Sean Newcomb may be pitching for a rotation spot Sunday!"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Talking Chop User’s GuideTalking Chop PodcastAround the NL EastBaseball Analysis PrimerBraves look to rebound in rubber match vs MarlinsNew http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-curtis-granderson-jersey ,40commentsSean Newcomb may be pitching for a rotation spot Sunday!EDTShareTweetShareShareBraves look to rebound in rubber match vs MarlinsBrett Davis-USA TODAY Sports“They’re so hell-bent on giving, walking a wireConvinced its not living if you stand outside the fire.”Garth Brooks is by far my favorite musician of all time. One of my favorite songs of his is “Standing Outside the Fire”. The lyrics above are from that song, and I feel are very applicable to the Braves. If Tiger Woods has become the official meme, then these words should be the official theme. The Braves pitching staff is fully intent on giving Hotlanta a new meaning. In 2018, The Braves were third in the league for most games giving up 5 walks or more, with 53. In 2019, they are averaging five walks a game. For individual pitchers, Julio Teheran and Sean Newcomb were first and third amongst starters in number of starts giving up three walks or morein 2018. In their three combined starts this year, they have issued nine total walks. The Braves are consistently playing with fire, and have been burned multiple times already this year. Despite the horrid control issues to start the season, the Braves have had some very needed and encouraging results over the past three games. Max Fried Justin Smoak Jersey , Kevin Gausman, and Kyle Wright have combined for 19 IP, a 16/3 K/BB ratio, 8 hits allowed, and only 2 runs. Combined with Folty returning in the next week, these dominant starts may have put a few rotation spots up for grabs, including Newcomb’s.As a result, Newcomb needs a solid start on Sunday. Furthermore, the Braves need it as well. Despite 3 straight games of the starters going 6 or more innings, the bullpen has still given up 6 runs in that stretch. They were 10 feet away from that being 10 runs on StarlinCastro’s deep fly ball to end the game with the bases loaded Friday night. The last thing the Braves need is for Newcomb to struggle early in the game and getting into a high pitch count early. Unfortunately, Newcomb likely will not be working in the most ideal conditions to be productive. A hamstring injury has placed Brian McCann on the IL. A triple digit heater to the hand has cast doubt on Tyler Flowers’s ability to play. As a result http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-curtis-granderson-jersey , Alex Jackson may get his first start Sunday at catcher in the major leagues. And while Jackson has good potential at the plate, he is still a work in progress behind it. Newcomb will need to be on top of his game with a rookie catcher potentially making his debut.Thankfully, there is a silver lining.The Braves will be facing a southpaw in the person of Caleb Smith on Sunday. This obviously is a positive development with the Braves overwhelming success against left-handers since the beginning of 2018. The ironic thing is that in Smith’s one career start against Atlanta last year, it was left-handed Braves’ hitters who had the most success. Freddie Freeman had five hits while Ender Inciarte contributed 3 of his own. Ozzie Albies may have had his best game so far in the big leagues that day as well, earning a career high 5 RBIS. As mentioned above, there should be no doubt this is a big start for Sean Newcomb. With the Braves drastically needing another deep performance from a starter, Newcomb needs to perform well against one of the weaker lineups in baseball. Furthermore, coming off some unlucky hard-hit outs on Saturday night, the Braves’ hitters should have plenty of motivation to do some damage. Even if Newcomb struggles, the offense should find enough success to pull off the win. BOLD PREDICTION: Alex Jackson’s first hit is for extra bases, and the Braves hit multiple homers. Game InfoGame Date/Time: SundayLocation: SunTrust Park Aaron Sanchez Jersey , Atlanta, Georgia, April 7th, 1:20 PM ESTTV: Fox Sports SouthStreaming: MLB.tvRadio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, Rock 100.5, Braves Radio Network Boston Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez didn't sign his deal with the reigning World Series champions until spring training last year and isn't surprised this offseason's market is again moving at a slow pace.Martinez was asked if he thought the market would move in a similar fashion this year and called free agency "embarrassing for baseball," per Rob Bradford of WEEI:"One-hundred-percent. I knew it was Why wouldn't it? They got away with it last year, why wouldn't they do it again? What's going to happen? Nothing. It's embarrassing for baseball, it really is. It's really embarrassing for the game. You have a business. They say, 'The market is down, the market is changing.' The market is higher than it's ever been. People are making more money than ever http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-curtis-granderson-jersey , and they're trying to suppress it. It's more of a race towards the bottom now than a race towards the top. You can go right now through everyone's lineup and you already know who's going to be in the playoffs. What's the fun in that? We might as well just fast-forward to the end of the season."Martinez went on to say "losing is incentivized now," when pointing out there are fewer teams fighting for free agents as many notable players remained unsigned with spring training underway. "You have 80 percent of the teams trying to lose."His comments come with Bryce Harper, Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel among those who have not signed with a team. Manny Machado didn't sign with the San Diego Padres until teams reported to spring training, and there are enough free agents remaining to swing the World Series race if contenders make a move before Opening Day.Martinez is not the only one to criticize what is happening around the league, as Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander called the system "broken," while reigning National League MVP Christian Yelich criticized "anti player rhetoric."The reality from last year is teams are not spending the same percentages of the revenues they generate as they did in the past.Maury Brown of Forbes provided the numbers underscoring that reality, pointing out the $10.3 billion in gross revenues the league generated in 2018 was "another record year." However, 54.2 percent of the revenues went to the players, which represented approximately a 4 percent drop from the prior year.It was the largest salary-to-revenues drop since 2012, when it dropped more than 6 percent. The percentage hasn't increased from the previous year since 2015.Martinez stressed how important it is for players to fight the current patterns in 2021 for the next collective bargaining agreement.