<img alt="MLB: JUN 30 Pirates at Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zdQ-HIyKYCiYjermS4twdwbucUI=/0x446:2400x2046/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73485664/2159406091.0.jpg">
Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Join us as we debate the concept of urgency and the Braves face Tylor Megill The Braves don’t exactly give the most interesting quotes to media, pretty much ever, which only makes it funny that coming out of the All-Star Break, their party line was, “Our best baseball is ahead of us.” Well, that may still be true, but it certainly didn’t happen coming out of the All-Star Break, as the Braves shuffled their rotation to push their better starters back and have basically been blasted from here to eternity/kingdom come by opposing bats. While I don’t know what the new party line is, I did get a hearty chuckle out of Travis d’Arnaud telling the media after yesterday’s game, “There’s definitely a sense of urgency,” amid a skid that’s seen the Braves allow a starter to get charged with seven runs twice in three games before pulling him. If that’s what a sense of urgency looks like, combined with the fact that Chris Sale has pitched fewer games coming out of the All-Star Break than the combination of Bryce Elder/Allan Winans, or Charlie Morton, then I imagine if the Braves weren’t acting with a sense of urgency at this point, they might simply not have made the trip to New York in the first place.
So, we’ll hope that maybe today is the day the urgency is on display for all to see, because with Spencer Schwellenbach pitching, it might be a good day for it. The rookie right-hander has acquitted himself very well in nine major league starts so far, with a 112 ERA-, 97 FIP-, and 93 xFIP-. The problem for Schwellenbach in terms of “Braves winning games he starts,” which has happened three times in nine tries, has been twofold: first, his starts seem to result in poor outcomes despite good pitching; second, dingers the third time through.
In terms of start-to-start weirdness, consider this:
In his last start, Schwellenbach had an 8/0 K/BB ratio (yay) but allowed four homers (very not yay), for an in-start line of 145/175/74.
In the start before, he had a 3/1 K/BB ratio in seven innings where he was charged with a single run, for a line of 31/69/125.
Two starts before then, against the Pirates, it was 174/184/94.
But the one before that, versus the Cardinals, it was 124/20/42.
And this is a guy with just nine starts! Basically, he started with two rough-ish starts, had two okay-to-good starts, and since then, it’s been wacko theatre, aside from an unequivocally great start against the Phillies.
Less wacko, and perhaps more predictable, is the fact that he’s allowed three homers to 50 batters faced the third time through, compared to four homers to 162 batters faced otherwise. Sure, a 25 percent HR/FB is playing a big part there, and his pitch mix and xFIP in that split are such that it’s not really a condemnation of his talent overall, but... maybe don’t let him get blasted the third time through if it’s at all relevant tonight, guys?
At this point, it doesn’t really matter who starts against the Braves, since they are more fond of beating themselves than anything particularly sporting for the other team, but it just so happens to be Tylor Megill, who is being recalled from Triple-A to make this start. Megill has actually been really quite good in eight starts this year (131/84/99), but I guess the Mets demoted him because of his ERA or whatever. The Braves did crush him three times last year, but that feels like a different season of an anthology show at this point, one where Casey Kotchman has been recast in the Matt Olson role or whatever.
Anyway, urgency! Not shmurgency, but urgency. That’s what we want to see today. They might not be able to control the results, whether their barrels get caught (they will), or anything else, but they can control how they manage this game, and that might need to be enough until they get a turnaround everywhere else.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, July 27, 4:10 p.m. ET
Location: Citi Field, Flushing, New York
TV: Bally Sports Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
XM Radio: Ch. 89 / Online
<img alt="MLB: JUN 30 Pirates at Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zdQ-HIyKYCiYjermS4twdwbucUI=/0x446:2400x2046/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73485664/2159406091.0.jpg">
Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Join us as we debate the concept of urgency and the Braves face Tylor Megill The Braves don’t exactly give the most interesting quotes to media, pretty much ever, which only makes it funny that coming out of the All-Star Break, their party line was, “Our best baseball is ahead of us.” Well, that may still be true, but it certainly didn’t happen coming out of the All-Star Break, as the Braves shuffled their rotation to push their better starters back and have basically been blasted from here to eternity/kingdom come by opposing bats. While I don’t know what the new party line is, I did get a hearty chuckle out of Travis d’Arnaud telling the media after yesterday’s game, “There’s definitely a sense of urgency,” amid a skid that’s seen the Braves allow a starter to get charged with seven runs twice in three games before pulling him. If that’s what a sense of urgency looks like, combined with the fact that Chris Sale has pitched fewer games coming out of the All-Star Break than the combination of Bryce Elder/Allan Winans, or Charlie Morton, then I imagine if the Braves weren’t acting with a sense of urgency at this point, they might simply not have made the trip to New York in the first place.
So, we’ll hope that maybe today is the day the urgency is on display for all to see, because with Spencer Schwellenbach pitching, it might be a good day for it. The rookie right-hander has acquitted himself very well in nine major league starts so far, with a 112 ERA-, 97 FIP-, and 93 xFIP-. The problem for Schwellenbach in terms of “Braves winning games he starts,” which has happened three times in nine tries, has been twofold: first, his starts seem to result in poor outcomes despite good pitching; second, dingers the third time through.
In terms of start-to-start weirdness, consider this:
In his last start, Schwellenbach had an 8/0 K/BB ratio (yay) but allowed four homers (very not yay), for an in-start line of 145/175/74.
In the start before, he had a 3/1 K/BB ratio in seven innings where he was charged with a single run, for a line of 31/69/125.
Two starts before then, against the Pirates, it was 174/184/94.
But the one before that, versus the Cardinals, it was 124/20/42.
And this is a guy with just nine starts! Basically, he started with two rough-ish starts, had two okay-to-good starts, and since then, it’s been wacko theatre, aside from an unequivocally great start against the Phillies.
Less wacko, and perhaps more predictable, is the fact that he’s allowed three homers to 50 batters faced the third time through, compared to four homers to 162 batters faced otherwise. Sure, a 25 percent HR/FB is playing a big part there, and his pitch mix and xFIP in that split are such that it’s not really a condemnation of his talent overall, but... maybe don’t let him get blasted the third time through if it’s at all relevant tonight, guys?
At this point, it doesn’t really matter who starts against the Braves, since they are more fond of beating themselves than anything particularly sporting for the other team, but it just so happens to be Tylor Megill, who is being recalled from Triple-A to make this start. Megill has actually been really quite good in eight starts this year (131/84/99), but I guess the Mets demoted him because of his ERA or whatever. The Braves did crush him three times last year, but that feels like a different season of an anthology show at this point, one where Casey Kotchman has been recast in the Matt Olson role or whatever.
Anyway, urgency! Not shmurgency, but urgency. That’s what we want to see today. They might not be able to control the results, whether their barrels get caught (they will), or anything else, but they can control how they manage this game, and that might need to be enough until they get a turnaround everywhere else.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, July 27, 4:10 p.m. ET
Location: Citi Field, Flushing, New York
TV: Bally Sports Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
XM Radio: Ch. 89 / Online
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