What more can you ask for? A nice sunny day in CoolToday Park, a solid pitching performance from the Atlanta Braves\u2019 two aces, and oh yeah\u2026an appearance from Chipper Jones and Dale Murphy to speak with the team\u2019s hitters before today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Jones from MLB Braves insider Mark Bowman, he explained how he wanted to make the discussion more interactive for the players when discussing strategies and answering questions about the approaches they took during their playing days.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one thing for us to stand up and give our testimony, but we don\u2019t actually talk about what the players want to hear,\u201d Jones remarked in the interview.<\/p>\n
He also explained that the main idea was to adopt a universal approach when taking pitches and to always have a plan set up before they go up to bat.<\/p>\n
A great way to start the day before taking on the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n
Starting with pitching, Chris Sale went through three innings, giving up five hits and one earned run before retiring his outing with two strikeouts and tagging in Spencer Strider (2.1 IP\/ 2 ER\/ 2 H\/ 1 BB\/ 4 K) in the top of the fourth.
Making his presence known to start with a 1-2-3 inning once he entered, fans were impressed with Strider\u2019s 95-96 mph ranged fastball and 41.7% whiff rated slider that appeared to reach its target consistently.<\/p>\n
Though giving up a two-run double in the fifth from Blue Jays\u2019 Addison Barger, the \u201cstuff\u201d was there and gained talk amongst Braves Country to encourage a height in their expectations on what\u2019s to come from the ace.<\/p>\n
Getting relieved and then returning shortly after in the sixth, he reached 48 pitches before getting relieved by Blyne Enlow.<\/p>\n