Atlanta Braves first spring game: pitchers taking it on the chin early

It’s safe to say that the hitters are ahead of the pitchers at this point, so Atlanta Braves fans need not panic yet.

I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, though when there’s an actual competition going on, you’d normally like to see some better results out of at least one Atlanta Braves rotation candidate.

When the regular season begins on April 1st, the Braves will play a game against the Phillies, have an off-day, then proceed directly into a 5-games-in-a-row run.  April continues with two different stretches of ten straight games.

As a result, the Braves will need a 5th starter right away… and the first two candidates stumbled a bit right out of the gate.

Kyle Wright started for Atlanta down in Port Charlotte against the Rays and while he got through the first inning without giving up a run — barely — that became a problem in the next inning — to the point that he couldn’t complete a second inning.

That second inning?  Double, Double, wild pitch, single with only one lone out recorded.  2 runs scored.  Wright was charged with a third run when a subsequent homer scored a runner he was responsible for.

Sean Newcomb came to the mound for the third innings and wasn’t exactly crisp either:  while he did strike out two batters, he also gave up a homer and then 2 walks after that.

In fact, the only pitcher for the Braves that hasn’t gotten beat up so far is reliever Carl Edwards Jr. — one deep fly off of him, but we take those when they’re part of a 1-2-3 inning.

Atlanta Braves pitching not unusual today

Of the other games in progress in Florida, the hitters are feasting:  the Braves are trailing 7-5 going into the 6th innings, Red Sox Twins are knotted at 6 apiece near the end of the 6th… uh, the Twins just scored again…  even Detroit has posted up 10 runs against the Phillies and it’s only Philadelphia with as few as 2 runs so far… lots of scoring.

On the plus side for Atlanta, Austin Riley went 2 for 3, Dansby Swanson was 1 for 2 with a walk, and Bryce Ball got himself an RBI hit, too.

Oh, and this has tied the game:

Then there was this:

Don’t run on that arm.  But I guess Spring games are a good time to figure that out!

So there’s a too quick and too early report on the first Spring contest, which is still in progress while the minor leaguers are about the only players remaining on the field.

UPDATE:  FINAL SCORE RAYS 9, BRAVES 7.

The takeaway here?  Let’s just hope that Wright and Newcomb shake off that rust during their next outings:  you can’t read too much into these first starts, but it will start getting concerning if this trend continues much further.