2018 Atlanta Braves Thread

[ATLLonghorn 904]

They're going to suck.

[BigOrange1 6566]

season doesn't really start until Acuna is called up.

[ATLLonghorn 904]

Nah dude Preston Tucker is the new JD Martinez!

[ATLLonghorn 904]

Oh yeah, we officially signed Ryan Flaherty and Peter Bourjous. Championship, mother fuckers!

[Hank Chinaski 6324]

Ozzie Albies seems like he'll be good. And then Acuna will come up soon. Freeman is a stud. Inciarte is solid. 

ATL won't be good this year, but there is reason to watch. 

[taybo20 2976]

I only went to 1 game last year. I enjoyed the ballpark last year tho. 

[EZ$ 2107]

I think we can flirt with .500 if Newcomb can throw strikes. Teharan is having a great spring and usually follows up shitty years with good ones, so he’s due. Folty and McCarthy should be serviceable with a couple young guys waiting in the wings for 5th spot, so Newcomb being a sub-3.50 ERA guy is key to us being around .500. 

The lineup should be fine...especially when Acuna comes up. Could be really good if Swanson lives up to his #1 pick status (I’ll take a .280, 15-20 homer guy). I’m expecting Albies to have a big year.  

[ATLLonghorn 904]

29 minutes ago, EZ$ said:

I think we can flirt with .500 if Newcomb can throw strikes.

Newcomb's WHIP and walks per nine inning rate has gone up every step up the ladder he's gone in his career. I'm not holding my breath that suddenly he becomes someone who throws strikes consistently. 

[spystud13 2371]

7 hours ago, ATLLonghorn said:

Oh yeah, we officially signed Ryan Flaherty and Peter Bourjous. Championship, mother fuckers!

Talking Chop wrote a WHOLE lot of words about these two, but the last paragraph sums it up best. 

Ryan Flaherty and Peter Bourjos aren’t going to make the team worse but this feels like adding green food coloring dye to a batch of broccoli. You’re not really adding anything that isn’t already there, but you aren’t going to make the broccoli taste worse, either.

https://www.talkingchop.com/2018/3/26/17165176/atlanta-braves-sign-peter-bourjos-ryan-flaherty-opening-day-2018

 

[BigOrange1 6566]

the "offense" has been about what you'd expect through 4 innings.

[BigOrange1 6566]

aaand the wheels fall off in the 6th.

[EZ$ 2107]

Ok, I no longer think we’ll be around .500. 

Much like my high expectations for the Tom Herman era....and then Maryland happened. 

[BigOrange1 6566]

for some reason philly takes out nola and freeman immediately makes them pay for it.  if not for the bullpen meltdown in the top of the inning, we'd have a ballgame. 

[BigOrange1 6566]

and it's all tied up!

[EZ$ 2107]

.500 here we come!

[BigOrange1 6566]

markakis walk off HR!!!!

[Fuga 181]

HA! Just watched the delayed game!!

[ATLLonghorn 904]

Nick Markakis hit 8 home runs and slugged .384. Brian Stinker hits him clean-up. He hits a walk-off home run. It's the very definition of better to be lucky than good.

Doesn't matter. 162-0 here we come!

(also, thank Gabe Kapler for pulling Nola after 68 pitches for no reason)

 

[BigOrange1 6566]

yeah the braves won because kapler pulled nola.  i was only half paying attention and even i knew that was stupid at the time.

[ATLLonghorn 904]

Breaks tend to even out over the course of the season for most teams.

Stinker got lucky with Markakis on opening day. Last night they somehow survived the 10th inning with Bourjous, Shane Carle, Flaherty and Culberson batting without making three outs to get to Inciarte who can actually hit, but he flew out weakly to center to end the game. It's crazy how stuff like that works out.

[pacman 7441]

Never thought it got worse than Fredi Gonzalez, then somebody decided Gabe Kapler should be a manager.

 

Since they are a Braves rival, I couldn't be happier.

Edited April 2, 2018 by pacman

[BigOrange1 6566]

gave the nats their first loss of the season tonight despite falling behind 3-0 in the first inning.  have a chance to take another series to start the season tomorrow.  

[BigOrange1 6566]

...oh but they're facing scherzer so that's probably not gonna happen.

[Pig Bellmont 8777]

Yeah, AJ Cole is umm perhaps not the best measuring stick 

[GSU&UT 1798]

Freeman off to a damn good start this season.

[Gut Wagon 8150]

Max, meet Preston. See you later, Max.

[pacman 7441]

Looks to me like this bunch has some fight in them..

[GSU&UT 1798]

1 hour ago, pacman said:

Looks to me like this bunch has some fight in them..

It's early in the season and all the games have been at home, but it is nice seeing them hitting the ball well and beating the Nats.

[BigOrange1 6566]

20 hours ago, BigOrange1 said:

...oh but they're facing scherzer so that's probably not gonna happen.

idiot.

[EZ$ 2107]

If Tucker continues to hit...what do you do in the OF when Acuna comes up?  Logical choice is to somehow move Markakis, but he’s been swinging the bat well and adds some veteran leadership.  

I see Tucker being a younger/cheaper Markakis, but with more power (.270, 25+ homers) so certainly don’t want to see him in a platoon or bench role.

 

[Guest GuestDong]

#1 offense in MLB

[BigOrange1 6566]

so ozzie albies had never seen snow before taking the field in colorado today.  he just homered in his first at bat of the game amongst snow flurries. 

[BigOrange1 6566]

On 4/5/2018 at 1:25 AM, Guest GuestDong said:

#1 offense in MLB

4 run first inning today.

[BigOrange1 6566]

dansby is 3 for 3 so far with a triple, single and double...

[GSU&UT 1798]

This is for real right, no regression to the mean later?

[EZ$ 2107]

10 hours ago, GSU&UT said:

This is for real right, no regression to the mean later?

What if the mean is even better??

[BigOrange1 6566]

3 series thus far, three 2-1 wins.  

also dansby is hitting.

[Elmer_Fudd 22702]

Heading to a Braves game in early June, any recommendations to hit up/eat before the game?

Also, looks like plenty of hotels are within walking distance of the stadium just looking at Google maps?

[GSU&UT 1798]

1 hour ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

Heading to a Braves game in early June, any recommendations to hit up/eat before the game?

Also, looks like plenty of hotels are within walking distance of the stadium just looking at Google maps?

I have yet to make it to the new ballpark, but there are a few restaurants in the Battery.

[BigOrange1 6566]

too much scherzer tonight.

[GSU&UT 1798]

Bloop city today

[EZ$ 2107]

Pretty much everyone but Inciarte hitting and we’ll be adding Acuna to the lineup pretty soon (maybe our 2nd best hitter behind Freeman).  If we can keep our pitching respectable, .500 maybe easier than I thought because I don’t see the offense dropping off much with the addition of Acuna and Inciarte coming around. 

[EZ$ 2107]

Guess the bullpen blowing a 10-3 lead going into the 8th isn’t ideal...

[GSU&UT 1798]

Yeah, what the fuck happened today? I didn't have it on while the Cubs we're coming back, did Snit make some dumbass decisions or did a bunch of different bullpen guys give up runs?

[Brew 3049]

http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/46631/how-the-cubs-and-braves-combined-for-best-terrible-inning-ever

Weather was absolute garbage.

[BigOrange1 6566]

front office is being fucking morons with the acuna thing.

[spystud13 2371]

Joey Bats signed to a minor league deal to play 3B. 

[EZ$ 2107]

4 hours ago, spystud13 said:

Joey Bats signed to a minor league deal to play 3B. 

Why not??  Only cost $1M (if they call him up) and would be a nice filler until Riley is ready. Maybe we get lucky and he hits 25+ bombs for us??

[spystud13 2371]

He’s no Ryan Flaherty. 

[EZ$ 2107]

Ryan Flaherty isn’t Ryan Flaherty so far this season!