Can Braves get a jolt from firing third-base coach? Plus: How Judge's mentality stands out

New York Times

2 days ago

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What do the Braves' coaching change, Ryan Yarbrough's delivery and Coby Mayo's base running have in common? It's the word of the day: 'unorthodox.' I'm Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
When a team struggles, the order of firings usually goes like this: hitting/pitching coach > manager > wholesale changes in the front office. It's usually not … the third-base coach.
But in Atlanta, the Braves have reassigned Matt Tuiasosopo. The (now-former) third-base coach will be a minor-league infield coordinator, replaced at the big-league club by a familiar face: Fredi González, who managed the team from 2011-2016 (and was previously the third-base coach from 2003-2006 under Bobby Cox).
The quotes from Braves GM and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopolous were pretty straightforward: The move was the result of some recent bad send decisions.
'There's been some aggressive sends, and that's part of the job,' Anthopoulos said. 'But the results, from my standpoint — and in talking to (manager Brian Snitker) he understood and he ultimately agreed — I felt like we could do better.'
González, as David O'Brien reports, was recently working as an umpire evaluator (which should add a very funny dynamic to the next argument he has with an ump).
Whether a change at third-base coach will do the job or not, the Braves need something to change. After starting the season 0-7, they battled back to a .500 record at 21-21 by May 13. Alas, since then, they're 6-10, and their 27-31 mark is the fourth-worst record in the NL.
Leftover notes from Saturday's Yankees-Dodgers broadcast on Fox:
Aaron Judge: New York hitting coach James Rowson worked with Hall of Famers Joe Mauer in Minnesota and Miguel Cabrera in Detroit, yet says Judge stands out even above them in the way he is never satisfied, always looking for an edge. Judge doesn't necessarily view himself the way we do, as one of the best players in the game. He sees it as his responsibility to take nothing for granted, even past success against specific pitchers. As Rowson put it, 'If the story was over today, it would be one of the greatest stories in baseball. And he's still writing the story.'
Landon Knack: The Dodgers righty weighed just over 230 pounds at the end of the World Series. In part because as a rookie, he was over-indulging in the high-quality food available to major-leaguers. Knack determined he was too heavy — he wasn't recovering well enough from outings and felt sluggish on the mound. His goal was to get down to about 215 pounds, but he went a little too far, dropping as low as 206. He is now at about 210, and had to readjust to his body now that he is moving differently, quicker than before. He has spent the last six weeks working on his delivery, developing new, simple cues.
Paul Goldschmidt: His struggles before the All-Star Game last season now look like an aberration. The 37-year-old's revival after the break and continued dominance against left-handed pitching convinced the Yankees he was still a force, and he has rewarded their faith. His .302 expected batting average is below his actual .333, but still in the top 10 percent of the league. And he has reduced his strikeout rate by more than 10 percent, going from a career-high level last season to a career-low.
Trent Grisham: When the Yankees acquired Grisham in the Juan Soto trade, they figured that between injuries and days off for other outfielders, he would play at least three days a week. It turned out that Grisham made only 52 starts and batted .190, leaving the Yankees with a decision on whether to even offer him a contract for 2025. They did, with Grisham accepting a pay cut from $5.5 million to $5 million. Grisham said the lesser salary wasn't difficult to accept. 'If I want more money,' he said, 'play better.'
Dalton Rushing/Will Smith: Pretty rare that both of a team's catchers come from the same school, in this case Louisville. The Dodgers took Smith 32nd in 2016, Rushing 40th in 2022. Rushing projects as an offensive weapon from the left side. His defense, while improving, is still below-average. The Dodgers, though, expect to play him more than they did Austin Barnes, enabling Smith to possibly avoid the second-half drop-offs he experienced the past three seasons.
Smith BA/OPS 2022-24
Pre-All-Star: .284/.855
Post-All-Star: .234/.704
Ben Rice: Decided in the middle of last season that he had more room to fill out, and that it would only help him to get stronger. To increase his muscle mass, Rice didn't embark upon a more intense weight-lifting program. After consulting with Yankees dietitian Drew Weisberg, he determined that he just needed to eat more. He has since added about 10 pounds, going from the 215-to-220 range to 225-230.
On the most recent episode of 'The Roundtable,' the crew did me a favor, talking about a couple of topics from the weekend that I ran out of space for in Monday's Windup.
The first: Corbin Burnes is injured. We still don't know exactly how bad, but he isn't joining the Diamondbacks on their six-game road trip to Atlanta and Cincinnati. Instead, he stayed back in Arizona for an MRI. We'll know more when manager Torey Lovullo meets with the press later this afternoon in Atlanta.
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Things aren't looking great in Phoenix. Expected to be a playoff contender, the D-Backs now have the same record as the Nationals (28-31).
The second: What on earth was Coby Mayo doing with this soccer flop on Saturday afternoon?
pic.twitter.com/SrN7OfHHv8
— Sox On 35th (@VideosOn35th) May 31, 2025
The intent seems clear: try to get an obstruction call and be awarded second base. But if you're gonna do that, you have to be a better actor, because that was pretty flagrant.
In the immediate aftermath, there was some yelling, a couple of light shoves, and the benches cleared. After the game, Mayo had this to say: '(I) thought I was in the baseline, just trying to get some contact. I didn't mean for it to escalate, I wasn't trying to do that, it just did.'
Well, yeah.
More podcasts: The 'Rates & Barrels' crew catch up on what was a very newsy weekend.
In 2018, Ryan Yarbrough finished fifth in AL Rookie of the Year voting, going 16-6 with a 3.91 ERA in 38 games (six starts) for the Tampa Bay Rays. That's the entirety of the graffiti on the 'awards' column on Yarbrough's Baseball Reference page. He hasn't ever led the league in anything (unless you count the seven hit-by-pitches in 2020).
That's not to say Yarbrough hasn't been good for the Yankees, but he has mostly been 'just a guy,' at least from a stats standpoint. His career high in bWAR is 1.4 (2019, when half of his 28 appearances were starts).
But seven years later, not only is he still around, the 33-year-old is having a resurgence.
After serving mostly in the bullpen for the Rays, Royals, Dodgers and Blue Jays in recent years, Yarbrough is not only starting again, but he's doing it for the reigning AL champs. And he's thriving — after replacing Carlos Carrasco, Yarbrough is 3-0 with a 2.83 ERA in five starts, holding opposing hitters to a .176 ERA. That includes a six-inning success over those Dodgers on Sunday night to help the Yankees avoid a sweep.
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Remember: The Yankees' rotation is already down Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman. So this sort of success from Yarbrough has been a major boost for a team with World Series aspirations.
Brendan Kuty has an article on Yarbrough today, telling us more about the success story — and his unorthodox delivery.
More Yankees: After tweaking his hamstring on Sunday, Luke Weaver will likely be placed on the IL today. He is expected to miss about four weeks, per reports.
Last Wednesday, we talked a little bit about the massive season Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is putting together. He has not slowed down, currently tied for the league lead in home runs with 23. Tyler Kepner dug a little deeper to tell us just what rare company Raleigh is in.
Trevor Story is finally healthy, but he hasn't been producing. How much patience will the Red Sox have?
Did you know the Cardinals had the league's best record in May? Their depth is about to be put to the test now, as they'll play 28 games in 29 days.
Drew Pomeranz hadn't pitched in the big leagues since 2021. He's just one example of how the Cubs are leaving no stone unturned in their search for pitching depth.
In this week's Power Rankings, we get the All-Star conversation started by suggesting a worthy candidate on each team.
Authorities have identified the person who made threats to Lance McCullers Jr.'s family. It was an 'inebriated bettor.' No charges have yet been filed, and the man was said to be apologetic.
Eno Sarris ranks starting pitchers for the rest of the 2025 season, if you're looking for some fantasy baseball help.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: The newser on the federal investigation into a group licensing firm created by the MLBPA and other players associations.
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