Three Cuts: Braves swept by streaking Mets, fall back in NL East race
The Mets have apparently become an unstoppable April force overnight. New York's winning streak hit 11 games with a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves, whose offense was unable to pick up a struggling pitching staff. Here are three observations from the Braves' 6-3 loss on Thursday afternoon in the series finale:
Running into a red-hot team on the road is rarely an enjoyable experience, but with their three-game date with the red-hot Mets the Braves' surprising 5-0 start has quickly disappeared. They are now one game over .500, 4 1/2 games back in the far-too-early NL East race and searching for answers in multiple areas. A disappointing home series against Miami, a walk-off loss in Toronto and a one-sided sweep in Queens will have that effect -- and, more than ever before this season, manager Fredi Gonzalez appeared frustrated with the recent results.
"I'm not worried about the offense," Gonzalez said. "I'm worried about our pitching and our bullpen a little bit."
His concern was understandable following an erratic outing from starter Julio Teheran and his bullpen, but the sweep at the hands of New York was a team effort. True, the pitching has been awful -- ranking as the worst staff in baseball over the past week, entering Thursday with a 5.79 FIP over that span -- but the offense only scored a total of six runs at Citi Field.
"We had more hits than they did, Gonzalez noted, "but that's not how you keep score."
This wasn't a matter of one unit letting the other down. This was a collective issue.
The Braves have now lost 11 of their past 16 meetings with the Mets, the NL East frontrunner after posting a perfect 10-0 record at home, but the more immediate issues call into question just how representative Atlanta's fast start was of its 162-game prospects. Gonzalez is not wrong here. Pitching is the more concerning matter, if only because the Braves rely so heavily on it. If it weren't for quality pitching last season, the Braves might just hold the No. 1 draft pick this June. Despite fresh position talent and offensive renovations, if the Braves aren't keeping runs off the board -- and, in Thursday's case, runners off the basepaths -- their outlook is rather bleak.
The Braves have a chance to address some of these matters, and get back on the right track, against a Phillies team that already looks destined to challenge for the top pick in 2016. (Sorry, Philadelphia.) The good news: The Braves two best starting pitchers to date -- Alex Wood and Shelby Miller -- are getting the call to start that three-game set off.
(And, as always at this time of year, a necessary disclaimer: It's still really, really early.)
This was not the start the Braves ace was looking for.
This was not the April he was looking for.
Following an excellent Opening Day outing against the Marlins, the wheels have slowly fallen off for Teheran over his past three starts. He handed out far too many free passes in his second outing against the Mets, gave up up far too many home run balls in Toronto and continued his walk-happy trend on Thursday afternoon. It's not time to hit the panic button on one of the most consistent young pitchers in baseball over the past two seasons, but Teheran's issues are noteworthy -- and in need of correcting.
The 24-year-old was altogether ineffective in his second outing against Atlanta's NL East rivals, running up 102 pitches in just 4 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on just three hits due to a career-high five walks. On the season, his ERA (4.64) and FIP (5.78) numbers are well above his career marks as he's been a sub-replacement level option this month. Gonzalez wasn't buying the cold and windy weather's effect, either, citing Teheran's memorable 2013 start against Colorado in 30-degree weather.
"He just -- what did he walk like eight guys before the sixth inning? He kept putting people on base and I'm surprised we stayed this close for as long as it was because they had base-runners everywhere," Gonzalez said. "Usually when you do that, somebody's gonna split a gap and score three or four."
Teheran's control issues are notable in this case. As his average fastball velocity dipped last season, he relied more and more on working the strike zone and not handing out free passes. Since the start of the 2013 campaign, Teheran posted the 25th-best walk rate in the majors during his age-22 and -23 seasons. He's handing out a little over two walks per nine innings for his career. But that hasn't been the case thus far in 2015.
Teheran's walks have jumped considerably.
With Thursday's disappointing performance, he's now allowing 3.71 walks per nine, which would, by far, be the worst mark of his career. That's not going to cut it, especially for a pitcher who is not overpowering opposing hitters. In total, he's allowed 11 walks and four home runs over his last 15 1/3 innings of work.
Teheran's struggles were mimicked by his bullpen, a unit that has not been protected by long outings from its starting staff, which logged three additional walks as the Mets broke a 3-3 tie. The bullpen's recent decline is probably more worrisome than Teheran's: After a fast start, the inexperienced group has run up a 5.46 ERA over the past eight games.
"The relievers are not in the game if we get Teheran with less than a 102 pitches -- we were trying to get him through the fifth (inning). I think he ended with 4 1/3 and over 100 pitches and you don't want to keep pushing him and put him into situations where he's going to hurt himself," Gonzalez said. "That's where it hurts you is that you've got to go to your 'pen and mix and match the rest of the game because the starter didn't go more than five innings.
" ... "I'm not concerned because it's so early, but yeah, you want your starters going deep into ballgames."
The Braves are built on pitching. Their season-long success depends on it. This isn't going to cut it if they continue to hold postseason aspirations.
It's not all doom and gloom for a team that's lost seven of its past 10 games. While the offense is hit or miss -- and still largely miss, scoring three or fewer runs in nine of their 15 games -- there are bright spots on an individual level. Newcomers A.J. Pierzynski, Nick Markakis and Jonny Gomes have produced. Freddie Freeman is still Freddie Freeman.
The Braves' Gold Glove shortstop might be the most encouraging sign of all. If any player on the roster stood to gain from working with new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer's balanced, fundamental approach to hitting, Simmons was a prime candidate. He was wild last at the plate, all too often off-balance and unproductive. He failed to follow up on a 17-homer sophomore campaign, hitting just .244/.286/.331 for the year. Among players to log 500 or more plate appearances, he walked away with the sixth-worst offensive numbers in baseball.
Of course, Atlanta can afford to forgive Simmons's struggles due to his defensive wizardry, but the fact remains that if the 25-year-old ever gets his bat up to speed he's going to be a terror. The early returns are good.
Simmons was excellent in Thursday's loss, going 2 for 3 with a double while driving in two runs. Never the patient type, he even added a walk. Those efforts have him producing at the best clip of his career through the first 15 games, owning what would be a career-high 114 weighted runs created plus by hitting .291/.339/.418 with six extra-base hits.
Without even considering his otherworldly work with the glove, that's an encouraging start.
