Today's Three Things: Braves Lose Opener to Mets AND Spencer Strider to Injury
The Atlanta Braves got obliterated by the long ball and lost one of their most talented young starters to...some sort of injury
The Atlanta Braves rallied late but couldn’t overcome their early deficit, dropping their series opener to the New York Mets 7-5 in Citi Field on Friday night.
Here is Today’s Three Things from the contest.
The Turning Point
It came early in this one, as it was the second inning.
Both teams loaded the bases, but the results were drastically different.
Atlanta picked up two early runs and then loaded the bases with no outs… but couldn’t add on, as Austin Wynns (strikeout) and Mauricio Dubón (popout) picked up two quick outs despite not a single one of the nine combined pitches they saw being in the strike zone.
Seriously - Wynns swung at four pitches off the plate, striking out, while Dubón got up 3-0, bailed out of the box on an autotake strike (that was actually inside and that he could have challenged, and then weakly popped out when he got jammed on a heater.
Michael Harris then struck out looking to end the frame. The Braves tied the game at two, but they hung 42 pitches on Mets starter Nolan McLean but couldn’t deliver the killing blow.
And then in the bottom half, the Mets loaded the bases with two strikes, getting a double, an infield single, and a hit-by-pitch.
The difference here is that, while the Braves recorded three outs without getting a ball out of the infield and striking out twice, the Mets hit a grand slam. Bo Bichette turned on an elevated four-seamer for his second home run of the game, adding on to the solo shot he hit in the first inning.
It was 6-2 at that point and the rout was on. The Braves wouldn’t threaten from that point on, adding only a solo shot (and that came after the Mets pushed the lead to five runs.)
Today’s Player of the Game
With all due respect to Matt Olson, who hit his 20th home run of the season tonight, I’m giving it to JR Ritchie.
The prospect was optioned down to Gwinnett with some command issues and took a while to iron them out with the Stripers. But after his most recent start, which saw him pitch six innings with two runs and four strikeouts, but no walks, he was called up earlier this week to reinforce a bullpen that lost Carlos Carrasco to the DFA monster.
He was called on tonight with a runner on first and no outs in the fourth, and was able to finish the game for the Braves, saving the bullpen for another day. Ritchie covered the final five innings in 73 pitches, allowing two hits and walking two while striking out five.
Per Braves broadcaster CJ Nitkowski, Ritchie is the first Braves pitcher to throw five innings out of the pen without an earned run since Cristhian Martinez did it in 2011.
There are a few ways this can play out - either the Braves keep him wth the major league club and use him as the replacement for Strider, or they try to buy an extra reliever for a few days by sending Ritchie down tomorrow and then making him the corresponding move for a Strider IL placement on Tuesday. (IL placement can be backdated up to three days, so the Braves could carry an extra reliever in Ritchie’s spot for the rest of this series and then bring Ritchie back as an injury replacement for Strider on Tuesday, letting him start against the Giants at home next week).
While he didn’t get a lot of whiffs (eight in 33 swings) and the contact against him averaged 94.8 mph, it’s still progress and he’s likely to get another opportunity to start in the majors as soon as next week.
What You’ll Be Talking About
The injury to Spencer Strider.
Having already been tagged for six runs in his first three innings, Strider walked the leadoff hitter of the 4th inning. That was the last batter he faced, perhaps for a while.
Manager Walt Weiss and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner came out to visit with him, accompanied by head athletic trainer George Poulis. Strider’s three fastballs he threw to Melendez were all below 90 mph, with the last being just 87.8 mph, and Strider was removed from the game.
The official word from the Braves two innings later was “right arm soreness”, a worryingly vague diagnosis that lends the impression that there’s more going on than just some brief mechanical issues. After the game, Walt Weiss said that Spencer felt soreness in both his arm and shoulder and would get an MRI tomorrow.
Looking for more discussion about this game?
Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the contest.
What’s Next for the Braves?
The Braves are looking to even up the series tomorrow, with veteran Martín Pérez (4-3, 3.02) on the mound. The Mets have yet to announce their starter or if they plan to use an opener ahead of a bulk pitcher instead.