|
To: The Haley Family (fivehaleys@jetmail.ca)
From: Tom Haley (thaley120791@jetmail.ca)
May 11, 2021
Hi everybody,
This is already looking like it's going to be a very long season.
Jason Heyward came off the DL four days ago. You remember--he tore a ligament in his thumb the first week of the season and hadn't played since. Tonight he got hurt again! It was diagnosed as a strained oblique, and he's back on the DL. Our medical staff says it might be another month or so before he can play again.
Losing Jason hurts us as much psychologically as it does production-wise. Now, the two players who have been on the team the longest--him and Kris Medlen--are both on the DL. The team considers both Jason and Kris to be leaders, guys we can count on to give us some stability. I know our lineup looks a whole lot different without Jason in that three hole.
Do you realize we have two guys in our starting rotation we picked up off waivers, and another one who went a whole year without being signed? Trevor Cahill had a few pretty good seasons with the A's and the Mets, but the Mariners let him go during the spring. Scott Elbert has never been a full-time starting pitcher in the major leagues. Now is when you start to miss a guy like Brett Oberholtzer, a league-average starter who got away because we wouldn't pay him something like $600,000. He didn't sign with the Angels for much more than that. Good thing Pineda is pitching pretty well, or we would really be in trouble!
Don't worry; I don't ever talk like this in the clubhouse. For one thing, it wouldn't really be my style. Then there's the fact that I'm suddenly one of the "senior" members of the team! With Brian McCann retired, Kris is the player who's been on the Braves the longest. Jason is next, and then comes me. Mat Gamel got here in the middle of my first full year in Atlanta. I'm not even 30, and I'm among the "veterans" now! I would never vent like this around the team, so I appreciate being able to do a little venting with you.
We're five games under .500 now, and we're stalled in third place. I feel like I'm pitching pretty well, even though I don't get a lot of save opportunities now. Hopefully Jason will get better sooner rather than later, and we'll pick it up and start winning more regularly. We're traditionally a better team in the second half, anyway.
I hope you're all doing well. We are looking forward to Patrick's first birthday, and Trish is ready for school to end so she can spend all day with him again. Say hi to people for me, and thank them for sticking behind us when we're not winning. We need the support more than ever when things aren't going our way.
Love,
Tom
|