Sports

BY RUSS REGAN
It was a wild first week for Major League Baseball. Several more games have been postponed due to the virus. The Marlins and the Phillies have only played three games and none in more than a week. The Braves’ bats have been really good early but will the back end of the rotation give them a chance? We now have seven inning double headers, and it makes sense. We have our answers from college football and it included some big surprises.
Let’s start off with the Braves. It was a good week as they went 5-2, but can they hit enough to overcome the back end of the rotation? A combination of Wright, Toussant, Foltynewicz and Newcomb wasn’t very good to say the least. The foursome went just 23 innings and allowed 24 earned runs. They also walked 18, yet somehow the team is winning. Toussant wasn’t as bad the second time but pitch count got him out of the game after four innings. The week was bizarre for Felty, he was horrible on Monday, a week ago, against Tampa Bay and he was immediately designated for assignment. That means that the team had enough games to trade him or put him on Warriors. They couldn’t deal him so they put him out and every team declined him and the Braves sent him to the alternate camp. That is a shocker for the 2018 all-star. I hope we see top pitching prospect Ian Anderson.
So how are the Braves winning? First of all, the bullpen has been real good. A.J. Minter and Tyler Matzek have been great. In just ten innings they have walked just one and struck out 17. Fred and Soroka have been real good and let’s hope it continues.
The offense has been good but not the “usual suspects”. The top of the order is Acuna, Abbies and Freeman and they have struggled. They’ve had 37 strikeouts in the first ten games. It did look like Acuna was snapping out of it as he had a homer on Saturday and a pair of hits on Sunday.
Where is the offense coming from you ask? Shortstop Dansly Swanson has a pair of homers and 11 RBIs with a .368 average. New outfielder, Marcell Pzuna has three homers and new catcher Travis D’Armond made a huge impact. He had five RBIs on Friday, including a bases loaded double that was the game changer on Friday night.
We have another big rule change, for the year anyway. All double headers are now seven inning games. It looks like there will be a bunch of mess. All minor league double headers are seven inning ones. That’s another rule, along with these rules, that will probably go away after this year. I do like the extra inning rule and I guess it will have a chance to stick around, but I really don’t think so.
The Big 5 College Conferences have made their decisions and I am very surprised. The SEC announced that it will do a ten game conference only schedule with no plus one. That means for the first time since 1924 there will be no Georgia-Georgia Tech game. I really thought you would see a conference plus one schedule especially after the ACC approved the plus one. The season will open September 26 against someone to be determined. On Sunday night, former Bulldog Matt Stafford of the Lions went on the Covid list. This means he has it or has been in contact with someone who’s tested positive. That is different than opting out. He can come back off the Covid list, but once they opt out, their season is over.
More pro football to wrap up and it’s out of the Falcons camp. They signed free agent corner back Darqueze Dennard. He is a former number one draft pick and he played high school ball at Twiggs County. Ironically, he signed with Atlanta the same day Twiggs elected to not play this season due to the virus. The 28 year old will certainly help a very young secondary.