Alan Carpenter

It happened again. Atlanta Braves’ All-World right-fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. was plunked by a fastball on Monday afternoon. It wasn’t just any pitch, of course; It was recorded as a 93 mph four-seam fastball thrown by Tylor Megill. That actually wasn’t the fastest pitch Megill threw yesterday… the prior offering was listed at 95 mph, and he topped out at 96.7 mph on the day.

Baseball is truly a funny game. Coming into the 2023 season, Atlanta Braves starter Bryce Elder had been afforded just 9 starts in the big leagues and 54 innings… barely enough to escape the “rookie” label. In those 9 starts, he posted a 3.17 ERA, which included an improbable complete game shutout — improbable because that still tied him for the lead in the majors for shutouts, albeit with 15 other much-more-seasoned starters.

Every organization makes mistakes. Some manifest themselves unexpectedly (e.g., the Tigers trading John Smoltz). Others are seemingly so obvious that they can be spotted all the way from nearby planets (Atlanta signing Melvin/B.J. Upton, Philadelphia inking Ryan Howard). The difficulty, though, is exactly how organizations deal with such mistakes — particularly if the terms of a contract hamstring the options a front office has available.