Braves Briefing: The Washington Nationals need a better meteorologist

Here's a look around MLB from an Atlanta Braves perspective

Lindsay Crosby | May 14, 2023

The Atlanta Braves dropped the first two games of their series with the Toronto Blue Jays and will look to take game three with a bullpen game, started by Collin McHugh. But there's much better stories going on around the division.

Weather shenanigans in Washington

Braves fans know how the Nationals like to use the weather to try and gain an advantage over their opponents - who can forget Washington postponing a game over three hours back in 2017, just for there to be no rain and they ended up having to apologize for it?

A message from the Washington Nationals: pic.twitter.com/xsXOBvTDyJ
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 7, 2017

The Nationals were back on their nonsense yesterday, with yesterday's game eventually getting suspended in the 3rd inning nearly four hours after the rain delay originally started.

They started the game with some light rain, continued to play as the rain increased, and then after less than an hour of play, finally brought the tarp out. Lo and behold, the grounds crew couldn't restore the field to playable condition after the tarp came off, because they played an inning in an absolute downpour, and so now it's going to get resumed today as a split doubleheader (meaning if you come back for game one, you have to exit the stadium and pay again to come back in for game two)...oh, and it's Mother's Day.

Fans were...less than pleased, booing from the stands when it was finally announced. Listen as the Mets booth talk about it as it's announced in the stadium.

Absolutely unreal.pic.twitter.com/TtWzDoG8yL
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 14, 2023

On the bright side, though, we got this from whoever Joe is:

The year is 3228. The Earth’s population is down to 16 million, ravaged by climate change and wars. The people who remain live in caves and scrounge for survival.

The #Nationals are still in a rain delay.
— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) May 14, 2023

NL East Standings

Only one other team in the division won on Saturday, as Philadelphia defeated Colorado, while Miami lost to Cincinnati and the Mets/Nationals game was suspended due to weather and will be completed today.

Team	Record	GB	Action Today
Atlanta	25-14	--	@ Blue Jays
Philadelphia	20-19	5.0	@ Rockies
New York	19-20	6.0	@ Nationals
Miami	19-21	6.5	vs Reds
Washington	16-22	8.5	vs Mets

We Wrote It

When looking at the loss on Saturday, while plenty of blame falls on the offense (going 0-9 with RISP and stranding ten runners), the performance of reliever AJ Minter stuck out...again. He allowed three straight singles and a sacrifice fly in the 7th to take it from a 2-2 tie to a 4-2 Blue Jays lead.

I tried to look "under the hood" and figure out why he's getting hit so hard this year:

There's not a lot different for Minter on the metrics - his velocity is slightly down on both the fastball and the cutter, from 96.6/90.3 to 95.7/89.4, but it's not enough to account for the drastic swing in hitter outcomes. His extension on those pitches is better and his whiff rate (swing and miss) is actually up on the cutter in 2023, although slightly down on the fastball. The only noticeable change is usage: After throwing his changeup almost 20% of the time in 2022, he's dialed it back in 2023 to 11.9%, with most of that difference going into the cutter. It's possible that sequencing and/or game-calling issues between Minter and new catcher Sean Murphy is to blame, but either way, it's something Atlanta needs to figure out soon.

READ: Takeaways from Atlanta's Saturday loss to the Blue Jays

What's next?

Atlanta has one more game in the series, a Sunday afternoon Mother's Day matinee. First pitch is at 1:37PM ET. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast, and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

More stories from the Blue Jays series

Takeaways from Atlanta's Saturday loss to the Blue Jays

WATCH: The Braves take a 2-0 lead over the Blue Jays after a Marcell Ozuna two-run homer

Lineup, how to watch Atlanta's game two in Toronto against the Blue Jays

Takeaways: Offense Wastes a Brilliant Start from Spencer Strider

Lineup, how to watch the Braves series opener in Toronto against the Blue Jays

Atlanta Braves Hope to Survive a Brutal Stretch of Games

Podcast: Max Fried and Kyle Wright are out till July?

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