By Alan Samson
The Rome Braves season is off to a measly 6-11 start as the team has only won one series in this young season. The Braves hosted their home opener on April 10 against the Savannah Sand Gnats losing 12-5 in front of a sellout crowd. The Braves were swept by the Sand Gnats and lost five games in a row before picking up their first home win against Lexington on April 15.
The Braves’ slow start comes one season after finishing over .500 for the first time since 2006. Manager Jonathan Schuerholz knows the ups and downs that come with playing with an inexperienced team early in the season.
“We have a young team; today it might be bad at-bats, tomorrow it could be fielding errors. We will have our ups and downs as a club, but the guys are playing hard and I like what I see,” said Shuerholz.
The Braves have been outscored by opponents 89-57 through the first 17 games of this season and have given up eight runs five times this year, including loses of 12-5 and 17-0 at home.
“We are getting on base; we’ve lost close games and we’ve won close games. We just have to become consistent,” said Shuerholz.
A bright spot for the Rome Braves has been the play by left fielder Victor Reyes, who is batting .304 and leading the team in hits. The Braves will try to use the good start by Reyes to motivate the rest of the team and turn the season around during their current home stand of seven straight games.
The Braves are currently in last place in their divisional standings by two games and 4.5 games behind the first place Sand Gnats. The Braves are 3-7 in their last 10 games, and they look to get a winning streak started with their first look at the Greensboro Grasshoppers in a three-game series followed by a series against the Kannapolis Intimidators to conclude the seven-game home stretch.
The next Braves game is Saturday, April 26, at State Mutual Stadium in Rome against the Kannapolis Intimidators.
