by Gil Elliott
So, a little more than a month has passed and we have seen two very different Braves teams. The first was a world beater, rolling off a 12 win/2 loss record before 
running into a buzz saw of a road trip. Perhaps it was the idea of playing in an environment more suited to ice hockey than baseball that was the killer but since that stellar start, the Braves have looked very average. Perhaps we expected too much before the Atlanta team came back to earth in the heady first two weeks of the season. Routing the 
Nationals to open their home stand gave credence to the fact the Braves liked home cooking but suddenly the Nats bounced back and took the last two games of the series to earn a split. Then the Mets piled it on, snatching away an almost certain victory for the Braves by doing something no one else has ever done: hitting home runs off both O’Flarerty and Kimbrel in the same game to tie before scoring the go ahead runs in the tenth.
Perhaps we should all take a step back and realize the old adage of “It ain’t over til it’s over” is more true in baseball than any other sport. Rookie sensation Evan Gattis is perhaps human after all and Justin Upton will not hit 72 home runs this season. At least there appears to be some rays of hope with Dan Uggla heating up and BJ Upton at least playing a great centerfield. Now, if only his bat can speed up to get wood on those fast balls he has been futilely waving at for the first month of the season, that big contract won’t look so bad. Chris Johnson may have cooled a little but Freddi Freeman is showing signs of heating up.
The return of Brian McCann should provide a spiritual lift for the Braves. It is not just that he can hit but it is when he hits that has made him such a valued player in the Braves lineup. Nothing should be taken away from the surprising performance turned in so far by Evan Gattis but BMac is still one of the best catchers in the majors. A perennial All-Star until his balky shoulder diminished his production last season, Brian by all accounts appears to have returned to form. The combination of this being a contract year and the fact he should get a little more rest at the back stop position should translate to a Brian McCann we have not seen since his arrival in the Big A. That being a guy who is able to maintain his bat speed into the months of September.
All that said, the Bravos have a pretty tough road trip ahead. Then again, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. GO BRAVES!!
~ Gil ~
In Memoriam
Rick Camp
1953 – 2013
Braves & Stuff 
Thanks, Gil! Interesting, as always, and right on. 😀
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2night’s lineup:
BJ, C
CJohnson, 3B
JUp, RF
Gumby, 1B
El Oso Blanco, LF
BMac, C
Struggla, 2B
Andy, SS
Paulm Maholm, P
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Now that is an interesting line up. To be truthful, I did not expect Gattis to be in the line up.
At least he will debut in one of the smaller parks and if he can follow the idea to drive in more than you let in, he could rival Holiday as the modern day outfielder.
That and BJ and Justin shading everything towards left field.
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Kudos to the “graphics department” CL 🙂
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Gil, that may be your best blog yet, well done son! 🙂
Pretty much covered everything….is the ajc still thinking folks will pay to post over there? I would hate to see this blog get overrun by morons, but perhaps some of the good folks might show up here yet….
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V, you mentioned on “120” about there being few aces out there…while that is true now, did you see the talk about David Price? He is stinking up the joint right now, but if he is healthy, he will turn it around…and is controlled through 2015. So…what would “we” be willing to give up to get him????
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Thanks Ber… It come from the company I keep here at the B&S.
Nope, I am not paying for the privileged of allowing the AJC to send cookies to my account. Plenty of news elsewhere. I like the information but looks like Bowman will reap the rewards.
Yes, we welcome all comers. Quality over quantity is our mantra…
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Three quick games from Ohio and then it is the midnight shift from the left coast. Sometimes I am glad I am retired. I may cheat and record the games. It is amazing how fast you can zip through a game when you skip the commercials.
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Thanks, Chief! They do a pretty good job over there in Graphics. 😆
Charging for online papers seems to be the trend. Even the little local paper now charges close to $18.00 a MONTH for the privilege of reading what can be found free from several sources. I sent my regrets. I’m sure they are devastated. 😛
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That Simmons kid can play a little but can’t he?
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a little! 😉
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I have never EVER seen anything quite like that tag he put on Choo at 2B on the pickoff play. Simply amazing! 😯
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I used to say “Wow!” alot when we had this kid from Curacao named Andruw Jones in CF. Now I say “Wow!” alot with this kid from Curacao named Andrelton Simmons. The Braves should establish a permanent residence on the island for a scout, and sign any kid whose name begins with “AND”.
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That was a pretty amazing tag, so much so even the cameras could not catch it clearly. That said, he did tag him and no argument from Choo. Just a walk back to the dugout with his head down.
Simmons looks like the same kid I watched during the WBC. If he can stay healthy and give up the head first slides he will be a great one.
I thought Gattis gave good account of himself last night. Fredi mentioned he let one in last night but I don’t think so. Sometimes you have to give a little credit to the batter. Not saying the move to replace him late wasn’t a good move. He shows more hustle than J-Up out there….
Schafer keeps making the case he belongs in the majors. I think the only question is if he would hold up as a regular. Come to think of it, a lot of “everyday” players don’t hold up all that well.
Which allows me to transition (with a nod to the Scribe) that BJ could do with a little time on the pine to reflect I think…. While he did not don the coveted “Platinum Porkpie” he did display the Golden Sombrero in record fashion.
Freemann looks like he is locked in right now, even his outs are loud…. I think it will take about a week for Brian McCann to get it going. Dan Uggla appears to have discovered right field. That bodes well for the Bravos….
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“Fredi mentioned he let one in last night but I don’t think so”
Gil, I was thinking the same thing….Phillips hit that ball very hard, and I don’t see what else he could do with that, except be a faster runner…hey, Greg Luzinski played left on astroturf…somehow. Shame he can’t play CF.
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Adam Dunn played LF. Ryan Klesko played LF. Manny Ramirez played LF. Pete Incaviglia played LF. Dave Kingman played LF. Mo Vaughn played LF. Dante Bichette played LF. Jose Canseco played LF. And of course, the aforementioned Greg “The Bull” Luzinski played LF.
You don’t exactly have to be Willie Mays to hold down the job…
Evan will be fine out there. And it really doesn’t matter a whole lot anyway. JHey will be back very soon and the OF will be back to Up, Up and a Hey!
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Okay, can we officially ask, what’s wrong with Kimbrel?
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what’s wrong with Kimbrel?
Too many fastballs. Did you see any sliders in the 9th inning last night? I cannot recall any. I saw alot of low fastballs, many in the dirt. Fastball after fastball after fastball. What makes/made Kimbrell so stinking effective is not the 96-97 mph fastball, it’s the 88 mph slider that makes hitters’ knees buckle. And it makes his fastball look 10 mph faster. It keeps hitters from getting comfortable in the box and screws with their timing. As Chip Carey quoted last night, you can hit a freight train if you can time it. And to compound it, Kimbrel wasn’t even varying his pitch location. Joe Simpson noted that the low fastballs are much easier to hit because you just “drop the bat head on them”… just like both Mesoraco and Choo did. You cannot do that with high heat. You have to try to get your hands high enough to drive high fastballs. Kimbrel needs to do the things that has made him MLB’s best for the last 2 years… he needs to mix up his pitches and their location. In other words, he needs to stop throwing and start pitching again.
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V, I do think what you said is right about the lack of sliders( I was wondering the other night if his elbow was hurting, since he wasn’t throwing any sliders, then he threw 2-3 of them to the next guy) and terrible location on the fastballs. But I think Joe was right pointing out he was only throwing 95-96 , which Homer Bailey was throwing all night long.
I’ve been wondering where the 98-99 MPH pitch was all year, just thinking, well, it’s early, , unusually cool spring,once the weather warms up..well, it still hasn’t warmed up, and 2-3 MPH shouldn’t matter that much….but 2-3 MPH less+ fewer sliders,+ low fastballs center of the plate in, not at the knees outside or shoulder high…= very mortal closer. Is there an arm issue causing all of the above????
Sure hope not….
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Jim Powell says that JHey felt so good in today’s workout that he is flying back to Atlanta immediately after today’s game in CIncy to play with Gwinnett in a 10:45am start tomorrow (where I will be with my daughter’s 4th grade class, coincidentally). Then he will play in a 3 game series with them in Scranton before possibly returning to the Braves lineup.
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While Gattis has cooled a bit with the bat, his arm wowed em in Cincy today. Big DP with the bases loaded. I think it was the game frankly.
And Long Juan hits a long one and Uggla hit a couple of long ones too… I love it when the relievers become irrelevant.
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Fredi Gonzalas on Evan Gattis…
“His defense is not that bad. The more he plays out there. Obviously our days are getting short when Jason (Heyward) gets to come back but at least it’s a nice option to have. You can run him out there and catch the ball and he made a nice assist, nice throw to the plate.”
Reading between the lines, sounds like Evan’s days in the big leagues might be numbered. Still a long way to go between Heyward’s return and someone else straying healthy. Been a great run for him however.
I would bet his trade value is pretty high. Not that I would want to see him gone, just that he would bring a pretty high return.
Rookies are expendable, Mike Trout didn’t stick with the Angels his first go round either.
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So, who is really a better choice to go to Gwinnett? Schafer won’t clear waivers, Pena is the only real back up infielder. Johnson is too good an outfielder. Unless the Braves are willing to give up a relief arm, Gattis is the only person who could be sent down.
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Raisins, I hope you have a great time tomorrow and you get to stay for the entire game. Please give us a report on how the plebs are progressing.
That said, one has to wonder on how much the attendance in Gwennett will improve when Paul Bunyan hits the scene?
PS I think Evan has spread his stance out a bit too wide.
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Of course another thought on whom to keep on the roster and who to send down: Why not let Gattis take David Carpenter’s spot? It is not like Fredi is actually using him. Has Carpenter thrown a single pitch in a game yet?
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” (where I will be with my daughter’s 4th grade class, coincidentally)” – Raisins, your altruism knows no bounds! I’m impressed that you volunteered to go to a ball park! 😆 Enjoy!!
Have they tried Gattis at pitching yet? Who knows, maybe he’ll do at least passably well there, too! Ya think?
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Well, y’all, it is very hard to form many impressions on the team given the circumstances in which I was observing. Being smack in the middle of 200 3rd, 4th and 5th graders – all of whose patience and attention span ran out about the 3rd inning – is not exactly the best environment for precise observation. But I will say this much… I didn’t see much to be excited about. I don’t know if it was a factor of having the 10:35am start, but the players on the field were mostly unknown to me. Here was their lineup:
1- Tyler Pastornicky, 2B
2- Jason Heyward, DH (0-4, w/ 3 K’s)
3- Alden Carrithers, LF (Never heard of him. Ever.)
4- Joey Terdoslavich, 1B
5- Brandon Boggs (Signed on Monday as Minor League FA after being released by the Twins organization.)
6- Todd Cunningham, CF
7- Paul Janish, SS
8- Matt Kennelly, C (Homered.)
9- Sean Kazmar, 3B
SP- Roman Colon, former Braves reliever signed off the scrap heap 3 weeks ago after being dumped by his former AAA team. And he looked like it, too.
At first glance of their game program, my guess is that the pitching staff is Sean Gilmartin, then little else. Seriously… Colon gave up 5 runs and left after 3. Then Cole McCurry (who?) came in and gave up 5 in just 1 inning. At this point, all the natives around me were getting restless. The school group ended up leaving after the top of the 6th when it was 14-4 PawSox. As I now see, the final was 14-9, and the G-Braves scored 5 in the bottom of the inning as we were exiting the park.
Timing is everything.
Plus, I had left my ticket at home and had to purchase another one at the park, so I paid 2 prices to see half a game. Oh, well… it was worth it to be there with my daughter, and to see her eyes as I gave her her first Braves hat, a G-Braves one. Worth all of the heat, hassle, and hangups encountered just for that moment.
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Just superior, Raisins! She’ll treasure that hat for the rest of her life! (((super hugs))) sent your way!
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Wow Raisins, sounds like the Braves’ Triple A affiliate hasn’t changed much since it left Richmond, One or two guys to watch and bunch who are needed so they can field a team. Of course there were at least four names I recognized.
The time spent with the daughter is worth whatever pain you had to endure.
PS… 10:30 is an awful time for a pro ball player to have to take the field. Most don’t normally get out of bed until 11 AM.
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I suspect 10:35am is the reason we did not see Jose Constanza, Jordan Parraz or Joe Leonard. I mean… Alden Carrithers? Sean Kazmar? Cole McCurry? I try to keep a finger on the pulse of the pipeline, but these guys are complete unknowns to me.
BTW- Janish can still pick ’em, Pastor is a ML’er even if there is not a roster spot for him, and Cunningham is not a bad looking player.
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ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.. snort..huh? Oh yeah.. Man, those late night games on the coast are tough but totally worth it. I am still in a fog however, so appropriate one would think playing San Francisco. BMac looks like the BMac of old, just awesome to see him swinging it like he is 25 again. One would think he is going to be a very well paid catcher the next 5 or 6 years.
Dan Uggla is playing like an All-Star.. great defense and hitting the ball with authority to all fields. He is a guy who we have seen carry this team before. Mount up boys…
Congratulations to Kimbrel on reaching number 100. Did not exactly fool them last night but the defense held up. At least no cheapie wall scrapers to be had last night.
By the way, Schafer is playing like he never wants to come out of the line up.
Oh yeah, that Posey kid can play a little bit too….
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“Gonzalez to miss 2 games for daughter’s graduation”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2013/baseball/mlb/wires/05/09/2010.ap.bbn.braves.gonzalez.s.travels.0173/
I applaud Fredi for doing this and I applaud the Braves organization for supporting him. I think those who are criticizing him should take a real hard reality check.
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Don’t think I have seen a team with more players who should be regulars, that simply can’t be, than this team.
I do wonder what will happen when J-Hey gets back. Schafer gets used to splinters I guess. Thats too bad. The rookie with the most homers and RBI’s in the majors?(projected 33 HRs 91 RBIs) Guess you get to waste time in Gwinnett. Too bad.Hope it doesn’t mess with his head. Laird gets to start once every two weeks til Gattis is sent down.
I know, injuries have a way of working things out. But still, the team has almost an embarrassment of riches. If the stoopid diamondbacks hadn’t dragged their feet on trading J Up, he could be in CF, would have saved a ton on the BJ contract to be used later for a starter…and Gattis could be the left fielder…oh well, no one knew Gattis would be this good, did they?
And I have this weird, almost cold feeling for Brian McCann, which isn’t in any way , shape or form fair to him. None of this is his fault, but I feel like he’s in the way of progress. Last winter I was really PO’ed that the braves are too cheap for it to even be a possibility to re-sign him. Now, I(almost) look at him as just a trade chip. Shame he can’t become the face of the franchise, the next Chipper…
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I have to say that McCann looked really good last night. I can’t wish him bad in any way shape or form. Gattis will get (got) his chance and proved to be a viable option behind the dish. I think the days off will do him good. He has be struggling a bit at the plate the past few games. He will get to play this weekend. Somehow I think it will all work out.
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Oh my, that was ugly…. I don’t think I have ever seen Huddy just lose control of a game like that…
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I missed it. Dish Network and FOX Sports cannot decide how to split the money that is coming out of my pocket, so I get screwed on some the games. I am about to change over to DirecTV…
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Well V, you didn’t miss much….and that is why I left DISH a few years back when I couldn’t see Cox’s last few games. I don’t know if FOX takes advantage of DISH knowing they are number 2, and have less power, or what, but this just seems to happen to DISH. Almost no complaints about Direct, and do what I did, get a recommendation thingy from Gil, and you both save $10 for 10 months(At least I assume they still have that offer)
I flipped away at 3-0 thinking with Hudson on the mound, things were still in control..flipped back…nope. McCann hit a ball into the bay…the one and only highlight.
Seeing the postgame stuff, seems like the Giants hit his good pitches, and Hudson had some terrible, terrible sliders. Why do all the braves pitchers have to toss meatballs to Posey? Isn’t he a good enough hitter without any help?
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Hey Raisins, let me know if you are seriously considering DirecTV… Yep, $10 a month for both you and me… You would not even have to pay for the MLB baseball package because you would automatically get SportsSouth.. Because I live in the “Greater Washington Co-Prosperity Sphere ” I get MASN which means I get all the Nationals and Oriole games… meh…
The game this afternoon should be interesting, I am hoping the couple of days off will help Gattis. I expect him to start in left field today.
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Ouch!
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Gil, I think what you named this lead really is more true than ever….
Ok, I think we all know this team is good, but streaky. Hudson is a
“1” or a 1A…he sure gives it his all. …but, would he beat the Tigers in the WS? So…David Price…would you trade for him? what would you trade for him?
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Who needs a catcher?
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A quote from someone on another blog:
“If the Braves leave Uggla in Arizona and bring Prado back here with them, you think the Diamondbacks will notice?” 😆
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🙂
Actually, I think J-Up needs to get his head back on straight because he sure has played like a dufus this weekend..
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Hmm, who needs a catcher? The Yankees…in theory….but they are acting cheap these days, and apparently, everyone that puts on Yankee pinstripes is so amazed to be wearing the same uni the the Babe, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Reggie, etc, etc, etc wore, that even released castoffs crush the ball like HOFers . Can you believe they are in 1st place with half their team on the DL?
A lot of good catchers right now…I really don’t know who really needs one….
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It was awfully nice to help Lincecum and Cain get back on track….Why couldn’t one of them groove a pitch to one of the two slumping Upton kids?
I know this is piling on but check this out…BJ is hitting .153 after about 20% of the season has been played. With no one one, he’s hitting .171. Runners on? 5 for 42, or .119. In scoring position? 2 for 24 or .083. Scoring position, and 2 out? 0 for 14 or….000. Wow…
Justin is not much better with runners on. .167 and only 1 homer. Scoring position and 2 out? 1 for 10.
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What a difference being on the winning end of a 10-1 game makes! 🙂
Glad the fans in AZ were mostly kind to Justin.
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Afternoon all. yes. all is right with the world now the Braves have escaped San Fran.
Mike Minor did not look particularly sharp but his defense bailed him out of jams often enough so the offense could show up. Still two more games to go so let’s hope the Braves can keep their mojo going. Funny, while Evan seems a bit spotty at the plate, he has a very accurate arm and Simba is on his way to getting selected to his first All-star game. I have not seen such a cannon at the short stop position since Furcal occupied the slot. Te difference is Simmons is selective as to when he reveals his weapon.
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Were b ever 1?????
Last night…was not every good. To whine a bit….lefties(Granted this is a very good lefty) still seem to give the braves fits. Reed Johnson really should be in against all lefties. Certainly ahead of BJ til he starts to hit.
And while Tehrens last two starts are good…I just don’t see the stuff he was supposed to have. Well, I do with the offspeed pitches, but his fastball? I thought he nearly hit 100 a few years ago in the minors. 91 to 94, and laser straight…just isn’t very impressive, IMO. I do think he will fill out a bit, but I thought he was going to be if not the next Pedro Martinez, at least close to as good as him…and he can still be…but he isn’t now.
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Sigh… Poor Huddy, He has become a number two or three…. Not that he can’t put up number one like numbers but the difference in a number one and a number five is not whether or not they can hurl a no hitter but the frequency in which the can pitch these types of games.
Have we seen the last of Evan Gattis? Who’s spot does Heyward take? Anyone have a sore arm (shoulder)?
Like we have opined here in the past, spending big money is not a guarantee of success, it is having deep pockets that allows you to be able to make a mistake. (cough, bjupton, cough cough…)
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Gil, sadly I think you are right about Huddy….hopefully he’ll pitch more like a 2-3 than a 5, next time out…I sure hope we haven’t seen the last of Gattis. But, I assume he will be going to the minors. He would have really put the Braves in a pickle if he popped another homer or two. We really don’t need 6 outfielders,and even if Laird was traded, he isn’t going to play much as a backup catcher, and he wouldn’t be able to pinch hit either as the only backup.
I was wondering why Randall Degado wasn’t with the Diamondbacks…. 9.03 ERA in AAA. Yikes! Wonder if he misses the braves. Has to be hard on some youngsters to get traded from the only team they know….
V, it doesn’t sound like DISH is going to give in….http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblogs/radio-tv-talk/2013/may/03/no-progress-between-fox-sports-south-dish-network/
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D’oh, old news story that popped up in a google search….stoopid google put that at the top..
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SIGH!!!! Jonny Venters had TJ surgery Thursday in Pensacola Fla. First time TJ has a very good success rate, second time around, not so much. Still say the Braves used him up in 2011.
The noise in Atlanta is they are strongly considering going with a 6 man relief corp so they would have a spot for Gattis when Heyward returns Friday. We’ll see how it all works out.
Ber, my point about Hudson and by extension, the entire staff is that the “Ace” label is generally hung around the neck of a guy who will give you an outstanding game every time out. Number 5s are usually kids who are just showing up in the majors and will give you a good game one out of every three appearances.
We are quickly approaching the fist of June, the time when clubs usually take stock in who they are and what they need going into the summer. I’m thinking the Braves would like to continue to improve their club but are just not sure where that improvement is needed.
Of course, if Long Juan continues to make plate appearances like the ones he has the past few days, I can think of where they can make an improvement PDQ…
One final comment about Huddy yesterday. He just seemed to come unglued… Very strange…
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Okay, since it appears that I was right on the money when I spoke of Jonny Venters’ likely physical ailments, I can speak of the likelyhood that Craig Kimbrel is also suffering from some type of physical problem.
My observation is based on both the life on his fastball as well as the speed of this same pitch. Speed alone will not guarantee success as a closer, Since Craig’s participation in the WBC, we have seen him throw laser straight fastballs which have been turned around with rapidity. Craig has always had some fine control problems, usually by this time in the season it has worked itself out. What made him unhitable was the late movement of said fastballs.
If you look back at Craig’s saves, even his outs have been hard hit balls that his defense has snared. While I am just a average fan, I do have eyes… I can see the difference. Maybe it would be impossible for Kimbrel repeat a possibly once in a life time performance turned in last season but all signs point to that not happening again.
The much Ballyhooed trio of O’Flarerty, Venters and Kimbrel has already lost one of the exulted three. I don’t think the Braves could survive another hit…
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Howdy all…
Tonight the Braves will field their “starting 8” for the 1st time all year. Weird, huh?
Also, and I realize this may not be a popular opinion, BJ will be fine. He is off to a horrendous start for sure, but the kid hasn’t forgotten how to play ball. If you look at his numbers, he had a similar stretch last season (just not at the start of the season, and magnified by being the new big money FA), and followed it with a stretch that was as good as any in MLB. He’ll be fine.
Next, that said, the Braves don’t need a big splash acquisition at the deadline this year. The pitching has been erratic, but not awful. I cannot think of a starter we have that simply stinks up the joint every time he toes the rubber. Heck, the least effective guy we have right now is Medlen, whom we all wanted to anoint as the “ace” prior to Game 1.
But perhaps the thing we need not forget is that we will be gaining a top of the rotation starter in just a few weeks. Beachy was among league leaders in many areas when his elbow blew. No real reason to think he cannot give this team a boost.
To still be in 1st place in the NL Beast after playing a brutal opening schedule that included 2 separate 10 game road trips – one of them a west coast swing – that pitted the team against the reigning World Champs and the runners up, all while one of our top players was on the shelf for the 1st month while another had his innards turn on him… well, it ain’t too shabby IMO.
Think about it… the Braves were playing below their potential without 2 of their stars, and are still leading the division heading into a much more favorable portion of the schedule with all the starters on the field.
I’ll take it.
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And I wonder if Frank will employ the same “rehab” strategy with Beachy that he did with Medlen, that being bringing him out of the ‘pen for a while. It worked for Meds. IMO it is sound planning.
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I agree Raisins, using Beachy in the same manner as Medlen would reduce the potential to over use him early and allow him to be available in September.
A little home cooking might just be what can cure what ails the Braves at this juncture. It’s tough to live on the road for extended periods. Just look at the win/loss splits for every major league ball club. Who has a winning road record amonst all 30 teams?
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Okay Kimbrel, that’s a little more like it… Maybe he just missed pitching to Brian McCann. That and needing a little time to get his head back on straight… And back to Mrs. Kimbrel…. Yep, a little home cooking should do the Braves a world of good. Now, if we can just get Medlen straightened out.
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Alas, two things you never want to read in the same sentence, elbow soreness and Dr. Andrews… Sigh, hope it is not serious for Easy O but I fear the worse… His elbow must have really been hurting.
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And, as I type this, Chip announces that an MRI revealed that O’Flarerty has a partial tear of his pitching elbow. They bull pen is thinning fast gys…
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At a loss for words over the pen, but ecstatic for El Oso Blanco. Mixed bag today…
Also, thanks to greedy Dish Network, I have no Braves on TV this weekend, and most weekends. DirecTV is in my future. But it’s all good. I have enjoyed listening to Jim Powell call the games. He is a wonderful broadcaster, and a fine one to follow the great footsteps of Pete and Skip and Ernie.
Now as for Don… don’t get me started… 🙄 Fortunately for me, he is off this weekend, and Lemke was subbing in tonight. I’ll take Jim on play-by-play and Lemmer doing color any night of the week over Don’s incessant rambling. And seriously, Don, when a team scores and you update the new score, emphasize the number that changes, for crying out loud. That drives me soooo crazy! 😡
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El Orso Blanco is dah bomb… I was talking with my son on the phone during his at bat and I think he thought I had lost my mind when Evan hit that dinger. He lives in Sarasota so I had to explain to him the story of Evan Gattis… What a great story it is too folks….
Raisins, write down this number
23956026
It is my DirectV account number, Give it to the nice folks who answer the phone and we both get $100 over a 10 month period.
I don’t know what plan would work best for you but I suggest you go with the whole home DVR. I have it at the camper but not here at home. That may change shortly.
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I was quite surprised to hear about EOF, shoot, he just pitched on the 17th! 😦
I thought he also had TJ surgery in the past, but can’t find that info….there really are some other good arms on the team, they just don’t have the experience in the 7th and 8th…just read that Colby Rasmus’ brother is coming up, Cory Rasmus, who is 25. A righty, he has a 0.93 ERA in 19 innings in triple A.
I’m guessing Beachy is a reliever now….but as we know, some guys are better starters than relievers….
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You guys hear about Alex Wood? I never did til I heard mention of him being lights out in AA. a few weeks back. Kids unreal. and a very weird motion, check it out… (they do show from behind home plate half way thru) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOQ9kcdXlxE
Here is a month old story on him…
http://www.faketeams.com/2013/4/29/4281044/coming-soon-to-a-stadium-near-you-alex-wood-lhp-atlanta-braves
a more recent one….
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130514/SPORTS09/305140024/M-Braves-ace-Wood-star-making
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Ber, the Braves have pretty much said they are not going to mess with Wood’s development.
O’Flarerty has experience back trouble in the past. No mention of arm trouble but I think the Braves have been hiding the fact he has been experiencing elbow “issues” for a year now.
http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/oflaherty-to-see-dr-andrews-monday/nXwmz/
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Good morning all, prayers go out to all the folks who suffered through the horrendous tornado in Oklahoma Monday. I can hardly imagine how terrifying it must have been to them. A special prayer for the children.
Now baseball, although it seems a lot less important right now but unfortunately some sort of tragedy strikes everyday in this world. Too much of it can really depress a soul.
Teheran really pitched a beautiful game last night. It has taken a bit but looks like Wren kept the best of the three young arms he held onto the past three years. Now we can only hope he has another magic bean in his bag to take the place of Jonny and O’Flarerty. I don’t think it is Cory Gearing but if Walden’s arm will heal up, he may be Wren’s best trade ever and he has made some pretty good ones.
If we can just get BJ going somehow….
Time for Huddy to get back on the right track now. Maybe pitching to BMac will do the trick…
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Hi gang, looks like my AOL account got hacked again, Don’t accept or open any emails from my aol account, I will be using my comcast account…
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“I can hardly imagine how terrifying it must have been to them.” Gil, I know what you mean….I find it hard after watching a few hours to keep watching. These folks have no homes to go to. No way to not think about it 24/7
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Gil, have you ever had a gmail acct? They seem to be pretty safe…
Now for the less important, but more fun stuff…Man, bullpen isn’t quite the same, is it? Never seen David Carpenter pitch…95-96 MPH fastball(as opposed to a 95-96 MPH Curveball 😕 ) Who knew?
And why can’t the JHey kid hit a 92 MPH fastball right down the middle???
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Glad they didn’t listen to me, and send Gattis down to get more AB’s! 🙂
F.F knows how to hit a bit, eh what???
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and now for an epic slide by Ian Kinsler! http://i.imgur.com/9yAkYRE.gif
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Here is Gattis’ homer, in case you missed it…
And Mike Trout hit for the cycle last night, youngest player ever.
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My goodness, mere words may no longer do justice for the exploits of El Orso Blanco. Today;s feat was a 332 foot wall scraper thee other way for a Grand Slam then BJ Upton could only look at with stunned amazement.
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I am convinced that the anti-Braves fan gods are conspiring against me. Dish tells me that only Nat’ls and Orioles games are broadcast here – per MLB. Same from DirectTV. *sigh* Woe is me. I guess the only way I’ll see them is either move to Georgia or find a very, very, very long cord that will plug me into Sports South directly. What a revoltin’ development!
Thanks for the links, Ber!
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Well, at least you can watch them whenever they play the Nats or the Orioles.
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In other good news for you, the Braves and the METS will be on the National stage this weekend.
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CL, that stinks! 😦
I sure know it isn’t cheap, but MLB.TV gets cheaper as the season goes along, and you can do month to month,
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/index.jsp?product=mlbtv&affiliateId=MLBTVREDIRECT
Oh, do you have cable right now? Don’t know if they have MLB channel on cable or not, (Both Sat companies have it now) but I find if you are up late, (say after 1 AM) they have that quick pitch show, hour long, just highlights, and it gets me caught up on most everything. They re-run the same show several times til 7-8 am….
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Yes, the MLB network is on my favorite channels list too….
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Here is a nice piece on Evan Gattis which appeared in today’s Richmond Times Dispatch. I make it available for those like me who are unwilling to pay for a subscription to the AJC.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/sports/professional/baseball/article_26eea731-bfcf-5fce-b525-2ef399754d19.html
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Thanks, Gil. Great article. I hope this young man has a terrific career ahead of him – preferably with the Braves.
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Bummer for me yesterday, not only did I get blacked out from watching the finally of the conclusion of Friday’s game with the Mets but was treated to the Nationals vs Philly contest Saturday night…. BOOOOOOOO!
I did get to see the mud fest Friday night…. That Gattis kid can play a little bit… So can McCann and Freddie.
I can see us missing Easy O and Venters though…. Braves should have nailed down the eight inning.
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A nice piece on Mike Minor. I have to admit, I was wary that he would ever come around like he has. Goes to show there is a lot more to pitching than throwing a baseball 60 feet and daring a batter to swing at it.
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/48554204/
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And a word on Medlen. His real problem this season appears to be his magic has been transferred to Teheran. Just one of those things where the team wins no matter how many runs he gives up.
Actually, it is his curve ball or maybe better said his lack of a consistently good curve ball. A curve ball is such a “feel” pitch. Maybe it is the cold weather he has been subjected to this season which has resulted in so many hangers this season and it seems that everyone of them has hurt him. Unlike Dan Ugla and BJ Upton, opposing batters have not often missed “mistakes” and hangers this season.
That said, Medlen’s line has not been all that bad. Just not the spectacular we became spoiled with last year. It will be interesting to see if he isn’t the odd man out when Beachy returns in June.
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Hello everyone. Will someone please find the real Jason Heyward? This guy they have trying to be him really sucks…
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Yes Raisins, I thought he had looked so much better, then wham, he started pulling off the ball again. I guess he got jealous of everyone hitting homeruns…. SIGH!!! Braves still could have won last night’s game but I guess Cory just wasn’t ready for prime time in the Big Apple.
Perhaps Jason is the new Francoure…. Sure seems like it. All that potential.
Speaking of potential, Freddie Free wore the Golden Sombrero last night. When is the last time that happened? Maybe too much late night celebration the night before?
On to Toronto. The boppers will both be in the line up tonight…
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Frenchy was sent down hitting better than Jhey
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Gil, forgot to say, nice article….funny, people seem to be thinking Medlen is just so-so this year, and while his ERA is not 1.57 or whatever it was last year, it is 3.16..3.16, better than Maholm or Teheran, but one win, makes it seem like he’s the weak link.
We may seem some crazy long home runs in whatever the Toronto stadium is called these days…never heard why it’s turned into the Rockies stadium north of the border, the last few years…
Guess who is hitting .296, with 10 HR’s and 32 RBI’s? Kelly Johnson, for the Tampa Rays….looks like he’s on his way to a career year at the age of 31. Good for him!
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.190 avg / .299 obp / .418 slg / 10 hr / 20 rbi
.163 avg / .306 obp / .272 slg / 2 hr / 8 rbi
Which line belongs to the greatly beloved Jason Heyward and which belongs to the greatly vilified Dan Uggla?
Neither is pretty, but why does JHey get the benefit of the doubt? To me, he is much more disappointing. We know Danny is streaky. I don’t have a clue what JHey is. His groundouts to 2B may not be as ugly as Danny K’s strikeouts (like my new nickname for him?), but they are outs nonetheless.
I read where Danny K has started swinging a heavier bat in an attempt to control his swing better. The effort has born improvement over the last week. I read where BJ is working overtime with Walk and Fletch to work out all the kinks in his swing. He appears to be making better contact lately, even if he hasn’t gotten all the nuances worked out yet. What is JHey doing? Nothing that I am aware of. Nothing but the same long looping swings that result in a groundout to 2B or SS.
I guess there is something to be said for consistency. I won’t tell you what it is that I said, though… 😐
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Yes, Ber… KJ appears to be having somewhat a renaissance season. He too has tinkered with his stance and swing, showing marked results. I’d take him on this team in a heartbeat. Now guess where I’d play him – 2B or OF?
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Oh, and Danny K was 1 for 3 with a walk in tonight’s game, raising his avg. to .193. Closing in on the Mendoza line.
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… and Gattis was 3 for 4 with 2 rbi. Amazing.
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… amongst Gattis’ 3 hits were a 2B and a 2-run tater.
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Huddy tossed 110 pitches tonight, only 67 for strikes. No other commentary needed.
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Remember when Maddux ran a streak of 72 2/3 innings without issuing a walk? Remember when he would toss a 9 inning complete game under 100 pitches? (… and in under 2 hours?) What I wouldn’t give to have Mad-dog back in the Braves organization…
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Guess I shoulda mentioned that Huddy’s 110 pitches tonight were over just 6 innings… 🙄
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I loved watching Maddux pitch. And Skip broadcasting them. Good thing I saw those years because I have a feeling it may be a long time before I get to see the Braves regularly again.
Since nobody can show their games here (thank you, MLB!!), I went into negotiations with Time Warner and got the limited tv I wanted and their Turbo Extreme internet (15mbps) for $10.00 more than they were charging for their basic only TV. As soon as I find a cell phone package I like, I’m sending ATT on their merry way without me.
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12:30 game today…. set your alarm clocks.
Josie and I had a large segment of our clan over Monday for our Memorial Day picnic. I was late to watching the game and what I saw made me change the channel PDQ. No need to rehash our previous commentary about Braves pitching woes. The stats speak for themselves.
Heyward? I think everyone knows why he is getting a pass, no need to say it out loud…. I think he still has a world of potential, his real problem is he is still hard headed….
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Wow, really sloppy game today by both teams. Braves squander a three run lead in the first,
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So, how do I vote for Evan Gattis for the All-star team? Outfielder? Catcher? DH? Utility guy? Just wondering…
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V, I guess folks have given JHey a break also because of the Appendectomy….but, it sure doesn’t explain why he wasn’t hitting before, and he had quite some time to heal from the surgery…what is odd is both he and BJ look like 40 Y.O guys who can’t catch up with fastballs anymore….I’ve seen both of them miss 90 MPH pitches right down the middle. Guess it’s the long, loopy swings both have. But, they have both been able to in the past….
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Gil, good question! Perhaps like Prado made it a few years ago, as a utility man…All I know, is Gattis HAS to play more….He seems to have sped up his bat of late, if that’s possible. With 2 outfielders hitting roughly .155 or less, surely one of those guys can sit each game out, til/if they start to hit at least their weight. Heck, guess who, with 2 hits so far today, has as many hits as BJ, and more hits than JHey? Yep, Schafer…
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Told ya there would be a lot of long balls in Toronto! 😉
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So, O’Brian relayed that Fredi will go back to a 7th reliever in the pen tomorrow. Who get’s the royal Weenie? Someone get a case of hammer toe? Only thing I see is maybe the Braves trying to sneak Long Juan through waivers. After all, can they really get away with sending down Gattis now?
If I had to choose someone to go down, it would be Heyward so he can learn to hit above .280 again.
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By the way, Brian McCann is showing the Braves why they need to find the money it will take to keep him in Atlanta. He is back to the guy we all fell in love with as a player 6 years ago.
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Yes Ber, I wonder if Turner Field will be a little less homer friendly?
Looks like Atlanta decided against expanding the bull pen and only sent down Ramus when they activated Walden today.
Gearrin looked like two different pitchers Sunday and last night. I still say a lot of how he is able to perform is dependent on how much rest he gets.
Finding the perfect combination of rest and use for Kimbrel is still a work in progress. He was not exactly keeping it off the bats of the Blue Jays Tuesday. Only the hustle of Johnson kept the Jays from tying the game. I understand the value of Jason Upton’s bat but he has not shown me all that much in the outfield this year.
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Braves promote left-hander Alex Wood
http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/braves-promote-left-hander-alex-wood/nX6hK/
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So you’re Frank Wren (I know you’re not, but play along)…
You’ve lost your 2 best setup men in the bullpen, both lefthanders, and have been trying to limp along with 6 relievers because of the unusual makeup of the roster. But the reality today is that you cannot get by with just 6 relievers anymore. Maybe in an ideal setting, but there is no such thing day in and day out.
So this morning you’ve promoted a highly touted young lefty in Alex Wood to come in and be Joneric O’Venterty, and to stabilize the ‘pen.
Uh, last I checked, MLB frowned on 26 players on the ML roster. Somebody has to go.
Do you send someone down? You have a young catching phenom in Gattis without a regular position, but you can’t afford to send him down because he is your most valuable offensive weapon. You’ve got 2 guys in Schafer and Francisco without minor league options, neither of which has a prayer of sneaking through waivers, and neither of which you really want to take off your roster anyway.
Do you look for a trade? Your 3rd catcher Laird has proven invaluable with the development of your young pitching, and is not so shabby at receiving and hitting himself. Both RJohnson and Pena are too versatile and valuable to your bench to send elsewhare.
So what do you do?
Here’s what I know… the move to promote Wood has already happened. He boarded a plane from Mississippi to Atlanta earlier this morning. He’ll be here tonight. But the corresponding roster move has not yet been announced.
Hmmm…
Perhaps that is somewhat revealing. If I were a betting man, I’d lay money that Frank has been on the phone since last night. If it were me, I’d be trying to move Francisco, and give the everyday job to CJohnson with Pena as his backup. But Francisco probably doesn’t have the same value as some of the other candidates. I imagine other GM’s are more in on Schafer, who has had a career revival and is cheap. They probably like Laird as well since catching is always at a premium. RJohnson might be getting some love, but probably not as much as Schafer.
Betcha something’s cooking. Guess we’ll know before 7:10pm tonight, huh?
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V, yep!
I even wondered if JHey might get sent down….but someone somewheres is no doubt worried about his confidence…I think if you are hitting around .150, you don’t have any confidence to worry about, you can only build it back up.
Some smart team would come along and grab Schafer…Who needs a CF’er?
Wren may have to get fancy, get some 3 way trade going.
I noticed via MLBTR that two relievers MIGHT be available soon. Joba Chamberlain (Story said he could be traded before July 31st) and Mark Lowe of the Angels was DFA’ed yesterday. He has been beyond terrible this year, but was pretty good before that, and has(had) a pretty spiffy fastball.
But, either of those guys coming over, well, you’d need to make yet another roster move, eh???? Hmmm…all I know is 5 outfielders and 3 catchers are nice things to have, but are a bit…superfluous (no, I didn’t spell it right at first)
But then again, David Carpenter is rarely used, so a 7th bullpen arm seems a bit much too. Of course, you don’t need 7 when you have shut down arms coming into games, but when everyone seems a bit shaky, more folks will be trotted out there….
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a quick look around baseball…kinda hard to find a team in need of the 3rd baseman…perhaps the 2 Chicago teams? Heck, even the hapless Astros have some guy playing 3rd who has 25 RBI’s. Mariners top RBI guy is their 3rd baseman.
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Looks like the Braves have really put themselves in a box. Send down the best offensive player on the team who still has options and is a revenue bonanza in Evan Gattis or do you send down the guy who is suppose to be the future of the team and the great black hope and risk the wrath of Terrance Moore and Hank Aaron? A player by the way who has under performed the last three years…. I know who I am opting for but I have very little sway in these matters.
Unlike the Yankees, the Braves cannot afford to eat contracts, well, they can but they don’t want to. Otherwise, BJ Upton would be yesterday’s news. I mean, haven’t Braves fan suffered enough with the unfulfilled promise of a high priced right handed big bopper? Oh woe oh woe… what to do????
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In my humble opinion, the Braves don’t need to shop for bullpen help. Walden is as good a setup guy as you could ask for as long as he stays healthy, and Alex Wood shows alot of promise. And with the exception of the blown game 3 nights ago, Gearrin has been pretty good. Varvaro hasn’t embarrassed himself, either. Nor has Avilan. The guy we really missed last night after Meds went down early was Christian Martinez. He can take the ball and give you 4 or 5 strong innings. Hope the shoulder gets strong and he returns soon.
No, the Braves just need to figure out who they can best remove from their roster without just giving somebody away. For what it’s worth, Braves flagship station 680theFan’s Buck Belue agrees with me that Francisco should be the odd man out…
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And tonight’s lineup is at least a bit revealing:
1. Schafer, CF
2. Simmons, SS
3. JUp, RF
4. Gumby, 1B
5. Gattis LF
6. Mac, C
7. CJohnson, 3B
8. Pena, 2B
9. Minor, P
Schafer, Gattis, and CJohnson all in the lineup. Schafer and Gattis are no surprise, but CJohnson is in the lineup against righty R.A. Dickey. Now, granted, you can often throw out the normal platoon rules when a knuckleballer is on the mound, but I still think we may can read something into it.
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And does anyone else think it’s a tad bit interesting that none of the scuffling trio of BJ, JHey and Danny K are in the lineup against Dickey? That could have gotten ugly…
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And as we all suspected… Long Juan is indeed the odd man out. And with no apparent takers on the trade market, Juan Francisco has been DFA’d.
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One more thing on Long Juan…
The guy tried, and showed some improvement early, then fell back into old habits. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone swing harder every single time. And while it’s sad to see someone with great potential not be able to reach it, at least not here in ATL, CJohnson won the full time job weeks ago. He should be in the lineup every night, and now he gets the chance. Happy for him! 😀
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Of course, if he clears waivers, Juan will be able to terrorize the first base coach in triple A…
But i digress, Juan became spoiled by all the love shown Evan Gattis hitting monster shots. Trouble was, Juan did not realize that Evan wasn’t really trying… Evan just has the most incredible bat speed of anyone in the majors.
I wonder if Gattis can/could play third base?
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Watching the the Braves bumble in the field the past week, I am reminded of the old Lewis Grizzard joke:
What do the Atlanta Braves and Michael Jackson have in common? Both wear a glove on one hand for no apparent reason….
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Fortunately for Mike Minor, and we Braves faithful, they remembered to bring their bats…
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Mike Minor has become the best starter on the staff this season. What a turn around from this time last year. Were it not for Simba’s inexplicable boot of a sure DP ball, he likely would have hurled a shutout.
Walden looks the best I have seen him as a Brave.
Shafer has earned the playing time. Time for BJ to get over himself and realize the white kid is schooling him.
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Still a bit sorry about J Fransisco, had a great April….oh well. Hope he does well elsewheres….heard the Reds might even be interested in him…
Gil, It’s amazing about Minor! I sure never saw what the smart braves scouts saw. I bow down to them. I still don’t know how Teheran is getting folks out either, but you can’t argue with the results.Well, you could, but that would be silly.
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Think the Reds would trade Hoover back? a little joke in there somewhere… One does have to wonder why Juan reverted back to his misguided ways of trying to hit 500 foot home runs in every at bat.
Last night was one of the smartest games from an offensive standpoint I have seen the Braves play in quite some time. I think it should be one of the games which are played over and over for the hitters to review when it comes to a game plan…. No big swings (except for Juston Upton) and one from Gumby but hey, he crushed it…. Just lots and lots of solid contact. It was a thing of beauty….
Then again, sometimes a team runs into a pitcher like Mike Minor and all you can hope for is the other team’s defense boots it a lot.
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Opposing pitchers’ new strategy when facing the Braves line-up: Just walk or plunk the guys who can hit until you get to face guys who will whiff at everything….
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After suffering through last night’s play by play of having to endure Bob Carpenter’s drone, I am somewhat thankful I will be blacked out for tonight’s telecast… Mixed emotions here on that one.
One thing for sure, I am of the mind that Frank Wren has to be very wary of offering any more long term, high priced contracts to any future free agents. He and the Braves have had some really bad luck going that route.
BJ Upton is only the latest of that ilk. Sadly, it looks as if the bad karma emitted by BJ and Uggla is rubbing off on Justin rather than the other way around. Dan Uggla has had one 33 game stretch in three years now that he has played like the guy he was traded for.
Well, it’s only a game and it could be worse but I just have a very bad feeling…. Just saying….
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Gil, it’s sad when the best way to defend Uggla’s poor season, is to point out to others that he has more homers than BJ and JHey…combined.
And I didn’t see this story on the AJC(of course I guess this is the new, striped down AJC, it may not show up there) but Freddi mentioned the possibility of demotion of BJ. Think its to get the press to mention it to BJ, and see if he has the you know whats to say I belong here, I won’t go down?
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9330692/atlanta-braves-consider-sending-bj-upton-minors
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Gil, speaking of Justin, saw where he hit around .211 with 2 HR’s in May.
I can’t find the video, but Nomar Garciaparra (a career .313 hitter) was talking about BJ’s swing and how his bat is in good position at the start of the swing, then it goes almost straight up, then has to go back down into the normal arc of the hitting position(I’m sure he said it better than that) He showed it in slow motion, very obvious there…but no doubt harder to fix someone’s swing when it basically needs to be completely rebuilt. All I know is BJ and JHey cannot hit even an average fastball, 9 times out of 10.
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Oh, forgot to mention…guess who leads the NL in homers? Dominic Brown. Ol Charlie wouldn’t have given him a chance this year if the Phils hadn’t had so many injuries….
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One thing I try to keep in mind is BJ changing leagues. Same thing happened last season with Albert Prujols when he signed with the Angels. So many things and then the pressure of living up to that big contract. I’m thinking that BJ and J-Hey have to hang around until the All-Star break and then have a big second half.
It’s almost like putting it into the perspective of AA ball where you have a first and second half champions….
Okay, I know that is not the way it works in the majors but we have all seen how important it is to get hot in September.
Gattis gets the start tonight and Brian on the bench. I was surprised that Laird did not have plate duties last night but I guess Freedie was trying to put his boppers in the line up together.
By the way, Marteen Prado has turned it around in Zona and has become an RBI machine. Good for him….
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Nice article on local boy Trot Nixon:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20130531/ARTICLES/130539908/1005?Title=20-years-after-Nixon-8217-s-star-rose-he-adds-another
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Perfect example tonight as to why I love this team…
Did you see the reaction to BJ’s game winning RBI? You’d have thought the Braves won a playoff series, but the love was all pointed to BJ. They must have one amazing clubhouse. The chemistry is obvious on the field. I am happy for BJ. It’s not like the guy hasn’t been working his tail off to break out of his funk. He and Danny both have been putting in a ton of extra time with the hitting coaches. (Not sure what JHey is doing…)
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Great point Raisins, unfortunately I was unable to view the game because I was saddled with the Yankees/Red Sox…. meh…
Anyway, I did follow the game on Gameday… a lot is lost in the translation but I did love the ending.
As for Heyward, the boy is so FUBAR right now because he is thinking too much and is not able to just swing. More than one analyst has commented that J-Hey looks very mechanical at the plate right now. , That aside, even the umps appear to be conspiring against the lad. No respect as far as the strike zone and the kid can’t buy an infield hit to save him…. Only thing to do is put him in the eight hole and suffer thru it.
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V, you are so right! That was great! 🙂
Nice to see him go the other way like that too.
I think Freddi claimed all 3 below Mendosa hitters were putting in a ton of extra BP, but perhaps he added JHey so people wouldn’t ask…
Gil, can you get the game on the radio up there?
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sometimes Ber, depends on which station I can find which isn’t blacked out.
Nice to see BJ go big today, I think Gattis could use a day off.
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Just keep on winnin’!
Pirates are not the pirates of recent yore..should be interesting. They beat up on the Tigers, and beat the Reds when they were down to their last out(well, tied the game on a mammoth into the river homer by Garrett Jones, then won in extra innings) so they are really on a roll…should be…wow, I see I said that already…
well, it should be…
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Yes, the Braves have had their problems with the Buccos of late but I just don’t see any team sweeping the Braves at the Ted this season. While McCutchen has started to heat up, a few days of 80% humidity has a way of taking the starch out of any opposing team’s sails.
I’m serious about Gattis needing a day off. Of course, just having him in the line up appears to cause opposing pitchers to walk him ahead of McCann and for the life of me, I cannot understand why any pitcher would rather face BMac than the Bear?
BMac is nce again able to reach those outside pitches and take them to left field. If he played in Philly, half of those fly balls to left would be homers. Anyway, I expect Laird to get a start this week. Hey, need to keep him sharp,
Domonic Brown has become what the Braves had hoped Heyward would become. The difference? Brown had to spend more time in the minors learning his craft. Either that or J-Hey is still feeling the effects of the surgery and is not able to go the other way on pitches like he was earlier in the year.
One more observation, it doesn’t take long for the “book” to get out on a player’s weaknesses. Look for Evan to get a diet of sliders down and away. Same pitch Frenchy and Andruw had problems with. He is going to be more willing to go to right field to make opposing pitchers honest.
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That the Braves got anything at all is surprising… that they got a lefty reliever is amazing, even if he is a minor leaguer.
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Thomas Keeling is 25 years old, pitched at Oklahoma State, was an 18th round pick in 2010, and has a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings pitched this season at the AA level. In those 17 innings, he has given up 15 hits including 1 HR. He has also issued 10 BB’s against 19 K’s.
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No real “book” on Tom Keeling, so no idea what pitches he features. He’ll move east a couple hundred miles from AA Huntsville (AL) to AA Pearl (MS).
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As for Long Juan, the Brewers released former Brave Alex Gonzalez to make room for him. Ironic…
More irony: the only guy I have seen swing harder on every pitch than Juan is Prince Fielder, the Brewers’ 1B. Obviously, Prince has more success at actually making contact with the ball…
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Uh… duh. Prince moved on from Milly to Detroit. I knew that. It should have read former Brewers 1B, 😳
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But given the Brew Crew’s current injury situation, it appears that Long Juan will find himself as the current Brewers 1B.
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V, Prince Fielder swings very hard, no doubt….but Adrian Beltre has moved into Andruw Jones territory, heck, harder than him the last year or so…but, unlike everyone else who turns themselves into corkscrew, he seems to have success with an insane swing…
http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?content_id=27623627
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V, interesting about the Brewers taking a chance on Francisco…had read somewheres how they have had no production from 1st basemen…heck, just looked, Alex Gonzalez was their 1st baseman it appears! .177 explains why Francisco looks like an option. Plus, that park is a bandbox…
Gil, one thing I can say for Gattis, is you can see him adjust. I thought he was overmatched a few weeks back(perhaps the end of April) then all of the sudden, he was hitting again….But bet you are right, a day off would make sense.
Freddi could have Laird come in 9th innings of games with 3 catchers, no problem….
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Folks, no one swings harder than our own beloved El Orso Blanco. Only guy I have ever seen who actually leaves the ground when he swings and misses. Not sure that he does that when he connects but whatever. Glad Long Juan found a home. He filled a need the Braves had and the Braves traded A lefty reliever to get him and received a lefty reliever for him. Kind of shows his value. Who knows, some other hitting coach might actually get thru to him.
It has become epidemic in major league baseball to swing big or else…. No multi million dollar, multi year contracts for singles hitters, no matter how high their average. ESPN likes to feature guys who are in scoring position while at home plate.
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Gattis has tremendous bat speed for sure, but his swing looks free and easy to me. Juan, on the other hand, makes me sweat when he swings.
When I see Gattis swing, I see tremendous economy of motion. He spreads out in his stance, and there is virtually no step at all. No movement before the swing… hands stay perfectly still until he uncoils. That’s why he can reach pitches that would otherwise sneak past many batters. There is no wasted movement, thus no lost “split seconds”. He is a great example of a player having learned his craft. His mechanics are almost flawless.
And he’s better than advertised behind the plate, IMO.
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Question… Is there any sort of cash award that goes along with being chosen the Rookie of the Month?
Glad to see the Braves took my advice and gave Evan the night off, likely see him come up as a pinch hitter against a lefty if the opportunity presents itself.
He will be in the line up Tuesday against the lefty.
PS I voted for my All-stars, voted for Gattis 25 times as an outfielder
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You never know
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Gotta love the swing McCann puts on the ball too.
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Nice jacks by J=Hey and FF5 too…
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Grrr…. when I left, the Pirates had just scored the first run of the game on a gift by the umpire. When I came back, it was 7-1, good guys. I think I missed something.
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Normally, I am not one to defend an umpire for missing a call but it was a pretty close play and the ump was out of position to see the tag made by Simba was before the runner touched the bag but hey, that’s baseball.. Just ask Russel Martin, oh wait!
Anyway, other than his curve ball which still has a tendency to hang, Medlin’s pitches look sharp and biting and with lots of life. The Woods kid wasn’t bad either. Only trouble he had was with picking up the signs from from BMac.
Heyward looks a lot better, even BJ looked better even though he had an 0-fer…
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“This Is The Face Of A Baseball Player Who Just Felt His Career End”
http://deadspin.com/this-is-the-face-of-a-baseball-player-who-just-felt-his-511072771
Wow… as someone said, we often share in the excitement when a rookie makes his debut. But how often do we see the emotion of a player who knows his career just ended?
I’m really glad I ran across this. It helps keep things in the proper perspective.
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Wow, that was tough! Really tough. Thanks, Raisins.
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12:10pm game today!!!! Wake up Ber!!!!
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Julio looks unhittable today. 😯
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… and he has been through 4. Actually, he should have a perfect game going, but the ump missed strike 3 to McCutcheon.
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Faux-walk in the 4th, legit walk in the 5th, and hit batsman in the 6th. But Marte made no effort to avoid. Grrr…
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.. but Julio picks him off 1st. Best pickoff move I have ever seen. So quick Marte didn’t even make effort to return to the bag. Wow…
No-no intact through 6.
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Oso Blanco
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Grrr… Walker also turns into a pitch and gets hit. Somebody needs to show these guys what it’s like to really get hit. 😡
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10 K’s, 0 hits through 7 for Julio. Told ya he had no-hit stuff today.
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Get those brooms ready, folks…
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No-hitter broken up with 2 outs in the the 8th. 😦
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Braves sweep Pittsburgh out of town. Julio shows why he has been the Braves top prospect for a while. His final line: 8 IP, 1 hit, 2 BB’s, 2 HBP (both sketchy, IMO), 11 K’s, 107 pitches (79 strikes). Electric. Just a dadgum great game by Julio.
He needs a nickname now. The floor is open…
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How about T-Rex? T-Bone? T-riffic?
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2night’s lineup:
1- Simba, SS
2- JHey, RF
3- JUp, LF
4- Gumby, 1B
5- Mac, C
6- Danny K, 2B
7- Ramiro Peña, 3B
8- BJ, CF
9- Huddy, P
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Been thinking about your poser Raisins… give me a night to slee
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sleep on it
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Teherannosaurus rex. 🙂
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And Teheran, Teheren so far away….hmmm, likely only V, gets that, and well, probably didn’t want it! 😕
Heard he threw 41 sliders! Also saw that his fastball had a bit more giddy-up .
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With the 31st pick the braves drafted – Jason Hursh, RHP, Oklahoma State
here is some info on him, plus a clip…funny, the guy who saw him saw him as a 3rd rounder….I have learned to trust the braves scouts at this point!
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/4/8/4199654/2013-mlb-draft-profile-jason-hursh-rhp-oklahoma-state-university
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I watched the game last night, SIGH!!!! The Braves spoiled a gem by Hudson big time. There is always a part of the Braves game that seems to get them in trouble and last night it was base running. Perhaps with all the strike outs, they are not as familiar with that part of the game as they should be but it was what it was.
Okay, I did not stay for the ninth, game was over with the grand salami. The next great thing to soon be on the cover of Sports Illustrated…
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Okay.. How about ?
The Teheran Tornado? Too insensitive maybe?
Teherannosaurus rex isn’t bad though…. 🙂
The Cartagena Buzz saw?… A bit wordy maybe….
Speaking of buzz saws, Huddy looked as good as I can remember last night. That was really a tough loss to hang on him. A mis-communication in the outfield, A couple of bone headed base running errors, having Uggla continue to fan the flames of futility… All led to a perfect storm of removing a guy who was still fresh at only 75 pitches and yet, Gearrin just did not have it last night. His cutter/fastball/whatever was coming in flat. Any batter not named Dan Uggla could not have helped but put the barrel of the bat on the ball.
Okay, today is another day. a little damper than yesterday but still, a new day. Let’s see, who is on deck tonight? Maholm’s turn? You just have to put it behind you and go back out there. Maybe if Freddie would consider putting Pena at 2nd base for awhile.
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Maholm tonight? I hope he has an outstanding outing. I bet Frank does too. (hint, hint, hint…)
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Funny, reading about the Braves’ draft picks and the ones who will have an impact at just as likely be the ones who we don’t even hear about until the show up in camp five years from now as a fill in.
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Well, another masterful performance by a Braves starter. Unfortunately, the
Dodgers pretty much matched em. Oh well, still a couple of games left in LA. Time for Medlin to shine.
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How about Juli-hoop? Kidding… 😆
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V, 😉
So tell me guys…why do we have a right fielder, a right fielder hitting .163, with one, ONE RBI in 49 AB’s against lefties, starting against tough lefties like the guy last night? Reed Johnson is hitting ..294 against lefties.
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Cox-itis. Keep running one guy out there until he tanks the whole team.
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Another nail biter tonight. I am pushing through the fatigue trying to finish up this game… 🙂
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Okay folks, after a very nerve racking first inning this afternoon, the Braves finally took care of business and put a bopping on the Dodgers. What a difference in Mike Minor. The kid has really grown up in the past year.
Nice to see Uggla and Heyward start to heat up too. Time for them to carry the team on their backs for a while.
That dude Puig is a beast. I am glad the Braves will not have to face him again this season unless the Dodgers and the Braves both make the playoffs. It should be interesting to see how LA uses him going forward. I don’t think I would leave him in the lead off spot though.
All right, it’s on to San Diego. No chances of any rain outs but three more late nights…. YAWN!!!!!
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I am leaving the late nights to you young folks…
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Well Raisins, it is not as if I have to get up early anyway. Shucks, I don’t even have to go to the mail box to get my retirement checks… 🙂
Anyway, I can fall asleep during any ballgame, no matter the time…
Okay, you folks at the NSA who are monitoring our little blog, please forward to all your friends. Perhaps we should use certain buzz words to expand our readership.
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Good thing about not having to go to the mail box though is that it’s almost a mile from the house…
We are so far off the beaten path, even the NSA has trouble finding us.. Yuk, yuk….
We were buzzed by another “tornadic” event last evening. We could hear the freight train as it passed overhead and felt the vibrations but the Lord heard our prayers and let it pass us by. Only suffered the loss of the satellite TV signal as the ions were being scrambled…
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I had scrambled ions for breakfast…
Glad God protected your abode, Gil. As for the NSA, they know where you are. They know everything about you.
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Beware the acronyms: NSA, IRS, KGB, SS…
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Okay, a good match up on tap tonight between Jason Marquis ( the original Mike Minor before he matured into a pitcher who could keep his cool) and the Colombian Comet, Julio Teheran.
See what I did there? :8
Anyway, just a bit of history. I learned many years ago that if you did not want other people to know what you are thinking, you never put it on paper. (That goes for digital encoding as well)
Do I trust others with my secrets? Why would I when I have found that folks cannot help themselves from dishing dirt. I doubt there is a person alive who does not have some secret, experience or event in their lives that they do not wish to share with others.
I have to laugh at the naivety of so many folks who don’t think there aren’t folks who would use information however gathered illegally to press an advantage. It’s funny when folks mistakenly think that just because they are innocent, they will be exonerated. . To quote Thomas Jefferson, “Justice is for the wealthy”.
The Attorney General going to a judge and using false charges to get a search warrant and then telling Congress that he didn’t lie to them when he said he did not plan to prosecute any journalist. So, how do you know when the AG is lying? His lips are moving….
Oh well, I guess my tax returns will be audited now… Why should I worry? They already have access to all my financials…
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Sweet…
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It is interesting that the Braves have nearly a third of their remaining game against the Marlins and the Mets…. Only thing to worry about is to not get too cocky.
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The Marlins are a totally different team from the one faced earlier.
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Well, it was a nice streak while it lasted. 5 zip Pads in the 4th and looking for more. To be expected folks.
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At least they made it interesting. JHey has returned to the player we thought he was and the legend of Evan Gattis continues to grow. 4 HR in 8 pinch hit appearances. Stunning. If you missed it as I did, read the game story.
http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/braves-ninth-inning-power-rally-falls-short-in-7-6/nYHTJ/
I love this team, even when they lose. They have a certain quality… hard to define. They might have the mojo this year…
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Good morning, I think I have finally managed to get my biological clock on Pacific daylight savings time…. It was ugly early for the Braves. The triple in the first inning was on a misplay by BJ. It appear to me he was daydreaming and suddenly realized there was a ball hit in his direction.
Maybe Teheran missed his normal battery mate but a pitcher has to learn to trust whoever is behind the dish.
While the box score hangs the loss on Julio, my thoughts is it was Gearrin who deserved the L… Completely ineffective again. To be honest, he is my first choice for being demoted to Gwinnette when Beachy returns.
Now offense…. To be fair, despite his apparent disdain for the signs his catcher was putting down, Marquis was very effective last night. I do not recall him having as much movement on his pitches as he did last night. Given his history, one has to wonder how he learned to pitch? He never has wanted to listen to anyone else. That said, the Braves’bats woke up after he departed.
Evan Gattis absolutely crushed the ball last night. J-Hey did likewise and BMac outs were hit deep. We will see if the Braves can continue their onslaught tonight. It did make it interesting last night to see the Braves come charging back. I guess that is why you sit it out until the final out is called.
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Funny, I always think I have commented recently, then realize I must have just been nodding in agreement.
actually, I know I was laughing about Cox-itis, and giving CL some props, must have lost that post…I get easily destrac
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came home from Trivia to see game was 5-1…don’t know why I was watching after it was 7-1 (Gearrin can look unhittable and then very hittable in mere seconds) was waiting for Pa to start watching Have Gun Will Travel (But then again, who isn’t watching HGWT? 😉 ) then saw the outburst…amazing….I am sure the Padres were sweating bullets, you just don’t hit 3 homers in 2 innings out there….
Gattis’ numbers stretched out for the year.
127 games, 395 AB’s 35HRs 94 RBI’s
Folks, he needs to play everyday! At least 5 out of 7…what a funky team we have. Two sub .200 hitting outfielders(admittedly looking better, but not convinced either has truly turned the corner:edit, see JHey is now at .207)a sub .200 hitting 2nd baseman(on his way to another 30 HR season of course) 3 catchers, who all could be starting….and a 1st baseman tearing the cover off the ball that you can’t sit.
So, how do you get Gattis more playing time? Only one way I can see it. Can’t trade BJ. JHey, is still only 23, so he’s not going anywheres. You know what I am going to say(again) McCann will have to be traded.
Look, I like the kid a lot, would love to see him stay. But, we know the situation, right? Weak little girly man tv contract til the day we are all dead and gone. McCann is 29, and will likely need to DH a bit more in the coming years(or at least be able to play some 1st base, and that can’t happen here, can it?)
This is…does McCann have much trade value right now? Does any contending team need a Catcher? Can you even see him in pinstripes, a possible destination? So…Does McCann get traded? Or do the braves let him walk? Trade at the end of July, or sooner?
When the interleague play picks up( I assume it does, but who knows with the screwy schedule now) it will of course be much less of an issue…so berigan, why bring it up? Why be a bring down duuude?
Well, I could see how hopped up Gattis was after the game…and, well…no way to burn that energy off. And I worry that he is going to get messed up always pinch hitting, and rarely playing day to day…what happens when, and you know it will happen, he goes 0 for 4, then strikes out 3 for times pinch hitting? He will have days and days to dwell on his failures…and if McCann was still in the future plans, well, perhaps you trade Gattis then…but, does anyone think McCann will be here in 2014????
Am I overlooking some other possibility? Can he play 3rd? Trade Johnson?
Yes, yes, I know, quite rambling….
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I meant to say how hopped up Gattis was after the homer, don’t know how hopped up he was after the game…
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Hey, went to look at baseball tonight (neither show ran because of extra innings, and college game) so went to MLBTV and saw the Gwinnett braves are playing the Indians team in front of …..dozens of folks in Gwinnett. game started at noon.
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Good morning all, looks like someone else got a little tired of Zach Greinke’s crap…. Glad to see someone put a well placed fastball in his ear hole… Just my opinion….
Okay, last night’s game. MEH! Just seemed to me the Braves could not get any traction and Huddy was off until the third inning. Never underestimate the danger of leaving a change-up belt high and in the middle of the plate.
B J is about to break out methinks. He is hitting the ball hard (big improvement over so many whiffs) just at people. That’s okay, keep making contact and eventually they will fall in.
Freddie Freeman is clutch, that said, he cannot bat a thousand. People have to accept he cannot be expected to get a hit in every opportunity.
Lastly, Justin had a legitimate beef about an overly generous strike zone last night. I think that is the reason he did not get thrown out of the game when he got in the ump’s face last night.
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Okay, the Braves need to salvage today’s game. 7 game lead not withstanding, time for the Braves to take advantage of playing these bottom dwellers.
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Interesting espn podcast…. sounds like the diamondbacks started it hitting the Dodgers Phenom…
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=9375425
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Puig homered, then got plunked in the face by Kennedy his next at bat. Greinke did what he should have (in my opinion) and drilled Morero the proper way, in the middle of the back, to start the next half inning. It should have been over at that point. Don’t these young morons have any clue as to the baseball way of doing things? Or was Kirk Gibson calling the shots?
Kennedy was the arse who escalated it by throwing at Greinke’s head. Whether Greinke is likable or not, no need to throw at his head. Kennedy is fortunate he got tossed and got out of the fray. And it is a clear reflection of their manager’s way of doing things. Not a Gibson fan, by the way. And I didn’t see him in the middle of much. Coward.
I do not have alot of affection for anyone in the NL Worst, er West, but the D’Backs looked more like D’bags to me.
It’s not over. Wonder if ARI’s rotation will be massaged to avoid Kennedy starting against LA next time around. Those teams will certainly see each other several more times this year.
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Good morning folks, looks like Beachy had a rough night Thursday. It is to be expected. Too many people I fear think the guy will be the unhittable phenom well saw last year. The kid has to get over a lot, give him time.
It is only June far to early to clear space on the trophy shelf yet. At least the Braves will be at home for a while. A good thing for Atlanta.
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Gil, it’s funny, you look at a team like the Padres, assume from their record they are not very good…then you hear that after a 5-15 start, they are 28-19…man, if they hadn’t had that bad start, they would be in the thick of it…well, see they are only 4 back ,so they are in spite of it…
We are lucky the braves are in the NL east. We thought it was going to be the NL beast, but it’s the NL least. Aren’t I clever? 😕
I was going to see the braves are a very streaky team, which we know, but seeing espns standings, it said the braves were 4-6, losing the last 4 games. But, we have lost 6 out of the last 8. That sounds worse.I guess because it is.
Anyways…shut out again. By a lefty. Sure glad Bobby Cox…errr, Freddi doesn’t let stats get in the way of his managing. I am old school in many ways, but why would you have JHey (hitting .164 against lefties) and McCann (wow, only .152?) against a guy like Bumgarder, with that 3/4’s style motion?
Freddi really that afraid of hurting their feelings?
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Ber, it’s all that politically correct sensitivity training. Anybody got a tissue?
😀
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Heck of a game this afternoon. YEA!!!
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Hey guys, the game is on ESPN tonight so everyone should be able to watch. Here is hoping Teheran put in a stellar performance and the bats are hot against the freak…
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Kudos to Justin Upton on what I think was a game saving play in left field last night. That was a major league play right there…
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Good morning all, Great ball game last night. It goes without saying that probable not so much if you are a Giants fan but we Braves fan would only have been happier if El Orso Blanco had been given the opportunity to hit one out on national TV…
Anyway, it is good to see BJ heating up. Good for all of us that his hard work is paying off.
Brandon Beachy suffers a setback but that’s okay. Better now than later after he had been brought up to pitch in the bigs. Just keep you eyes on the prize. It will all work out.
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CL, LOL!
Amazing what a difference a few days can make. A very good sign to shut down the Giants.
Anyone see what John Kruk was saying about JHey? All the movement, and the head moving at the last minute as the pitcher releases the ball? interesting…he really looks ‘busy” at the plate. I’d love to see his ABs from his rookie season. I remember him killing lefties, no fear of them….
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Yes Ber, and Dan Uggla looks like he is dancing a jig when he is at bat….
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that game was LOST! Have no idea how we won it…well, F.F. won it…he’s in the running for MVP, IMO…
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I planned to watch it at 7pm, and then at 10pm… but they lost me after that. I turn into a pumpkin at midnight. Glad they pulled it out. That’s one thing about this team: they always believe they can win it down to the last out.
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YAWN!!!!!! What a night, it was a tough one to watch, okay, may what I should really say is, it was a tough one to stay awake for. I am not sure who was the most surprised by Freddie’s two run blast? I’m pretty sure one of those would be me. To be sure, I’m glad Huddy was not hung with the collar last night, he really pitched a gem.
Now the bad news, Gattis to the 15 day DL for an oblique strain. Glad that the Braves have Gerald Laird to fall back on. Looks like the B Team in the field for the first game today.
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El Oso Blanco on the Disabledo Listo! Crapo!! 😥
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This is why it is the team which is able to withstand injuries to players during the season that wins the pennant. I think Evan has been hurt a bit for a while now, It just reached out and bit him hard last night.
It is also why I hope the Braves are willing and BMac are willing to find a way to keep him in Atlanta a few more years. Let’s hope Tyler takes this opportunity to contribute too. While not as dramatic, a well timed base hit can be just as effective as a 450 foot home run.
Just like Jordan Schafer’s squeeze bunt Sunday night, but different…
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Man, sorry to hear about Gattis! 😦 Hopefully it won’t take more than 2 weeks to heal…
Man, some amazing pitching matchups today….Matt Harvey, arguably the best pitcher in the NL(at least so far this year) and Alex Wood making his first start….funny, first time I have seen him pitch…the broadcasters don’t know what to make of his motion, or who he pitches like, but right away, I see the White Sox’s Chris Sale a lot in his motion….
Then the Mets are bringing up their most touted starter, Zack Wheeler to start the 2nd game of the DH.
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Okay, a little early to give up on today’s game but Rasmus has homeritist in his trips to the bigs. Tough run given up by Wood. Really did not deserve it.
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Gil, like you said, too early to give up on the game, with Harvey out!
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Well, I am getting the rain you guys had yesterday and last night, did not think there was any left did you? Almost an inch in 45 minutes and you guys know how much of a fair weather friend satellite can be. Those runs given up by Carpenter are playing big now.
It’s the bottom of the 9th and there is life yet…
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Oh well, tough loss to hang on Wood.
Okay Braves,, let’s take this kid Wheeler to school and split this bad boy.
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Aw nuts…
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Losing Gattis might be bigger than I thought, it is very evident that the Mets started pitching around Freddie Freeman without the White Bear to back him up…
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Varvaro & Gearrin ≠ Venters & EOF
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The Braves must figure out a way to stabilize the back end of the bullpen. That is now their Achilles’ Heel. Kimbrel is still Kimbrel, but you got to get it to him with a lead. And while Walden has been good, he doesn’t have nearly the durability that EOF and Venters have displayed (until their respective elbows exploded).
Varvaro and Gearrin ain’t it. Gearrin scares me now every time he enters the game. Varvaro is about the same. And please don’t mention Cory “Dinger” Rasmus. Newsflash: Carpenter isn’t the answer either. I hope that Cristhian Martinez and the Braves figure out what is going on in his shoulder so that he can make it back. They’ve missed him. I also hope that they get Alex Wood back to the bullpen… and I hope the blister isn’t a recurring problem.
Look… as much as I hate to admit it, the Mets have some good young starting pitching, and they showed their stuff against our homeboys tonight.
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I sat through both games yesterday until the bottom of the eight inning of game two. I concluded Fredi G had given up on the game after leaving in Valvarro. It was ugly to watch and after watching the circus act in the outfield, I just could no longer watch.
The Mets have some good young arms. When you have kids throwing 100mph in the 7th inning, you have a pretty good foundation.
Anyone else get the feeling the Braves were just there last night but not willingly? They own a lot of fans a refund….
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Yeah, those two games were the opposite of good…Matt Harvey is a beast. Better than Strasburg IMO, at least at this point. His 100.1 MPH pitch to JHey was the fastest pitch by a starter all year…
Do you guys realize 6 of the 8 starters are “hitting” .250 or lower?
JHey may be slowly bringing up his average (.214, oh boy) but there is no power behind it. 13 extra base hits in 173 AB’s
I feel like calling JHey Claudell Washington….someone that looked like he was a superstar, but wasn’t…shoot, might be unfair to Claudell, he never hit lower than .270 in the 6 seasons he played here….I know, only 23….but darn…how come his is 1 for 4 in stolen bases right now???
V, you are right, we need another arm….I also hear it’s going to be a weak market for relievers this summer…Carpenter at least throws hard. Perhaps a very late night game and then a day game through him off…just looked, he’s better than I realized, that was the first game he gave up any runs, earned, or unearned, since his first game may 10th…Wood worries me because I think with that awkward motion, he is going to walk a few players,(at least til he gets smoother) and that’s not going to work well in relief….
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Gil, just saw your post…I gave up in the 8th too…didn’t see a comeback after that many runs scored….
hmmm, weird, has anyone heard anything about Luis Ayala? He’s been on the DL it appears with an anxiety disorder, since late April…..
Interesting, Randall Delgado was called up yesterday…had a 5.91 ERA at AAA, but a 2.14 ERA in his last 5 starts. Hit pitched 7 innings last night, gave up two runs, but didn’t get a decision…..
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has anyone heard anything about Luis Ayala? He’s been on the DL it appears with an anxiety disorder, since late April…
Actually, they diagnosed him with a blood pressure problem. They are treating him and trying to get his arm back in shape. He had pretty much shut it all down. No ETA for a return.
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Okay, when did they change the dirt on the infield at Turner Field? It was red and now it is a dark brown like that in Baltimore…
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Gil, good point! Hadn’t noticed this…
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Good morning folks, after reading several accounts of last night’s game and the throwing error Chris Meden made in the fifth which led to the Mets coming back and scoring three runs, I think Fredi G threw Meds under the bus. Okay, a good throw would have nailed the lead runner, likely a double play and possibly a triple play but it was a throwing error, not the idea of the play that got him in trouble. Did not we see a couple of Braves’ third basemen make throwing errors in the past that allowed runs to score?
What I really think is Fredi has been pretty frustrated with some sloppy play in the field of late and has finally found someone to take it out on. I did not hear nary a peep about the collision between the Upton brothers or the ball that ran under BJ’s glove. Big wuss!!!
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Gil, I was just thinkin’ (and you know how dangerous that can be!) I could almost see FG saying to Medlin, “Hey, let me beat up on you today to talk about the bad defense, ok?” The sensitive brothers probably can’t handle any criticism , they take it to heart…so FG has to be careful what he says..
Justin is hitting only .239 (.194 at home!) and is in line for a 73 RBI year. In other words, a year like many of his previous ones…BJ is finally starting to hit(tearing the cover off the ball in june to a .255 clip-.192 at home for the season) but we all know if he wasn’t signed to a big contract, he would have been released, or at least sent down to AAA….So FG has to be a psychologist as well as a manager…guess we are lucky the brothers have been kind enough to let him sit them some games….
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Gil, of course I posted that without reading the comments by FG….seems way too harsh, and why go on and on about it when the braves won? Is Medlen forever making mental errors like that? Is he likely to do that again? Shoot, FG says he never has seen that before, clearly he doesn’t watch much baseball…somehow…still, Medlen was the only guy he could go after, doesn’t want to be a racist ya know….
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Ya know, I’ve really tried, but I just don’t like Fredi. How long is his contract, anybody know?
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How long is his contract, anybody know?
3 years (2011-13), plus 2014 club option… 💡
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So, Uggla is thinking about having Lasix surgery. Funny, I was thinking he was not seeing the ball. Would explain a lot.
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Probably at least another year to go. Thanks, Raisins. I just can’t think of anybody else who might be a good change. Wait! I know! Raisins or Gil!! How ’bout it guys?? You won’t even need press credentials! Huh? Huh??
Wonder why Dan didn’t think of that at the end of last season? I’m beginning to think that (some) (most?) ball players aren’t all that swift.
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Funny thing about eyesight… it’s a gradual thing. Not always obvious. Speaking as someone with terrible vision – extreme near-sightedness plus astigmatism, and the recently added bonus of presbyopia (needing reading glasses because I hit that magic age) – you don’t always know your vision has changed unless you have an examination. I typically have an exam once every 2 years, and never think things have changed. They always do. It’s just so gradual day-by-day that you don’t see it. (Pun fully intended. 😉 )
Every time I go in thinking nothing has change; every time I leave with a new prescription saying, “Wow, I can see that [fill in the blank] so much better now!”
I wear contacts… have for over 25 years. They do correct the near-sightedness quite well, but not so much the astigmatism. LASIK in and of itself continues to evolve with new techniques being developed constantly. If I recall correctly, there are several different types of LASIK used now, specific to different types of vision deficiencies. And while contacts cannot really address astigmatism, LASIK can. I predict that if astigmatism is truly Danny K’s condition, he’ll sit under the laser in the off season and come back with his new eyesight for 2014.
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I should actually clarify something in my above statement…
Contacts will help with astigmatism, but not get him back to 20/20. Only LASIK can so that. In my personal experience, my eyeglasses do a much better job at fine tuning specific objects like a computer screen or a book. But contacts do a better job with overall vision. Only contacts give me back any peripheral vision. And since I am a simple working stiff, and LASIK is still considered “elective” by my insurance and is waaaaay outta my price range, I go with the contacts.
But I do keep my eye on it.
(Again, pun fully intended. 😉 )
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Morning all, A couple of points. Most successful major league hitters have something like 20-15 vision rather than 20-20. That along with things like fast twitch muscles make them quicker than we mere mortals.
Astigmatism have more of an effect on depth perception than just blurry vision. Again, other than maybe not being able to judge how far away from the car in front of you really is (and something easy to compensate for) being able to judge where a 98 MPH fastball really is in relation to your swing plane is a real problem. What you are left with is a guy who prays that the pitchers will hit his bats often enough to at least allow him to stay in the lineup.
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Good points on vision of major leaguers, y’all.
Guess V and Gil aren’t interested in managing. *sigh*
I have cataract surgery coming up before too much longer. Everyone has told me that afterward your vision is really great. I sure hope so. I’ve had to wear glasses since I was 12 – and I’d really like to get rid of them. Contacts? Could never adjust to them. Apparently my eyes are just too sensitive for them or something weird like that.
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I think V, (And Gil) are right CL. That vision thing is so gradual. But, you would think that Dan would have noticed something a bit sooner. Seems he can hit a fastball, or a nothing curve, but nothing else. I think that’s what might have made him so patient of late. I can’t see it, so don’t swing, it’s likely outside anyways….
As for FG…I thought he was a clone of Bobby at first, and really felt this team didn’t need that…too darned cautious. And Bobby didn’t mind if Frenchy, or Andruw forever swung at pitches 3 feet outside, when everyone and their brother could guess that pitch was coming, but Bobby HATED a pitcher, especially a lefty, that walked guys. Called them out about it, or sent them right down to AAA, or didn’t use them for weeks while burning out other guys…Seems to me it has to a lot harder to throw a strike from 60 feet 6 inches, than to mentally figure out they don’t throw you strikes when you are 0-2 or 1-2 and have a history of swinging at anything…that would be my pet peeve as a manager. Not that CL thinks I can do the job…not that I am hurt by that…sniff, sniff… 😥
😉
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Anyway, I Think FG way overreacted to Meds mistake…worst thing he probably has done, though I am sure Meds can handle it. Thing is, I saw 2-3 guys in the last week throw flat footed from behind the mound on comebackers, and toss the ball way right of the 2nd basemen.,, It happens all the time! And I saw the play finally, and Meds was partially on the mound still, trying to make a quick play…who cares? He screwed up.
But, to be fair, FG played Gattis WAY more than Bobby ever would have. Bobby never would have tossed him out there at 1st never having played there before. That took some guts…Do I think he is the best manager out there? No…but I don’t know who would/could be better than him. A lot of successful managers, when you see their team for a series, you realize they have gotten by with talented rosters, and being good with personnel…not necessarily with strategy…
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CL, you are “lucky” to be having this problem now…my Grandmother had Cataract surgery in the 70’s , she had to stay in the hospital, it was a big deal. Dad had his eyes done i the late 80s(He was only in his late 50s) it was a lot better, but took awhile to heal…Now, it’s so much cleaner, easier, and quicker to recover. And I think the biggest thing Dad noticed was how much color “changed” he didn’t realize how off his idea of colors was til the surgery.
Good luck!
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They’re dropping like flies… 😦
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You better not be, Ber! Would never want to hurt the feelings of my best bud! 🙂
(Am I out of the doghouse??)
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Blogging about baseball team verses managing a team is a lot like the difference between running for office versus actually having to govern. We can pick out a particular flaw while a manager has to deal with 25 guys who want to play everyday unless the other team’s best ace is on the mound. The they get a stomach virus or some other itis… Anyway, Clint Hurdle is an example of a manager who gets the most out of the hand he is dealt, Buck Showalter is another. Freddi G is okay, I think he is still learning. Lord knows, I don’t think anyone thought BJ Upton would tank for the first two months.
BMac has hit a dry spell too. It’s baseball. Lots of moving parts and then their is the umpiring…. To be honest, I don’t think it is as good as it once was but then again, they use to not have 5 different cameras and super slo motion available for me to second guess them either. I just think some have a hair trigger and a chip on their shoulder and it gets in the way of their judgement.
All that said, Freddie has to manage with the 25 guys made available to him by the GM and Frank Wren can only spend what Liberty will give him.
CL, I hope you have good luck with your cataract surgery. It is one of the few that I ever hear people complain about afterwards. I could not go the contact lens route either. My hands were too rough and I could not get the dang things to let go of my fingers. It was a real circus trying to put them in and afterwards, they would irritate my eyes because I would wear them too long.
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The Braves lost the game last night 2-0 but to be honest, it always seemed as if the Braves were behind by a much wider margin. You would think by now that teams are elated to see games on their schedules against the Braves because it means whatever is wrong with your team, it is going to be cured…
Got a pitcher with the highest ERA in the league? no problem, how about a no hitter? A batter who is 0 for the century? Suddenly they are the second coming of the Babe….
SIGH!!!!
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Really nice article:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130621&content_id=51395296&vkey=news_ari&c_id=ari&partnerId=ed-7234571-570065353#comment-938555240
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Not sure that this is the way to win friends and influence people:
http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/index.jsp?partnerId=ed-7234571-570065353#contentId=51399464
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Good morning, off day today… Some comments on yesterday’s win. The two most impressive at bats by the Braves? Number one was the grand slam by Brian McCann in the first, the second, that single to the right side in the ninth that allowed the Braves to extend their lead to three runs.
The two best pitching performances, Number one? Walden in the seventh with the bases loaded after Gearrin walked two batters in a row and was able to induce Long Juan into hitting a major league pop-up. He continued the bottom of the eighth. Second best? Craig Kimbrel in the ninth when he looked every bit as dominating as he ever has.
All that said, the two worst performances of the series? The Braves hitter’s the first two games of the series…. I suspect their bats may have been haunted…
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You better not be, Ber! Would never want to hurt the feelings of my best bud!
See? Mom loves me best! 😛
CL, I’m sure the wusses had a laugh! 😉
Gil, no joke…after seeing them lose 2-0, I went to sleep(been dealing with a weird infection I get whenever I scrape my shins-this was the worst one) sleep forever, turned tv on…saw 2-0 score assumed that it was one of the many rebroadcasts of the game from the day before! Nope…back to back shutouts to a weak team again…and like you said, other teams worst starters get healthy against the braves and thats just not right…and not a formula for winning long term….
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Gil, I do believe their bats were haunted too! 😉
Clearly, yesterday was a much better day for the braves!
14 hits. 1 by JHey. none by BJ(but he did walk twice) Really important to get McCann hitting again. Think not having Gattis as an option has hurt the team….Schafer should be starting, but can’t. Sorta like Gattis. And I guess there is no June interleague thing this year. I know others didn’t like it, but I did. And I thought it brought more fans out. So naturally, there still is interleague play, every day, but just 1 or 2 series. And no big wave of it. Weird.
I saw that the Blue Jays 1st baseman Adam Lind was outrighted to AAA at one point last year, and rebuilt his swing. Now he’s hitting around .340 this year. Sure wish the braves weren’t so afraid to sent JHey down to rebuild his swing for a month or so. Perhaps they are more afraid Schafer or Gattis would get on such a tear that he would be stuck in he minors….
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Nothing says security and guarantees a spot on a big league roster like a high dollar contract. I was telling Josie the other night that B J Upton might be to the Braves like Jason Bay was to the Mets…
In my previous comments, I stated that I thought the single to right in the ninth was one of the Braves best at bats, I failed to state it was Dan Uggla who was the batter. It is exactly what the Braves need to be doing when they have two strikes, be a hitter and not a slugger as Joe Simpson says…
I know a single with an RBI is not as spectacular as a three run homer but it sure beats a strikeout 20 ways from Sunday.
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Gil, I do believe their bats were haunted too!
Maybe they needed to bite the head off a live chicken or something….
I still crack up every time I see Major Leagues Maybe appropriate Ukeler is the Brewers’ broadcaster. I’ll bet he though his glove and bat was both cursed when he played, especially when he tried to catch Nucksie. I’m sure he uttered a few too…
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It’s about that time again to begin speculating what Los Barves might do toward the trade deadline… only about 5 weks away. No question that we need a reliever, preferably a late inning reliever. Honestly, I think that’s about the summation of the shopping list. And this year we have some cash to do it. Remember how we had some of our “payroll limit” left over entering Spring Training? Mr. O’B estimates that the Braves have about $6MM or so to play with, so getting who we want should not be limited by salary. The question is, who are we willing to part with?
Most teams shedding big arms (and their big salaries) are wanting prospects and cheap replacements in return. So who might fit that bill?
I hope Pastor isn’t on anyone’s radar. I really like him at 2B, no disrespect to Danny K intended. I am hoping his new lenses will afford him a change of fortune as well. But Pastor is a gamer. He is Mark Lemke with more versatility. But he seems like a logical target for someone. Obviously, some of our pitching prospects are desirable.
I guess my question I am throwing out is, who is a good relief candidate for trade? Who would come in and fill the gaping void left by the injuries to Venters and EOF? Jordan Walden has done a great job filling the 8th inning part of that, but he can’t go every night, or he’ll be seeing Dr. Andrews next.
What say ye?
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With the Braves in a position of not needing to trade prospects because they can afford to pick up the bulk of a high dollar salary, one would have to think that the most likely trade pieces the Braves will use are kids still playing in A ball.
I am not quite enough of a stat head to know all the arms who might be a good match. I am pretty certain the Braves know who is out there and about what the asking price is. Now it’s a matter of what they are willing to pay.
All that said, I’m pretty sure Harvey of the Mets is not available….
Sometimes, it is better for a player to forget about where they are and concentrate on where they are headed. I am of the same philosophy of Tony La Russa in that he did not care what an opposing player’s stats were for the year, he wanted to know what their trends were for the past ten games.
So many times, we don’t know what else is going on physically with a player that is causing them to fail. Sometimes they just are not that good but when a players has had long term success in the past, a sudden drop off in production can be telling.
As an example… Kris Medlen… Looks like he has finally turned the corner and found his touch for his curve ball. Way too many hangers to be the norm for him. Craig Kimbrel. Once again has the life on his fastball and that devastating curve/slider/whateverhecallsit that shows up this time of year.
Walden looking like the steal of the year for the Braves. The guy would be closing for any other team in either league. The guy is healthy and looks like a very viable replacement for O’Flarerty.
More later….
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So, apparently Ramiro Pena’s shoulder injury is more serious than the Braves have let on, even though Fredi won’t say so. But I read today that Pena is seeing another doctor for a “second opinion” on the shoulder, and that he has acknowledged that the “first opinion” was “not good”. And by “not good” I mean like “not back in 2013”.
Thanful for Pastornicky…
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Speaking of injuries, former Brave David Ross recently suffered his 2nd concussion of the season, resulting in his being placed on the 15 day DL. And today the Bosox transferred him to the 60 day DL. Not good…
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Good win tonight. I was very happy to get to watch; haven’t had many opportunities lately. Well, I actually only got to see the last 4 innings, but I’ll take what I can get.
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That is a real shame about Pena ans David Ross too….
As for last night’s game. That one was a roller coaster ride as far as emotions go. It sure is nice to have both Walden and Kimbrel in the pen..
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Argh!!! Ramiro Pena’s 2nd opinion also not good. Torn labrum… requires surgery. 😦
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I think Pena going down is a pretty big loss for the Braves.
Last night’s loss can be traced back to the Braves continued inability to drive in runs with people in scoring position. ARGH INDEED!
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Man, feel bad for Ramiro Pena…finally gets a real chance in the majors, then this happens to him…Amazing how some guys never injure their throwing arm(think Shawn Dunston was the hardest throwing SS in the past 30 + years, don’t recall him having arm issues) and now you hear of infielders and outfielders needing Tommy John…not that a labrum is the same thing, just mentioning…
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Gil, I can’t say I am too impressed with what Greg Walker has been able to impart on the braves. Either they won’t listen, or he doesn’t know what they should be doing. The Cardinals are hitting something crazy, like .330 with RISP, just watch game tape of them, see what they do, and copy. I imagine it has a bit to do with going up the middle or hitting the other way..something complex like that….
V, as for relief help….hear Kevin Gregg is an option. Have no idea why, but he’s having his best year ever at 35. Guessing he learned a new pitch….
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Ber, I find it is very difficult to change the collective mindset of today’s athletes when it comes to convincing them it is better to hit pitched away to the off field. After all, any idea of the difference in the typical payday between a singles hitter and a bopper? I have not seen many guys like Pena reap the rewards of being a team player verses guys who swing a big bat.
I have concerns about several players on the Braves. One in particular is Simba. Far too many times I am thinking he is suffering from the same misguided idea he is a homerun hitter that bedeviled Jordan Schafer his first turn through Atlanta. This results in far too many popups. The kid might some day developed the body type that will allow for him to hit the long ball but I think he would be a third baseman by them.
I am guessing Gattis may not be back with the Braves until mid July or even August. Again, it is only a suspicion but I am thinking he has been nursing a sore oblique for some time.
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I don’t look for El Oso Obliqueo to return until after the ASB. Only makes sense…
Ber, Gregg is a possibility. I think James Russell, also from the sCrUBS, makes more sense.
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Pena has “significant damage” in torn labrum.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130628&content_id=52074776¬ebook_id=52076416&vkey=notebook_atl&c_id=atl
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I had a nice pre-ceremony tribute to Chipper all ready to go about 6:30pm, and we lost power in a storm. I’m gonna go ahead and post it now:
I really wish I could be at The Ted tonight for Chipper’s jersey retirement. He is the last of the great ones to come out of the “Golden Era” Braves. Certainly he’s the greatest non-pitcher I have seen play in my time as a fan. (I saw The Hammer, but it was after his prime years…) What a great player Chipper was, and what a model of consistency. Also, how many other perennial All-Stars would volunteer to make a position change in his prime to enable his GM to improve the team? Not any others that I have ever seen. I am honored to have been able to enjoy his entire career.
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For so many of us who did not get to see Chipper’s very special day, here are a series of video clips that cover almost all of it, including his GREAT speech at the unveiling.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130628&content_id=52068560&vkey=news_atl&c_id=atl&partnerId=ed-7260279-572814923
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Yo, CL.. The Braves games will be on TBS today at 1:30.
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Looks like Danny’s new contacts are paying dividends, eh? Nothing like being able to see the ball… 😀
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Yup!
Wow, bad week for former braves…as mentioned on thanks Chipper….
Jair, Francoeur, and Hinskie were all designated for assignment this week.
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A surprise to learn of all three of those players being DFAed. I guess KC has another young kid in the pipeline they needed room for so Frenchy is gone. I thought he was hitting pretty well against lefties.
Maybe Japan is in his future. Jair never recovered after the All-Star game. Hard to get back from all those bad habits as a result of favoring an injury. Hinskie’s bat just got slow…
Makes a player like Chipper having such a long legacy even more incredible.
I watched the bulk of yesterdays game on TBS. I must say I really like Ron Darling and I thought it was informative to get a fairly unbiased view of the Braves. I also grew a bit tired of listening to the politicians being interviewed.
It was funny to hear Darling and Smoltz rip the all or nothing offense of the Braves and then in retrospect remember the Braves are still up by 6 games.
Yes, not getting better production form the outfield is telling but J-Hey is finally becoming the player we Braves fans have hoped he would be. He does not have to hit thirty homers to be a great player.
All that said, this Braves team is what it is and if BMac and Uggla can get back to being the players they are being paid to be, it is going to be a fun ride to October.
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Of course when one misses games when the offense picks up, one is a bit more…..cynical. 😉 Feels like the Braves have a 5th place team…starters are 2nd place team. Bullpen, which by rights should be terrible after all those injuries, is like a 1st place teams bullpen.
I think what Darling and Smoltz are saying and seeing, are players that are way too easy to strike out. Doesn’t bode well for the playoffs, but that’s far away right now, and hopefully, the guys will gain confidence, and a bit more patience….
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5th place offense is what I think I meant….
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Speaking of former Braves having a bad week, Peter Moylan threw 39 pitches while allowing 5 runs Friday night in a 16-1 loss to Philadelphia, and was promptly was optioned to AAA Albuquerque on Sunday. Moylan had allowed 8 runs and 12 baserunners over his last 5⅓ IP. That does not exactly give you security in a major league pen.
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Peter Moylan is just another in a long line of used up former Braves pitchers. The past is littered with them. Sad….
Elbows can be repaired but shoulders hardly ever, at least not for pitchers.
of course, Peter was more a victim of the Dodgers looking for someone to blame for getting their head handed to them by the Phillies.
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Good morning all. I was thinking about how many folks have been surprised by the emergence of players like Jordan Schafer, the resurgence of Jason Heyward and players like Evan Gattis. My take is the new normal is a lot like the old normal prior to the introduction of PEDs. Players do not really come into their own until they reach a certain maturity, usually about age 26. A rare phenom might show up earlier but was it not the norm for players to spend 5 or 6 years toiling in the minors learning their craft? Then they developed their “man weight” and the combination of experience and muscle memory took over. Just knowing the type of player one is suppose to be can be career changing.
Think back to last season after Michael Bourne hit a couple of dingers, was he not less efficient at getting on base? Sure, chicks dig the long ball but winning ball clubs love having a lead-off guy who is able to turn a walk into a double just as much. Maybe even more because that type of pesky player will often cause such a distraction that guys like MvCann who are not blessed with speed will get more mistakes to hit.
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I’ll always remember Mc Cann trying to slide into third. But he was trying his best; can’t argue with that. I’m not one to talk! I can’t even run these days. Guess you could say I’ve “lost a step or two.” Birthday cake causes that, you know. 😆
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Terdo is an OF now… so it likely is Schafer that will hit the DL. Hopefully he can come back after the ASB and be 100%. It was painfully evident on Tuesday night that he is still hobbling.
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Happy 4th everybody. I hope everyone has a safe and joyous holiday…
Tough break for Schafer, tough break for the Braves in having to use him night before last so they lose him for a couple of weeks.
Good fortune for Terdo however. Ya’ll know the old saying about it being an ill will that does not blow somebody some good. All the off days of late have made it tough for the bench guys to get playing time.
I’d like to see the Pastor get a start at second and Yanish a start at short but they are not paying me to manage and Frank has not made one single call this season seeking my advice..
We got about an inch and a half of rain yesterday. I think what was left of the front passed over CL’s house or went west of me… It is a pretty day for family day today but we are having our cook-out Sunday. Being retired does that to you after a while, one day is pretty much like the next.
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The Braves optioned reliever Cory Gearrin to Triple-A Gwinnett after Thursday’s game against the Marlins. They are not planning to announce a corresponding move, which is expected to be from within the organization, until Friday morning.
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Cory came in for the first game since the 23rd of June and was not sharp…shockingly…shades of Bobby…oh well….perhaps a trade is in the works????
Gil, whatever amount of rain you all have had…I am guessing is less than I have seen in the past week…and I imagine V has as all topped, eh V?
It’s the most rain in a month + have ever seen….crazy!
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Lots of rain for the past week but none today. So what happens? The lawn mower breaks down yet again….. BAH!!!!
On Cory Gearrin, he has been pretty ineffective for several weeks now. I suspect the veteran will be called up. I think it the pen in general has been very strong….. Last night there was a very tight strike zone resulting in a lot of full counts.
As for the loss.. Oh well…. It was very disappointing but I will survive it. The Marlins are going to be tough on a lot of teams now.
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Gil, looks like you are right… Luis Ayala
http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/braves-option-gearrin-to-triple-a/nYdmP/
Imagine if Freddi treated poorly performing hitters the same way as pitchers in a slump…We wouldn’t have seen Uptons or JHey the last last month either…
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Rain: there are mushrooms and toad stools growing all over the yard. The most continuous stretch of rain this part of the country has had in a number of years. My lawn looks great! It is GREEN, not crispy brown.
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I did not turn last night’s game on until the fifth inning… Just in time to see the Braves almost come back. Okay team, time to turn this ship around again.
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Ber, I am hoping BJ gets it turned around sooner than later. Schafer is snake bit…. Just when it appeared he was on the verge of taking a spot, he fouled that ball off his ankle in KC and now he is deposed to the DL.
The Braves need a dose of magic to get them fired up again. A little Evan Gattis like thunder. Hummm… Thunder and Lightning… Sounds like a great nickname for Gattis and Schafer…..
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And now Terdo…. Stroked a solid single last night. Where do you put him? Reminds me a lot of Mark DeRosa.
Again, BJ looks more and more to be the Braves Jason Bay…. Who is playing well in Seattle by the way.
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CL, you trying to steal we Georgian’s thunder? 😉 Sounds like maybe we are not the only ones close to needing to build an ark!
I was checking on friends cat yesterday while they are out of town(in Mableton GA, kinda north west of the ATL) and I had just come out of a Kmart, when the skies opened, and I do me opened….very gusty to boot. Had to sit in the parking lot for a half hour…so much standing water in the streets…seems the forecast is for at least a 40% chance of rain for the next 10 days…ugh…wish we had a pipeline that went west to help people needing water out that ways….
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Gil, speaking of thunder and lightning… 😉 I like it!
Yeah, both of those guys going down when they did…a break for the other outfielders…in case you didn’t know it…the team is really in a bind…2 guys are always going to play most of the games cuz of moola. The other guy is a shining star still…only 23, GREAT defender…but…a 6 foot 5 singles hitter, with a low batting average. (back in a mini slump, 2 for his last 15)
Mutts sent Ike Davis down for about 10-15 games(admittedly, he was hitting less than JHey) hit about .290, and is back up already.
Did ya know J Up since the end of April, is hitting around .220 with 20 RBI’s in around 200 AB’s? Batting 3rd mainly???? With runners on, he’s hitting .175
Mind properly blown…checking out JHey’s stats…he hit .312 in June! The .121 April, .178 May, and .133 July have been the problem…That and why can’t he steal anymore? 1 steal all year?
Gil, also right about Terdo, looks like a pretty sweet swing, eh????
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Gil, I was driving home and heard the rally…what I didn’t know, and perhaps others that missed part or all of the game too…is Angel Hernandez showed once again that he sucked….Saw the highlights of the game on baseball tonight….Angel called Simmons out on a pitch that was about shoulder high. that started it…then Laird was called out on a high outside pitch…..from e s pns site
Braves catcher Gerald Laird was ejected by plate umpire Angel Hernandez after getting called out on a pitch that appeared high and outside in the third. Laird was tossed after shouting an expletive as he walked toward the dugout. He turned around and ran at Hernandez, going nose-to-nose in a heated exchange while manager Fredi Gonzalez tried to calm him. Gonzalez also was ejected.
“The catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher,” Gonzalez said. “(Laird) was saying even the Phillies catcher knew it was a ball.”
That caused Chipper(Gotta LOVE Chipper!) to say on Twitter
Chipper Jones @RealCJ10 15h
I will not watch a game, any game, officiated by Angel Hernandez! His incompetence amazes me and I’m tired of MLB doing squat about it! Nite
(Glad I heard this on baseball tonight, cuz it’s not on their site, or ajc that I see)
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I’m thinking that at some point, someone associated with the Braves must have run over Angel Hernandez’s bike or something. It never seems that he is very far from the controversy when it comes to Atlanta.
I don’t mind if an ump has a wide zone as long as it is not too wide, just make it fair. If hitters are aware of a wide zone, so be it but when it boarders on the incompetent… well, You know… .
So, this morning I went out to work on the mower, sigh!!!! The John Deere dealer is closed today so the parts needed will not be available until Monday. Seems that when my front axle broke, it bent a bracket that prevented the PTO clutch from spinning with the shaft. The rest is history one might say…. Of course, I would not have spotted the drive belt that was worn out if I had not had to remover everything to remover the clutch assembly. Like they say, it is an ill wind….
Now the Braves,
Ber, remember that J-Hey is still only 23. His best years are way ahead of him. I can deal with the spotty batting as long as he is cheap but BJ Upton has been a huge disappointment so far. I’m pretty sure Frank Wren and Company are thinking the same thing… Like I said, Jason Bay….
The Braves need to run off about a six game winning streak. It would cover up a multitude of sins.
The real season is about to start, The All-star break has always been the real starting point that separates the contenders from the pretenders.
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Now that my friends was a fun game for a Braves’ fan… I think Hudson was really on his game last night. Say what you will, but aches and pains , often unknown to we mere fans, can have a very dramatic impact on a player’s performance. It’s very good to see BMac heating up too. He has been too good a hitter to languish with a sub .240 batting average for the season.
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Well, well, well, it appears JHey took my criticism of him to heart, and has decided to turn it around! 😉 It was a fun game to watch, wasn’t it? McCann is hitting .293, amazing! Nice to see Uggla get into a bit of a groove, man if they both can stay hot, and JHey turned it around….
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Nice to see Uggla get into a bit of a groove
Amazing what a dude can do when he can actually see the ball, eh? ❓
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Hard to picture this dude in AAA. Not sure he’ll be able to catch up to mid-90’s heat anymore there either…
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Beachy is making his 1st (2nd time around) rehab start tomorrow night in AAA Gwinnett. His mound opponent? Jair Jurjjens… B-)
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:B-):
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ugh…
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😎
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Better…
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So, has anyone picked up Frenchy yet? I heard yesterday he had been given his release by KC so I know it makes him very affordable. A team would only have to pay him league minimum and I think he would be a good bench player. He can hit lefties and still play a bit of defense.
BMac has really turned it up of late. Really good to see.
Now, the Braves need to sweep the Marlins while the Nats and Phillies beat up on each other.
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Well… that was fun. Finally.
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Finally, being the operative word! 😉
I was all ready to beat up on my favorite team(Hitless for 8 innings basically) but 6 runs in one inning…mutes those feelings! 🙂
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Gil….wish he’d play in the minors for a month….
Giants To Sign Jeff Francoeur
By Tim Dierkes [July 9 at 7:59am CST]
The Giants have reached an agreement with free agent outfielder Jeff Francoeur, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Royals had released the 29-year-old earlier this month.
Francoeur hit .208/.249/.322 in 193 plate appearances this month, following a down 2012 with an even worse campaign. Amid a resurgent 2011 season, the Royals signed Francoeur to a two-year, $13.5MM extension. They’ll be on the hook for the $3.2MM or so remaining on his contract, less the pro-rated league minimum if Francoeur returns to the Majors. Francoeur is represented by CSE.
A right-handed hitter, Francoeur hasn’t done much damage against lefties since that 2011 season. The Giants still aren’t risking much by giving him a shot to contribute in left field; Rosenthal says they figure to use him in a platoon with Andres Torres, with Gregor Blanco manning center field in the absence of the injured Angel Pagan.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/07/giants-to-sign-jeff-francoeur.html
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We have til 4 pm in a faint chance to get FF in the all star game.. Yasiel Puig likely has it wrapped up…
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I must have voted a thousand times for Freddie but it is tough to go up against the likes of ESPN. Instant gratification is the norm these days, have a great 15 minutes, you never know how quickly you will flame out.
I hung with it for the entire 14 inning too. Minor really showed me something last night in not blowing it in the 6th. Walden looked to be over throwing the ball, too much rest? Avilan’s pitches were really tailing.
I can’t be too upset with Uggla, he must have hit 1200 feet of fly balls last night. I guess the secret for any team is to know how to pitch to their park.
Giants had little to lose with signing Frenchy, good luck to him….
Okay, I’ll vote for another 15 minutes but I really have to get to work.
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Poor Joey Votto! Heck of a catch though…
http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?topic_id=11493214&content_id=28736049
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I was all ready to beat up on my favorite team(Hitless for 8 innings basically)
Likewise, the Fish were also hitless from the 6th to the 13th. You had to know when the Braves wiggled out of that mess in the 13th – I was ticked that Ozuna made 0 effort to avoid the HBP, in fact he leaned his padded elbow into it – that they’d capitalize in the 14th. At least that’s how I felt…
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Oh, and for what it’s worth…
Maybe since SF signed Francoeur to a minor league deal, they really have nothing to lose. But what an indictment of your roster if you are pinning any hopes on that guy. He’s a horrible fielder, a horrible baserunner, and is totally lost at the plate. Heck, he can’t even hit lefties anymore.
Is it mind boggling how he dropped off the map so quickly after being dubbed “The Natural” by SI and playing on the the WBC national team after one good season?
Personally, I don’t think it is. The guy was a folk hero coming out of high school as a dominant player in 2 sports. And he was… over fellow high schoolers. No doubt about it. Unfortunately, when you get by for so long on shear athletic ability, it kinda takes the edge off your desire to work on getting better. He cruised through the Braves minor league system, and impressed upon his callup to the bigs.
Now, here is where I make some folks a little angry. Alot of guys make big splashes in their major league debuts. Anybody want to look up the career achievements of Charles Thomas? You get the callup and pitchers are feeling you out. There is no “book” on you. And when you make the jump from AA, you haven’t really been challenged.
So the guy has a notable rookie campaign, is beloved by his home fans because he’s a local folk hero, gets lauded by the national press, and is selected to represent his country in a world competition. Would you feel like you had any work left to do?
The natural progression for most talented players – notice I said most; there are always exceptions in both directions – is to have a good rookie year followed by the proverbial sophomore slump as pitchers adjust, followed by their own adjustment. (See Jason Heyward…) Francoeur never made that adjustment. And my belief is that it was germinated right between his ears where he always believed he was simply just “The Natural”. Well, he wasn’t, and he ain’t.
Now, at best, he’s a platoon player on a minor league deal. At worst, he’s washed up and hanging on by the simple fact that it’s just as difficult for many others to forget SI cover boy. Cliche’s are typically rooted in the truth: Million dollar talent; 10 cent head.
The hype (short for hyperbole, by the way, which means exaggeration) of being “The Natural” was bad enough, but the wrongful selection to the WBC roster was the first nail in the career coffin. It ruined him. And to be honest, it tainted him on my own view. The kid, and he was a kid, should have some to camp to begin preparing for his sophomore season. The Braves quietly made their own similar feelings known to him. But he chose to miss camp (which was not extended that year) to follow his own glorious personal desires. He needed that camp, and he needed to be a teammate. But he put himself before his team.
I’m glad he’s getting another chance to play somewhere, but I don’t think he’ll help the Giants. In fact, I’m selfishly a little glad he signed there. They are a pretty good team when healthy. Had they picked up a real serviceable OF, they might be a threat to the Braves come playoff time.
I, for one, won’t be surprised if he stays on that roster through September.
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I, for one,
won’twill be surprised if he stays on that roster through September.Wow… a Savannah Guy-esque tome ruined by screwing up the last line… 😳
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And this somehow flew under the radar… in fact, Fredi didn’t even know it. Team still hasn’t confirmed it, although that seems like a silly notion, eh?
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Luv this: https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/status/354689895714930688/photo/1
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Early game today in Miami for getaway day! 12:30-ish pm! Wake up Ber!!!!
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Good news: https://twitter.com/ajcbraves/status/354981168283791361
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Great news: https://twitter.com/ajcbraves/status/354982343225786368
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And to complete the trifecta: https://twitter.com/ajcbraves/status/354984046088044544
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Today’s lineup:
Pastor, SS
JHey, RF
JUp, LF
Fab 5, 1B
CJohnson, 3B
Contacts, 2B
BJ, CF
GLaird, C
Paully Maholm, LHP
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V, I wish you’d tell us how you really feel about Frenchy! 😉
Sadly, I feel you are right on most counts…I really wish they had left him in the minors longer in 2008(Just looked it up, 14 whole AB’s then back up) think that really could have helped him…
That is good news about el oso blanco! 🙂
Oh, a woman told me after Trivia Mon that you could vote for F.F. til 4 PM tues. I guess I shouldn’t listen to strangers, eh? We have til Thurs at 4 pm. I did vote a ton…yesterday….
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from MLBTR…
Yankees Aggressively Pushing Chamberlain, Hughes
Hear the Phils want Chamberlain…Hughes was great out of the pen, I wonder if we would do that again, or if he insists on being a so-so starter…
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Schafer had an MRI today which revealed a fracture in his ankle. Horrible timing. JHey goes down last night with a strained hammy, and BJ goes down tonight with a strained adductor muscle. Terdo is now in LF with RJohnson in CF and JUp in RF. Not quite how we drew it up.
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ware everone?
Wow, what a difference a few days make….Jhey strained his hamstring last night, no one knows how long he will be out …BJ has a right adductor muscle strain from diving tonight…and read on DOB’s twitter then heard during the game that “Jordan Schafer had MRI today which revealed a stress fracture (intraosseous fracture). out 6 weeks today, already about 2 weeks in”
Feel bad for him, he’d get a fair bit of playing time it would seem…..
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Oh sure V, show up 4 minutes before me, just to make me look bad!
😉
Oy vey! Now Justin has hurt something and is out of the game!
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They finished the game with Terdo in LF, Reed Johnson in RF, and Tyler Pastornicky in CF, for cryin’ out loud. We lost our entire outfield in a 24 hour period. 😦
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And as we all figured would follow, Jose Constanza is being called up so that we can field at least 3 semi-experienced OF for the last 2 games leading up to the ASB. Many possibilities for a corresponding move, including sending a pitcher down. With the ASB looming, Frank doesn’t want to DL anyone if he can help it…
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You know, there still seems to be an almost unnatural fear of putting players on the DL with the braves…if it’s just a 3-4 day issue, fine…but BJ really hit the ground hard, and strained Hammies and calf muscles…do you really want to mess with them? the other way of looking at it is that whoever is hurt the worst, could go on the DL and with the 4 day all star break, will only miss 11 days, and Jhey was likely to miss the 3 reds games anyway….
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Hey, maybe Joey T can have a Phig like month to tide things over…. Oh. and by the way, had a stint on the DL myself this week, ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung. Don’t ever believe it when a doctor says, this won’t hurt much, Maybe he didn’t feel a thing, me, I am still trying to get over a morphine fog…. Oh well, found out the old ticker is in fine shape, thank you Lord for small favors…
Now baseball, I did not get to see most of the games this week, I did see most of the catastrophic happenings of last night though. To be honest, i will be really happy if the Braves can just pull off a split this weekend.
Time for the big boys to step to the fore. BMac, Freddie Free and Danno really need to pull their weight now.
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Dadgum, Gil… those lungs are nothing to mess around with. Just leave ’em inflated, OK?
Since Alex Wood threw 53 pitches in relief yesterday (3 1/3 innings of no-hit ball), and since the upcoming ASB makes a pitcher like Paul Maholm available out of the pen, the Braves simply optioned Wood to AAA Gwinnett to make the roster space. Smart move. Also, the Braves announced that intend to stretch Wood back out for starting, so he’ll just slip into the G-Braves rotation. Since Beachy is also getting stretched back out, I’d say some current Braves starters ought to be wondering what uni they might have on in August…
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And given that Meds has looked very un-Meds-like in recent starts, he may end up in Woods’ bullpen spot when Beachy returns. Not an unrealistic scenario.
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I still think the Braves will make a move for another lefty for the pen, and I still think Maholm could be traded, although it is less likely with his recent run of ho-hum starts.
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Minor looks a little uncomfortable today. Tight zone when you can’t throw 98mph… Good looking third though. Hold em right their guy and hope your offense can help a bit. Oh, and GO FISH!
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I fully expect Gattis to be activated next Friday just in time for the ChiSox. Expect Justin to be the first outfielder back. J=Hey is going to be real iffy though.
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Glad you’re better, Gil! I just learned about it from JoAnn’s post. Don’t do scary things like that anymore, okay?
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Yikes Gil! Glad you are better, and have a sound ticker! 🙂
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A couple of funny stories from my recent hospital stay but mostly not fun in the least. Needless to say, I am a very bad patient… Pain will do that and having a shive stuck in your chest can make one a bit testy…
Now Saturday’s game…. Wasn’t that a nice surprise? Seeing guys going the other way and using speed to torment a pitcher. That and BMac and Uggla both hit dingers but Mike Minor’s double down the line was a thing of beauty, that and him not getting rattled after the first two innings. I would have to say Mac’s homer was the real icebreaker though. As in , see, this guy can be scored upon, .
I just hope Terdo and George make the most of their opportunities, they will have a chance to make the ESPN All-star team…
Now the bad news… Don’t look for Freddie to be right if he doesn’t rest his wrist. He uses his wrist a lot in his swing. He was in agony after the first inning collision yesterday. Remember how badly it effected Jordan Schafer? Just like toes, wrist are not to be trifled with….
If I were Freddie, I would give him the day off today and let him rest it. Put CJ at first and Paul Yanish at third. Freddie is not going to do himself or the team any favors trying to play through it.
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Well, just watched the top of the first and have to say, if you are not excited by the play of this Atlanta team, well, you just are not much of a fan. Great pitching and wall crashing outfielders… WOW!
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Okay, top of the ninth and it appears I may have been guilty of premature excitation… The again, I said Friday I would be happy with a split so no need to be greedy.
Congratulation to BMac for being chosen by Bruce Bochy to replace Freddie on the NL All-star roster.
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Classy move by Bochy, and one I agree with 100%.
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Now… according to ajc.com, Uggla’s 18 HR are the most at the break by any Brave since Chipper and Mac both hit 18 in 2008. Wonder what Danny could have done with decent vision?
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Good morning Braves fans…. Rap against Jose Constanza was he was a weak defender, he looked pretty stout to me yesterday. That ball he flagged down for the first out Sunday sure looked like a double off the wall to me until he showed up on the scene.
Yesterday’s line-up against the Reds had all the appearances of a spring training split squad away game roster. Just enough regulars to not get fined by the commissioner but not so many as to really be a threat offensively unless facing a double A spot starter.
Hey, not the Braves fault really, it is just sucks that Freddie got hurt Saturday. You could tell he was not right with the bat in his appearances at the plate. That’s okay though. Look for BMac to get a shot at winning the game, or at the least, to make a contribution. . And yest, Brian McCann is a legitimate All-Star. He played a pretty pedestrian back stop last season but I think we all know why. More and more he looks like the Brian McCann of old instead of an old Brian McCann. I truly wish he could stay a Brave, even if it meant for the NL to adopt the DH rule. Well, maybe not that badly but ya’ll get the idea. He is one of the best pure hitters in the game and he isn’t all that shabby as a back stop either.
More tidbits…. Chip was saying yesterday that Evan Gattis uses a 30 ounce bat. That must feel like a whiffle bat to him. Dan Uggla has actually gone to a heavier bat after trying a lighter one for a while. A player has to do what a player has to do and as long as they don’t have cork in them, I’m good with it but I think Evan would actually do himself a favor going to a heavy bat. He has the arms for it and it would really make the ball jump. It’s all about density if you ask me.
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Man, how many players can get hurt at the same time? All star break comes at just the right time…I could see JHey or Justin really hurting themselves busting out of the box…Can you guys(and Gal) believe 95 games have already been played? Season is going too fast. And All Star game is too late in the season…they ought to play it in late June…
Yay for Brian! He has been quite good of late…
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All star break comes at just the right time…
Ain’t that the truth!!!
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So I argued for and against the break, didn’t I? Pretty typical of the clear, concise thought patterns my brain is known for 😕
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So, the always classy Mets fans boo Freddie, Brian and Craig during the ASG intro. Good to remember those words of wisdom… They don’t boo nobodies….
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To Braves All-Stars, that’s more of a tribute than anything else the NY “fans” could have done. That’s how they show respect. They don’t know any better.
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And now that the ASG is over, and with exactly 2 weeks until the non-waiver trade deadline, the ol’ rumor mill ought to be cranking out fodder on a regular basis. Being that I really love that kind of stuff (even the semi-questionable bits), I’ll have my ear to the tracks.
Don’t see the Braves making any big deals, though. Even though up close you might think our starting rotation is showing cracks, they still are among the leagues best. Even the bullpen, after losing EOF and Every Day Jonny, leads the NL in ERA. Heck, I maligned David Carpenter, and he may be the most under the radar guy in baseball. We knew Luis Avilan had great potential, and he has licked up right where EOF left off. And Jordan Walden has been a Godsend.
Still, the Braves will probably look for another LHRP at the right price.
As for offense, well… you gotta play BJ. His contract demands it. JUp was heating up when he went down, and JHey had already been scorching when he went down.
And Danny, while hitting at an even Mendoza friendly .200, has 18 HR and 42 RBI. I think most of us would be satisfied if he finished the season with 36 HR and 84 RBI, wouldn’t we? And the dude couldn’t see until a couple of weeks ago!!
And who knew Chris Johnson would lead the team in batting and be tied for 3rd in the NL in hitting, with only All-Stars ahead of him? (Chipper knew. Go back and find his comments about Chris when he first came over. Chipper loved the acquisition.) With his bat, and Pena/Janish’s glove late in games, 3B is hardly a place that needs improvement.
Speaking of Janish, I love that he and Pastor are on our bench. Love their versatility and the grit and emotion they bring to the team. They make the bench even stronger. Again, not a weakness on this team. Reed Johnson is a bench stud. And who would have predicted we’d be anxiously awaiting Jordan Schafer’s return? It’s a crazy game.
So as we rapidly approach the deadline, and as other contenders seek to fill glaring holes in their roster, maybe Frank can make a tweak here or there. Nice to know we aren’t backed into a corner to do anything, though, right? 😀
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We knew Luis Avilan had great potential, and he has licked up right where EOF left off.
… make that PICKED up. I don’t know about the other. Don’t ask; don’t tell. I’m OK with that. 😳
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Now… all that above being said, I want to pose a question.
As we noted last year and during this past off-season, the Braves still do not have an “ace” type pitcher atop their rotation. Do we need one? Could Frank throw everyone a curve and go after a top of the rotation starter? You’d have to give up a talented, low salary, starter in return. You’d have to give up a Medlen or a Wood and probably a Gilmartin to go with him. But if one of those those guys pans out, you have your future TORS. That’s if one pans out. Is it not logical that you might be better off with a proven TORS?
I made this same argument years ago when the rumor floating at the deadline was Ryan Klesko for Fred McGriff. My argument was simply this: if he becomes everything we want him to be, he’ll be as good as Fred McGriff. Fred McGriff already is as good as Fred McGriff, and we know that with certainty. (Of course, JS got Crimedog anyway without including Klesko. Genius.)
Wouldn’t the same logic apply to pitchers?
Not advocating this position, just tossing it out there. What say ye?
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Josh Johnson is 29 years old, and a FA in 2014. Toronto would trade him in a heartbeat. And while he may not have “ace” numbers overall, he has played on some pretty crappy teams. On a team like the Braves? Well… I posit that the kid could be an ace. Among pitchers with current stats at the age of 29: Orel Hershiser and David Cone. Not bad company to be in.
He’s had some injury issues this season, and hasn’t pitched all that well in a Jays uni. But the guy has a track record. His current year’s performance would serve 2 purposes: 1) it’ll keep his asking price from being too ridiculous, and 2) it’ll facilitate a more team friendly multi-year extension.
I think the guy can once again be the dominant pitcher he once was in the NL. I’d love to see at what price he could be had…
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Jake Peavy is scheduled to make his 1st start off the DL against the Braves Saturday. Just sayin’…
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In reality, there are no real “ace” pitchers out there this year… except for possibly Cliff Lee. Not likely that the Phils will even trade him, and almost a dead lock cinch that they won’t trade him within the division and especially to the Braves.
Given Johnson’s history of arm problems, I wouldn’t give a top prospect for him.
As for Peavy? Not an upgrade over anyone we currently have.
Our pitchers have done well enough. Mike Minor is probably in the top 10 this season, and Huddy has had poor run support. Teheran is an up and comer for sure. Maholm has been OK. I still think he could be moved if Beachy looks like he’s ready to come back before July 31. Meds has been… well, not very good. That’s just being honest. Can he be again? Sure. Will he? Who knows? One needs only to remember Jair Jurjjens to get a little bit of a knot in the ol’ stomach.
As it stands today, the Braves biggest “need” is a veteran arm in the pen that can give them more than one inning. If they can’t find one at an affordable price, then Meds should go to the pen.
I think there is already something set in motion toward this conclusion anyway. Alex Wood is being stretched out… and for what? To be a key member of the Gwinnett rotation? Uh, no. To be a part of the Atlanta rotation. The handwriting is on the wall.
All that said, would the Braves want 3 LHP in the rotation? Perhaps there is more to trading Maholm – currently earning $6MM+ and a FA at season’s end – than we see at first glance…
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And since I am absolutely dominating and bloviating at the same time, let’s fast forward to next year’s rotation, shall we?
In no particular order:
RH Julio Teheran (23 by Spring Training)
LH Mike Minor (26 by Spring Training)
RH Brandon Beachy (27 by Spring Training)
LH Alex Wood (23 by Spring Training)
RH Kris Medlen (28 by Spring Training)
Barring no off season acquisitions, this is likely it. Young and talented. Very young, and very talented.
And that’s with top prospects LH Sean Gilmartin (23 by Spring Training) and RH JR Graham (24 by Spring Training) waiting for their chance. In fact, Graham is their #1 prospect, even ahead of Gilmartin (#4) and Wood (yep, he’s still listed as a prospect and is #5). (C Christian Bethancourt and last year’s #1 draft pick RHP Lucas Sims are #’s 2 & 3 respectively.)
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WOW Raisins, so many lead worthy post….
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Sadly, the most under achieving or disappointing performer this season has to be Kris Medlin. One has to wonder if his lack of an effective curve ball has to be the only reason? Too many pitches up in the zone with “HIT ME” written all over it for him to use it in game situations. At this point, I don’t see him being very effective coming out of the pen either. Guys coming out of the pen all have plus fastballs which allow them to strike people out in tight situations.
Teherran gets a pass for being inconsistent, he is a rookie and still a ways away from being an ACE but he certainly has a high ceiling. He gets a lot less ink than say a Strausburg but he is at this point a better pitcher.
Huddy is just getting to the point that the wear spots are showing through on the carpet. He is no longer the ACE of the staff except by default and seniority.
Of course anybody can have a bad game or even a bad season. I am a huge Medlin fan but for whatever reason, he has lost his edge.
I am encouraged by Wood’s recent performances. Mike Minor has become a solid guy too. All that said, if a player like Cole Hammels can stink up the joint, it just goes to show you have to also have enough offense to offset those nights where your pitching staff is running on fumes.
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And wasn’t the All-star game a snoozer?
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From the comments in the booth on the local broadcast, you really pick up the vibe that Tom Glavin did/does not like John Smoltz. I wonder if he feels the same about Maddux?
Dale Murphey on the other hand has never given any indication of having anything but the highest regard for all his former teammates.
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And so, after all that rambling, I agree Raisins, Braves need a bullpen guy and Maholm may be the guy to be part of a trade. Paul is not a bad pitcher. Not a great one either but he much better than Kris at this point.
I don’t think there are any shoo ins for the Series this year. Every team has holes.
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According to Mr. O’B’s Twitter, Braves are hopeful to have both JHey and JUp back in the lineup on Friday against the ChiSox. However, Buck Belue, on the Braves flagship radio station 680theFan, reported that Heyward did NOT get on the bus to the team charter flight.
Hmmm.. that does not make me believe he’ll be back tomorrow. But seriously, the Braves are up by 6 games in the NLE, the Phils are not going anywhere, and the Nats have shown no signs of making a serious run. I’d handle that prized hammy with alot of care and caution. I’d give him plenty of time. In fact, if I were Frank, I’d DL him retro to the injury date and take the temptation to return early right off the table.
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I look for the Phillies to pass the Nats this weekend. Washington is playing LA this weekend.
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Nice, lost a post, at least it was short…
V, like the idea of Johnson, depending on what he will cost…
the lack of love I see for Meds (everywheres, internet, braves fans in person)
Medlen ERA 3.64
Hudson ERA 4.02
Maholm ERA 3.98
Just sayin
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But, I think it’s pretty clear that the Braves don’t have a #1, which is fine pre playoffs, not so good during them….
oh, I know what else was lost, is how many innings can Teheran pitch this year at the age of 22? Might they rest him and use Woods and Beachy? Not sold on Woods yet as a starter, but sure had the great numbers in the minors…
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and continuing my gloomy Gus posts 😉
67 games left. 6 game lead. Phils have too many injuries, IMO, CF and 1st basemen out for quite some time..
Nats, on the other hand, are starting to finally get healthy. Yes Gil, AS was a snooze, Home Run Derby, which usually bores me, while still way too long, was fun…Harper is healthy finally. Caveman is hitting around .300. Strasburg, Gonzalez and Zimmerman are probably the best 1 thru 3 in our division.Dan Haren has been terrible, and probably cost them 4-5 games in the standings…
If they won 8 in a row, and the braves were 4-4, they are only 2 out then, right? Way too early to get too cocky, if you ask me..not with JHey and BJ hitting around their weight….
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so, Saturday the Braves vs White Sox is on national TV @3:30
My local station has the option of that game or the Red Sox vs Yankees, one guess which one I will get….
I agree Ber, while we pick on Meds, Huddy and Muholm are not exactly Top of the order worth either.
Number of innings for Teheran? Somewhere between 150 and 175 I would suspect.
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Gil, interesting…ESPN projects out to 193 innings…w/o playoffs of course….oh boy, Red Sox vs Yankees, what a rare game to see on tv. 😕
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193 innings is a lot for a rookie, especially a young rookie….
I saw a note yesterday that Derek Lowe has called it quits. Said if he could no longer be a front line guy, he could walk away… No trips to Round Rock for him.
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man, re-reading my posts is not a good idea, so very scattered, out of order…oh well…
this seemed odd comment to me via mlbtr…why wouldn’t they make it a priority?
Braves: On the surface it seems like the Braves haven’t really made the amateur draft a priority in recent years and that has hurt the organization’s depth. The versatile Joey Terdoslavich’s strong performance in Triple-A earned him a promotion to the big league level where he’s possibly been showcased for a deal. The pop in his bat, along with his ability to switch hit and positional versatility could make him an intriguing trade target.
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Only brave in Keith Law’s top 50 prospects(Players on the ML roster can’t be on the list) is last years’ #1 draft pick, Lucas Sims …
aways away, it would appear…
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sims–001luc&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.typepad.com
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On the surface it seems like the Braves haven’t really made the amateur draft a priority in recent years and that has hurt the organization’s depth.
Key phrase there: “on the surface”
Is he kidding? It’s obvious that the author is not looking beyond the surface. Has he even begun looking at the pitching depth? And go beyond that to Terdo, C Christian Bethancourt, OF Matt Lipka, OF Todd Cunningham, 3B Carlos Franco, 2B Tommy La Stella, SS Jose Peraza, 1B Ernesto Mejia… heck that’s an entire lineup right there!!
And where did he think JHey came from? How about McCann? El Oso Blanco? Andrelton? Freddie?
Ugh… people who pull stuff out of their butt with nothing to back it up really grate my cheese. 😡
But I do think the pitching depth is what throws these guys off. 12 of the teams top 20 prospects are pitchers. The Braves have always drafted pitching heavy, then targeted other teams’ position prospects. And I think that their track record since 1991 is pretty good… in fact they are considered a model organization.
It’s evident to me that the dude is just mimicking some popular perception with little or no research to back up the assertion. Obviously one of the NE biased sports regurgitators.
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I guess the fact that people overlook pitching as “depth” just shows that chicks, and talking heads, still dig the longball… 🙄
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Listening to Fredi on the radio right now. He says JUp feels good and expects to play tonight, JHey did some running, but is gonna need another day, and Freddie is cleared to play and will be a game time decision. Pretty much good news.
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Perspective:
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Raisins, I agree with your 11:43 above. Too many people get their opinions from what somebody else said or intimated without checking the info themselves. Sad. I certainly don’t have the baseball knowledge that you, Gil and Ber do, but even I know many of the things stated elsewhere just aren’t so. Talking heads making noise. 😀
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“Too many people get their opinions from what somebody else said or intimated without checking the info themselves”
.Got to get their faces on the cover of Rolling Stone by any means possible, even if it is wild and idiotic….
Okay, back to the facts…. When you are picking 30th year after year, it’s pretty tough to get the real creme dele creme or something like that. I wonder if it would be really worth it to Atlanta fans to finish last so they could pick first? I doubt it…
Other than the illl thought out trade for Teixeria, I think the Braves have done well as far as cultivating talent for needs. To me, only the Len Barker trade stands as a worse trade for the Braves both on the short and long term.
Sadly, the Braves already have the pieces they need, they only need to have those pieces perform up to the level of their abilities. J-Hey was turning the corner, JUp and Uggla both have shown promise of late. Now it is up to BJ to produce at the level of his contract expectations.
Ber, I am thinking the Braves will skip a couple of starts for Teheran or move him to the pen for a few weeks if and when Beachy is able to return. Then Teheran should be available for the stretch run in September. I don’t want the Braves to coddle Teheran but no use ruining him either.
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While sitting here watching BMac fight off 11 pitches before hitting a 3 run homer off Danks, I was wondering what American League team is going to pay Brian 20 million a year for his services for the next 6 or so years….
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And after all that rambling, I learn that the Braves have moved Teheran up to the 4 spot in the rotation and dropped Meds to the fifth spot. So much for the skipping a few starts and protecting Tehran’s arm….
Speaking of arms, Huddy looked really good last night. I know his line was all that attractive but his curveball was one of the best I have seen. His pitches had to old familiar dipsy doodle funk to them we have seen in the past.
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Gil, I heard that too, not exactly sure why….that was an EPIC a.b. by Brian! You just knew he was going to do something….two teams that might be interested. White Sox, and Yankees. Only thing holding back the Yankees is pretending to be on a budget(well, they are, but don’t need to be)and rating are down, and if they don’t win in the likely last years of Jeter and Rivera, they are going to spend like a drunken sailor.
Why was FF in the game? Did I miss something? Did Terdo get hurt? I see nothing mentioning that…If not, that was a Late in the career move by Cox. Bring in a guy to game who was too injured to start. I did see that Adam Dunn, as massive as he is, is a true athlete, how he was able to “softly” run into FF (at full speed)and not put him on the DL, well…hats off to him….
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And big time Timmy Jim(Wonder if anyone calls Hudson that?) he has looked a lot better of late, hasn’t he?
Got me to thinkin…it happens…once in awhile. Perhaps the reason they really want to get a look at Beachy and Wood is Hudson. If one or both look shaky(and a great pitcher like Adam Wainwright was nowheres near as good last year after his TJ surgery as he is now) perhaps with McCann and Malholm off the books, they sign him for one more year, with an option?
Not too many teams want to go with 5 20′ somethings….
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Okay. It had to happen. If you haven’t already seen it, here is the video El Oso Blanco:
http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/index.jsp?partnerId=ed-7366419-580833423#contentId=54056636
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I wish the video quality was better, but this is beautiful. Listen to the lyrics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=oOZF4vTAF2M&vq=medium
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for whatever reason, I am having trouble posting
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Okay, that worked….
As I tried to say, El Orso’s slide into second last night in his first at bat was reminiscent of BMac’s belly flop into third a few seasons back. He went down about 3 feet too soon. The French judge game him a 3.4….
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For several days, I couldn’t post, Gil. Dunno why.
Hope you’re doing MUCH better!!!
Didn’t see Gattis but I’ll never forget McCann’s.
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hmmm, the possible Matt Garza trade to the Rangers has had some snags of late. Wonder if the braves might chime in? Now, a lot, a lot would have to do IF they could get him to sign long term. If Hudson walks, McCann walks, they could afford him, right? Until an odd injury last year(pretty sure it was back of shoulder, or rib injury) that worked into this year, he had 4 straight years of 184 or more innings. He’s 29, turns 30 in Nov.
I was reading earlier in the year, that he was a middle of the rotation guy, a 3 or 4. Well, his ERA has been sub 4.00 every year since 2007. He’s getting 10.25 mil this year, so it would only cost 4 + mil at this point.
He pitched several years in the AL East, so pressure shouldn’t bother him much.
3.17 ERA this year, is the best of his career.
Imagine a rotation of Minor, Hudson, Garza, going into the playoffs!
But, what would the braves have to give up?
Rangers seem to be trying to get him with a 3rd baseman prospect having a bad year, and a 24 year old pitcher in AA.
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well…that was less than good, eh what? 😕 A lefty starter shutting down the offense, 9 runners (at least) left on base, scoring only 1 run…and Reed was robbed of a homer in left…bleh…at least the Nats and Phils lost…
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Old saying in baseball, if you can’t score runs when you have the bases loaded and no outs, you are going to lose….
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Wow! Ryan Braun suspended for the remainder of the season (66 games) for violating the league’s drug policy. No appeal; Braun has agreed to the suspension. (It appears that a deal was cut.)
My first impression has less to do with his getting caught cheating and more to do with his being proven a liar. He was adamant and gloating over his successful appeal. He should have kept his mouth shut and just been grateful. He always maintained that the “real story” would some day be known. Well… it is. And Ryan Braun has not one shred of integrity left. I wish that MLB could strip his faux-2011 MVP award from him, but I suspect it was one of the bargaining chips. Gotta keep that individual award, ya know.
I am sure that publicly his teammates will wish him the best, but privately they are probably cussing him for letting them down again. He’s a disgrace on the A-Rod level in my book. The only thing worse than a cheater is a lying cheater.
Hopefully A-Rod is next.
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And in other MLB news, it appears that the first big deal of the silly season has been struck. Matt Garza is going to the Rangers. Good deal for all…
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Oh well, see my previous comment…
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As for Ryan Braun, there is a good man who got caught by a Union trick concerning chain of custody who is feeling vindicated too…. Braun will end up being traded but will be a big drag on the Brewers because they will have to eat his contract or he will stay but won’t be close to who they thought he was.
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Quote by Logan Morrison of the Marlins re Ryan Braun… “You know we’er clean, we haven’t scored a run in 37 innings….”
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I have mixed emotions about the ball that got by Justin which allow Byrd to score a triple… At least he gave it a good effort. A really good outing by Teheran going to waste.
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Agree, Gil, on JUp play. Initially I was kinda ticked. But in retrospect, I too appreciate the hustle.
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That. Was. One. Of. The. Best. Catches. I. Have. Ever. Seen. 😯
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It was pretty spectacular, either a hero or a zero…. It was a little payback for all those plays made by the White Sox this weekend.
Maybe not as pretty as the one Otis Nixon made way back when but close, it sure was as effective… Come to think of it, It was a pretty a play. That should get him booed some by the Mets fans….
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Was at a bar/restaurant and we were all beating up on the terrible braves offense, laughing at a stout grounder that at least tied the game. Then Reed Johnson showed why he should bat for anyone if a runner is in scoring position.
It was about 9:45, and well, it’s the southside of the ATL, and every bar and resturant thats not part of a chain, seems to close at 9:00, 9:30…weird. so folks feel guilty and we all left. So I heard the great play by Heyward in my car…sigh….
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Berigan, as spectacular as that play was on TV, I am sure it was a real stunner in person. TV takes away the speed of the game. One just does not get the same sense of time and distance as one does live. To be sure, looking at the replays, I’m not sure how he covered so much ground in such a short time span. Heyward may be rolling over the ball way too much with his bat right now but his glove is stellar….
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Yankees about to acquire Alfonso Soriano from the Cubs. Wow. They need hitting, and the dude has a bat for sure. Wonder where they’ll play him?
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No surprise here. We called it, didn’t we?
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And from the reports I have heard, the evidence compiled against A-Roid is even more overwhelming than that of Braun, who was so outgunned he backed down with barely a whimper.
Here’s the thing, though… A-Roid has already taken a good portion of punishment. No, I’m not talking about his previous suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. I’m talking about his failing body. You cannot introduce those chemicals into your body without doing lasting damage. Just ask Mark Maguire… or Albert Pujols. (Did I say that?) Anyway, A-Roid will deal with 2 failing hips for the rest of his life. Sewing… reaping… y’all know the drill.
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And just to clarify my above post, it is not intended to introduce any sympathy for the liar/cheater. I have none. I have contempt. Players with his talent are rare. He was a hero to alot of young ball players who wanted to have A-Rod’s crazy talent. He burned every one of them, not to mention his teammates and anyone else connected with him. It’s narcissism to the extreme degree.
The kid was already the best in the game, and projected out to be one of the best of all time. Stupid.
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The catch:
http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=29041345
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Hearing this commentary on Braun’s suspension this morning and agreeing 100%:
Why not make him play for his sorry last place team for the rest of the season without pay? He won’t miss the money… we all know that. Now he gets to hide out while the attention gets diverted elsewhere. It’s a pretty good deal for Braun, really. Make his sorry butt go out and face the fans in his home and opposing venues. Make his lying cheating butt face the ridicule and derision.
No… instead he gets to take a long vaca and hide from the real punishment.
What a sorry state of things.
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A-Roid is next. The chatter this morning is that MLB and A-Roid’s representatives are in the process of negotiating his punishment, much the same way Braun’s was negotiated. A-Roid’s will be stiffer. The evidence is reportedly crushing.
No wonder the Yankees stepped up their pursuit of Soriano over the last few days. A-Roid won’t be back to DH this season. He may never be back.
Won’t hurt my feelings…
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And henceforth, Ryan Braun is to be called Ryan Fraud.
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The real key for the Yankees is they don’t care if A-Roid comes back, they just don’t want to have to pay him the remainder of his contract.
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Oh yeah, Gil. You know they are already partying in Brian Cashman’s office. Insurance has been covering the albatross of a contract while A-Roid has been hurt. Now the rest is rapidly evaporating as well. Cashman has to be feeling good today.
Heck, as I understand it, the Cubs are even picking up the majority of the remainder of Alfonso Soriano’s salary. Cashman is on a roll. He ought to go buy a lottery ticket.
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Re: Ryan Braun…
Which is a better monicker: Ryan Fraud or Lyin’ Braun?
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“Medlen thinks he found flaw in delivery”
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/atlanta-braves/2013/jul/23/medlen-thinks-he-found-flaw-delivery/
Let’s hope so. I’d love to see vintage Kris Medlen back in the saddle again.
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“Chicago Tribune baseball scribe Phil Rogers said early Tuesday morning on The Mully And Hanley Show on 670 The Score that the Braves still want to acquire the right-handed reliever. In fact, he called it “a done deal” if [Jesse] Crain can get healthy.”
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/07/23/rogers-crain-to-braves-a-done-deal-if-he-gets-healthy/
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Source: MLBTR…
Crain’s DL stint is retroactive to June 30, so he will be eligible for activation well in advance of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. However, a recent stint on the DL and a questionable shoulder certainly don’t do any favors to his trade value.
The 31-year-old Crain has enjoyed far and away the best season of his career and arguably the best season of any reliever in Major League Baseball this year. He boasts a 0.74 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 36 1/3 innings and recently went on a historic scoreless streak. Crain rattled off 29 straight scoreless appearances, and even when that streak came to an end, it was due to three unearned runs. He allowed his first earned run since April 12 in his final appearance before hitting the DL (June 29). Fangraphs pegs his value to date at two wins above replacement, leading all Major League relievers.
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Source: ESPN…
Despite not throwing for the past week, injured Chicago White Sox pitcher Jesse Crain said he thinks he could be back on the mound at some point during the current homestand.
This was posted 3 days ago. The ChiSox current homestand ends Sunday.
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Source: Chicago Tribune…
Teams interested in a late-inning reliever will have to wait until at least July 26 to watch reliever Jesse Crain in a major league game.
Crain reported Friday his right shoulder felt better after throwing for the first time in a week from a distance of about 80 feet.
Manager Robin Ventura said he would like Crain to pitch on a minor league rehabilitation assignment before he rejoins the Sox.
“My goal is to be out there (Friday, July 26),” Crain said. “But we’ll see. I’ll throw every day from here on out trying to get back into it.”
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So, who do you think will be going the other way?
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I have to think that the Crain rumor may simply be wishful thinking on Chicago’s part as he’s a RHRP. The Braves are clearly targeting lefties. Duensing would answer that profile nicely.
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I have been reading some of the comments across the baseball sphere and have come to the conclusion that until you make the penalties harsh enough to actually deter cheating, you will always have someone who is willing to take the chance.
Lifetime ban? That would work. The time has come to do away with the doubt…
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RE: ‘roids…
It boggles my mind how any aspiring professional baseball player can forget the Mark Maguire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling and Jose Conseco circus in front of a congressional committee, not to mention the Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens fiascos. Do these current guys think they are more clever or more special than those former “stars”?
I don’t get it. It has to be an ego thing. And I certainly don’t know how you can deter future use because these guys obviously don’t think very clearly and logically at present.
The latest rumors involving A-Roid are that there is clear evidence that “his people” have tried to buy off all the key witnesses. It just keeps getting better and better…
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What’s the down side for these guys? Has Bonds or Roger Roid actually suffered any real penalty? Both still have their names in the record books. Nope, it’s a risk vs rewards thing. In a society that accepts drug use as a recreation, short term fame is worth any long term shame as far as they are concerned.
Make sure a franchise is penalized as well as the player such as forfeiting all games the doper has played in… It will get cleaned up pronto….
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What’s the down side for these guys?
Downside? Ryan Fraud’s cheating earned him a $105MM extension, bringing the money owed to him by the Brewers to $133MM. So the $3.45MM he loses with his vacation, er, suspension is nothing.
Punishment? Heck, the dude cheated, lied, and got rich. Think he’d do it again? Uh… why not?
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Good morning folks…. Anyone else remember when we all sat around and bashed Terry Pendleton for all of the Braves’ hitting woes? SIGH!!!! Looks like it wasn’t Terry’s fault after all.
I feel so frustrated by the Braves’ apparent lack of ability to grasp the concept of situational hitting. The Braves are not lacking chances to score because just like years past, the Braves have shown the ability to get on base but opposing pitchers of average ability continue to baffle Atlanta hitters and pitch to holes in the line up.
All this and a player like Nate McLouth (ya’ll remember him don’t you) appears to be all world as a lead off man now he is with the Orioles. I wish I knew the answer, Perhaps my expectation are too great for this bunch.
I am not thinking world series… I am just thinking that running off a nice six or seven game winning streak should not be all that difficult for this group.
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Braun really disappointed me(and countless others) He made perfect sense two springs ago, saying he didn’t get any bigger or faster from a few years before. That clearly was the case with Bonds and others…
So…did he just take it to recover quicker? Or did he start taking them in College or perhaps even HS?
I do wish one of these dopes would truly come clean about everything…
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Gil, I still don’t think TP did any good(but then again Frenchy and Andruw didn’t catch the world on fire after leaving did they?)
But I’d love to hear how Walker or his assistant truly helped someone.
Walker couldn’t do a thing with Adam Dunn that year he hit around .160. BJ was looking a bit better, but not like a real threat. JHey can hit a single to right once in awhile….whoopee.Uggla is still battling to hit .200.even with better eyesight.
Feels like we have a 4th or 5th place offense. And that’s after adding two guys that should have made us so much better than last year….weird…
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I think David Wright said it best when he opined that by the time a guy makes it to the show, his swing is pretty much what it is. I think the real difference makers are things like diminishing bat speed or failing eyesight. All those other things are just adjustments.
There is also the refusal of a hitter to make adjustments in their hitting philosophies. Knowing when to cut down on their swing so they are less susceptible to change ups.
But yeah, sometimes you just have to believe a guy is due.
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Like that bomb Evan just hit off the second deck at Citi Field… Woo hoo…..
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Was watching when Tim Hudson got stepped on by Young, will be a miracle if his ankle isn’t broken… Painful to even watch…
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To be honest, it makes me ill just thinking about it.
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Oh no! Was watching til trivia ended, had no idea…they haven’t even shown the footage on the postgame show…so it must be hard to watch.
Not fair, such a great guy, and probably our best starter, the last month or so. Eric Young a class act for going over to him and I hear praying for him…
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Ber, it was announced that he has a fractured right ankle, surgery after the swelling goes down. Out for the year.
Time for the guys with the big A on their caps to suck it up and win it for the Hudster…. No one will feel sorry for them, it is a tough game. Players get hurt, the offense is going to have to be smart and play up to their ability.
Hudson was the Hudson of old tonight.
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😡
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I am thinking the Braves will now be in the market for a veteran RH starter. Maybe Jake Peavey? Who knows. Medlen’s adjustments weren’t effective, and neither was he. Beachy can’t be relied on coming of TJ surgery. Braves suddenly need a starter in a bad way.
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The Braves had also reportedly shown interest in Cuban right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, who is now eligible to sign with the highest bidder. He is supposed to choose his team this week. By all accounts he’s uber-talented and major league ready now. Huddy’s season-ender might heighten the Braves interest. Price will be steep, though.
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No matter, this is a blow to a team with an already fragile mindset. The Braves are young, really young and it’s the vets who are able to keep things in perspective.
Pitchers are out there, unfortunately, the price just went up….
Meds pitched well enough, just not well enough long enough. It’s the vets who are the difference for the Pirates this year,
There is a big stretch of games coming up in August that will be the difference maker for the season. That said, you need to win then one at a time. Like I said, it is how you handle adversity that shows one’s true character.
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As for the price of Gonzalez, better to have to pay in cash verses prospects.
However, you have to use the resources at your disposal.
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As for the price of Gonzalez, better to have to pay in cash verses prospects.
I agree completely. And though this may sound callous, the reality is that now Huddy’s remaining salary should be covered by insurance. There is money to be spent.
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Oh, and Ber…
12 noon start today. Wake up!!
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Today’s lineup:
Simba, SS
RJohnson, CF
JUp, RF
Fab 5 Freddie, 1B
El Oso Blanco, LF
Popeye, 2B
CJohnson, 3B
Laird, C
Alex Wood, LHP in a big, big start
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I would not be surprised if a trade involved Beach going the other way…. Just saying. Depends on the value of the pitcher acquired.
I bet the Rangers are really glad they made the trade for Garza when they did…..
Okay team, let’s score lots of runs today…. This Wheeler kid is human. The Braves have now seen him. Time to suck it up and get going. Drive a stake thru the heart of the rest of the NL East.
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I truly do not believe the Braves will stand pat with their rotation now. It has nothing to do with talent or lack thereof. They have a legitimate WS shot this year, and need the stability of a veteran in the rotation. No shot at the youngsters, but experience goes a long, long way in the playoffs.
Isn’t it amazing how one freak play can have such a dramatic impact on a team and a front office?
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And to clarify…
Sure, I absolutely believe that a rotation of Minor, Teheran, Medlen and 2 of Wood/Beachy/Maholm can still win the NL East. October is a different animal…
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… and according to Mr. O’B’s twitter, the Braves are no longer in the running for Cuban RHP Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez…
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Odd start to today’s game but Wood looks really good. I think it is a matter of stamina when it comes to young guys.
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Baseball is such a funny game, I don’t think Wood’s line today represents how well he is really pitching. A lot of bleeders and dinks falling in for the Mets.
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I really feel like Medlen is getting too much grief. Is he as good as he was last year? of course not…no one is. Is he as “bad” as he is this year? Who knows? But, a 3.78 era is NOT terrible. the other day he gave up 3 runs working into the 6th, and the post game guys were acting like he was likely to go to the bullpen. (Before Hudson’ injury) Well, if the braves only score 1 run, is the starting pitcher likely to win? Pressure was on him, and yeah, you should try to keep it close…but to be put under the pressure he seems to be under, isn’t fair. He took full blame for not getting it done, but you could hear the emotion in his voice…I hope FF has his back, right now he should tell him, no chance he will lose his spot, he’s the vet now.
Sorry to hear we are not in on Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez.Most every Cuban player is underrated (Can’t tell how many times I heard Aroldis Chapman, the hardest throwing pitcher in all of baseball, wasn’t all that and a bag of chips)
Yoenis Cespedes was in great shape, but couldn’t hit a curve to save his life, and Yasiel Puig…don’t recall much about him except he had a great s.t.
IF they re-sign McCann, thats one thing, but if not, a lot of money is coming off this winter with Hudson and (likely)McCann gone….if there is a red flag with the kid, ok….but, like V said this is a team that has a chance in post season…you never know…what I do know, is the Nats won’t stand pat, and have a stronger top 3 rotation than the braves currently have. They have more resources , and they found out last year, they should have done things differently with their chance in the playoffs. Minor, Teheran, Meds and Malholm is not exactly going to scare anyone, and only Medlen has any pressure experience….I don’t know…too bad the White sox are asking the world for Peavy, he’s got that bulldog attitude you love to see in a game one starter…
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and why is the weakest arm in the bullpen, taking one for the team, in a 6-4 game, that is still winable?
and the umps are blind, and unwilling to ask for help, great….
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And as Chip Carey just stated, a “long top of the 7th (Mets batting) has chased Zach Wheeler from the game.” The Braves gave up 2 more runs, but might actually benefit now that Wheeler is gone.
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Per ajc.com…
“We’ll have a young rotation, but hell, they’ve got to grow up sooner or later.” – Fredi Gonzalez 😆
Would not have been my exact choice of words, but it kinda made me laugh…
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Just reading some of the comments about the Braves on other venues and to be truthful, if they were all I had to access the Braves chances going forward, I would be looking for a tall tree and a short rope right now…. How depressing….
Have we not been in this place before with injuries to (Chipper, Prado, Huddy, Smoltzie, etc…) before?
I’m glad I do not have to rely on a popular vote to keep my job. I’m thinking Frank Wren is in the same place.
The Dodgers and the Cardinals are firing on all cylinders right now, everyone else is pretty much clunking along. Tampa Bay is doing the same in the AL….
The Braves are in a lot better position to withstand injuries than most other teams. No one else is going to feel sorry for them, it is up to the rest of the team to suck it up and overcome the adversity of playing 162 games.
All that said, did anyone else get that feeling of impending doom when Loe came in from the bullpen and had trouble lobbing four pitches for balls for an intentional walk? Just saying…..
I think Pittsburg has suffered the biggest loss with Grille going down. They are having a tough time closing out games….
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Saying that, who would the Bucos be willing to trade for Walden?
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Gil, I guess Jeff Locke and his 2.11 ERA are not going to re-join the barvos…Charlie Morton??? hmmm, I wonder….
Hear they are interested in Bud Norris…hmmm, he’s cheap…4.33 career ERA, 3.98 this year…just what we need, a cheap number 3 or 4 starter…that’llscare the Dodgers in the playoffs…
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Gil, I could not for the life of me figure out why Loe was in there, in a close game, and he was out there like it was Kimbrel, win or lose.No one in bullpen. Made no sense
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this is more like it( I hope)
Braves Seeking Front-Line Starting Pitcher
By Steve Adams [July 26 at 12:15pm CST]
FRIDAY: The Braves are more focused on front-line starting pitchers such as Jake Peavy and Ervin Santana than they are on Norris, writes Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Peavy’s 118-pitch outing yesterday, which was scouted by the Braves, helped to quell some of the hesitation surrounding his health, Bowman adds. The Braves aren’t interested in Yovani Gallardo, according to Bowman, but they may contact the Brewers regarding Kyle Lohse’s availability.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/07/braves-considering-trades-for-rotation-help.html#disqus_thread
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One good reason to go after Peavey is that the Cards also want him. In the playoffs, I’d rather have him toe the rubber with my players behind him than facing him…
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Isn’t this the last year of Huddy’s contract? If it is, at least he was pitching a fantastic game as his last as a Brave. I’ll miss him. He always seemed to be in good humor.
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Yes CL, it was his option year.
Mike Minor is pitching exactly like he needs to as the Braves defacto number one..
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Isn’t it funny that he was “battling” for the #5 slot last spring?
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Very impressed by Minor tonight! The whole team really. 3 hits in a row like that…JHey going the other way…hey,(Sorry) for a homer… Playing the Cards, basically the best team in baseball right now…it is a bit like a playoff series. Showing them that we can play with them.
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Josie and I were talking about how much Minor has matured since last year at mid-season. We have also concluded it would be better to ride the injury to Hudson out rather than make another disastrous trade like Shurholtz made for one season of Mark Texirea. Gave up what has amounted to the core of the Texas team for 3 seasons.
Possible trade chips one would think would be Pastornicky, Terdoslavich, and a minor league starting pitcher like Sean Gilmartin. And for that haul, I would not expect a whole lot in return.
No, I think the Braves are in a bit of a box as far as what their options are. The left handed bat off the bench will be Schafer although it will take more than two weeks for him to get his bat up to speed one would think.
To be honest, as a fan, I am willing to give up a World Series appearance this season in exchange for the opportunity to go the next five years.
This is a really young team, there will be veterans available next season, even Huddy if they do a great job on his ankle. Of course he will be able to predict the weather better than a Doppler radar…. But that is next season.
No, I say pick up another reliever and sit the starters down and tell them this is what builds character. Nobody gave them a chance in ’91 either. Stranger things have happened. This has the opportunity to make this team closer. For better or for worse and better to ride the roller coaster to the end rather than get off mid ride.
Just win two of every three and the clock will run out on the rest of the division. Heck, three out of every five will do the trick. The Braves have rebuilt on the fly, an amazing feat in itself. I’m good with it…..
Maybe the Braves could coax Ben Sheets out of retirement for on more month…
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On another note, I think the Phillies are out of it now. They will complete their sell off and focus on stocking up for the future.
And the Mets sure have turned the corner. What a nice group of young arms they have developed. Look out for these guys. They are only a better bullpen away from being a real force.
That said, it is the Braves bullpen methinks is the real difference between the Atlanta nine and the rest of the East.
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WILD play!
http://wapc.mlb.com/cutfour/2013/07/26/54824636/video-crazy-baseball-play-ricochets-off-second-base
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Wow… the Phillies may be done for the year, and possibly sending off old pieces to other teams, but they just reached agreement with Cuban pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez on a 6-year, $48MM deal.
If he is the polished, top-of-the-rotation pitcher he is reported to be, that is pretty cheap. Braves should have been in on that one… 😐
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Do y’all realize that the Braves have five players who had season ending surgeries this season? Hard to fathom…
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And for those keeping score, that’s greater than 20% of their Major League roster…
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I still say the hardest year for the Braves to overcome injuries was when they lost the top three pitchers in their starting rotation.
The Phillies and Gonzalas… Look for them to shift salary from some of their older players to cover that.
Maybe the Braves are going to try to keep McCann?
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That is a wild Play CL! That would be my luck as a hitter! 😉
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YEA!!! Rain delay in DC just in time for me to see the bottom of the eight and Kimbrel shut the door….
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Seeing Minor and Teheran pitch those 2 games back to back has to excite any Braves fan. Those are our clear #1 and #2 guys. Young and very talented. The future is indeed quite bright.
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It’s very difficult to play with emotion over a sustained period but playing with a passion can sure give your team a boost just long enough to instill some confidence in themselves. Meds needs this game in the worse way, lets get this thing Kris….
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It appears the Pirates may be on the verge of their late season implosion. Grille going down may have a greater impact on the Buckos than Hudson being lost for the season by the Braves. Anyone who doubts the importance of a strong bullpen needs only to remember the Texiera years in Atlanta.
No matter if it is your starters or relievers, keeping the opposing team from putting a lot of crooked numbers up on the board often translates to wins.
I look for the Braves to release Loe when they acquire another lefty reliever this week.. They have little invested in him and I don’t see a lot of up side with the tall righty.
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One parting shot…. Think of how disappointed Jordan Schafer must feel right now? He had every opportunity to make BJ Upton irrelevant and shine in the lead-off spot. He also was pretty big when it came time to deliver off the bench. It will be September before he is able to really contribute again. Being able to run is only part of the equation. He has to get his timing back too.
At least Heyward appears to be making progress. He needs to look at tapes where he was driving the ball the other way but he has been huge for the Braves in the outfield this past week. Gold Glove deserved….
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I look for the Braves to release Loe when they acquire another lefty reliever this week.. They have little invested in him and I don’t see a lot of up side with the tall righty.
+1
With ya there. In my crystal ball, I don’t see the Braves picking up a starter this week simply because there are only 2 or 3, Peavey, Santana, maybe Gallardo, that are an upgrade. THe Braves know that, as do the ChiSox, Royals and Brewers. The price will be wa-a-a-ay too high.
Now as for a reliever, I foresee that happening. Leftie… and Loe will be released. Maybe a 2nd go ’round with Mike Gonzalez?
Backup IF? I think that could happen too. Need one with a lefty bat. I love Janish, but he doesn’t have a lefty bat. He doesn’t have much of a righty bat. Great glove, though. Not enough for a serious contender. Who’s out there? Did you know that good ol’ famliar Emilio Bonifacio might be available from the Jays? Did you know he is a switch-hitter who plays all 3 OF spots as well as 2B and 3B? If you ask me, that’s a guy who could help us down the stretch and particularly in October. That said, he doesn’t play much SS.
When all is said and done, the loss of Ramiro Pena might be the most costly of all of them…
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I think you are right on with your opine on Pena’s value.
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You think the Royals might want Pastornicky back?
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Correction, the Blue Jays…. Brain Freeze… was thinking about uniform color. DUH!
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The Braves are really shallow at shortstop when it come to bench players aren’t they. Of course, putting Yanish at short and batting eight is little different than putting Costanza in the same spot in the batting order.
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It’s really good to see Jason Heyward returning to his pre injury form. Nice clutch hit by Joey T. also. Now, if the Braves can hold them right there….
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Our beloved Braves are playing some really solid baseball against the vaunted Cardinals. Heck, I think I even heard the ESPN guys utter (mistakenly, I am sure) a positive word about them. 😯
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Solid, a word I will echo. They really looked like a complete team tonight didn’t they? Now, the only question might be how Beachy performs tomorrow night. The Nationals clowned the Mets today but no matter, Just keep winning and they will stay firmly in the Braves rear view mirror.
By the way, Chris Johnson has taken over the NL batting title lead. Showed gret hustle tonight in scoring that final run.
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And yes, the ESPN guys were all primed and ready to extol the prowess of the mighty Red Birds. Too bad for them the Braves didn’t get the memo.
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Well, 2 days and counting until the non-waiver trade deadline, and by all appearances (and all chatter) the Braves might still have a toe in the starting pitcher pool, but do not like the temperature. I simply do not believe they are willing to pay the price attached to the very few difference making starters in a very thin segment of the market.
That said, they do appear to be concentrating heavily on a LHRP, and to a lesser degree on a lefty hitting backup IF. As to the latter, there are not many at all mentioned as possible trade chips. As to the former, well… it does appear that there are a few from which to choose and make a match. I will be very surprised if that goes all the way to Wednesday’s 4pm EST deadline.
As for the August 31 waiver trade deadline, the only fellas that will sneak through waivers are those with cumbersome contracts. The Braves will NOT be in that market unless something catastrophic happens. Let’s all pray that our roster will be somewhat set after July 31.
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Bowman: “There is no doubt it would be nice to line up a proven veteran against the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in a postseason matchup. But as the Braves have evaluated the available starting pitchers, they have not seen any that would definitively serve as an upgrade to either Julio Teheran or Mike Minor, who currently stand as the top two starters in Atlanta’s rotation.”
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Timing is everything…. Anyone think the Matt Garza would have made it to Texas if Huddy had been hurt a week earlier? There is still two months to go in this season so let’s get in the playoffs before we sacrifice the next 3 or 4 years.
Every team has holes, I think the Braves have fewer holes than most. I also think this past weekend proved that physical ability is only part of the equation in what one looks for in a pitcher. All three Braves starters pitched with a little anger this week end. It showed, even 1000 miles away in my living room. It was a refuse to lose mentality that may have surprised even the Braves themselves. That carried over into the defense by making one stellar play after another.
The only real error was Evan Gattis getting caught flat footed on that “infield fly” but he will learn from it, he’s a pretty quick study. Too bad Brian McCann can’t play left….
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And how many GMs wouldn’t give their left n** to be able to reach down into their minors and place a pitcher of the caliber of a Brandon Beachy to plug into their starting line-up?
I expect command to be Beachy’s biggest problem to start but the offense needs to show up and take some pressure off. We should not expect the pitcher to do it alone.
A note on Joey T… I like this kid, he’s a gamer…. Not trying to do to much with the bat but being clutch. A lot to like… Can he play 2nd?
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… and there ya go.
He is basically a lefty specialist. Splits much better vs. LH batters. Needed that, though, given that Avilan is the only LHRP in the pen and is now one of the primary 7th/8th inning setup guys (along with Jordan Walden). Cory Rasmus was a piddly price to pay. Great deal for Frank once again. Why are the Angels so bent in helping us out? 🙂
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Well, that was a good trade….
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A note on Joey T… I like this kid, he’s a gamer…. Not trying to do to much with the bat but being clutch. A lot to like… Can he play 2nd?
Terdo is a big fella… not long on “athleticism”, but grit like Lemmer. He’s best suited for corner OF. Now, as for 2B, remember the name “Tommy La Stella”. Still 2 or 3 years away, but just the kinda grinder that the Braves love. Uggla will continue to do his thing for a couple more years. No getting away from it. That said, I’ll take his 40 HR and 80 RBI, even with his .200 avg. and high K count. At least he’s getting the plate dirty a bit.
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Minor, Teheran, Medlen, Beachy and Wood/Maholm is not a bad rotation at all. I am a tad concerned about not having that experienced veteran presence in the playoffs, but if the tradeoff is the guile and talent of Minor or Teheran, I like our guys.
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Per Mr. O’B:
Downs, a Kentucky native, has a 1.84 ERA in 43 appearances this season, with a .243 opponents’ average that includes a .196 average against left-handed hitters.
Downs had a .183 opponents’ average during a stretch of 29 appearances in a stretch through July 23. The Kentucky native’s 2.28 ERA since the beginning of the 2008 season ranks fourth among major league relievers (minimum 200 innings).
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Even the bridge jumpers have to give Frank a little credit on this one… 😛
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Rosenthal:
The Rangers’ search for offensive help is so extensive, they recently contacted the Atlanta Braves about a trade for [Brian] McCann, according to major-league sources.
The Braves, leading the NL East by 8.5 games, had no interest in trading their starting catcher, who will be a free agent at the end of the season.
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Like Fredie G said, they have got to grow up sometime…
Scott Downs…. It is nice to have some financial flexibility for a change. It has all the pinnings of a salary dump by the Angles. Rasmus is still a few years away from being a major league pitcher. A lot like Hoover was when traded to the Reds.
All that said, it should be a cautionary tale for all major league GMs to be wary of signing aging veterans to long term big dollar contracts. If I were Frank Wren, I would like to know how soon before the National league is forced into adopting the DH before making an offer to Brian McCann.
I think BMac has three more good years left in him. Someone is going to hate the final 3 years on his likely 6 year contract.
Yes, I am aware that Uggla will be with the Braves for at least two more years and I can live with that. At least he hustles down the line on every ground ball. He is a grinder too. The team is what it is, a team with a collection of players who if playing up to their full potential would be awesome to behold.
I am just happy that the real Jason Heyward has shown up in the nick of time to carry the Braves on his back for a while.
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I tell ya… looking around trying to find a lefty hitting backup IF that plays both 3B and SS is tough. I don’t think there are any of them! 😯
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Hmmm… Emilio Bonifacio, although listed as 2B, 3B and OF, did play 67 games at SS for MIA just 2 years ago. Very interesting…
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Yep Gil, the team is what it is. But occasionally, they’ll play a game like yesterday where they get a few timely hits and string a handful of singles together. And that’s the thing. Sluggers can still get you the timely single from time to time. Slap hitters aren’t going yard very often. We knew this would be an interesting ride back in April. Can’t say they aren’t entertaining. Uggla baffles me. How can a guy who obviously knows how to hit just stand and look at so many strike 3’s? The chances of getting a hit increase dramatically when the bat leaves the shoulder…
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How can a guy who obviously knows how to hit just stand and look at so many strike 3′s?
You have to be able to see the ball to hit the ball and for a major league player. Come to think of it, that goes for just about any hitter at any level.
I think Fab5 is having a little eye issue too right now. It’s one thing to just miss hitting a pitch versus swinging at balls which are unhittable.
Chris Johnson is seeing everything right now, so is J-Hey. I think Justin is playing hurt but is toughing it out.
I’m not sure if Simba knows yet what kind of hitter he is at this point. As long as he is in the eight hole, I am not going to fret over it. He is still young and his glove is worth an RBI a game right now. As he matures, I still think he will grow to the point of being a little big for a shortstop but then, who knows what the future holds. There is always some kid vying for your position.
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2night’s lineup:
HeyHey, CF
JUp, RF
Gumby, 1B
El Oso Blanco, C
NL Batting Leader, 3B
Danny K, 2B
Simba, SS
Terdo, LF (Starting? Clearly being showcased, right?)
Beach Party, right elbow
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I have been quite down on JHey this year. Even the homer the other night, thought it was pretty good opposite field homer, then saw it was 83 MPH…no one should miss those. The game(s) with the Cards though, very impressive! 94 MPH pitch he homered on last night. One of the seemingly endless prospects of the Cards came in (Leftie) throwing down, and 97 MPH, JHey smacked one up the middle off of him!
Just so glad to see the Braves take it to my ol home team. Cards and Dodgers will be the roadblocks in the playoffs, and I bet a sweep will make the Cards very wary of the Braves if they face them first(Still not sure how things work come playoff time, who gets the 1 game playoff(both wildcard teams, right?)
Anyways, to sweep the best team, the most complete team, in baseball, might, mighty impressive! 🙂
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I Think with Uggla, he has some bad luck. Swung at one strike 3, outside. Next time, leaves bat on shoulder, it’s right down the middle. Now luck should change, in theory. It’s great that he walks so much. Teams know that can’t always throw it in the dirt with him. I think(There I go using I think, again) I saw that Uggla has a really, really horrible B.A. against curveballs. Like under .100 or something. So, probably half the reason he doesn’t swing if he can tell it’s going to break a bit….that, and the eyes…
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I think GMs like Frank Wren have one of the toughest jobs in baseball. Knowing when to hold them and when to fold them and when to go all in. Who wouldn’t love to have a Cliff Lee to anchor your staff but at what price for the future?
Texas sniffing about BMac… I guess they want to give us all the players they got for Texiera.
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If Texas would send us Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (not to mention Beau Jones, just to make it accurate), I’d take it. 🙂
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A real donnybrook going tonight.
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“I expect command to be Beachy’s biggest problem to start but the offense needs to show up and take some pressure off. We should not expect the pitcher to do it alone.
A note on Joey T… I like this kid, he’s a gamer…. Not trying to do to much with the bat but being clutch. A lot to like”
Just call me Notragillus….
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Welcome to Atlanta, Mr. Downs. 🙂
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Amen Raisins, pretty exciting game last night. The caped hero showed up just in the nick of time….
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MLB’s version of the “nuclear option”:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/fast-a-rod-appeals-selig-prepared-invoke-commish-power-article-1.1412251
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And the trend continues…
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http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?topic_id=43324442&content_id=29243295
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Hi folks, watching the talking heads on the MLB network opine about the deadline trades.
I am thinking Bud Norris might be a good fot for the Braves. He is not unaffordable and the package going back should not be all that high.
I think Brandon Beachy may be next year before he is really able to return to form. Perhaps the Braves are thinking they can stave off the rest of the East. Perhaps the Brave can use Brando in the pen like ALA Medlen last year but it takes a while to reacquire the touch you need for your breaking pitches.
Of course a lot also depends on how well Wood responds too. A lot to think about tonight.
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Love the link, CL. Funny… Paul Janish probably made contact more in that video than he has this season. 😆
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I may have spoke too soon about Wood, the kid found himself out there tonight after the 2nd inning…
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When things are going well, everything falls in, even the Rookie gets a base knock in his first at bat…
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Another big night at the Ted last night. The offense has shown up. Funny game… Time to go for the kill now. Pedal to the metal and roll off another 12 game winning streak.
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Disclaimer: the following observation is not intended to be a prediction on future performance…
Was it just me, or did Todd Cunningham’s swing look exactly like a RH version of Kelly Johnson?
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Boring disclaimer…I play trivia 3 nights a week. Starts at 7 pm each night, so…a bit hard to keep an eye on the game. But, I got to see quite a bit of the “best” innings last few days. Sure is fun to watch baseball when the brave are on a winning streak, eh what? 😆
Did a double take when I saw the braves had a 10 game lead on the Nats. Whaaa? Go on a 5 game winning streak, while the Nats play sub .500 baseball, that will happen.
Agree with Notragillus, err Gil, 😉 Go on another 12 game winning streak, why don’t ya? Nats could still get on fire, and it is still July(for a few hours) a 5 game losing streak, with a 5 game winning streak and we are 5 ahead. Put them out of their misery(or make them more miserable for not going all in last year)
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Gil, I think starters have more trouble getting their feel back than closers, for some reason. Billy Wagner had no issues coming back as an “old” player , was back on the mound about 11 months after TJ surgery and pitched well.
Lets look at Adam Wainwright’s stats.(Sniff, sniff, man he’s been ok for the Cards)
2009 ERA 2.63
2010 ERA 2.42
2011 missed because of TJ
2012, had some trouble with control, curve 3.94
2013 2.51
So, one of the top 5 pitchers in the game had his ERA go up almost 1.5 runs a game, for a whole season….so, while every pitcher is different, you are likely right, next year he should be the old Beachy.
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CL, that’s a fun clip, thanks!
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Pretty much a yawner of a trade deadline. More proof that the 2nd Wild Card team has watered down the game. Too many teams think they can still sneak in. And the sad thing is, they can.
Mediocrity reigns, and for some reason MLB likes it…
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Chatter is that there are several deals agreed upon, but teams are waiting to the last minute to submit the paperwork so that the trades aren’t made public until AFTER the 4pm EST deadline. This is reportedly in an effort to prevent division rivals from making reactionary moves…
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I’m of two minds on trade deadline deals(Naturally-perhaps 3 or 4 minds)
I can understand teams trading guys that are older, that won’t be there when they turn it around (e.g. Marlon Byrd with the Mutts) but, if the other team doesn’t want to trade anything of value, why make your team worse in the short term, for a player no better?
But, no one wants to trade ANY young players it seems, especially the Cards. They have an embarrassment of arms right now, but won’t give up one of them for a SS that they really need.
Of course, one only has to remember another team with an embarrassment of arms trading some minor leaguer with an elbow issue for a 1 year rental.
Well, if we had had Adam Wainwright pitching for us since 2006 or so, would we have made panic signings like Kenshin Kawakami and Derek Lowe?
How many more playoff series would the Braves have won with Wainwright? Would the Cards have won their last 2 W.S. without him? Granted, he is an extreme example, but no GM wants to give up a pitcher that good, unless you get a Stanton in return….
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And the deadline arrives without much fanfare. Barely a whimper. We’ll see if any big news trickles down the pike over the next hour or so.
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Nothing to see here… keep moving along…
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A Braves fan could really get spoiled by this run… I know it won’t last but you gotta ride the big waves while you can.
I am a little shocked by the Pirates. I did not think they would weather the storm of losing Grille.
Looks like super kid, Bryce Harper, hurt himself yesterday. All the pinnings of an oblique…
I know Gio Gonzalas is not on MLB’s steroids hit list for connections to BioGenisis but he is not the same pitcher this season. Said it was his dad who was a client…. I wonder what his dad’s ER would be? You know the old saying, if you lie down with the dogs, you’ll wake up with the fleas.
I’m going to miss Dale Murphy’s prospective in the booth while he is on his month long sabbatical to Germany at the behest of Major League baseball. I think he has become a very good color man/analyst.
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And isn’t it amazing how the combination of a nice little 6 game winning streak will change one’s attitude when it comes to viewing your team’s chances in post season.
Two months to go, now is the time where the wheat is separated from the chafe…. Strange that Kris Medlen is the senior spokesman for the staff but it reminds me much of the Braves teams of ’91 and ’92… I still would not be surprised to see the Braves pick up a vet if they can gain a couple of years of control too. Otherwise, we just may have to ride on the backs of Mike Minor and Julio Teheran…
Woods might even grow up a bit after his last start.
As for Maholm, watching the kids rise to the top, no wonder he wants to hurry back. I say let it heal dude, we’ll need you more in September.
I think Brandon Beachy took a serious blow to his confidence this week. That’s alright kid, the Braves can afford for you to stink the joint up right now. Note to Braves, just don’t pencil him in against the like of Cliff Lee right now. It would be a little tougher to make up 7 runs….
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Yep,. an amazingly dull trade deadline…I don’t think there were any after the 4 pm deadline trades,(placed just before 4) weird. Though I can’ blame teams for holding on to guys that they won’t get someone at least as good back…
Have to say, I admire the Phils for not trading guys just because they are older. They have the money to keep Utley, so why trade him? Would they get some amazing, blue chip prospect for him? No. Both he and they want him to finish a Phil…good for them.
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20 questions at trivia…I hand most of them in. so, every 3 minutes or so, I am walking back, 3-0, 5-0, 8-0, man, this offense is on fire!
Gil, like you said, you know this can’t last, but sure is a fun ride! 🙂
And was so afraid the Pirates would collapse, sure hope this is their year…..
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why trade him
Because they are old and going nowhere and in need of an infusion of young talent. They could have gotten that by trading Utley, Young, Ruiz and Lee. Instead, they are older and still going nowhere. As a Braves fan, that makes me happy. If I was a Phils fan (ugh… made myself gag just by typing that) I’d be ticked. And most I know cannot stand their GM Amaro.
If Utley was a competitor, he’d want to be on a team with playoff chances. I guess he’s “comfortable”. Nobody gets anywhere by being comfortable.
The Braves perpetuate their success by mixing in young up and comers with veteran talent. The Phils have one talented young guy and a bunch of AARP candidates. I do not weep for them, though.
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So, speaking of veterans, do the Braves make a qualifying offer to BMac this winter or d they offer him a deal at least equivalent to that bestowed up BJ Upton? Does McCann accept a home town discount in return for the opportunity to play another 4 or 5 years in Atlanta or does he put the Big A in his rear view mirror as he takes the big payday from some AL team or even for the opportunity to play for the Dodgers?
I still say BMac is the heart and soul of this team. Yes, Evan Gattis would be cheap but he is not the player BMac is.
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“Strange that Kris Medlen is the senior spokesman for the staff …”
Good grief! Is he old enough to shave yet???
Why do I suddenly feel older than dirt??? 😀
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Why do I suddenly feel older than dirt???
Just as long as they are not throwing it over your face CL…. 🙂
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But yeah, they look younger every year to me too…. SIGH!
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I heard a pretty extensive discussion about Mac just yesterday. Good points were made.
First, this is Mac’s last deal. This is the one that sets him and his offspring up for life. There will be more than one AL team willing to offer Mac 6 years given their ability to have him DH occasionally now and extensively later. The Braves cannot offer that.
Second, the Braves will most certainly offer him a qualifying deal. In fact they’d be ecstatic if he’d take it. But he won’t. And the Braves will pick up a high draft pick. For all those who scream “you can’t just let him walk at the end of the year for nothing”, the Braves do get something, and it is something of worth. How do the Braves keep it going? By building through the farm system. How do you guarantee success through the draft? You can’t… but you do give yourself alot better chance of hitting on a top prospect if you have more draftees. Draft picks matter.
Third, the sad fact is that money does matter. The Braves could afford to give Mac the payday he deserves, but at what cost? If you pay Mac, who do you not pay? Gotta extend JHey. Gotta extend Freeman. Gotta start thinking about Minor. And if you give Mac the years and money he’s gonna get from Texas or Boston or New York, then you end up like he Phillies with aging players eating up your payroll and spending more time on the DL. Utely is still bothered by the knee and half the player he was. Lee’s missing his next start because of his neck. Ruiz has had a couple of stints on the DL this season with his knees. Howard… remember Howard? Highest paid and least seen. Halladay? Well, you get the picture.
Look, I love Mac. He is the soul of this team this year. But I want what’s best for the Braves, not the Brave. How blessed is this team to have Gattis already performing, Laird on the bench and Bethancourt as a prospect? Many teams can’t even start a guy as good as the guy we have in AA. The Braves have been built to sustain success by moving young talent in and moving older talent out. It is the recipe for long term success. And Mac will look good in Ranger blue. 🙂
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I know Rasins, your argument is well founded in reason and facts but one can hope….
Another rout for the Bravos, I’m pretty sure Walt Weiss will be glad to leave Atlanta. Another pounding that wasn’t even that close.
Glad to see Justin go deep twice, I had a feeling he was close to breaking out, so many good swings on the ball and using the entire field.
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It should be an interesting weekend for the Braves, Medlen, Beachy and Woods scheduled against three Phillies’ rookies. Problem for the Phillies is they still have no bullpen. This could be the “AH HA” moment for the Phillies as they find themselves 13 1/2 games back and fading fast.
Anyone else think that Papelbon didn’t have his David Justice moment this past week? I’m pretty sure the Phil’s front office would love to unload him if they could get a fraction of his contract back.
Kris Medlen has admitted what his problem is… He is thinking too much…. I learned many years ago when I was able to play golf that if I was worried about any part of my game other than where I wanted to hit the ball, I was doomed. It is what muscle memory is all about. Take the brain out of the equation… Use it for pitch selection, not pitching mechanics. Same is true for hitting. It is why players spend hours in the batting cage, Even the best hitters will fail 70% of the time…. Tough game baseball…..
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RE: Medlen
Last season, his greatest weapon was his pinpoint control of both his fastball and his curve. The curve served as a great complimentary offspeed pitch. This season, his curve is flat and his pitches are fat. He’s not getting the curve over early, so he has to serve up his low-90’s fastball more often. You can get away with a low-90’s fastball as long as your offspeed stuff is working, but when that’s all you have, it’s impossible to get it by ML hitters. Meds has to get that offspeed pitch back if he wants to turn the corner. In my humble opinion, every pitcher ought to learn how to throw the circle change (just ask future HOF Tom Glavine). Same throwing motion, same arm slot, same release point, but additional drag on the release that takes several mph off the speed. Keep those hitters off balance and uncomfortable.
Then there’s Julio Teheran. This kid has amazing “stuff”. The most common adjective you hear with Julio is “electric”. I don’t know about electric, but he certainly can turn the lights out on hitters. Dadgum he’s impressive. I just like to watch the kid pitch. Listening on the radio, I heard Jim Powell (I love hearing Powell call a game) say that Mac just stared at Julio in awe while walking to the dugout after one of Julio’s K’s early in the game. Respect from a respected vet. Doesn’t get much better.
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The word I’m hearing is that BJ will play one more rehab game tonight in Gwinnett, then meet the team in Philly tomorrow to be activated.
So who goes down? Well, the most obvious answer is young Todd Cunningham. But I gotta tell ya, I’d rather Ham stay and Constanza go back down. Why? I think he’s a better all around player. He’s a better hitter (from both sides of the plate, BTW) and a better fielder. Jose is faster, but then again, he’s faster than everybody else on the roster too. That said, Ham probably still needs to play as often as he can right now, so I’m OK with him going back. I like what I’ve seen of the kid though. And I think he impressed during his stay already, which is exactly what he needed to do. He’s a familiar name to fans and coaches now. Mission accomplished, Mr. Ham.
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I’m thinking they will DL Laird and make it retroactive. That would only be thru the road trip. I am not sure exactly what they did to take care of Laird’s kidney stone but recovery time is usually two to three weeks. They can still alternate Gattis and BMac behind the plate, Evan is not all they great against righty’s anyway.
And yes, I would send Georgie back down when a move has to be made. It is only going to be a few weeks before the September call ups anyway.
Lots of opportunities on the road. Usually when the subs are played as you don’t want to upset your fan base at home by playing the scrubs. Ticket prices are pretty outrages and if you wanted to see the minor leaguers play, you can get box seats for ten bucks versus $100.
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Okay, Laird’s last appearance was July 25th, if they DLed him, he would be eligible to come back the 10th. which is the 2nd home game against the Marlins next week. This would also be about the time Jordan Schafer should be ready. Lots of shuffling to be done…
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Terdo gets a start tonight…
2night’s lineup:
JHey, CF
JUp, RF
Freedo, 1B
Mac, C
CJohnson, 3B
Huggla, 2B
Terdo, LF
Simba, SS
Meds, RHP
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Could be right about Laird, Gil. According to Mr. O’B, he isn’t traveling to Philly, but should be available “in a few days.”
In fact, he says, “With two other catchers on the roster in Brian McCann and Evan Gattis, the Braves have been able to cover his absence without putting Laird on the disabled list.”
But I think I lean your direction here, Gil. With Fredi carrying an extra pitcher always, they can’t afford to be down a player. DL’ing Laird makes sense.
And since it makes sense, they’ll probably send Cunningham back to AAA. 🙂
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NEW LEAD IS UP!! (Thanks, Raisins!)
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