, Martin is likely injured and off the roster and they will replace him tomorrow. The problem is that Martin is a good pitcher and didn’t throw a single pitch but that won’t be a good thing. Considering the Braves only had 3 lefties on the roster and at least 2 of them pitched tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if the the Braves replaced Martin with Jerry Blevins and that is a serious down grade from Martin. Snit! I have supported you all year man (with the expcetion of your trust in Luke Jackson). Do BravesNation right!
P.S.
Did y’all know that Luke Jackson was actually a 1st round draft pick? Maybe he actually has nasty stuff but doesn’t know how to use it. Why else would he be drafted in the first round. Anyone else think that’s why Snit might be obsessed with him? It’s certainly not because of execution.
With the new update (I just heard on ESPN that Martin is out for the ENTIRE postseason) the Braves will have a few replacement pitchers to choose from. The options are: Julio Teheran, Anthony Swarzak, Kyle Wright, Bryce Wilson and Jerry Blevins. Obviously, Blevins is the worst of all of those pitchers but he is a lefty. Like I said before: Keuchel, Fried and Newcomb are the only lefties on the Braves postseason roster. I can’t remember if Kyle Wright is lefty or eighty but if he is righty I bet that the Braves replace Martin with Blevins. If he is lefty it is a toss up between the 2. Still taking bets if anyone is interested. We won’t find out for hours now. Keep in mind that Martin is righty that didn’t throw a single pitch and I am willing to put $ on the fact that they replace him with a lefty that is far less proven and inferior to other righty’s that are available. I at least expect some foresight credit if either Blevins or Wright gets called up. If it’s not one of those two I fully expect and am wiling to publicly eat crow. Either way, if you wanna make a bet against it I will honor it. If you wanna call me out if I’m wrong then please post something to acknowledge if I’m right. Furthermore… If you think I am right, call me out if I’m wrong. I want both ends of the spectrum here. I am a little worried that no one is going to respond until the roster move is made and just call me out if I’m wrong or tell me it was obvious if I’m right. Let me know though friends. I can handle prediction criticism.
Well I’m guessing if Kyle Wright was eighty he probably wouldn’t be in consideration for the playoff roster, so I’d guess lefty.
Wright wasn’t in consideration. He was completely left off along with Julio Teheran, Anthony Swarzak, Bryce Wilson, Austin Riley as well as Jerry Blevins (who is a lefty). The question is who are the Braves going to add to the roster now that Chris Martin is done for the playoffs? It has to be one of those guys.
Why the hell are any of you guessing what hand Kyle Wright throws with? You clearly have not watched any braves baseball nor did you take the 2 seconds out of your day to click on his bbref profile. The bbref profile that’s linked to this article……
Blevins is arguably the best option. Wilson and Wright have been terrible this year, and Swarzak had not been as good since his hot start. and he is the only reliever amongst Teheran and himself, so they very well chose to use him.
You are very wrong about me not having “watched any braves baseball.” I watched almost every single game beginning to end this season. I watched when Wright was in the starting rotation at the beginning of the year. The problem is that Wright pitched very little at the MLB level this year and I don’t trust my belief that he is a righty because I haven’t seen him pitch in months and it is slightly possible that I only think he is a righty because his last name is wright. I can’t really say anything else because you are right. I am not going to take the time out of my day to look it up. I have a young family and a job and just responding to this post is taking more free time than I actually have. I think you missed the point of the original post though. The main point was that the are going to replace Martin with Blevins IMO. I was just saying that the only way that doesn’t happen is if Wright is a lefty and even then it still might. I could tell you exactly which arm every MLB Braves pitcher pitches from with the slightly possible exception of Wright. So what if nobody looked it up? Nobody was debating that. It was almost irrelevant. I still wouldn’t bother to look it up now because it likely won’t effect our team until next season. By then I will know it by heart just like every other Braves pitcher anyway.
Cards fan but not trying to troll but I was surprised to see Kuechel lifted in the fifth. Things could have changed but a bit after the Braves added a couple veteran bullpen arms at the deadline I read there bullpen was still their biggest weakness. The two guys they added (I know one was Melancon) struggled mightily coming over. They could have been lights out since I’m not sure but your pen has to be pretty strong to go 4 innings plus without getting knocked around
Speaking of, and not trolling, as a Cards fan?
Bad baserunning, top of ninth. If Shildt knows he’s going to let Martinez bat with two outs, he HAS TO tell 3B coach Ron Warner that (unless he did), and Warner HAS TO send Yadi home on Wong’s double. That ball bounced around enough that Molina had a good chance of scoring.
I know Shildt is not Matheny, but having seen more than enough of both bad baserunning decisions by players AND bad baserunning management by Matheny when he was around, these things still make me cringe.
Says your crystal ball?
Says my educated guess lol
Where’s the guy that defended Luke Jackson at the deadline? I’d like to meet up…have a talk
Why they even have Jackson on the playoff roster is mind blowing!
Could have used calm and cool Colome. Lot of chatter about his peripherals/regression/being lucky, but better than most bullpen arms that moved at deadline.
Well “nobody said it was easy” to pitch in the postseason
But “no one ever said it would be so hard.”
Wow, talk about a big one that got away.. That questionable check swing call on Cervelli definitely killed the momentum and if acuna ran that easy double out, it’s more than likely a way different outcome.
Acuna shoulda been on 2nd, Ozzie’s groundout to 2nd got home over and Freddie scores him on his single to make it 4-1, huge difference compared to 3-1.
Why Luke Jackson is on this playoff roster instead of Teheran is beyond me. Dude blows.
Yes, I’m pissed off and frustrated lol.
Cervelli swung.
Replay showed he surely did not and Ron Darling even endorsed the same message..
It is what it is, but snitker needs to take a class on how to sustain & gain further “in-game momentum” 101.
Until the guy realizes how to step on a team’s throat or how much one single run can mean in games likes this; I’m going to expect the worst and watch him rely on a hit on 3-0 or go against the odds of advancing the runners by swinging each and every damn time.
Small ball and the sense of lack of meaningful momentum by a run or two in a game are most definitely his Achille’s heel by a long shot. It’s too old-school to rely on minimal odds, especially against those in the postseason.
Eh, that fact that people are even arguing about it both ways show that Cervelli’s swing wasn’t close enough either way to say that it was “surely” one way or the other. Exciting game, should be a fun series the rest of the way.
He definitely did not swing.
Edge of your seat game! It had everything! I hope Flaherty is on tomorrow because, as a baseball fan first, he is fun to watch. ATL has a good one in Soroka (may have mispelled that) this series is going to be fun all the way to the end!
Bottom line, Braves will never win a postseason series with Snitker in the dugout. How many mistakes do you think he can make in 1 game? First he refuses to give a red light and lets hitters continue to swing away on 3-0 counts, it’s dumb in the regular season but really dumb in October. To further the point the Braves were horrible on 3-0 counts all year. For an encore Snitker decides to bunt with Keuchel with 1 out, now that is a dumb play to begin with but even dumber with BMac on 2nd. Next he takes Fried out after 1 inning. Why? Now that Calloway was relieved of his duties you have no where to hide Brian…you are easily the biggest idiot managing.
Can’t argue with any of that. I don’t see the Braves much, but he made all kinds of mistakes. I think I hit flowers for McCann too, if I’m taking him out.
Stop with the old school mentality
Swing on 3-0 you are more than likely gonna get the best pitch of the AB to drive the ball
I disagree, when it comes to our hitters. They think they have to swing 3-0. Look up our numbers swinging 3-0. They’re horrible, I’ve watched it all year. They literally think 3-0 they have to swing. 2-0 they feel they have to swing, take Markakis in the 1st, they had Mikolas on the ropes and Markakis swings 2-0, which looked to be ball 3, but it’s debatable, regardless it was a horrible pitch to swing at 2-0.
Only Brian Snitker could manage a game so poorly.
Snitker managing is like watching anime Tomlin coach
Dray, grandma is here to take you to work
I literally called he will not hustle again in the playoffs and here we see it again. That is why my name is what it is. He is overrated.
They did not lose today because of this though. They lost because the Braves did not spend or trade for a real closer. You get what you pay for. Spend to win, and then you will see a winning team. Giving one year contracts don’t equal going for it. It is equivalent to “we will patch holes and hope for the best. We win, great. We don’t….we are not experienced enough or any other excuse they give.
They lost because they do not have an ace and have not developed one.
They lost because their bottom half of the lineup is terrible.
Lets hope they lose so at least we have proof this team does not care about winning a WS when they head into 2020 with the same garbage and their overrated prospects.
That was just an overall bad game. The Cardinals infield decided it didn’t want to play defence. Acuna two base-running blunders. Both bullpens were terrible. Even one of the games more complete veteran players in Markakis made a pretty costly mental mistake that could’ve prevented runs.
This team lost, what was it 6 out of 7 games to end the year? It carries over. They are a flawed team and this year will be another waste of a year. I promise you, the Braves will not win division titles every year just because they reassure themselves with prospects. Mets and Phillies will keep getting better, while the Braves will reassure they still have pitching prospects.
When AA was GM of the Blue Jays he had the team rest up after clinching. I assume the Braves did the same thing. Jays were the 1-seed when they clinched and settled for the 2-seed. Then proceeded to lose two games at home to Texas before waking up. Had they been the 1-seed and didn’t completely stop the car, who knows what could have happened.
Re Markakis: He’s a career right fielder who all of a sudden has been put out of position in left. It’s always been baseball dogma that left field is easier to play than right field, and through the season Duvall and Joyce (and Riley, for a time) were used there. Markakis is a better outfielder than any of them, but learning the different angles of the ball coming off the bat, etc., in a new position diminish him just enough that he got a late start on a ball that most everyday left fielders would have caught. . . . And Acuna–with Mikolas as wild as he was in the first inning, you don’t try that steal against Molina unless you’re almost certain to make it–and he was out by a mile, That blew what could have been a big early inning. Acuna’s later gaffe in the seventh inning should have been a reason to pull him right there and then, even with a short bench. Billy Hamilton was still available at that point. Doesn’t matter to me that he did manage a home run in the ninth –when managers lose the respect of their players for failing to mete out immediate discipline, it’s no longer baseball as I’ve known it over the years. Acuna needs to play under a manager who manages in the Leo Durocher style, not that there are any of those left these days. I’ve generally liked Snitker, but he’s sure no Bobby Cox.
Re: Chris Martin Out—Well, at the very least, he can still perform his duties as the lead singer of Coldplay. 🙂
…that Tomahawk Chop has got to go…
The chop has to get people behind it like the early-mid 90’s did, home field advantage doesnt mean too much in Cobb county these days.
Another Atlanta choke job. That city and State if you’re counting the Bulldogs seems to blow leads in the playoffs. Atlanta GA= Loserville.
Dang
Just great! If the Braves would have made a bigger focus on upgrading the bullpen in the offseason and earlier parts of the season, maybe our fall back would be LUKE FREAKING JACKSON! His name has turned into a curse word in my house
I agree with the assessment on the bullpen. Then the manager asks the pen to go 4+ innings. I was working when Kuechel was lifted and don’t know game situations only that he’d only given up one run. The Braves will need more than that from their starters they don’t have that type of bullpen
The funny thing is DK is supposed to be their “ace” and people wonder why they lost. Their ace is a #3 or 4 on good rotations. Acquiring DK is not a rebuttal to the argument that the Braves “spent” money for 2019.
As I said in previous comment I am a Cards fan but not a troll or one to talk smack. That being said this one is not the kind of game the Braves can lose. Cardinals defense was bad partly because of this being Wong’s first game in quite awhile but whatever the reason the Braves had control of this game. I rarely point at the manager and typically see some type of logic in how they handle their pitchers but this was noticeably bad. I was happy to see Kuechel gone knowing that was a lot on this bullpen and really happy to see Fried not come back out for another inning. It’s not over and I don’t want to jinx it but losing game one at home in a best of five series in a game you had control of isn’t good. Adding on top of that the fact the Cardinals number one and one of the best starters in the second half in all of baseball is starting game two it’s an uphill climb. Game one is crucial but the way it went down and with Flaherty up next it was even more important for the Braves here. I like where we sit right now but as always that can shift pretty quick
Very well said Seth, u nailed it especially on an outsiders perspective.. Braves had this game on a “T” and totally duffed it, but don’t color me shocked one bit..
Soroka is the ace of this staff and will get series tied at 1-1, Folty will pitch like he’s capable of in game 3. This is guna happen because tonite lit a fire under this team’s Butt like it did mine.. We got this!
Isn’t Soroka pitching game 3?
Wow, my bad… I should be astonished but I’m not.. About fell over when I saw keuchel was starting game 1 but just assumed soroka would be going game 2 by default. Again, I go back to the word momentum and whoever made the decision to not have soroka pitch game #1 at home should be Flippin burgers!
Would hate to see snitker coach a 4×100 relay.. Again, the word “momentum” obviously escapes snit’s vocabulary unfortunately..
Soroka has a better road ERA than at home. The decision was fine. DK, although not great, pitched well enough to win. The sport is all about bullpens, and that was the difference in the game…and Acuna of course.
Folty in game 2. Soroka in game 3.
Folty in Game 2 is scary. You never really know what you’re going to get. The trip to Triple-A seemed to help his hyper-anxiety on the mound, but he still seems too emotional to start a game as crucial as this one. The stuff is there, but is his head?
The Braves had plenty of time to set their pitching rotation they definitely don’t see him as their ace and as 2Hundred asked he isn’t even pitching in game two. It’s the postseason the fire is there already nobody needs to light one. It’s about momentum are being hot at the right time. That and having elite pitching wins in the postseason. The Braves should have won. The Cardinals defense was bad and they had control all the way until the last inning. That’s the opposite of momentum honestly. It can always change or shift but I see no silver lining in this loss it just stings. They also lost a solid bullpen arm in the process. Not a good game one for the Braves that’s for sure
The Cardinals always seem to offset their mistakes. They are nothing more than a lucky team that just knows how to win in the postseason. Everything goes their way. Then again, this is the same team that was caught cheating so there is that.
What are you twelve years old? You sound like one of the guys who believe the Patriots dynasty was because of deflate gate…..
Your team lost a baseball game. Lost in large part because of the garbage bullpen. The same bullpen that’s been garbage for most of the season.
And what the hell is a lucky team that knows how to win in the postseason? That’s a complete BS statement from a sad braves fan.
I don’t know.
2012, they might have lost if not for the call. They are the definition of lucky. The Braves are flawed, Cardinals are worse. If the Cards win, it is because the Braves choked, which they do every year.
How’s those Orioles doing?
This is said by someone that obviously has not been watching Cardinals baseball over the last 4 years. Until this year, this team was the opposite of lucky. So many 50/50 balls went the way of the Cubs and Brewers it wasn’t even funny.
Could it be a slight sampling bias here? As in, the only time you see the Cardinals is in the postseason, meaning that some breaks have to have gone their way for them to be there?
Dude the Braves got caught cheating too, or are we just going to ignore all of the penalties they were given for their international signings?
At least there weren’t any “infield flies” last night. Those may come, though.
i dont see the confidence in Folty after the year he had.
Then you didn’t see the year he had
After his stint in AAA and Kranick had the chance to work with him he has been lights out
Soroka is not the Ace yet
He has been our best pitcher but he is still a rookie and this is the furthest into a season he has ever pitched and its coming in his first full year
That pressure of the ace label is either Keuchel or Folty right now
Soroka will be there soon enough but to expect an Ace performance is asking a lot from a kid
Both STL and ATL played sloppy. STLs IF made nervous errors; Carlos Martinez tried to give the game back; Ronald Ocuna went back to styling. Hope tomorrow is better.
Teams only fear playing the Cardinals because it’s a given they will start having injuries happen to allow the luck to continue to follow the Cardinals. Pretty soon Cards opposing players might be getting hit by flying pigs, slipping on soap in the shower, and the Cards will make 4 errors and still win.
Anyone else hear Acuna’s postgame interview where his response to him not hustling was, “It happens. It is baseball!”
I’m glad I made my name the way it is because this kid is not only overrated but apparently stupid.
If he requests a trade, do it. I won’t miss his “SwAg”.
He was benched once for the same thing. Earlier that same game he thought he caught a ball but slipped out of his glove while he was busy styling in the OF and didn’t notice the ball fell out of his glove.
Trust me. I’m aware of that. On Twitter, I said this will happen again in the postseason and Acuna will be a big reason they will lose. Someone, of course, said I’m wrong and he won’t.
1 game in and we are already witnessing it again. He loves being the center of attention and loves showing off his swag. Honestly, at this point, I hope he gets traded. Not just because of his base running mistakes, but he is a flawed hitter and defender. I’m not hiding my distaste for him. I don’t like him and he is giving me more reason with his antics at the bases.
He quite frankly cost the Braves a good shot at the game last night with his lack of preparation. He could have scored on the pimped single, and at the very least wouldn’t have been doubled off on one of the stupidest baserunning plays a player can make. And for goodness sakes, pimping a home run when you’re down 4? I understand getting the bench fired up, but that was showboating.
To me, this is a kid (yes, he’s a kid if he acts like that) who has basically coasted through being better than everyone and not really needing to see that preparation will win you games.
Such a different attitude than Ozzie Albies has . . . .
The phrase “he’s only 21” and “let the kids play” only goes so far with me.. But that’s not how I grew up playing the game from tball to college and its painful to see he didnt take the hint after being benched, this is the postseason man and it’s absolutely MUCH more about you and your accolades! Stop caring about yourself and being the center of attention, follow the way of Freddie and you’ll easily find your way to Cooperstown bud.. (It was pretty easy to see that Freddie and acuna are fire and water going to the allstar game together though, no cohesion or brotherhood shown whatsoever..)
The Braves are better off with Teheran on the roster as opposed to Martin. I understand why, in some cases, a team would prefer a reliever over a starter in a short series, but not when the reliever is Chris Martin. Teheran should have been on the roster all along.
Clearly you don’t watch the Braves if you make a statement like that. Martin did a good job for the Braves. Now if you want to argue Teheran should have been in over Jackson and Ortega, then I will agree.
Sorry, but you haven’t got a clue..Martin didn’t give up an earned run in all of September. I am not saying that carries over to the post season, but Jackson should not have been on the post season roster, even though it would have been hard for him today as he would not have been warmed up when he was called into the game to replace Martin.
Everybody needs to relax on Acuna
The stolen base attempt I had no problem with he got a breaking ball but Yadi just flat out threw him out
If he gets 2B there he establishes a tone in the game by impacting their greatest strength on their team.
21 yrs old and the kid had 40 HRs
I realize it’s at a time when everybody is hitting HRs but while most are hitting 20 and a lot are hitting 30 he hit 40
The bottom line is they lost because of what was the Achilles heal all year and that is the pitching
Keuchel was signed to be the leader of the staff ???
That’s all I heard this week from fans, the media& the Braves themselves. Well the leader of the staff goes more than 4 2/3 in game 1 of the playoffs. He doesn’t leave it in the hands of the manager to have to remove him.
Chris Martin hurts himself warming up ??? I never seen that in a playoff game before.
Melancon’s true colors came thru. He can’t help who he is.
AA has just as much blame as anybody else in this loss
He pinched pennies last season especially in the bullpen and now they are paying the price.
Flaherty has been hot but so has Folty and this game is gut check time for him. I don’t know why he wasn’t the pitcher for Gsme 1
And anybody complaining about Soroka not being game 1 pitcher doesn’t know baseball
Game 3 is the most important game in a 5 game series
It’s on the road and if you are down 2-0 you need your best pitcher to provide a spark and Change the momentum if you are up 2-0 you need him to shut them down and put the knife in their hearts. If it’s 1-1 you need to establish the momentum and steal one in their house or establish your home dominance.
You pitch your pitcher with the best momentum Game 1 at home and that was Folty. He came into the season your ACE and was finally pitching that way over the last month or so.
On Acuna you’re dead wrong. Why? Because a few weeks ago he did the same thing and he did it again today-not that it’s acceptable in any games from rookie ball up to MLB. He got yanked from the game last time, and today that could have changed the context of the game, he would have been at 3rd 1 out on Albies ground out to 2nd. When Freddie says it’s like “flogging a dead horse” and Mike Lowell says “he doesn’t want to see it because the guy has exceptional talent”, he has to play every play hard. The thing that stings the most is he didn’t learn from the 1st occurrence, so to say “everybody needs to relax on Acuna”, no they don’t. Someone needs to get stuck into him so that he understands there’s 8 other guys on the lineup sheet and other guys on the roster. It”s not good enough, and compare Fowler’s base running play to Acuna, then tell everyone they need to relax. 4-1 t0 3-1 is a different ballgame altogether, and furthermore if we had got to 4-1 it just gave us more insurance even if the Cardinals still scored all those runs it would been tied in the 9th…..You just can’t do what Acuna did-ever, it isn’t acceptable.
man you are a lucky man for all the moments you been in and didn’t get caught up in at 21 years old
He is a kid who is basically learning how to play the game at the highest level which is hard within itself
I am not gonna kill the kid because he thought he took it deep in a playoff game I am sorry
I would love to have heard everybody’s reaction if he hustled out the box and aggravated his hip that kept him out the end of the year
He is learning things at the major league level that most kids his age are learning in AA right now
Do I think it’s right he did it no of course not but to kill a 21 yr old kid for getting caught up in a big moment is ridiculous to me especially coming from ppl on a website whose most memorable athletic achievement at most was scoring 4 TD in 1 game for Polk High.
The kid made the catch of the game he hit a 2run shot in the bottom of the 9th. He has exceptional talent and with that talent comes growing pains.
Even Tom Glavine was tough on him this morning on Atlanta sports radio. It’s rare to hear him that critical.
Everyone says it’s on Jackson, well to a degree yes. But what about Acuna, Braves are up 3-1 and he watches a fly ball sail to the fence instead of going hard out of the box which would have been a clear double, Albies grounds out to second, Acuna is standing at 3rd 1 out and may score. 4-1 is a different ballgame & context to 3-1 and it’s just not good enough from Acuna for the fact that he did it a few weeks ago and got yanked from the game for his poor hustling. Compare Acuna’s ball watching to Fowler’s heads up base runnning play. Fowler schooled Acuna on how to play the game. How can you not learn from the 1st mistake a few weeks ago? It isn’t acceptable to ball watch after you hit it, you accelerate out of the box and put as much pressure on that outfielder as possible.
Fried should have stayed in the game and obviously it’s hard on Jackson because he would not have been up and throwing in the pen. I still believe Swarzak would have been a better pen choice. Everyone says well Fried is starting game 4 you can’t let him throw too many pitches, but hey you have to win Game 1 before you get to game 4 and in 73% of 5 game series the game 1 winner goes on to clinch, so that is how vital it is to get Game 1 in the bank.
Acuna needs a stern talking to regardless of the player that he is, he should have learned from the previous rocket he copped, what he did is not good enough at any level of baseball. I hate to say this but it’s hard to see the Braves winning this series now, that was a game that should’ve been won. The little things and basics and attention to detail matter.
if every player that didnt run hard once was cut right now, youd have enough talent on offense to outslug any other team in baseball. hey Braves, would you like to DFA him for it? Im sure none of baseball’s other 29 teams would claim him.
Agreed. Braves are in a tough spot dealing with this now.
Who talked about cutting him? You obviously haven’t played sport at any decent competitive level or you’d have a better understanding. You have to play everything out, he’s done it twice now not “once”, and he was dragged out of the game the first time he did it, it simply isn’t good enough because he’s letting the whole roster down-fact.
When the ball is in the outfield you see collisions because players don’t communicate and call others off the ball. That isn’t good enough either. Own it in the outfield.
He hasn’t learned his lesson in regard to hitting the ball and watching, no one talked about cutting him so try your strawman somewhere else. Acuna needs to watch a few videos of Henderson, Nixon, or Devon White, then he’ll understand what’s required. The fact that Freddie Freeman said it’s like flogging a dead horse, and Mike Lowell said he just doesn’t want to see it because the guy has unlimited ability tells me everything I need to know from people who actually understand the way it should be played. It’s the little things that count in games such as this.. I love the guy but you just can’t slack on your teammates, he’s done it twice now..
Thanks for mentioning good old Otis Nixon. He was a gamer.
I don’t mind guys going 75% to 1st on a one-hopper to 2B. But on a shot to the warning track, there is no reason for not running full out. And even worse, this is the playoffs. If you are extremely lucky, you get to win a total of 11 games. You should not slow down one iota in the playoffs.
And save the showboating for when you have the trophy.
Melancon is no longer a closer. He can’t put batters away. He has that nasty curve but Fowler and Osuna had it measured after they were down 0-2. Needed to waste one and get unemployment chasing but he tried to duplicate the earlier pitches. Agree that Jackson was a terrible choice. Braves need to rebound today. Why Folty and not Soroka?
Melancon is probably about average. Part of the issue yesterday is that he had to come in in the 8th. It’s conjecture at this point, but had Fried been left in, and Melancon comes in the 9th with a 3-1 lead, the results might’ve been completely different.
Folty would really be a head case if they made the Game 2 change now. He’s another one of current major leaguers who have to realize that it’s not all about them and their unique talent. But maybe I just watch too much Sally League baseball here in the sticks.
This comment didn’t age well as he got back on the horse and got the save today. Game 1 might come back to hurt the Braves, I hope not but 73% of Game 1 winners go on to clinch the series in 5 game series.
IMHO (not a Braves’ fan), Jackson has a 5.65 ERA post-ASG. Fried had a pretty good inning, and I doubt you worry much about fatigue for an SP. Small sample size, but Goldschmidt is 1-8 against him. The 5 batters Jackson faced were 7-21 against him.
Only 3 Coldplay references in the comments (including the one I made). Ngl I’m kinda disappointed.
Bottom Line: Acuna likely cost the Braves a win last night and they needed to win that game facing Flaherty today.The only thing Jackson is good for is if you’re out of eggs……because he’ll lay a dozen for you on command.