Today's Three Things: Braves Win Bullpen Game Behind Just Enough Offense
The Braves threw six pitchers and got out of some jams to seal a low-scoring win
The Atlanta Braves took down the San Francisco Giants 3-1 in Oracle Park on Friday night.
Here is Today’s Three Things from the contest.
The Turning Point
Braves pitching got in two significant jams on Friday night, both of them at the hands of Hurston Waldrep.
In his first inning of work, the fifth, our resident splitter enthusiast lost the zone a bit against the bottom of the order. After striking out Matt Chapman, he gave up a single to the debuting Drew Cavanuagh before walking #9 hitter Victor Bericoto. This at-bat was particularly rough, with Waldrep getting up 1-2 but throwing three splitters in the dirt to put him on. Leadoff hitter Luis Arraez then drew his own walk on six pitches, all of them below the zone, before Waldrep recovered with a strikeout of slugger Bryce Eldridge and a sinker-induced groundout of Casey Schmitt.
Waldrep got himself into another jam in the 7th, again versus the bottom of the order. After a first pitch strike, he walked Cavanaugh on four straight balls before giving up a single to Bericoto when Drake Baldwin called for the at-bat’s third sinker in the exact same spot.
This time, Atlanta pivoted, asking lefty Dylan Lee to come in and clean up the mess. He did, getting all three outs on just four pitches. After Luis Arraez advanced both runners into scoring position with a first-pitch bunt, Lee got Eldridge to pop out on the first pitch and Casey Schmitt to softly fly out on the second pitch.
Today’s Player of the Game
With 50% of the vote on the postcast, it was the bullpen trio of Lee, Didier Fuentes, and Raisel Iglesias.
Lee came back out for the 8th, which makes sense - he had thrown just four pitches and was on pace to finish the game with just twelve. But after two quick outs, Willy Adames jumped on a hanging changeup and doubled to center, with Michael Harris II tracking the ball to the warning track and leaping for the catch but having the ball bounce out of his glove. At that point, manager Walt Weiss called on Didier Fuentes out of the pen, with “Didi” punching out Matt Chapman on three consecutive fastballs to keep San Fran from tying the game up.
Despite the low pitch count, Fuentes did not come out for the 9th, with Raisel Iglesias instead recording his 16th save of the season by mowing through the bottom of San Fran’s order on just ten pitches.
What You’ll Be Talking About
With all due respect to the offense, which had just three runs despite seven hits (six of them being singles), I think it’s the pitching.
Reynaldo López got the start, his first since early this season, and was…fine? Okay? He allowed just one run on four hits across three innings, not issuing any walks and striking out one. López’s curveball was a legit weapon tonight, picking up three whiffs on seven swings and allowing only one softly-hit batted ball. The fastball, however, averaged just 93.8 and multiple hits (and a run) were scored on several <93-mph offerings in the first inning. He got just two whiffs on the fifteen swings off the heater and gave up four hard-hit balls, with the fastball’s average exit velocity sitting at 91.5 mph. Manager Walt Weiss indicated after the game that López is probably get another start, likely at the expense of Hurston Waldrep.
That’s because, while Waldrep’s stuff is better, his command of it is not. The righty walked four in his two innings of work, striking out three and giving up two hits. It’s a profile very reminiscent of Ian Anderson’s: driven by an offspeed pitch (albeit a splitter for Waldrep versus a traditional changeup for Anderson) and more of a threat to walk batters than to give up hits.
Both of Waldrep’s jams were mostly self-imposed, with the youngster attempting to induce chase below the zone rather than trusting his stuff and attacking the bottom of the order hitters he was facing. The profile can be dynamic when it’s on, but it’s also an incredibly inefficient pitching style when it’s not, and we saw that in Waldrep’s 55-pitch outing (28 strikes) tonight.
Highlight of the Night
Michael Harris II caught this sinking liner off the bat of Matt Chapman in the 2nd inning and, while still running in towards second base, turned just his upper half and fired a 94 mph LASER to first base to double off Willy Adames.
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 now going from the frying pan directly into the fire, facing off with San Francisco ace Logan Webb (4-5, 3.35) on Saturday. Atlanta’s giving the ball to Bryce Elder (5-5, 3.71) at 9:05 PM ET.