Battery Power - September 4: Rockies 7, Braves 6Your one stop shop for everything Atlanta Braveshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52890/favicon-32x32..png2021-09-04T23:55:01-04:00http://www.batterypower.com/rss/stream/224211922021-09-04T23:55:01-04:002021-09-04T23:55:01-04:00Braves can’t overcome bad pitching in 7-6 loss to Rockies
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<figcaption>Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Ian Anderson wasn’t right, the bullpen wasn’t good, and the offense blew some chances.</p> <p id="xRIule">The Braves lost yet another one-run game on Saturday night in Denver, giving them four one-run losses (and one one-run win) in their last five games. This time, though, the one-run nature of the defeat was more due to some late runs scored by the Braves, as the pitching really made this contest a tough one to win for the visitors.</p>
<p id="w5Yz2d">Ian Anderson made his second start after spending some time on the shelf with a shoulder injury, and looked terrible, hardly like himself, throughout. His first start back was an odd one, with a 3/0 K/BB ratio but no runs allowed, and both of those went far more poorly against the Rockies. Before Anderson could sputter out, though, the Braves actually handed him a two-run lead in kind of bizarre fashion. Ozzie Albies started the game with a bloop single into center. He moved up to second on a slow roller to third by Jorge Soler, the out call on which at first base may have been worth challenging but went uncontested. Freddie Freeman then followed with a routine bouncer to first base that bounced off of C.J. Cron, putting runners on the corners. An Austin Riley chopper groundout scored the first Atlanta run, and Adam Duvall followed with a double to score Freeman. </p>
<p id="bcnLO4">Unfortunately, then it was Anderson’s turn to pitch. He escaped the first in a fashion about as odd as how the Braves scored their runs. He got his first man on a bunt groundout to Riley, but then issued a four-pitch walk to Brendan Rodgers. A wild pitch moved Rodgers to second, and Charlie Blackmon followed with a clean single into right. For whatever reason, Rodgers got the stop sign at third and didn’t try to score, which meant Blackmon was caught dead to rights trying to advance to second on a play at the plate that never happened. A very deep fly to center field ended the frame.</p>
<p id="wavjXp">After Colorado starter German Marquez rebounded to throw a perfect second, Anderson started to hemmorhage runs. Cron started the bottom of the inning with an absolute blast on a hanging changeup. Ryan McMahon followed with an opposite field double, and Anderson then got ahead of Elias Diaz 0-2, but ended up walking him. The next pitch was a grounder to third, but Riley and Albies could only combine for a forceout rather than a double play, which set up Marquez’ game-tying RBI sacrifice bunt. </p>
<p id="qjdnM5">The Braves immediately retook the lead in the third, as Ozzie Albies destroyed a middle-middle Marquez fastball into right center to lead off the frame for his 25th longball of the year. But, Anderson gave the lead right back, as a slow roller infield single by Rodgers segued into yet another hanging changeup from Anderson that Blackmon obliterated 441 feet into center field for a go-ahead two-run shot. Cron’s moonshot was on the same type of do-nothing changeup, and yeah, Anderson looked pretty broken throughout this one. Now down 4-3, the Braves left Anderson in the game, even after he walked Story right after the homer, but he recovered with three relatively easy outs.</p>
<p id="8V0Ny0">The Braves were sat down in order by Marquez in the fourth, and after Anderson walked eighth-place hitter Raimel Tapia to begin the bottom of the inning, the Braves had apparently seen enough and yanked him. Anderson finished his outing with an awful 4/0 K/BB ratio and two homers allowed, easily the worst start of his career to this point. The mechanics were just a mess in this one, with Anderson spiking most changeups to his armside while the fastball kept being pulled gloveside, with most pitches in the zone drifting right into hitters’ wheelhouses. I can’t imagine the Braves use this as an opportunity to figure some things out with Anderson, but unless he fixes everything in a few days, his next start could be brutal as well. Edgar Santana came on in relief and retired the Rockies in order, but the Braves still trailed 4-3. </p>
<p id="pBCBkz">But they didn’t trail for long. Steven Vogt started the top of the fifth with a single. Ehire Adrianza followed with a forceout at second, moved up on a wild pitch that still struck out Albies (on a very questionable check swing call), and then scored when Soler hit a grounder up the middle for a single. Freeman walked as the Braves threatened to retake the lead, but Marquez struck out Riley to end his outing. Marquez didn’t really dominate in this one, giving up four runs (two earned) and a homer, but the 5/1 K/BB ratio was fine enough for a five-inning stint.</p>
<p id="XfrDVL">In the bottom of the fifth, Jacob Webb followed Santana and dominated the Rockies, striking out both Blackmon and Cron while getting Story to fly out weakly to center. But, after Tyler Kinley threw a perfect top of the sixth, things unraveled for Atlanta. A.J Minter came on in relief of Webb. To date, Minter hadn’t allowed a run or had a negative WPA outing since his recall from the minors, but that’s all over now. Minter walked McMahon, and then gave up a first-pitch grounder double to Diaz. (Grounder doubles between third and short are rare, especially by catchers, but that’s what happened here.) Tapia hit a sac fly to make it 5-4 Rockies, and Jesse Chavez relieved Minter to face pinch-hitter Joshua Fuentes, whom he struck out. Unfortunately, Chavez couldn’t keep it to a one-run game, as leadoff hitter Garrett Hampson singled on a grounder to left to make it 6-4 in Colorado’s favor. Hampson made it to third as Duvall booted the ball, but didn’t come around to score.</p>
<p id="V2R7OI">The Braves went 1-2-3 against Jhoulys Chacin in the top of the seventh, and in the bottom of the inning, it was Sean Newcomb’s turn to bleed another run — a leadoff four-pitch walk to Blackmon was followed by a Trevor Story triple to right. Newcomb actually stranded Story at third, but the Braves were now down by three runs.</p>
<p id="9Qry7b">The top of the eighth was Atlanta’s big chance to mount a comeback, but they blew it. Daniel Bard started the frame for Colorado, and after a first-pitch flyout by Soler, walked both Freeman and Riley. Duvall followed with a single to left to load the bases, and the Rockies lifted Bard for Tyler Stephenson. Dansby Swanson was up next and could’ve done a lot of damage... but instead just hit a first-pitch mediocre sacrifice fly. Joc Pederson followed and struck out on four pitches, failing to do anything with either of the two hanging curveballs he got from Stephenson (fouling off one, missing the other for strike three).</p>
<p id="dFLstj">The bottom of the eighth featured an amusing novelty in the form of Drew Smyly, reliever guy. Smyly threw nine pitches in his perfect inning, seven of them curveballs. He recorded one strikeout (on three straight curveballs) and two outs in the air — one on a soft flare to left that usually falls in for a hit, one on a deep drive to left that didn’t quite get out — who knows whether we’ll actually see this keep up, but it was fun to see in a pretty dreadful game otherwise.</p>
<p id="WkJzGP">So, onto the top of the ninth, with the Braves down by two. The Rockies once again summoned Carlos Estevez, who rapidly retired the Braves last night. This ninth inning was also lightning-fast, with Estevez throwing just 10 pitches. It started with Vogt striking out looking. Pinch-hitter Travis d’Arnaud then drilled an Estevez 98 mph fastball down the middle for a solo homer, making it a 7-6 game. But, Albies and Soler both flew out, and that was that. </p>
<p id="g6V6os">The best the Braves can do now is split this series, which they’ll try to do when Charlie Morton faces Ryan Feltner in his major league debut tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately for Atlanta, the Mets split a doubleheader today and the Phillies lost again to the Marlins, so the division lead remains at two games. This has already been a disappointing road trip, but maybe they’ll escape Denver with a split before heading home and potentially putting all these bad one-run losses behind them.</p>
https://www.batterypower.com/2021/9/4/22657914/atlanta-braves-colorado-rockies-recap-final-score-7-6-loss-ian-anderson-aj-minter-sean-newcombIvan the Great2021-09-04T19:40:00-04:002021-09-04T19:40:00-04:00GameThread, 9/4/2021: Braves @ Rockies
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<figcaption>Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Ian Anderson vs. German Marquez</p> <p id="qo7saN">The Braves face a tough test as German Marquez takes the hill against them for Colorado. Ian Anderson will try to follow up his most recent outing, which was effective in a very unorthodox way, with something a bit more conventionally run prevent-y. </p>
<p id="XqN7uK">The Mets blew a 9-0 lead and still won in extras today, so just remember, baseball is idiotic. But hopefully the Braves win.</p>
<p id="W4qIOo">For my sanity, I hope this game features no stupid baserunning decisions and no stupid third-time-through-the-order decisions, at least not for the visitors. If the Braves can avoid those, then I’ll at least be content. Thanks in advance, friends.</p>
https://www.batterypower.com/2021/9/4/22657576/gamethread-9-4-2021-braves-rockiesIvan the Great2021-09-04T18:00:00-04:002021-09-04T18:00:00-04:00Pederson, Vogt return to bottom of the lineup against Marquez, Rockies
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<figcaption>Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Otherwise, it’s the same set of guys</p> <p id="uobV6Z">Joc Pederson and Steven Vogt are both in tonight’s lineup against German Marquez and the Rockies:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here's how the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Braves?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Braves</a> will line up tonight in Colorado!<br><br>Presented by <a href="https://twitter.com/TruistNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TruistNews</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ForTheA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ForTheA</a> <a href="https://t.co/8r7ibdnjp5">pic.twitter.com/8r7ibdnjp5</a></p>— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) <a href="https://twitter.com/Braves/status/1434250913154314244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2021</a>
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<p id="40DcYX">Weirdly enough, this is kind of the de facto “usual” lineup at this point — after tonight, the Braves will have used it seven times, which will tie another lineup from earlier in the season (actually their Opening Day lineup) as their most common of the 2021 campaign.</p>
<p id="cnyDMx">Pederson is back after riding the bench for three games while Eddie Rosario started. Vogt started in the series opener but sat last night.</p>
<p id="Ku8RIH">The Rockies haven’t tweeted their lineup yet, but it appears to be of this flavor:</p>
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<p id="wFCMai">This is a new lineup for Colorado, as it’s Raimel Tapia’s first time hitting eighth this season. Defensively, the Rockies have used this arrangement twice, both in early July, but they’ve lost both times. </p>
<p id="DimmMF">In the Braves’ lineup, most guys have seen Marquez, and a few have hit him well in a tiny sample. Pederson has the most exposure to the Rockies’ right-hander, but hasn’t actually fared too successfully in around 20 PAs.</p>
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<p id="Z3s73G">No one in Colorado’s lineup has faced Ian Anderson before, which makes sense, given that it’s mostly a homegrown crew.</p>
<p id="xc51xj">Statcast graphic:</p>
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https://www.batterypower.com/2021/9/4/22657542/atlanta-braves-colorado-rockies-lineups-september-4-2021-joc-pederson-steven-vogtIvan the Great2021-09-04T14:00:00-04:002021-09-04T14:00:00-04:00Ian Anderson, Braves face tough test in Rockies’ German Marquez
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<figcaption>Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>After dropping a game at Coors Field yesterday, the Braves have a tough matchup on tap tonight</p> <p id="99za1j">The Braves lost in pretty irritating fashion yesterday, dropping a game 4-3 despite handily out-xwOBAing their opponents (.343 to .278) and matching them in wOBA (.293 to .288) as well. That sort of stuff happens all the time, of course, but it’s never particularly easy to stomach, especially when the team makes a series of unforced errors that contribute to the loss. On the plus side, though, the division lead of two games didn’t shrink yesterday, and the Braves get a chance to right some wrongs and earn their 72nd win of the season tonight against the same Rockies that bested them yesterday.</p>
<p id="JCT0gO">It won’t be particularly easy, though, because German Marquez stands in their way. Marquez, if you haven’t been paying attention, has been consistently awesome in Colorado’s often-shredded rotation. For his career, Marquez has 15.6 fWAR in 790 innings (nearly 4 fWAR per 200 innings). Since the start of 2017, the year when he was a full-time major leaguer, he’s 13th among pitchers in fWAR, and joins only Jacob deGrom among the set of hurlers with more fWAR than him as guys with at least 2.3 fWAR in each of the last five seasons, including last year’s pandemic-shortened campaign. Marquez has a career 87 ERA-/85 FIP-/84 xFIP- line, and has consistently been in that 4 WAR/200 innings range after posting an above-average-but-not-quite-that-good rookie campaign in 2017.</p>
<p id="m34LSQ">2021 has been more of the same for Marquez, as he’s already thrown 156 frames across 27 starts with 3.2 fWAR compiled on the year. His 86/85/84 line for 2021 is basically the mirror of his career. He’s throwing fewer sinkers, curves, and changeups this year to emphasize his slider more, which hasn’t changed him too much, but has shifted his profile to one with more walks due to fewer pitches in the zone, but also weaker, less airborne contact when hitters do connect. If there’s one silver lining for the Braves in terms of facing Marquez in 2021, it’s that his pitch shape is kind of a mess this year — not that it’s impeded his success — and you can hit him hard if you fish out the four-seamer or sinker instead of being bamboozled by his slider or very weird slurveball thing, both of which have whiff rates above 40 percent. </p>
<p id="oMs0vt">Another possible boon for Atlanta in this matchup is that Marquez has kind of struggled lately — he had one of his worst outings last time out, allowing three homers in six frames to the Rangers of all teams, and hasn’t really had a dominant or even particularly great outing since shutting out the Marlins for six innings back on August 6. He has a pretty horrendous 186/161/105 line over his last four starts, but still, it’s just four starts. Marquez has faced the Braves thrice in his career — they destroyed him, dealing him one of his worst starts ever (if not <em>the </em>worst start of his career) in their first meeting in 2018, then got mostly stifled by him later that season, and then knocked him around again in 2019. </p>
<p id="YipXxm">Opposing Marquez will be Atlanta’s Ian Anderson, who hasn’t exactly slouched himself in the pitching department. Anderson comes into this game toting 2.0 fWAR in 101 <sup>2</sup>⁄<sub>3</sub> innings, giving him a gaudy 3.1 in 134 frames for his career. His pitching triple-slash of 80/87/90 is real good... but he’s also still working his way back from an injury that robbed him of about six weeks of major league game time. Anderson hit the shelf on July 11 after leaving the worst start of his career having recorded just seven outs. When he returned, a few days ago against the Giants, he had one of the most bizarre outings you’ll ever see: 5 <sup>2</sup>⁄<sub>3</sub> innings of shutout ball, but with two walks and zero strikeouts. It doesn’t seem too likely that that sort of K-BB relationship will have similarly positive results this time around, so hopefully Anderson just goes back to striking a bunch of guys out, starting with tonight’s game. </p>
<p id="xpfkVS">Watch Anderson’s pitch location in this one: after various parts early in the season where he consistently missed gloveside, a bunch of his curves and changeups drifted armside in his most recent outing. It seemed to fool the Giants a bit last time out, but it’s probably not part of the gameplan, and could be an early warning that things might be unraveling if Anderson isn’t able to work up-down, like he usually does, without missing horizontally.</p>
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<p id="hRe25x"><strong>Game Info</strong></p>
<p id="pKVkJk"><a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Atlanta Braves</a> @ <a href="https://www.purplerow.com">Colorado Rockies</a></p>
<p id="hrCl9Y">Saturday, September 4, 2021</p>
<p id="27j5MO">8:10 pm EDT</p>
<p id="p5uVOq">Coors Field, Denver, CO</p>
<p id="Hx44Z9">TV: Bally Sports Southeast</p>
<p id="TdtPea">Radio: 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan, WNNX 100.5, Braves Radio Network</p>
<p id="G5PrEC">XM Radio: Online, Ch. 189</p>
https://www.batterypower.com/2021/9/4/22657087/atlanta-braves-colorado-rockies-preview-september-4-2021-ian-anderson-german-marquezIvan the Great