Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Pirates, Ramos, PEAs?

Stop the presses:  the Atlanta Braves employed a new weapon to pick up their rookie starting pitcher last night and pinned a bad loss on the Pirates.  That weapon?  An offense.

This was a good game for Atlanta.  Down 4-0 in the first, the team refused to quit.

3 hits in the first inning, plus 2 walks and a hit batsman.  4 runs.  Not an auspicious start for young Robert Whalen.

Where did he come from, anyway?  The answer is Haines City, FL – roughly equidistant between the Tigers’, Braves’, and (now former) Astros’ Spring Training sites SW of Orlando.  He’s 22½ years old and was drafted out of high school by the Mets in the 12th round of their 2012 draft.

But in just 4 years, he rocketed through two minor league systems – theirs and the Braves – with no ERA over 3.36 on any team (excluding Arizona Fall League).  Overall, he’s at 2.45 in 360 innings, giving up just 281 hits and 120 walks.

But beyond all that, he showed everyone something last night:  he didn’t crumble, he didn’t fold.  He went back out in the second inning and gave up just 1 more hit over the next 4 innings, shutting down a Pirate crew that thought they had seen blood in the water.

Once the rest of the Braves saw that mettle in the second inning, the offense went to work… chipping away at Jeff Locke and his followers.  15 hits.  8 runs.

They turned around a 4-0 deficit and pounded Pittsburgh with 5 extra-base hits and a determination to pick up their new teammate.

It worked.

Next: Curious Silence in Nat Land