Braves Writers and Players Are Upset Jose Alvarado Fixed the Mound Before His Relief Appearance
So a couple of nobodies are angry at Jose Alvarado for fixing the mound when he took the bump in the 8th inning. The two loudest are this thumb Mark Bowman and some bum Guillermo Heredia whose got 76 at bats this year and batting .158:
Somebody should check to see if Alvarado would like some appetizers while he waits for his latest mound manicure. As @EOF34 said, "If you want a clean mound, be a starter."
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) October 11, 2022
Alvarado said that the chirping he was hearing from the Braves' dugout was coming from Guillermo Heredia. He says Heredia needs to respect the game more and plans on talking to him about it tomorrow. He feels he deserves respect with how he has pitched over the past few months.
— Alex Coffey (@byalexcoffey) October 11, 2022
You’re probably thinking, “Damn Kyle. It’s not nice to call some guy a thumb.” To which I rebuttal, “If you don’t want to be called a thumb. It would benefit you to not look like a thumb.”
Anything goes in the playoffs.
Listen, Alvarado fixing the mound isn’t news. He’s done it his whole career every ballpark he pitches at. It makes zero sense to get upset about wanting your mound the exact way you want it especially in a high leverage situation. This is like not raking the bunker for Max Homa because he isn’t Tiger Woods.
Alvarado dove more into it via Alex Coffey at the Inky:
“This guy he needs to respect the game more,” Alvarado said on Tuesday. “I come in focused in a situation in the game. I am not paying attention (to him), I don’t like that stuff that Heredia was saying to me. He needs to respect the pitcher when he comes into the situation because that moment is very serious. He’s laughing about the situation. You need to respect when we come into the game.
“Everybody thinks, ‘Oh, I want to attack Alvarado,’ because before my mentality was all crazy. But right now, nobody can change my mentality. Nobody. I’m focused. When we come into the game, I come in to hit the target. I don’t care who is hitting. Strike one, strike two and good luck.”
Strike one, strike two and good luck. That’s a badass quote because he backed it up. He had Orlando Arcia dancing:
José Alvarado, Mean K (2 100mph Two Seamers and a 94mph Cutter/Sword). 😤 pic.twitter.com/LxtsxgYmJV
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 11, 2022
If Max Fried wants to build a crater that’s on him. Jose Alvarado is muy grande:
“Fried, he makes a big hole on the mound,” Alvarado said. “I don’t want to break my ankle.
“I’m a big guy. When I see a big hole in the mound, they need to fix it because I’m not breaking my ankle.”