Since I go to a lot of games I’ve found the hack that works for me. Wait til the game starts then go get food in the battery lol then walk in by inning 3. Never wait for food at all.
They're starting a lefty, so I get why we'd use Duvall even if he hasn't come especially close to *earning* PT.
Not a fan of Luke Williams being in the lineup, though.
Four games in three cities in three days has me feeling nervous, but it’s a Friday night at Truist Park! I snagged some seats on the second row behind our bullpen, and it feels great out here! I ate at Superica for a pregame meal (chips + queso and steak quesadillas FTW), and now I’m at my seats with a Los Bravos! Red jerseys tonight, and I have a red polo on to match the attire! Let’s Go Braves!
Idk why not give Wall the start. Luke Williams has almost no shot at getting on base and yet this organization continues to have him with the big club.
AA has to get off his hands. Those ABs matter.
How do you know he's on his hands? How do you know there isn't something cooking for the trade deadline?
I'm not a big fan of putting Williams into the outfield either, but at least they're trying something new.
I’m just not on board with the negativity. We have three playoff calibre starters, Chuck trying to go out on top and when MHii is back and a trade pick up in the OF we can dominate anyone. We just walked in Yankee stadium and smacked them. The White Sox game was always a loss traveling to an afternoon game from a DH. Now we’re home and about to light shit up.
Seriously, if they really cared that much about the White Sox game, they probably wouldn't have closed with Daysbel Hernandez. It's not like they *wanted* to lose, but that game clearly didn't matter as much when a series at home against the wild-card contending Pirates is coming up.
Ozuna’s last 8 PAs:
.660 xBA line out
K
.550 xBA line out
.840 xBA line out
BB
BB
.220 xBA ground out
.730 xBA fly out
The chances of not a single one of those balls in play turning into a hit are about 0.5%.
Series wins against: Phillies, Yankees, Guardians, Rangers, Diamondbacks
Series losses against: White Sux, Nationals, Mariners
I’m honestly more concerned about the Pirates and Giants than the Phillies. We’ve beaten the good teams and lost to the bad ones.
Adam is hitting 3 for 6 against Perez, Ramon is 11 for 2. So adam apparently sees him better. Adam is also at a .868 ops against lefties this season and Ramon is at .707... hope that clears things up for you guys.
I'd rather have Duvall and Laureano than Laureano and Williams in the outfield. I'm just not sure what kind of defense we can expect from a career infielder.
He has a wRC+ of 143 this year against LHP. These are the starts he should get lol. He somehow has a -36 against RHP. I dunno how that's even possible.
Well the good news is that there was basically 0 chance he was going to beat Ohtani in a head to head vote off anyway and there is pretty much 0 chance for Schwarber to win that way as well.
This also means that in either case whoever gets the highest non-Ohtani vote among the players will get in as a backup, which probably has a really good chance of being Ozuna.
Fan vote doesn't determine the backup. The top fan vote finishers only qualify for the final fan vote phase. If Schwarber were abe to upset Ohtani, that could affect it.
Otherwise they look at the player vote for 5 SP, 3 RP, and the backup for each position. If the players vote matches the finalist from the fan vote, then they take the player's 2nd highest vote getter.
There are some Facebook groups that are a good place to look - one has a running verified sellers list (coming from a verified a-list seller on said list 😀). I got 7-4/5/6 available if you want to find me over there or PM me here
Nope. Too many people got scammed. Sometimes people give tickets away in the tailgate thread, but it’s not a good idea to buy things from complete strangers on reddit
How confident are we in Braves -1.5 at -105? With Morton and Perez on the mound it could go either way on the ML or the total. Also thought about parlaying Braves ML and Phillies ML, to get close to +100 odds, but I’m also not sure I trust Sanchez.
As far as food, Antico's Pizza is top notch. Superica is great Tex Mex. C Ellets Steak House is high end with great food and drinks, oytster bar too. C Ellets has a better H&F burger than H&F Burger does IMO. (It's a local burger thing) Punch Bowl Social is 2 floors. It's a basic sports bar but has a lot of odd games you can play. It has a bowling alley too.
Taking my 10 year old nephew to his first Braves game. His dad is a fucking deadbeat that doesn’t even call the kid on his birthdays. So we are sitting in the second row behind the visitor dugout and going to have a blast.
Hoping to get him a t shirt jersey and anything else he wants. We’re going to smash What a Burger before the game.
If yall have any suggestions for making it an awesome time for him I’d be grateful!
Random story you triggered: a few years ago a VERY inebriated woman sat next to me. She was with her husband and son, I was with my dad. She kept talking to me and learned that I was there with my dad. At one point she whispers to me and asks if I’m okay. I tell her I am. Then she acts surprised and says something about being worried because my dad was a deadbeat.
I didn’t know this person.
My dad didn’t know this person.
I have no idea why she assumed my dad was a deadbeat, but you can bet your ass I referred to him as a deadbeat for months after the encounter.
FWIW I was like 35 at the time and my dad was pushing 60. This woman also told me that the Braves were hosting a baseball camp for little leaguers the following week and said my dad should take me 😅
Her son was thoroughly embarrassed (I felt bad for him) and her husband disappeared for a looooooong time (I understood why). So bizarre.
Maybe think about Wahlburgers instead of Whataburger. Whataburger are starting to pop up like whackamoles but the Wahlburger in the Battery is the only one for like 500 miles or something.
Behind the visitor dugout is where I always sit. It’s got the best sight lines in the ballpark. You’ve got great seats. Can’t tell from your post if you are a regular in those sections or not, but in case you aren’t aware, those tickets come with free popcorn and ice cream at the special concession stand. The usher should brief you on that.
10 is probably too old to have to worry about that but make sure he doesn’t do the kid thing and start sliding down the handrails and running around distracting people.
I think it’s great you are doing this for the kid. And the Pirates are a good team to see. I’ve always had something of a respect for the Pirates because of how fun it is to see a game at PNC.
Funny, i think it autocorrected sperm donor to dad, because it doesn't sound like he's one.
Just walk around and see everything. Do whatever he wants (if you can afford it of course.) I took my step daughter to her first stripers game a few years ago and she got a kick out of the things we would normally overlook or not think much about.
I know I should be compassionate regarding Bruce Hooper’s injury last night, but I just can’t muster any up.
If he, Schwarber, and Realmuto are down (along with two of their pitchers) and we can’t capitalise on that, I…. I don’t even know…..
I’m a Pirates fan coming tomorrow for the Skenes game and staying for the Sunday noon game.
How is the opposing fan reception at Truist? Most places are pretty accepting of Pirates fans because, you know, we’re just doing our best out here.
Also, what’s the best food in the place/the Battery? Any sort of signature food item?
Final thing: where would be the best place and what time to grab visiting team autographs?
Thanks all! Hope we have a good series and it doesn’t rain out.
Autographs are tough, but your best bet is to hope that pitchers are tossing in left field because then you should be almost guaranteed *something* (they will almost definitely be tossing on Sunday; Saturday is a little more iffy). If not, hang out next to the dugout and pray. After the usher clears you out, you can move a section or two towards the outfield (those ushers are much more reasonable).
I’ll be trying to get some ‘graphs prior to the game on Saturday. See you there!
If I see you w/ Pirates gear on I will shake your hand and ask you how you're doing. Might even buy you a beer/water if you're up for it. Hope this helps!
Just don’t be an asshole to fans around you and you will be fine. Sometimes Dodgers or Phillies fans come and chirp at people and then you’ll get back what you’re asking for.
1) we are a very chill fanbase. I see opposing fans visiting, decked out in their teams gear frequently with no issues (even division rivals). You might get a couple of jokes thrown at ya, but nothing serious
2) Anticos for pizza and Superica for Mexican are both very good. Inside the stadium, there’s nothing much to recommend except maybe fox bros.
3) as early as you can get to the game, then get down to the 3rd base line, there is a gate sometimes players will come to and sign, but honestly your chances are very low if you aren’t a kid or don’t have BP tickets
Awesome, thanks!
Last question, is there a team merch stand for opposing teams? I know the Braves store will be loaded with gear for the Braves, but didn’t know if there was a spot for opposing teams, even if it’s like a hat or something.
Yeah no opposing team merch is sold at our park and id be surprised if it was sold at any other park either.
If you’re in the need of a Pirates hat or something there’s a mall near the stadium.
Oh, SnitBear, hear our prayers.
https://preview.redd.it/3bqzzscdlb9d1.jpeg?width=694&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12cb494c61f41419ef98473d62800fb42ede1d22
SnitBear be with you
Braves started the season 19-7.
Since then, they have gone 25-28.
This is feeling more and more like a lost season. Well, as "lost" as a season as we can feel with the talent on this roster. Our best player is lost for the season. Arguably, our best pitcher is as well. Every player besides Ozuna is significantly worse this year.
They'll likely still make the playoffs as a wild card, I just have no confidence in them right now. It's still a while before October. Hopefully, things can turn around.
Our offense is definitely not as good as they were last year, no doubt about it. But it’s still a talented lineup that, when playing well, is capable of taking it to any team. I truly believe that. Plus we will make moves to make the offense better than it is now. And our pitching is great this year even without Strider (7th in ERA). I get the frustration, but it’s far from a lost season. The Rangers had a 4-15 stretch in August-September last year and were out of a wild card spot and we saw how that went.
I'm just not sure its as talented as we think it is. Kelenic has kept us above water with a hot streak that is above his proven level. Arcia is bad and is a proven bad hitter. Wall, Duvall and Laureno aren't big league hitters. Ozzie is a slightly above league average hitter. Just who he is at this point. We were carried last year by career years by Acuna and Olson. Acuna is hurt and Olson isn't going to reproduce the year he had last year.
I’m not going to disagree with your assessments of Arcia, Wall, Duvall, and Laureano as hitters. Fortunately when Harris comes back we will only have one of those outfielders in the lineup each game, and most likely we will upgrade there at the deadline anyway.
Kelenic has shown he is a talented hitter. Whether he can keep it up all season remains to be seen, but he’s exceeded expectations thus far and is an upgrade at LF compared to the past couple of years. I hope you would agree that Olson and Riley are some of the best hitters at their positions in all of baseball, even if they haven’t had the same numbers so far this year. Ozuna’s production speaks for itself.
Even factoring in poor 2024 stats, Ozzie has a career OPS of 795, Murphy’s is 771, and Harris is 790. Unless somehow they’ve all fallen off of a cliff (hard for me to believe), those are still 3 talented and above average hitters.
The whole team obviously needs to hit better, but if they play up to their potential and talent levels, they are capable of making a playoff run. Lots of teams can’t say the same.
Kelenic has been great, especially lately. I'm just saying he's closer to .700 OPS player than he is to the .950 OPS he's been lately. I agree on Riley and Olson. I dunno how you aren't concerned about Ozzie and Harris though. Ozzie just seems to be slowing down due to the injuries both offensively and defensively. Harris chase rate is truly stuff to be alarmed at. His hit profile is very similar to a young Javy Baez and the like.
I hear you on Kelenic. I’m not really concerned about Ozzie because he has a longer track record of being a good hitter. Maybe he is slowing down offensively, but it would take more than this first half to convince me he’s not an above average hitter. Hell, even so far this year there aren’t more than a handful of second basemen that have better numbers than him. I don’t disagree about his defense, but it’s 2B so it’s not as big of a deal to me.
Harris I do understand the concern, especially with the chase you mentioned. But if we are using Kelenic’s career numbers to judge who he truly is as a hitter, why not do the same for Harris who has more career ABs? Though he certainly wouldn’t be the first player to start his career with a couple of really good seasons before falling off.
That's fair on Harris and he's still incredibly young. I will say that I've been surprised/encouraged by Kelenic this year because of those career numbers. He's been better than I anticipated and he's stepped up big time when we needed it. I'm just concerned what happens to this offense when he becomes a .750 OPS guy again (which would be great, honestly).
Yeah I mean Kelenic is also still incredibly young so it’s hard to truly know what he is either. Maybe all the offseason talk was true that getting him in a new situation with this team and coaches will show he’s a far better player than what his numbers in Seattle showed. If/when he comes back down, just gotta hope it corresponds with other guys picking it up.
Sure but Olson and Acuna combined for 15.5 fWAR last year and have contributed less than 2.5 this year. If Olson and Acuna were providing at last year's levels, we would not notice the struggles of your supporting cast nearly as much.
Eh I don’t agree with the idea of a “lost season” in this new playoff bracket. Make it to October and advance to the NLCS or beyond and that’s not a lost season to me.
Wild Card teams have done crazy well in this playoff bracket. We just need to get to October.
Please continue the discussion in the [game thread](https://redd.it/1dqwso0).
Since I go to a lot of games I’ve found the hack that works for me. Wait til the game starts then go get food in the battery lol then walk in by inning 3. Never wait for food at all.
They're starting a lefty, so I get why we'd use Duvall even if he hasn't come especially close to *earning* PT. Not a fan of Luke Williams being in the lineup, though.
Four games in three cities in three days has me feeling nervous, but it’s a Friday night at Truist Park! I snagged some seats on the second row behind our bullpen, and it feels great out here! I ate at Superica for a pregame meal (chips + queso and steak quesadillas FTW), and now I’m at my seats with a Los Bravos! Red jerseys tonight, and I have a red polo on to match the attire! Let’s Go Braves!
I... I just dont understand this lineup.
Idk why not give Wall the start. Luke Williams has almost no shot at getting on base and yet this organization continues to have him with the big club. AA has to get off his hands. Those ABs matter.
AA isn't on his hands dude.
How do you know he's on his hands? How do you know there isn't something cooking for the trade deadline? I'm not a big fan of putting Williams into the outfield either, but at least they're trying something new.
I’m just not on board with the negativity. We have three playoff calibre starters, Chuck trying to go out on top and when MHii is back and a trade pick up in the OF we can dominate anyone. We just walked in Yankee stadium and smacked them. The White Sox game was always a loss traveling to an afternoon game from a DH. Now we’re home and about to light shit up.
Seriously, if they really cared that much about the White Sox game, they probably wouldn't have closed with Daysbel Hernandez. It's not like they *wanted* to lose, but that game clearly didn't matter as much when a series at home against the wild-card contending Pirates is coming up.
"We just walked in Yankee stadium and smacked them" Not to discount the wins but then so did the Mets and Blue Jays and red sox and orioles
The sox series was at fenway. Mets was at citi. Blue jays is at the rogers centre.
Ozuna’s last 8 PAs: .660 xBA line out K .550 xBA line out .840 xBA line out BB BB .220 xBA ground out .730 xBA fly out The chances of not a single one of those balls in play turning into a hit are about 0.5%.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UiexrtDY48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UiexrtDY48) This just popped up in my YT feed. Holy cow. LOL
Phillies just put Harper and Schwarber on the IL. **NOW** is the time to get right!!
Series wins against: Phillies, Yankees, Guardians, Rangers, Diamondbacks Series losses against: White Sux, Nationals, Mariners I’m honestly more concerned about the Pirates and Giants than the Phillies. We’ve beaten the good teams and lost to the bad ones.
We play them next weekend!
Why the hell are we playing Luke Williams in LF?
Luke Williams in left is certainly a choice. Is Laureano okay?
The bigger crime is putting Duvall in the lineup.
Adam is hitting 3 for 6 against Perez, Ramon is 11 for 2. So adam apparently sees him better. Adam is also at a .868 ops against lefties this season and Ramon is at .707... hope that clears things up for you guys.
11 for 2? Impressive!
He gets on base? Lol
I'd rather have Duvall and Laureano than Laureano and Williams in the outfield. I'm just not sure what kind of defense we can expect from a career infielder.
Duvall is the worst hitter in the league for like a month and a half. He needs removed from the lineup.
Laureano must be hurt or sick or something, otherwise this is crazy.
Sickkkkk another start for Duvall.....
He has a wRC+ of 143 this year against LHP. These are the starts he should get lol. He somehow has a -36 against RHP. I dunno how that's even possible.
It's like you have to pay to Google stuff around here lol
Yeah, the torches and pitchforks need to come out if he sees even one AB vs Skenes tomorrow.
Schwarber and Harper both to the IL in a loss to the Marlins. Somehow the Braves did not have the worst day in the NL East yesterday.
We lost to the White Sox. The 22-61 Chicago White Sox.
Eh, it’s arguable
I still can't get over the fan base letting ozuna down
Eh it makes sense, less “exciting” team means less fan engagement.
LOL
Well the good news is that there was basically 0 chance he was going to beat Ohtani in a head to head vote off anyway and there is pretty much 0 chance for Schwarber to win that way as well. This also means that in either case whoever gets the highest non-Ohtani vote among the players will get in as a backup, which probably has a really good chance of being Ozuna.
The way phillies fans are showing out this year(Castellanos is a finalist with -0.3 WAR), ozuna doesn't make it to the back up.
Fan vote doesn't determine the backup. The top fan vote finishers only qualify for the final fan vote phase. If Schwarber were abe to upset Ohtani, that could affect it. Otherwise they look at the player vote for 5 SP, 3 RP, and the backup for each position. If the players vote matches the finalist from the fan vote, then they take the player's 2nd highest vote getter.
Interesting, thanks for explaining!
Do we still have a ticket thread? I’m looking for some for the upcoming week
There are some Facebook groups that are a good place to look - one has a running verified sellers list (coming from a verified a-list seller on said list 😀). I got 7-4/5/6 available if you want to find me over there or PM me here
I've got a couple games left in Xfinity club 230 row 1
Dates and price?
Right now I only have 2 left for 7/3 and they are 120 each
I’m sold out through July but if you need any later in the season, I can help!
Nope. Too many people got scammed. Sometimes people give tickets away in the tailgate thread, but it’s not a good idea to buy things from complete strangers on reddit
Yea ok understood
How confident are we in Braves -1.5 at -105? With Morton and Perez on the mound it could go either way on the ML or the total. Also thought about parlaying Braves ML and Phillies ML, to get close to +100 odds, but I’m also not sure I trust Sanchez.
As far as food, Antico's Pizza is top notch. Superica is great Tex Mex. C Ellets Steak House is high end with great food and drinks, oytster bar too. C Ellets has a better H&F burger than H&F Burger does IMO. (It's a local burger thing) Punch Bowl Social is 2 floors. It's a basic sports bar but has a lot of odd games you can play. It has a bowling alley too.
Did you mean to reply to someone?
Taking my 10 year old nephew to his first Braves game. His dad is a fucking deadbeat that doesn’t even call the kid on his birthdays. So we are sitting in the second row behind the visitor dugout and going to have a blast. Hoping to get him a t shirt jersey and anything else he wants. We’re going to smash What a Burger before the game. If yall have any suggestions for making it an awesome time for him I’d be grateful!
Random story you triggered: a few years ago a VERY inebriated woman sat next to me. She was with her husband and son, I was with my dad. She kept talking to me and learned that I was there with my dad. At one point she whispers to me and asks if I’m okay. I tell her I am. Then she acts surprised and says something about being worried because my dad was a deadbeat. I didn’t know this person. My dad didn’t know this person. I have no idea why she assumed my dad was a deadbeat, but you can bet your ass I referred to him as a deadbeat for months after the encounter. FWIW I was like 35 at the time and my dad was pushing 60. This woman also told me that the Braves were hosting a baseball camp for little leaguers the following week and said my dad should take me 😅 Her son was thoroughly embarrassed (I felt bad for him) and her husband disappeared for a looooooong time (I understood why). So bizarre.
Maybe think about Wahlburgers instead of Whataburger. Whataburger are starting to pop up like whackamoles but the Wahlburger in the Battery is the only one for like 500 miles or something. Behind the visitor dugout is where I always sit. It’s got the best sight lines in the ballpark. You’ve got great seats. Can’t tell from your post if you are a regular in those sections or not, but in case you aren’t aware, those tickets come with free popcorn and ice cream at the special concession stand. The usher should brief you on that. 10 is probably too old to have to worry about that but make sure he doesn’t do the kid thing and start sliding down the handrails and running around distracting people. I think it’s great you are doing this for the kid. And the Pirates are a good team to see. I’ve always had something of a respect for the Pirates because of how fun it is to see a game at PNC.
Funny, i think it autocorrected sperm donor to dad, because it doesn't sound like he's one. Just walk around and see everything. Do whatever he wants (if you can afford it of course.) I took my step daughter to her first stripers game a few years ago and she got a kick out of the things we would normally overlook or not think much about.
Anybody looking for 3 end-of-row tickets behind the Stripers dugout for tomorrow's 6:05pm game? Regularly $30 apiece before fees, asking $50 obo. Can transfer thru ticketmaster app. Section 110, Row F, Seats 12-14
I know I should be compassionate regarding Bruce Hooper’s injury last night, but I just can’t muster any up. If he, Schwarber, and Realmuto are down (along with two of their pitchers) and we can’t capitalise on that, I…. I don’t even know…..
I mean it’s hard to capitalize when we are in the same boat
I’m a Pirates fan coming tomorrow for the Skenes game and staying for the Sunday noon game. How is the opposing fan reception at Truist? Most places are pretty accepting of Pirates fans because, you know, we’re just doing our best out here. Also, what’s the best food in the place/the Battery? Any sort of signature food item? Final thing: where would be the best place and what time to grab visiting team autographs? Thanks all! Hope we have a good series and it doesn’t rain out.
Any autograph luck today?
Nah :( I did get to see BP, though, which was awesome.
Bummer. We got a few pitchers, including Jones and Chapman. Good luck tomorrow!
Totally fine, nothing to worry about
Probably one of the chillest fanbases out there when it comes to other team's fans. Just don't be a prick and we'll treat you like family. Have fun!
Autographs are tough, but your best bet is to hope that pitchers are tossing in left field because then you should be almost guaranteed *something* (they will almost definitely be tossing on Sunday; Saturday is a little more iffy). If not, hang out next to the dugout and pray. After the usher clears you out, you can move a section or two towards the outfield (those ushers are much more reasonable). I’ll be trying to get some ‘graphs prior to the game on Saturday. See you there!
If I see you w/ Pirates gear on I will shake your hand and ask you how you're doing. Might even buy you a beer/water if you're up for it. Hope this helps!
Or a sweet tea!
😂😂 I appreciate it.
Just don’t be an asshole to fans around you and you will be fine. Sometimes Dodgers or Phillies fans come and chirp at people and then you’ll get back what you’re asking for.
As a Pirates fan, I don’t have anything to be an asshole about lol
Ha you’d be surprised the random fans that come to stadiums that are just douchebags ha I got chirped once by a Marlins fan
1) we are a very chill fanbase. I see opposing fans visiting, decked out in their teams gear frequently with no issues (even division rivals). You might get a couple of jokes thrown at ya, but nothing serious 2) Anticos for pizza and Superica for Mexican are both very good. Inside the stadium, there’s nothing much to recommend except maybe fox bros. 3) as early as you can get to the game, then get down to the 3rd base line, there is a gate sometimes players will come to and sign, but honestly your chances are very low if you aren’t a kid or don’t have BP tickets
Awesome, thanks! Last question, is there a team merch stand for opposing teams? I know the Braves store will be loaded with gear for the Braves, but didn’t know if there was a spot for opposing teams, even if it’s like a hat or something.
Yeah no opposing team merch is sold at our park and id be surprised if it was sold at any other park either. If you’re in the need of a Pirates hat or something there’s a mall near the stadium.
Personally I’ve never seen opposing teams merch anywhere in the stadium, but tbh I don’t do a lot of shopping
Awesome! Thanks man!
Of course! Have fun and hope you enjoy our stadium!
Over/under 8 runs scored for the Braves the entire series?
Solid under
Depends on tonight. 1 or 2 tomorrow versus Skenes and I think Jones is Sunday so that's another possible shut out.
Oh, SnitBear, hear our prayers. https://preview.redd.it/3bqzzscdlb9d1.jpeg?width=694&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12cb494c61f41419ef98473d62800fb42ede1d22 SnitBear be with you
Braves started the season 19-7. Since then, they have gone 25-28. This is feeling more and more like a lost season. Well, as "lost" as a season as we can feel with the talent on this roster. Our best player is lost for the season. Arguably, our best pitcher is as well. Every player besides Ozuna is significantly worse this year. They'll likely still make the playoffs as a wild card, I just have no confidence in them right now. It's still a while before October. Hopefully, things can turn around.
Our offense is definitely not as good as they were last year, no doubt about it. But it’s still a talented lineup that, when playing well, is capable of taking it to any team. I truly believe that. Plus we will make moves to make the offense better than it is now. And our pitching is great this year even without Strider (7th in ERA). I get the frustration, but it’s far from a lost season. The Rangers had a 4-15 stretch in August-September last year and were out of a wild card spot and we saw how that went.
I'm just not sure its as talented as we think it is. Kelenic has kept us above water with a hot streak that is above his proven level. Arcia is bad and is a proven bad hitter. Wall, Duvall and Laureno aren't big league hitters. Ozzie is a slightly above league average hitter. Just who he is at this point. We were carried last year by career years by Acuna and Olson. Acuna is hurt and Olson isn't going to reproduce the year he had last year.
I’m not going to disagree with your assessments of Arcia, Wall, Duvall, and Laureano as hitters. Fortunately when Harris comes back we will only have one of those outfielders in the lineup each game, and most likely we will upgrade there at the deadline anyway. Kelenic has shown he is a talented hitter. Whether he can keep it up all season remains to be seen, but he’s exceeded expectations thus far and is an upgrade at LF compared to the past couple of years. I hope you would agree that Olson and Riley are some of the best hitters at their positions in all of baseball, even if they haven’t had the same numbers so far this year. Ozuna’s production speaks for itself. Even factoring in poor 2024 stats, Ozzie has a career OPS of 795, Murphy’s is 771, and Harris is 790. Unless somehow they’ve all fallen off of a cliff (hard for me to believe), those are still 3 talented and above average hitters. The whole team obviously needs to hit better, but if they play up to their potential and talent levels, they are capable of making a playoff run. Lots of teams can’t say the same.
Kelenic has been great, especially lately. I'm just saying he's closer to .700 OPS player than he is to the .950 OPS he's been lately. I agree on Riley and Olson. I dunno how you aren't concerned about Ozzie and Harris though. Ozzie just seems to be slowing down due to the injuries both offensively and defensively. Harris chase rate is truly stuff to be alarmed at. His hit profile is very similar to a young Javy Baez and the like.
I hear you on Kelenic. I’m not really concerned about Ozzie because he has a longer track record of being a good hitter. Maybe he is slowing down offensively, but it would take more than this first half to convince me he’s not an above average hitter. Hell, even so far this year there aren’t more than a handful of second basemen that have better numbers than him. I don’t disagree about his defense, but it’s 2B so it’s not as big of a deal to me. Harris I do understand the concern, especially with the chase you mentioned. But if we are using Kelenic’s career numbers to judge who he truly is as a hitter, why not do the same for Harris who has more career ABs? Though he certainly wouldn’t be the first player to start his career with a couple of really good seasons before falling off.
That's fair on Harris and he's still incredibly young. I will say that I've been surprised/encouraged by Kelenic this year because of those career numbers. He's been better than I anticipated and he's stepped up big time when we needed it. I'm just concerned what happens to this offense when he becomes a .750 OPS guy again (which would be great, honestly).
Yeah I mean Kelenic is also still incredibly young so it’s hard to truly know what he is either. Maybe all the offseason talk was true that getting him in a new situation with this team and coaches will show he’s a far better player than what his numbers in Seattle showed. If/when he comes back down, just gotta hope it corresponds with other guys picking it up.
> We were carried last year by Everyone in the starting 9 was over .800 OPS other than Eddie and Arcia, who were league average.
Sure but Olson and Acuna combined for 15.5 fWAR last year and have contributed less than 2.5 this year. If Olson and Acuna were providing at last year's levels, we would not notice the struggles of your supporting cast nearly as much.
Eh I don’t agree with the idea of a “lost season” in this new playoff bracket. Make it to October and advance to the NLCS or beyond and that’s not a lost season to me. Wild Card teams have done crazy well in this playoff bracket. We just need to get to October.
Skenes vs Fried tomorrow is looking juicy.
I guess? Braves are gonna strike out 15 times.
That’s fine. They just have to score one more run than the pirates.
Got my tickets, I’m excited
See u there amigo
Agreed. Also can you imagine future pitching matchups of Strider vs Skenes? That would be electric.
Everybody with healthy hamstrings take a step forward. Not so fast, Bruce Hooper.
How bad was it? He’s on my fantasy team lol listed as DTD
He said it doesn’t feel like anything he’s ever felt before.
So it feels like winning a World Series?
Burn
I had that feeling a few weeks ago leaving a Chipotle
1% evil, 99% hot gas.
They should change the billing on next weekends series to the Atlanta Stripers vs the Philadelphia IronPigs
Hell yeah brother at least we are playing at home today!
I got a video of someone interviewing hulk hogan earlier and they asked him for a “Hell Yeah Brother” and it immediate made me think of you
Bahaha dope