Atlanta Braves Bullpen Collapses; Callaspo Benched; Fall to LA 6-3
May 23, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman
Alberto Callaspo(1) walks back to the dugout against the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
For several innings tonight in Los Angeles, it appeared that the Braves might be able to steal the opener of this 3 game set against the Dodgers, taking a 2-1 lead into the 7th inning. Alas, that was not the case as the Braves bullpen wasted a gutty six innings by Williams Perez. The Dodgers took the game with a big 9th inning, 6-3.
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Perez had a rough opening inning, giving up a run in the first on 31 pitches, but managed to settle in – finally getting some strike calls – and got through six strong innings: his line included just that one run, 1 walk (which walked in that run), 7 strikeouts and 7 hits.
After that… not so good.
Luis Avilan did himself and the Braves no favors by walking two batters and giving up an RBI hit. But that merely tied the game.
Nick Masset was next, but in the bottom 8th inning, he started his own fire and threw gas on it: 3 home runs for 4 earned runs to break it open. A very ugly outing for the recently-acquired Masset. It was so bad that Trevor Cahill was almost welcomed to the mound to finish the frame.
All of this masked some fine play in the field – a Top 3 for the night, for certain – by Jace Peterson plus the pitching of Perez, still just in his second major league start. Additionally, the offense “gave them a finish” in the 9th by starting off with a Jonny Gomes double and Andrelton Simmons single. That forced closer Kenley Jansen into the game.
The Other Story
Minutes before the game, Alberto Callaspo was scratched from the lineup, with no reason provided. Mark Bowman did a little digging and found reason to tweet the following later on:
Sounds like Callaspo's days (or hours) with the #Braves might be numbered. But Daniel Castro is not coming up from Gwinnett.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 26, 2015
Reading between the lines, which includes the silence from official sources (that’s very unusual except in discipline cases), my theory is that Callaspo was notified that he will be designated for assignment once Chris Johnson returns – which could be any day now as he started a rehab assignment with Gwinnett tonight.
This theory goes on to conjecture that Callaspo’s reaction was sufficiently indiscreet to get him benched – which could actually accelerate both his departure and Johnson’s return. I would not be surprised if both moves are done as early as tomorrow.
UPDATE: That theory could be way premature. There’s another reason that players are held out of games, though this one frankly shocks me:
Fredi says the #Braves are trying to deal Callaspo, but a potential DFA later this week seems to be just as likely
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 26, 2015
(1) If there’s something imminent enough that he was held out of the lineup, then that means talks are pretty serious.
(2) I frankly don’t know of a team with this immediate need of an infielder that can’t hit.
More to come… clearly.
So there was a chance to steal one from the Dodgers… and now the task only gets harder, with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke coming up in the next 2 games. Tune in tomorrow for the late show, live from Los Angeles!