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MLB Playoff Discussion


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12 hours ago, naptownskinsfan said:

They’ve got a lot of talent on the team, but also made some great moves at the deadline that have provided steady production.  They are also doing this without a very good starting pitcher (Mike Soroka) on the shelf for the entire season.  

And without 2/3 of their best hitters from 2020 with OZuna and Acuna out for the majority of the year. 3/4 for most of the year with D'arnaud hurt until early august.

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It's gonna be an uphill climb for the Braves. Weird to say with the team up 1-0 and looking pretty damn good in the first game, but no Morton means multiple bullpen games or they'll need a killer start from a guy like Kyle Wright in game 4 to offset the loss of Morton.

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48 minutes ago, Texansfan713 said:

yesterday was god awful.  valdez was throwing hittable pitches.  i still think we will bounce back game 2 but if our bats struggled against Fried we will be in trouble. 

Fried is a great pitcher. I hope he pitches like he did in the regular season tonight. He was a Cy Young 5th place vote in 2020. I'd love it if he could channel his late season form that had 2 complete game shutouts. Him going 7 innings and allowing 1-2 would be ideal for the Braves tonight. Let the pen get some rest. Hopefully get a big enough lead so that they can put in like Chavez and Smyly to close the game out.

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2 hours ago, scar988 said:

It's gonna be an uphill climb for the Braves. Weird to say with the team up 1-0 and looking pretty damn good in the first game, but no Morton means multiple bullpen games or they'll need a killer start from a guy like Kyle Wright in game 4 to offset the loss of Morton.

Weird that I am in the boat rooting for you all. 

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4 hours ago, hrubes20 said:

Am I the only one that watches this Braves team and thinks, "How the hell have they been this successful?  They don't do anything that well."

I don't think that. I think they do things pretty well. That lineup was built for lefty pitchers last night. They seem better without Acuna.

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On 10/27/2021 at 5:06 PM, biggio7 said:

I don't think that. I think they do things pretty well. That lineup was built for lefty pitchers last night. They seem better without Acuna.

Since the break, they look better because they went out and fixed the holes in LF and CF they've had all year. Rosario and Duvall have been a godsend for this team. But they would be better with Acuna instead of Soler and Pederson. A consistent 1-hole guy and tone setter for the lineup. He's also an attitude creator for the team. They play with an edge with him healthy. If Acuna was healthy in this series, he would have been a big difference maker. 

On 10/27/2021 at 1:02 PM, hrubes20 said:

Am I the only one that watches this Braves team and thinks, "How the hell have they been this successful?  They don't do anything that well."

They have one of the best lineups in terms of run production since the all star break. They have one of the best bullpens since the trade deadline. They have three good starting pitchers when people are healthy. And if they give guys like Wright and Lee a chance this coming year, they might have 5 good starting pitchers by next year's playoffs.

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49 minutes ago, scar988 said:

They have one of the best lineups in terms of run production since the all star break. They have one of the best bullpens since the trade deadline. They have three good starting pitchers when people are healthy. And if they give guys like Wright and Lee a chance this coming year, they might have 5 good starting pitchers by next year's playoffs.

Their wRC+ as a team in the 2nd half was 14th in baseball.  Their bullpen since August 1st had the 9th best FIP and 12th best xFIP.  Fried/Morton/Anderson is a solid 1/2/3 for sure, but none of them are what you would classify as a bona fide shutdown ace.

They just aren't elite in any facet of the game and if they can do the Lord's work tonight and knock off the Astros in game 6, they will be one of the least impressive WS winners in recent memory.  But just because they wouldn't hold up against past winners, doesn't mean they don't get a banner.  That's why baseball can be great.  

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1 hour ago, hrubes20 said:

Their wRC+ as a team in the 2nd half was 14th in baseball.  Their bullpen since August 1st had the 9th best FIP and 12th best xFIP.  Fried/Morton/Anderson is a solid 1/2/3 for sure, but none of them are what you would classify as a bona fide shutdown ace.

They just aren't elite in any facet of the game and if they can do the Lord's work tonight and knock off the Astros in game 6, they will be one of the least impressive WS winners in recent memory.  But just because they wouldn't hold up against past winners, doesn't mean they don't get a banner.  That's why baseball can be great.  

W-L since the trade deadline is 36-18. One of the best marks in the league. 

Sometimes, just being good at everything is better than being great at one thing. For kicks and giggles, what's their WRC+ since the deadline and bringing in the 4 guys they did?

What's it in the playoffs?

What's the Bullpen FIP in the playoffs? 

 

That's what's been winning them games outside of strong starts from their, "non-Aces". 

 

Morton won a Cy Young

Fried will win one in his career if he can be consistently good all year for a year instead of ridiculously good for a month and then average the next month.

Anderson could be a good No. 2 type guy and had a ridiculous start in game 3.

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51 minutes ago, scar988 said:

W-L since the trade deadline is 36-18. One of the best marks in the league. 

Sometimes, just being good at everything is better than being great at one thing. For kicks and giggles, what's their WRC+ since the deadline and bringing in the 4 guys they did?

What's it in the playoffs?

What's the Bullpen FIP in the playoffs? 

Playoff stats are largely irrelevant due to sample size.  Anyone can get hot for a 10-15 game stretch.  

I don't want to get into a big semantics battle (which is my fault for using "good" in my original post), but I think it's less that the Braves are  "good" at everything but moreso that they aren't "bad" at anything.  By most metrics, and using your timeframe of the 2nd half, the Braves aren't in the top 10 in baseball in hitting, pitching, fielding, or baserunning.  However, they also aren't in the bottom 10 in any of those categories either.  That's really odd to see in a potential WS champ.  Here are the recent ones:

2020 - Not a real season and no champion acknowledged

2019 - Nats were 9th in hitting and 4th in pitching. 

2018 - Red Sox were 4th in hitting, 6th in pitching, and 6th in fielding

2017 - Asterisks were 1st in hitting and 7th in pitching

2016 - Cubs were 4th in hitting; 1st in pitching; 3rd in baserunning; 1st in fielding (Damn this team was good and I miss them)

2015 - Royals were 10th in hitting and 1st in fielding (also had one of the best bullpens of all-time)

2014 - Giants were 9th in hitting; 7th in pitching

2013 - Red Sox were 1st in hitting; 5th in baserunning; and 7th in fielding

This Braves team actually reminds me a good bit of a slightly lesser 2014 Giants team.  

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