Latest news with #MattTuiasosopo
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Alex Anthopoulos on Braves' slow start, AJ Smith-Shawver controversy, RISP woes
ATLANTA — After the Atlanta Braves announced Monday that they had demoted third-base coach Matt Tuiasosopo to minor-league infield coordinator and hired former Atlanta manager and third-base coach Fredi González to replace him, Alex Anthopoulos discussed that change as well as several other issues surrounding the struggling team. Advertisement Anthopoulos, the Braves' general manager and president of baseball operations, has seen the team sputter offensively and deal with several injuries and an 80-game PED suspension for Jurickson Profar, the only big free-agent signing they made last winter. Atlanta sits in fourth place in the NL East with a 27-31 record, 9 1/2 games behind first-place New York before the Mets' late game Monday. The Braves' run of seven consecutive postseason appearances appears in peril. Here are some of Anthopoulos' answers on a Monday night Zoom call with reporters, edited for clarity and brevity: On how he compares this sluggish start to ones the Braves had in 2021 or 2022: I look a lot at run differential and things like that. I look at expected wins and losses. Our expected won-loss record (now) is 31-27. Our actual is our actual, and I don't want to run from that. But you do have to look under the hood at times. And we've played a ton of close games. We know that. We've seen them. And I believe we're better than we've played. We're not getting blown off the field by any stretch. There's just been a lot of close games and a lot a little things that have impacted us. We love Tui, but we think Fredi González at third base, because he's such a good, accomplished third-base coach. … The fact that he was available to us and we could make this move, we feel like it's the right thing to improve the ball club. So there are other areas as well that are starting to stabilize a little bit. Look, the offense has definitely been the focus, no doubt about that, but I do think there's significant upside. And again, when I look at things like run differential relative to the NL, other teams in the division and so on, it's the same thing we cited in '21. In 2021, the Braves were 52-55 on Aug. 1, finished as NL East champions at 88-73, then won the World Series. Granted, the division wasn't as strong (in 2021), but our run differential, I believe, was above the Mets when they were in first place back then. We're not there right now. I think we're 10th in the NL, but a few games here and there, that changes pretty fast. And the one-run games and so on, I think if we'd be sitting there and playing up to our expected stats, expected won-lost record at 31-27, we still would want significantly better, but we'd feel a little better about where things stand. Advertisement So … we have four months left, right? That's a lot of baseball. And the fact that we were in August and under .500 when you talk about '21 — I mean, we're just hitting June. We're two months ahead of that. So if we can be aggressive, whether it's making changes, making trades, we're gonna do that. And I'm not wired any other way than to constantly look to find a way to do what we think can make this team better. On AJ Smith-Shawver, who has a torn UCL and will meet with surgeon Keith Meister on Thursday in Texas, with Tommy John surgery likely. Anthopoulos was asked about criticism that Spencer Strider shouldn't have needed to inform pitching coach Rick Kranitz that Smith-Shawver was having arm issues, shaking out his arm after two pitches, before manager Brian Snitker replaced him when Smith-Shawver told Snitker he felt a pop in his elbow. Yeah, I saw all that. My take on this stuff is, I've been in baseball a long time, I'd say nine times out of 10, when I've seen any pitcher have an injury, the pitcher will signal to the guy behind the plate, or the guy behind the plate will notice something, right? He's the one who has his eyes on the pitcher. The guy behind the plate has his eyes on the pitcher every single pitch. I'm not criticizing whoever that was, but 99 times out of 100, the pitcher will signal out with his glove, he'll step off, and he will signal to the bench. That's the way I've always seen it. Rarely have I seen it where the bench will jump out of nowhere and go to the mound. I have seen the catcher say something's up and jump out and do that. That's probably the only time. But preemptively, you don't see it happen very often. I understand the world we live in and so on. AJ is a human being. He has feelings. He's not two years old. He's a 22-year-old grown man. He knows what feels right, what doesn't feel right. And he's had obliques, he's had other things before. He's called guys out to the mound before. So, I know this is part of the game when things aren't going well and you're not playing well. When I was in Toronto, David Price, who we acquired in a trade-deadline deal, put a sign up above his locker, and the sign said, 'If you don't like it, pitch better.' And my view of all this stuff is if you don't like it, play better. And that's part of it. And that's just being accountable. And that's pro sports today. So I just think taking some context in all this stuff. I saw it. … They've had plenty of times that they've noticed injuries, this and that, that the catchers noticed injuries as well. So I know it can be readily apparent and so on, but I don't think it's as simple as that. On the team's struggles with runners in scoring position and anything being done to address it: I don't want to necessarily speculate. If I say, hey, it's this thing now, the focus becomes on that. Look, we haven't gotten the job done. There's no doubt. I think coming off the high of '23, even if there's a regression, you don't think it's to the extreme that we have now. I think we have had some guys rebound. Obviously (Sean Murphy), he's significantly better than he was a year ago at this time. And he felt the oblique (injury last season) was a big part of that. Advertisement Ronald (Acuña Jr.) has swung the bat great when he's been in there. And we've seen some other guys like (Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies) be streaky. I think Matt (Olson) and Austin (Riley) have still performed. They have good numbers. They've put up MVP-caliber numbers. Matt was fourth in MVP two years ago. And Austin can be right there, he's gotten MVP votes in the past. Those two and Ronald are in their own stratosphere. But we're working through things. We clearly have not been able to solve it as a group. That's players, coaches, front office. For me to give you anything more and speculate, I just don't think it'd be responsible. I wish I could tell you, 'Look, here, this is it. You're going to see it start tomorrow night.' I think you ultimately believe in the group. And I know we can get hot. I know things can turn. This is my eighth season here, and '21 is a great example. It was doom and gloom for a long time. And I didn't project it to be August that we would finally catch fire (that season) and go for the next two months. But we've seen guys have great first halves, fall off in the second half. We've seen the guys do the opposite. Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler had miserable first halves with their clubs (in 2021). They were tremendous for us. Even Harris last year, at the end of the year. So, we're gonna have to ultimately look at the aggregate and the six months over time. Look, we don't want guys to be streaky. We want consistency, we want great performance. Of course, we want to win every game and we're working at it. But if I could pinpoint one thing, it would have been addressed, and we would have it solved. (Top photo of AJ Smith-Shawver: Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Atlanta Braves bring back former manager Fredi González as acting third base coach
ATLANTA (AP) — The struggling Atlanta Braves are bringing back former manager Fredi González as acting third base coach. The team announced Monday that Matt Tuiasosopo, the previous third base coach, has accepted a role as minor league infield coordinator. Atlanta had the day off Monday. The Braves have lost eight of their last 11, and, at 27-31, are in fourth place in the NL East. Gonzalez has managed the Marlins and Braves previously. He was on Baltimore's coaching staff for five seasons, including three as bench coach, before being replaced by the Orioles last offseason. ___ AP MLB:
Fox Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Atlanta Braves bring back former manager Fredi González as acting third base coach
Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — The struggling Atlanta Braves are bringing back former manager Fredi González as acting third base coach. The team announced Monday that Matt Tuiasosopo, the previous third base coach, has accepted a role as minor league infield coordinator. Atlanta had the day off Monday. The Braves have lost eight of their last 11, and, at 27-31, are in fourth place in the NL East. Gonzalez has managed the Marlins and Braves previously. He was on Baltimore's coaching staff for five seasons, including three as bench coach, before being replaced by the Orioles last offseason. ___ AP MLB: recommended
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Atlanta Braves bring back former manager Fredi González as acting third base coach
ATLANTA (AP) — The struggling Atlanta Braves are bringing back former manager Fredi González as acting third base coach. The team announced Monday that Matt Tuiasosopo, the previous third base coach, has accepted a role as minor league infield coordinator. Advertisement Atlanta had the day off Monday. The Braves have lost eight of their last 11, and, at 27-31, are in fourth place in the NL East. Gonzalez has managed the Marlins and Braves previously. He was on Baltimore's coaching staff for five seasons, including three as bench coach, before being replaced by the Orioles last offseason. ___ AP MLB:
Associated Press
3 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
Atlanta Braves bring back former manager Fredi González as acting third base coach
ATLANTA (AP) — The struggling Atlanta Braves are bringing back former manager Fredi González as acting third base coach. The team announced Monday that Matt Tuiasosopo, the previous third base coach, has accepted a role as minor league infield coordinator. Atlanta had the day off Monday. The Braves have lost eight of their last 11, and, at 27-31, are in fourth place in the NL East. Gonzalez has managed the Marlins and Braves previously. He was on Baltimore's coaching staff for five seasons, including three as bench coach, before being replaced by the Orioles last offseason. ___ AP MLB:
