Subscribe by hitting the “follow” button & follow us on Twitter at @thedailybraves
When you look around the Braves’ defense on literally ANY night, you’d be hard-pressed to find a weakness or even a position in which the Braves are just average. Of course, I write that knowing that last night’s uninterested defense isn’t the norm. I don’t know what that was.
The young pitchers that Atlanta has thrown out there on the rubber in 2020 have all struggled with control, some more than others. Walks are indefensible & mistakes end up in the bleachers never to be seen again. More balls=more pitches. Whoever ends up filling out our rotation needs to throw strikes, first & foremost. When pitchers throw to contact, they throw fewer pitches & in turn go deeper into ballgames. Mike Foltynewicz, Sean Newcomb, & Kyle Wright have put themselves into spots in ballgames that no pitcher ever wants to be in, and it costed Folty & Newk their spot on the big league roster.
Last night, Kyle Wright walked in a run. WALKED IN A RUN. He also only lasted one batter into the 4th inning. He threw 65 pitches through 3 innings, that’s an average of 21.67 pitches an inning. And he only threw 4 pitches in the 1st, so knowing that, that’s 30.5 pitches in the 2nd & in the 3rd on average. Of his 65 total pitches, only 29 were strikes; that’s less than 45%. He walked SIX batters during his three innings. As a defense, there’s nothing they can do to help you when you do that.
Everybody in Braves Nation wants studs to be promoted or studs to be traded for. But do we really need studs? We just need starters that throw strikes. Even with the vast struggles of the rotation, the Braves have had a chance to tie or win at the end of every ballgame.
More strikes equal more wins & fewer comebacks needed. To think, Braves Nation could have a stress-free 8th & 9th innings.
The Daily Braves 