Atlanta Braves hot or not update: Bullpen woes and cold bats
By Fred Owens
Pitching problems persist
The Bullpen had another bad week, and Aside from Mike Soroka, the starters weren’t great either.
Kevin Gausman threw behind Jose Urena, and the umpire quite rightly ejected him immediately. Touki Toussaint came in and pitched well for four innings before leaving for a pinch hitter.
Soroka threw seven solid innings, striking out six and walking two, but – shock, horror – the fish scored a couple of runs. and his ERA rocketed to 1.13.
Julio Teheran managed to get through six innings against the Marlins allowing two hits and walking two without allowing a run. It wasn’t as clean as it looked on paper and it was the Marlins.
Gausman returned for 4-1/3 innings against the Dodgers, gave up five runs – three earned – on seven hits and four walks before turning it over to the bullpen. Grant Dayton allowed a run, but Sean Newcomb and Jacob Webb had a good outing. After that, the week went downhill fast.
| Name | ERA | FIP | SIERA | BB | IBB | HBP | SO | R | ER |
| A.J. Minter | 20.25 | 5.38 | 6.39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Dan Winkler | 0 | 1.88 | 3.74 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Grant Dayton | 0 | 3.51 | 7.69 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacob Webb | 3.86 | 3.99 | 3.59 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Jerry Blevins | 276 | 21.6 | 11.8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Josh Tomlin | 3.18 | 5.6 | 5.28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Luke Jackson | 4.5 | 8.13 | 5.35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Sean Newcomb | 0 | 1.13 | 2.99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Touki Toussaint | 2.25 | 2.38 | 3.31 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
I’ll spare you the painful details, suffice to say that Minter was so cold he reversed global warming. Josh Tomlin remembered he’s Josh Tomlin and Jerry Blevins reminded us why the Mets and Giants decided not to keep him.
>> This afternoon the Braves optioned Minter to Gwinnett and recalled Jonny Venters.
On a brighter note
Webb looks like he’ll be a solid piece once he gets more experience. Winkler and Dayton bent but didn’t break, and Newcomb looked like a man on a mission to get his rotation spot back.
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Jackson notched a save for us in Miami and nearly a second last night. McCann called for one slider too many, and it resulted in a homer that tied the game.
Last year’s version of Jackson would have collapsed, this year’s version pulled himself together and got out of the inning.
I’ve been a vocal critic of Jackson even being on the team, but he’s continued to work and fight his way onto the roster. He’ll never be a world-class closer, but he’s earned my respect, and I hope, yours as well.
That’s a Wrap
The Atlanta Braves sat on their hand in the offseason and did nothing to improve the bullpen. The team’s paying for that now and will continue to do so. Even if as many hope, they sign Craig Kimbrel, it won’t be enough.
While Kimbrel pushes everyone down an inning in the pen, the bridge to him is still tenuous at best. Starters have to go six innings, and middle relievers have to throw strikes. When they face a team like the Dodgers, the lineup has to do better with men on base.
Flowers has to remember how to block pitches and call a better game. Manager Brian Snitker has to let McCann catch the young arms. Flowers isn’t hitting left-handed pitching, so we might as well have the best defender behind the plate.
Next. I'm no bull, let me out. dark
That’s the week in review and my mini-rant for the day. Stay tuned for more Braves news here at the Take.