re: The ATL Thread: 4/10 home opener vs. Mets

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This team seems to not give a damn about where they're supposed to finish.

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After Pierzysnki hit a game-winning homer in the third plate appearance of his Braves debut in Wednesday’s series finale, I asked him whether he’d learned more about staying sharp in a part-time role last season, when his 102 games played with Boston and St. Louis marked the first time in 13 years that Pierzysnki didn’t play 128 or more, including at least 119 games caught each season.

“I went six weeks last year and I think I played in one game. So you learn how to keep yourself ready,” Pierzynski said after his two-run homer in Wednesday’s 2-0 win. “I think one thing that’s changed is that I just learned that when you’re on the bench you can still contribute without playing. That was a big deal for me, because I always thought, man, I have to play every day to contribute.

“But there’s other ways you can do it, and my main goal is to help Bethancourt, help him be as good as he can. And you saw the first two games — he did really well, and that’s my main goal, to help him and help the pitchers do what they do and be as good as they can be."

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“I enjoy helping the youth out, I really do,” Gomes said. “I don’t know if I’ve got a knack for it, but seeing the youth in the game right now – it’s kind of funny, I saw when I was in Cincinnati how these kids didn’t know a lot about the game, and it just absolutely baffled me, and it took me a while to figure it out: His generation, these kids coming up, they’re playing 80 games in high school. They’re playing on travel teams. So coming up, they didn’t watch baseball. Not because they didn’t like it; they had a game (to play). At 7 o’clock they’re not watching the hometown team, they’re playing a game.

“The youth right now, for me, is like I’ve never seen talent-wise,” Gomes said. “But baseball IQ-wise, they’re way down. And that’s not (Peterson), by any means. I’m just saying, I’ve really done what I could to help these kids out. And you know the old saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. Well, if that horse wants to drink, it’s pretty easy to lead him to water. And I kind of have that in my job description, to help the young kids out. He’s been a pleasure. It’s not like I have to chase him down, either. He’s in my back pocket. I get, like, proud father-ish, you tell him something and he’ll go do it.

“He’s a real special breed to me.”

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We’re only three games in, folks. The Braves are going to lose a lot of games this year, we all know that. Probably more than they win, although I think they have a real chance to surprise some people in regards to that.

But my question is this: How many times do you recall hearing anything about the inside-the-clubhouse workings of the team in the last year or two that gave you as much reason to feel good about its leadership and direction than you’re hearing and reading lately?

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It was a move designed to bring a steady veteran into the organization, an Atlanta-area native (Woodstock High School) who had built a reputation during nine seasons with the Orioles as a consummate professional and influential clubhouse presence, one who didn’t say a lot but commanded respect when he did.

On Friday, before their home opener against the Marlins, Braves assistant general manager John Coppolella was asked specifically to exlain why the Braves thought signing Markakis was a good move.

“He’s a really good person, a really good leader, and I think he would fit us whether we’re a team that trades away Craig Kimbrel, Jason Heyward, Upton, Gattis and all those guys — I think he fits,” Coppolella said. “Whether we’re the team that wins the 2015, 2016, or 2017 World Series – he’s a good person, he’s a good leader, he’s a good fit. You want guys like him on your team.”

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