Welcome to another edition of Gamecock Central Braves Baseball ⚾️ Chat 💬. I am your host @Pfunk Cock along with a plethora of regular participants in the chat. Rarified Air is the space so special that you cherish once you reach that apex. It is the K2 Mountain top that when you have to climb 🧗♀️ in the most treacherous of conditions and you finally reach the summit you breathe in rarified air. Not many people get to breathe that air , see that view or appreciate the hard work it took to get there. This season has been one of those treacherous climbs as the Braves lost the first four games , won the next four only to have another 4 game losing streak and never see above ⬆️ and even record the entire first half of the season. Mired in mediocrity and just bad luck. Injuries piling up and decimating first the ace tee field position, Starting pitching and ultimately taking out 3 of the top five batters from your lineup. The team kept climbing and clawing and never gave up on themselves. On July 28th the team was in 3rd place , 5 games behind the Mets and 4 ahead of the Phillies.
Yes the team has made up 8.5 games on the Mets and 2.5 games on the Phillies in a 3 week timeframe. This is just a moment to sit and reflect , to appreciate what the team has endured and how they have come out the other side to reach the Summit of the Eastern Division. Rarified Air indeed 😎😎. Like the playground tussles we had as children playing King of the Hill, somebody is always going to try to knock you off your perch. Tonight we face a significant challenge against the Pesky Marlins and Sandy Alcantra (RHP) with his nasty Fastball, Slider combination.
Pregame Analysis
This is the long awaited return of Huascar Ynoa. He was arguably one of the top pitchers on the staff early in the season as he had some of the more effective starts while others were struggling and he also provided a surprisingly productive bat cracking out two homers including a grand slam and a robust 343 batting average. Not bad for a rookie who had not swing the bat in a live game before this season. He had finally figured out where to stand on the rubber and control his wicked breaking balls and locate his fastball better. He now uses more af a 2 seam approach as it more mimics his sharp breaking slider and curve balls and keep hitters honest. I have no idea how sharp he will be in his first live action since early May , but getting him acclimated this month gives him a little leeway to get his rhythm and timing back and could be a tremendous boost in September and October when he is needed most.
He will be opposed by Sandy Alcantra who is arguably the top pitcher in this Marlins squad. Yes they have rookie phenom Rogers and the injured Sixto Sanchez but Alcantra is already a proven commodity as he has a high velocity fastball 96-98 and a very good slider that gets a lot of swing and misses and keeps hitters off stride. He is a tall presence and he challenges the strike zone. You have to get him early and extend his pitch count because the Marlins bullpen is their Achilles Heel. They have a lot of young unproven arms who have great potential but have trouble throwing strikes consistently. At this moment O am predicting a low scoring game with the Braves winning the bullpen battle down the line and to take this game late. Keeping the pressure on the chase crew to win or fall further behind .
Starting Lineup Braves
Albies 2B
Soler RF
Freeman 1B
Riley 3B
Swanson ss
Duvall LF
Pederson CF
Vogt C
Ynoa RHP
Starting Lineup Marlins
Rojas ss
Diaz 2B
Brinson CF
Sanchez RF
Anderson 3B
Alfaro 1B
Jackson C
Del La Cruz LF
Alcantra RHP
First Pitch 7:10 EST
Broadcasting
Bally Sports South
Gamecocks Central Braves Baseball Chat is on the 🕸
Yes the team has made up 8.5 games on the Mets and 2.5 games on the Phillies in a 3 week timeframe. This is just a moment to sit and reflect , to appreciate what the team has endured and how they have come out the other side to reach the Summit of the Eastern Division. Rarified Air indeed 😎😎. Like the playground tussles we had as children playing King of the Hill, somebody is always going to try to knock you off your perch. Tonight we face a significant challenge against the Pesky Marlins and Sandy Alcantra (RHP) with his nasty Fastball, Slider combination.
Pregame Analysis
This is the long awaited return of Huascar Ynoa. He was arguably one of the top pitchers on the staff early in the season as he had some of the more effective starts while others were struggling and he also provided a surprisingly productive bat cracking out two homers including a grand slam and a robust 343 batting average. Not bad for a rookie who had not swing the bat in a live game before this season. He had finally figured out where to stand on the rubber and control his wicked breaking balls and locate his fastball better. He now uses more af a 2 seam approach as it more mimics his sharp breaking slider and curve balls and keep hitters honest. I have no idea how sharp he will be in his first live action since early May , but getting him acclimated this month gives him a little leeway to get his rhythm and timing back and could be a tremendous boost in September and October when he is needed most.
He will be opposed by Sandy Alcantra who is arguably the top pitcher in this Marlins squad. Yes they have rookie phenom Rogers and the injured Sixto Sanchez but Alcantra is already a proven commodity as he has a high velocity fastball 96-98 and a very good slider that gets a lot of swing and misses and keeps hitters off stride. He is a tall presence and he challenges the strike zone. You have to get him early and extend his pitch count because the Marlins bullpen is their Achilles Heel. They have a lot of young unproven arms who have great potential but have trouble throwing strikes consistently. At this moment O am predicting a low scoring game with the Braves winning the bullpen battle down the line and to take this game late. Keeping the pressure on the chase crew to win or fall further behind .
Starting Lineup Braves
Albies 2B
Soler RF
Freeman 1B
Riley 3B
Swanson ss
Duvall LF
Pederson CF
Vogt C
Ynoa RHP
Starting Lineup Marlins
Rojas ss
Diaz 2B
Brinson CF
Sanchez RF
Anderson 3B
Alfaro 1B
Jackson C
Del La Cruz LF
Alcantra RHP
First Pitch 7:10 EST
Broadcasting
Bally Sports South
Gamecocks Central Braves Baseball Chat is on the 🕸
