Atlanta Braves pitching struggles post MLB All-Star break
Sophia Dalton Is there such thing as too much pitching? Atlanta is about to find out.
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves were red-hot in June, but things have leveled off in July and since the All-Star break ended, they are just 1-3. They dropped the final two games against the Chicago White Sox in their first series post-break and lost a slugfest on Tuesday night to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 16-13.
After that loss, Braves' pitching has become the focus of their problems. They’re still in great shape and have the best record in baseball, but the pitching staff has given up 30 runs in their past three games—their first three-game losing streak since mid-May.
On the latest episode of Locked On Braves, host Jake Mastroianni discussed the Braves’ 16-13 loss and the upcoming pitching crunch.
“This is a good pitching staff, but you just can’t give up 16 runs,” said Mastroianni. “You (also) can’t lose a game when you score 13.”
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In Tuesday’s game, starter Bryce Elder only lasted two and two-thirds innings and gave up seven runs (five earned) on seven hits. He also surrendered a home run to Emmanuel Rivera in the top of the second inning.
The Braves offense scored five runs in the bottom of the first after Elder gave up two to the Diamondbacks to start the game, but Arizona came back with their own five-spot in the top of the second, and Elder was taken out after two batters in the third.
Michael Tonkin, who replaced Elder, also pitched two and two-thirds innings and gave up four runs. The only Braves pitchers to not surrender any runs last night were Joe Jiménez and Dereck Rodriguez. The Braves used seven pitchers in total on Tuesday. They used six in Sunday’s loss to the White Sox, including relievers Kirby Yates and Ben Heller, who were part of Tuesday’s loss and gave up a run each. Rasiel Iglesias was saddled with the loss when he gave up three runs in the top of the ninth that put the DBacks up 16-13—that broke a streak of seven straight appearances not giving up an earned run.
Everything looks worse after a loss like that, but as we mentioned, the Braves have had issues with pitching since returning from the All-Star break, so who will go? Mastroianni believes any moves the Braves make at the deadline will involve the bullpen.
Mastroianni looked at the numbers for the pitching staff first, and it seems good for the season, but if you take a closer look at recent numbers, the pitching staff’s ERA goes from below 4.00 to above 4.00. A lot of that has to do with injuries. Plus, they’re still without Max Fried.
Then Mastroianni went through the bullpen arms. He talks about who he thinks will stay, Iglesias, and who he doesn’t entirely trust even though they’ve improved lately; Yates, Jimenez, and even starter Bryce Elder have made that list.
But the bottom line is, even if the Braves have a roster crunch and need to move some guys around when someone like Fried comes back to the rotation, it’s a good problem to have, and most teams in baseball would kill for the same “problem.”
Mastroianni also believes having so many injuries will make it harder for Alex Anthopoulos to make moves at the deadline. Still, as Anthopoulos has shown repeatedly, he usually makes the right one, so the Braves, as good as they are, could get even better once August 2 is here.
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