A disastrous night for the Atlanta Braves leaves the team scrambling

It started well, but the wheels started falling off as the game wore on.  Are the Atlanta Braves running out of finger to plug the holes in this bucket?

I guess it’s just the Atlanta Braves‘ turn to deal with the infirmary.

The Phillies and Nationals have had their issues dealing with injuries at various points in the year and other than Ender Inciarte‘s back ailment, Atlanta really hadn’t had to deal with an extended absence to a key player this season.

But now – suddenly – they’re down 4 of them:  Austin Riley, Dansby Swanson, Nick Markakis, and – once again – Ender Inciarte.

Of this foursome, Swanson is probably going to be back the soonest.  Riley might be back – with a knee brace – next, but it’s unknown about how mobile he’ll be for a while.

The others… unknown at present.

The replacement pieces – Duvall, Camargo, Culberson, Joyce, Ortega, Hechavarria – are piling up with various level of success, but mostly showing why they are replacement parts and not to be counted on for daily performance.

To avoid any additional roster issues, Adam Duvall will almost certainly be back in Atlanta this afternoon… even as we await word on the diagnosis for Inciarte.

UPDATE:  It happened…

It should be said that given the reasons for Duvall’s demotion, there is probably a non-zero chance that Atlanta could investigate the chances of signing now-ex-Royal Billy Hamilton once he clears waivers.

However, that move would require someone to be jettisoned from the 40-man roster, so if this were to happen, it would be a signal about the frustration/irritation/desperation that the Braves are feeling about their outfield and bench production right now.

Newcomb’s Woes

How quickly a game can turn.

7th inning… A walk.  A double play.  A single.  Okay so far.

At that point, both managers opted for change.  I still don’t quite get why Brian Snitker did so.

Mike Soroka was one out – from completing the 7th inning with a lead.  It would have been his 21st out on the night.  He had thrown 95 pitches… not dominant, but certainly good enough.

Sean Newcomb struggled to get 1 out.  A walk and 2 almost identical homers later and the Dodgers turned the game completely around.

• In this season’s 1st half, Newcomb walked 12 of the 172 batters he faced over 40 innings.
• Since then:  8 in 13.1 innings.

But it’s not just walks:

• 1st half:  .373 slugging; average OPS .687
• 2nd half: .529 with an average OPS of .890

The shift really seems to have started on July 28th in Philadelphia.  Batters are either waiting him out for a walk or they are simply teeing off:  4 homers in these most recent 13 innings after just 3 over the 1st part of the season.

Yet Brian Snitker keeps running him out there in higher-leverage situations… or maybe better said: ‘situations that can quickly escalate into something bad’.

I suppose he figured that Newcomb could at least finish the 7th, leaving others for the 8th and 9th.  Right now it’s just not working at all for the left-hander.

The Braves will likely put Inciarte on the IL and recall Adam Duvall today.  Sean Newcomb needs to head back to Gwinnett to get his pysche straightened out… and maybe return in September.

After that… the starting pitcher du jour needs to be allowed to get that one last out.