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Talking Chop

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Latest Entries

Is Ozzie Albies on the rebound?

Okay, I don’t have a great title for this one, but this is probably less a question post than a thoughts post, just masquerading as a daily question post. With the best record in baseball, the Braves are surprising to probably everyone, except maybe themselves. I thought they’d be good, but not best-team-in-baseball good. Sure, […]

MLB

Braves News: Michael Harris II update, JR Ritchie’s debut, and more

Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II exited Thursday’s game in the seventh inning after experiencing left quad tightness. Fortunately, the move was only precautionary and Harris is expected to be on the lineup card tonight against the Philadelphia Phillies. Harris had a huge series against the Washington Nationals, where he logged six hits, two of […]

Reviewing JR Ritchie’s debut for the Atlanta Braves

Coming into today’s matchup, the Braves were coming off of a strong win but one where the bullpen was taxed after Didier Fuentes was removed after three innings – just a single day after Reynaldo Lopez struggled through a little more than an inning of work. The Braves were looking for a hero – enter […]

MLB

Braves at Nationals series recap: Atlanta just keeps on cooking

A four-game series within the division on the road is always interesting. It was especially interesting considering that the Washington Nationals were heading into this series having scored the third-most runs in the National League (fourth overall) with a MLB-leading 22 of those runs coming in the first inning of their games played so far. […]

Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals Game Thread: April 23

Regardless of what happens in Thursday’s series finale at Washington, the Atlanta Braves will have still not lost a series this season. Having won two of the first three games of the four-game road set, Atlanta is guaranteed at worst a split. But a win would mean a fifth straight series victory, a 6-1 road […]

MLB

Braves Minor League Recap: Tate Southisene Hits Leadoff Homer

The attention the Braves have given to position player prospects has paid huge dividends so far this season with a number of impressive performances already in the first month. First round pick Tate Southisene led off for Augusta with his third long ball of the season, and his .917 OPS on the season has been […]

Braves News: JR Ritchie called up, Didier Fuentes starts, more

Well it has rapidly turned into prospect week for the Braves’ rotation, as a 1.0 inning Reynaldo Lopez start on Tuesday in the middle of a stretch of 10 games straight sent the Braves’ pitching into a scramble to cover innings. An up and down 3.0 inning start from Didier Fuentes resulted in Thursday’s scheduled […]

Braves move Dylan Dodd to the IL and call up Carlos Carrasco, per report

Well, this has certainly been a busy night! It makes sense given the short turnaround between tonight’s 8-6 win for the Braves over the Nationals and Thursday afternoon’s Getaway Day game to end the series. We already got the huge news that consensus Top 100 prospect JR Ritchie would be called up to start Thursday’s […]

JR Ritchie will be called up to start for Braves against Nationals

At the end of the recap for tonight’s 8-6 Braves win over the Nationals, I mentioned that the process of getting through that game pitching-wise brought up some questions as to how they would deal with Thursday afternoon’s game. As it turned out, the Braves will be dipping into their prospect pool again in order […]

Braves at Nationals game thread: April 22

Well folks, we’ve got ourselves a series. If the Braves can win tonight, they’ll at least ensure that their streak of not losing series goes on through another midweek and they can go for an impactful series win of a four-game series on the road. If not, then the pressure will be on to salvage […]

Didier Fuentes set to receive stern test from surprisingly strong Nationals lineup

Didier Fuentes will be the starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves tonight as he makes his return to the big leagues. Here’s hoping that he’s ready this time because as the Washington Nationals have proved over the course of the season so far and these first two games, their lineup is one that should definitely […]

MLB

Braves recall Didier Fuentes, designate Ian Hamilton for assignment (Updated)

It seems that Chris Sale’s next start will be pushed to Friday after all. (Not so fast, see below) The NL East leading Atlanta Braves, who are five games clear in the Division, have made a roster move before tonight’s game with the Washington Nationals. The Braves have added 20-year-old Didier Fuentes to the active […]

MLB

Braves Minor League Recap: Eric Hartman Hits 3 Home Runs

The week started off with a wild set of games on the Atlanta Braves farm system. The Gwinnett Stripers, led by the rehabbing Spencer Strider, managed to get no-hit but still come out with a win in the game. Meanwhile Rome took the opposite path, obliterating a good Greensboro pitching staff with six home runs […]

Will MLB ever get to a fully-automatic strike zone?

Watching Laz Diaz umpire home plate yesterday, and the way both teams basically froze up after unsuccessfully using one challenge in the first PA of the game, reinforced for me that two ABS challenges is insufficient. But, a little before that, I had read this Jayson Stark article in The Athletic about the headwinds, such […]

11-4 walloping in Washington wrecks Braves’ win streak

On April 21, 2024, the Braves began the day with a six-game winning streak. It ended in fairly routine fashion: the Braves took an early 3-0 lead over the Rangers, but Darius Vines couldn’t prop it up, and they lost, 6-4. That was the last time (before now) the Braves had a winning streak of […]

MRI showed no structural damage for Braves closer Raisel Iglesias

The Atlanta Braves got what is hopefully good news related to closer Raisel Iglesias as it was conveyed to reporters prior to tonight’s game that an MRI showed only inflammation with no structural damage to his shoulder. As MLB.com’s Mark Bowman relayed, the team hopes Iglesias will only stay on the IL for a limited […]