by Vox O’Reason
This team is really, really hard to figure out. I still believe they are a team capable of a .500 season except they aren’t playing like it consistently… and I think that’s the key. So why aren’t they?
This is my amateur assessment after the Braves fell to 11-18, almost 1/4 way into the season:
One, I never make any wholesale judgments on any team until Memorial Day… never. Just too many weather-related outcomes and uneven schedules this early in the year. Heck, it seems as if the Braves have played half their games vs. the Mets. That said, you can make some targeted observations.
Two, the Braves veteran starters, brought in for the sole purpose of providing innings and stability, have provided neither innings nor stability. The bullpen has already been overused and we’re only in the first week of May. Is it because we’ve played multiple series against both NYM and WAS, the top 2 HR hitting teams in the league? Or maybe they are the top 2 HR hitting teams because they’ve played multiple series against the Braves..? Doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that the starting pitching has been too inconsistent, and that includes Julio and Folty. Something has to give, and soon. No offense perform consistently when they are constantly trying to dig out of a hole every stinking night. So how do you get the starters on track? I suppose if I knew that, I’d be employed by a MLB team somewhere.
Three, the bullpen, which can have its bad moments, actually has turned in some pretty good outings. Heck, yesterday they gave us 7 innings of 1 hit ball until the fateful 14th. But when you have to trot a guy out there 3 nights in a row, you have
to expect trouble. Also, if you take away just Wisler’s stats alone, the overall numbers improve dramatically. JimmyJohn, Viz, JoRam have all been dominant at times. Sam Freeman thus far has been effective. But when you expose Motte, Kroll and EOF too often, you’re gonna get burned. And you never know if you’re gonna get the good Collmenter or the bad Collmenter. Ever. The inconsistency of our starters has overexposed the pen. Period. Improve the rotation and you automatically improve the bullpen. That part is simple.
Four, as I mentioned earlier, if you stop giving up an early lead every game, the offense can work more effectively. When I look at the lineup, it’s absolutely a lineup capable of pushing a team to a .500 record or better. Thanks to Adonis’ late revival, the top of the lineup is actually pretty good. Our catching tandem even leads the league in OBP at the position. No comments are needed for Dansby. Our eyes all work perfectly. I’ll only add my agreement with Gil that the kid is getting no help from the umps. That called strike 3 he took in the 11th inning yesterday was shoulder high. That’s just salt in the gaping wound. Heck, it made me feel uncomfortable and I’m not feeling his pressure. Overall, these guys are capable. They’re just being betrayed by the pitching.
Five, the bench is still not constructed well. Lane Adams has been a good addition, and Jace has been better than expected. Whichever of our catching tandem is not starting has respectively held his own as a PH. But here’s where it drops off the cliff. We’re already
running a short bench, and we’ve got Emilio Bonifacio still taking up a spot. Why? He’s not contributing anything. Might as well add a 9th reliever. (If I’m in charge, he’s released immediately and Johan Camargo is added.) The absence of a good bench is exemplified by our 1-3 record in extra innings? Heck, we were forced to PH Julio in yesterday’s tilt. What greater example needs be shown? If you’re gonna run a short bench, you better make darn sure the 4 guys you have are of ML quality. I only count 3 on our bench. That’s a huge problem. We had the potential winning run on 3B in the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings yesterday, but nobody could drive them in. Good teams have a guy that can come off the bench and get it done at least once out of 3 times. We don’t.
Six, the manager is still the same guy that was a breath of fresh air in 2016. I don’t think he is a factor here. You could have Sparky Anderson in the dugout with this team and they still would have us all pulling our collective hair out. It’s simply not possible to put a puzzle together when you don’t have all the pieces.
Finally, you add all that up and you get 11-18. Want to get back to .500? Find more quality starts from the rotation and find a real bench replacement for Boni. They might not contend for a WC, but they sure as heck won’t be as frustrating as this current group.
Superior, V! Thanks very much!
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This is not Gil this is Ms. Josie. This was an excellent read, For sure you have done your home work :-). The Braves had a few chances to win the game, in the 8th with the base’s loaded, if Kemp had taken his time he could have drove in at least one run. You can’t leave the bases loaded and strike out, and still win a game, and the Braves do it time and again. I think they get a case of the Yips, when they pay certain teams, Washington, Mets, really any team, that has N.Y. in its title. The Braves have lacked heart for a few years now, but I think they are more gelled this year then they have been, maybe, they wil wait up and start playing big boy ball. 🙂
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Well, the good news, they only gave up four runs… the bad, they only scored two… Tight zone yesterday too.
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Jaime couldn’t put the boot to the throat when he needed to, but the offense had too many failed chances. Winnable game that was not to be. Needed that one before the off day.
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I’m still reeling a bit from the fact that we had 2 games in which to add a DH to our lineup, and our answers were Danny Santana and Emilio Bonifacio, both of whom batted 9th. Yes, I know technically they weren’t the DH’s, but the result is the same. They were the lineup additions.
Why? So Boni could bunt?
In house, we could have brought up Lane Adams, slugging .593 w/ 5 HR’s. Oh that’s right… we just purposely sent him down before we started the series! He could have played LF and RF just as well as DanSan and Boni. But if he smells or something, there’s Mel Rojas, Jr., slugging .467 w/ 4 HR’s. Even Rio is slugging .429 w/ 4 HR’s.
No… instead we used Danny Santana, slugging .310 w/ 1 HR, and Emilio Bonifacio, slugging .308 w/ 0 HR’s.
Maybe Snit doesn’t fully understand the concept of the DH.
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V, I’d love to know how much leeway he has to put a lineup together….
Oh surely he has final say….well, he’s a career braves guy that took a demotion ( remember how PO’ed Joe Simpson was when he was removed as 3rd base coach to go back to managing AAA) rather than quit the braves.
He had to wait far too long to go from interim to official real manager…
and I know he’d LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to be here when all the young starters arrive and the team becomes a legit contending team…so I am pretty sure he’s a yes man right now…and may even take some….suggestions from above.
Did he want Lane Adams sent down? Did he want Danny Santana added?
Perhaps…Does he love Boni? He very well may. Sadly, he seemed…competent yesterday. Oh sure, he can’t hit, but those bunts were very good bunts. And he played a decent right field.
But when you have a short bench to start with, to have Boni and Danny? Good grief….
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Got to concur, I doubt Snit is calling the shots as far as the roster goes, there is a puppet master pulling the strings. I would guess if you asked 29 other major league managers if they wanted Bonifacio on their team they would laugh and say NO WAY… Not even sure Snit wants him but he has him never the less.
The other day a thought came to me while the talking heads were discussing the line up and the players available and I though about Jim Leyland’s brief stint with the Pirates. The team was so bad and the front office so incompetent that Jim essentially said this just wasn’t worth the aggravation and walked.
Snit is not in that position but much like Bo Porter and Houston, Jim Riggleman of the Nationals and even Russ Nixon in Atlanta, he is a place holder until the team becomes stocked with talent and then he will be shown the door. They will want a proven major league manager: enter the Ron Washington era…. You can take it to the bank folks…
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Did he want Danny Santana added?
I actually like this acquisition. I’m willing to give the former top prospect Danny Santana some more time to ripen. He’s only 26 and still has time to improve. He could be one of those “change of scenery” guys. There is some hope there.
But Boni is 32 and is what he is. He’s not gonna get any better. He should have been shown the clubhouse door with DanSan’s arrival.
As we’ve rehashed over and over again… if you’re gonna carry just 4 guys, they need to be 4 really good guys. Boni does not represent that regardless of his play in yesterday’s game… where sadly 1 hit and 1 sac bunt is considered an improvement.
I know we still don’t have a stellar pool from which to choose, but I continue to be flummoxed (FOB?) by his presence. And if it’s 100% driven by his being on the 40-man roster and being guaranteed his $1.25M salary, then it’s a sad day for roster building. As has been said many times, he’s getting the money whether he rots on our bench or suns on a beach. Which of those scenarios helps the team more?
Ask Lane Adams.
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And while I have my talons sharpened…
Don’t let Adonis’ recent hitting fool you. Like Boni, the 32 year old is what he is, and that is not very good.
In AVG, he ranks 21 out of 26 qualifiers. In OBP, it’s worse… 26 of 26.
Now let’s go to fielding… out of 23 qualifiers, Adonis ranks 21 in Fielding % and is tied for 5th in errors made.
All one has to do is look at his splits to see where the problem lies. He can’t hit RH pitching. Vs. RH he is slashing .223/.248/.330 in 2017. And considering that 117 of 129 PA’s have come against righties, that’s a problem.
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Danny Santana had one very good year, which make his overall numbers for his career look decent…
His OBP, not BA the last 3 years….241, .279, .172…
He’s nothing but a waist of a roster space, IMHo…
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Man, someone sure doesn’t like Adonis! 😛
Last 14 days, he has a .277 BA, but sadly only a .289 OBP, cuz he doesn’t walk.(In case you didn’t know that )
now, the great white hype (I am so mean, I of course wish him the best, and I do think he is under tremendous pressure to succeed, for marketing purposes alone, but folks like Jim Bowden were acting like he was the likely ROY, no wonder ESPN fired him 😦 )
after hitting .156 in April, he has really brought his A game in May, hitting a smokin’ hot .190. Now this is odd, at home, 4 for 41, for an .098 , but 14 for 70 for a .200 on the road…not close to good, but, twice as good as in the ATL.
1/6 of the way through the season, (107 AB’s makes me say that) .159 BA. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s the worst BA of ANY starter on any of the 30 teams. And he’s made 5 errors already, and missed many a ball that looked gettable to his left… Snit should be fired, clearly. Or, you could send him to AAA to get his confidence back…Nah, makes too much sense..
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He’s nothing but a wasteof a roster space…sigh…
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Why are we nit picking players on this team? It’s not like we are in last place, and looking like a last place team, with bench players that only a last place team would have on the 25 man roster or anything…
Oh, did I miss some memo on Tyler Flowers? Why has the guy with the best BA not been playing of late? can’t find anything saying he’s hurt…
Oh, and CL, can you put #164 next to this new lead, pretty please? that’s the way this lazy man finds the latest lead, type in 163, or 164 in my browser, and there it is.. Thanks! 🙂
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I will concede that Dansby is not YET living up to the considerable hype that he has been given, but the difference between him and Adonis comes down to age and trajectory.
Adonis = 32 and is what he is, which is what he’s always been. His trajectory is flat, as in flatline. Actually it’s going downward.
Minors (2012-2016): .290/.330/.424
2015: .277/.293/.497
2016: .273/.311/.406
2017: .234/.256/.355
I’m not thinking he’s gonna turn it around on his 33rd birthday.
Dansby = 23 and is less than 2 years removed from playing college ball. He had only 494 professional AB’s in the minors where he hit .275 with a .361 OBP, 9 HR’s, 55 RBI and 15 SB’s combined between AA and AAA. And after the Braves called him up in August, he hit .302, with a .361 OBP, 3 HR, 17 RBI in 38 games. His past performance and pedigree suggest he still has a high ceiling. His trajectory is upward.
I’ll even throw in a little bone for Danny Santana. The guy, who is here as the #25 man on the roster and not as a starter, is still 26, and himself has a fairly distinguished minor league resume. He also had a very good rookie year, which shows that he is capable of producing at the major league level. Can he repeat it in a different location? That remains to be seen. But he isn’t counted on as a starter and everyday bat.
Adonis has always been what he is right now… the worst starting 3B in MLB.
Alan Carpenter recently gave a good nutshell description of Adonis’ career:
Since 2016 started, there are 35 third basemen with 400+ plate appearance… roughly 2/3rds of the amount needed to qualify for a batting title. Garcia’s ranks during that time…
33rd in fWAR (0.5)
Tied for 35th in OBP
35th in OPS… and in fangraphs’ overall offensive rating score
5th worst in errors committed (3 behind Kyle Seager, though Garcia has about 20% fewer innings at the position… so he’s really the worst here, too.
Looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck.
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Why are we nit picking players on this team?
Because we can? 😉
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The biggest single reason that Adonis Garcia is the starting 3B in ATL?
Rio Ruiz has not seized the opportunity at hand. He’s the LH version of Adonis at AAA. Together, they might make a half decent platoon offensively, but neither is gonna be compared to Brooks Robinson. Maybe Brooks Conrad.
In other words, there ain’t nuthin’ better available at this time.
Hopefully Coppy is getting his ducks in a row (like the duck reference twice in one day?) to bring in the 2018 version of Terry Pendleton to take over for the 2017 version of Jim Presley.
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Sean Newcomb had another solid start at AAA today.
7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
Had a shaky 1st inning, then settled in and gave up just 1 HR, 1 single, 1 BB the rest of way… and the HR was to rehabing All-Star JD Martinez.
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I get the feeling Sean Newcomb will have to cut down his Walks from one every other day to get a shot but it looks like look at Sam’s would be the first choice your copy could admit sexy is done
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Sent from my phone that should have been walk every other inning
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Mets closer may require surgery for arterial clot in shoulder.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-closer-jeurys-familia-may-need-surgery-after-doctors-discover-arterial-clot-in-shoulder-1.13613078
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Also, friends, give a big welcome to TED who is now following B&S! Please join into the chatter, Ted!
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Good evening folks, The Braves baseball schedule gets to be more and more like college ball every day doesn’t it? Another day off, that travel from Houston to Miami is a killer I take it?
How about them Mets? Familia out with a blood clot in his shoulder. Talk about a team being star crossed.
I don’t see any team standing in the way of the Nats as far as the division championship goes, Not sure how far that bullpen of theirs allows them to go in the play-offs however,
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Thanks CL!!!! 🙂
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Um…Ber, thanks for …..what? I’m glad you like it whatever it is…. 😀
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Thanks for being up so late, I’d have someone to “talk” to, naturally! 😛
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and for making this blog #164….
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nice story on Gattis and McCann. posted a bit late, IYAM
http://www.myajc.com/sports/baseball/braves-mccann-gattis-thriving-astros-catching-tandem/Qx5G2D0F06GaXE50TipnUP/
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http://www.myajc.com/sports/baseball/bartolo-colon-isn-braves-only-pitching-problem-just-the-biggest/oqMErdRHHZUkrR5jDOVf5O/
The Braves’ pitching staff has the worst ERA in the majors at 4.93. Their starters’ combined ERA is 5.02 (29th in the majors). The rotation also ranks only 25th in completed innings (which stresses a less-than-great bullpen), 29th in strikeouts, 29th in WHIP (walks-hits per inning), 27th in batting average and down somewhere among the dregs in pretty much any other stat that matters.
and….
Julio Teheran (4.69 ERA, 1.512 WHIP) is off to the worst start of his career. If one is looking for an indictment of new pitching coach Chuck Hernandez, there it is. Former pitching coach Roger McDowell, who was surprisingly fired after last season by general manager John Coppolella, was tough on pitchers, but he also got the best out of Teheran.
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Nice article on the Braves’ minor league pitchers.
http://m.braves.mlb.com/news/article/229667522/braves-pitching-prospects-succeeding-in-minors/
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If one is looking for an indictment of new pitching coach Chuck Hernandez, there it is.
i think the promotion of Hernandez was premature. His greatest credential was that he has a track record of being very good at developing young pitchers, and already has a relationship with most of our young’uns through his work as an instructor in the minors.
Oddly, we don’t have any of the young’uns up yet. So the hire might not have been bad, just the timing. Unfortunately, we might got get a clear answer to the question.
The only thing I can figure is that they may have wanted Roger to stick around one more year, but Roger wasn’t into being a lame duck. As I recall, the timing of the “firing” was unusual. He may have forced their hand.
At any rate, the results are indeed an indictment on the current situation.
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Those pitching numbers make my eyes hurt.
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Morning gang, valid points all…. To quote Rachel Phelps, the fictional owner of the Cleveland Indians , “These guys stink”
At least the way they are playing does and the biggest culprit appears to be the pitching staff.
I am inclined to believe that Bartolo is suffering from Ben Sheets syndrome. Remember Ben coming out of retirement and being dynomite for about the first two games and then hit the wall… Well, Bartolo pitched a great first game then age caught up with him. I love the guy but like Julio Franco, you just can’t fool father time… Not only is he getting shelled early, he can’t go deep into games.
Yes, I know if they bring up the kids, they are going to get shelled too but they will gain experience, right now, it is we fans who are having bad experiences night after night.
Okay, I’m not going to beat up the Braves pitching coach too badly just yet, I remember all of us piling on TP when he was the hitting coach for Andruw Jones never understanding situational hitting. My conclusion, you can talk til you are blue in the face but the player still has to do it…
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Reasons for bringing up Lucas Sims or Sean Newcomb:
-> Bartolo Colon and RA Dickey in 2017
Reasons for NOT bringing up Lucas Sims or Sean Newcomb:
-> Matt Wisler and Aaron Blair in 2016
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https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGwinnettBraves1%2Fvideos%2F10155217340062777%2F&show_text=0&width=560
We had him here. We don’t anymore. We have Emilio Bonifacio instead.
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OK… that did not embed properly. What it failed to show was that Johan Camargo nailed a 407′ bomb.
Boni did lay down a bunt Wednesday.
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Whew! Better.
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Remember when the talking heads complained that if the Braves did not hit a home run, they did not score? So they unloaded Gattis, BJ Upton, et all and went for speed. Well, speed is great but you still need some power. Clutch hitting appears to be a problem. The Braves are getting guys on base but the big hit eludes them.
How many times have we seen the pressure fall to they guys who are struggling? Of course that is by design of the opposition but still, too many holes in the offense.
Too many holes in this team period come to think of it…
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Love it!!
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I’d rather he was our 4th outfielder
Funny, last year he came to camp on a minor league contract, didn’t remember that.
Boni bunted nicely again….gotta keep him for the rest of the season now….
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Dansby hit a weak grounder up the middle that Dee Gordon…Shortstop wasn’t able to stop, then Boni bunted them over to 2nd and 3rd, 1 out, and BP, cuz he is clutch , got a single up the middle to make the game 4-1, so hats off to the bunter…perhaps he should ONLY bunt when he comes up to the plate….
now 5-1…wait 6-1 in the 7th…time to lay off the team! 😉 (I was in Walmart for much of the game) Folty stepped up, 6 innings of 1 run ball…hopefully gets the first win of the season….
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Sad, sad news. We’ve lost our old friend Longstreet Hull. I had written several times over the last year but got no answer. Today I found his obituary. Crusty old codger but he had a heart of gold. I’ll miss him.
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A link to the obituary if you’re interested. You may remember him on the blog as Paladin.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dnj/obituary.aspx?n=longstreet-hull&pid=180546495
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May he rest in peace, a crusty old fighter pilot who flew F-4s, I did not know he was a marine… it explains a lot…
Speaking of crusty, great outing by Folty. had a couple of opportunities to explode but kept his cool and pitched a gem. Great win for him and the team. Now. to get a good outing by Julio against a severely wounded Marlins’ team.
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CL, I’m sorry to hear that! 😦
Longstreet Hull, what an awesome name! And a marine too. Where would this country be without folks like him???
I wish he had stuck around longer,a bit after he left, my Dad and I became big fans of Have Gun Will Travel….
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Wonder how Bob is?
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Journalist Bob? He passed away a couple of years ago too, soon after the passing of his wife. Likely of a broken heart.
You folks do understand the hook for Paladin? It was a term used to describe a mercenary or a solider for hire, I suspect it was Longstreet’s call sign when he flew F-4s.
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Now baseball, I was reading the comments on Folty’s outing last night and it appears my observations were about the same as everyone else, he is growing up. Doesn’t mean he won’t have some horrible games in the future but he sure pitched like a real bonafide major leaguer last night.
Not just fastballs but a nice assortment of sliders and change ups mixed in and only a couple of center cut, middle of the plate hangers. He also dod not allow the missed calls nor another error by Brandon Phillips trying to ole the ball get him befuddled.
If he continues to give that sort of effort consistently and Julio can get his head out of his butt and pitch like we know he can, the addition of one of the young guns to the staff replacing Bartolo might just allow the Braves to get this season turned around.
No, not play-off bound but at least change the trajectory of the team this season.
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Folty threw one changeup last night that was so good it made Ozuna look silly and made me almost almost fall off the sofa.
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I’m not sure of what the pitch was that he got strike three on Stanton but it was a beauty. A 54 footer that bounced into Tyler’s glove.
Yes, a real major league performance. That said, he had me holding my breath pitch after pitch. A lot of high pitches thrown by both pitchers last night. The strike zone was a bit hit and miss too.
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I can’t tell you how sad I am over Street. We stayed in contact by email, not always frequently but steadily. When I didn’t hear back from the first of my last three emails to him, I wasn’t really concerned. At times he went for extended visits to friends or relatives. The non-response to the second one sent up red flags, but then again, he’d sometimes be out of touch for pretty long stretches; however, he’d always write when he returned. By the time the third one went unanswered, I knew something was bad wrong. I resorted to researching his name through Google – and found the worst news ever.
Through the years, he sent little things – like a little music box, a pair of his USMC wings (what a treasure!), etc. I’m so thankful to him for sending them.
I think his 25 years of active service has much to do with his personality. If I had survived all those years over Viet Nam and other places, I think I’d be a bit crusty, too.
In spite of sadness, I have to smile when I think of him. He had a whole different side in our emails and I adored him.
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The Braves have restored my will to live… Okay, maybe they are not responsible but at least I don’t feel as depressed… 🙂 Julio was not in top form but he was good enough to befuddle this depleted and wounded Marlins’ team. One of the few teams that actually look worse than the Braves right now.
I still have not figured out why teams pitch to Freddie Freeman when they are not forced to. It is also nice to see some balls dropping in for Dansby. The kid is getting the rookie treatment from the umps so he may as well learn to swing at borderline pitches, they are going to be called strikes anyway.
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And Happy Mothers Day CL…
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Yes, happy Mother’s Day CL ! 🙂
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As usual, the media is trying to hang today’s loss. I think one knuckle ball which did not knuckle was not the culprit. The failure of the Braves offense to cash in was as fault. So, a tip o’ the cap to the Marlins’ starting pitcher for navigating thru the Braves hitters.
I thought RA pitched a heck of a game.
Not feeling real confident in Bartolo right now but we shall see….
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Gil, I agree, R.A. was excellent…1 bad pitch to a guy with no homers up til that point…
amazing the difference in the way you feel for a team when instead of 5 starters all stinking at once, you get 3 good starts in a row!
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Happy Day After Mothers Day CL. (You know me… I don’t like to cave to the popular norm. I’m a rebel.)
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OF Ronald Acuna went 4-for-5 in today’s win over Biloxi with 3 RBI. He’s hitting .560 (!!!) in his first 6 games in AA.
He plays a game of which I am not familiar…
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Mississippi is playing like the 1992 Greenville Braves.
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Acuna has adjusted well to his new level, eh?
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Also down below yesterday…
RHP Lucas Sims improved to 4-0 as he went 6.2 IP with an eye popping 10 K’s while allowing just 2 H and 1 walk. He sports a nifty 2.16 ERA.
He’s ready. He’s always had the “stuff” but has struggled with control, which as we all know is the last thing to develop in a young pitcher. He has officially turned the corner as is evidenced by his allowing only 9 walks over 41.2 innings in his 7 starts.
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Want to sum up the 2017 season thus far? It’s personified in Bartolo.
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One hour til game time…. Will know quickly if I will watch until the end.
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from “Big Sexy” to “Big Has-Been” in one easy step?
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Bartolo pitching well tonight. movement is back on his fastball.
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It’s a good thing you can score 10 runs if you are going to give up 6. Watching the relief pitchers thrown against them give up runs like a sieve, the Blue Jays must have had thoughts of making a historic comeback.
Jason Mott may have some minimal trade value as well as Ian Koll but Josh Collmenter is just done I fear. I think he will be the first to go when Cabrera is ready.
Lucas Simms is now on the cusp of making his debut in the major leagues. I look for him to appear by June 1st.
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4 o’clock game today…
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Jason Mott may have some minimal trade value as well as Ian Koll but Josh Collmenter is just done I fear. I think he will be the first to go when Cabrera is ready.
Yep, yep and yep.
Lucas Simms is now on the cusp of making his debut in the major leagues.
He’s ready.
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How well Lucas Simms and especially Sean Newcomb fare in the show is really dependent on how quickly the adapt to the often varied and inexplicable strike zone of major league umpires.
Having swing and miss stuff often allow a pitcher to overcome a tight zone as they can directly challenge opposing batters. Those who must live on the edge can find themselves frustrated by umpires who refuse to give a rookie the benefit of the doubt. Sort of the wide strike zone enjoyed by both Maddux and Glavine in reverse.
So, that is why it was good to see Folty get past the bias of the umpire and stay focused on the task at hand. That is a level of maturity never quite grasped by Mike Minor. Wisler and Blair may yet mature but too often the showed imaturity by letting adversity take them to a dark place.
I expect Blair will be back in a major league line up this year or next. Wisler too if he can develop some mental toughness. One thing I have noticed is that successful starting pitchers have to have a very short memory of either success of failure to be an effective asset to a team.
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Gohar’s debut in Mississippi was short lived. Only about 3 innings before leaving with a pain in his left arm.
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By the way, he is one very large human….
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Having swing and miss stuff often allow a pitcher to overcome a tight zone as they can directly challenge opposing batters. Those who must live on the edge can find themselves frustrated by umpires who refuse to give a rookie the benefit of the doubt.
The positive about Sims is that his tremendous curveball is his “out” pitch. The fastball just sets it up. But as with all pitchers, you have to be able to locate the fastball before anything else is effective. Now that his has settled in, he can utilize the curve at will, which is why he’s generating the high K numbers.
BTW- While Bartolo did look much sharper yesterday, he still only went 5 innings. That won’t work. We must all pray that he strings together 4 or 5 more good starts so that we can trade him to HOU or CLE in June. (Which of course will open the door for Lucas… bringing this back to the main topic.)
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Jason Martinez at MLBTR runs a weekly “Knocking Down The Door” feature. This week lists the aforementioned Lucas Sims.
He says:
Sims, the 21st overall pick in the 2012 draft, is leading the charge. The 23-year-old lowered his ERA to 2.16 after tossing two-hit ball over 6 2/3 scoreless innings with a walk and 10 strikeouts in his last start. In 50 Triple-A innings last season, he had a 7.56 ERA with 10.1 H/9, 6.7 BB/9 and 10.4 K/9. In 41 2/3 innings in 2017, the right-hander has a 5.4 H/9, 1.9 BB/9 and 9.1 K/9. That’s what’s called “making the proper adjustments”.
Yes it is.
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According to Michael Cunningham at the ajc, Bartolo left after 5 IP last night because of a stomach bug.
Braves right-hander Bartolo Colon left Monday’s game against the Blue Jays after five effective innings because he was feeling ill.
Colon held the Blue Jays to two earned runs and had thrown just 81 pitches when manager Brian Snitker replaced him.
A Braves spokesman said utility player Emilio Bonifacio left the ballpark early because he also felt sick to his stomach. The spokesman said Bonifacio went back to the team hotel and is expected to return to the ballpark for Tuesday’s series finale.
“He had a little stomach thing going so we just thought after five that was enough for him,” Snitker said.
Well, that makes me feel a little better… from a performance point of view anyway.
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Ha! In Snit’s post-game conference:
“He was feeling a little puny… if that’s possible…” said Snit with a wry smile.
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No news yet on LHP Luiz Gohara’s injury. The only thing mentioned was that he was pointing to his left bicep.
I’d much rather he have discomfort in his bicep area than his tricep area. That’s often elbow related. Hopefully we’ll find out it was no big deal.
Hopefully.
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Yes, I was thinking the same thing about Gohara. That is why you need so many pitchers, they seem to be a fragile as glass. I still find it worrisome that the Braves do not let their pitchers go deep into games. Hard to run a marathon when you only train running half miles.
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so guys, what has Jason Motte done that’s so terrible? I only saw one outing, but he has a 2.35 ERA…has he allowed inherited runners to score?
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what has Jason Motte done that’s so terrible?
Terrible? Not terrible. To me, the best thing I can say about him is that he’s serviceable, which is why he still has some moderate trade value.
But…
You know me. I get nauseous trying to digest all the mostly impractical boutique stats. But there is one usable statistic I go to with pitchers, and that’s the WHIP, or Walks + Hits Per Inning. Motte’s WHIP thus far is 1.435. That means he’s allowing almost a baserunner and a half per inning. I know… half a runner… but in reality it means that he’s allowing at least 1 runner per inning, and 2 every other inning. That’s living dangerously. And the only pitcher currently on this team with a worse WHIP is Josh Collmenter with a ghastly 1.857. Ew!
By contrast, Jose Ramirez is dominating with a nice lean 0.750.
So Jason Motte is not “terrible”, but he’s not great, either. I sure wouldn’t want to trot him in late in the game with a 1-run lead.
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WHIP, or Walks + Hits per Innings Pitched. Duh.
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Gosh! I hope we don’t need a bunt! 😉
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Press Release from the Southern League
The Southern League of Professional Baseball Clubs announces its Pitcher and Player of the Week for May 8 through 14. The Mississippi Braves earned the first sweep of the weekly awards this season, as righthander Mike Soroka was selected as the Pitcher of the Week while newcomer Ronald Acuna earned Player of the Week honors.
With three consecutive pitcher of the week honors, Southern League batters have witnessed firsthand the potential of the Mississippi pitching staff after Mike Soroka flirted with perfection on Friday, May 12. The third youngest player in the Southern League this season (see below) did not allow a baserunner through six innings last week en route to his third win of the year. Exiting the game with two outs in the seventh, Soroka allowed just one hit and issued one walk, while striking out five batters in the Braves 6-1 win over Mobile. In addition to his clean ERA, the Calgary native posted a league-low WHIP of 0.30 and .048 opponents’ batting average.
Questions about Ronald Acuna’s age at the Double-A level were answered quickly last week when the slugger connected on a two-run homerun on his first Southern League pitch on May 9. One night later, he repeated the feat, sending the first ball thrown to him in the game over the left field wall at the cavernous Trustmark Park. The youngest player in the loop either led or tied for the Double-A lead last week with 14 hits, 10 RBI, a .920 slugging percentage and OPS of 1.513. Acuna led the Southern circuit with a .560 batting average and finished second with 23 total bases. Adding six runs, four extra-base hits, a double, a triple, two homeruns and four stolen bases, the La Guaria, Venezuela native dominated League pitchers over his six games played last week.
Holy schnikey!
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The answer to everything.. 🙂
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Chip and Joe were taking about Acuna’s numbers in AA as opposed to single A, said the pitchers were around the plate more in AA versus A ball when you were not sure where the ball was going to be.
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Woo-hoo… Braves offense making baseball fun again.
Keep pecking away guys, you’ll be at .500 before you know it.
2 more games against the Jays and then the Braves nemesis come to town.
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this is pretty profound…teams look a lot better when they are on a winning streak, than when the are on a losing streak.
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Adonis to DL last night… corresponding move to follow today. Early favorite is Johan Camargo. Stay tuned.
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Getting back on track.
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As expected…
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I would say this pretty much cements the organization’s opinion on Rio Ruiz. The word is that Rio can’t hit lefties. And it’s obvious that they feel more comfortable with Jace and Johan.
IMO, Rio’s best value now comes as a trade piece in a bigger deal.
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Ouch!
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And prospects of dramatically improving upon that home record is greatly diminished because the gNats have owned the Braves of late. Memo to Julio… just walk Harper and be done with it.
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It is pretty sweet. Loving watching those guys work.
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An observation…. The Braves do not play well in cold weather. Maybe it’s the pitching that does not do well but every game where the weather has been cool to cold, it appears the Braves as a team just does not perform. Old muscles? Don’t know…
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As we know, the All-star game is all about stuffing the ballot box but Kemp and Freeman will be getting my votes this year, it’s a tough one because Zimmerman is having a career year too. We shall see. Not sure if there is a better all around first baseman in the majors right now than Freddie Free
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Biggest thing to take away there is only 2 walks. That has been his Scarlet Letter, and the one thing all pundits still mark on his head. I saw one national writer just yesterday completely write him off as a guy who will never be able to throw strikes consistently enough to make it in the bigs. Nonsense!! I disagree completely. Perfect example of a computer stat wonk who doesn’t have the capability to observe and draw distinctions.
BTW- the same guy said he has no desire to visit SunTrust Park because it’s just another “cookie cutter” ballpark. R-i-g-h-t…
As has been said over and over and over, control is the last thing to develop in a young pitcher. Some take longer than others. Newcomb is just 23.
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We welcome ‘Computer’ and ‘Programming Lang’ to Braves& Stuff! Thanks for following us and feel welcome to join in the chatter any time!
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Okay, that was a fun first inning… 6-0 good guys, Now Folty, HOLD ‘EM…
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So, hot weather, Jays look like they are molting.. Braves look loose.
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Vee, I take everything said by “national” pundits with a huge grain of salt. Most of what they spew is rehashing of what someone on their staff is pushing out to them.
Who you going to believe, a stat sheet or your own lying eyes?
Like I said, it is why I miss seeing the Braves prospect for myself.
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The Braves currently have about 10 really good pitching prospects. Even more that could break thru but not all will pan out but some will, it will just take time.
It is up to these kids as to who and when, well, they will have a big say. Even so, 23 is still really young, Look how long it has taken Julio to mature. Some pitcher don’t mature until they are 30, some a lot sooner but few last as long as Bartolo. Just keep the cupboard full and pray the ownership doesn’t get cheap on you.
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Watched the Astros today, Te game turned on an error by Dee. Guys try to make routine plays look spectacular and BOOM.. the wheels fall off.
Dansby has to be a little bit concerned about the number of errors piling up. Many are mental variety.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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I’m really liking our catching tandem…
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Jace is becoming one of my faves. Takes no crap, even from an All Star.
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Per report, the x-rays on Freddie’s wrist were inconclusive, but the tone is not optimistic. I’m sick.
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Don’t have a clue what that is, but anything with piss in it can’t be good.
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Yeah, it just stinks, one espn writer (Of all folks) was just making the argument that he could be the best hitter in baseball….
Sure hope and pray it’s not something that keeps him out for months…
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pi·si·form
ˈpīsəˌfôrm,ˈpīzəˌfôərm/Submit
noun
a small rounded carpal bone situated where the palm of the hand meets the outer edge of the wrist.
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ESPN? What’s that? 😁
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Welcome, TechBook! Glad to know you’re following our little blog and invite you to join in the conversation any time.
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Ditto on the sick part, no real news over night but it does not look good. Then Batista playing the jerk. I hope the Braves flip a bat at the Jays dugout after every at bat today….
Now back to Freddie. Don’t know what you can really do except rest.
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I hope the Braves flip a bat at the Jays dugout after every at bat today
Nah… they’ll take he high road, because that’s the “Braves way”. teams usually take on the personality of their manager, and Snit is old school and does things the right way. He’s from the Bobby Cox tree. John Gibbons, on the other hand, reminds me of that distant uncle we try not to talk about.
That said, old school baseball usually takes care of itself. And Julio is on the mound. Today could get interesting.
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Julio could do with a little “pitching angry”. Maybe it will keep him focused on something besides the shorter fences.
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One thing for sure, the team needs to come together and play hard the next few weeks to try and overcome this adversity.
It is impossible to replace Freddie’s bat but they can help themselves by playing error free baseball. Injuries happen, it’s baseball.. but it is how a team faces such adversity that defines them.
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So… if the injury should call for a 10 day DL stint, who plays 1B? Markakis? He has exactly 6 games of 1B experience in the majors. Flowers has 5. Jace? He did it last night, but can he do it over a stretch of games?
I would imagine if we’re talking just a handful (no pun intended) of games, then those guys will fill in. But what if it’s 10 days or more?
If he requires a stay on the DL, the team could call up Matt Tuiasosopo. Not very exciting, but he has played the position on a semi-regular basis. Blake Lalli is also an option, although not a very good one. It should be noted that neither of them are on the 40-man roster.
There is a guy that was recently released that played 3 years sporadically in COL named Ben Paulsen that was released just Monday by MIN. He has options left and would be cheap. For filler, he might fit the bill. If nothing else, he could become organizational depth at the position, something that is now glaringly lacking. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him sign a minor league deal today with a possible promotion if the news on Freddie is bad.
One other guy out there is James Loney. He has plenty of ML experience. He was released a couple of weeks ago by DET.
I suppose if Flowers could capably play the position that Coppy could promote Recker.
Bottom line: no good options. And nobody can really replace Freddie anyway. Nobody.
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Just discovered that Recker has a paltry 2 games of experience at 1B in the majors, but plenty in the minors… 37 games to be exact, including 25 at AAA in 2011.
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One has to think, though, if Freddie did suffer a break, signing James Loney is probably the best option. His veteran experience will help keep the rudder straight in tough waters.
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and he always hits, just not for power…
hard to believe there isn’t someone that could help down in the minors…
the cubs have some 22 Y.O. come up and has hit some, and they talk about him staying up for awhile….but they already have 2-3 guys that can’t play daily sitting on the bench…so weird…
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If not, he will still miss at least two and more likely a month. Freddie has shown he cannot hit with a sore wrist. Better off biting the bullet and making a trade. Let it heal at least 90%.
The sad thing is if he come back too early, he will develop some really bad habits.
There is a reason the Braves have not put a lot of money into a back up first baseman.
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So here is the thing, even if not fracture, Freeman likely suffered a deep bone bruise. Takes almost as long to heal, the good thing is the wrist is still stable. If he manages to avoid the DL, he is one heck of a man…
There are several treatments that are good for bone bruises, laser therapy is the most popular these days. Still, his wrist is going to be able to predict the weather with great regularity and arthritis will have early onset. Just a crying shame….
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In successive tweets, Jon Heyman says:
a lot of pessimism surrounding freeman situation. real fear wrist is broken, though team isn’t saying.
there are real worries that freeman’s wrist is broken. more tests today, but it doesn’t look good.
The braves are discussing outside options at first for freddie freeman, who is expected to miss significant time
That last one is the interesting one, because Bowman, who is supposed to be somewhat in the loop, says:
They’ll likely stay internal for now. They could just put Ruiz at first base for now and then continue evaluating other options
Ruiz? He’s not played any 1b. Is he talking about Rio for 3B and Jace for 1B? Last night’s emergency appearance was his first game at 1B… ever. Not a viable option.
Gotta think Heyman is right on this one. I’m betting on James Loney.
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One might assume it’s an easy call that there will be some fireworks in tonight’s game. I mean… you’ll have Julio on the mound and TFlow behind the plate. That’s a volatile combination already. Pair that with the fact that Jace will almost certainly be in the lineup somewhere, and 1/3 of the lineup, and half the guys around the infield, has the potential to get a bit “excited”.
But, there is now a wild card (no pun intended) thrown into the mix that might just keep everyone on their best behavior. Kevin Pillar is under investigation by MLB for an alleged homophobic slur hurled at Jason Motte after striking out badly on a quick pitch. I’m sure you know when I’m talking about… the first incident of the benches clearing. You can get away with alot in this game, but don’t you dare use “offensive” words. And apparently Pillar did. All of baseball, and “culture”, is coming down on him.
It might just put a wet blanket on the potential fireworks in tonight’s game.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
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Still, no game experience at any level of pro ball. Betcha my lunch that Coppy has already been in contact with Loney’s agent. And if the MRI comes back showing a fracture, Loney will be in ATL.
(I’ve already eaten my lunch, so it’s a no lose bet on my end.)
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Well coached, er… I mean well said. At least he got out in front of it. I’m still expecting a suspension and fine. Probably 3 games instead of 10 since he came out and apologized ahead of the investigation. And when I say “came out”, I mean… well, you know what I mean.
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You know, I am wrong to assume someone else wrote that for Pillar. I hope he is sincere in his apology. I still think it’s a bit reactionary to come down on a guy for using “that” word. It was probably 1 of 101 that are used in the course of every game. But it was the wrong 1. It’s all about societal pressure from a specific group.
I can just imagine how vocabulary would radically change if anatomy teachers became a protected community. 😉
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Yowser! 8-o
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Bowman: I’d expect to see Ruiz at first base for at least the next few days.
So let me get this straight. Rio wasn’t good enough to promote when the mediocre 3B went on the shelf, but he’s a fine replacement for the All Star 1B?
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Ugh…
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Well, that’s some “good” news… sort of…
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And that which is the most important movable part for a hitter is immobilized for at least 8 weeks. Peachy.
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Kevin McAlpin: Can confirm: Freeman suffered a fractured left wrist and will likely miss at least eight weeks.
Gotta bring someone in somehow. Can’t limp along with Rio, for goodness sake. Maybe for a game or 2 until a replacement can be found, but that’s it.
Tonight could get ugly.
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Sadly, 8 weeks of atrophy will doom Freddie being able to perform like he has the past year. Maybe by September but it is about as bad a place for a hitter to have a fracture as there is.
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Zach Dillard, FOXsports:
There are no contingency plans for losing superstars in their primes.
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More Dillard:
Four players have played first base for Triple-A Gwinnett this season, including recently released Ryan Howard, and each hit 25 percent below the International League average or worse.
And that is an indictment on the organization. It’s one thing to have a deep and coveted system, but such a glaring hole in the upper minors is a major oversight. You cannot take anything for granted, and that appears to be the case here.
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@#$%)!^&*(+
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Braves flagship station 680theFan’s Chuck Oliver: “I wouldn’t be surprised tonight if Joey Bats is covered in padding like he’s trying to survive a zombie bite.”
😆 😆
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And there it is. Let’s learn a new position at the major league level. Ugh…
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one might assume it’s an easy call that there will be some fireworks in tonight’s game. I mean… you’ll have Julio on the mound and TFlow behind the plate. That’s a volatile combination already. Pair that with the fact that Jace will almost certainly be in the lineup somewhere, and 1/3 of the lineup, and half the guys around the infield, has the potential to get a bit “excited”.
Thing is, what if you hit senor hotdog, break something on him (I do NOT like the guy, but he’s “Old” in baseball years, and I don’t think he needs a fractured jaw, or broken hand at this juncture of his career) then the Jays HAVE to fight back cuz as soon as he got hot, the jays started to win…so, you want Matt Kemp , Nick M, or Ender out for a long time too? I’ll just stop watching if Matt or Nick is out of the lineup for a month….
It was NOT some nasty, purposeful pitch! Just happened to get F.F’s hand, he might even be the first to say he should have pulled back his hands more to get out of the way…
I pray there won’t be any fireworks, except after the braves win the 4th game in a row against the Jays
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Baseball code Ber, that said, Julio has never needed an excuse…
Perhaps we could all just say, hey, that’s baseball but hitting 7 guys a night and hitting Markakis with a nearly identical pitch the night before? Not merely a coincidence.
Not saying there will be a beanball war but I would not dig in tonight if I were a hitter. I would not be surprised if warnings were not issued before the game. Sadly, it would just prolong it. Take a fastball to the hip and be done with it, besides, they can’t really get the guy they want. Loup…
Now, that doesn’t mean Julio should plunk the lead off man, anytime after the 7th inning is fine, Viz has been known to be a bit wild at times anyway.
I think it would be a better move to have jace play first and let Ruiz play third but Camargo might play third.
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Thing is, what if you hit senor hotdog, break something on him
You throw at the middle of his back, or his bum. That’s how it’s done.
t was NOT some nasty, purposeful pitch! Just happened to get F.F’s hand
It’s more than that 1 pitch. It’s 7 batters hit in 3 games. These are professional pitchers. They either suck really bad, or…
At some point you have to make a stand or your rolling over and letting it happen. And i can’t imagine what will happen if another Braves hitter is drilled, but it won’t be pretty.
In an ideal setting, the plunk should happen early, like 1st inning. And then it should all be over. That’s how it used to be done. 85 mph fastball to the thigh and it’s done. Too many prima donnas in today’s game, though. And the umps will likely warn both managers before the game, so Julio won’t even be allowed to settle it without risking an early exit. IMO, that just causes it to simmer more.
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2nite’s lineup:
Ender, CF
BP, 2B
Nicky, RF
Matt, LF
TFlow, C
Jace, 1B
Dansby, SS
Rio, 3B
Julio, P
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More Dillard:
Four players have played first base for Triple-A Gwinnett this season, including recently released Ryan Howard, and each hit 25 percent below the International League average or worse.
“And that is an indictment on the organization. It’s one thing to have a deep and coveted system, but such a glaring hole in the upper minors is a major oversight. You cannot take anything for granted, and that appears to be the case here.”
you could stick Kemp or Nick over there and they would eventually be ok, but going so hard for Pitchers with trades and draft picks means, there’s no one at AA or AAA that can play at the majors now….
I mean, who knows…Ronald Acuna might be able to do an Andruw Jones, but I see he has never played more than 55 games in a season ,(was he injured last year? only 42 games last year total) and who knows why the uber cautionary braves (except with a college closer brought up same year, and IIRC twice came into games with bases loaded, and twice gave up grand slams) ever brought him up when they did….
but perhaps this is Coppy’s youth showing…braves have really been lucky with injuries, look at the Mutts,and the Marlins this year… even the Nats lost their prized offseason acquisition for the year…injuries happen…. but you gotta have someone better than scrap heap guys like Boni and the new guy to fill in the outfield if Nick or Matt go to 1st…of course you should have better 4th outfielders than either one of those guys…imagine of Nick and Ender ran into each other in the outfield and missed even 3-4 games!
I know, Loney…lets check out his AAA numbers, wow .342 BA! Oh wait, last year in thin air Albuquerque . 11 for 49 for a .228 BA in Toledo…
another off the scrap heap guy that another team didn’t even want at AAA….
well, to be fair, even after all these years, just 33, and perhaps he was down stuck at AAA yet again…not much to hang your hat on, eh?
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ok, I’ll grant you that other guys were hit (I wasn’t really aware of that with stupid game times, going to a summit racing car show Monday, trivia last night)
but look at the pitch from a rare, side armed lefty….
http://m.braves.mlb.com/atl/video/v1400479983/toratl-snitker-updates-freemans-injury/?affiliateId=clubMEGAMENU
Looks to me like Freddie left his hands in the way instead of pulling them back…
and yeah, you can hit more Jays guys, but remember, already hit one after Freddie, so the jays WILL Come back if someone gets hit….are the odds in favor of no one getting seriously hurt? Yeah…but have a full on brawl…the Jays have a bunch of big guys too, more than we do with FF out…Pillar runs into walls all the time, hurting the walls…
We have a very thin, girlyman 40 man roster (No doubt something I shouldn’t say in these P.C. times) that has been shown to be quite like what you expect from a last place team…yeah, I know, the team is in 2nd place, well 2 games differentiate us from last place…only cuz the Marlins are truly awful right now(injuries and no Jose Fernandez will make a team bad)
Perhaps Folty can be on the bottom of a pile and have his shoulder separated? Boy what fun the rest of the season would be!
I know, always thinking positively I am…
Won’t see the jays again this year….
just don’t get stoopid….
we are already stuck with Boni probably for the rest of the year, lets not make a starter out of him
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I’m just an old school guy that likes to see things settled in an old school manner. New school gets you entitlements and bat flips.
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Wonder what Kelly Johnson is up to?
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Kidding of course. By the time he was ready, Freddie would be back.
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Big surprise. Not.
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well, some old school ball has lead to a 3-0 Jays lead…perhaps a pitcher that sucks in the 1st, shoulda hit Señor big ears , the 2nd time around…
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But now it’s done. Accounts are settled. Baseball now.
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And for the record, it wasn’t a pitch in the thigh that has led to the mud-game deficit. It was all the others on the fat part of the plate.
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So, is it going to rain long Vee? Could be a plus for Braves if the Jays have to come back in September..
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Oh well, rain letting up… I guess we won’t get off the hook that easily.
Braves ink a minor league deal with James Loney.. Okay, Copy reading Vee’s post again… I expect he will tune up for a week and join the crew.
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Sun Trust is in Julio’s head… Anyone have a red sweater?
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Does it seem that Julio has lost the movement on his fastball? Hard to tell from 1000 mile away.
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Of course Julio is pitching like he is 1000 mile away too. May as let him take one for the team now. No use blowing up your bull pen.
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well, the “ace” the #1 really made a statement, eh? has a what, 10.15 Home ERA? gave up a homer to Luke Maile, who now for the season has a .075 BA, and 1 homer, and 1 RBI. Then a homer to the starting pitcher of an A.L. team. That’s what studs do, the John Smoltzs of the world, team loses their best player, the ace shuts the other team down.
Oh I know, There aren’t many John Smoltzs out there. But, Julio is no stopper….he’s a solid #3. guess just have to get used to that fact. a #3 who’s not at all good at home, for some completely unknown reason.
Kinda wish we had traded him straight up for Joey Gallo,(but Coppy wanted much more than Gallo for him) that ain’t gonna happen now…
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Everytime I see or hear Joey Gallo’s name I can’t help but think of “My Cousin Vinny”
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Kudos to the pen for holding them at 9…
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Everytime I see or hear Joey Gallo’s name I can’t help but think of “My Cousin Vinny”
I thought he was in the wine business.
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I sense frustration in Ber. Just a little.
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Ya think Vee? 🙂
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I just read a nice piece on James Loney that tossed up alot of traditional stats and boo-teek stats… a timeline, etc…
But there’s no need to really break down James Loney. He’s easy to summarize.
He’s fairly steady, middle of the road. He won’t hurt you, but he won’t wow you either. He’s simply a fundamentally solid player that will keep the base warm until Freddie returns.
Think Casey Kotchman, for those that can remember Casey Kotchman. And if you can’t, then you understand what I mean about Loney. But I’m glad he’ll fill the gap. Heck, maybe we can keep him for our bench when Freddie returns. He does put the ball in play.
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To be honest, Loney over Boni any day.
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Loney over Boni
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I read somewhere yesterday that Dustin Peterson has begun hitting. I’m gonna think he’ll take a while before starting his AAA campaign, but at least he’s back in baseball activities.
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Yeah, I kinda put on my AJC poster hat last night…all that was missing was me saying Snit should be fired! 😛
I just found that game highly discouraging….
not a single thing (save the bullpen I guess) from that game last night…
and no one that can possibly come up and help the team…and hoping a guy released from….AAA to come to the rescue….
yay…
I had a thought…the Yankees got Chris Carter after basically no one wanted him after 41 HR’s and 94 RBI’s last year…this year as a part time player? .221 with 2 HRs and 11 RBI’s after 77 AB’s….seems to me you could get him pretty cheaply….
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Ber, the fact is, no one can replace Freddie Freeman except maybe another super star first baseman like Rizzo or Goldschmidt. Not even Zimmerman, as good as he is right now could provide the same level of both offense and defense.
Of all the players on the team, it is still Free who makes it go, he just does not yet have the supporting staff to make this team great. Great teams have more than one super star.
I fear it will remove all questions whether the Braves will be buyers or sellers at the deadline.
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the Yankees got Chris Carter after basically no one wanted him after 41 HR’s and 94 RBI’s last year…this year as a part time player? .221 with 2 HRs and 11 RBI’s after 77 AB’s….seems to me you could get him pretty cheaply…
He’s a serious strike out machine. He had 206 K’s in 549 AB’s last season. That’s why the Brewers let him walk. This year he already has 33 K’s in 77 AB’s. He has more K’s than a Russian dictionary.
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Oh I agree, not perfect guy….but, Loney in 361 ABs in 2015, 32 RBIs (I am really old fashioned, and feel that driving in runs is kinda important) last year? in 343 Ab’s 34 RBI’s.
So, IF Loney hasn’t lost it ( mean, he killed AAA last year, and got released from AAA this year) what are you getting? A slick fielding guy with very little power, with a nice swing, who has slugged under .400 for 3 straight years…
Have Carter bat say, 6th or 7th, you’d have a guy who will strike out a ton, but might hit 10 HR’s in 10 weeks…
and…he’d be ready now…Loney will need a week at least right?
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Like I said, Casey Kotchman.
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Coppy sid today he is hard at work on the problem, not easy to make trades at this point in the season.
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Awesome . that worked out very well, I recall
maybe he will be the next Scott Thorman
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Well enough for Kotchman to have a 10 year ML career in which the never struck out more than 66 times in a season, had a career .326 OBP, and made more than 3 E’s only once.
What is it that ticks you off about Loney? That he isn’t a marquis 1B? He’s just 33, is a .284 career hitter, and has hit .280 or better in 3 of the last 4 seasons. Plus he’s considered an excellent defensive 1B. How many runs has Freddie saved with his own defensive excellence? You can’t just stick any old Tom, Dick or Jace at 1B and think you’ve got it all covered. In fact, I believe Jace committed an E last night.
If you think you’re gonna replace Freddie Freeman with Freddie Freeman, you’re not. And if you think you’re gonna trade for Yonder Alonso as a 2 month replacement, you’re not. What you did is acquire a guy who can be a bona fide major league replacement for the short term, and possibly a bench piece beyond that.
If we were in the midst of contention, it’d be different. We’re not. There isn’t a baseball fan alive that believes the Braves will even sniff the playoffs before 2018. And we won’t achieve that by giving up valuable pieces of the farm for a short term asset. That’s a recipe for being the Padres.
Be honest… when Freddie got drilled, did you think, “Well, there go our playoff chances?” Of course not. So why give up pieces of a successful future to go 82-80 instead of 76-86?
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BTW- Loney did pick up a hit in his Gwinnett Braves debut last night.
Lost in the shuffle yesterday was the promotion of 1B/3B Carlos Franco from AA to AAA. While most of his career has been at 3B, he does have 279 1/3 innings at 1B over his 9 year pro career.
Coppy says he’s a candidate for promotion to ATL is he continues to hit at AAA. In 41 games at AA Mississippi, Franco hit .293 with a .358 OBP, 11 HR’s, 45 K’s and 14 BB’s. Over his 9 seasons in the minors (all with the Braves) Franco has slashed.245/.330/.685.
In other words, if the Braves don’t like what they get from Loney, or if God forbid he were to get hurt also, Franco could be the next guy up.
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Observations:
Guys are stepping up in Freddie’s absence. Nice comeback late in last night’s game, and nice contributions from the guys you expect: Kemp, Markakis… even Dansby.
Don’t you just love seeing Matt Kemp serve Big Gulp cups of shut-up juice to all his haters?
Nick is quietly slashing .311/.386/.397 on the year. Steady as she goes.
Dansby appears to have turned the corner, going .298/.400/.891 w/ 3 HR, 11 RBI, 11 walks in the last 17 games.
Kurt Suzuki has been a pleasant surprise. No… more than that. He’s been really good for this team. And TFlow is having a great season.
Props to the Braves bullpen last night. Even guys like Motte are getting it done now. Krol has been good of late too. And how about 3 scoreless IP from Sam Freeman on Thurs?
While they certainly don’t have the talent on paper to go toe to toe with alot of teams, they don’t give up or give in. Credit to Snit for that.
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That was fun last night, despite some questionable play at short, first and right field, there was also some great play at short, first and right field. Then there was BP and some clutch hitting by said right fielder.
And nice to see the rook heating up. The Braves have to step up and take advantage where they can.
Upon reflection, Thursday night was a throw away game. The team looked flat and maybe that was the realization that they had just lost their best player for the next two and one half months. Most Braves fans did not say, there goes our chance at the play-off but I’m thinking this team maybe did.
Maybe they can get on a nice run like the Muts did after Cespedes got hurt. Happens… Even taking 2 out of 3 from DC would be a real boost at this point. Washington can be had, they have a bull pen that is as shaky as any you will find right now and it does not bode well for them to go deep in the play-off. Think all those great Braves teams that wilted in August and September because of a collection of tired arms.
So maybe there is light at the end of this dark tunnel, just keep plugging away a pitch at a time, an out at a time an inning at a time and a game at a time.
I agree, James Loney is who he is and can’t replace Freddie but the Braves don’t want to replace Freddie, they just want to have someone who can get them thru the next few months. Not having to score 5 runs a game to do that would be a real start in the right direction.
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By the way, when you have a player (Boni) who’s primary job appears to be sacrifice bunts and he fails to do that, maybe they need to look at some other guy. I think they could let Julio perform the same task, he apparently doesn’t think he has to pitch any longer…
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What is it that ticks you off about Loney?
He looked at me funny one time… 😯
No, in fact, many moons ago, I was a defender of his hitting (at least in my own mind if not on forums, etc) I felt that it wasn’t fair that just because he didn’t hit homers, that he was somehow not a starting 1st baseman…
but, he does have a low OBP, especially the last few years, doesn’t drive in runs (I do recall a few big hits he had last year for the Mutts) and if you don’t offer power….
again, what exactly is this team? They pretended the reason they spent money on old farts, traded for J Garcia was to be “competitive” . Perhaps they hoped they would at least be a 70-75 win team(and with real luck 80 wins) trade the old fogies for more pitching..and then next year have the young guns in the rotation. …heres the thing though…Kids need to fail…here. Just like Glavine, Smoltz, etc did…AAA ain’t the majors. I’ve said this before, I know…but leave all the studs down in AAA to season, then what…3 rookies in the rotation next year? is that gonna work?
I know, trade Garcia, Big Sexy in August, then bring them up…well…right now they both suck tremendously….and they will keep running them out there, lose games….cuz they might, just might turn it around…and then you can trade them for something…Garcia might, but no one is going to give you anything for a 44 year old that was so terrible for the first 2 months, sorry.
wait, we were talking about Loney right? what happened? got distracted is what…just had to B*tch.
I would just rather see Chris Carter out there striking out 3 times a game, and homering 1-2 times a week(hey, if he tears the cover off the ball playing every day, you can trade him for still more young pitchers! 😛 ) than a guy who will drive in 15-20 runs in 150 or so AB’s
Heck, we have two hot hitting catchers that can’t play at the same time, so why not have them play 1st base as I believe V mentioned above????
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and I have to say….I was quite pleased with the play last night too. I felt the team was giving up after FF got hurt, they did seem to gear up for the Nats, and to beat the Nats at any time, has to give them a ton of confidence…
I expect Kemp to be walked a lot more now, but if runners are on in front of him…teams are gonna have trouble with Kemp up, he LOVES RBI’s…
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So, one bad throw sure can turn a ball game around, cost Colon a chance for a win but Braves still lead by one and Scherzer is done for the day,
Ruiz hits his first dinger and it was a bullet. Matt Kemp doing what Matt Kemp does.
It;s an official game so let it rain….
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And during the rain delay… Coppy makes a trade for a first baseman. Matt Adams of the Cardinals, Braves trade 19 YO INF Juan Yepez and cash coming to the Braves… Nice trade. Will likely sure of the bench when Freddie returns. Good bye Boni? Okay, he has a couple of months but Adams is a decent first baseman with some power who should love the short porch at STP.
Loney will stay in the organization… I’m sure that was not in his plans but hey, play hard and force the issue.
So, Ber, you can relax a little bit, the Braves got a first baseman and a bench bat all in one. Jace can go back to doing what Jace does…
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Braves & Stuff is very happy to welcome ‘flowmotionentertainment’ to our little blog following! Feel free to join in the chatter any time!
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Gil, wow, I love that trade! Matt Adams has a fair bit of power, 16 HR’s in 297 AB’s last year…I’ve seen him have a lot of big hits through the years….
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I take back all the ugly things I was going to say about Coppy in the coming days! 😛 I really like Matt Adams, feel like the Cards never really gave him a fair shot, one year a full time player…people say he can’t hit lefties…ok…Ryan Howard had issues with them for much of his career…
in 267 AB’s against lefties, only .210 BA, but 9 HR’s and 39 RBIs. Not great, but then again, most starters are right handed, I have noticed….he lost quite a bit of weight during the off season, and has played 6 games this year in left. Not a ton, but…if Kemp needs a day off, he probably won’t be worse than Jace there….
Is he going to hit like F.F? No of course not, no one in baseball was hitting like he was…but, like Snit says below, a legit guy. A career .271 hitter with RISP. A guy who can change the game with one swing (and he’s gonna like the Launching Pad 2.0)
http://www.ajc.com/sports/baseball/braves-react-matt-adams-trade-that-legit-guy/5TT6q6ZjIu5UHWz4WPQwGM/
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oh, and when F.F. comes back, a “legit” backup 1st baseman, the main pinch hitter boni inexplicably is, and if he hits well enough for 8-10 weeks, a guy you can trade for a swell high risk minor league pitcher 😆
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And a happy Ber. Best part of the deal. 🙂
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According to former Braves relief pitcher, Mark Marksberry, Anthony Recker is being DFA to make room for Matt Adams on the 40 man roster. I suspect he will be offered a minor league deal. Likely he will clear waivers.
Looks like we are still stuck with Boni.
The Braves continue to carry 9 relief pitchers, not surprising with the short outings of the Braves starters. It is getting so everyone is so enamored with strike outs, they forget it is pitching to contact which allows for starters to go deep into games.
Driving a golf ball 400 yards is a great skill set but if you can’t putt, you will still shoot over 100…
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Well, like Joe Simpson said, best start by Strausburg ever…at least against braves…after 3 strikeouts, Matt Adams, but smoked a sure fire double in the bottom of the 9th, but Zimmerman was right on 1st base , so instead a double play…
but, the team is competitive, almost swept Nats…all I or any of us can expect is a competitive team 50-50 chance of a win every night…
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best start by Strausburg ever
Masterful. Gotta give credit when it’s due, and it’s due. He was unhittable.
If Dansby had eaten just 1 more Wheatie yesterday morning, the game would have been tied in the 8th. It was a great AB – fouling off pitch after pitch until he got one to drive. The kid’s coming around.
I’m impressed that Nick is so straightforward in taking the blame for allowing those early runs after simply missig a fly ball. He has owned it. That said, I’d prefer he just catch the ball.
Lost in the shuffle was a very good outing by Jaime Garcia. He’s been pretty good this year, even if his results haven’t been.
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Quick comment about Matt Adams…
I thought signing James Loney was the practical move for Coppy to make. I thought promoting Carlos Franco was the sensible move to make.
But trading a decent minor leaguer for Matt Adams was was the move that shows the organization cares about the fans. And as a fan, I appreciate it.
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While I would have preferred a win, other than the error by Markakis, little to complain about yesterday. I cannot remember a better pitched game by Strausburg and Jamie wasn’t bad either. The ball Adams hit in the ninth was just bad luck. All you can hope for is to hit it hard somewhere.
I hope the gNats realize they simply escaped yesterday.
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Interesting moves by the team lately though…
3B Adonis Garcia goes on the DL, and the team calls up IF Johan Camargo.
1B Freddie Freeman goes on the DL, and the team calls up 3B Rio Ruiz.
1B James Loney is signed to a minor league deal and begins prepping at AAA.
LHRP Eric O’Flaherty goes on the DL, and the team calls up RHRP Luke Jackson.
AAA RHRP Enrique Burgos is acquired from ARI for cash, and Chaz Roe is moved to the 60-day DL to accommodate him on the 40-man roster.
1B/LF Matt Adams is acquired, and IF Johan Camargo is optioned to AAA; C Anthony Recker is DFA’d to accommodate Adams on the 40-man roster.
And as Gil mentioned, Recker has a good chance of passing through waivers and being re-signed. However, Coppy has been so busy lately, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Coppy work out a deal to send him out for a pitcher somewhere… or cash commensurate to what he gave up for Burgos.
Coppy appears to be in mid-season form already (pun fully intended). Bartolo Colon appears to have corrected his early season flaws, and his fastball once again has movement. His last 2 starts have look like vintage Big Sexy. Is it too early to trade him? Well… the better question is this: Is there a dire team in need of starting pitching? Could there be a better matchup than the Mets? I expect Bartolo to be traded before the deadline in July, but I won’t be surprised to see him traded earlier.
I’m on record, and still believe that Colon and Garcia will both be traded. Lucas Sims is ready and just waiting for a place to slot in. Sean Newcomb is just a step behind Sims.
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There is another interesting story to follow.
Old friend Kris Medlen made his 1st start in his comeback attempt Saturday night. He tossed 6 shutout innings for the high-A Florida Fire Frogs, allowing just 1 hit and striking out 6. He made 80 pitches, 49 for strikes. He’s just 31, but coming off his 2nd TJ surgery. In his heyday, his changeup was so good hitters could know it was coming and still not be able to hit it. I’m rooting for him to make it back.
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Lucas Sims is ready and just waiting for a place to slot in. Sean Newcomb is just a step behind Sims.
I need to clarify that…
I don’t think we’ll see both of them called up to start barring injury. I don’t believe that the Johns would go into the second half of the season with 2 rookies in the rotation. But 1 is more than just a possibility… it’s likely. My reference to both Sims and Newcomb is simply that either could be called up. Sims is the early leader to be first, but Newcomb is a lefty. If Garcia is dealt, they could choose lefty for lefty.
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One final thought, and then I really must get to work…
Rio hasn’t been bad at the plate, and he’s been pretty good in the field. The book on him says he’s much better vs. RHP than LHP. Conversely, Adonis is much better vs. LHP than RHP. When Adonis returns from the DL, I’d like to see Rio remain and a platoon be utilized. It seems so obvious. If the team is insistent on keeping 9 in the pen, then Boni is the glaring odd man out to me. That said, it would probably be Danny Santana because Boni has some type of trance-like hold on Coppy. Neither has done much, so does it really matter which one stays? On my team, both would be shown the clubhouse door and Lane Adams would return.
But we all know Rio will return to AAA, and Boni and Santana will both remain.
I hope Coppy proves me wrong.
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Adonis, in 648 career AB’s against righties, is hitting .255 (OBP is only .281 which may be why he seems meh against them) with 20 HR’ s and 80 RBIs
Vs Lefties, 210 AB’s 8 HR’s 27 RBIs and a .310 .362 line…
He has a .244 BA before the A.S. break, .288 after, he is the Cuban Adam LaRoche 😛
I just think Braves Management things, unless and until a clearly better hitting 3rd baseman is available, it wouldn’t make sense to have Adonis ride the bench for the majority of games…If Garcia and Ruiz batted from the other side of the plate than they do(well, they would most likely suck in reality) it would be a perfect situation…
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But we all know Rio will return to AAA, and Boni and Santana will both remain.
Yep, sadly we know this is true….
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Could we trade Colon….Now? IMHO, no way Jose…what do “we” owe him still? 9 mil? His pitching “better” of late(after 4 starts giving up 4, 6, 5 and then 8 earned runs) is going 5 innings, giving up 7 hits, striking out 1 and giving up 3 runs (2 earned) then going 4 1/3, 7 hits, 2 runs (1 earned) striking out 6, and throwing 97 pitches…in less than 5 innings. 5 straight starts of 5 2/3 or less innings… 9 starts, 48 innings, 60 hits….and 34 earned runs.
He would have to have like a full month of being decent to get anyone to take a flyer on him…and even then, the braves would have to eat most of his salary….and so-so prospects back
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I agree Ber, except…
The Mets need pitching very badly right now, and the city of NY loves Big Sexy like he is a native of Flushing. I think he could be moved early if to the Mets.
And we don’t have Kelly Johnson to pillage them with anymore, so Bartolo just makes sense. 😉
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I mean , look at Brandon Phillips… last year, 11 HR’s 64 RBI’s, .291 BA (but only .320 OBP, and some morons that don’t watch games, just throw stats at computers, claim he is no longer a superb 2nd baseman-which we all know is not even close to the truth) so “experts” decided he’s worthless 🙄
What did the braves give up for him? 2 non prospects, and a million dollars.
So, while I would concede a starting pitcher could be more valuable to a playoff worthy team down the stretch , I think the braves overreached on this deal. Who is going to think he can help at 44, a team in Aug, Sept, and the playoffs?
I think Colon is here for the duration unless he reverts to the way he pitched most of the season,(they still wouldn’t release him til July) or somehow goes on a great run…at 44 , for 6-7 starts…
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V, I hope you are right…ok, 3-4 starts of 6 + innings, and then trade him to the Mutts for a PTBNL, and let them pay a Million…
then Coppy learns a very valuable lesson, no 40 + year old starters unless they throw Knuckleballs!
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An opine about Garcia’s 8 inning performance yesterday. How different the game could have been if Markakis had caught that fly ball in the 3rd inning yesterday… Not saying the Braves would have won but it was the game changing play of the day. Jamie gave up one earned run.
Strausburg is such a head case, there is no telling how he would have pitched with only a one run lead. 3 runs is a magic number for him as far as a comfort zone.
Still, the game was what it was, did any of us really think the Braves would sweep? Taking 2 out of 3 is a good trend line. Better than the reverse. For sure, the gNats have been exposed. I remember some pretty good Braves teams having the same glaring weakness. No pen….
Here is a the conundrum, trading away your best starting pitcher does not lend much hope to a team or its fan base, no other team really wants your scrubs either. Best we can hope for is some other team to become desperate and at least pay the freight on Colon or Garcia. At this point, Garcia would have the highest rate of return, even with a poor win/loss record, he is an innings eater and Colon is a 5 innings pitcher at best. Father time catches up with us all.
I am really happy for Kris, it’s early and perhaps a couple of more starts before moving up to AA but right now it is all about rebuilding arm strength and muscle memory. One has to remember he is pitching against single A but a strike is a strike and a ball is a ball in any league… Well, most of the time. 🙂
What we don’t know is what his velocity and movement were like and we don’t have access to the managers’ reports.
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Listening to the Mutts broadcasters talk about Colon’s start against them in April, they said Colon with a 92 MPH fastball was a much different pitcher than Colon with an 88 mph fastball. That was the knock on him at 44 y/o. He faded quickly as the season wears on.
I did notice he will work an umpire. He kept throwing balls on the outside edge (off the plate) until the ump starting giving him the call. It reminded me of what Tom Glavin use to do. Throw it out there to establish it as part of the strike zone. It forces a hitter to either adapt to hitting it oppo or they only hit weak ground balls to the infield when they try to pull the ball.
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So, we all know what we currently have as a team going forward, my biggest concern is Julio… He has been flat out awful of late. I don’t expect a shut out performance every start but gee.
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I saw where Julio threw his side session off the field mound instead of the bullpen mound. He was working specifically on his landing point. Chuck Hernandez was pleased with the outcome. Hopefully we’ll see game time evidence that it was a productive effort.
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Speaking of Bartolo…
I read somewhere now that Matt Adams has joined the team and Rio Ruiz has been promoted, the team currently has Big Sexy, Big City and Big River. 😀
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One last piece of business to address:
No real news on top prospect Luiz Gohara. He was placed on the minor league 7-day DL last Wednesday with a “left biceps injury”, but no other details were given. Not unusual with a minor leaguer, but it’d be nice to hear something more definitive since he’s our #10 prospect.
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All three playing in the Big “A”, not to be confused with the Big Apple but surely they are all Big Time…
Just remember>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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I realize why the Braves pushed back their normal start times from 7:05 to 7:35PM, Atlanta’s proximity to the Central Time Zone plus trying to allow for God awful traffic conditions in and around Atlanta makes it a bit of a no brainer but I hate it, the extra half hour always seems to push the game past my preferred bedtime of 10 PM.
Folty toes the rubber tonight for the good guys. The Buccos play the Braves tough but are not quite a good since Marte was caught with his hand in the PED jar. Too bad the league didn’t suspend him when the got the results of his test as opposed to waiting until after the Braves left town.
I think there would be a lot more enforcement if teams had to forfeit any games played when a player was used who should have been ineligible…
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Serves to show what we could do if the starting pitching steps up.
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In all honesty, I expect the Braves run production to decrease by 1/2 run per game with Freeman absent the line up. If the starting pitching can tighten up a bit, the Braves should achieve a .500 record by mid June. They just need to avoid long losing streaks.
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Well, that was quick. No problem and good luck…
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/05/braves-release-james-loney.html
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Doing the man a solid.
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A good game by Folty tonight, just a bit too short but it is what it is.
Matt Adams hit his first home run as a Brave tonight. However, we were reminded that he is no Freddie Freeman with the glove.
I am impressed with Rio Ruiz, only two base hits but he has been solid with the glove and I really like his throws, they have been on the money every time.
Braves bull pen continues its good work.
And everybody throws 97 mph these days don’t they?
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And I would be remiss if I did not mention Ender’s 5 for 5 night at the plate.
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Getting ever closer to the magical .500 for the season, Who would have thunk it?
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Braves are looking like a team on a mission. Agree on Rio. He’s making it tough on Coppy to make the right call when Adonis returns. Hopefully Danny Santana hasn’t moved out of his hotel into more permanent digs.
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seeing kids screaming , scared to death, and knowing many have died…
Reminds us that evil knows no bounds…
who thinks that killing innocent kids is in any way, shape or form something that would please God? Sick, evil people, that’s who….
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A good game by Folty tonight, just a bit too short but it is what it is.
It’s a product of this generation of pitchers. If they’re gonna insist on max effort for 90% of their pitches, they can’t go more than 5-6 innings. At some point, baseball is going to have to expand the active roster to 26 because keeping a 9 man bullpen is more and more necessary.
I’m a little surprised that didn’t happen in the last CBA. It’ll probably happen before too long though, along with adding the DH to the NL. That’s inevitable. That will go along with realignment, which will go along with the next expansion. Vegas and Montreal. Mark it down…
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Yes Ber, it is nothing short of evil.
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Anyone else notice that Ender adapted the Tony Gwen philosophy of hitting last night? Instead of trying to hit every pitch over the Chop House, he shortened up his swing, choked up on his bat and hit to the opposite field.
In fact, a lot of the Braves hitters are choking up on the bat, even the big boppers. With pitchers hurling a baseball at 97 mph, it really does not take a big swing to generate exit velocity.
Now, not that every player should go for off field slap hits but guys need to remember the art of situational hitting.
Yes, if I were a hitting coach, I would be preaching long at bats against opposing starters. Most bull pens are not that good. August and September should be interesting. It will be the teams with organizational depth who will make it over the finish line.
How good was Freddie? He still leads the NL in home runs…
I think Danny Santana would benefit greatly playing everyday. He has talent, he has some pop in his bat, it is really all about regaining his timing and finding what made him successful in 2015. I fear we are stuck with Boni for now, the evidence he has on Snit and Coppy must be pretty damning…
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Having two players occupy on position may be a luxury the Braves cannot afford to have right now. The bench is already short carring 9 relief pitchers. While having Ruiz and Garcia share the third base slot would be positive from an offensive standpoint. I am not sure it would be that much of a difference maker.
I do feel Rio is a better defensive player and he certainly has a greater potential than Adonis. I suspect he will return to Gwinett when Adonis is activated and Jace will likely be in a soft platoon with Garcia at third.
There are a lot of right handed pitchers in the Braves’ future but I am not so sure it really makes that much of a difference right or left with the current make up of the Bravos batting order.
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Yes, Rio will return because he has options. Santana has none, and Boni has too much service time.
But as you say, having a short bench should preclude duplicating functions. Thus, one of Boni or Santana should go. My preference is Boni.
To go, that is.
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“I never make any wholesale judgments on any team until Memorial Day… never.” VOR 5/10/17
Sage advice Vee. to date there has been a 24% turnover rate in the Braves roster. While the starting rotation is currently intact, with two 40 something pitchers in the rotation, I don’t expect that to remain true.
The biggest question marks remain at third base. While Dansby error rate is somewhat alarming, he is a rookie and he is going to experience some growing pains. It is what rookies do.
Upon further review, Coppy’s acquisition of Matt Adams may have been one of his best to date. It is one thing to trade for an above average first baseman, to do so in May after your best player goes down and no valid replacement on the horizon for so little might be considered a major coup.
The infielders are going to need to work on improving their throws to first base in the absence of FF but Adams is a bonafide true first baseman. At least the Braves drop off should not be as noticeable now.
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V, I agree with everything you said at 8:51 am.
Folty I believe is a hardheaded player…like many other young guys (Thor’s goal this offseason was to gain more muscle, to throw even harder than 100, as a starter????) I can’t absolutely swear to it, but remember when Smoltz gave a bullpen session/lesson last year? I recall seeing Wisler, Blair, but not Folty…struck me as odd…
but 5 innings, even if you only give up a run, is not much help…
bullpen has been crazy good of late, 20 innings of scoreless work, according to the attractive woman that does quick pitch(and unlike a lot of the others, Heidi really does know baseball) and 16 without giving up a hit!!!!!
I’m ok with more expansion….population increases, more and more foreign players (even from Korea now) so while some bullpens will stink, there are guys out there, say Matt Adams and Chris Carter for an examples that should be starters, but can’t right now (tell me what team Sid Bream would start for today?) Tons of offensive talent right now, there would be pitching wise too, but pitching 12 months a year , and throwing curves at 11 are not conducive to long term arm health….
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Yes, Rio will return because he has options. Santana has none, and Boni has too much evidence on higher ups
There, fixed that….
seriously….he would pass thru waivers with flying colors…a smart team would grab Recker , there has to be some team in need of a backup catcher…
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Agree on all points.
No one expected the park to have such a dramatic effect on Julio, the only real holdover from The Ted. Folty only made 19 appearances at Turner Field in his young career, and those were interrupted by his serious health issues.
Julio is a pro, and has shown even through his inconsistencies that he can be as good as anyone on occasions. I expect him to make the necessary adjustments and get back to being the pitcher he was. (In 70 starts at The Ted, Julio held opposing batters to a .227 batting avg. By contrast, it’s an alarming .337 thus far at STP.)
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I’m ok with more expansion….population increases, more and more foreign players
The increase in international players is a very good point.
My desire to see expansion is mainly due to my OCD and the abhorrent unevenness of the divisions, and to a lesser degree the interleague schedules. But how on God’s green earth can we accept that there are 2 divisions in the game that have fewer teams, thus an odd number of teams in each league, and therefore we are forced to have an interleague matchup every day of the season!?! It’s unacceptable.
I don’t like the unbalanced schedule, but I also don’t want my Eastern Time Zone team spending half the season west of the Mississippi River. So I accept the lesser of 2 evils.
Somewhere earlier this year I laid out my plan for realignment of the divisions. Wonder if I can find that…
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Here it is:
Vox O’Reason
April 28, 2017 at 9:41 am
To me, a better way would be:
AL:
EAST: Baltimore, Boston, NY Yankees, Toronto
CENTRAL: ChiSox, Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota
MIDWEST: Colorado, Houston, Kansas City, Texas
WEST: LA Angels, Las Vegas, Oakland, Seattle
NL
NORTHEAST: Montreal, NY Mets, Philadelphia, Washington,
SOUTHEAST: Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis, Tampa
CENTRAL: ChiCubs, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh
WEST: Arizona, LA Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco
I think this is the least disruptive. it does require Colorado and Tampa to switch leagues. These divisions make sense from a geographical and a rivalry point of view.
I especially like the AL Midwest division a/k/a the BBQ division. 😀
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And there ya go.
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Use guys stayed up to bitter end, didn’t ya???????? 😛
I watched parts of Several “Driven” shows, gave up , thinking the game was sure to be called, watched some news shows, a few frasiers, then…saw the game was back on, after a short 3 hour and 12 minute rain delay in the 7th, braves had just tied the game up…., then were up 4-3, and Johnson, perhaps way past his normal bedtime (and with less than 200 fans left to cheer him on) gave up the tying and seemingly winning run on a bases loaded hit to Mercer…
Naturally, Ender got an infield single, Nick M doubled him in to tie the game up, and then the new first baseman….I forget his name, hit a ball down the left field line, off a tough leftie, and the braves win, THE BRAVES WIN!!!! 6-5 just before 2 am….
Wow…
check out DOB’s twitter when you can, some very funny comments, before the game ended….
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Could not do it Ber, I was out like a light when the game was in a rain delay, I woke for my normal 4 AM feeding and turned on sports center thinking the Braves had lost 3-2. nice surprise…
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I get my news here. 😀
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Taking Ber’s advice and scrolling back through the Twitter feed, one thing stood out:
PH Bonifacio weak pop-up foul to first base to start Braves 7th
Seriously, how much longer?
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</>Seriously, how much longer?
Only Coppy knows…
As you predicted Vee, Recker cleared waivers and assigned to Gwinnett, Blake Lalli released.
We will find out tonight if Julio is able to turn it around after a disastrous couple of games at STP. he has had a terrible time getting the short porch in left field out of his head.
Prior to the start of the 4 game series with the Buccos, I said I would be very pleased to have the Braves take 3 out of 4. That still holds true but after last night, a sweep is possible and would be a real boost. Can’t get too far ahead of ourselves though, Still need to strive for .500 before we can win the division.
I would like to see Boni DFA when Garcia is activated, Santana can run, play the outfield and fail to move runners over just as well as Emelio. Both are switch hitters but Santana has a lot more potential and more power.
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I would like to see Boni DFA when Garcia is activated, Santana can run, play the outfield and fail to move runners over just as well as Emelio. Both are switch hitters but Santana has a lot more potential and more power.
And he’s much younger too. There’s still the potential to improve. Emilio is what he is.
I think Rio has played well and deserves to stay. But he has options, so…
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One possibility is to use Garcia against lefties and as a bench piece, keep Rio, who I think is better defensively at third. When Freddie eventually returns, having Garcia and Adams on the bench is a real upgrade over the current options.
Possibly by that time, one or two of the younger arms will have been promoted. Two months will shake out who should stay and who should stay. I expect Colon to go on the DL at some point this season to allow him to recharge.
The Braves don’t really have a power pitcher needed to compete in the play-offs. Regardless, the Braves appear to be playing with heart and determination. Things look much better than they did a month ago.
The Matt Adams acquisition may go down as being as important to the franchise as when Schuerholz traded for McGriff.
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The Braves don’t really have a power pitcher needed to compete in the play-offs.
Folty was that, but is learning to harness it.
As for prospects, Sean Newcomb was a guy that regularly threw in the high-90’s, but has throttled it back to mid-90’s to gain better control. (And as a result, he has gained better control.) Luiz Gohara is a big, hard thrower. He could be that guy. Joey Wentz is a fairly hard thrower.
By and large, the Braves have not drafted those big overthrowers. (They traded for Newcomb and Gohara; didn’t draft them.) The draft philosophy looks to be that of pitchers who have a wrinkle in the arsenal.
Allard: mid-90’s cutter, curve, change
Soroka: mid-90’s sinker, curve, change
Anderson: mid-90’s sinker, “slurve”, change
Wentz: mid-90’s runner, curve, change
Weigel: mid-90’s sinker, slider, curve
Muller: mid-90’s sinker, curve, change
I sense a pattern.
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Somebody is paying attention.
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When I say “hard thrower”, to me anyone who can throw 94 plus… Throwing 98 mph on a regular basis will only gain you a sore arm.
I guess it would be more accurate to say the Braves will/would need a pair of unhittable pitchers to start, a strong pen. We all know that play-offs are all about having solid pitching to match the other guys’ solid pitching.
So, Vee, what does the weather look like for tonight’s game?
Exit velocity… another term for “bat speed”
Launch angle… Upper cut swing
The one time Ender failed to get a hit was when he tried to hit on out and lofted the ball to left field. Keep the level swing and let the boppers drive you in son… Upper cut swings only work on sliders, change ups and curve balls. Upper cuts on fast balls increase the likelihood of a swing and a miss.
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I think it would be beneficial to both Adonis and Rio to not play everyday. Adonis due to his age and Rio due to his youth. Much like both Flowers and Suzuki both being better because they are not physically exhausted. Everybody thinks they can play everyday but all can use a day off here and there and some more than others.
Like relief pitchers… but different..
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Boni was ‘hitting’ .095 (2 for 21) as a pinch hitter, before the weak popup. Now? .091.
Even a last place team would give up on a guy like that…and this team isn’t a last place team…
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I am encouraged now that they might actually do the right thing and keep Rio. It appears that he’s the easiest way to upgrade a woeful 3B position, that as Bowman pointed out (like we couldn’t see it ourselves) is the worst in baseball. A platoon between those 2 is the best answer.
As for Boni vs. Danny… well, does it really matter? Neither could find a hit on a Top 40 station.
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Exit velocity… another term for “bat speed”
funny, its one of the VERY FEW Saber thingys I like to hear , for some reason…
It does explain at times what we can’t always see…I mean, we all know when JHey first came up, he had to have some of the best “exit velocity’ out there…and it kept getting worse and worse….
Boni doesn’t have the EV I have…and I don’t have EV.
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My suggestion is to DFA Boni and use RA and Julio as the designated sacrifice bunters when called for. If Adonis is retained, the bench would consist of Jace, Garcia, Santana and uh… who else? The Braves have more than three bench players don’t they? Oh yeah, a catcher they are loath to use because of emergencies… Maybe they simply need to get Jace to catch some too, why not, he is playing everywhere else.
So, the bench is thin, made even thinner with the presence of Bonifacio and Santana, although, Santana is due…
Camargo, Adams, Rio, all better options than Emilio.
I think Colmenter is on thin ice too. We’ll see when O’Flaherty returns.
I think the Braves would like to carry only 8 relief pitchers but know they don’t have a staff that can go deep night after night.
Jim Johnson has done a great job as the closer but he cannot answer the bell but so often, you need the offense to put one out of reach for you every so often.
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Only EV I would like to see with Boni is leaving the team.
How can you tell when a hitter has good exit velocity? When the ball gets out in a hurry…
So many things to add to stats, perhaps they should add the “hot dog” factor, you know, like Manny knocking his helmet off while running to make you thing he is fast. Bat flipping etc… running into a wall 5 steps after catching the ball.
Current Braves with a high HD factor, Brando Phillips, low HD factor, Nick Markakis.
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*I think the Braves would like to carry only 8 relief pitchers but know they don’t have a staff that can go deep night after night.**
Exactly.
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Nick Markakis is the Vienna sausage of hotdog.
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Did I mention Chase d’Arnaud was released by the Red Sox and subsequently picked up bu the Padres?
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And looks like the Braves will hold off making a decision of what to do with Adonis until after he spends the weekend rehabbing with the GBraves.
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Ugh.
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well…I think after giving up back to back to back homers, and 7 runs, I think Josh Collmenter will be needing to find a new team…I’m feeling sorry for him now, I am sure he just wants to go home, and eat a carton of ice cream
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well said V, well said..
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One: Julio is pulled after just 98 pitches in the 6th inning so that Boni can PH… and not surprisingly strike out?
Two: You’ve already decided that both Viz and JJ are unavailable because of heavy use. Why pull Julio that early when your pen is admittedly short?
Three: Boni is still the first guy off the bench? As a PH, he’s slashing .087/.083/.174 with just 2 H vs. 6 K’s. Heck, Julio is slashing .105/.105/.105 with the same 2 H and 6 K’s. You’ve got just as good a shot at a hit there, if not better, with Julio batting for himself.
Short start + short pen + short bench = long night.
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Both Rio and DanTana helped their respective causes last night. Boni was Boni. He’ll probably still remain.
I won’t be surprised to see a reliever called up for today’s early start, especially with Bartolo getting the start a day after his 44th birthday. Even if Collmenter still has a job, he’s unavailable today. I suppose Sam Freeman is the long man today. He needs to be the long man going forward. But with the pen going long last night, and with Collmenter and Ramirez unavailable, and with the early start time, Snit needs another arm.
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12:10pm start today. Suzuki will be catching. Bartolo vs. Ivan Nova. Nova has been very good since arriving in PIT mid-season last year. I lobbied to sign him this winter. We got Bartolo instead. Nothing else need be said about that.
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Two: You’ve already decided that both Viz and JJ are unavailable because of heavy use. Why pull Julio that early when your pen is admittedly short?
V, my only guess is that since Julio had been so very, very terrible at home (I couldn’t watch much at trivia, but did see he was having quite a few runners on early,l and then I saw the Pirates were up 3-0 in what, the 2nd, 3rd inning?) They didn’t want to….push him. I know, he’s supposed to be the #1, and at the end of the season, may well be again….but right now, he’s…average. Well, heck, he has the 2nd worse ERA of the starters, so is he even that?
I wonder if Roger ragged on him a bit last year…thing was, he was starting to develop a killer instinct, showing emotion, looking like “the man”
It’s not fair to compare guys to Smoltz, on the one hand, in that Tim Kurkjian
book I hope you all still have gathering dust somewheres, he said that Cal Ripkin Jr was the most competitive player he ever saw….Smoltz was the 2nd most competitive….Can you imagine Smoltz saying, sure 6 innings is fine, I’m good with coming out?
You don’t have to be as good as Smoltz to at least want to go back out for the 7th, do you? Who knows….maybe he did fight to go back out there…but I think most managers today would act like pitching 6 innings, a starter has done his job…no, he’s just been average.
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After the Bucs scored 3 in the 10th off Collmenter, I switched the game off, did not see the other 4 runs scored, I just knew the Braves were done. I will be very surprised to learn that Josh is still on the roster at noon. But then again, Bonifacio is still on the team so go figure…
It was nice to see Ruiz and Santana redeem themselves last night but even a blind squirrel will find a nut once in a while.
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I will be very surprised to learn that Josh is still on the roster at noon. But then again, Bonifacio is still on the team so go figure…
Tru dat.
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It was nice to see Ruiz and Santana redeem themselves last night but even a blind squirrel will find a nut once in a while.
Rio has actually been decent, at least as good as Adonis. His slash line of .238/.333/.429 might not be anything to write home about, but he has gotten a couple of clutch hits in his short time here. He certainly doesn’t look intimidated or overmatched by ML pitching. And his fielding has been very good.
By the way, for those who want to know, Adonis is slashing .237/.278/.348.
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I know I’m still assaulting an equine carcass, but I once again say a Rio/Adonis platoon would make both guys better.
Rio vs. RHP: .250/.348/.450
RIo vs. LHP: .000/.000/.000
Adonis vs. RHP: .230/.258/.328
Adonis vs. LHP: .308/.438/.538
Doesn’t take a rocket surgeon…
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This GM stuff really isn’t as hard as it looks. 😉
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I keep worrying that eventually, one of these days, Boni will get a hit, and buy himself another month here…
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I keep worrying that eventually, one of these days, Boni will get a hit, and buy himself another month here
Chances are not very good, Ber… not very good.
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Something has to change.
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With the present game being what it is, onto future matters…
Dustin Peterson has been back in AAA Gwinnett for 5 games and has 4 hits in 16 AB’s. He appears to have recovered nicely from hamate bone surgery in early March.
Sean Newcomb leads the Braves organization in K’s with 58. By contrast, the ATL leader is Julio with 42.
Ronald Acuna is still sizzling at AA slashing .364/.446/.618 in 15 G since his promotion. He’s also got 9 stolen bases there to go along with the 14 he picked up at A+, giving him 23 to lead the organization.
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Rio gets another hit and RBI, the RBI being his 4th this week. He’s making his case to stay.
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Another hit for Rio… 3 today. Could have been another RBI if it hadn’t been hit so hard.
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Chances are not very good, Ber… not very good.
I must have a very large ego…I truly believe, from the bottom of my heart, even at my advanced age….with just a few days hitting BP, I too could have 2 hits out of 24, 25, whatever it is pinch hitting opportunities! 😛
I too can switch hit! I mean, I’m no good, but what does that have to do with anything?
I was thinking…Ender had to start today cuz, you just aren’t going to start Boni, even with it being a short turnaround after last night…so…Boni is the emergency CF’er…and has only played one game there. Had to dump Chase(who did play 4 games there ) cuz…only Boni can back up CF?
Clearly, no one can be the emergency CF’er…wait!!! Lane Adams plays some CF!!!! Nah, back in the minors, cuz you know…Boni=Awesomeness
Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Danny Santana played 40 games there last year!!!!
Nah, Boni is clearly the man for the job….he never has…
While I am picking on a guy you guys love too….he’s been in 33 games this year..33!!!! on pace for 122 games….he’s been in 10 more games than Suzuki!!!!
He must have something on every single higher up with the braves.
There is simply no other explanation.
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The game was pretty much over after the 2nd inning, the only question was how many more runs Colon would give up and if the Braves could score off of Nova. Uh, he was available this winter too, right?
I suppose Braves fans are stuck with Bartolo until at least after his bobble head give a way. Maybe Coppy could swing a deal where he throws in the bobble heads as a sweetener….
I expect either Lucus Sims or Newcomb to make their appearance in Atlanta in early June. I know Coppy has 12 MM invested in Big Sexy but it is spent money. Sims and/or Newcomb will work for league minimum.
I say Bartol’s next start will be the tell…
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Harold, welcome! Glad you’re following us now. Join in anytime!
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Morning all, late game tonight.
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I say Bartol’s next start will be the tell…
Braves radio guy Ben Ingram agrees. He opines that Bartolo is on “extremely thin ice”, and that Lucas Sims is ready.
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Like Coppy said, it is very though to ask your team to come back from 6 and 7 runs down night after night. He went out and took care of finding a good replacement for Freddie, that does little good if your starting pitching has an ERA of 10.
Julio made strides, I don’t fault Ramirez for the blown save Wednesday, he is a 7th inning guy. Collmenter? Well, we won’t see him again, good luck to him in his future endeavors.
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I can’t believe I was able to stay awake for the whole thing…
Outstanding game last night, Best I have ever seen Garcia pitch. Just a good game all around.
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Sick!
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Hall of Fame pitcher, former US Senator, Jim Bunning died at age 85.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19478314/hall-fame-pitcher-jim-bunning-dies-age-85
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Last night’s game came up a very good young hurler, maybe better luck can be had today.
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Gil, no luck…in fact, quite the day game to stop watching the 6th…
Queto is showing the youngsters why they are not going to be successful unless and until they don’t swing 0-2 at pitches in the dirt…
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meant to say down 6-0 in the 3rd is time to stop watching, but now 7-0….starters are lousy again…sigh…
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Well known fact, having your starting pitchers give up 6 ans 7 runs early is not exactly a recipe for success. With Folty, I expect a bad game every 3rd game or so, that is just what #5s give you.
as for the rest of the staff… OH MY!
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Well, despite the early potential for Bad Julio to take over, Good Julio overcame. he really only made 3 bad pitches in his 6 1/3 innings yesterday. Unfortunately, all 3 are still flying over the cove somewhere.
And Having Angel Hernandez behind the plate is an obstacle to overcome in and of itself, I don’t care who the pitcher is.
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One thing about watching this team, you never really feel that they are completely in or out of any game. Well, except when they give up 6 or 7 run early, but even then, they seem to make it interesting.
Huge pitch made by Rameriz to induce a double play in the 7th with the bases loaded. Saved Julio’s bacon right there.
One thing for sure, Julio best not be thinking about plunking Harper for owning him the past couple of years… 🙂
Now it’s Bartolo’s turn, I hope he has a little something left in the tank for these guys.
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I always thought that a batter had an obligation to at least attempt to avoid being hit by an inside pitch. I watched Martín Maldonado hang his well padded elbow out over the plate and eagerly take a pitch off it without moving so much as a single fast-twitch muscle. That happened with 1 out in the ill-fated 6th inning last night, and was immediately followed by a single and a walk. Suddenly Julio had bases loaded and the GO AHEAD run coming to the plate.
But how is that a thing? Seriously, how can a batter just stand there and happily take a pitch off his pads? Is that just an Angel Hernandez thing? (He certainly has his own special strike zone.) Fortunately, Jose Ramirez came in throwing gas, and Cameron Maybin ended a well combated AB with a double-play ball. But I’m not sure that should have even been necessary.
Here it is straight from the Official Baseball Rules Book. 2016 edition, as amended, Rule 5.05(b)(2):
“The batter becomes a runner and is entitled to first base without liability to be put out (provided he advances to and touches first base) when: He is touched by a pitched ball which he is not attempting to hit unless (A) The ball is in the strike zone when it touches the batter, or (B) The batter makes no attempt to avoid being touched by the ball.”
C’mon Angel. I know you suck at calling balls and strikes, but can’t you at least follow the rules of the game?
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According to all the Braves beat writers… pick one:
–The revised plan announced last Friday is to activate Adonis from the DL when the team opens its series in CIN which starts this coming Friday.–
Now, the real question is this: Does Boni have enough on Coppy and Snit to stick around this time? DanTana has shown he belongs, and can contribute to a ML team. Unless the team inexplicably opts to drop a reliever – fat chance of that – we may finally see the DFA of Boni.
Rio has played really well, and having Adonis on the bench with a runner on base late sure seems alot more optimistic than having Emilio come up.
Speaking of Adonis, think he hasn’t noticed what’s going on? He seems to be motivated. In 3 rehab games at AAA, he’s batting .500 (5-10) w/ 2 doubles, 2 RBI and a stolen base.
Now if we can just get Bartolo and RAD to come around…
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Whoever put this together is my hero…
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Vee, I copied the above chart and was planning to use it as part of a new lede, unfortunately, I got lazy and haven’t started on it. My bad…
On the Santana/Garcia/Bonifacio question…. Santana has shown he can play multiple position, is a switch hitter and has started to come around. Bonifacio is a switch hitter who has Texas League power, has failed to get a bunt down and is limited to playing a poor second base or outfield. He can however run… Garcia is a power threat, can play a middling third base and is effective against left handed pitchers.
Therefore it is obvious what the Braves will do, send down Ruiz…..
Okay, just joking, however, I have seen stranger things. The only question is if Boni makes the trip to Cincy or simply catches his own flight back to Atlanta as Garcia returns.
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One of the things the chart does not show is the money saved on payroll which allowed Coppy to make some other moves. He mentioned it on one of his interviews, I do not recall each instance but it is important.
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On the pitching staff… I think the 9 man relief corp is here to stay given the current performance of the starting staff. Having to relieve at least 4 innings per night will burn up a pen in a hurry.
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But how is that a thing? Seriously, how can a batter just stand there and happily take a pitch off his pads? Is that just an Angel Hernandez thing? (He certainly has his own special strike zone.)
V, I am loath to defend Angel, but, I could imagine it’s hard to see the ball and the arm placement (especially for a guy that’s got to be legally blind 😉 )
but, I imagine the 2nd base up would have the clearest view of that….can another ump all it, or is it only the home plate guy?
I have seen a few guys these year stick an arm out and get hit, and get awarded 1st. can anyone remember the last time a guy was actually called for being in the way of a pitch?
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somehow Danny Santana is hitting only .129 (Boni .135) yet has 3 doubles, and a triple, and can get this…hit a ball off the wall, something I don’t think Boni has hit since 2009…
I really., really, really hope Boni is the one to go…yet, don’t we all fear he will get another hit, or someone will pull something, and he gets to stay another month?
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Well waddaya know…
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https://twitter.com/BaIIplayer/status/869580569457434625
My all time favorite! I could emulate him perfectly when I was a kid.
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That clip is funny, I don’t care who you are…. I had never seen that one. The Mad Hungarian should have been a pro wrestler.
Yes Ber, while the averages may look the same, it is all about trajectory. While I do not expect Boni to be able to hit one out, or even over the heads of an outfielder, I can reasonably expect him to be able to lay down a sac bunt. Well, for that duty they can simply utilize Julio or even Bartolo. In fact, I can never understand why you would actually use a position player to bunt to begin with.
Everyone knows you are going to bunt, just do it.
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One thing lost last night in the shuffle was the Braves inability to get Ender in from second base in the first inning. You just cannot allow that to occur.
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There is nothing like a big ol’ tomato sandwich and a tall root beer float on a HOT afternoon! Now all I need is a baseball game to watch. BRAVES baseball game. 😀
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well….not every day you see 5 errors in an inning by the braves (whether they are all called errors, matters not)
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I just turned it on as Pujols went deep. Then the wheels fell off. All four of them. And the spare. Holy schnikey!
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I know I haven’t. But I couldn’t turn away…
What’s wrong with me?
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It was all like the most horrible train wreck, you didn’t want to watch but you couldn’t turn away, you could only gasp and think “how is this happening”?
For once, I hold Bartolo blameless, except for the two errors he made but it should never have got to that point. It was one of the most awful displays of infield ineptitude ever witnessed outside of a T-ball game. I kept waiting for the clown car and the circus music to start.
As we speak I am sure some enterprising fan is making a composite You Tube video doing just that.
Thank goodness a completely new game is played tonight. By the way, the head clown in last night’s fiasco was Jace Peterson, I lost a lot of faith in him in the third inning.
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V, I forgot to chime in too about The Mad Hungarian, I too was a huge fan! Saw him once when I was a kid in St. Louis, fans loved him there. That is a great clip, can you imagine if that incident with the ump happened today???
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Vee, one of the worse movies I ever watch was a real stinker called “Brother From Another Planet” I mean it was a real stinker, the sad thing was I actually saw the whole thing, I kept thinking it had to get better… It never did, at least I never watched more than 10 minutes of “Istar” starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman. I use the term starring in the broadest sense of the word.
Well, that was the third inning for the Braves last night. You kept thinking the Braves had to be able to make a play but alas… they didn’t.
I watched part of the Astros vs Twins game this afternoon… Oh My, the Stros are loaded.
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Orioles trade Brian Matusz and the 76th overall pick to the Braves for minor league RHP Brandon Barker & LHP Trevor Belicek.
Sounds like the Braves are clearing space for a draft pick, Brian Matusz a LHP who may or may not end up on a Braves roster somewhere.
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Orioles trade Brian Matusz and the 76th overall pick to the Braves for minor league RHP Brandon Barker & LHP Trevor Belicek.
That happened last year on May 23. Matusz was immediately DFA’d and never suited up for the Braves. BTW- that #76 pick was the one we used to draft C Brett Cumberland out of UC-Berkeley, who has really turned it on in the month of May for low-A Rome.
Over his last 10 games, Cumberland has hit .432 w/ 20 RBI on 16 H, including 5 HR. He’s also taken 4 BB’s, so he’s not just up there hacking.
En fuego. https://media.giphy.com/media/pDGXgBIwzDVM4/giphy.gif
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I’m really happy for this young man from a neighboring county! Wonder if he’s drawn any notice from the Braves organization?
http://www.wect.com/story/35555556/gore-selected-as-gatorade-national-baseball-player-of-the-year
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And here I thought I was onto a scoop… My bad….
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CL, MacKenzie Gore is listed as a top 5 draft pick b MLB, I guess it all depends on if he is still available when the Braves pick 5th. I;m sure they are aware of him, not like the Braves don’t love young pitchers…
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covfefe What the Braves went thru last night during the 3rd inning… It describes it better than any other non existent word I can think of….
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covfefe a synonym for FUBAR…
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While Wednesday’s game was covfefe, last night’s defeat was simply disappointing… BAH….
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BAH indeed! Whole series was a disappointment. Didn’t get to see the best player in baseball, Didn’t get to see Phat Albert hit 600, did get to see the infield implode like an infield never has before…Dansby made his 10th error, and after his latest 2 for 24 spell, is hitting .185. Not yet to the Bonifocio line, but getting there. Rio Ruiz is now hitting .244, which might just give them the excuse to send him down, rather than Boni packing…sigh….
I guess what I found so irksome is that the Angels are a terrible, terrible offensive team right now…shouldn’t be losing to them…
Garcia did pitch quite well, for what, 3rd/4th straight game? I guess I just saw him at his worst…so that’s good.
Ender and Kemp each had 40 hits for May, and Kemp is red hot. They will probably start walking him a ton now….
good thing for the braves they are in the worst division in baseball….funny how the Phils, playing so well early on, gave their manager(can’t think of his name) an extension, and the team promptly went in the tank, something like 6 and 22 for the month of May!
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According to DOB, the Braves will activate Adonis and EOF prior to Friday’s series opener in Cincy. So the speculation game can continue on this off-day as to whom will be sent down / let go.
For Adonis, I’m actually banking on Boni being DFA’d.
For EOF, it will come down to Matt Wisler or Luke Jackson, both of whom have minor league options. Which is better suited to be the new long man now that Collmenter is no longer in that role? Both have been starters, so it could go either way. Maybe the best question is: which one is more likely destined for the bullpen long term? I think that is Luke Jackson. But I suppose we’ll see.
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I guess I could rail against Jace making another error last night allowing the throw from Ruiz to get past him and thus the tying run scored, but that would be really unfair to Jace because he has played what, 5 games in his life at first base?
So, the go ahead run score on a home run by EY Jr… Bad pitch? Bad location? MY HEAD HURTS…. Good time for an off day….
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Whole series was a disappointment. Didn’t get to see the best player in baseball, Didn’t get to see Phat Albert hit 600, did get to see the infield implode like an infield never has before…Dansby made his 10th error, and after his latest 2 for 24 spell, is hitting .185. Not yet to the Bonifocio line, but getting there. Rio Ruiz is now hitting .244
I would have liked to see Trout myself, but I wasn’t willing to stay up until 1:00am each morning to do it, and I didn’t want to see him beat my team anyway, so…
I certainly didn’t want to see Albert “Stand And Admire Every Home Run” Poo-hole hit anything. Never liked him; never will. Maybe one day he’ll actually run out a ground ball, but I doubt it.
Infield definitely covfefed. It was a spectacle.
Dansby is a rookie that has too much talent to remain a .185 hitter and defensive sieve. He’s had exactly 215 total games in professional baseball, 88 of those being at the highest level. Patience, Grasshopper; his trajectory is still upward. He may never be Chipper Jones, but he won’t be Andres Thomas, either.
Rio is hitting .244, but has hit the ball well and right at alot of people. That long ball he drove to the opposite field gap last night, that was impressively caught by EYJ, is why he’ll stay with the team and get the majority of starts at 3B. As with Dansby, his trajectory is still upward as well. Adonis’ trajectory is fairly flat. Together they’ll improve both the everyday lineup and the bench.
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You have to have a little time, but this one is pretty fun. Memories!!
http://tomahawktake.com/2017/05/31/top-5-atlanta-braves-brawls-time/
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Catching up on a couple of our prospects…
Luiz Gohara was activated from the DL a couple of days ago. Remember, he injured his bicep somehow in his AA debut. Anyway, he was activated Tuesday and made an appearance in relief where he pitched 2 innings, giving up 1 H (a HR) but striking out 4. I gonna say his bicep is just fine. BTW- That was a one time bullpen thing as he’s supposed to go back into the rotation.
Ronald Acuña is hitting .565 in his last 5 games, and is now hitting .415 in 21 games since joining the Mississippi Braves. I’m gonna say he is NOT overmatched at AA.
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if I seem at all crabby in any posts, it’s only because I am crabby 😉 All the b.s. tossed at the president (now all we will hear about is how he ruined the planet for the next week, IF he does the right thing) is getting so old, and it just keeps coming…I am sure we are all praying for him, just wish more people would…
anyways…..
Dansby is a rookie that has too much talent to remain a .185 hitter and defensive sieve. He’s had exactly 215 total games in professional baseball, 88 of those being at the highest level. Patience, Grasshopper; his trajectory is still upward. He may never be Chipper Jones, but he won’t be Andres Thomas, either.
V, all true…but, he was in an elite college program, played and excelled in the college W.S. and played 215 games in the minors….
and, what is he? a 270 hitter with 15 HR 70 RBI as his ceiling? that’s….nice…old days that would be awesome from a SS… but you see the SS’s around today and what they do…well….anyways, it’s past Memorial day, so can we judge him a bit? that article I posted about him having severe issues with sliders…well, it still rings very true. and he’s a kid, so you expect growing pains, no doubt…but, as much as I am against SABER stuff, I don’t even think of it being that kind of stat, but surely there is some stathead, some geek that has the numbers to show guys how they never get hits 1-2, 0-2, and how 90% or whatever of the pitches thrown on those counts are outside the strike zone…LAY OFF THEM!!!! MAKE PITCHERS THROW STRIKES!!!!
Ruiz I see doing the same thing, which is why I expect Adonis to play more and more unless and until Ruiz can lay off pitches…
hey, there is another 23 y.o. out there, remember Jose Peraza? the guy they seemingly wanted to rid themselves of cuz another gm drafted him?
he hit .324 last year, in 241 AB’s, one of the reasons Cincy traded B.P. off to a slower start this year, .264, and still doesn’t walk (again, he too is 23, so if you cut Dansby all the slack in the world, have to cut him some too) but is 14 for 16 in stolen bases this year. and has had to learn to play the outfield, 2nd and SS… he had made 2 errors at 2nd and SS this year, to Dansby’s 11…
Just like the organization has no 1st baseman that could fill in for F.F. there apparently is no SS that can fill in for Dansby for 2 weeks while he worked on his hitting(and fielding) in the minors (maybe after his bobble head night we can consider sending him down? wait, who would play SS?)
like I said before, I feel sorry for the kid as they have already made him the face of the franchise while still a rookie….but right now? He sucks. .185 sucks, 11 errors sucks…and its now June….
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I certainly didn’t want to see Albert “Stand And Admire Every Home Run” Poo-hole hit anything. Never liked him; never will. Maybe one day he’ll actually run out a ground ball, but I doubt it.
V, is his stand and admire any different than what David Ortiz did….all the time?
If Albert didn’t juice up ever, then he is one of the all time greats….
He used to run very well, in that he was called one of the best overall baserunners….you may not have heard (since the media pretty much ignores the west coast baseball teams, amazed we hear anything about Trout) but Phat Albert has terrible leg/feet issues…had foot surgery in December…
and he is 37…which is like 100 to us normal non athletes 😉
more on the issues he has had the last several years…
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2619125-albert-pujols-injury-updates-on-angels-stars-recovery-from-foot-surgery
The Angels issued a statement announcing Pujols underwent surgery on his right plantar fascia, and the normal estimated recovery time is four months.
This is yet another physical setback for Pujols, who underwent foot surgery in the offseason, which jeopardized his status for the start of the 2016 campaign. He also had arthroscopic knee surgery in 2012 and suffered through plantar fasciitis in 2013.
Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register noted before the 2016 season that Pujols seemed “more open to DHing now,” given his injury history.
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I have a totally different take on Pujols. I feel like he was cheated out of at least 3 MVPs due t Barry slathering up with the cream to hit those monster shots. I do not begrudge him signing for big money either, no one force an owner to pay that much.
To be honest, he is exactly what the Red Sox need to make the play offs.
All those errors are alarming but they are what they are. A rookie learning to play at a much faster pace. He may well end up at another position when it is all said and done. In the mean time, I will try not to be too depressed.
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V, is his stand and admire any different than what David Ortiz did….all the time?
Nope. Don’t care for him either.
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Ber, I certainly do not condemn you for being a fan of Albert Pujols. I’m just not. Then again, I like Bryce Harper, and might be the only one outside of Maryland and Virginia who does. Contrary to current cultural norms, it is actually possible to have differing opinions and preferences without being personal and offensive.
I do get that Albert has had multiple foot and leg related issues. And his pursuit of 600 HR’s is admirable to a degree. But it also plays a bit into my disdain for offensive achievements by DH’s. Some guys seem to just hang on for a while. At least Albert played a defensive position for much his career. I will never EVER recognize Edgar Martinez as worthy of the HOF. Same with David Ortiz.
In 17 professional seasons, Pujols has thus far logged 384 G as DH, vs. 1732 at 1B, and a host of other appearances in both the OF & IF, including 2 innings at SS and 3 innings at 2B. I’m trying to picture him at SS… 😀
In 18 professional seasons, Martinez logged 1403 G as DH, vs. just 592 at 3B/1B.
In 20 professional seasons, Ortiz logged 2029 G as DH, vs. just 278 at 1B.
So while Pujols should be a worthy HOF candidate, Martinez and Ortiz should not. Sadly, Ortiz will make it, and open the door for other “part time” players.
So there ya go… we agree that Albert is a HOF worthy player after all. In the famous words of TWIB’s Mel Allen, “How about that?”
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Waddaya know… in only 2 seasons of HS baseball (he moved to the US from the DR about that time), Pujols became a HS All-American SS before attending a JuCo for 1 season, again as a SS. He was drafted by STL in the 13th round and moved to 3B.
Hard as I’ve looked, I cannot find any pics of him in HS or college as a SS.
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Nice piece on Dansby’s struggles and such:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/baseball/swanson-slumping-again-rookie-difficult-season-continues/LvFIKaLxDwQFTw88k9v9jJ/
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Well… some surprises there. Not surprised about Wisler. Only surprised about Boni in that it too so long. Very surprised about Jace, except that he hasn’t done himself any favors over the last week. I can’t say I’m unhappy that Camargo gets another shot at the utility job.
My other take… they may be showcasing Johan. Jace is likely their utility guy going forward. Johan would make a nice add-on in a larger deal that includes Jaime or Bartolo. But he needs to build value at the ML level.
My other other take…Johan is a true SS and a better backup to Dansby, who may need to take a couple days off in a row to watch and regroup. I’d hope he could do that back at home, though, so that he can sit next to Freddie in the dugout.
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DOB on Jace’s demotion:
Harsh, but truth.
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I wonder if Jace will get some starts at 1B while at Gwinnett? That also makes sense. Yes, he’s not played well lately, but he’s also been playing a position that’s not very familiar. Heck, why not? I’d rather him learn it there than in ATL.
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While I think we all like Jace’s pluck, there was no hiding his terrible play of late, Not completely his fault, having to play in a position where he was completely new. I expect Garcia will be used as the emergency (back up ) first baseman.
I won’t be surprised if he isn’t joined by Dansby after his bobble-head give away.
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V, I always hit “end” to get to the bottom, then scroll up, and I was scared when I saw you mention Jace had been sent down since I didn’t know that Boni was DFA’ed….I really was going to say that at this point he had to, had to have something on a higher up…thank goodness he is off the roster…may he hit .400 in the minors, and another team take a chance on him…
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not that I have any suggestions for one , but doesn’t this page seem awfully slow for only 335 posts????(Unless it would be ok to just have my lead be BONI’SGONE!!!!!1000 TIMES! 😉 )
Gil, I am genuinely worried about big sexy’s bobble head game. If he gives up 7 runs in 2 innings, they will all end up on the field…I hope he has one more good game in him….
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Gil, I am genuinely worried about big sexy’s bobble head game.
You know… he was cruising in his last start and would have exited the 3rd inning unscathed and with just 7 pitches if Jace plays the double play cleanly. But he didn’t, and all Hades followed.
What I’m getting at is that it’s awfully hard to blame Bartolo for that game. Who knows what might have been if Jace just makes that one play? Heck, Jace might even still be in Atlanta…
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Also, before you say too many goodbyes to Boni, he’s only been DFA’d. He’ll surely pass through waivers, and then then likely be offered a minor league pact to remain in the organization at AAA. I mean, I can’t see another team anywhere vying for his services, can you?
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V, you are correct, I do worry that they will actually put Boni on the AAA…isn’t Jose Constanza still around? Honestly, he would be a temporary spark plug when he would come up…Oh this is funny, in 220 AB’s over 4 seasons with the braves… Constanza’s numbers? .273 BA, .316 OBP…and they kept sending him down
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V, you are also correct in that Bartolo wasn’t looking too bad, but 1 error, then a 3 run homer…he just can’t get people out if there is any trouble…I think if there was any hope for him, the best thing to have done is rest him for a start, heck they do it for guys 15-20 years younger than him, why think he doesn’t need rest???
in case anyone missed that inning that will live in infamy….
Los Angeles – Bottom of 3rd SCORE
Bartolo Colon pitching for Atlanta ATL LAA
Graterol singled to center. 2 0
Young Jr. grounded into fielder’s choice to shortstop, Graterol out at second. 2 0
Calhoun grounded into fielder’s choice to second, Young Jr. safe at second on throwing error by second baseman Peterson. 2 0
Pujols homered to left (405 feet), Young Jr. and Calhoun scored. 2 3
Valbuena singled to right. 2 3
Simmons safe at second on error by shortstop Swanson, Valbuena to third. 2 3
Revere grounded into fielder’s choice to first, Valbuena scored, Simmons to third. 2 4
Pennington grounded into fielder’s choice to pitcher, Simmons scored, Revere to second. 2 5
Espinosa singled to right center, Revere scored, Pennington to third. 2 6
Graterol grounded into fielder’s choice to pitcher, Pennington scored, Espinosa safe at third on throwing error by pitcher Colón. 2 7
Young Jr. reached on bunt single to first, Espinosa scored, Graterol to second. 2 8
Calhoun singled to shallow left center, Graterol scored, Young Jr. to second. 2 9
Jackson relieved Colón. 2 9
Pujols walked, Young Jr. to third, Calhoun to second. 2 9
Valbuena lined into double play, second to shortstop, Calhoun doubled off second. 2 9
9 Runs, 6 Hits, 3 Errors
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The Braves let one get away from them last night, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory…. BUMMER!
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Oh Ber… you documented the carnage. I had almost forgotten…
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Well, that was exciting and a bit nerve racking… Braves win by field goal and a safety.
Santana appears to hit left handers better than righties. Good day for him, big improvement over Bonifacio I would say.
And what are we to do about Julio?
Folty must be thinking he is being treated as the Ace by opposing teams.
Phillies come to town Monday, licking their chops at the thought of facing Big Sexy…
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Hey, guys, give a welcome to kittenswithselfies who is now following our little corner of cyberspace!
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Ber, good points made re: Bartolo and Peterson. Jace had a very bad week, Camargo may well be with the club the rest of the season now. He played a pretty good 2nd base yesterday.
Ender had a heck of a day despite the misplay in the 4th. We forget he can’t make every play. Sad because he had a stellar day at the plate. Julio needed every at bat too.
Braves signed two minor league free agents from the DR yesterday. Only info is they are both 19 yo and right handed pitchers… Keep the line moving…
Speaking of which, Kris Medlen pitched well again for Mississippi last night. 6IP, 1 ER on 4 hits, 4 ks and one walk. 71 pitches total with 49 being strikes. Stretch ’em out Kris, Bartolo is holding your spot….
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Ender had a heck of a day despite the misplay in the 4th. We forget he can’t make every play.
He can’t? 😉
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This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4544678/Major-League-heroes-brought-colourised-photos-Boston-Reds.html
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very cool indeed V!
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Ok… I’ve had enough. Legend or not, it’s time to pull the plug.
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I still think he makes his next start cuz…bobbleheads!
prove me wrong Coppy, prove me wrong! (Put him D.L. and push back bobblehead nite for a few weeks, IF he somehow regains his touch…
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Maybe they can start the bobblehead…
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Weird, though. His bobblehead night is scheduled for Friday. His next turn is Saturday. They can honor him on Friday, and still bypass his start on Saturday. Since Saturday is a double header, baseball rules now allow teams to add a 26th man to the roster for that day. They can simply add Lucas Sims and let him take the start on that day without disrupting the current roster, and see where they stand following. Sims started today so he lines up just right.
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Bozo Colon actually had me booing him last night. I know the Phillies were excited to see his name penciled in to start last night because it was an opportunity for all their sic bats to get well, and indeed they did.
Coppy needs to face facts, it was a chance that just didn’t work out, pretty sure Colon is not going to cooperate by beating up his wife so time to face the music and DNF him to the minors, they might do well to send his friend Julio with him.
The offense made the effort, they just cannot expected to dig out of a 9 run hole game after game.
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I felt sorry for Snit last night when he was being asked questions about Big Sexy….he clearly can’t say, he is missing his next start, it’s up to Coppy.
Surely Coppy has gotten the message…perhaps they can have Colon throw one pitch, get some cheers, smile with a bobble head and go into the sunset…
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time to face the music and DNF him to the minors
They can certainly DFA him, and he’s unlikely to be claimed off waivers even by pitching starved teams because of his contract hit. But he cannot be outrighted to the minors. Too much service time. He can simply refuse the assignment and become a FA, and the Braves are still on the hook for his $$.
Coppy has 2 realistic alternatives:
Bartolo can be dropped to the bullpen and take Collmenter’s old role that Luke Jackson currently holds. Jackson has minor league options, so it’s fairly seamless. Bart said after last night’s game that even though he’s never pitched out of the pen, he’s willing to do whatever the team wants.
Coppy can try to find a taker for him in trade (Mets) and eat a big majority of the remaining $$ for a bag of balls and a tub of Atomic Balm. I suppose any money saved becomes a bonus at this point.
If it’s me, I try him out of the pen. Why not? His money is already a sunk cost. Maybe he can help there; maybe not. Won’t know until we try it. But he’s for sure not helping in his current role.
Here’s another thing to consider. What if he comes in after the opposing team has been looking at Folty’s or Julio’s heater for 6 or 7 innings? That salad he’s tossing might actually be hard to adjust to.
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so funny, read this comment on a DOB post on Bartolo…Honest, I didn’t steal it! 😉
@Mora-less-Petrino It would be the perfect send off for Colon, let Big Sexy throw out the first pitch on his Bobblehead night and walk off into the sunset. Call up Kris Medlen from AA veteran pitcher , he can fill in until Coppy and Hart decide if any of the Great Pitching Prospects are ready for Prime Time.
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http://markbradley.blog.myajc.com/2017/06/06/that-needs-to-be-bartolo-colons-last-start-as-a-brave/
Good opine by AJC’s Mark Bradley on the Colon situation.
We here at the old B&S have been pretty spot on with our observations to date. (Bonifacio, Collmenter, Peterson, d’Arnaud et al) Perhaps the paid professionals will take note of our dismay at continuing to send Colon to the post. While they are at it, some time off for Julio might pay dividends too.
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Kris has been pretty effective against lesser competition, I think he is a real possibility, is there really any downside to him taking Colon’s spot? Cannot possibly do any worse. Good showcase too for a guy the Braves took a flier on.
Colon’s salary is spent money. Only way to compensate is to use low cost replacements.
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Well, there’s that.
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“until Coppy and Hart decide if any of the Great Pitching Prospects are ready for Prime Time” – Much arrogance dripping through that remark from a guy who dons the moniker “@Mora-less-Petrino”
It’s a symptom of a drive-thru generation that wants everything right now, or else they’ll stomp their feet and hold their breath. It’s a generation that would prefer Socialist Bernie Sanders because he promises free everything without any sacrifice of time or effort in return.
It’s a “fan” base that wants the 2015 & 2016 Cubs (97-65, 103-58), but doesn’t remember 2010: 75-87, 2011: 71-91, 2012: 61-101, 2013: 66-96, or 2014: 73-89. Selective memory, you see. Or the pervasive lack of ability to think critically and form a complex thought.
Anything that has real deep lasting value takes time to earn and to build. It also takes sacrifice and investment. That goes for all aspects of life. Ask any college student if they can coast through classes and get a marketable degree without a sacrificial committed effort. It doesn’t happen.
The Braves made the decision to raze the old structure, rebuild the foundation, and take the course of building each layer carefully and correctly. To do that takes a committed investment of time, patience, and perseverance. It also takes a bit of a thick skin when the howls of impatience echo through the social media platform.
So the “Great Pitching Prospects” do actually exist, and are beginning to surface at the high-A and AA levels. Only Sean Newcomb, acquired via trade not via draft, is even close to being ML ready… and he really needs to finish the year out at AAA. (The aforementioned Lucas Sims was a Frank Wren draftee, not the current regime.)
So as the microwave millennials continue to arrogantly deride Coppy and Co. over this year’s lack of success (because Zander Skinny Jeans has had success in his fantasy league and obviously can do a real ML GM job better than the seasoned professionals), I pray The Johns continue to hold to The Plan and continue to put this house together with bricks, not with sticks or straw.
It’s truly a generational dichotomy between those with their hands calloused and those with their hands out. It’s investment vs. entitlement. It’s commitment vs. indifference. It’s faithfulness vs. faithlessness. It’s house vs. apartment. It’s putting together the ingredients vs. picking up the take-out.
So this long time fan will continue to rock steady while I watch the 2017 Braves’ season, while eating my nutritious and filling home cooked meal in the home for which I work 50 hours a week to pay the monthly mortgage, and the snowflakes can continue to perpetually gripe about last night’s game while looking at their advanced metrics on their gaming computers while eating their gut-rotting Taco Bell in their parents’ basement.
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I feel better now.
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In order to add Kris Medlen, the Braves would have to add him to the 40 man roster which is not really a problem as they have space available with the players they have on the 60 day DL. They would have to add him to the 25 man roster but if they could wait until the Saturday Twin bill, that would not be an issue either.
Anyone think Colon would not pass through waivers? Anyone? Jackson is the guy in the barrel as far as the Sun Trust to Cool Ray shuttle, I expect he will be ridden like a rented mule this week.
If Medlen does come up, would anyone be disappointed if he gave up 3 runs in 6 innings? Aside from Kris that is… Seeing as how that would be a significant improvement over what the Braves have been able to get out of their starting pitchers not named Garcia on a nightly basis.
Therefore, I think it will be Kris Medlen to get the call….
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Now, Now, watch the Braves call up Wisler and or Blair….
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DOB: Since Medlen is only four minor-league starts into a comeback attempt after shoulder issues in 2016, and the Braves have been cautious with him so far to avoid setbacks, I don’t know that they’ll consider him a possibility. Not yet.
That’s my feeling as well.
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DOB also surmises that Coppy could be trying to go outside the organization to acquire another starter, although there isn’t an obvious target there.
I can’t see that developing, though. It couldn’t be a guy who hasn’t already been pitching this season as he wouldn’t be ready for Saturday. So you’re talking about someone who was recently dumped. And you’d be giving up way too much in a trade as you’re blatantly over a barrel. That price would be exorbitant, like shopping at Saks 5th Avenue. Neither of those options is viable.
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Now, watch the Braves call up Wisler and or Blair
Both have been horrid at AAA as starters. And the formerly sparkling Lucas Sims has been bad for his last 4 starts.
That leaves Newcomb in my mind, high walk rate and all. At least he has real “swing and miss” stuff. If he’d pitch and not nibble, he’d be OK.
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Oh BTW… Newcomb would also have to be added to the 40-man roster. But as Gil pointed out, we currently have 2 open spots.
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Sean Newcomb (24 in 6 days) at AAA thus far in 2017: 3-3, 2.97 ERA, 74 K’s, 33 BB’s, 1.353 WHIP in 57.2 IP.
ERA is decent, but that WHIP is a tad high for my taste, seemingly due to the 33 walks in 57.2 innings. But he’d still give us a better chance at a W than Big Suxy.
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Newk is scheduled to pitch tomorrow for Gwinnett, so I suppose our supposin’ will be a little clearer if he makes that start or doesn’t.
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All this speculation about who might step in for Bartolo might be a pointless discussion. Follow me here…
The Braves do not have any off days between now and Saturday’s DH. Bartolo would be on regular rest for a start, and if Jaime Garcia were to follow in his regular turn, he’d actually be on short rest. Is that wise for a guy who has been surprisingly healthy this year after a recent history of injury?
No it’s not. So the 26th man exception needs to be utilized to remedy that predicament.
In other words, you pretty much have to choose between protecting the pitcher that has been your best thus far, or replacing the pitcher who has been your worst thus far.
And unless you pull 2 rabbits out of your hat, you can’t do both.
Bartolo may have to make his next scheduled start.
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Mat Latos was released by TOR on 6/1. He is probably the best starting option off a pretty sad scrap heap.
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Wow. 😯
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V, I hope you saw just how eerily similar my post was to the “millennial guy” except for the swipe at Coppy…he even said ride off into the sunset…something an old person would say. We old folks can be impatient too you know! 😉
As so is Coppy, at least on the surface. He was either just giving lip service to being competitive this year, or knew that wasn’t really likely, but had to say it with a new park and all…
but, 5 years is usually what it takes after you blow up a team to get back to being competitive, correct?
for what they spent on Dickey and Bartolo, they could have gotten someone/something better…I know, they just wanted stopgaps…well, they also wanted innings eaters…..which the 2 of them have been the opposite of…
I would have thought it more likely one or both of them would have blown out hammys, or elbows than just be this bad (and to be sorta fair to Dickey, he seems to more or less keep you in the game)
other teams do bring up kids from the minors that aren’t quite ready. It doesn’t always hurt them…Glavine and Smoltz for examples…Wisler and Blair just may not be that good, hence the reason their original teams were so willing to trade away young arms. One of them may just need to learn a new grip on a pitch, or a new pitch…I don’t know what Jacob DeGrom’s issue was, but he didn’t make it to the majors til he was 26, and you know the stuff he has…
but, I see teams all the time bring guys up for a spot start, sometimes from AA. And said teams have the same limitations with roster spots…it’s past the beginning of June, so starting arb clocks shouldn’t be an issue either…
But, having Bartolo start…again…and again….tax the bullpen (5 + innings last night) can’t see that being good for the team either….
and Latos…man…Latos. 6.60 ERA at Toronto, (15 innings, 8 walks) 3.81 at AAA, but in 6 games(5 of them starts) only 26 innings and 13 walks. How is a guy who has lost his fastball, can’t go more than 5 innings in AAA, and walks a guy every other inning, going to help this team?
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I didn’t say Latos would help. Merely pointing out he was the top of a mighty low heap. I mentioned earlier that there isn’t a good “outside help” option.
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BREAKING: Bartolo was just placed on the 10 day DL with a “lat strain”.
OK…
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OK… so Newk or Sims or Meds will start Saturday’s Game 1. Who starts Game 2?
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Maybe Luke Jackson gets the late start. He was a starter at Gwinnett. Better have Johnny Allstaff ready to pick up the baton in the 5th inning, though.
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And you better hope that whomever gets that Game 1 start gives you more than 5 innings.
My prediction: Newcomb gets the callup for Game 1, and Wisler gets the 26th roster spot for Game 2.
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Does Bartolo even have a left oblique? And how would you ever find it?
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Of course, now that I consider it, the oblique is an abdominal muscle. On Big Sexy, a strained oblique could be lethal.
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Yup. I’m sticking with my Newcomb/Wisler prediction for Saturday.
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Consensus from beat writers is that Sims will get the callup to work in Bart’s spot for the time being, with Wisler taking Game 2 on Saturday.
Based on Sims’ struggles over his last 4 starts, I’m bucking the majority and sticking with my Newcomb call. Sims gave up 6 ER’s (2 HR’s) in just 5 IP yesterday, and is 0-3 w/ 8.38 ERA in his past 4 starts at Gwinnett. That’s Colón-ial, and does not project an optimistic 2017 ML debut.
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My guess for tonight is a reliever will be called up to bolster the pen until Saturday, when the replacement starter is called up.
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I didn’t say Latos would help. Merely pointing out he was the top of a mighty low heap. I mentioned earlier that there isn’t a good “outside help” option.
Oh I know, just showing that internal options would have to be better at this point…
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These things d have a way of working themselves out don’t they? Now, was Bartolo put on the DL because he was pitching terribly or was he trying to pitch thru a lat strain and thus pitching badly because of the injury? I guess we will discover the truth in a few weeks. To be honest, I would be thrilled if he has an actual injury which has hampered his performance. It would mean he might actually be able to be serviceable in a few weeks.
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On Saturday’s twin bill. Not like the Mets don’t have their own pitching woes to deal with.
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One more thing, I thought Frenchy did a nice job last night in the booth, I don’t have access to the pre game and post game show.
And where is Paul Byrd?
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*And where is Paul Byrd?”
Warming up in the pen? 😉
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too bad he’s only 19!!!!
https://www.baseballranks.com/2017/06/06/top-prospects-of-the-day-mike-soroka-is-a-spectacle/
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Yes, Mike Soroka is another of the “Great Pitching Prospects” that are on the horizon… and there are quite a few. Both Soroka and Kolby Allard are just 19, but are dominating their older AA opponents. Allard has #1 stuff for sure, as long as he continues to develop. Do you realize those were the Braves’ first 2 draft picks just 2 years ago, the first draft under the new regime?
BTW… the top pick in the 2014 draft, the last under Frank Wren’s group? Braxton Davidson, the OF bust that is repeating high-A ball this year. Just another example of how Frank ruined our minor league pipeline.
That’s yet another reason for us to cool our jets and practice extreme patience with this team. The average minor leaguer spends 4 years in the minors. We are only 2 years into the rebuild. Hopefully we’ll see Sean Newcomb this year, and possibly Lucas Sims as well, hopefully followed by Max Fried next year. Then the real train of talent will begin with Luiz Gohara, Allard and Soroka. We haven’t even mentioned Patrick Weigel or Matt Withrow. Behind them are Touki Toussant and last year’s top draft picks Ian Anderson, Joey Wentz, and Bryse Wilson.
I think there’s a real good chance that the 2018 rotation could be Julio, Folty, Newcomb, RA Dickey and Max Fried, with Lucas Sims joining the party in and out, especially later in the season. Patrick Weigel could also make a case for promotion at some point.
Oh baby… it’s an embarrassment of riches from which we should start seeing some benefit this season and next. But once Allard and Soroka arrive, the real fun starts.
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Oh… and Ber, the Braves officially released Boni yesterday. He’s a goner.
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I think Jaime Garcia looked really good again last night, at least for his first 2 turns through their lineup. He appears to be cementing his trade value. I fully expect him to be dealt before the trade deadline, and possibly even in June. Coppy has shown a propensity to get in the market early. Not sure what he might being back in return, but I’m positive that Coppy has a very good handle on that.
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Yes, sadly when you are rebuilding, your best are traded away for the future. Just having to deal with it. Garcia threw a couple of hangers that went for big hits. That is the edge a major league pitcher lives on. He will bring back a nice haul.
I think it was Mike Rizzo who said, you have to draft 10 to get 2. Pitchers that is. So many things can happen between the ages of 17 and 25. Even great pitchers have their bad days. And bad pitchers can have a good day every so often. It is consistency you always have to strive for. Uh, being consistently good that is…
Folty toes the rubber tonight, time to beat the Phils guys.
I also think Matt Kemp needs a couple of days off. Let Santana play a game or two, also looks like Adonis hurt his wrist last night. Step up Ruiz….
Looks like Meds is on Coppy’s radar. Look for him to show up when Garcia is traded.
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Looks like Meds is on Coppy’s radar. Look for him to show up when Garcia is traded.
Exactly. And with Newcomb already in the rotation 😉 , we’ll still have a southpaw.
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Naturally.
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3 for 3… 😀
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You nailed it Notra Vox…
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I know it will shock use guys a bit, but I take a contrarian view…as of today. A few weeks ago(A month?) I saw Garcia struggle mightily, shocked he even went back out for the 6th inning. Got thru it, but even though he only gave up 2 runs, he looked like a really lucky pitcher. Was not impressed…now? That sinker is sinking (which really helps a sinkerball pitcher, more wisdom just like this to follow!)
So, what exactly will you get for Garcia? Will it be better than he is? Obviously, if someone blows you away, you pretty much have to do it.
A ton depends on how good Newcomb is, out of the shoot…plus, if Dickey(5.10 ERA), Julio(5.40) turn it around. Julio….can….might from the next start forward…but, after being awesome on the road, and Colon at home, he is had 2 bad starts in a row on the road.
Garcia also has the most innings as well…Julio still seems like a kid, just doesn’t seem like the mentor type, does he? And Dickey may not be back next year(was there an option for a 2nd year?) Got to have some veteran presence ….phone call….
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It appears our young Folty is growing up.
RE: Garcia. If Coppy can turn Lucas Harrell and Dario Alvarez into Travis Demeritte, imagine what he can do with Jaime Garcia?
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Kris Medlen has been promoted to Triple A… Keep making progress Kris….
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It’s somewhat telling that Meds has been moved on up, too. They are filling the gaps. Kind of an indication that it isn’t temporary?
Bottom line is this: At least 1 of Colon/Garcia/Dickey will not be in the team’s plans in 3-4 more weeks. Maybe 2 of them. Maybe 3.
Most likely scenario has Newcomb sticking around until Meds is ready and/or Garcia is traded. I don’t believe we’ll see Bartolo back in the rotation, unless it’s strictly a showcase to try to regain some trade value.
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And I think it’s entirely possible that The Johns are willing to keep Newk as long as he holds his own, with Meds coming up to fill the gap left when Garcia is traded. The variable, of course, is whether or not Newk shows he belongs. I’ll bet my house that they won’t “Aaron Blair” him, forcing him to remain when he’s obviously not ready. (In fairness, they had little choice with Blair. There was no one else. Sucks for Blair, though, huh?)
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RE: Garcia. If Coppy can turn Lucas Harrell and Dario Alvarez into Travis Demeritte, imagine what he can do with Jaime Garcia?
true…but remember that Demeritte was busted for PED’s and I think teams lose interest in those guys, at least some of the time…
again, IF Garcia stays healthy, you do need veteran guys, have to have a few…look at the cubs…just not this year…last year, look at the cubs! 😉
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but remember that Demeritte was busted for PED’s and I think teams lose interest in those guys, at least some of the time
I like shopping the discount aisle. There are alot of good buys there. 😀 Seriously, though, I believe we are all happy to have TD in our system.
you do need veteran guys
Yep, and that’s what RAD’s biggest role is. Plus, Meds will surely be around soon.
IF Garcia stays healthy
The fact that you emphasized the “IF” in that statement underscores the reason to trade him now, since his value will likely never be higher. If you’re like me, you sit on the edge of your seat in each of his starts waiting for something besides the Rice Crispies to snap, crackle, or pop.
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Well, it’s odd…a team like the Cubs decided, weirdly….to go all in for hitters, and getting some veteran pitchers…they don’t really have some young pitcher that needs a vet over his shoulder…but it is important to have a vet or two, if you are going to have 3-4 kids in by this point next year…is a knuckleballer the right guy to talk about setting up hitters? when to throw a changeup?
Medlin has 2 tj’s so he may be 1 pitch away from retiring…
But, Garcia has issues…perhaps…but at what point do you have to just hope a pitcher stays healthy, and have some stability in the rotation?
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Just a thought, would ya’ll agree that Ronald Acuna is likely on every other teams “want” list when it come to a trade? To me, the “Answer to everything” is the kid most likely to take Markakis’ place.
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Great piece on Leo and Johnny Sain. Got to see both in Richmond.
http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/news/leo-mazzone-hall-of-fame-braves-pitching-coach-1990s-glavine-maddux-smoltz/dyf7pyf9dkgs198r40rvulm7x
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Good story Gil! Weird how he had so much success with braves, didn’t with Baltimore in 2 years, and that was it…and you would have thought players going thru a tough patch in their careers, would have sought out Sain….
Well, that was the best R.A. has looked all season, eh? I am guessing Flowers will be catching him from now on?
Speaking of Flowers….I remember being P.O’ed when the braves traded him to the White Sox…Remember that their GM Kenny Williams was….entranced (blog first?) with how the ball came off his bat…but that never translated to the big leagues…best Homer season? 15. Highest B.A. ? .241.
Comes over the braves, and hits .270, and now in 123 AB’s .350, with .459 OBP! Did Kevin Seitzer get him to cut down on his swing? Funny, I guess when you don’t play everyday, you are under radar, and even the beat writer doesn’t ask you what, if anything you have changed…or said player doesn’t want to talk about it, to jinx it! 😉
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Ber, I think a lot of it has to do with the swing plane of the bat. Everyone appears to be trying to uppercut the ball, It makes one susceptible to strike outs but in today’s stat crazed fantasy league world, it is all about the home runs and the strike outs.
I have noticed a lot of the players in the Braves line up are choking up on the bat, most are trying for doubles, not homers. Flowers isn in the doubles camp right now. It has paid off greatly for him.
On TF catching Dicky: Did you see how many ball were swatted at by Tyler? The ball boy picked up more then Tyler did. Still, great game by Knucksie.
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In the Cosmic Diner in Manhattan. Pretty cool.
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So, the Mets come to Atlanta and you go to New York… Man, that is messed up… 🙂
That said, carry your wallet in your front pocket and catch the game on SNY.
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