Atlanta Braves Game 1: not helping their own cause

You can’t expect a perfect game every time out, but this first one had the earmarks of something closer to self-destruction.

Early on in Game 1, it appeared that the Atlanta Braves were executing a game plan – one intended to run up Aaron Nola‘s pitch count and get into the Philly bullpen as early as possible.

Somewhere along the way, that plan blew up in the Braves’ faces… thanks to problems that we know all too well.

Jake already had some of this from today’s Opening Day game, but I’m heading in a slightly different direction here.  Here’s my thoughts:

2 errors/4 walks

Julio Teheran was charged with 3 runs, though there’s an argument that the number should only have been 1.  Jean Segura was ruled to have earned an infield single – advancing to second base on Dansby Swanson‘s throwing error.

Had Swanson been able to make the play, the inning would not have progressed to the point of a walk followed by consecutive singles to put Philadelphia up 3-1.

A pitcher is still responsible for his pitches, though, and Teheran was unable to ‘pick up’ his teammate.  Still, that was a case where runs could have been prevented.

A second case involved Shane Carle‘s inning:  Walk, fly out, strike out, walk, home run.

A third case involved Luke Jackson.  Walk, throwing error (Jackson, who should have made the play), intentional walk (understandable given the circumstances – Harper up with a base open and no one out), home run.

I hate the idea of asking that someone’s job – their livelihood – be taken away from them, but Carle and Jackson were not the right pitchers for this situation… and that’s whether you believe Jackson should be in the majors or not (and I do not).

When Carle came into the game, the score was still a manageable 3-1 against Atlanta.  Once that 2nd walk occurred, my immediate thought was ‘gotta get him out of there’.

When Jackson made his error (the score was 6-3 at this point), my thought was ‘gotta get him out of there’.

It was almost as if manager Brian Snitker put these guys into a position where failure could happen, and then did nothing to stop this train wreck from happening when it became inevitable.

I do believe there was plenty of blame to go around here:  the errors and the walks are on the players involved.  The pitching choices… that has to lay at Brian Snitker’s doorstep.

The Move That Worked

After Dansby Swanson’s double in the 7th inning, I expected an appearance from Johan Camargo.  Yet it was Matt Joyce to get his first official Atlanta AB.  The lefty-righty matchup worked to perfection as Joyce walloped the ball deep into the right-center stands.

Gotta give credit for this one… and it did indeed return the score to being within reach at 6-3.  But then the Luke Jackson Experience began and all possible momentum was destroyed in a matter of just 4 Philadelphia batters.

In all of this, I’m tempted to say “it’s only the 1st game“.  While that’s obviously true, the choices made today had nothing to do with the calendar or the schedule:  instead, it was everything about proper decision-making along with the execution of the task.

Pitchers must not routinely walk hitters.  Managers should not use pitchers who are walk-prone.  Managers must not leave such pitchers in games when it’s obvious that walks are happening.

This isn’t about analytics – it’s observation.

The Leadoff Debate

I note from the other thread’s comments that there’s a lot of anger still simmering over the choice of Ender Inciarte for the leadoff spot.

In this vacuum environment, let’s review the AB’s in question:

Ender Inciarte:

• INN 1 – K (none on, no outs)
• INN 3 – K
• INN 5 – K (none on, 3rd out)
• INN 7 – groundout (none on, 3rd out)

Ronald Acuna:

• INN 2 – WALK (later scored; none on, no outs)
• INN 4 – Flyout to LF (none on, no outs)
• INN 6 – WALK (w/2 out, none on… not counting Freeman’s caught stealing)
• INN 8 – INF HIT (2 on, none out, RBI)

Honestly, while Inciarte had a terrible game, I don’t see how the Braves’ fortunes might have been improved had Acuna been in the leadoff spot.

As it was, he actually did lead off an inning twice.  Also, the only (true) RBI opportunity he had was cashed in… which is exactly what you’d want to see happen.

In my book, Acuna is going to homer at least once every 3-5 games.  There will be bad matchups from those in front of him from time-to-time, but you need someone who can drive in runs, and Acuna is that guy.

Inciarte/Donaldson/Freeman combined for an OBP of .300 today.  Regardless how the outs are made, that’s roughly the rate you’re going to see during the year… and Acuna got one of the runners in front of him home.

So in other words… there was a lot to complain about in today’s loss, but the subject of ‘who bats leadoff?’ truly isn’t one of those topics…not today anyway.  We’ll need more data before going there.

As for the errors and the pitching choices?  That’s another matter.