This morning ESPN's David Schoenfield posted a post that caught my attention on his SweetSpot blog on ESPN.com. In his blog post he claims that the Nationals look stronger than the Braves and are his pick to win the NL East in 2014.
Well I'm here to offer my rebuttal to Schoenfield's reasons for the Nationals winning the NL East in 2014. I'm going to address two of Schoenfield's claims, 1. that the Braves pitching staff will allow more runs in 2014 and 2. that the Braves are still relying on B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla.
1. Schoenfield claims that the Braves will allow more runs in 2014. Why? His main reasoning is that because in 2013 the Braves finished with the 5th fewest runs given up in a season in the NL in the last 30 years. That of the teams that rank in the top 10 on that list only the 1988 Dodgers allowed even fewer runs the next season. That every other team on that list allowed more runs the next year including the 1993 Braves and 2002 Braves. He claims that because the Braves allowed 52 fewer runs in 2013 than in 2012 they'll regress by at least those 52 runs in 2014 and maybe even more.
Schoenfield goes on to mention how losing Tim Hudson and Paul Maholm will hurt the Braves because they made 47 starts for the Braves in 2013. But he fails to mention that Hudson went down with a season ending ankle injury on July 24th and that the Braves went 39-22 after Hudson went down including a 14-game winning streak that started immediately after the injury.
He also failed to mention that Maholm in his final 13 starts of 2013 posted an ERA of 5.47 and that the Braves went 5-8 in those 13 starts.
He does make a very good point about the question marks surrounding Brandon Beachy and the newly signed Gavin Floyd. Beachy struggled to come back from Tommy John surgery in 2013 making only 5 starts before being shutdown for good after having an additional surgery to remove "loose bodies" in his elbow. Beachy has been cleared to have a normal off-season throwing program and is expected to be fully healthy at the start of spring training in 2014. Beachy was leading the NL in ERA in 2012 before he blew out his elbow, if he is able to regain that form he would be an upgrade over Hudson and Maholm.
Gavin Floyd, if he is able to comeback healthy, would be a superior number 5 starter especially in the NL. In the AL in hitter friendly U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago he was good enough to post fWAR's of 2.4, 4.2, 4.0, 3.9 and 1.9 from 2008-2012 before going down with Tommy John surgery after just 5 starts in 2013. There's not a team in baseball that wouldn't kill to have a pitcher capable of doing that in their #5 spot in the rotation.
Kris Medlen, Mike Minor and Julio Teheran are the top 3 starters and each should continue to progress and improve in 2014. If Beachy and Floyd prove healthy the Braves rotation could be even better in 2014 and that's not to mention Alex Wood and David Hale as options number 6 and 7. Alex Wood in 31 games (11 starts) in his MLB debut season of 2013 posted a fWAR of 1.6 with a 3.05 ERA and 3.57 FIP in his 11 starts.
Hale made 2 starts for the Braves in late September and gave up just 1 run in 11 innings with 1 walk and 14 strikeouts. It's far too small of a sample size to make a judgement on but it certainly was impressive considering it came for a team that was leading it's division and heading to the playoffs.
It's hard to imagine the bullpen being even better than it was in 2013 but it actually could be, even if David Carpenter and Luis Avilan regress some from the amazing seasons they had in 2013. Craig Kimbrel is still Kimbrel but the Braves could get even better if Jonny Venters comes back healthy in 2014 and if the Braves retain Eric O'Flaherty. EOF is currently a free agent. Alex Wood and David Hale could also be options in the bullpen.
So yes realistically the Braves pitching staff could actually improve and allow even less runs in 2014 or even at the worst be just as good as it was in 2013. There's no realistic reason to expect the Braves pitching staff to regress mightily in 2014 like Schoenfield is claiming.
Schoenfield goes on to mention that the Nationals rotation will be better than the Braves because they traded for Doug Fister to replace Dan Haren and that Fister is projected to be 21 runs better than Haren in 2014. He also claims that the Nationals starting pitching is deeper than the Braves which will allow them to survive injuries should they occur. If Beachy and Floyd are healthy and pitch up to the standard they have set for themselves I'll take Medlen, Minor, Teheran, Beachy and Floyd over Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Fister and Ross Detwiler although it is very close.
2. The second reason we come to is that the Braves are still relying on B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla on offense. He mentions that still relying on those two, coupled with losing Brian McCann and having the pitching staff regress will ultimately doom the Braves.
Well it's hard to believe that both Upton (.184/.268/.289) and Uggla (.179/.309/.362) will be even worse in 2014. There's strong reason to believe that both will at least rebound somewhat in 2014. Even with the terrible seasons both had Upton is still a career .248/.329/.409 hitter while Uggla carries a career slash line of .246/.340/.458.
But the Braves still lost Brian McCann (.256/.336/.461). How will they survive that? What he fails to mention is that McCann hit just .220/.296/.384 in the second half of the season including 0-for-13 in the playoffs against the Dodgers. Evan Gattis, who's expected to assume the everyday role as the teams starting catcher, hit .243/.291/.480 in his rookie season of 2013. Even if he doesn't improve any on that line the .480 slugging is more than enough to survive losing McCann.
He mentions that there's reason to expect improvement from Jason Heyward and Justin Upton in 2014. Heyward played just 104 games in 2014 and after Fredi Gonzalez placed him in the leadoff spot he hit .322/.403./.551 in 134 plate appearances. Sure it's a small sample size but we'll get a chance to find out because Gonzalez has already stated that Heyward will begin the 2014 season in the leadoff spot. The Braves also went 25-7 after Heyward was moved to the leadoff spot on July 27th.
Justin Upton after a monster April in which he hit .298/.402/.734, hit just .256/.343/.409. If Upton can be more consistent in 2014 that would go a long way towards improving the Braves offense.
Chris Johnson hit an amazing .321/.358/.457 in his first season in Atlanta fueled by MLB leading .394 BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play). While there's strong reason to expect Johnson to suffer a huge decrease in BABIP this isn't the first time he's had an insanely high BABIP. In 2012 his BABIP was .354 and in 94 games with the Astros in 2010 he carried a BABIP of .387. So maybe there is something that Johnson does that leads to him having a really high BABIP. Even if Johnson regresses to what he hit in 2012, .281/.326/.451, that would still be more than enough in a Braves lineup where he's not counted on to carry the load.
Freddie Freeman took a major step forward in 2013 by hitting .319/.396/.501 and finishing 5th in the NL MVP voting. Freeman, at age 24 and entering his 4th full MLB season, looks primed to continue to improve and anchor what should again be a strong Braves offense in 2013.
The Braves won 96 games in 2013 and finished 10 games ahead of the Nationals who needed 15-7 run down the stretch just to get to 86 wins and close the gap on the Braves to 10 games in the final standings.
Even with all the problems that David Schoenfield mentioned or failed to mention the Braves won those 96 games, ranked 1st in the majors in allowing just 548 runs and ranked 13th in the majors (4th in NL) in runs scored with 688. Even if the Braves pitching staff regresses by 50 or more runs like Schoenfield is expecting the offense could easily improve by 50 or more runs even with the loss of Brian McCann. So you're looking at a wash there.
And one last point I want to make about ESPN and their bias. Schoenfield could have picked any player on either team to list as a breakout candidate in 2014, but who did he pick? He picked Bryce Harper. Really? If you read the blog post he wrote it with the mindset that everything that could go wrong will go wrong for the Braves in 2014 and everything that can go right will go right in 2014 for the Nationals and topped off his extremely biased article by naming Bryce Harper as his breakout candidate.
It's a crying shame that this type of journalism, or lack there of is promoted by a network as big as ESPN. But apparently ESPN is ok with this type of bias and if you ever need to confirm that just spend 5 minutes watching SportsCenter or any other ESPN program.
Showing posts with label Atlanta Braves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atlanta Braves. Show all posts
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
Freddie Freeman, 2013 Atlanta Braves MVP
Who was the Atlanta Braves team MVP in 2013? You can make difference cases for Craig Kimbrel, Jason Heyward, Justin Upton or Mike Minor. You could also make very strong cases for Andrelton Simmons and Chris Johnson. But the way I see it is that the Braves 2013 team MVP was Freddie Freeman.
On a Braves team that was hit hard by injuries and inconsistency among many of it's key players including terrible offensive seasons from B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla, it was Freddie Freeman that the Braves turned to when the offense needed big hit after big hit to rack up an amazing 96 wins and win their first NL East title since 2005.
Freeman hit from day one of the season through the last day of the season when the Braves were eliminated by the Dodgers in the Divisional Series.
Freeman carried an impressive triple slash line of .319/.396/.501 with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .897. Freeman finished in the top ten in the NL in many offensive stats:
average - .319 (3rd)
on-base percentage - .396 (6th)
slugging percentage - .501 (8th)
on-base plus slugging - .897 (7th)
hits - 176 (7th)
runs - 89 (T-10th)
runs batted in - 109 (T-2nd)
runners in scoring position average - .443 (2nd)
Freeman also continues to show increased improvement in his walk and strikeout percentages. From his rookie year of 2011 through 2013 his strikeout percentage has declined from 22.4% to 20.8% to 19.2% while his walk percentage has increased from 8.3% to 10.3% to 10.5%. Freeman's linedrive percentage has also increased every year from 18.8% to 26.0% to 26.7%.
These trends tell us that Freddie Freeman at the ripe age of just 24 (September 12) that he is a force to be reckoned with for the foreseeable future which is why it would be smart on the Braves part to lock him to a long-term deal sooner rather than later.
Freeman is entering his first year of arbitration and following the 2016 season will be eligible for free agency. Signing him to a team friendly deal now would give the Braves stability at the first base position of which they haven't seen in many years.
On a Braves team that was hit hard by injuries and inconsistency among many of it's key players including terrible offensive seasons from B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla, it was Freddie Freeman that the Braves turned to when the offense needed big hit after big hit to rack up an amazing 96 wins and win their first NL East title since 2005.
Freeman hit from day one of the season through the last day of the season when the Braves were eliminated by the Dodgers in the Divisional Series.
Freeman carried an impressive triple slash line of .319/.396/.501 with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .897. Freeman finished in the top ten in the NL in many offensive stats:
on-base percentage - .396 (6th)
slugging percentage - .501 (8th)
on-base plus slugging - .897 (7th)
hits - 176 (7th)
runs - 89 (T-10th)
runs batted in - 109 (T-2nd)
runners in scoring position average - .443 (2nd)
Freeman also continues to show increased improvement in his walk and strikeout percentages. From his rookie year of 2011 through 2013 his strikeout percentage has declined from 22.4% to 20.8% to 19.2% while his walk percentage has increased from 8.3% to 10.3% to 10.5%. Freeman's linedrive percentage has also increased every year from 18.8% to 26.0% to 26.7%.
These trends tell us that Freddie Freeman at the ripe age of just 24 (September 12) that he is a force to be reckoned with for the foreseeable future which is why it would be smart on the Braves part to lock him to a long-term deal sooner rather than later.
Freeman is entering his first year of arbitration and following the 2016 season will be eligible for free agency. Signing him to a team friendly deal now would give the Braves stability at the first base position of which they haven't seen in many years.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
2014 Atlanta Braves Schedule
It's never too early to look ahead to the next season so with that said here's the 2014 Atlanta Braves schedule and some random thoughts on how it breaks down.
Mar. 31-Apr. 2 - @ Milwaukee Brewers (3 games)
Braves open the 2014 season in Milwaukee. This series will be interesting for a number of reasons. Will Carlos Gomez still be in a Brewers uniform come next spring? If so what kind of action if any will the Braves take against him? What kind of response will Ryan Braun get?
Apr. 4-6 - @ Washington Nationals (3 games)
A chance for the Braves to send an early season message to the Nationals that this year is no fluke and that the Braves are once again kings of the NL East.
Apr. 8-10 - New York Mets (3 games)
The Braves home opener. There will be a special presentation before the game to reveal the 2013 NL East championship banner out in LF but will there be an extra special presentation to take place? Let's hope so.
Apr. 11-13 - Washington Nationals (3 games)
Another chance to reinforce the message that the Braves will send to the Nationals in Washington.
May 26-27 - Boston Red Sox (2 games)
May 28-29 - @ Boston Red Sox (2 games)
Braves return to Interleague play in 2014 with their rivalry series taking place against the Red Sox. It marks a return to a traditional rivalry instead of the manufactured rival of the Blue Jays that has been forced on the Braves the last few years.
Jun. 24-26 - @ Houston Astros (3 games)
The NL East matches up with the AL West in 2014 and that includes the Braves returning to Houston for the first time since the opening week of the 2012 season. The Braves will also have a great chance of seeing Brett Olberholtzer who was one of the key pieces in the Michael Bourn trade of 2011. Olberholtzer was quite impressive for the Astros this season.
Other AL West matchups for the Braves in 2014 include:
Jun. 3-4 - Seattle Mariners (2 games)
Jun. 13-15 - Los Angeles Angels (3 games)
Aug. 4-5 - @ Seattle Mariners (2 games)
Aug. 15-17 - Oakland Athletics (3 games)
Sept. 12-14 - @ Texas Rangers (3 games)
In the last couple of years the Braves having homestands of 9 games have been been far and few between.
2012 - Jun. 8-17 - 9 Games (TOR, NYY, BAL)
2012 - Jun. 26-Jul. 5 - 10 Games (ARI, WAS, CHC)
2012 - Jul. 27-Aug. 5 - 10 Games (PHI, MIA, HOU)
2013 - Aug. 9-18 - 9 Games (MIA, PHI, WAS)
2013 - Aug. 27-Sept. 4 - 9 Games (CLE, MIA, NYM)
Just 5 such homestands in the last 2 years. In 2014 the Braves get 5 such homestands.
May 2-11 - 9 Games (SF, STL, CHC)
May 19-27 - 9 Games (MIL, COL, BOS)
Jul. 18-Jul. 28 - 11 Games (PHI, MIA, SD) - First 11 games after the ASG break.
Aug. 8-17 - 10 Games (WAS, LAD, OAK)
Sept. 15-25 - 10 Games (WAS, NYM, PIT)
Sept. 26-28 - @ Philadelphia Phillies (3 games)
The Braves wrap up the 2014 regular season in Philadelphia
Mar. 31-Apr. 2 - @ Milwaukee Brewers (3 games)
Braves open the 2014 season in Milwaukee. This series will be interesting for a number of reasons. Will Carlos Gomez still be in a Brewers uniform come next spring? If so what kind of action if any will the Braves take against him? What kind of response will Ryan Braun get?
Apr. 4-6 - @ Washington Nationals (3 games)
A chance for the Braves to send an early season message to the Nationals that this year is no fluke and that the Braves are once again kings of the NL East.
Apr. 8-10 - New York Mets (3 games)
The Braves home opener. There will be a special presentation before the game to reveal the 2013 NL East championship banner out in LF but will there be an extra special presentation to take place? Let's hope so.
Apr. 11-13 - Washington Nationals (3 games)
Another chance to reinforce the message that the Braves will send to the Nationals in Washington.
May 26-27 - Boston Red Sox (2 games)
May 28-29 - @ Boston Red Sox (2 games)
Braves return to Interleague play in 2014 with their rivalry series taking place against the Red Sox. It marks a return to a traditional rivalry instead of the manufactured rival of the Blue Jays that has been forced on the Braves the last few years.
Jun. 24-26 - @ Houston Astros (3 games)
The NL East matches up with the AL West in 2014 and that includes the Braves returning to Houston for the first time since the opening week of the 2012 season. The Braves will also have a great chance of seeing Brett Olberholtzer who was one of the key pieces in the Michael Bourn trade of 2011. Olberholtzer was quite impressive for the Astros this season.
Other AL West matchups for the Braves in 2014 include:
Jun. 3-4 - Seattle Mariners (2 games)
Jun. 13-15 - Los Angeles Angels (3 games)
Aug. 4-5 - @ Seattle Mariners (2 games)
Aug. 15-17 - Oakland Athletics (3 games)
Sept. 12-14 - @ Texas Rangers (3 games)
In the last couple of years the Braves having homestands of 9 games have been been far and few between.
2012 - Jun. 8-17 - 9 Games (TOR, NYY, BAL)
2012 - Jun. 26-Jul. 5 - 10 Games (ARI, WAS, CHC)
2012 - Jul. 27-Aug. 5 - 10 Games (PHI, MIA, HOU)
2013 - Aug. 9-18 - 9 Games (MIA, PHI, WAS)
2013 - Aug. 27-Sept. 4 - 9 Games (CLE, MIA, NYM)
Just 5 such homestands in the last 2 years. In 2014 the Braves get 5 such homestands.
May 2-11 - 9 Games (SF, STL, CHC)
May 19-27 - 9 Games (MIL, COL, BOS)
Jul. 18-Jul. 28 - 11 Games (PHI, MIA, SD) - First 11 games after the ASG break.
Aug. 8-17 - 10 Games (WAS, LAD, OAK)
Sept. 15-25 - 10 Games (WAS, NYM, PIT)
Sept. 26-28 - @ Philadelphia Phillies (3 games)
The Braves wrap up the 2014 regular season in Philadelphia
Braves Off-Season Outlook
So the Atlanta Braves season came crashing to an end after losing their NLDS series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 4 games. Where do the Braves go this off-season? What moves will they make?
Well it's almost certain that Brian McCann has suited up for the Braves for the last time baring he takes some sort of a major hometown discount to stay in Atlanta.
I could see the Braves bringing back Tim Hudson on a 1 year deal worth around $7M. Everything else I really don't have a feel for. Here's how the Braves current roster stacks.
FREE AGENTS
P Luis Ayala
P Scott Downs
P Freddy Garcia
P Tim Hudson
P Kameron Loe
P Paul Maholm
P Eric O'Flaherty
C Brian McCann
OF Reed Johnson - $1.6M club option with a $150K buyout
PRE-ARBITRATION
P David Carpenter - ARB 2015 - FA 2018
P Mike Minor - ARB 2015 - FA 2018
P Luis Avilan - ARB 2015 - FA 2018
OF Jose Constanza - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
C Evan Gattis - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
P Cory Gearrin - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
INF Tyler Pastornicky - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
SS Andrelton Simmons - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
P Julio Teheran - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
P Anthony Varvaro - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
P Alex Wood - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
C Christian Bethancourt - ARB 2017 - FA 2020
OF Todd Cunningham - ARB 2017 - FA 2020
2B Phil Gosselin - ARB 2017 - FA 2020
P David Hale - ARB 2017 - FA 2020
1B/OF Joey Terdoslavich - ARB 2017 - FA 2020
ARBITRATION ELIGIBLE
UT Blake DeWitt - FA 2016
OF Jason Heyward - FA 2016
INF Paul Janish - FA 2016
P Kris Medlen - FA 2016
P Jonny Venters - FA 2016
P Brandon Beachy - FA 2017
1B Freddie Freeman - FA 2017
3B Chris Johnson - FA 2017
UT Elliot Johnson - FA 2017
P Craig Kimbrel - FA 2017
P Cristhian Martinez - FA 2017
INF Ramiro Pena - FA 2017
OF Jordan Schafer - FA 2017
P Jordan Walden - FA 2017
SIGNED DEALS
C Gerald Laird - $1.5M 2014 - FA 2015
2B Dan Uggla - $13M 2014 - $13M 2015 - FA 2016
OF Justin Upton - $14.25M 2014 - $14.5M 2015 - FA 2016
OF B.J. Upton - $13.45M 2014 - $14.45M 2015 - $15.45M 2016 - $16.45M 2017 - FA 2018
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Craig Kimbrel Will Be Fine
If you're sitting there waiting for the 2012 version on Craig Kimbrel to show up, I've got bad news for you, it's not happening anytime soon. The season that Kimbrel had in 2012 was one for the ages and one that will never be duplicated again. But we should at least expect him to the be Craig Kimbrel of 2011 right?
But I do have good news about the 2013 version of Craig Kimbrel. He's not been as bad as things seem right now in light of his third blown save of the season, all coming in his last five appearances.
There's a lot of speculation that Kimbrel has suffered a drop in velocity and that's the reason he is getting hit this season. That's simply a myth. Kimbrel's average fastball velocity this season is 96.0. In 2012 it was 96.8. So mere percentage points separates Kimbrel's velocity the last two seasons.
Taking it back even further and we see that Kimbrel's average fastball velocity was 95.4 and 96.2 in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
The next question you ask yourself, "Is Kimbrel still getting the same movement on his fastball this season?", and the answer is yes.
In fact Kimbrel is generating more movement on his fastball this season than he did last season. He has a horizontal movement this season of -5.7 compared to -5.6 last season.
What that means is that his fastball from his release point is moving -5.7 inches to the left on a horizontal plane. On a vertical plane we see that Kimbrel's fastball moves 7.3 inches down from his release point over 7.0 last season.
So when looking at velocity and movement Craig Kimbrel is the same pitcher he has always been. So why is he getting hit more this season than he did in 2011 or 2012? It's because he is using his fastball more this season than he has in his career.
But it's not just that he's throwing his fastball more. It's the situations in which he is using his fastball move. According to Brooks Baseball, Kimbrel is throwing his fastball when ahead in the count to left-handed hitters 55 percent of the time this season up from 49 percent in 2012.
Against right-handed batter's it's even worse with him throwing his fastball 74 percent of the time when ahead in the count compared to just 62 percent in 2012. That's a huge difference. When ahead in the count to right-handed batters Kimbrel has all but abandoned his curveball, leading to hitters sitting dead red and not missing it.
Any major league hitter will tell you if you see the fastball enough from a pitcher, sooner or later, you'll time it. In order for Kimbrel to get back on track he must start throwing his curveball more to regain the advantage he had with his fastball which is completely overpowering when hitters don't know which pitch is coming.
Craig Kimbrel is a smart guy. He will eventually figure out that he needs to throw his curveball more in order to get back to dominating hitters. Until then we'll just have to deal with him struggling, especially against right-handed hitters who have the advantage of knowing a fastball is coming a whopping 84 percent of the time.
There's a lot of speculation that Kimbrel has suffered a drop in velocity and that's the reason he is getting hit this season. That's simply a myth. Kimbrel's average fastball velocity this season is 96.0. In 2012 it was 96.8. So mere percentage points separates Kimbrel's velocity the last two seasons.
Taking it back even further and we see that Kimbrel's average fastball velocity was 95.4 and 96.2 in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
The next question you ask yourself, "Is Kimbrel still getting the same movement on his fastball this season?", and the answer is yes.
In fact Kimbrel is generating more movement on his fastball this season than he did last season. He has a horizontal movement this season of -5.7 compared to -5.6 last season.
What that means is that his fastball from his release point is moving -5.7 inches to the left on a horizontal plane. On a vertical plane we see that Kimbrel's fastball moves 7.3 inches down from his release point over 7.0 last season.
So when looking at velocity and movement Craig Kimbrel is the same pitcher he has always been. So why is he getting hit more this season than he did in 2011 or 2012? It's because he is using his fastball more this season than he has in his career.
But it's not just that he's throwing his fastball more. It's the situations in which he is using his fastball move. According to Brooks Baseball, Kimbrel is throwing his fastball when ahead in the count to left-handed hitters 55 percent of the time this season up from 49 percent in 2012.
Against right-handed batter's it's even worse with him throwing his fastball 74 percent of the time when ahead in the count compared to just 62 percent in 2012. That's a huge difference. When ahead in the count to right-handed batters Kimbrel has all but abandoned his curveball, leading to hitters sitting dead red and not missing it.
Any major league hitter will tell you if you see the fastball enough from a pitcher, sooner or later, you'll time it. In order for Kimbrel to get back on track he must start throwing his curveball more to regain the advantage he had with his fastball which is completely overpowering when hitters don't know which pitch is coming.
Craig Kimbrel is a smart guy. He will eventually figure out that he needs to throw his curveball more in order to get back to dominating hitters. Until then we'll just have to deal with him struggling, especially against right-handed hitters who have the advantage of knowing a fastball is coming a whopping 84 percent of the time.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Braves Hit The Road Again
The Atlanta Braves hit the road again for a 10-game, 3-city road trip starting on Monday in Cincinnati. They'll play 3 in Cincinnati, 4 in San Francisco and 3 in Arizona. The Braves are 9-7 on the road this season.
The Braves welcome back 6-time All-Star catcher Brian McCann on Monday. McCann had Labrum surgery on his right shoulder last October. In 7 rehab games spread across Class-A Rome and Triple-A Gwinnett, McCann went 8-for-23 with a double, 4 homeruns and 9 RBIs. McCann's got great numbers in Cincinnati at Great American Ball Park, having hit .333 in his career there with 10 homeruns. Against Monday's starter Bronson Arroyo, McCann is 9-for-18 with 4 homeruns.
Getting McCann back will be huge for a Braves team that has struggled in recent weeks after starting the season 12-1. The Braves ended an up and down 6-game home stand by going 3-3 including Sunday's 9-4 victory over the New York Mets. The Braves have had their share of struggles against the Cincinnati Reds since 2007, going just 14-25 and just 6-17 at Great American Ball Park.
The Braves are just 6-11 in their last 17 games after starting the season 12-1. But despite their struggles they are still in 1st place in the NL East thanks in large part to the struggles of their biggest challenger, the Washington Nationals.
Here are the Braves next 10 games.
GAME 1 - MONDAY - MAY 6TH - @ REDS - 7:10 PM - SPSO, ESPN
Paul Maholm (3-3, 3.08) vs. Bronson Arroyo (2-3, 3.95)
GAME 2 - TUESDAY - MAY 7TH - @ REDS - 7:10 PM - SPSO, MLBN
Kris Medlen (1-4, 3.38) vs. Homer Bailey (1-3, 3.38)
GAME 3 - WEDNESDAY - MAY 8TH - @ REDS - 12:35 PM - SPSO, MLBN
Mike Minor (3-2, 3.26) vs. Mike Leake (2-1, 4.15)
GAME 1 - THURSDAY - MAY 9TH - @ GIANTS - 10:15 PM - FSS, MLBN
Julio Teheran (1-0, 5.08) vs. Ryan Vogelsong (1-2, 7.20)
GAME 2 - FRIDAY - MAY 10TH - @ GIANTS - 10:15 PM - FSS
Tim Hudson (4-1, 3.83) vs. Matt Cain (1-2, 5.57)
GAME 3 - SATURDAY - MAY 11TH - @ GIANTS - 4:05 PM - FSS, MLBN
Paul Maholm (4-3, 3.09) vs. Madison Bumgarner (3-1, 2.31)
GAME 4 - SUNDAY - MAY 12TH - @ GIANTS - 4:05 PM - FSS
Kris Medlen (1-4, 3.25) vs. Tim Lincecum (2-2, 4.75)
GAME 1 - MONDAY - MAY 13TH - @ DIAMONDBACKS - 9:40 PM - SPSO
Mike Minor (4-2, 2.96) vs. Wade Miley (3-1, 2.93)
GAME 2 - TUESDAY - MAY 14TH - @ DIAMONDBACKS - 9:40 PM - SPSO
Julio Teheran (1-0, 5.08) vs. Patrick Corbin (4-0, 1.80)
GAME 3 - WEDNESDAY - MAY 15TH - @ DIAMONDBACKS - 3:40 PM - SPSO
Tim Hudson (4-1, 3.83) vs. Ian Kennedy (1-3, 5.19)
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Atlanta Braves Sunday Report
Well I don't think the season could have started off any worst for the Braves as they were swept by the Mets in New York. The story of each game was the Braves lack of offense which continued a trend from last September's collapse. The Braves totaled just 7 runs and 14 hits in the 3-game series but the underlying numbers were ugly. The Braves were a dismal 0-for-6 with 7 LOB in game 1. In game 2 they were 0-for-4 with 7 LOB and in game 3 they were 1-for-4 with RISP with 3 LOB. Those kinds of numbers aren't going to win very many games.
THURSDAY
---Mets
---Loss 1-0
---WP: Ramon Ramirez (1-0)
---LP: Tommy Hanson (0-1)
---S: Frank Francisco (1)
The Braves opened the season with a tough luck 1-0 loss. It goes down as the first 1-0 loss in a season opener in Atlanta Braves history. Tommy Hanson pitched well as he cruised through 5 innings before running into trouble in the 6th inning. After a leadoff walk Hanson gave up back-to-back singles including a RBI single to David Wright to give the Mets the 1-0 lead that would stand up. Johan Santana went 5 innings getting out of a 2-out bases loaded jam in the 5th inning by striking out Michael Bourn to end the inning. Braves rookie Tyler Pastornicky hit a triple in the 7th inning for his first ML hit. The Braves finished with a lousy 4 hits.
SATURDAY
---Mets
---Loss 4-2
---WP: R.A. Dickey (1-0)
---LP: Jair Jurrjens (0-1)
---S: Frank Francisco (2)
On Saturday it was more of the same for the Braves as the offense struggled to get anything going against the knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Dickey's only mistake of the game came in the 5th inning when with 2-outs he walked Michael Bourn and then Martin Prado hit a screaming 2-run homerun down the left-field line just inside the foul pole. It briefly tied the game before the Mets reclaimed the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the 5th. The Mets hit 3 solo homeruns, 1 for David Wright and 2 for Lucas Duda. For Duda it was his first career multi-homerun game. Jair Jurrjens struggled with his command in the strike zone and failed to make it out of the 5th inning before running up a pitch count over 100 pitches. Jurrjens final line was 4 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 3 walks and 2 strikeouts. Jason Heyward looked good as he had 2 walks and a triple in 4 plate appearances. Juan Francisco in his Braves debut was 0-4 but hit 2 liners that were caught. Freddie Freeman had 2 singles.
SUNDAY
---Mets
---Loss 7-5
---WP: Jonathon Niese (1-0)
---LP: Mike Minor (0-1)
---S: Frank Francisco (3)
Sunday was an up and down game for the Braves. The good was the Braves took advantage of a huge error by Mets outfielder Lucas Duda and turned that into a 4-run 7th inning. The bad was that the Braves managed just 3 hits in scoring 5 runs. The good was that Mike Minor for 4 2/3 innings was really, really good. The bad was he gave up a 2-out single to opposing pitcher Jonathon Niese and then the wheels just fell off as the Mets ended up scoring 2 runs in the 5th inning to make it 4-0 at the time. Minor then returned to the hill to start the 6th inning and didn't record an out as the Mets scored 3 more runs to take a 7-0 lead. Minor was eventually charged with giving up 6 runs (all earned) on 6 hits in 5 innings with 4 walks and 6 strikeouts.
The upcoming schedule sees the Braves taking on the Astros and then returning home as the Brewers come into town on Friday.
GAME 1 - MONDAY APRIL 9TH - 8:05 PM - FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Brandon Beachy vs. J.A. Happ
GAME 2 - TUESDAY APRIL 10TH - 8:05 PM - FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Tommy Hanson vs. Kyle Weiland
GAME 3 - WEDNESDAY APRIL 11TH - 8:05 PM - FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Randall Delgado vs. Wandy Rodriguez
GAME 1 - FRIDAY APRIL 13TH - 7:35 PM - PEACHTREE TV, FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Randy Wolf vs. Jair Jurrjens
GAME 2 - SATURDAY APRIL 14TH - 7:10 PM - PEACHTREE TV, FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Shaun Marcum vs. Mike Minor
GAME 3 - SUNDAY APRIL 15TH - 1:35 PM - SPORTSSOUTH
Chris Narveson vs. Brandon Beachy
THURSDAY
---Mets
---Loss 1-0
---WP: Ramon Ramirez (1-0)
---LP: Tommy Hanson (0-1)
---S: Frank Francisco (1)
The Braves opened the season with a tough luck 1-0 loss. It goes down as the first 1-0 loss in a season opener in Atlanta Braves history. Tommy Hanson pitched well as he cruised through 5 innings before running into trouble in the 6th inning. After a leadoff walk Hanson gave up back-to-back singles including a RBI single to David Wright to give the Mets the 1-0 lead that would stand up. Johan Santana went 5 innings getting out of a 2-out bases loaded jam in the 5th inning by striking out Michael Bourn to end the inning. Braves rookie Tyler Pastornicky hit a triple in the 7th inning for his first ML hit. The Braves finished with a lousy 4 hits.
SATURDAY
---Mets
---Loss 4-2
---WP: R.A. Dickey (1-0)
---LP: Jair Jurrjens (0-1)
---S: Frank Francisco (2)
On Saturday it was more of the same for the Braves as the offense struggled to get anything going against the knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Dickey's only mistake of the game came in the 5th inning when with 2-outs he walked Michael Bourn and then Martin Prado hit a screaming 2-run homerun down the left-field line just inside the foul pole. It briefly tied the game before the Mets reclaimed the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the 5th. The Mets hit 3 solo homeruns, 1 for David Wright and 2 for Lucas Duda. For Duda it was his first career multi-homerun game. Jair Jurrjens struggled with his command in the strike zone and failed to make it out of the 5th inning before running up a pitch count over 100 pitches. Jurrjens final line was 4 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 3 walks and 2 strikeouts. Jason Heyward looked good as he had 2 walks and a triple in 4 plate appearances. Juan Francisco in his Braves debut was 0-4 but hit 2 liners that were caught. Freddie Freeman had 2 singles.
SUNDAY
---Mets
---Loss 7-5
---WP: Jonathon Niese (1-0)
---LP: Mike Minor (0-1)
---S: Frank Francisco (3)
Sunday was an up and down game for the Braves. The good was the Braves took advantage of a huge error by Mets outfielder Lucas Duda and turned that into a 4-run 7th inning. The bad was that the Braves managed just 3 hits in scoring 5 runs. The good was that Mike Minor for 4 2/3 innings was really, really good. The bad was he gave up a 2-out single to opposing pitcher Jonathon Niese and then the wheels just fell off as the Mets ended up scoring 2 runs in the 5th inning to make it 4-0 at the time. Minor then returned to the hill to start the 6th inning and didn't record an out as the Mets scored 3 more runs to take a 7-0 lead. Minor was eventually charged with giving up 6 runs (all earned) on 6 hits in 5 innings with 4 walks and 6 strikeouts.
The upcoming schedule sees the Braves taking on the Astros and then returning home as the Brewers come into town on Friday.
GAME 1 - MONDAY APRIL 9TH - 8:05 PM - FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Brandon Beachy vs. J.A. Happ
GAME 2 - TUESDAY APRIL 10TH - 8:05 PM - FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Tommy Hanson vs. Kyle Weiland
GAME 3 - WEDNESDAY APRIL 11TH - 8:05 PM - FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Randall Delgado vs. Wandy Rodriguez
GAME 1 - FRIDAY APRIL 13TH - 7:35 PM - PEACHTREE TV, FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Randy Wolf vs. Jair Jurrjens
GAME 2 - SATURDAY APRIL 14TH - 7:10 PM - PEACHTREE TV, FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Shaun Marcum vs. Mike Minor
GAME 3 - SUNDAY APRIL 15TH - 1:35 PM - SPORTSSOUTH
Chris Narveson vs. Brandon Beachy
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Atlanta Braves Season Preview
The Atlanta Braves get their season kicked off tomorrow against the Mets in New York. Tommy Hanson toes the rubber against Johan Santana. Both pitchers are working their way back from injuries.
Hanson didn't pitch after August 6th of last season coincidentally also against the Mets in New York. Santana last pitched in a regular season major league game in September of 2010. Both had shoulder injuries. Hanson used rest and rehab to recover from his injury while Santana had surgery to fix his aliment.
The Braves final 25-man roster under went several changes as the season approached. With injuries to some pitchers and under performance of other pitchers the Braves signed veteran pitchers Livan Hernandez and Chad Durbin who had been cut during spring camp by the Astros and Nationals respectively. Both pitchers will work out of the bullpen.
With Chipper Jones slated to begin the season on the DL (he's excepted to be activated and eligible to play in the home opener on April 13th) the Braves went out and traded for 3rd baseman Juan Francisco from the Cincinnati Reds. Francisco will sever as the Braves starting 3rd baseman till Chipper returns.
Tim Hudson had back surgery in November and will miss the first month of the season. Randall Delgado will take Hudson's spot in the starting rotation till he returns in May.
The big talk during the spring was who would win the starting shortstop battle, Tyler Pastornicky or Andrelton Simmons? Pastornicky ended up winning the job over Simmons simply because Simmons just wasn't quite ready. But don't be surprised if Simmons appears in Atlanta sometime this season but for now he'll start the season at Double-A Mississippi.
Here are the pitching matchups for this weekend in New York.
GAME 1 - THURSDAY APRIL 5TH - 1:10 PM - SportsSouth
Tommy Hanson vs. Johan Santana
GAME 2 - SATURDAY APRIL 7TH - 1:10 PM - SportsSouth
Jair Jurrjens vs. R.A. Dickey
GAME 3 - SUNDAY APRIL 8TH - 1:10 PM - SportsSouth
Mike Minor vs. Jonathon Niese
*All times Eastern.
**Remember to check back this Sunday and every Sunday for my Atlanta Braves Sunday Report articles.
Hanson didn't pitch after August 6th of last season coincidentally also against the Mets in New York. Santana last pitched in a regular season major league game in September of 2010. Both had shoulder injuries. Hanson used rest and rehab to recover from his injury while Santana had surgery to fix his aliment.
The Braves final 25-man roster under went several changes as the season approached. With injuries to some pitchers and under performance of other pitchers the Braves signed veteran pitchers Livan Hernandez and Chad Durbin who had been cut during spring camp by the Astros and Nationals respectively. Both pitchers will work out of the bullpen.
With Chipper Jones slated to begin the season on the DL (he's excepted to be activated and eligible to play in the home opener on April 13th) the Braves went out and traded for 3rd baseman Juan Francisco from the Cincinnati Reds. Francisco will sever as the Braves starting 3rd baseman till Chipper returns.
Tim Hudson had back surgery in November and will miss the first month of the season. Randall Delgado will take Hudson's spot in the starting rotation till he returns in May.
The big talk during the spring was who would win the starting shortstop battle, Tyler Pastornicky or Andrelton Simmons? Pastornicky ended up winning the job over Simmons simply because Simmons just wasn't quite ready. But don't be surprised if Simmons appears in Atlanta sometime this season but for now he'll start the season at Double-A Mississippi.
Here are the pitching matchups for this weekend in New York.
GAME 1 - THURSDAY APRIL 5TH - 1:10 PM - SportsSouth
Tommy Hanson vs. Johan Santana
GAME 2 - SATURDAY APRIL 7TH - 1:10 PM - SportsSouth
Jair Jurrjens vs. R.A. Dickey
GAME 3 - SUNDAY APRIL 8TH - 1:10 PM - SportsSouth
Mike Minor vs. Jonathon Niese
*All times Eastern.
**Remember to check back this Sunday and every Sunday for my Atlanta Braves Sunday Report articles.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Chipper Jones Announces Retirement
The Atlanta Braves made Chipper Jones, a high school shortstop, the first overall pick of the 1990 amateur draft.
Jones made his MLB debut on September 11, 1993. He was slated to be the Braves starting left-fielder in 1994 but in late spring training he tore the ACL in his left knee and missed the entire season.
Jones came back strong in 1995 and led all major league rookies in games played (140), games started (123), runs batted in (86), homeruns (23), plate appearances (602), at-bats (524) and runs scored (87). He finished 2nd in the Baseball Writers' Rookie of the Year voting.
The Braves benefited greatly from Jones as they defeated the Cleveland Indians 4-2 to win the World Series in 1995.
Chipper Jones quickly became a dangerous force for any pitcher. He would finish in the top 10 of Most Valuable Player voting 6 times. He won the MVP in 1999 with a .319 batting average, 45 homeruns, 110 RBIs, 41 doubles. Jones even showcased his speed racking up 25 stolen bases.Jones is a 7-time All-Star selection (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2008). He is a 2-time Silver Slugger award winner (1999, 2000).
Jones currently sports a .304 career average with 454 homeruns and 1,561 runs batted in. The only switch-hitters in MLB history with more homeruns is Mickie Mantle (536) and Eddie Murray (503). Murray is the only switch-hitter with more runs batted in.
Chipper has the most homeruns in Braves franchise history since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966. The only Braves player with more homeruns in franchise history is Hank Aaron.
Chipper Jones is the only switch-hitter in the history of baseball to sport a career average of .300 with more than 450 homeruns.
Jones won the NL batting title with a .364 average in 2008 at the age of 36. Jones who turns 40 on April 24th has still managed to be a very productive major league player as he's coming off a 2011 season which saw hit hit .275 with 18 homeruns and 70 runs batted in. While far off his career peak numbers still very solid.
Jones is undoubtedly a first ballot Hall of Famer. He will be standing on stage in Cooperstown, New York come the summer of 2017.Speaking of New York. If there is one team that won't miss seeing Jones it's the New York Mets.
Chipper Jones wreaked havoc on the Mets his entire career. His first MLB homerun in 1995 was a 9th inning tie-breaking homerun which ultimately ended up winning the game for the Braves. It was from that day forward that Met fans grew to develop the "Larry" chant mocking Chipper's given name.
Jones most signature moment against the Mets came in September of 1999. With the Mets trying to overtake the Braves and win the NL East division Chipper hit 4 homeruns in a 3-game sweep of the Mets that eventually sealed his winning of the MVP award that year. The Braves ended up beating the Mets in the NLCS that year before falling to the New York Yankees.
Jones even has a son named Shea after Shea Stadium where the Mets played their home games until moving to Citi Field in 2009. Jones has hit 48 homeruns against the Mets in his career his most against any team.
The Braves open the 2012 season by playing the Mets in New York at Citi Field on April 5th. If Jones stays healthy he will end the season by playing against the Mets in Atlanta. Hopefully a playoff run will follow.
Being born in 1987 and growing up in the 1990s Chipper Jones has always been the Atlanta Braves in my eyes. I don't know an Atlanta Braves team without Chipper Jones. Come spring of 2013 the Atlanta Braves will take the field without Chipper Jones sporting his No. 10 over at 3rd base. That day will be very sad for me.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Can the Braves win the NL East in 2009?
Can the Atlanta Braves win the NL East in 2009? I think so. With the right moves the Braves can not only win the NL East in 2009 but also set themselves up to do so in the long term. I know you have heard about all the Jake Peavy to the Braves trade rumors. He would be the most important piece in the Braves efforts to win the NL East in 2009.
Trading for Peavy won't be easy. It will cost some top notch prospects and possibly Yunel Escobar or Kelly Johnson. I doubt the Braves trade Johnson not knowing if Martin Prado is capable of playing 2nd base everyday. The latest rumors have the Braves getting Jake Peavy and Khalil Greene in a deal centered around Yunel Escobar, Tommy Hanson and some other prospects.
Say the Braves trade for Jake Peavy and Khalil Greene for Yunel Escobar, Tommy Hanson, Jordan Schafer, Jeff Locke, Cole Rohrbough and either Brandon Jones or some other mid level prospect.
Jake Peavy imediately gives the Braves a legit ace. A pitcher that strikes fear into an opponent in a short playoff series. Tim Hudson is really, really good but he doesn't strike fear into opponents the way Peavy would because Hudson doesn't strikeout a ton of guys. Yeah every now and then he'll have a 10 or so strikeout game but those are few and far between. The Braves haven't had a pitcher strike fear into an opponent since John Smoltz was in his prime and Peavy would change that.
Peavy will make 11 million in 2009 and that would be cheaper than signing one of the top notch guys on the market. Getting Peavy would allow the Braves to sign an innings eater such as a Jon Garland or Paul Byrd. My vote would be Garland because he is much younger than Byrd.
Garland will probably make around 11 or 12 million in 2009 just because of the lack of quality starting pitchers on the market. Garland is a very underrated pitcher. In 9 ML seasons he has a 106-89 record with a 4.47 ERA. They say pitching in the AL adds half a run to your ERA so basically we are talking about a pitcher with a career ERA right around 4 which is really good. The fact that Garland has made 30 or more starts in 7 straight seasons makes him very attractive. Add in another fact that he just doesn't walk alot of hitters and he would be a solid #3 starter.
Spending 22 million of the Braves' reported 45 million to spend still leaves plenty to spend on the LF and CF positions to solidify the lineup. LF and CF were both huge holes for the team in 2008. The Braves have top prospect Jason Heyward (who won't be traded period) waiting in the wings to fill the LF spot for many years to come but he won't be ready in 2009 so the Braves will have to find someone else.
The Braves would like whoever they get to play LF to be a right handed hitter with the Braves being a left-handed dominate lineup. Milton Bradley has had more than his fair share of run ins with managers but his production on the field doesn't lie. I doubt the Rangers let him go after the year he had but if they do let him walk I say sign him to a 1 year deal to play LF or CF. He is coming off a year in which he batted .321 with 22 homeruns and 77 rbis for the Rangers in 126 games. If he could get along with Bobby Cox he would be a solid addition to the lineup in 2009.
As for the other outfield spot that is really up in the air. The has never been any question about Rocco Baldelli's talent and the Braves nearly traded for him a few years back but with Baldelli's condition that keeps him from playing everyday he would have to be platooned with someone. This is where I say I wouldn't be shocked to see the Braves bring back Mark Kotsay. Kotsay was very productive for the Braves in 2008 before being traded to the Red Sox. In 88 games for the Braves Kotsay hit .289 with 6 homeruns and 37 rbis. I sure a lefty-righty platoon of Baldelli and Kotsay with be very productive for the Braves in 2009.
Now talking about the bench. The Braves need to re-sign Greg Norton. Norton was very solid coming off the bench in 2008 for the Braves. He had the 2nd most pinch hits in the NL in 2008. Omar Infante and Martin Prado were very solid feel ins for various injuries in 2008. Both should be back. Backup catcher is a concern for the Braves. I highly doubt Corky Miller will be back in 2009. I really don't know who the Braves are going to get for their backup catcher position but anybody will be an upgrade over Miller. Gregor Blanco, Josh Anderson and Matt Diaz will be in a battle for the backup outfielder role.
C = Brian McCann
1B = Casey Kotchman
2B = Kelly Johnson
3B = Chipper Jones
SS = Khalil Greene
LF = Milton Bradley
CF = Rocco Baldelli/Mark Kotsay
RF = Jeff Francoeur
I know you're wondering where John Smoltz and Tom Glavine fit in for 2009. We won't find out until January or February if those guys will be able to pitch in 2009. If John Smoltz is able to pitch in 2009 he will have to decide if that will be in the role of starter or closer. If he chooses closer which I believe he might that would make what already looks to be a solid bullpen in 2009 even better. Glavine on the other hand if he is able to pitch would give the Braves another starter and even more depth they didn't have for 2008. Glavine was very good in 2008 before his elbow started messing with him. His 2-3 record and 4.85 ERA could have been alot better. He had 6 starts in 2008 where he pitched at least 6 innings and gave up 2 earned runs or less and got only 1 win to show for it.
Jake Peavy
Jair Jurrjens
Jon Garland
Jorge Campillo
Tom Glavine
That would be the Braves rotation minus Tim Hudson who had Tommy John surgery this past August and could be back as soon as late August next year. If the Braves are in contention getting Hudson back would be like making a major trade. Also Glavine would probably be low on gas by the time Hudson comes back and being able to use Glavine and Hudson to feel that #5 starter role with each getting extra rest between starts would be perfect for the Braves in 2009.
Now on to the bullpen. Rafael Soriano will be ready for spring training and Peter Moylan will be coming back from Tommy John surgery in May. If both pick up where they left off then the Braves would have a protential deadly bullpen and overall completely dominating pitching staff. Mike Gonzalez was very solid coming back this past June from his Tommy John surgery he had in May of 2007. He was 14 for 16 in converting save chances. I believe Manny Acosta and Blaine Boyer are very good relievers who both just got over used in 2008. One of the main keys to the bullpen in 2009 will be the Braves re-signing Will Ohman. Ohman was very solid in 2008.
Jeff Ridgway
Blaine Boyer
Will Ohman
Rafael Soriano
Peter Moylan
Mike Gonzalez
John Smoltz
With all of these moves the Braves can and will win the NL East in 2009.
Trading for Peavy won't be easy. It will cost some top notch prospects and possibly Yunel Escobar or Kelly Johnson. I doubt the Braves trade Johnson not knowing if Martin Prado is capable of playing 2nd base everyday. The latest rumors have the Braves getting Jake Peavy and Khalil Greene in a deal centered around Yunel Escobar, Tommy Hanson and some other prospects.
Say the Braves trade for Jake Peavy and Khalil Greene for Yunel Escobar, Tommy Hanson, Jordan Schafer, Jeff Locke, Cole Rohrbough and either Brandon Jones or some other mid level prospect.
Jake Peavy imediately gives the Braves a legit ace. A pitcher that strikes fear into an opponent in a short playoff series. Tim Hudson is really, really good but he doesn't strike fear into opponents the way Peavy would because Hudson doesn't strikeout a ton of guys. Yeah every now and then he'll have a 10 or so strikeout game but those are few and far between. The Braves haven't had a pitcher strike fear into an opponent since John Smoltz was in his prime and Peavy would change that.
Peavy will make 11 million in 2009 and that would be cheaper than signing one of the top notch guys on the market. Getting Peavy would allow the Braves to sign an innings eater such as a Jon Garland or Paul Byrd. My vote would be Garland because he is much younger than Byrd.
Garland will probably make around 11 or 12 million in 2009 just because of the lack of quality starting pitchers on the market. Garland is a very underrated pitcher. In 9 ML seasons he has a 106-89 record with a 4.47 ERA. They say pitching in the AL adds half a run to your ERA so basically we are talking about a pitcher with a career ERA right around 4 which is really good. The fact that Garland has made 30 or more starts in 7 straight seasons makes him very attractive. Add in another fact that he just doesn't walk alot of hitters and he would be a solid #3 starter.
Spending 22 million of the Braves' reported 45 million to spend still leaves plenty to spend on the LF and CF positions to solidify the lineup. LF and CF were both huge holes for the team in 2008. The Braves have top prospect Jason Heyward (who won't be traded period) waiting in the wings to fill the LF spot for many years to come but he won't be ready in 2009 so the Braves will have to find someone else.
The Braves would like whoever they get to play LF to be a right handed hitter with the Braves being a left-handed dominate lineup. Milton Bradley has had more than his fair share of run ins with managers but his production on the field doesn't lie. I doubt the Rangers let him go after the year he had but if they do let him walk I say sign him to a 1 year deal to play LF or CF. He is coming off a year in which he batted .321 with 22 homeruns and 77 rbis for the Rangers in 126 games. If he could get along with Bobby Cox he would be a solid addition to the lineup in 2009.
As for the other outfield spot that is really up in the air. The has never been any question about Rocco Baldelli's talent and the Braves nearly traded for him a few years back but with Baldelli's condition that keeps him from playing everyday he would have to be platooned with someone. This is where I say I wouldn't be shocked to see the Braves bring back Mark Kotsay. Kotsay was very productive for the Braves in 2008 before being traded to the Red Sox. In 88 games for the Braves Kotsay hit .289 with 6 homeruns and 37 rbis. I sure a lefty-righty platoon of Baldelli and Kotsay with be very productive for the Braves in 2009.
Now talking about the bench. The Braves need to re-sign Greg Norton. Norton was very solid coming off the bench in 2008 for the Braves. He had the 2nd most pinch hits in the NL in 2008. Omar Infante and Martin Prado were very solid feel ins for various injuries in 2008. Both should be back. Backup catcher is a concern for the Braves. I highly doubt Corky Miller will be back in 2009. I really don't know who the Braves are going to get for their backup catcher position but anybody will be an upgrade over Miller. Gregor Blanco, Josh Anderson and Matt Diaz will be in a battle for the backup outfielder role.
C = Brian McCann
1B = Casey Kotchman
2B = Kelly Johnson
3B = Chipper Jones
SS = Khalil Greene
LF = Milton Bradley
CF = Rocco Baldelli/Mark Kotsay
RF = Jeff Francoeur
I know you're wondering where John Smoltz and Tom Glavine fit in for 2009. We won't find out until January or February if those guys will be able to pitch in 2009. If John Smoltz is able to pitch in 2009 he will have to decide if that will be in the role of starter or closer. If he chooses closer which I believe he might that would make what already looks to be a solid bullpen in 2009 even better. Glavine on the other hand if he is able to pitch would give the Braves another starter and even more depth they didn't have for 2008. Glavine was very good in 2008 before his elbow started messing with him. His 2-3 record and 4.85 ERA could have been alot better. He had 6 starts in 2008 where he pitched at least 6 innings and gave up 2 earned runs or less and got only 1 win to show for it.
Jake Peavy
Jair Jurrjens
Jon Garland
Jorge Campillo
Tom Glavine
That would be the Braves rotation minus Tim Hudson who had Tommy John surgery this past August and could be back as soon as late August next year. If the Braves are in contention getting Hudson back would be like making a major trade. Also Glavine would probably be low on gas by the time Hudson comes back and being able to use Glavine and Hudson to feel that #5 starter role with each getting extra rest between starts would be perfect for the Braves in 2009.
Now on to the bullpen. Rafael Soriano will be ready for spring training and Peter Moylan will be coming back from Tommy John surgery in May. If both pick up where they left off then the Braves would have a protential deadly bullpen and overall completely dominating pitching staff. Mike Gonzalez was very solid coming back this past June from his Tommy John surgery he had in May of 2007. He was 14 for 16 in converting save chances. I believe Manny Acosta and Blaine Boyer are very good relievers who both just got over used in 2008. One of the main keys to the bullpen in 2009 will be the Braves re-signing Will Ohman. Ohman was very solid in 2008.
Jeff Ridgway
Blaine Boyer
Will Ohman
Rafael Soriano
Peter Moylan
Mike Gonzalez
John Smoltz
With all of these moves the Braves can and will win the NL East in 2009.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Updated Braves Outlook
I am updating my Atlanta Braves outlook. After reading alot of people's take on the Braves and doing alot of thinking I think the Braves are capable at contending next year and setting themselves up nicely in the future. I say yeah they can contend for a playoff spot next year but I'm more excited to be looking toward 2010 or 2011. Come 2011 the Braves could be legit World Series contenders.
Here is how I would do it. David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution brings up the idea of protentially trading for the Marlins' Josh Willingham. Willingham is one of 17 arbitration eligible players the Marlins have. They won't be able to keep all of them and with their outfield depth Willingham is expendable. So that makes perfect since to me. Willingham could feel the left-field hole until whenever Jason Heyward is ready. He is a 20-25 homerun a year guy when healthy. Another reason Willingham would be a good fit is because he would be a cheaper player than say Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell or any other possible solution to the LF hole. Also the Braves wouldn't have to give up much to get him.
That would allow the Braves to spend money on starting pitchers. I really believe Derek Lowe is number one on the Braves list to feel the ace role. Then the Braves could sign a second level starter such as Paul Byrd or Jon Garland. Say the Braves sign Lowe and Garland. Also say that they bring Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and maybe Mike Hampton back on low base salaries with lots of incentives. The Braves would have the starting pitching depth they lacked this year when three of their starters went down to season ending injuries. The Braves could go into next season with a rotation with this look to it.
Derek Lowe
Jair Jurrjens
Jon Garland
Tom Glavine
John Smoltz
Mike Hampton
Jorge Campillo
That would also allow them to push James Parr and Charlie Morton back to Triple-A where they could get more seasoning. With those moves the Braves could contend in 2009 but also set themselves up nicely for 2010 and 2011 when the next wave of superstar talent is ready.
How would the Braves fill the center-field hole you ask? Well it wouldn't shock me one bit if Jordan Schafer is the Braves opening day starter in 2009. But hey what do I know. The Braves could do all of this or none of this. The great thing about this sport is trying to guess what a team will do during the off-season.
Here is how I would do it. David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution brings up the idea of protentially trading for the Marlins' Josh Willingham. Willingham is one of 17 arbitration eligible players the Marlins have. They won't be able to keep all of them and with their outfield depth Willingham is expendable. So that makes perfect since to me. Willingham could feel the left-field hole until whenever Jason Heyward is ready. He is a 20-25 homerun a year guy when healthy. Another reason Willingham would be a good fit is because he would be a cheaper player than say Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell or any other possible solution to the LF hole. Also the Braves wouldn't have to give up much to get him.
That would allow the Braves to spend money on starting pitchers. I really believe Derek Lowe is number one on the Braves list to feel the ace role. Then the Braves could sign a second level starter such as Paul Byrd or Jon Garland. Say the Braves sign Lowe and Garland. Also say that they bring Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and maybe Mike Hampton back on low base salaries with lots of incentives. The Braves would have the starting pitching depth they lacked this year when three of their starters went down to season ending injuries. The Braves could go into next season with a rotation with this look to it.
Derek Lowe
Jair Jurrjens
Jon Garland
Tom Glavine
John Smoltz
Mike Hampton
Jorge Campillo
That would also allow them to push James Parr and Charlie Morton back to Triple-A where they could get more seasoning. With those moves the Braves could contend in 2009 but also set themselves up nicely for 2010 and 2011 when the next wave of superstar talent is ready.
How would the Braves fill the center-field hole you ask? Well it wouldn't shock me one bit if Jordan Schafer is the Braves opening day starter in 2009. But hey what do I know. The Braves could do all of this or none of this. The great thing about this sport is trying to guess what a team will do during the off-season.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Atlanta Braves 2009 Outlook
The 2008 season was a mighty disappointing one for the Atlanta Braves. Injuries ruined any chance the Braves had of contending as John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Tim Hudson all went down to season ending surgery. For Smoltz and Glavine that could mean the end of their soon to be Hall of Fame careers.
Other injuries, most notably the nagging injuries to Chipper Jones, also took their toll. The Braves lost closer Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan to season ending surgery as well. Add in the fact that Jeff Francoeur had the worst season of his young career 2008 was a forgettable season.
Of course with every season comes some surprises. Jair Jurrjens at the tender age of 22 established himself as the future ace of the team for years to come and Jorge Campillo came out of nowhere to lock down a spot in the rotation with a bugs bunny type change up.
Martin Prado and Omar Infante proved to be valubale utility players while Mike Gonzalez returned from Tommy John surgery the previous season to re-establish himself as one of the more dominate closers in all of baseball. Gonzalez is most likely to return in that role again for 2009, unless John Smoltz returns to pitch out of the bullpen.
The offense took a hit during the season with the trade of 1B Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels. But 1B Casey Kotchman showed during the season's final month why he was acquired. Many scouts (myself included) believe Kotchman, who will be entering just his 3rd full season, will develop into a solid .300 hitter with 20 homerun power.
With Francoeur's down year and the lack of an everyday left-fielder and center-fielder the Braves outfield as a whole was the worst in all of baseball. Many single players had more homeruns than the Braves outfielders combined. That will most certainly have to change if the Braves are to contend in 2009. That all starts with Francoeur. Francoeur slumped to a .239 batting average a year after hitting .293. His power numbers also took a hit down to 11 homeruns and just 71 runs batted in. If Francoeur can get back to the 29 homeruns he showed in 2006 with the batting average of 2007 then that will go a long way in determining if the Braves make a comeback in 2009.
The Braves must find an everyday left-fielder and center-fielder. I personally like the speed of Josh Anderson and Gregor Blanco but believe those guys will prove to be nothing more than number 4 outfielders at best. General Manager Frank Wren has his work cutout for him on that front.
But the main reason the Braves fell off in 2008 was the starting pitching. Frank Wren has said he wants to add 2 veteran starters and Mark Bowman the Braves.com beat writer estimates the Braves will have 45 million to work with. There are plenty of veteran starters on the market this year (unlike last year) but the price for pitching has increased greatly over the past few years. A solid starter now costs in the range of 15-20 million dollars a year.
Here are some of the guys the Braves might be looking at:
A. J. Burnett
Derek Lowe
John Lackey
Ben Sheets
CC Sabathia
The Braves also might have trade for what players they want. But they have made it clear that their top prospects are off limits. That if they have too they will bite the bullet on 2009 and look forward to 2010. I wouldn't be apposed to that myself. For the last 3 or 4 years the Braves have been trying to reload and have been raiding the farm system as a result. Lets not forget that the Braves didn't get to all those World Series in the 90s by raiding the farm system. The core of those teams was home grown players starting with the starting pitchers.
If I had my way about things I would bring back Glavine, Smoltz, Hampton and maybe Maddux for one last ride and talk those guys into retiring along with Bobby Cox so the Braves can finally move on from living in the past.
The Braves have done that with the position players but have yet to do it with the pitching staff and we have seen over the years that you don't win games without pitching. Just look at the Texas Rangers if you need proof.
The Braves are have some young pitchers in the lower minor league levels with some upside. The closest one to the majors seems to be RHP Tommy Hanson. The Braves would like to keep from rushing him to the bigs next year but he might be in the rotation next year if injuries come up. Other young pitchers include LHP Cole Rohrbough, LHP Jeff Locke and RHP Julio Teheran.
Speaking of position players the Braves have a kid who might be ready for the bigs by the end of next year named Jason Heyward. He was the Braves top draft pick in the 2007 draft and has monster power. He could fill that hole in leftfield for years to come. I also say give Jordan Schafer every chance in the world to win the centerfield job next year. If Francoeur gets back to the old Frenchy that would be one hell of an outfield for years too come.
Just my take on the Atlanta Braves.
Other injuries, most notably the nagging injuries to Chipper Jones, also took their toll. The Braves lost closer Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan to season ending surgery as well. Add in the fact that Jeff Francoeur had the worst season of his young career 2008 was a forgettable season.
Of course with every season comes some surprises. Jair Jurrjens at the tender age of 22 established himself as the future ace of the team for years to come and Jorge Campillo came out of nowhere to lock down a spot in the rotation with a bugs bunny type change up.
Martin Prado and Omar Infante proved to be valubale utility players while Mike Gonzalez returned from Tommy John surgery the previous season to re-establish himself as one of the more dominate closers in all of baseball. Gonzalez is most likely to return in that role again for 2009, unless John Smoltz returns to pitch out of the bullpen.
The offense took a hit during the season with the trade of 1B Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels. But 1B Casey Kotchman showed during the season's final month why he was acquired. Many scouts (myself included) believe Kotchman, who will be entering just his 3rd full season, will develop into a solid .300 hitter with 20 homerun power.
With Francoeur's down year and the lack of an everyday left-fielder and center-fielder the Braves outfield as a whole was the worst in all of baseball. Many single players had more homeruns than the Braves outfielders combined. That will most certainly have to change if the Braves are to contend in 2009. That all starts with Francoeur. Francoeur slumped to a .239 batting average a year after hitting .293. His power numbers also took a hit down to 11 homeruns and just 71 runs batted in. If Francoeur can get back to the 29 homeruns he showed in 2006 with the batting average of 2007 then that will go a long way in determining if the Braves make a comeback in 2009.
The Braves must find an everyday left-fielder and center-fielder. I personally like the speed of Josh Anderson and Gregor Blanco but believe those guys will prove to be nothing more than number 4 outfielders at best. General Manager Frank Wren has his work cutout for him on that front.
But the main reason the Braves fell off in 2008 was the starting pitching. Frank Wren has said he wants to add 2 veteran starters and Mark Bowman the Braves.com beat writer estimates the Braves will have 45 million to work with. There are plenty of veteran starters on the market this year (unlike last year) but the price for pitching has increased greatly over the past few years. A solid starter now costs in the range of 15-20 million dollars a year.
Here are some of the guys the Braves might be looking at:
A. J. Burnett
Derek Lowe
John Lackey
Ben Sheets
CC Sabathia
The Braves also might have trade for what players they want. But they have made it clear that their top prospects are off limits. That if they have too they will bite the bullet on 2009 and look forward to 2010. I wouldn't be apposed to that myself. For the last 3 or 4 years the Braves have been trying to reload and have been raiding the farm system as a result. Lets not forget that the Braves didn't get to all those World Series in the 90s by raiding the farm system. The core of those teams was home grown players starting with the starting pitchers.
If I had my way about things I would bring back Glavine, Smoltz, Hampton and maybe Maddux for one last ride and talk those guys into retiring along with Bobby Cox so the Braves can finally move on from living in the past.
The Braves have done that with the position players but have yet to do it with the pitching staff and we have seen over the years that you don't win games without pitching. Just look at the Texas Rangers if you need proof.
The Braves are have some young pitchers in the lower minor league levels with some upside. The closest one to the majors seems to be RHP Tommy Hanson. The Braves would like to keep from rushing him to the bigs next year but he might be in the rotation next year if injuries come up. Other young pitchers include LHP Cole Rohrbough, LHP Jeff Locke and RHP Julio Teheran.
Speaking of position players the Braves have a kid who might be ready for the bigs by the end of next year named Jason Heyward. He was the Braves top draft pick in the 2007 draft and has monster power. He could fill that hole in leftfield for years to come. I also say give Jordan Schafer every chance in the world to win the centerfield job next year. If Francoeur gets back to the old Frenchy that would be one hell of an outfield for years too come.
Just my take on the Atlanta Braves.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Atlanta Braves Trade Deadline Report
The Atlanta Braves had quite a busy trade deadline. They made a huge move in acquiring Texas Rangers' 1B Mark Teixeira. For the Braves this is the biggest mid-season trade since 1993 when the Braves acquired 1B Fred McGriff from the San Diego Padres. The Teixeira trade goes down on paper like this:
Braves Acquire
1B Mark Teixeira
LHP Ron Mahay
Rangers Acquire
C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
SS Elvis Andrus (Minor Leaguer)
LHP Matt Harrison (Minor Leaguer)
LHP Beau Jones (Minor Leaguer)
RHP Neftali Perez (Minor Leaguer)
I really like this trade. Teixeira will be placed into the cleanup spot in the lineup and is a force and should get Chipper Jones some more pitches to hit. He will also allow Andruw to get some more pitches to hit. The Braves lineup is clearly the best in the NL now with this trade. The Braves lineup will look like this now:
Braves Lineup
1. Willie Harris LF
2. Edgar Renteria SS
3. Chipper Jones 3B
4. Mark Teixeira 1B
5. Andruw Jones CF
6. Brian McCann C
7. Jeff Francoeur RF
8. Kelly Johnson 2B
Another trade made was this trade:
Braves Acquire
RHP Octavio Dotel
Royals Acquire
RHP Kyle Davies
I like this trade also. Kyle Davies gets a chance for a fresh start with the Royals and will be placed into the starting rotation right away. Dotel has postseason experience and is a flame thrower that will serve in a setup role in the 7th or 8th inning. And third and final the Braves made this trade:
Braves Acquire
LHP Royce Ring
Padres Acquire
LHP Wilfredo Ledezma
LHP Will Startup (Minor Leaguer)
This was another good trade by John Schueholz. Ledezma was acquired for Macay McBride back in June in hopes that the Braves would be able to use him in a starter's role hoping he would be more effective. That never happened has the Braves didn't have the chance needing his left arm in the bullpen to try to get out lefties. He struggled mightly giving up runs in half of his 12 appearances and was designated for assignment last Sunday. Will Startup had around a 2 ERA at Triple-A Richmond this year and seems likely to become a very good bullpen guy in the future. The Braves received Royce Ring who had a 1.99 ERA for the Padres at Triple-A this year. Ring has big league experience with the Mets and Padres and could help the Braves in Atlanta later on this year if the situation calls for it. For now he is gonna serve time at Triple-A Richmond.
Braves Acquire
1B Mark Teixeira
LHP Ron Mahay
Rangers Acquire
C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
SS Elvis Andrus (Minor Leaguer)
LHP Matt Harrison (Minor Leaguer)
LHP Beau Jones (Minor Leaguer)
RHP Neftali Perez (Minor Leaguer)
I really like this trade. Teixeira will be placed into the cleanup spot in the lineup and is a force and should get Chipper Jones some more pitches to hit. He will also allow Andruw to get some more pitches to hit. The Braves lineup is clearly the best in the NL now with this trade. The Braves lineup will look like this now:
Braves Lineup
1. Willie Harris LF
2. Edgar Renteria SS
3. Chipper Jones 3B
4. Mark Teixeira 1B
5. Andruw Jones CF
6. Brian McCann C
7. Jeff Francoeur RF
8. Kelly Johnson 2B
Another trade made was this trade:
Braves Acquire
RHP Octavio Dotel
Royals Acquire
RHP Kyle Davies
I like this trade also. Kyle Davies gets a chance for a fresh start with the Royals and will be placed into the starting rotation right away. Dotel has postseason experience and is a flame thrower that will serve in a setup role in the 7th or 8th inning. And third and final the Braves made this trade:
Braves Acquire
LHP Royce Ring
Padres Acquire
LHP Wilfredo Ledezma
LHP Will Startup (Minor Leaguer)
This was another good trade by John Schueholz. Ledezma was acquired for Macay McBride back in June in hopes that the Braves would be able to use him in a starter's role hoping he would be more effective. That never happened has the Braves didn't have the chance needing his left arm in the bullpen to try to get out lefties. He struggled mightly giving up runs in half of his 12 appearances and was designated for assignment last Sunday. Will Startup had around a 2 ERA at Triple-A Richmond this year and seems likely to become a very good bullpen guy in the future. The Braves received Royce Ring who had a 1.99 ERA for the Padres at Triple-A this year. Ring has big league experience with the Mets and Padres and could help the Braves in Atlanta later on this year if the situation calls for it. For now he is gonna serve time at Triple-A Richmond.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Atlanta Braves Trade Rumors
I visit http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ to find all the trade rumors I can involving the Braves. Some trade rumors are completely bogus and some are more believable. The trick is to find out which ones to believe and which ones to ignore. Here are some trade rumors involving the Braves.
- The Braves apparently won't give up Yunel Escobar or Jarrod Saltalamacchia to get Mark Teixeira. Neither of 'em. No doubt John Schuerholz will spend the next ten days trying to get Jon Daniels to settle for less.
- Beyond the Cubs, Graziano lists the Braves, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks as teams interested in pitcher Zack Greinke. If the initial asking price for Octavio Dotel was as high as reported, I can't imagine what Dayton Moore would want for Greinke.
- The Braves are trying to deal for southpaw reliever C.J. Wilson of the Rangers. The 26 year-old has an undeserved 2.81 ERA right now. His control has been worse this year, so he'd have to remain unhittable to be effective.
- Zack Greinke is admittedly a long shot to be traded, but that doesn't mean teams aren't asking all the time. The Braves connection is obvious. Stark says John Schuerholz is getting very aggressive and creative trying to improve his team. Two prospects on the block are Elvis Andrus and Dan Smith.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Atlanta Braves Sunday Report
This week started off bad as the Braves were swept by the Reds. The Mets lost 2 of 3 to the Padres so the Braves were only 2 1/2 games behind the Mets at mid-week. The 2nd half of the week was great. The Braves signed Julio Franco from the Mets and he made an instant impact. The Braves finished the week 1-3.
MONDAY
---Reds
---Loss 10-3
---WP: Bobby Livingston (2-0)
---LP: Kyle Davies (4-8)
Kyle Davies started for the Braves and faced 5 batters without recording an out before being lifted by manager Bobby Cox. Davies gave up 2 runs, 2 hits, 3 walks and left the bases loaded while he was in the game. Ken Griffey Jr. added a 3-run homerun in the 2nd inning off the Braves' Oscar Villarreal to make it 5-0 Reds at that point. For Griffey it was career homerun number 587 breaking a tie he held with Frank Robinson. The only Braves offense came from Andruw Jones who had all 3 RBIs.
TUESDAY
---Reds---Loss 6-5
---WP: Bronson Arroyo (4-10)
---LP: Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1)
Jo-Jo Reyes pitched very well in only his 2nd career start and held the Reds scoreless for 4 2/3 innings. In 6 1/3 innings pitched he gave up only 2 runs on 8 hits. He was later charged with 2 additional runs when Peter Moylan came in in the 7th and allowed 4 runs. The Braves made a comeback in the 8th when Andruw Jones hit a 2-run homerun and Kelly Johnson had a 2-run triple. Chipper Jones added a run scoring single in the 9th but the Braves comeback fell short as they lost 6-5.
WEDNESDAY
---Reds---Loss 5-4
---WP: Mike Gosling (1-0)
---LP: Jose Ascanio (0-1)
This was a wild game. John Smoltz made his return from the DL and was just unhittable. He pitched 7 shutout innings while recording 11 strikeouts. Those 11 strikeouts were his most in over 2 years. This was a back and forth game as the Braves scored in the 7th to take a 1-0 lead and give Smoltz a chance for his 10th win of the season. That went out the window when Rafael Soriano gave up a 2-out 2-run homerun to Adam Dunn. The Braves tied it at 2 in the bottom of the 8th on a sac fly by Jeff Francoeur. The game then went to extras. The Reds took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th on a Scott Hatteberg RBI single off Tyler Yates. Chipper Jones, following a leadoff single by Edgar Renteria, hit a game tying double. After a Jones stolen base and a walk to Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur came up with a chance to win the game. The Reds then called in centerfielder Ryan Freel to play right on top of the 2nd base bag so the infielders could play their normal defensive positions. It worked as Francoeur hit a screaming liner that was caught by a leaping Brandon Phillips who then doubled off Chipper Jones at 3rd to end the inning. Phillips than won the game for the Reds in the 15th with a 2-out, 2-run single to give the Reds a 5-3 lead. The Braves scored a run in the bottom of the inning but fell short losing 5-4 in 15 innings.
THURSDAY
---Cardinals---Win 10-1
---WP: Tim Hudson (10-5)
---LP: Mike Maroth (0-3)
Andruw Jones got the scoring going early with a 1st inning 2-run homerun off Cards' starter Mike Maroth. The Braves added a single run in the 2nd on a homerun by Matt Diaz than with 2 out in the 4 the Braves scored 5 runs to take a 10-0 lead. The highlight of the inning was Julio Franco, who was starting in his 1st game back with the Braves, capping the inning with a 2-run single.
---Cardinals
---Loss 4-1
---WP: Adam Wainwright (9-7)
---LP: Rafael Soriano (2-2)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Braves Future Is Bright
The Braves future is bright with all the youngsters in their organization. Get to know these guys. All of these guys are either already in the majors or will be there in the next couple of years.
P - Manny Acosta
P - Jose Ascanio
P - Ryan Basner
P - Blaine Boyer
P - Joey Devine
P - Matt Harrison
P - Chuck James
P - Anthony Lerew
P - Michael Nix
P - Jo-Jo Reyes
P - Zach Schreiber
P - Will Startup
P - Phil Stockman
C - Brian McCann
C - Brayan Pena
C/1B - Jarrod Saltalamacchia
1B - Carlos Mendez
2B - J.C. Holt
2B - Kelly Johnson
2B - Martin Prado
2B - Jonathan Schuerholz
SS/3B - Yunel Escobar
SS - Brent Lillibridge
3B - Wes Timmons
OF - Gregor Blanco
OF - Jeff Francoeur
OF - Brandon Jones
OF - Bill McCarthy
Atlanta Braves Sunday Report
This was a short week with the All-Star Game being played. The Braves went 3-0 this week while sweeping the Pirates. For the Braves it was their 6th straight win at home. The last time that happened was July 26-31, 2005. Ironically both streaks came against the Nationals and Pirates. I guess it is safe to say the Braves play good against those 2 teams at Turner Field.
FRIDAY
---Pirates
---Win 9-1
---WP: Tim Hudson (9-5)
---LP: Ian Snell (7-6)
The story of this game was Brian McCann. McCann had 2 homeruns while knocking in 4 runs. Andruw Jones also homered and Renteria added a pair of runs driven in. Tim Hudson tossed 7 shutout innings to earn win number 9. Hudson also had an RBI single.
SATURDAY
---Pirates
---Win 5-4
---WP: Bob Wickman (2-2)
---LP: Shawn Chacon (4-2)
This was a wild game. The Braves jumped on the Pirates early for 3 runs in the 1st inning including a 2-run homerun from Andruw Jones. For Jones it was homerun number 17 this season. Chipper Jones also had a good day at the plate going 3 for 4. Chuck James was lifted after pitching 6 shutout innings giving up only 2 hits. Tyler Yates than managed to give up a run and leave 2 others on base in the 7th inning when he was replaced by Rafael Soriano. Soriano than managed to give up a 3-run pinch hit homerun to the Pirates Ryan Doumit that tied the game at 4. The game was then delayed 72 minutes in the bottom of the 7th due to rain. After play resumed Jeff Francoeur won the game with a 2-out walkoff single in bottom of the 9th to give the Braves a 5-4 win. For Francoeur it was his 4th career walkoff hit.
SUNDAY
---Pirates
---Win 5-1
---WP: Buddy Carlyle (4-2)
---LP: Paul Maholm (5-12)
Buddy Carlyle was outstanding again pitching 8 innings of 1 run ball. He gave up just 5 hits over those 8 innings while striking out 4. Edgar Renteria went 4 for 5 while knocking in a run. Yunel Escobar and Jeff Francoeur also had RBIs in the game as the Braves cruised to a 5-1 win.
For the Braves it was their 4th straight win, 7 of 8 and 12 of 16. So to say the least they have been on quite a roll. As a result of their good play that have cut the Mets lead in the division down to just 1 1/2 games. The Phillies are also only 5 1/2 games behind the Mets.
Upcoming the Braves continue their 10 game homestand against the Reds and Cardinals while the Mets are on the road against the Padres and Dodgers. It looks as if this is the prime chance for the Braves to take the lead in the division.
FRIDAY
---Pirates
---Win 9-1
---WP: Tim Hudson (9-5)
---LP: Ian Snell (7-6)
The story of this game was Brian McCann. McCann had 2 homeruns while knocking in 4 runs. Andruw Jones also homered and Renteria added a pair of runs driven in. Tim Hudson tossed 7 shutout innings to earn win number 9. Hudson also had an RBI single.
SATURDAY
---Pirates
---Win 5-4
---WP: Bob Wickman (2-2)
---LP: Shawn Chacon (4-2)
This was a wild game. The Braves jumped on the Pirates early for 3 runs in the 1st inning including a 2-run homerun from Andruw Jones. For Jones it was homerun number 17 this season. Chipper Jones also had a good day at the plate going 3 for 4. Chuck James was lifted after pitching 6 shutout innings giving up only 2 hits. Tyler Yates than managed to give up a run and leave 2 others on base in the 7th inning when he was replaced by Rafael Soriano. Soriano than managed to give up a 3-run pinch hit homerun to the Pirates Ryan Doumit that tied the game at 4. The game was then delayed 72 minutes in the bottom of the 7th due to rain. After play resumed Jeff Francoeur won the game with a 2-out walkoff single in bottom of the 9th to give the Braves a 5-4 win. For Francoeur it was his 4th career walkoff hit.
SUNDAY
---Pirates
---Win 5-1
---WP: Buddy Carlyle (4-2)
---LP: Paul Maholm (5-12)
Buddy Carlyle was outstanding again pitching 8 innings of 1 run ball. He gave up just 5 hits over those 8 innings while striking out 4. Edgar Renteria went 4 for 5 while knocking in a run. Yunel Escobar and Jeff Francoeur also had RBIs in the game as the Braves cruised to a 5-1 win.
For the Braves it was their 4th straight win, 7 of 8 and 12 of 16. So to say the least they have been on quite a roll. As a result of their good play that have cut the Mets lead in the division down to just 1 1/2 games. The Phillies are also only 5 1/2 games behind the Mets.
Upcoming the Braves continue their 10 game homestand against the Reds and Cardinals while the Mets are on the road against the Padres and Dodgers. It looks as if this is the prime chance for the Braves to take the lead in the division.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Atlanta Braves Sunday Report
Okay folks. Every Sunday for the reminder of baseball season I'm gonna give yall my Atlanta Braves report for previous week. I hope yall enjoy.
The week leading up to the All-Star break saw the Braves post a 4-3 record to finish out a 10 game road trip at 6-4.
MONDAY
---at Dodgers
---Loss 8-2
---WP: Joe Beimel (2-1)
---LP: John Smoltz (9-5)
The story of this game was again the lack of run support for John Smoltz. Smoltz lost for the 5th time this season and the Braves in Smoltz's 5 losses have scored a total of 4 runs. For Smoltz it goes down as a loss but it was another quality start by him and with any run support of any kind he could easily be 14-0 this season. But I guess that is the way baseball goes sometimes.
TUESDAY
---at Dodgers
---Loss 7-6
---WP: Rudy Seanez (5-1)
---LP: Wilfredo Ledezma (0-1)
---SV: Takashi Saito (23)
This was a wild game that saw both teams combine for 12 runs in the first 3 innings of the game. Both bullpens then shutdown the opposing team's offenses until the Dodgers scored on a single by OF Matt Kemp in the 7th to give the Dodgers the 7-6 win.
WEDNESDAY
---at Dodgers
---Win 5-2
---WP: Chuck James (8-7)
---LP: Mark Hendrickson (2-4)
---SV: Bob Wickman (15)
This Independance Day win was just what the Braves were looking for to end their 3 game losing streak. Chuck James didn't have his best stuff but managed 5 innings giving up just 1 run on 4 hits on 77 pitches. The Braves offense game courtesy a 2-out 2-rbi single by Chipper Jones in the 5th, Brian McCann's rbi single in the 6th followed by a Yunel Escobar sacrifice fly with an Andruw Jones 7th inning solo shot, his 14th homerun of the season, capping the scoring.
THURSDAY
---at Dodgers
---Win 8-6
---WP: Peter Moylan (3-1)
---LP: Eric Stultz (0-1)
---SV: Bob Wickman (16)
The story of the Braves 8-6 win in this game was Chipper Jones. Chipper Jones hit a solo homerun in the 6th inning to give the Braves a 7-6 lead. For Jones it was career homerun No. 371 tying him with Braves great Dale Murphy for first place on Atlanta's all-time homerun list. But Jones wasn't done. He hit another solo homerun in the 8th inning to cap the scoring. It was homerun No. 372 putting himself above Murphy and all the other Braves greats.
FRIDAY
---at Padres
---Win 7-4
---WP: Buddy Carlyle (3-2)
---LP: Justin Germano (5-3)
Andruw Jones hit a 2-run homerun in the 4th inning and Buddy Carlyle added a go ahead rbi single in the frame and the Braves won 7-4 behind a strong outting from Carlyle. Carlyle pitched a career-high 8 innings and tied a career-high 7 strikeouts to help the Braves win their 3rd straight game.
SATURDAY
---at Padres
---Loss 8-5
---WP: Heath Bell (3-2)
---LP: Tyler Yates (2-1)
---SV: Trevor Hoffman (25)
Padres starter David Wells was ejected in the 4th following a Jeff Francoeur homerun but the Padres rallied late to win 8-5. After Andruw Jones had tied the game at 5 in the top of the 7th with a 2-run 2-out triple the Braves' Tyler Yates battled control issues and the Padres scored 3 runs to take a 8-5 lead and win by the same score.
SUNDAY
---at Padres
---Win 5-4
---WP: Kyle Davies (4-7)
---LP: Greg Maddux (7-6)
Braves starter Kyle Davies outduled future Hall of Famer and former Braves' great Greg Maddux over 6 innings as the Braves won 5-4. Brian McCann hit a 2-run homerun in the 2nd and Kelly Johnson later added a solo homerun in the inning to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. McCann then added a 2-run single in the 6th that chased Maddux from the game. The Padres made it close in the 9th off Braves' closer Bob Wickman but Marcus Giles took a called third strike to end the game.
It was a great week for the Braves considering they were playing the cream of the crop in the National League. They end the week just 2 games behind the Mets in the divison so things are really looking great. The Braves have gotten on a nice roll winning 9 of 13 heading into the break.
John Smoltz will miss the All-Star game Tuesday but is schedule to pitch the 6th game after the break against the Reds on the 18th of July. In his place Jo-Jo Reyes is starting. Reyes showed some good signs Saturday when he made his ML debut. But as the case with any rookie pitcher he had his struggles also. I really like what I saw from the kid and if he keeps learning he could be a staple of the Braves starting rotation for years to come. He will make his 2nd big league start on July 17th against the Reds.
The Braves record at the All-Star break is 47-42. At the break last year they were 40-49.
The week leading up to the All-Star break saw the Braves post a 4-3 record to finish out a 10 game road trip at 6-4.
MONDAY
---at Dodgers
---Loss 8-2
---WP: Joe Beimel (2-1)
---LP: John Smoltz (9-5)
The story of this game was again the lack of run support for John Smoltz. Smoltz lost for the 5th time this season and the Braves in Smoltz's 5 losses have scored a total of 4 runs. For Smoltz it goes down as a loss but it was another quality start by him and with any run support of any kind he could easily be 14-0 this season. But I guess that is the way baseball goes sometimes.
TUESDAY
---at Dodgers
---Loss 7-6
---WP: Rudy Seanez (5-1)
---LP: Wilfredo Ledezma (0-1)
---SV: Takashi Saito (23)
This was a wild game that saw both teams combine for 12 runs in the first 3 innings of the game. Both bullpens then shutdown the opposing team's offenses until the Dodgers scored on a single by OF Matt Kemp in the 7th to give the Dodgers the 7-6 win.
WEDNESDAY
---at Dodgers
---Win 5-2
---WP: Chuck James (8-7)
---LP: Mark Hendrickson (2-4)
---SV: Bob Wickman (15)
This Independance Day win was just what the Braves were looking for to end their 3 game losing streak. Chuck James didn't have his best stuff but managed 5 innings giving up just 1 run on 4 hits on 77 pitches. The Braves offense game courtesy a 2-out 2-rbi single by Chipper Jones in the 5th, Brian McCann's rbi single in the 6th followed by a Yunel Escobar sacrifice fly with an Andruw Jones 7th inning solo shot, his 14th homerun of the season, capping the scoring.
THURSDAY
---at Dodgers
---Win 8-6
---WP: Peter Moylan (3-1)
---LP: Eric Stultz (0-1)
---SV: Bob Wickman (16)
The story of the Braves 8-6 win in this game was Chipper Jones. Chipper Jones hit a solo homerun in the 6th inning to give the Braves a 7-6 lead. For Jones it was career homerun No. 371 tying him with Braves great Dale Murphy for first place on Atlanta's all-time homerun list. But Jones wasn't done. He hit another solo homerun in the 8th inning to cap the scoring. It was homerun No. 372 putting himself above Murphy and all the other Braves greats.
FRIDAY
---at Padres
---Win 7-4
---WP: Buddy Carlyle (3-2)
---LP: Justin Germano (5-3)
Andruw Jones hit a 2-run homerun in the 4th inning and Buddy Carlyle added a go ahead rbi single in the frame and the Braves won 7-4 behind a strong outting from Carlyle. Carlyle pitched a career-high 8 innings and tied a career-high 7 strikeouts to help the Braves win their 3rd straight game.
SATURDAY
---at Padres
---Loss 8-5
---WP: Heath Bell (3-2)
---LP: Tyler Yates (2-1)
---SV: Trevor Hoffman (25)
Padres starter David Wells was ejected in the 4th following a Jeff Francoeur homerun but the Padres rallied late to win 8-5. After Andruw Jones had tied the game at 5 in the top of the 7th with a 2-run 2-out triple the Braves' Tyler Yates battled control issues and the Padres scored 3 runs to take a 8-5 lead and win by the same score.
SUNDAY
---at Padres
---Win 5-4
---WP: Kyle Davies (4-7)
---LP: Greg Maddux (7-6)
Braves starter Kyle Davies outduled future Hall of Famer and former Braves' great Greg Maddux over 6 innings as the Braves won 5-4. Brian McCann hit a 2-run homerun in the 2nd and Kelly Johnson later added a solo homerun in the inning to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. McCann then added a 2-run single in the 6th that chased Maddux from the game. The Padres made it close in the 9th off Braves' closer Bob Wickman but Marcus Giles took a called third strike to end the game.
It was a great week for the Braves considering they were playing the cream of the crop in the National League. They end the week just 2 games behind the Mets in the divison so things are really looking great. The Braves have gotten on a nice roll winning 9 of 13 heading into the break.
John Smoltz will miss the All-Star game Tuesday but is schedule to pitch the 6th game after the break against the Reds on the 18th of July. In his place Jo-Jo Reyes is starting. Reyes showed some good signs Saturday when he made his ML debut. But as the case with any rookie pitcher he had his struggles also. I really like what I saw from the kid and if he keeps learning he could be a staple of the Braves starting rotation for years to come. He will make his 2nd big league start on July 17th against the Reds.
The Braves record at the All-Star break is 47-42. At the break last year they were 40-49.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Atlanta Braves Mid-Season Report
I forgot to tell you guys last time but I am gonna give you guys a look into my life of sports. I will from time to time write up posts about sports. Well here goes the first one.
I am just thinking that the Atlanta Braves should be looking to make a protential trade deadline deal for a pitcher. Maybe a starter, maybe a reliever. But what I know for sure is that the Braves cannot not make a move for a pitcher and expect to keep pace with the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies (in the NL East), Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks (in the NL Wild Card race).
The reason for need of a pitcher is because of the struggles of the 3, 4 and 5 starters behind John Smoltz and Tim Hudson. Smoltz and Hudson are a combined 17-10 with a 3.13 ERA. They also have combined for 26 quality starts. The rest of the starters (Mark Redman, Anthony Lerew, Chuck James, Kyle Davies, Lance Cormier, Buddy Carlyle) are a combined 12-24 with a 5.94 ERA. They also only have 16 quality starts. Getting that kind of production from the 3, 4 and 5 starters is not gonna get it done.
For those that don't know a quality start is a starter pitching 6 innings and not giving up more than 3 runs.
Chuck James proved last year (11-4, 3.78 ERA) that he is more than capable of getting the job done. He got off to a good start this season winning his first 2 starts but than stuggled and has gotten back on track over the last couple of months. Take away 3 starts (Padres, Twins, Tigers) over the months of May and June and Chuck James' numbers look very good. His numbers in those 3 starts are 0-3 with a 8.30 ERA. That's ugly. In his other starts his numbers are 4-2 with a 2.71 ERA. Those are great numbers.
I am honestly surprised to see that Chuck James has pitched that well not counting those 3 starts against the Padres, Twins and Tigers. If Chuck James continues to pitch this well he will be able to hold down that number 3 starter job.
Guys that the Braves could protentially look at to help their starting pitching could be right under their own noses in their minor league system. Top pitching prospects left-handers Matt Harrison and Jo-Jo Reyes. Reyes appears to be ahead of Harrison and closer to being major league ready, but Harrison is rated as the number 1 pitching prospect in the Braves organization. Both appear to be long term solutions in the starting rotation down the road and because of their such high protential Bobby Cox and the Braves may not call on them to keep from rushing them before they are truely major league ready.
So the Braves may have to look outside the organization for starting pitching help or to their very deep bullpen. The Braves recently made a trade with the Detroit Tigers sending lefty reliever Macay McBride to the Tigers for lefty pitcher Wilfredo Ledezma with them eying Ledezma in the starting rotation down the road.
Down the road may not be in the too distant future. They main reason Ledezma wasn't put into their rotation immediately was because he is the lone lefty in the bullpen. That is a problem the Braves have because lefty setup man Mike Gonzalez is out for the remainder of the season do to having Tommy John surgery. The Braves may just have to abandon having a lefty in their bullpen and find a righty that can get the tough left-handed power hitters out late in ball games.
Setup man Rafael Soriano actually has a better batting average against against lefties .167 than he does against righties .194. That is kinda suprising to me. I feel that Soriano should replace Bob Wickman as the Braves closer. Soriano is 5 for 5 in save situations this year. Wickman has been very shaky at times this year and is coming off consective bad outtings.
A couple of guys in the bullpen that I hate seeing in games is Oscar Villarreal and Chad Paronto. Both I feel can be upgraded by bringing up Joey Devine and Blaine Boyer. Boyer proved in 2005 that he is capable of getting the job done at the major league level. Devine was a 1st round pick in 2005 who was than rushed to the majors that year and is known for giving up the game winning grand slam to Houston's Chris Bruke in the 18th inning of game 5 of the 2005 division playoff series that ended the Braves season.
Devine than battled a back injury last year and was sent back down to single A to work on his mechanics and has since regained the form that he had at North Carolina State that made him a 1st round pick.
I think the Braves would be better off if their pitching staff looked like this:
John Smoltz
Tim Hudson
Chuck James
Wilfredo Ledezma
Buddy Carlyle/Kyle Davies
Joey Devine
Blaine Boyer
Peter Moylan
Tyler Yates
Bob Wickman
Rafael Soriano
With all of that being said one thing is certain, the Atlanta Braves are much, much better than they were last year.
I am just thinking that the Atlanta Braves should be looking to make a protential trade deadline deal for a pitcher. Maybe a starter, maybe a reliever. But what I know for sure is that the Braves cannot not make a move for a pitcher and expect to keep pace with the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies (in the NL East), Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks (in the NL Wild Card race).
The reason for need of a pitcher is because of the struggles of the 3, 4 and 5 starters behind John Smoltz and Tim Hudson. Smoltz and Hudson are a combined 17-10 with a 3.13 ERA. They also have combined for 26 quality starts. The rest of the starters (Mark Redman, Anthony Lerew, Chuck James, Kyle Davies, Lance Cormier, Buddy Carlyle) are a combined 12-24 with a 5.94 ERA. They also only have 16 quality starts. Getting that kind of production from the 3, 4 and 5 starters is not gonna get it done.
For those that don't know a quality start is a starter pitching 6 innings and not giving up more than 3 runs.
Chuck James proved last year (11-4, 3.78 ERA) that he is more than capable of getting the job done. He got off to a good start this season winning his first 2 starts but than stuggled and has gotten back on track over the last couple of months. Take away 3 starts (Padres, Twins, Tigers) over the months of May and June and Chuck James' numbers look very good. His numbers in those 3 starts are 0-3 with a 8.30 ERA. That's ugly. In his other starts his numbers are 4-2 with a 2.71 ERA. Those are great numbers.
I am honestly surprised to see that Chuck James has pitched that well not counting those 3 starts against the Padres, Twins and Tigers. If Chuck James continues to pitch this well he will be able to hold down that number 3 starter job.
Guys that the Braves could protentially look at to help their starting pitching could be right under their own noses in their minor league system. Top pitching prospects left-handers Matt Harrison and Jo-Jo Reyes. Reyes appears to be ahead of Harrison and closer to being major league ready, but Harrison is rated as the number 1 pitching prospect in the Braves organization. Both appear to be long term solutions in the starting rotation down the road and because of their such high protential Bobby Cox and the Braves may not call on them to keep from rushing them before they are truely major league ready.
So the Braves may have to look outside the organization for starting pitching help or to their very deep bullpen. The Braves recently made a trade with the Detroit Tigers sending lefty reliever Macay McBride to the Tigers for lefty pitcher Wilfredo Ledezma with them eying Ledezma in the starting rotation down the road.
Down the road may not be in the too distant future. They main reason Ledezma wasn't put into their rotation immediately was because he is the lone lefty in the bullpen. That is a problem the Braves have because lefty setup man Mike Gonzalez is out for the remainder of the season do to having Tommy John surgery. The Braves may just have to abandon having a lefty in their bullpen and find a righty that can get the tough left-handed power hitters out late in ball games.
Setup man Rafael Soriano actually has a better batting average against against lefties .167 than he does against righties .194. That is kinda suprising to me. I feel that Soriano should replace Bob Wickman as the Braves closer. Soriano is 5 for 5 in save situations this year. Wickman has been very shaky at times this year and is coming off consective bad outtings.
A couple of guys in the bullpen that I hate seeing in games is Oscar Villarreal and Chad Paronto. Both I feel can be upgraded by bringing up Joey Devine and Blaine Boyer. Boyer proved in 2005 that he is capable of getting the job done at the major league level. Devine was a 1st round pick in 2005 who was than rushed to the majors that year and is known for giving up the game winning grand slam to Houston's Chris Bruke in the 18th inning of game 5 of the 2005 division playoff series that ended the Braves season.
Devine than battled a back injury last year and was sent back down to single A to work on his mechanics and has since regained the form that he had at North Carolina State that made him a 1st round pick.
I think the Braves would be better off if their pitching staff looked like this:
John Smoltz
Tim Hudson
Chuck James
Wilfredo Ledezma
Buddy Carlyle/Kyle Davies
Joey Devine
Blaine Boyer
Peter Moylan
Tyler Yates
Bob Wickman
Rafael Soriano
With all of that being said one thing is certain, the Atlanta Braves are much, much better than they were last year.
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