#ChopItUp
Week Ending 7/21/2019
Record: 4-4
Wins: Keuchal 3-2, Newcomb 3-1, Soroka 10-2, Fried 10-4
Homers: Freeman (25), Donaldson (22), Acuna (22), Flowers (8), Markakis (9), McCann (9)
*All Figures represent numbers since All-Star break
Stories from the Week that Was:
****Pitching....?****
****What happened to us offensively?****
****Reading the Trade Deadline Tea Leaves****
****Down on the Farm: Episode 4****
Good afternoon Gentlemen. Been awhile since we skipped last week with the break. Really started off with a bang. Since we’ve sputtered and it’s been frustrating to watch. Let’s dive in here.
Pitching...?
Where to even begin here? We’ve talked and talked about it here and we all sound like a broken record. This rotation and bullpen all of a sudden is what really makes me wonder just how far we can go in the playoffs. Soroka has had some uncharacteristically shaky outings and it’s worth mentioning he’s never pitched this many innings in a season. Keuchal hasn’t gotten near the run support he should be getting. Tehran has actually been quality in his last 13 for the most part. Fried pitched well in his one outing but again, he’s never once pitched a full season of innings. Wilson and Wright show flashes, but need more time in the minors.
Ho Lee Phuck gentlemen. Our rotation is a house of cards that could fall at any point. Foltynewicz and Gausman put so much pressure on our young arms this year. We were counting on them a lot to bridge this gap and they’ve not been able to. It’s fair to mention both have had strong outings in Gwinnett, but Gausman on the hill tonight doesn’t excite me. I feel it’s gonna take 8 runs to win tonight which we haven’t scored in a game since the break.
What do we need from Gausman tonight to win? The word is he’s been working on two new pitches in a slider and a curveball if I recall. If he could just be trade deadline of last year Gausman I feel he would solidify that fifth spot in the rotation. We’re gonna need one or both of him and Folty down the stretch with the Nats charging.
What Happened to Us Offensively?
I want to call out two specific guys in this section and mention one other and praise yet another.
Austin Riley
This guy right here is too good of a ball player to be sucking this bad. There’s not been many nights that have passed where he doesn’t have 3 strikeouts to his name on 3 of the ugliest at bats where he doesn’t swing at a strike once. He shows flashes of improving his pitch selection, then he follows it up with an at-bat that looks terrible. It is undeniable though that our lineup is at its best and deepest when he’s playing well. I feel as though he’s going to get baptized by fire the rest of the way and gain a lot of experience that’ll prepare him for next year. He’s going to be a fanstastic ball player. He’s just not right now.
Dansby Swanson
So before I say this, I am well aware that he’s had a couple of multi-hit games since the break. He’s looked off in between those games. Last night I didn’t think he had a chance to hit the ball and he’s been striking out on a ton of check swings. He’s one that I’m on this site saying our offense really works when he’s hitting the ball hard and he really needs to get back to that. Like yesterday.
Freddie Freeman
His average has dropped 13 points since the break. He’s hit the ball on and off. His approach hasn’t struck fear into anyone lately.
Josh Donaldson
The bringer of rain has absolutely crushed the ball since the break. Off the bat, I thought his walk off hit the other night was gone. He's now got a higher WAR than Freddie.
Reading the Trade Deadline Tea Leaves
The scouts have been to see Detroit twice. It was unclear who they were looking at originally, but later we learned it was Matt Boyd, Shane Green, and Nick Castellanos. Scouts were up yesterday to watch Stroman start against the Tigers. There were also scouts in attendance to watch Mike Minor’s latest start.
I don’t start sounding alarms until I hear what scouts come to watch our games. Last night, for Kolby Allard’s start in Gwinnett there were roughly 10 organizations represented; 3 of which were Toronto, Detroit, and Texas. All that being said, I think we can narrow down which starting pitchers we will be targeting and who we are looking to move.
Stroman is the name I feel we’re going to pursue the hardest followed closely by Miner. Boyd is gonna cost us too much. This is the first I’ve really heard us wanting to pursue Mike Minor.
Down on the Farm: Episode 4
Mahki Backstrom
Today we’ll talk about Mahki Backstrom. Him and Bryce Ball represent the only two legit first base prospects we’ve had in the organization since Freddie.
Backstrom was drafted in the 18th round of the draft this year after receiving first round grades this time last year until he had a vision problem and didn’t start off the year very well at all. At 6ft6 240 pounds and an exit Velo in high school of 102 (placing him in the 99.72 percentile), he was one of the premier power hitters in high school.
Backstrom signed late and got his assignment last week and he’s currently with the Florida Firefrogs in the GCL. He went 3-3 in his debut.
Putting a Bow On It
It’s been a little bit revealing how bad we are on the mound the past 9 days especially with the starting pitching. I do feel this will he addressed at the end of the month. Until then, we’ve got to hit the ball better than we have and hopefully that starts tonight! If we can pull a split all that will have happened the last 4 days was we burned 4 days off the calendar and still maintain our 6.5 game lead. Until next week. #ChopItUp
Week Ending 7/21/2019
Record: 4-4
Wins: Keuchal 3-2, Newcomb 3-1, Soroka 10-2, Fried 10-4
Homers: Freeman (25), Donaldson (22), Acuna (22), Flowers (8), Markakis (9), McCann (9)
*All Figures represent numbers since All-Star break
Stories from the Week that Was:
****Pitching....?****
****What happened to us offensively?****
****Reading the Trade Deadline Tea Leaves****
****Down on the Farm: Episode 4****
Good afternoon Gentlemen. Been awhile since we skipped last week with the break. Really started off with a bang. Since we’ve sputtered and it’s been frustrating to watch. Let’s dive in here.
Pitching...?
Where to even begin here? We’ve talked and talked about it here and we all sound like a broken record. This rotation and bullpen all of a sudden is what really makes me wonder just how far we can go in the playoffs. Soroka has had some uncharacteristically shaky outings and it’s worth mentioning he’s never pitched this many innings in a season. Keuchal hasn’t gotten near the run support he should be getting. Tehran has actually been quality in his last 13 for the most part. Fried pitched well in his one outing but again, he’s never once pitched a full season of innings. Wilson and Wright show flashes, but need more time in the minors.
Ho Lee Phuck gentlemen. Our rotation is a house of cards that could fall at any point. Foltynewicz and Gausman put so much pressure on our young arms this year. We were counting on them a lot to bridge this gap and they’ve not been able to. It’s fair to mention both have had strong outings in Gwinnett, but Gausman on the hill tonight doesn’t excite me. I feel it’s gonna take 8 runs to win tonight which we haven’t scored in a game since the break.
What do we need from Gausman tonight to win? The word is he’s been working on two new pitches in a slider and a curveball if I recall. If he could just be trade deadline of last year Gausman I feel he would solidify that fifth spot in the rotation. We’re gonna need one or both of him and Folty down the stretch with the Nats charging.
What Happened to Us Offensively?
I want to call out two specific guys in this section and mention one other and praise yet another.
Austin Riley
This guy right here is too good of a ball player to be sucking this bad. There’s not been many nights that have passed where he doesn’t have 3 strikeouts to his name on 3 of the ugliest at bats where he doesn’t swing at a strike once. He shows flashes of improving his pitch selection, then he follows it up with an at-bat that looks terrible. It is undeniable though that our lineup is at its best and deepest when he’s playing well. I feel as though he’s going to get baptized by fire the rest of the way and gain a lot of experience that’ll prepare him for next year. He’s going to be a fanstastic ball player. He’s just not right now.
Dansby Swanson
So before I say this, I am well aware that he’s had a couple of multi-hit games since the break. He’s looked off in between those games. Last night I didn’t think he had a chance to hit the ball and he’s been striking out on a ton of check swings. He’s one that I’m on this site saying our offense really works when he’s hitting the ball hard and he really needs to get back to that. Like yesterday.
Freddie Freeman
His average has dropped 13 points since the break. He’s hit the ball on and off. His approach hasn’t struck fear into anyone lately.
Josh Donaldson
The bringer of rain has absolutely crushed the ball since the break. Off the bat, I thought his walk off hit the other night was gone. He's now got a higher WAR than Freddie.
Reading the Trade Deadline Tea Leaves
The scouts have been to see Detroit twice. It was unclear who they were looking at originally, but later we learned it was Matt Boyd, Shane Green, and Nick Castellanos. Scouts were up yesterday to watch Stroman start against the Tigers. There were also scouts in attendance to watch Mike Minor’s latest start.
I don’t start sounding alarms until I hear what scouts come to watch our games. Last night, for Kolby Allard’s start in Gwinnett there were roughly 10 organizations represented; 3 of which were Toronto, Detroit, and Texas. All that being said, I think we can narrow down which starting pitchers we will be targeting and who we are looking to move.
Stroman is the name I feel we’re going to pursue the hardest followed closely by Miner. Boyd is gonna cost us too much. This is the first I’ve really heard us wanting to pursue Mike Minor.
Down on the Farm: Episode 4
Mahki Backstrom
Today we’ll talk about Mahki Backstrom. Him and Bryce Ball represent the only two legit first base prospects we’ve had in the organization since Freddie.
Backstrom was drafted in the 18th round of the draft this year after receiving first round grades this time last year until he had a vision problem and didn’t start off the year very well at all. At 6ft6 240 pounds and an exit Velo in high school of 102 (placing him in the 99.72 percentile), he was one of the premier power hitters in high school.
Backstrom signed late and got his assignment last week and he’s currently with the Florida Firefrogs in the GCL. He went 3-3 in his debut.
Putting a Bow On It
It’s been a little bit revealing how bad we are on the mound the past 9 days especially with the starting pitching. I do feel this will he addressed at the end of the month. Until then, we’ve got to hit the ball better than we have and hopefully that starts tonight! If we can pull a split all that will have happened the last 4 days was we burned 4 days off the calendar and still maintain our 6.5 game lead. Until next week. #ChopItUp
