Braves: ‘It doesn’t feel like baseball’

Cold weather makes it tough to stay loose — or hydrated, players say.

WASHINGTON — Chilly or downright cold-weather baseball games have become a bit of a nuisance for some Braves, who on Tuesday afternoon at Nationals Park had their seventh consecutive game with a first-pitch temperature below 60 degrees.

Sometimes way below 60, such as the 27-degree, snow-delayed game Friday at Colorado, the second-coldest game ever at Coors Field.

Or Monday night’s game at Washington, when the first-pitch temperature was 45 and fell as the night wore on and a steady drizzle fell

throughout, making it even more uncomfortable than the below-freezing game in Denver according to some players.

“I think next year I’m going to have it put in my contract that I can’t pitch until May,” Braves veteran reliever Peter Moylan joked. “I cannot get on the field until at least May, when it gets above 60 degrees.”

But seriously, the Aussie sidearmer is one of those who acknowledges the early-season weather has been tough to deal with. The Braves played their 12th game Tuesday, and the temperature has been above 60 in three of them.

The forecast for a threegame series in Chicago that starts Friday is fairly grim after the series opener: On Saturday a high of 43 degrees with a 90-percent chance of thunderstorms; on Sunday, high of 38 with a 90 percent chance of snow.

“I’d like to say you get used to it,” said Moylan, 39, who’s in his 12th major league season. “You’re used to being able to get a sweat going, get a nice lather, but in this weather there’s nothing you can do to get yourself warm enough and prepared. Like in Colorado, I was pitching with no feeling in my toes. It’s unbelievable.

“You’re sitting in the bullpen and you think it’s not bad, because you’ve got heaters going and you’re sitting still. Then you get up and walk outside, and the difference between the bullpen and the actual main field is incredible. So I’m warming up, warming up, my toes feel like (expletive), you run out, you’re thinking they’re going to get feeling, you get no feeling. So that was miserable.

“Then the other night it was misting (in Washington), so you’re running out and you’re cold, but you’re wet, so it’s just . ... I mean, there’s nothing you can do except try to ignore it. But for me it just doesn’t feel like baseball yet.”

Braves reliever Sam Freeman, who was tied for the majors’ lead with seven appearances through 11 games before Saturday, said the main difference pitching in cold weather was trying to get warm. “You notice it, it’s harder to get your legs loosened up, that kind of thing,” he said.

Shortstop Dansby Swanson said he grew accustomed to playing in cold weather at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where the team practiced outdoors with temperatures in the 30s during fall workouts and played games in similar conditions in mid-February. Still, he said there are factors that make it difficult to play in such weather.

“Honestly, you want to know something that affects people that not many people realize, is when it’s cold it’s hard to drink water (to stay hydrated),” Swanson said. “Because you don’t want to drink, like, cold water when it’s cold, you know what I mean? It’s almost like room-temperature water is the way to go, but even then you don’t have a thirst for it (in cold weather).

“So that kind of takes a toll on you, that’s kind of an underrated part when it’s cold. Also when it’s windy and just kind of beating down on you.”

But Swanson said the Braves have discussed the fact that early season isn’t the only time it’s likely to be cold for baseball. October can be cold, and that’s when every team hopes to be playing for the entire month in the postseason.

GETTY IMAGES Second baseman Ozzie Albies sports the look of a man who wishes it would warm up already. Through Tuesday, the Braves had played seven consecutive games with a first-pitch temperature below 60.