Questions about an unofficial rain delay between Braves and Giants

Ozzie Albies (1) of the Atlanta Braves chases after a fly ball during the Tuesday evening MLB game between the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants

I’m writing this right now as I watch the venerable and capable grounds crew for the Atlanta Braes try to get the field back in playing condition after starting the game on time in the midst of a steady downpour. With that being said, there’s a pretty serious question to ask when it comes to whether or not this game should’ve been pushed back or not.

Sure, we got to see Drake Baldwin crush one into Chattahoochee Falls out there in dead center field but at the same time, the Braves ended up losing Michael Harris II due to injury for at least the rest of the game and Grant Holmes had an absolute devil of a time trying to pitch two innings in those conditions. He already has more than his fair share of issues getting through the second time through the order, so having him pitch in these conditions for his first trip through the order was certainly a choice.

Now, we’re in the midst of a rain delay that isn’t officially a rain delay as the grounds crew attempts to dry out the infield. The obvious question now is whether or not they should’ve simply put the tarp on and started this game under a rain delay. They’ve done it before — I was at the ballpark as a fan for that series finale against the Nationals where they started the game half an hour late despite the fact that there was no rain coming down. So why didn’t that happen today?

My only guess is that they figured that the weather would’ve dried up by 8:00 p.m. ET so they figured it wouldn’t have hurt to get through the light rain. Well, you can’t predict the weather just like you can’t predict baseball, so the rain actually started coming down harder than it had at any point all day right as the game began.

So the decision to start the game in the midst of a downpour was a confusing one for sure considering what they’ve done in the past. I can understand why the Braves figured they could pull it off but in this case, a preemptive rain delay may have been the best idea both in hindsight and in practice.

Anyways, sit tight while we wait for this game to get back underway.