Game 88: Braves 6, Mets 1
July 15, 2012 at 4:46 pm by David Lee under Atlanta Braves
Source: FanGraphs
Game MVP: Ben Sheets, 72 game score
Least Valuable Brave: Chip Caray
Most Valuable Met: Daniel Murphy, .018
Least Valuable Met: Johan Santana, 28 game score
Big plays:
5th – (ATL) Michael Bourn RBI double for 1-0 Braves lead, .196
5th – (ATL) Freddie Freeman three-run homer for a 6-0 Braves lead, .079
Sheets had the best 2012 debut that anyone could ask for, including Sheets himself. He was pumping fastballs 90-93, throwing 34 strikes out of 44 fastballs, including five whiffs. Sheets also had five whiffs on the curveball, which he displayed solid command on. And that’s the thing about this outing; not even Fredi Gonzalez, speaking in postgame, expected to see Sheets’ command this good this soon. He had control of all three pitches and carved the Mets up over six innings.
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Congrats to Sheets on a terrific outing! Have to say that he was everything we all had hoped for and even more. Hopefully he can keep up the good work and the offense keeps rolling!
8 in a row on Tuesday!
“Least Valuable Brave: Chip Caray”
Couldn’t agree more.
Yeah, I lol’d when I read that
Okay I’ll bite. What did son of skip do today that was of special note?
He was commentating
Sheets was awesome to watch. If this is an example of what we can expect, what a signing by Wren!
It would be nice if the Nats were facing playoff contenders during this winning stretch the Braves are on, instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel. Hopefully(and as nice as it’d be, I doubt Atlanta sweeps the Giants but have a very solid chance at 2/3 with the first 2 matchups being toss up games and the 3rd being the best pitching matchup) we carry this momentum into that 4 game swing against Washington. Need the Mets to figure out their bullpen for their next 3 games, and then the 3 next week against the Nats.
Certainly looking forward to the run on below .500 teams Atlanta has coming up. Chance to keep winning while players get healthy is always a good thing(MIA/PHI/MIA/HOU/PHI in 5 consecutive series).
I’m never excited to play the Fish or the Phils, regardless of their current record.
Good call going to Game Score instead of WPA to assess starting pitchers’ performance, David.
agreed – My lazy side that rued looking it up myself was happy.
Chip Caray? Is there some sort of story behind that? I didn’t get to watch the game.
“the Olympics may be going on in london, but big ben is right here in Atlanta.”
gaaa. when i heard that, i made an audible sound of disappointment.
Chip caray is soooo bad
Does anyone have a suggestion for a Braves Droid app??
I personally like mlb.com at bat. cause you can customize your favorite team and it gives you all the stories and stuff
Thanks.
Only problem is that it isnt free unless you have mlb.tv
They have a decent free Iphone app, you just have to pay to get the live look in. (but I believe it is blacked out anyway if you are in your favorite teams territory)
Stats are sort of a joke on that app though. I would love a Fangraphs app that allowed the same level of customizability as the website.
You can barely find any stats. This is my main disapointment with the app as well, but I do like the simulated live watch. When I can’t watch the games it does a decent job of keeping me up to date and they post big play videos shortly after they happen.
I feel obligated to go to a game ben sheets is starting and hold up a sign saying “the (visiting team) hits like sheets”
I kind of thought it would be awesome to get some sheets and write on them with brown colored shoe polish, “Ben’s Dirty Sheets” then hang them over a banister in the outfield for his starts. :)
Could someone explain Game Score? I’ve seen it a few times, and I’m not sure what it is exactly
Basically it is a measure that I think Bill James established to measure how effective a pitcher was in his start. Here is how it is calculated:
Start with 50 points. Add 1 point for each out recorded, (or 3 points per inning). Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed. Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed. Subtract 1 point for each walk. The highest possible game score in a nine-inning game while allowing no baserunners is 114, possible only if a pitcher goes 9 innings while striking out every batter he faces and facing three batters per inning.
The highest game score for a nine-inning game in the history of baseball was Kerry Wood’s one-hit, no walk, 20-strikeout shutout performance for the Chicago Cubs against the Houston Astros on May 6, 1998. His game score was 105 (50 + 27 + 10 + 20 – 2).
A lot of people like using this over W-L(obviously) but also over WPA and some other stuff. Obviously the higher the score the better the start. It also allows a single number that allows easier comparison of pitchers. Matt Cain’s perfect game with 14 Ks had a game score of 101 which currently(and not shockingly) is the best performance so far this year.
It is a system that helps even out the pitchers on teams with horrible offenses where a respectable ERA can still mean you allow too many runs to get your wins, and vice versa it takes away from pitchers who have high scoring offenses that allow greater slack in the pitcher’s performance, it also helps balance the defensive side of things by lowering the penalty for unearned runs.
By those measures, ERA itself is the best measure. Low ERAs are rewarded with low ERAs and there is not only a reduced penalty for unearned runs—there is no penalty at all since they aren’t counted. Game score is better tailored to single game performance than ERA, FIP, or its successors. That’s the major advantage.
Thanks for the explanation! That was incredibly helpful
CQ
I just really wish Chip would talk like Skip for one entire game.
I will admit I do get a good laugh when he does that.
The best thing you can say about Chip Caray is that he’s an amiable idiot.
I just put Chip as a laugh, because the Braves played a pretty good game all around, and I felt like no one deserved a LVP award today. Didn’t mean any harm, or to start a rampage against Chip or anything like that.
It’s a sweet mercy that MLB.tv has the radio play by play overlay so that I don’t have to listen to Caray.
This is one of the reasons I love mlb.tv
I mean, seriously, that was a dream come true. I’ve always known the Ben Sheets was good, and to be honest I wish the Braves had him years ago; but to see him today, 2 years from making his last start, do what he did to the Mets; it gives me hope that this season is just warming up for our beloved Braves.
I’d rather have Chip Caray over Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. I wish FOX would make those two hit the bricks.
Buck and McCarver are awful. Chip is pretty bad as well. As mentioned above, he does do a solid imitation of his Dad. The worst announcer ever is Chris Berman though. I watched the HR Derby on mute.
I never thought that I would say this…I miss Joe “Boog” Sciambi especially when I have to listen to Chip. Or when I recall Joe Simpson asking about his time playing baseball. “Boog, you caught a little bit”.
You never thought you would say that? Boog is one of the best!
Reverse ends of the spectrum for sure.
Not to be a stickler, but isn’t it John? I think he does ESPN Radio games now, doesn’t he?
Boog ruled.
It is Jon, my mistake! I guess I really did not appreciate him at the time given the switch from Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton in the winter of 2006.
http://30fps.mocksession.com/tag/joe-buck/ is a nice place to go if you want to see Buck and McCarver made fun of.
Big play of the game came in the 3rd inning, when the Mets got men on second and third with David Wright at the plate. giving Wright nothing to hit, Sheets turned him inside out with a fastball, then coaxed a fly ball to right. Never threw Wright a single pitch in the strike zone. Veteran pitching, according to Don Sutton.
Sheets looked amazing in this game. His performance brings to mind that spot where veteran players have lost a touch tools-wise but make up for it with knowledge of the game. Chipper is a prime example of this idea in a hitter…that said, since he has learned to adjust his game while his bat has slowed and his knees are balky, I think his ability to adjust and perform could translate extremely well to coaching.