Real or Not? The Baby Braves might be ready ahead of schedule
Some thoughts on the Atlanta Braves and Mike Soroka's impressive major league debut in a 3-2 victory over the Mets:
First, Soroka was exactly as advertised, showing poise and pitching with confidence with his fastball, showcasing an excellent sinker while changing eye level with a running four-seamer that impressed Mets broadcaster Ron Darling. He cruised through five scoreless innings,authentic nfl jerseys striking out Asdrubal Cabrera with a runner on third to end the fifth with a filthy 95 mph sinker, before serving up a Yoenis Cespedes home run in the sixth, his only blemish as he struck out five and didn't walk anybody.
Third, they're not only fun, maybe they're even going to be good a year ahead of schedule -- similar to how the Astros won a wild-card spot in 2015. There are some similarities between the two teams. The Astros already had Jose Altuve, and the Braves are adding the kids alongside Freddie Freeman. Carlos Correa reached the majors at 20 that year, like Acuna. George Springer was in his first full season, like Albies. Lance McCullers Jr. debuted in May, as did Soroka. The one main difference is the Astros had Dallas Keuchel, who won the Cy Young Award that year.
They're 17-11 and they've done it against good teams. They're 3-1 against the Mets and 6-3 against the Phillies. They had one series against the Reds, but that has been the only bad team they've played. They haven't even played the Marlins yet.
Finally, thinking ahead, they could use some bullpen help. We'll have to see how the young starters hold up. But it looks as if they're going to score runs. It will be interesting to see how general manager Alex Anthopoulos addresses the roster deeper into the season. When he was GM of the Blue Jays, he wasn't shy about making deals. Could they be a player for Manny Machado? He'd plug their hole at third base.
It wasn't all happy news for the Yankees, as Jordan Montgomery left the game after one inning because of a sore elbow and headed back to New York for tests. Domingo German tossed four scoreless innings to bridge the gap to the late-inning guys.
For the Astros, you can't really fault Hinch for going to Giles,wholesale nfl jerseys who had retired 21 in a row and struck out the side on Monday. Nonetheless, it's blow-ups like this that indicate Giles is going to be an unresolved question at closer until he proves he can do it in October. (Not to get ahead of ourselves.)
