re: Official 2021 Atlanta Braves Season Thread.(88-73)

If MLB replay wasn't a fricking joke we'd be in first by ourselves.

There's a couple strong candidates to close things out without all the nightly drama.
Matzek being 1 of them. He's been virtually unhittable last couple months.

Yep... Dangerous team right now. Whole damn batting order hott! Kicking arse since trade deadline.

Dansby is nuts

Totally different team from what we saw before the trade deadline.
Healthty, chemistry, having fun playing the game, very few weaknesses.
Winning the division with all the 1st half adversity would be a huge success.

quote:

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having fun playing the game

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This is the biggest difference between today and two months ago. They just looked defeated as soon as they fell behind by a run back in June. Now the energy is much more like what we'd seen the last couple of years.

Your Reds are still on a nice roll.
Very fortunate to take 2/3 from y'all.
Winning divisions are great season accomplishments but we've all seen many wild card teams win the World Series.

Other than $14 million a year reasons I reckon he likes 9th inning drama.

In my opinion that doesn't give the head coach a free pass to stop coaching/looking for a way to give the team a better chance of winning.

Snit needs to earn his paycheck, and that entails having difficult conversations with players when it's time to move them out of high leverage situations.

Matz is throwing his filthiest ball of the season coincidentally while smith is throwing his worst... hmmmmm, would I think to give Smith a breather while giving Matz a shot at closing under these circumstances ? Yes... in an instant. There is nothing to lose. Make a move- earn the paycheck.

Albies numbers are down in the leadoff spot. Bryan Jordan seems to have a good feel for the pulse of the team which leads me to believe he's probably right when he says that Ozzie is not comfortable batting leadoff. Meanwhile you have a scorching hot Swanson who is probably the closest thing to a prototypical leadoff hitter on the roster. Make a move- earn the paycheck. There is no downside to playing with the lineup.

Soler is a guy that strikes out a lot, and hes batting under .200. He is not a two hole hitter.

1. Swanson
2. Albies
3. Freeman
4. Riley
5. Duvall
6. Travis
7. Joc
8. Soler

And if its a situation where Swanson is too hot to move up in the order (where he has also struggled in the past) then leave him down in the order and move Duvall to the two hole. I trust Duvall waaaaaay more to not miss the extra fast balls he will get batting in front of Freeman than I do Soler. Soler swing is a mile long. Meanwhile Duvall can catch up to any fastball.

1. Joc
2. Duvall
3. Freeman
4. Riley
5. Albies
6. Swanson
7. Travis
8. Soler

Options are infinite, but the coach has to coach, and at the mlb level pretty much all the coach is good for is not letting pitchers blow games, and filling out the lineup card. This

Braves playing HR derby again. Feasting on Nats/Marlins.
Which is what you gotta do in winning a division title.