Bob Wickman on the DL

Bad News -

"ATLANTA -- Based on the dominance that he'd previously shown, it was becoming apparent that something wasn't right with Bob Wickman. This was confirmed on Monday afternoon, when the Braves placed him on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in the upper right portion of his back. He has felt some discomfort for the last couple of weeks."

-"While Wickman is out, Braves manager Bobby Cox says that he'll use both Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez in the closer's role. "

-"Chad Paronto has been activated from the disabled list and will take Wickman's spot in the bullpen. Paronto had missed the past two weeks with a strained right adductor muscle. He hasn't had any discomfort in the upper leg region over the past week."

Just what we need...Wickman to have injury problems. It will be interesting to see how Soriano and Gonzalez do while filling in.

Ryan Langerhans traded

Well this is good news, Ryan Langerhans has been traded to the Oakland A's for cash or a player to be named later ( I'll get to that in another post). It looks like Langerhans will get more playing time in center field for the A's.

-Willie Harris has been called up from Triple-A to join the team tomorrow. The guy was impressive in spring training and in the minors hitting .362 with 16 runs. He also has good speed to add.

-Does this possibly get rid of a platoon in left field or 1st base? I can only hope so, I think it's time to give Scott Thorman a chance everyday. His 4-4, 4 RBI performance earlier today certainly helped his case. Craig Wilson is solid off the bench for either pinch hit or sub once in a while, and he can play OF and 1B. I also think Matt Diaz is better when he gets more playing time. I haven't looked at any stats, just speculating. Either way this is an improvement.

April 29th Game Rant

Ah yes, another blown game by the Atlanta bullpen. I said earlier that it was much better than last year's bullpen, but still needed work. Today you saw why. We need another quality relief pitcher like Soriano and Gonzalez. We have plenty of depth at the SS position and plenty of scrub relief pitchers in the minors we could part with.

-I also ripped Bobby Cox in an earlier post about not giving Thorman enough at bats. Look what happens, he goes 4-4 with 4 RBI.

-Oh, and another one of Cox's strange decisions; putting Bob Wickman in the game when a few days ago he was apparently "tired." He had 3 earned runs with 2 walks on the 27th. He also left him in too long this game. I thought Cox mentioned using Soriano or Gonzalez a few times to close games out. This would have been the exact situation to use either when Wickman is obviously not himself. I should mention that the Umpire had a pretty small inconsistant strike zone, and it didn't help Wickman at all.

- I am also starting to think that Kyle Davies just might not be the guy for the 5th spot. I'd give him a couple more starts and see if he can settle down. I am probably expecting too much from the 5th starter, but why not improve if you can?

- Lance Cormier needs to get healthy and ready soon.

-Nice plays by Jeff Francoeur with a few diving catches.

-There was an unassisted triple play in today's game. I might be wrong, but the last one was by Rafael Furcal a few years ago.

-Braves face the Phillies back at Turner field tomorrow. Jon Lieber vs Tim Hudson. This game should be winnable the way Hudson has been pitching lately.

Kelly Johnson - the right guy

This is the guy this team needed for a while. Who could do worse than Marcus Giles at leadoff? (Suprisingly, Marcus is doing fairly well over in San Diego) Anyone replacing Marus was likely to match his numbers or do better. Although I knew Kelly was a solid player all around, he has far exceeded my expectations. He is getting on base, scoring runs, and has some pop (5 hrs so far) to add to it. Not only that, he is playing pretty good defense for his first season at second base. Anyone still calling for Martin Prado?

Article

"DENVER -- On April 17, Kelly Johnson was hitting .150, and the Braves were wondering just what they had on their hands.

Wasn't the converted outfielder supposed to be hitting, but taking time to get comfortable with the transition to second base?

But over the next 10 days, Johnson led the Majors in batting average at .514 (18-for-35), was second in on-base percentage (.622) and seventh in slugging percentage (.829). And suddenly, the Braves have an all-around force where there used to be a question mark."

Now obviously he won't be hitting this great all season, but a .280 avg and .380 obp throughout the season is possible from this guy. I wouldn't be surprised if it was better. This guy has a great eye, so even if doesn't get hits, he is still walking. He has 20 walks this season so far, which is top 3 in the Majors. While he was doing poorly to start the season, I stumbled upon this interesting information from rotoauthority.com.

Once a week, RotoAuthority will cover players who boast a contact rate of 85% or better, but are hitting below .290. By virtue of how often these guys put the bat on the ball, they have a decent shot at raising their averages. Contact rate is calculated as (AB-K)/AB. Additionally, we'll look at those hitting over .300 with a contact rate at 80% or less.

This week, we'll look at players with at least 30 plate appearances on the season. The underachievers:

NAME	AVG	CR
Brian Schneider	0.125	90.63%
A.J. Pierzynski	0.138	89.66%
Jason Kendall	0.140	88.37%
Kelly Johnson	0.167	88.89%
Chris Young	0.172	89.66%
Albert Pujols	0.176	88.24%
Mike Sweeney	0.179	89.29%
Melky Cabrera	0.182	90.91%
Ronny Paulino	0.182	87.88%
Juan Pierre	0.186	90.70%
Brandon Phillips	0.189	89.19%
Omar Vizquel	0.189	86.49%
Shannon Stewart	0.195	87.80%

The list goes on for another 30 players or so, but here at # 4 on the list is Kelly Johnson. So in reality Johnson was hitting the ball but was hitting them directly to a player. Looks like his luck has arrived along with a little help from hitting instuctor Terry Pendleton.

"Actually, Johnson said he led off for a couple of weeks in Double-A, and was in that spot for a few other games over the years. He attributes his recent surge to some of hitting instructor Terry Pendleton's advice finally sinking in.

'It's in the way I've thought about attacking the ball,' Johnson said. 'I'm still looking for the right pitches to swing at, but I'm more aggressive going after them. My swing is on a flat plane a lot longer through the strike zone.'

'[Pendleton] came to me a couple times and said it, but the hard part is having it click in your head. People can tell you something one way, and it doesn't click, and tell you another way, and it makes sense.' "

Is it possible for Johnson to be at the same level as Phillies 2nd baseman Chase Utley? Is this guy for real, or is it a fluke? Only time will tell.

Saltalamacchia Rumor

I recently heard a rumor regarding the Braves top prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Here's a quick note I found on mlbtraderumors.com.

Let's Make A Deal: Jarrod Saltalamacchia

"Double A catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia is a rare player: a bona fide top prospect at the position. The Braves might be able to maximize his value not by switching Salty or Brian McCann to first base, but by trading the minor leaguer. Saltalamacchia is off to a hot start after a lost '06, and one team especially interested in acquiring a young catcher is the Tigers.

As a 22 year-old in Double A, Salty is at the perfect stage in his career as the Tigers would be able to exercise Pudge's 2008 option and have Saltalamacchia ready to take over in 2009. So what do the Braves need?

So far Atlanta is getting on base well and hitting for power, and whatever regression Kelly Johnson experiences will be matched by Andruw Jones hitting his stride. With a healthy Chipper Jones and an improved Jeff Francoeur, this team can hit.

John Schuerholz already went all-in to improve the bullpen, leaving starting pitching as the most glaring weakness. It's looking good on the front end - two possible aces plus a solid third in Chuck James. Still, giving 40% of the starts to Kyle Davies/Mark Redman/Lance Cormier is undesirable.

David O'Brien says there are no good pitchers on the trade market for Atlanta, but a month or two from now some opportunities will probably appear. One nice fit could be Carlos Zambrano; Michael Barrett is a free agent after this season. I'll discuss Rich Harden in another post, but the A's have Kurt Suzuki waiting in the wings.

Back to the Tigers - I doubt Justin Verlander or Jeremy Bonderman can be had. Could Nate Robertson plus a good prospect be enough to snag Salty? The 29 year-old southpaw doesn't reach free agency until after 2009, and he's been a healthy 32 start guy. Bring him over to the National League, and we could see the Ted Lilly/Bronson Arroyo/Kyle Lohse effect.

The White Sox have A.J. Pierzynski signed through 2008, which gels nicely with Saltalamacchia's ETA. If Mark Buehrle has another solid month or two, the Braves might covet the lefty and his playoff experience. Plus, an acquisition and possible extension could keep Buehrle away from the NL rival Cardinals. Moving Salty to the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis could work as well.

Really, with a commodity like Saltalamacchia, one could devise many different scenarios where he's swapped for a frontline starter. "

This really makes me angry. We don't need a rent a pitcher here, we need a solid young slugger for the Braves for years. Salty is a switch hitter, a potential .300 avg, 30 hr, 100 rbi hitter and would be great along side Brian McCann and Jeff Fracoeur for another decade. If the Braves trade this stud for someone like Carlos Zambrano for half a season, it might be one of the dumbest moves in a long time (assuming he does turn out great).

Smoltz Contract Exstension

Good news last night. The Braves give John Smoltz a contract exstension. This will likely mean Smoltz will play his entire career as an Atlanta Brave. How often do you see a player do that?

"Smoltz's new contract provides him the opportunity to pitch in Atlanta through the end of the 2010 season, at which time he would be 43 years old. He's guaranteed to make a healthy $14 million in '08. If he pitches at least 200 innings next year, he'll make $12 million via the vesting option that is in place for '09.

The club option for the 2010 season will be worth $13 million if he completes 200 innings in '09 and $12 million if he doesn't."

Click to read entire article

This was a surprise to me, I heard absolutely nothing about a possible exstension. At least we know the Braves will have a reliable starting pitcher for another 3 years. Does this have anything to do with the Braves pending ownership? ( Liberty Media)

April 25th Game Rant

Yesterday's game pissed me off. Tim Hudson throws a shutout through 8 innings with 12 k's. What happens? He pitches in the 9th inning with over 100 pitches thrown already. Not only was that dumb, but the fact that Bobby Cox left him in the game after Hudson allowed a couple of hits was ridiculous. Bases loaded, Wickman who usually gives up a hit or two every time he pitches, blows the game and loses it. Nice decision making agian Bobby.

I sometimes question whether Bobby is really as good as everyone claims. Don't get me wrong, he played a major role in those 14 straight division titles. Some of these decisions are obviously easy to make, but the complete opposite of what you expect happens. Maybe it is finally time for him to retire which is what he plans to do after the 2008 season. I've always liked Cox, but lately it seems like he has lost it.

Top Prospect- Saltalamacchia

I was going to post about the Braves current top 10 prospects, but I can't seem to find anything about them right now. Perhaps we will have to wait a little more this season to find out. Too many changes have happened from last year's top 10 so I'm not going to waste time posting about them. I will mention a player that I am most excited about.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

"After a dismal season riddled with injuries, Jarrod Saltalamacchia has continued the strong hitting he exhibited at the end of last season and in his limited stint in the Arizona Fall League. The 6′4″ 195 lb catcher has been absolutely tearing up the Southern League so far this year. “Salty” is hitting .373/.475/.686 with 4 HRs and 8 RBIs for Double-A Mississippi. Probably the most impressive thing about his season so far has been his improved plate discipline. Before this season Saltalamacchia had tallied 286 strikeouts to only 174 walks in his 1229 career at bats, which is one strikeout every 4.9 plate appearances and one walk every 8.1 plate appearances. This year he has 10 walks to 9 strikeouts in 51 ABs, which comes out to one strikeout every 6.8 plate appearances and one walk every 6.1 plate appearances.

You have to assume that he is going to see time in Richmond fairly quickly with the Southern League providing little challenge for Saltalamacchia. If he is still demolishing opposing pitching by the the All-Star break and one or both of our platoons is still not hitting, what do we do? Saltalamacchia has been tied to Rocco Baldelli trade rumors numerous times before and with his stock shooting up that could be easier to pull off. Rocco was always the guy that was going to leadoff with that being our hole in the lineup before the season, but now it seems we have someone better than Baldelli in the leadoff role. To the public, the organizational stance has always been that he will stay at catcher. Obviously he won’t be catching in Atlanta any time soon with Brian McCann situated behind the plate for years to come. This stance probably has to do with keeping his value up just in case they do opt to trade Salty but I have always wondered whether that would change once he shows he is ready for the majors.

If you follow the Braves, you have probably heard 100 scenarios about what to do with him from fans, broadcasters, and just about everyone else around the game. One of the more common scenarios is converting one of the two to first base and keeping the other behind the plate. There are those that think McCann should be moved to first to keep his bat in the lineup daily, and while Saltalamacchia is the better defender behind the plate, his far superior athleticism would allow him to be much better defensively at first base. The most interesting idea I have heard is to split their time between catcher and first equally, which would keep both bats in the lineup and keep them from getting worn out as the season goes on (sort of like Mauer as the DH on his days off from behind the plate). Certainly an unorthodox and unprecedented move that would require both to be at least serviceable at first base.

Baseball America projected that Saltalamacchia will end up in left field and that is what I also think will happen. He is very athletic with good enough speed to be an average defender at the least with a good arm. If he can keep up that plate discipline, there is no reason to think he couldn’t be a .300 30+ HR hitter in time and that combined with McCann and Francoeur would be a middle of the order to reckon with for years. Conservative estimates see Saltalamacchia being ready by 2008 but he could force the issue at this rate."

Having him learn left field is obviously the best option. It would get rid of the horrible platoon of Diaz and Langerhans, and put another potential "Chipper Jones-like" player in the lineup. This guy is special and the Braves better hang on to him. I believe Salty is expected to be ready for the majors by the 2008 season. The lineup I would like to see would be

1. Kelly Johnson
2. Edgar Renteria
3. Chipper Jones
4. Andruw Jones (if he resigns)
5. Brian McCann
6. Jeff Francoeur
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia
8. Scott Thorman
9. Pitcher

That would be one heck of a lineup.

Bobby Cox and His Decisions-Rant

I took at look at today's lineup and was angry to find out Chris Friggen Woodward is starting over Kelly Johnson. Now according to this ....

"After seeing Kelly Johnson strike out a career-high four times on Saturday, Cox had no problem putting him back in the leadoff spot for Sunday's game. But after watching Johnson homer twice in the series finale against the Mets, the veteran skipper chose to sit his hot-hitting second baseman on Monday night.

"I want to get Woody [Chris Woodward] in there," Cox said. "We need to get him some more at-bats."

Although the left-handed hitting Johnson has hit .542 (13-for-42) in the past six games, the right-handed hitting Woodward may have been the better option against Marlins starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis, who, entering Monday, had allowed just three of the 26 left-handed hitters he'd faced to get on base. "

Wow...is this not a bad managing or what? I thought the object was to win, not give some scrub players on the bench at bats because he hasn't got any in a while. This is a very sad call by Cox, I sometimes just don't understand some of his decisions. His favorableness and kindness does no good when it comes to winning. You certianly don't bench a hot hitter and play a poor hitter just to "give him at-bats." Hey Bobby! How bout you give Scott Thorman, the 1st baseman that was SUPPOSED to play everyday some more at bats. Criag Wilson is garbage.

Braves Current Roster

I thought I would start out on the Braves current 25 man roster.

Starting Lineup

2b - Kelly Johnson
ss - Edgar Renteria
3b - Chipper Jones
cf - Andruw Jones
c - Brian McCann
rf - Jeff Francoeur
1b -Scott Thorman / Craig Wilson ( platoon ) Thorman vs. RHP / Wilson vs. LHP
lf -Ryan Langerhans / Matt Diaz ( platoon ) Langerhans vs. RHP / Diaz vs. LHP

Bench

C - Brayan Pena
if - Pete Orr
if - Chris Woodward


The platoon is a horrible idea and has yet to achieve any kind of real success. Sticking with Thorman and Diaz everyday would be a much better solution. The bench is pretty weak with no one being a real threat in a pinch hit situation or subbing in for a resting/injured player. However Brayan Pena is certainly an upgrade over last year's backup catcher Todd Pratt. I can't figure out why the Braves picked up Chris Woodward and stuck with Pete Orr.

Pitching Rotation

rhp - John Smoltz
rhp - Tim Hudson
lhp - Chuck James
lhp - Mark Redman
rhp - Kyle Davies

DL - Lance Cormier

This year's rotation seems pretty solid with the exception of Mark Redman. Redman is absolutely horrible and doesn't belong in the Majors. Cormier should replace Redman as soon as he returns from the Disabled List. Another thing to note is another year of failure for Mike Hampton as he continues to be injured. Must be nice to get paid millions and not throw a single pitch.

Bullpen

rhp- Bob Wickman ( Closer )
lhp - Steve Coyler
lhp - Mike Gonzalez
rhp - Peter Moylan
rhp - Rafael Soriano
rhp - Oscar Villarreal
rhp - Tyler Yates

DL- Chad Paronto
DL- Tanyon Sturtze

The bullpen which was absurdly bad last year has improved enough to make the Braves a contender agian. Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano are great additions. General Manager John Schuerholz did a good job at trying to improve the bullpen during the offseason. It still needs work. The addition of Tanyon Sturtze made no sense.

Well that's it as far as the Braves team. I wouldn't be surprised to see any moves before the all-star break to improve the team. I'll be posting any trade rumors, additions and so forth in the future.

Welcome

Hello and welcome Braves fans. This site has a new owner who hopes to keep the Braves Baseball Blog updated on a regular basis. I'll keep you updated as much as possible on the team throughout the season. Rumors, stats, roster changes, top prospects, you name it. So instead of relying on several sites to get Braves information, check out this site to get everything you want to know.