Braves Baseball Blog

Craig Kimbrel & Jonny Venters facts

2011-08-22T18:16:00.003-04:00

I came across an interesting article on ESPN by Jayson Stark. I thought it was worth posting on the blog, so here it is.

Strike One -- Brave New Bullpen World Dept.

Rivera and Nelson … Percival and K-Rod … Dibble and Myers … Lidge and Wagner.

We present those names as evidence that we've seen our share of dominating bullpen tag teams through the years. But you know what we've never seen?

Domination like this:

Venters

Kimbrel

Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters.

Three Strikes is here to make the case that we've never run across ANY bullpen tag team as unhittable and as untouchable as the Braves' two game-shrinkers have been so far in 2011.

Just eyeball their stat lines for a second and try to comprehend that this is happening in the major leagues, not on your PlayStation. It's amazing:

Pitcher	ERA	IP	H	K	H/9 IP	K/9 IP
Kimbrel	1.72	62.2	38	101	5.5	14.5
Venters	1.11	72.2	38	79	4.7	9.8

Insane as those numbers may look from afar, they only get more insane as you look closer. Here's what we mean:

• Want to guess how many bullpen teammates in the 42-year history of the modern save rule have had ERAs that low, with hit rates and strikeout rates that good, in the same season? That would be NONE -- not among relievers who worked at least 60 innings in a season, anyway. Unreal.

• But even if we zap hits and strikeouts right out of this equation and just look at ERAs, we can only find one set of teammates in modern bullpen history who have ERAs this low in the same year. That would be Dennis Eckersley (0.61) and Gene Nelson (1.57) of the 1990 A's. Just for the record, there were two other duos -- Eric Gagne (1.20) and Paul Quantrill (1.75) of the 2003 Dodgers and Joaquin Benoit (1.34) and Rafael Soriano (1.73) of the 2010 Rays -- that barely missed this cut. But that's it -- in the last four decades.

• If you've really paid attention, though, you know Kimbrel and Venters aren't the only occupants of that Braves bullpen with miniscule ERAs. There's a THIRD guy in that 'pen -- Mr. Eric O'Flaherty, ladies and gentlemen -- with a 1.27 ERA. That's "only" in 56 2/3 innings. But nevertheless, even if we lower the innings threshold to that level, there still has never been any modern bullpen that featured THREE relievers with ERAs that microscopic (and at least 55 innings pitched apiece). Ever.

• Hang on, though. There's more. Kimbrel last gave up a run on June 11. That was 30 2/3 consecutive shutout innings ago. Venters last allowed a run on June 29. That was 21 2/3 innings worth of donuts ago. So how often do you see two members of the same bullpen fire up that many consecutive zeroes? Just about never. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other bullpen teammates since 1969 to run off streaks like this at the same time were Joe Nathan (29 innings) and J.C. Romero (23) of the 2004 Twins. So there have never been any others in the National League -- at any stretch of any season -- since bullpen usage even remotely resembled the current bullpen usage. Whoa.

So is it safe to say nobody would want to find themselves trailing this team in the late innings when this October rolls around? Uh, just a little safer than throwing money into the stock market. Don't you think?

Braves Aquire Michael Bourn

2011-07-31T22:01:00.002-04:00

Finally, a decent lead off hitter and excellent defensive center fielder. No more worries about Nate Mclouth or Jordan Schafer. Wren did a good job, keeping our top four minor league pitchers.

Article

ATLANTA -- When Braves general manager Frank Wren began evaluating the trade market, he said he was attempting to enhance his lineup with a right-handed-hitting outfielder. Carlos Beltran and Hunter Pence both fit this category.

But as this month progressed and Dan Uggla began serving as a right-handed power threat again, Wren and his staff determined their primary need was to find a center fielder who could serve as a legitimate leadoff hitter.

Having passed on the opportunities to pay a heavy price for Beltran or Pence, Wren waited patiently and gladly announced Sunday morning that he had acquired Michael Bourn from the Astros in exchange for Jordan Schafer and three Minor League pitchers -- left-hander Brett Oberholtzer and right-handers Paul Clemens and Juan Abreu.

"He was the one thing we were lacking," Wren said. "We haven't really had a prototypical leadoff hitter in five or six years. Getting Michael really adds to our club. ... It might not be the offensive punch, but it's run creation, which is important."

A Houston native, Bourn was sad to learn he would no longer be playing in his hometown. But the trade does provide him the opportunity to be part of a pennant race with a team that is confident it will earn a second straight trip to the postseason.

"It's definitely tough leaving Houston, my hometown. But I understand the trade," Bourn said. "I have the chance to be in a pennant race, so I'm happy about that. I want to say thanks to the Houston fans for their support. It was special to me to play in my hometown. And I want to thank the Astros' organization for the opportunity they gave me. I wish them all the best."

Bourn was unable to get to Atlanta before Sunday's series finale against the Marlins. But he is expected to be with the Braves on Monday, when they begin a three-game series in Washington.

While the Giants feel good about adding Beltran and the Phillies were happy to add Pence, Wren said that he felt Bourn was the better fit for his team. To acquire him, the GM did not have to part ways with any of the four elite pitching prospects -- Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, Arodys Vizcaino and Mike Minor -- it would have taken to land Beltran or Pence.

"We could have had Beltran if we had given the player they wanted," Wren said. "We're not going to do that for a rental player, for a guy for two months with no Draft compensation coming back. The same thing with Pence. We're not going to give up a couple of those young kids that were premiums for our future in that kind of deal."

When the Phillies acquired Pence, multiple Braves players became anxious and started wondering if Wren would make a significant move. As Saturday night neared its end, he was closing in on completion of this deal.

"When you've got a good team like we have and you have a chance to win, I get caught up in it as far as you want to add that piece that you feel like puts you over the edge," Braves catcher David Ross said. "When you're looking around this locker room and the confidence we have in this team, you start thinking about the World Series."

Bourn is in the midst of the finest season of his career, having hit .303 with a .363 on-base percentage and a Major League-best 39 stolen bases in 105 games entering Sunday. The 28-year-old center fielder recorded a career-high 61 stolen bases last year, two fewer than the entire Braves team.

While Schafer spent the past two months showing he is capable of handling the leadoff role, Bourn is the first proven leadoff hitter the Braves have possessed since Rafael Furcal exited after the 2005 season.

"If he's on base, he's definitely a threat," Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said. "Last time I saw, he was leading the league in steals. We haven't had that kind of threat at the top of our lineup in a long time -- consistently anyway. We'll see how it all turns out."

Bourn has shown steady improvement since breaking in with the Phillies in 2006, and over the course of this season, has seemingly taken his game to another level. He has batted .339 with a .388 on-base percentage in his past 53 games.

The Braves have seen their leadoff hitters bat .254 with a .306 on-base percentage this year. Their center fielders have batted .241 with a .322 on-base percentage.

Once Schafer and fellow center fielder Nate McLouth went on the disabled list, the Braves had even more reason to get a center fielder. They started to get the sense Bourn might be available about a week ago.

"From a strategy standpoint, we didn't want to be really transparent as to what we were looking for," Wren said. "But as we looked at our club, we felt the most glaring need was center field. Even before the injuries, that was an area where we felt we could improve our club."

Bourn has one remaining arbitration-eligible season, and could make in the neighborhood of $7 million next year. Earlier this year, it was revealed Scott Boras is now serving as his agent.

Once considered the top prospect in the Braves' system, Schafer has seen his career stall as he has dealt with a left wrist injury and a banned-substance suspension over the past three seasons. The Braves were forced to call Schafer up from Triple-A Gwinnett in late May, and he had spent most of the past two months as their starting center fielder.

"I don't know if the injuries had [any effect]," Schafer said. "Obviously, I was probably the first one to set things back quite a bit [with the suspension]. It's a business and it happens. I'm not the first player to get traded and I'm not going to be the last."

Jones truly became a fan of Schafer's talents this year and was saddened to learn the 24-year-old outfielder will no longer be playing in the Braves' system. Instead, once his left middle finger heals, Schafer should stand as the Astros' center fielder of the future.

"It's the same old story for him," Jones said. "It seemed like he had it going in the right direction. Another injury kind of knocked him off the track. But he certainly showed a lot of improvement and some promise this year. I was proud of him. He set out in Spring Training to make a difference. And you can honestly say he did that."

Clemens has established himself as a strong prospect while going 6-5 with a 3.73 ERA in 20 starts for Double-A Mississippi this year. MLB.com ranked him as the organization's eighth-best prospect.

Oberholtzer gained attention during Spring Training and has posted a 3.74 ERA in 21 starts for Mississippi. Abreu is a strong-armed right-handed reliever who has recorded 68 strikeouts in 48 innings at Triple-A this year.

While Wren verified that there are not truly any "untouchable prospects" in his organization, he was thrilled to keep his top prospects and improve his Major League club with a player who could prove to be a difference maker with his speed.

"We're not an eighth- or 10th-place team trying to get into the Wild Card," Wren said. "We have one of the best records in baseball. We know we have a good team. We know we can pitch with anyone. So I think it was imperative to do whatever we could to increase our chances."

Braves Draft

2011-06-06T23:04:00.003-04:00

Braves pick Sean Gilmartin with their first pick of the 2011 draft. He was the 28th overall selection.

Talking chop as a good piece on him.

This is a safe pick by the Braves, but a pitcher who could move quickly with his refined approach, much like Mike Minor. Many of the high school pitchers the Braves were eying had already been selected by the time Atlanta selected. Below is what the experts had to say about Gilmartin:

Baseball America, ranked him 48th overall in the draft:

Gilmartin isn't flashy, but his total package should take him off the board in the first 50 picks as one of the draft's safest selections. A two-way talent out of a California high school, he attended a camp at Florida State and wound up being one of the Seminoles' rare cross-country recruits. He has pitched on Fridays for three seasons and helped lead Florida State to the College World Series last season, though he struggled putting hitters away in the second half of the season and last summer with USA Baseball's college national team. Gilmartin has improved significantly in the last year and become a scouts' darling with his combination of good size (6-foot-2, 192 pounds), clean arm action and solid athleticism. He has pushed his fastball into the average velocity range at 88-91 mph, his changeup remains a plus pitch and his slider has improved to average. Gilmartin knows how to use his stuff, particularly his changeup, how to set up hitters and how to keep them off-balance. His 10-1, 1.35 season includes four double-digit strikeout efforts. Scouts compare Gilmartin favorably to Vanderbilt southpaw Mike Minor, who went seventh overall to the Braves in 2009 and reached the majors a season later.

Keith Law of ESPN, who ranked Gilmartin 71st:

Gilmartin's a college performer with adequate stuff but who may need to find another gear to be more than a fourth or fifth starter in the big leagues.

He'll pitch with a fringe-average fastball, mostly 88-89 but touching a 91, and has a big, slow curveball that might work against lefties but wouldn't be a weapon against better right-handed batters. His best pitch is his changeup, 76-78 mph with good arm speed and some late fading action, although he uses it a lot and I'd like to see him pitch more off his fastball. He's a good athlete who can even swing the bat a little bit. He stays over the rubber well and pronates his arm very early after showing the ball to the center fielder.

This is what I thought Mike Minor was in college -- a command lefty with a good changeup but an average fastball and no plus breaking ball. Minor added some muscle after signing and upped his velocity, at least temporarily, and I suppose Gilmartin could do the same.

A safe pick by the Braves, clearly, and a player who should sign for slot and sign quickly. As far as a strategy of getting the best available player on the board, Gilmartin was likely not the best guy out there. If this was a money thing, then there were other more projectable players who would have been easy to sign. The Braves must have a feeling about Gilmartin, that they can get him in their system and mold him into a higher ceiling talent, (again) much like they did with Minor. It continues a string of safe drafts for the Braves, with Lipka and Minor both safe and easily signable players.

In addition to the Mike Minor comps for Gilmartin, there have also been a lot of Tom Glavine comps. Tony DeMacio, the Braves scouting director who runs the Atlanta draft room, was the scout who originally signed Glavine way back in 1984. So he could be trying to rekindle some of that magic.

The larger strategy here could be that by drafting a guy like Gilmartin, who should move quickly to the Majors in the next couple of years, the Braves signal that they may be willing to trade some of their current stock of pitching talent. One thing is for certain, they're building quite a stable of young arms -- several staffs worth.

The Braves will not pick again until late in the second round, which begins Tuesday at noon.

Injuries!

2011-05-24T17:16:00.002-04:00

A few series have passed since the last time I made an article. I don't think I wish to revisit those series since the Braves have played horribly. The Braves get the Pittsburgh Pirates for two games starting tonight with Jair Jurrjens on the mound.

- Jason Heyward was placed on the 15 day DL. His shoulder is still bothering him. Personally he should of been placed on the DL to start with when he finally said something about it. I can't stand it when a player hides an injury. It's better to be on the DL and heal up instead of being an automatic out every time the player bats. Supposedly the shoulder acted up in Spring. He started off the season looking good, including seven home runs. However he eventually slumped and as a result, it hurt the team considerably in the time (a month?) that he was hampered by the injury. He might not even be ready to go when the time is up.

- Nate Mclouth was also placed on the DL. He has a strained oblique. Jordan Schafer was called up to take over the roster spot.

In fact the Braves have a lot more injury concerns than these two.

Braves Sweep Astros

2011-05-17T21:29:00.003-04:00

The Braves won both games in the short two games series vs. the Houston Astros.

Game One (Monday)

Astros 2, Braves 3

- Tommy Hanson has been awesome. He pitched seven innings, allowing three hits, two runs (one earned) walking one and struck out ten. His mistake was allowing a home run to Matt Downs.

- Eric O'Flaherty pitched a scoreless 8th while striking out two.

- Craig Kimbrel got his 11th save. He struck out three batters and allowed one hit.

- Eric Hinske is on fire. He was 3-4 with a run and an RBI.

- Joe Mather had a key hit, driving in two runs. He was 2-4 to finish the game.

Game Two (Tuesday)

Astros 1, Braves 3

This game wasn't looking so good right up until the bottom of the 9th. With a 1-0 lead by the Astros, Brian McCann made a pinch hit appearance (Ross Started) and hit a solo shot to tie the game at 1-1. This brought the game into extra innings. McCann replaced Ross as the catcher, so when he came up to bat in the bottom of the 11th, he hit a two run homer therefore winning the game in walk off fashion.

- Derek Lowe did very well this game. He pitched seven innings, giving up five hits, one earned run, and striking out four batters.

- The Braves bullpen completed four innings of work and were successful. George Sherrill pitched exactly zero innings, allowing the only two batters he faced to get on base. One of them was opposing pitcher Wandy Rodriguez!

- Both Chipper Jones and Jason Heyward returned to the lineup. Chipper was 1-5 and Heyward was 1-3 with a pair of walks.

Good series for the Braves obviously. The games weren't pretty but they got two wins like they should of.

*The Braves will head to Arizona for another west coast trip. Julio Teheran will make his second big league start as he fills in for injured Brandon Beachy.

Braves Win Phillies Series- Chipper Jones Hurt

2011-05-15T21:15:00.003-04:00

Good for the Braves to take another series over the Philadelphia Phillies with a win on Sunday afternoon. The final score was 3-2 Atlanta. They beat Roy Halladay without a Chipper Jones or Jason Heyward. The Braves are 5-4 vs the Phillies this year.

- Tim Hudson pitched 7 innings giving up four hits, two runs, walking five, and striking out three. He got a break today considering his five walks.

- Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel did their usual finishing touches in the 8th and 9th innings. Venters ended up with the win and Kimbrel his tenth save.

- Dan Uggla finally contributed in away and hit his 7th home run in the 8th inning off Halladay. This put the Braves in the lead at 3-2. Uggla was 2-3 with 3 runs and a walk.

- Freeman is responsible for the other two RBI. He was 1-3 with a sac fly.

* Tommy Hanson will be on the mound tomorrow as the Houston Astros visit for a two game series. Hanson has had good success vs. the Astros in his career. Let's hope he can continue that success.

Now the bad news: Chipper Jones has a small meniscus tear in his right knee.

"ATLANTA -- Concerned about the growing discomfort in his right knee, Chipper Jones underwent an MRI exam Sunday afternoon and learned that he has a small meniscus tear.

Braves physician Dr. Marvin Royster provided Jones an injection early Sunday evening with the hope it will provide him some relief while he rests the next couple of days. If it does provide some lasting relief, the 39-year-old third baseman might be able to avoid having the knee repaired via an arthroscopic surgical procedure.

"We'll know in a couple days," Jones said. "If the shot helps then I'll play as long as I can. If the shot doesn't help, then they'll go in and clean it up."

When Jones tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in August, it seemed his left knee might prove to be the problem this year. But while his left knee has cooperated for more than three months, the right knee has proven to be a problem over the past three weeks.

After Jones attempted to run sprints about 10 minutes before the scheduled first pitch of Sunday's game against the Phillies, he removed himself from the lineup. The Braves' medical staff then set up the MRI exam.

"It's been coming on for three weeks," Jones said. "I have good days and bad days. We've treated it. I've taken anti-inflammatories and some pain killers to be able to play. But today, nothing helped."

Jones said he asked if it would be better for him to simply undergo the arthroscopic surgery now and likely miss just a couple of weeks. But Royster gave him some hope that they will be able to simply medicate the ailment.

"Doc Royster seemed to think he could put some stuff up in there that will help it while I'm out for a few days," Jones said.

Jones hit .321 (17-for-52) with four doubles, two homers and a .903 OPS in his first 16 games of the season. He has batted .247 (22-for-89) with nine doubles, two homers and a .788 OPS in the 23 games that have followed."

Let's hope that this heals up and doesn't bother him enough to miss significant time. Braves have already suffered a share of injuries to a couple players this month specifically, Peter Moylan, Brandon Beachy, Jason Heyward and now Chipper Jones.

Braves Win 5-3

2011-05-14T21:38:00.004-04:00

After a frustrating loss to the Phillies last night, the Braves recovered today and beat the Phillies 5-3. Last night was one of those "They should of won" games where the Braves had several opportunities to put the game away quickly but didn't. This included two situations with bases loaded and one out. Brian McCann grounded into a double play the first time. Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman struck out for outs two and three the second time. There was a very questionable strike three call that went for a ball as well.

- Jair Jurrjens did his job yet again. He pitched 7.1 innings allowing three hits, two earned runs, walking one and striking out six. He now has five wins, zero loses and a 1.66 ERA to start the season.

- Venters and Kimbrel closed the game out for the final 1.2 innings. Kimbrel got save number nine.

- Martin Prado is definitely player of the week. He was 2-4 with a home run and three RBI today. "Prado has raised his average from .252 to .295 while hitting .386 (22-for-57) this month. In the 22 games the Braves have won this year, Prado has hit .376 (35-for-93) with five homers and 21 RBIs. In their 19 losses, he has hit .205 with one homer and six RBIs." So obviously he is a very important part of the ball club.

- Freddie Freeman collected a couple of hits.

* Tim Hudson will be on the mound tomorrow as the Braves face last years NL Cy Young award winner Roy Halladay. We are going to need an outstanding performance from Hudson in order to have a chance at this one. Just ticks me off that the Braves should of had game one in the bag. They could of finished with another series win regardless of tomorrow's outcome.

The Braves schedule does get easier as they play the Houston Astros followed by the Arizona Diamond Backs after the Phillies series, however, both series are only two games a piece. Winning all four shouldn't be a hard task.

Braves Updates

2011-05-14T21:28:00.003-04:00

Going to do a list style here. Sorry for the lack of articles lately.

Braves barely avoid being swept by the Washington Nationals.

Braves lose game one of Phillies series. Several runners in a couple of bases loaded opportunities were left stranded in this very frustrating game.

Brandon Beachy heads to the DL with a strained oblique. Replacement is yet to be determined (Minor?).

Jason Heyward's shoulder is feeling better. Not ready to return full time yet.

Braves Lose Two In A Row to Nationals

2011-05-11T23:28:00.000-04:00

Boy, do things turn sour quickly in Atlanta.

Errors and blown saves.

Braves Off Day- Phillie Series Catch Up

2011-05-09T21:35:00.002-04:00

The Braves have a much needed off day today (Monday) as they head back home to get ready to play the Washington Nationals. The Braves won the series in Philadelphia winning two out of three games. Finally, the Braves look a little more legit, and the best part is that Dan Uggla hasn't even started hitting yet. They get another test as they play the Phillies again starting Friday. This time in Atlanta.

In game two the Phillies returned the favor and shut out the Braves 3-0. Julio Teheran did alright for his first start in the majors. Can't really expect a 20 year old player to throw 9 innings of shut out ball vs. the Phillies in Philadelphia. Either way, it was a good experience for him. I think it's obvious that he is not ready just yet. I hate to say this, but I'm glad he was able to get a start in while the Braves didn't waste one of our regular starters in a game where the offense put up 0 runs.

Game three was good. The Braves beat another good pitcher in Cole Hamels. The final score was 5-2 Braves. Jair Jurrjens keeps on rolling. He threw 6.1 innings and gave up only one run. He is 4-0 to start the season and has a 1.50 ERA. Freddie Freeman might be back on the rise. He was 3-4 with an RBI and two runs. He hit a home run off of Hamels.

* The Braves will play Washington tomorrow with Tim Hudson on the mound. Another complete game shut out for Hudson?

Braves Shut Out Phillies - Julio Teheran Debut Saturday

2011-05-06T23:02:00.002-04:00

A wonderful game this was, shutting out the Phillies in Philadelphia. The Braves got the best of Cliff Lee again, even though Lee had a whopping 16 strikeouts in seven innings.

- Derek Lowe did pretty well. If we needed him to pitch a good game this was a game to do it in. He still seems to have trouble going to at least seven innings, but I'll gladly take the six scoreless innings, two hits, one walk and four strikeout performance from him.

- The best of the bullpen came out to finish the game. I would have to give Eric O'Flaherty MVP of the game. He came in after Derek Lowe was pulled with a runner on second and third with no outs. What does he do? He strikes out the next three batters!

- Jonny Venters is great. Pitched a scoreless 8th with two strike outs.

- Craig Kimbrel came in the game to finish the 9th. I was surprised considering the five run lead. Perhaps Fredi Gonzalez wanted to preserve the shut out. Kimbrel seems to pitch better one he makes regular appearances I think.

- The Braves put together a nice string of hits to score three runs off Lee. Alex Gonzalez started with a double that was nearly a home run. Gonzalez scored on a Chipper Jones line drive that was nearly caught by SS Jimmy Rollins but tipped over his glove. Brian McCann hit a double that scored Chipper from first (Chipper can still run). Uggla hit a double that scored McCann. It was rather nice to see.

- Jason Heyward had the day off, but came in to pinch hit. He got a base hit and then later scored a run.

- Freddie Freeman was 0-4. I'm getting concerned about him now that he is only batting .217 so far this year. Its three points better than Uggla's average though!

* The Braves played a double header on Wednesday and the Braves want the starters to get the regular five days rest. So to make that happen, Braves top pitching prospect Julio Teheran will be making his major league debut tomorrow (Saturday). This is quite a situation for a 20 year old pitcher who has never pitched in a big league game. Starting in front of a rough sell out crowd in Philadelphia vs. the Phillies isn't going to be easy.

Here is a nice review of Teheran by a baseball scout on baseball prospectus.

"In five starts this year for Triple-A Gwinnett, Teheran has a 1.80 ERA while allowing 25 hits over 30 innings, walking eight and striking out 25. After struggling with his command in an ugly second start, he has been a strike-throwing machine, walking two over 20 1/3 innings in his last three outings while averaging a highly efficient 13.3 pitches per frame."

A scout currently in his fourth decade of evaluating players was gushing over Teheran today. “I've never put a higher grade on a 20-year-old pitcher in my career.” Going deeper into Teheran's arsenal explains why. “He was 92-96 for me while averaging 95, and the pitch is hitter-untrackable, as he hides his arm behind his back and it explodes on hitters. That combination of arm velocity and deceptive velocity is a rare and beautiful thing.”

“There's power, there's touch and feel, and there's mound presence well beyond his 20 years,” the scout concluded. “He's going to be a number-one starter on a championship-level team.”

Braves Complete Four Game Sweep of Brewers

2011-05-05T22:06:00.003-04:00

A little pay back for the rough series earlier in the season I suppose. This is how the Braves are supposed to be playing.

Braves 2, Brewers 1

- You couldn't ask for a better number five starter. Brandon Beachy went six innings, giving up four hits, one run (which wasn't earned) walking one and striking out nine batters.

- The best part of the bullpen pitched tonight to finish the game.

O'Flaherty - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
Venters - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
Kimbrel - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO (Save, 7)

- Total is three innings pitched two hits, and six strike outs.

- The Braves had a tough pitcher tonight, so I wasn't expecting many runs to score.

- Martin Prado had the tie breaking home run. He was 2-4 with an RBI and a Run.

- Chipper Jones was 2-4

- Eric Hinske starting in place of Freddie Freeman, was 2-4 with a home run.

- The Braves did get a break as they committed two errors this game. One error led to a run to score in the 5th. Good thing that's all that happened.

* The coming series will be a good test to see what the Braves are made of. They travel to hostile territory in Philadelphia. The Phillies are off to a great start (21-9). They have a top starter in four spots of their rotation and a 5th starter (Blanton on DL) who has done very well.

*The Phillies have had a fairly easy schedule so far and have played three less games than the Braves.

*I'll take one win but the Braves need to take two here, especially in Philadelphia. The Braves will play the Phillies again a week later in Atlanta. Who makes these schedules?

Friday - Lowe vs. Lee

Saturday- Jurrjens vs. Oswalt

Sunday- TBD vs. Hamels (I would assume Hanson)

Braves Win Double Header

2011-05-05T21:37:00.003-04:00

Another a day late. I've taken interest in other things rather than posting lately. The Braves game was rained out on Tuesday, so they had to make the game up forcing a double header for Wednesday. Since the Braves won both games in the double header Wednesday, I have to write about it. The Braves have been very successful in double headers this year so far. They won two vs. the Mets earlier in the season.

Game One

Braves 8, Brewers 3

- Tommy Hanson keeps on going. He went six innings, giving up three hits, two earned runs, walking two and striking out seven.

- Eric O'Flaherty pitched a scoreless inning allowing one hit and striking out one.

- Good thing the Braves had a pretty good sized lead. Scott Linebrink came in and gave up a run in usual fashion. Of course, the big lead is the only reason Linebrink was allowed to come into the game.

- Cory Gearrin finished the game with a scoreless inning allowing one hit and striking out one.

- Martin Prado is looking good lately. He was 3-5 with three RBI and two runs.

- Rookie Freddie Freeman was 2-4.

- Nate McLouth has been doing excellent since being moved to 8th spot of the lineup. He was 3-3 with a walk and two runs.

Game Two

Braves 8, Brewers 0

- If the first game wasn't good enough for you. Perhaps this one was.

- Tim Hudson was awesome. He pitched a complete game shut out. He only allowed one hit, walked one and struck out six batters.

- Braves put runs on the board with out Chipper and McCann.

- Dan Uggla seems to be hitting a little more these last few games. He was 3-4 with a walk, run and an RBI.

- The certainly shouldn't be any concerns when Ross is starting in place of McCann. Ross was 2-5 with a run.

- Nice to see Eric Hinske start hitting. This is exactly why we resigned the guy. Good hitter off the bench. He was 1-3 with a run and two RBI.

- How about Nate McLouth? Is this Pittsburgh Nate we been waiting for? I hope so...with the common number being two, he was 2-2 with two walks, two RBI, and two runs. One of the hits was a home run.

* As I was writing this article, the Braves finished the game tonight (Thursday) completing a four game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers!

Brewers 2, Braves 6

2011-05-03T20:10:00.004-04:00

A day late yes, but its got to get posted. It was a win after all.

- Jurrjens was great again, pitching 7.2 innings, giving up two runs, seven hits, walking no one, and striking out four.

- Kimbrel finally had an easy 9th as he pitched the inning with two strike outs and a walk.

- The offense seems to be picking up a little. Let's hope it continues.

- Dan Uggla was two for three with a walk.

- Alex Gonzalez was the hero of the game. He went two for three with three RBIs for the night.

- David Ross filling in nicely for McCann. He was 2-4 with a solo home run.

* The second game is currently in a rain delay. Tommy Hanson is scheduled to start.

Braves Pull Off A Win VS. Cardinals

2011-05-01T21:27:00.004-04:00

Who would of thought that it was Brooks Conrad that got the game winning hit today? In the bottom of the ninth, he got a hit that scored Alex Gonzalez, winning the game 6-5. Finally, some kind of clutch performance.

- Derek Lowe started the game off allowing three quick earned runs. I'm glad I wasn't one to witness this. He's been pitching rather poorly lately. He went five innings giving up six hits, four earned runs, walking two and striking out five.

- The bullpen did alright. They allowed only one run in four innings. Linebrink and Sherrill pitched without giving up any runs. Cory Gearrin gave up a run in the 8th. Perhaps he isn't as good as I thought.

- Like usual, not a whole lot happened offensively.

- Alex Gonzalez was 1-4 with two runs. A very important home run and two RBI as well.

- Brooks Conrad had the game winning hit as a pinch hitter. About time he contributed positively.

* Nice to start the new month with a win. Time to put this bad week and month behind them and start winning some games.

The Braves begin another four game series vs. the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow. Jair Jurrjens will be on the mound. The Braves will have to try and score runs off of Yovani Gallardo, who shut them out earlier in the year. However, Gallardo has been pitching poorly lately. If I had to make any bets, Gallardo will rebound, throwing another masterpiece while Jurrjens gets shelled.

Rodger McDowell Fined and Suspended

2011-05-01T20:59:00.003-04:00

Well, personally I'm glad he wasn't fired.

AJC

McDowell keeps job, suspended for two weeks

1:23 pm May 1, 2011, by David O'Brien

Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell was suspended for two weeks without pay for inappropriate conduct toward fans before an April 23 game at San Francisco, allegedly including anti-gay slurs and sexually suggestive comments.

McDowell was also fined an undisclosed amount and will be required to participate in sensitivity training. The penalties were announced Sunday by Major League Baseball.

“Conduct by people associated with MLB that shows insensitivity to others simply cannot and will not be tolerated,” Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

There had been speculation McDowell, 50, might lose his job over the incident, and the Braves didn’t say before Sunday whether that was being considered. He was placed on administrative leave Friday. The suspension is retroactive to Friday.

“I want to reiterate that we are deeply concerned when we heard about the accusations regarding Roger,” Braves president John Schuerholz said in a statement, “and we took our investigation very seriously to investigate all the facts. We agree with the discipline that the commissioner has handed down.

“We were clearly disappointed in Roger’s remarks and actions and the Atlanta Braves organization does not tolerate that kind of behavior.”

Giants fan Justin Quinn, 33, issued a complaint against McDowell after an incident during batting practice before the Braves-Giants game at AT&T Park.

Quinn, 33, hired celebrity attorney Glorida Allred, who had a press conference at her Los Angeles office on Wednesday. Quinn accused McDowell of saying, “Are you a homo couple or a threesome?” to fans who were sitting in the left-field seats, and of simulating a sex act with a baseball bat.

Quinn, seated nearby with his 9-year-old twin daughters, said he asked McDowell to clean up his language in front of children.

Allred said McDowell responded by saying “Kids don’t [expletive] belong at the baseball park.” (Another fan sent a letter to MLB two days after the incident that corroborated much of what Quinn said, although this fan claimed McDowell said that kids belonged in the upper deck, not down near the field.)

Quinn also claimed that McDowell walked toward him in a threatening manner, holding a bat, and asked him, “How much are your teeth worth?”

McDowell has not been available to the media since the story broke on Wednesday. He said in a statement issued Sunday, “I understand the decision made today by the Commissioner. I am embarrassed by my actions and I plan to give a personal apology to Mr. Quinn and his family. I would also like to offer a public and heartfelt apology to the fans of San Francisco, to the Atlanta Braves organization, my family and to Major League Baseball.”

Braves minor league pitching coordinator Dave Wallace will continue as interim pitching coach until McDowell returns.

“It’s tough when you lose a very important part of your coaching staff, but Dave Wallace is very competent,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “We’ll get through it. We’ll get through it as a team and an organization, and it may … build us together.”

McDowell is the first Brave suspended for inflammatory remarks since John Rocker after Rocker’s 1999 bigoted comments in a Sports Illustrated article. Rocker was fined $20,000 by Major League Baseball and suspended for a month, but sanctions were reduced to a $500 fine and a two-week suspension by an arbitrator.

Schuerholz was general manager of the Braves at the time of the Rocker incident.

“The Atlanta Braves organization prides itself on being one that values integrity, diversity, professionalism and respect,” Schuerholz said Sunday. “We are looking forward to putting this incident behind us and have the focus on the team be back on the playing field.”

Quinn and his family will be invited to attend a future game in San Francisco as guests of MLB.

“I understand that Mr. McDowell is very contrite about his conduct, and hopefully this incident will be used to increase public awareness of the importance of sensitivity to others,” Selig said. “I commend Justin Quinn and his family for bringing this issue to our attention so that it will not happen again in the future.”

I've been reading various opinions on the situation. Apparently there is a video of Allred (Quinn's attourney) basically reenacting the whole situation. Let's mention that Allred isn't some nobody either. Here is what I believe to be her website -Gloria Allred

This guy Quinn was so offended by what McDowell allegedly did and said in front of his kids that he had her pretty much recite the entire incident and even demonstrate the "vulgar sexual act with the baseball bat" with his kids sitting right there.

Tho$e kid$ really $uffered from the inncident...

In McDowell's defense

Among those to rush to McDowell’s defense in the fall-out Thursday was Jerry Pritikin, 74, a long-time Cubs fan, who used to interact with McDowell from the bleachers at Wrigley Field in the 1980s when McDowell was a pitcher for the Mets. Pritikin also happens to be gay.

“Being openly gay, I understand why some people would be disturbed, as I was,” Pritikin said. “But he made an apology and I accept that.”

Pritikin said he got to know McDowell personally during exchanges back and forth from the bleachers. The two used to throw Frisbee.

“He’s been such a good guy,” Pritikin said. “He always had fun with people in the bleachers, no matter what ballpark he was in, but because Chicago had such a great bleacher crowd, they really looked forward to him coming whenever he came to town. He was truly a great entertainer.”

Pritikin voiced his support of McDowell in an e-mail to Selig Thursday. He’d written Selig in recent years after anti-gay comments by former Cub Julian Tavarez and former Brave John Rocker, but those e-mails were much more critical, he said.

“I could understand someone who would not have known of Roger’s career or his antics at the ballpark might consider, ‘Well this is another hot-headed person,’” Pritikin said. “The other two guys were definitely prejudiced in what they were saying. I don’t believe Roger is that kind of guy.”

Braves Blow Another Game to Cardinals

2011-04-30T17:36:00.003-04:00

Yes, in similar fashion as last game, a scrub hits a triple in the 9th to put the Cardinals on top. Braves lose 3-2. That's a new phrase. "Braves blow!"

The bullpen was supposed to be a strength this year. Especially in the 8th and 9th innings. Come on, two days in a row?

Tomorrow is the first of May. If they don't turn it around any time in May forget the season. There is no catching up to a Phillies team that is 18-8 to start the season.

Dan Uggla better start mashing the ball this month. A sub .200 avg is BS.

Braves Blow Game to Cardinals

2011-04-29T23:09:00.003-04:00

Sigh. Typical choke by the Braves. Why do I root for teams that always let me down?

Go into the ninth with a 3-2 lead. Kimbrel blows the save. The Braves later lose the game in extra innings 5-3. Meanwhile, Phillies and Marlins continue to win and pull away from the rest of the division.

-Fredi Gonzalez doesn't know how to handle his bullpen.

-Umpire behind the plate was terrible.

- Two hitters on the Cardinals batting .200 had 2 RBI each. Wow...

The next two games are a must win.

Derek Lowe Arrested and Charged With DUI

2011-04-29T19:44:00.000-04:00

To follow suit with the whole McDowell fiasco, Derek Lowe decides to play idiot as well.

AJC

"Braves starting pitcher Derek Lowe, who allegedly raced another driver down Peachtree Road in Buckhead Thursday night before being stopped and charged with driving under the influence, has apologized in a statement released by the Braves."

"I would like to apologize to my family, teammates, fans and the Braves organization for the attention arising from this matter, however I am hopeful that this incident will not be a distraction to the Braves organization while we are focused on returning to the playoffs," the 37-year old pitcher said. "This is a legal matter and I anticipate this case can promptly be resolved within the court system."

Lowe, who was driving a 2011 Porsche Panamera, was also charged with reckless driving and making an improper lane change.

Georgia State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright said Lowe was pulled over around 10 p.m. Thursday on Peachtree Road at Rumson Road after troopers spotted the racing cars. Wright had no information on the second driver, who he said was charged with reckless driving.

The trooper "detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage" and gave Lowe a field sobriety test, Wright said. The Michigan native refused to take a breathalyzer test, he said.

Lowe, who signed a 4-year, $60 million contract with the Braves prior to the 2009 season, was taken to Atlanta city jail. In a statement, the Braves said, "Obviously we are concerned and disappointed about the events involving Derek Lowe overnight."

McDowell Placed on Administrative Leave

2011-04-29T19:35:00.000-04:00

Talking Chop

"The Atlanta Braves have placed pitching coach Roger McDowell on administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation surrounding the events from this past Saturday in San Francisco.

In the interim, Minor League pitching coordinator, Dave Wallace will serve as the team’s acting pitching coach.

The Braves pitchers should be in good hands. Dave Wallace has served as a major league pitching coach with the Dodgers (1995-97), New York Mets (1999-2000), Boston Red Sox (2003-06) and Houston Astros (2007). He joined the Seattle Mariners in October 2007 and spent two seasons (2008-09) as Special Assistant to the General Manager/Minor League Pitching Coordinator. He has served as the Braves Minor League Pitching Coordinator for the past year, having been hired in November 2009.

This is a good move by the Braves. It removes the possible distraction of McDowell from the clubhouse, and brings in an experienced Major League pitching coach. Frank Wren and Fredi Gonzalez will address the media shortly after 4pm. So there will be more info once we hear what they have to say."

I don't know what to say about all of this.

Pitching Coach Roger McDowell In Trouble?

2011-04-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell was accused of making inappropriate remarks to San Francisco Giants fans during one of their games. If anything I think it's all overblown by the accuser. Usually things are that way when someone wants massive attention. Why would this person wait AFTER the game and not let security or staff know immediately?

Although McDowell is supposed to be a "professional" and what he did (if was even that bad) was wrong, I can't blame him for finally letting loose and getting back at rude, disrespectful fans. Nobody is perfect, and unfortunately society has a way of making a big deal out of...nothing.

I have a few pieces from Talking Chop.

"Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell is potentially in some hot water after allegedly making some sexist remarks during a game against the Giants in San Francisco. The story is rife with tabloid sensationalism thanks to the complain against McDowell being filed by attorney Gloria Allred, and the story being first reported on TMZ. Read the TMZ piece here, and more from NBC Sports here.

I heard the Braves announcers mention that the Giants fans were all over Brooks Conrad during that series, so the only speculation I would give here is that the Braves players and coaches may have had enough heckling. Remember that the bullpens at AT&T Park are on the field.

Seems like more a case of hurt feelings and publicity seeking than anything else. Though it could be an embarrassing situation for McDowell and the Braves. I'm not sure what to think of it, but I want to hear what McDowell has to say before I rush to any judgment."

Here's a more recent article.

"Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell has responded to allegations he inappropriately responded to heckling fans before a Giants game last weekend.

"I am deeply sorry that I responded to the heckling fans in San Francisco on Saturday. I apologize to everyone for my actions," McDowell said in a press release after Wednesday afternoon's Giants-Padres game.

The Braves also issued a statement: "We were made aware of an incident in San Francisco this past Saturday. We are concerned by these allegations and the behavior described by a witness today. This in no way represents the Braves organization and the conduct we expect of our employees. We will withhold further comments until we finish gathering information."

Prepared statements by McDowell and the club. I guess that's how we should expect them to respond. Though at some point McDowell is going to have to face reporters, and answer their questions. These statements are the equivalent of a long tweet (in fact they were first reported that way).

The Commish is on the case as well, releasing a statement as long as McDowell's and the Braves' combined:

"I was informed today that Roger McDowell, a coach of the Atlanta Braves, is being accused of engaging in highly inappropriate conduct toward fans at a game in San Francisco. Although I do not yet have all the facts regarding this incident, the allegations are very troubling to me. The Atlanta Braves have assured my office that they will immediately investigate the allegations, and report the results of the investigation to me. After I have all the facts, I will make a determination of how to proceed."

Unfortunate black eye for the team."

San Diego Series Recap (Chipper Passes Mantle)

2011-04-27T23:19:00.003-04:00

The Braves won the next two games therefor winning the series in San Diego. They have a much needed Thursday off as they travel back home to Atlanta. The Braves were 6-4 on the road trip which is not bad. They are going in the right direction now, getting back to a .500 record (13-13). The St. Louis Cardinals will be visiting on Friday for the next series. The schedule really doesn't get any easier though. After the Cardinals, they play the Milwaukee Brewers for four games, and then they travel to Philadelphia.

Tuesday

Braves 8, Padres 2

- Jair Jurrjens has been terrific since returning. We need him to perform at this level and remain healthy. He pitched a complete game. Pitching all nine innings, giving up nine hits, two runs, walking two and striking out four.

- Chipper Jones was 2-5 with a home run. He had two runs and two RBI.

- Alex Gonzalez was 2-3 with a walk. He had two RBI and a run as well.

- The Braves great back up catcher David Ross was 2-4 with a home run and four RBI. He crossed the plate two times.

Wednesday

Braves 7, Padres 0

- Tommy Hanson was dominant today. This is the kind of Hanson that was absent to start the season. He pitched seven scoreless innings, gave up four hits, walked one and struck out ten batters.

- Have we found another relief gem in Cory Gearrin? He's a side armer who has a lot of movement on his pitches. Impressed with him so far.

- Kimbrel pitched the ninth to finish the game.

- It was nice to see some runs scored for a couple games in a row. The top of order guys got on base, and the middle of the order guys drove them in. For once something went right.

- Prado was 2-5 with two runs.

- Heyward was 2-5 with a run and an RBI.

- Chipper Jones has passed Mickey Mantle in RBI for switch hitters. He is second all time in RBI for switch hitters. That's a nice accomplishment. He was 1-3 with three RBI.

- McCann was 2-3 with a walk and an RBI.

- Nate McLouth was 2-4 with two runs.

- This lineup still isn't hitting right. Dan Uggla hasn't started hitting yet, and we know Prado and Heyward aren't going to bat sub .260 all season.

* Tim Hudson will make the start on Friday. Opposing him will be a pretty good pitcher named Chris Carpenter. Not sure about this game.

Braves Lose to Padres? Chipper Jones Milestone

2011-04-26T21:12:00.000-04:00

This game was horrible. The Braves wasted 13 innings of effort (or lack of effort) to the lowly Padres! The Padres who just got swept in a four game series vs. the Phillies. I was awake up until 2 am watching this joke performance by the Braves.

-Well deserving loss for the Braves too. They had multiple chances to score, yet multiple STUPID plays as well. Literally, base running skills as if watching a child start out in T-Ball.

-Fredi Gonzalez with more dumb moves. He takes out O'Flaherty who only needed one more out, who already faced consecutive right handed batters, and puts in the the most unreliable pitcher in the pen named Scott Linebrink. Linebrink throws two straight balls, then throws a straight fastball down the middle. This gave up a huge shot by a scrub and the tying run scored. Is this "veteran presence" in the bullpen supposed to decrease team morale or something?

-The worst part is giving up five runs to the worst hitting team in baseball.

-The second worst is guys like Prado going 0-6, and McCann going 0-5 .

-When is Dan Uggla going to start hitting the ball? It's ridiculous to be hitting .183.

* The only good news out of the night. Chipper Jones hit the 500th double of his career.

-Brandon Hicks came in as a pinch runner after Chipper's double. What does he do? Makes a stupid running mistake going to third on a ball hit back to the pitcher. So, he was tagged out at third. He didn't have to go anywhere since there was no runner on first base. Then the next batter hit a single which would should have scored the tie breaking run.

Braves Sweep Reigning World Series Champions

2011-04-24T23:26:00.003-04:00

Finally, a good streak put together by the Braves on the road. I'll give a series recap when I get time, but time to go to San Diego to win another series vs. the Padres.

The Phillies have won five straight and just finished giving the Padres four loses. Nice for MLB to give them a cake walk schedule to start the season.

Braves Lose Three in Dodger Series

2011-04-21T21:07:00.005-04:00

I watched the walk off home run from Matt Kemp not one hour ago and I'm not exactly a happy person right now. The biggest problem here is that first base was empty, and they decide to pitch to Matt Kemp, who is probably having the best season to date in all of baseball! Ever heard of intentionally walking a guy to face a lesser batter?

I'm going to take a different approach in this article. I'm actually thinking of taking a little break from game recaps until (if) they start putting something together. It's frustration and even a little anger that I don't really need to deal with. Best to avoid it all together.

Wednesday

Braves 1, Dodgers 6

So I was right about not getting too excited about some eight runs in the 9th inning the night before. The Braves decided to go to sleep again against a fairly mediocre pitcher named Jon Garland. The guy pitched a complete game. Derek Lowe, who was pitching off three days rest (who knows why) got knocked around. The bullpen has been pitching an awful lot lately. Any team that has a struggling pitcher is eagerly waiting in line to face the Braves, because this team is making every pitcher look like a Cy Young winner. The same can be said for any struggling hitters. "Hey, I can't wait till I face that Braves starting pitching." they say to their teammates before the series. The boxscore is linked in "Wednesday" so take a look.

Thursday

Braves 3, Dodgers 5

The Braves actually managed to score three runs off of Clayton Kershaw, who is a nasty and good pitcher. I expected to come home from work seeing the usual 0 in the box next to ATL. Manger Fredi Gonzalez decided to sit a couple of players for rest/off day. They were good choices after all. Jason Heyward is in a pretty good slump at the moment. He's not even hitting .200. Brian McCann was the other, and usually when there is a day game following a night game, he gets a day off. Kershaw is a lefty pitcher and both Heyward and McCann are lefty batters.

They were in extra innings when I got home, and then I realized that the Dodgers scored a run in the bottom of the 9th to tie it. Well, blown save for Craig Kimbrel. He's going to allow a run once in a while, but this was definitely the wrong time to do it. I read on a message board that he was getting squeezed pretty good by the ump. Who knows, probably just excuses.

The only positive in Thursday game was Freddie Freeman. He was 2-3 with two walks and a home run. Funny how this works. There only seems to be one player in the lineup doing really well while the rest is doing o-fers.

* The schedule isn't getting any easier. The Braves will be playing World Series Champion San Francisco Giants for the next series. Tommy Hanson will be on the mound tomorrow. Madison Bumgarner will be the opposing pitcher. Bumgarner is 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA to start the season. So, if I had to take a guess. He will turn it around rather easily tomorrow throwing at least seven scoreless innings.

I realized I feel slightly better about the Braves after writing this.

Braves 10, Dodgers 1

2011-04-20T21:37:00.004-04:00

Well, if you didn't watch the game then you would of thought "Wow, the Braves finally hit well!" I guess you can say that they put a nice string of hits together...in the 9th inning. This isn't the first time the Braves busted out with a large number of runs this season. They went back to the usual low scores after that. I'm not going to say the bats are coming around just yet. However, Jon Garland is pitching for the Dodgers tonight and it could be easier to put some runs on the board again.

- Brandon Beachy finally looked sharp. He pitched six innings of shut out ball allowing only two hits. He struck out seven batters.

- Linebrink pitched in the 7th with a 2-0 lead. Of course he goes on give up three hits and an earned run. He lasted for one out until Venters came in.

- Venters got the Braves out of the mess that Linebrink got them into. He piched 1.2 innings walking one and striking out two. What would we do without this guy?

- Cristhian Martinez finished game by pitching the last inning. Kimbrel was set to come in to close but the Braves put 8 runs on the board in the top of the 9th.

- It was looking like another hopeless game as the Braves continued to not get any hits with runners in scoring position. The Braves had six walks before the 9th inning came around too.

- Martin Prado collected a couple of hits and walks. He scored two runs, one of them he knocked in himself with a solo home run. It was the first score of the game.

- Heyward was 0-5. Except for the pitcher, he was the only batter in the lineup without a hit.

- McCann was 2-3 with two walks. He had an RBI and a run scored as well.

- Uggla contributed with a three run homer in the 9th.

- Looks like Freeman is warming up. I like him in the 6th spot of the lineup. He was 2-4 with a walk and two runs. He smacked a home run for the 2nd score of the game in the 7th.

- McLouth was 2-4 with a walk. Maybe he will like batting last. Not as much pressure?

- A little history was made. Eric Hinske came in to pinch hit. He hit a two run home run to make the score 4-1. The Braves continued to hit and he came up for another at bat in the same inning, collecting his second hit. This is a pretty rare occasion. Talking Chop has a little information on it.

* Derek Lowe is pitching tonight. Good luck to Derek.

Dodgers 4, Braves 2

2011-04-19T23:52:00.002-04:00

Since the Braves are on the west coast and play games that start at 10:00 pm, I will be unable to do game reviews the night of the game. I will try to review the games the next day.

The Braves lost the first game of the series vs. the LA Dodgers Monday night. The Braves were yet again able to help a struggling pitcher or mediocre pitcher pitch a gem. Ted Lilly, who is not a bad pitcher but who had early season struggles breezed through seven innings of scoreless ball.

- Tim Hudson had a terrible start for the second game in a row. He had problems with commanding his pitches. He pitched six innings, giving up six hits, four runs, walked two and stuck out four.

- Jairo Ascencio, who is replacing Peter Moylan (disabled list), pitched two scoreless innings giving up fours hits and striking out two.

- It wasn't until the 9th inning until the Braves could manage to put any runs on the board. I guess two runs is better than getting shut out. Freeman produced an RBI groundout, and McLouth contributed with the second RBI with a double.

Braves Win Both Double Header Games

2011-04-17T21:35:00.001-04:00

After a Friday night washout, the Braves played a double header Saturday winning both games vs. the NY Mets.

First Game

Mets 2, Braves 4

- Derek Lowe pitched another solid game. Six innings, five hits, two earned runs, two walks and two strike outs. Good enough for the win.

- The bullpen pitched three scoreless innings. Craig Kimbrel got the save, his fourth of the season.

- The Braves offense hit four home runs total. Unfortunately they were all solo shots. Chipper Jones had one, Freddie freeman had his first of the year and Alex Gonzalez had himself two.

- Freeman has himself a nine game hitting streak.

Second Game

Mets 0, Braves 4

- Jair Jurrjens got his first start of the season after getting of the DL with an oblique strain. This had to be a very big confidence booster for him as he pitched seven scoreless innings and got the win. This is exactly what the team needs. He allowed two hits, walked two and struck out two in those seven innings.

- George Sherrill and Scott Linebrink looked awesome for a change. Both pitched the eighth and ninth innings without giving up any runs. Sherrill allowed no base runners and struck out two. Linebrink also kept the bases empty and struck out the side.

- Prado was 2-4 with two runs.

- Chipper was 2-3 with a walk, run, and one RBI.

- Eric Hinske had a good game filling in for Freeman. He was 3-4 with an RBI.

Braves Can't Get the Sweep

2011-04-17T20:36:00.002-04:00

The Braves failed to sweep a struggling Mets team Sunday afternoon losing 3-2. Tommy Hanson struggled again allowing a pair of runs to score in the first inning. He always seems to have trouble to start games. The Braves also can not score any runs when Hanson starts as well.

- Hanson only lasted five innings giving up five hits, three earned runs, and walking two. He did have an impressive nine strikeouts though.

- The bullpen did well and didn't allow any runs in four innings.

- The pitching staff had 14 strikeouts combined.

- The Braves had a couple of opportunities to score some runs but failed to do so. I didn't get a chance to watch the game but there was once instance where the bases were loaded with Hanson was up to bat. He attempted a squeeze bunt with two strikes. He missed the bunt for strike three, and the runner at third was tagged out at home plate. Why not just let the pitcher strike out and take chances with Martin Prado at the plate with two outs?

- Jason Heyward batted 2nd in the lineup today, a spot many have been calling for. However, Nate Mclouth did not play in the game. Heyward was 2-4 and smacked his fourth home run of the season.

- Freddie Freeman has a 10 game hitting streak. He was 1-2 with an RBI.

* The Braves will be taking a long 10 game road trip to the west coast for a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres. This will be tough for the Braves. Tim Hudson will get the start tomorrow night. Lets hope they can come back with at least five wins out the trip.

Peter Moylan to the DL

2011-04-16T22:58:00.002-04:00

Moylan goes to the 15 day disabled list with a lower back strain. Not really good news, but I think the Braves can manage. Meanwhile, Jairo Asencio who had a good spring, will replace Moylan's bullpen spot.

~Article~

Braves, Marlins Catchup

2011-04-16T22:44:00.002-04:00

The Braves lost the series vs the Florida Marlins on Thursday, losing the last game 6-5. Here the Braves finally put a decent amount of runs on the scoreboard only to have Brandon Beachy stink it up. Somehow Beachy managed to get himself eight strikeouts. The Braves could/should of won this time. Later in the game, bases were loaded, Brooks Conrad is up to bat as a pinch hitter. Line drive hit towards right center field. Chris Coughlan does an Andruw Jones like play in center field and robbed Brooks Conrad of a potential two or three RBIs. It would have been enough to win the game.

- Beachy had trouble with his command. 5.1 innings, seven hits, five earned runs, four walks, and eight strikeouts.

- Bullpen did well. Combined 3.2 innings, six hits, one run, no walks, and seven strike outs.

- Braves pitchers struck out 15 batters total.

-Big game for Brian McCann. He had a three run homer in the first inning. Finished the day 2-4 with one home run, three RBI, and obviously one run.

- Dan Uggla hit his third home run of the season.

Braves Nearly No Hit - Chipper Milestone

2011-04-13T23:00:00.004-04:00

Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson was rolling through the lineup with a no hitter up until the 8th inning when rookie Freddie Freeman got himself a nice opposite field hit. Johnson had already thrown over 100 pitches and was taken out of the game right after. It's bad getting shut out let alone getting no hit. Good job Freeman to break it up.

I knew it was going to be a tough game, but lately it seems that every decent starter (expect Cliff Lee) has been talking a walk in the park with the lineup. I didn't expect Tim Hudson to give up five runs either. Better for him to get the bad start out of the way when the Braves can't hit anyways. Derek Lowe has been a victim of throwing gems yet getting handed with the loss because the Braves failed to give him any run support.

Atlanta didn't get shut out after all. Chipper Jones hit a home run in the 9th. He now has 1,500 career RBI. Chipper has another milestone to reach as well. He needs three more doubles for 500 in his career. Chipper is second switch hitter in baseball history with 2,500 career hits and 1,500 career RBI.

* Brandon Beachy will be on the mound for Atlanta tomorrow. Nolasco will be the opposing pitcher. I don't know about our chances. Depends on how Beachy does. Nolasco can be streaky at times, dominating a team or getting lit up. Let's hope for the latter.

Jair Jurrjens Set To Return

2011-04-13T13:06:00.000-04:00

Jair Jurrjens will be ready for his first start of the season on Saturday, April 16 vs. the NY Mets.

Good, hopefully he can remain healthy and help the Braves win.

Braves Win

2011-04-12T23:22:00.000-04:00

The Braves had a nice win over the Florida Marlins tonight, beating them 5-0. The defense has been doing very well and made a lot of nice plays tonight.

- Tommy Hanson finally got himself together. He pitched seven shut out innings giving up four hits, walking two and striking out five.

- The bullpen filled in and kept the shut out. O'Flaherty, Moylan, and Linebrink all pitched 2 innings giving up one hit, walking two and striking out two.

- The offense got things going, although I'm not going to get too excited yet because it was against an average pitcher.

- Prado was 2-4 with two runs.

- Chipper was 1-2 with two RBI and a walk. He needs one more RBI for 1,500.

- Brian McCann hit his first home run of the season. It was a monster shot.

- Uggla got his first hit in Atlanta as a Brave.

- Jason Heyward blasted a homer straight over the centerfield wall. He was also intentionally walked.

- Every Braves starter had a least one hit.

* Tomorrow will be a tough game. One of the top pitchers in the league will be on the mound for Florida while Tim Hudson will be pitching for the Braves. The Braves have faced a lot of quality pitchers so far this season.

Weekend Wrap

2011-04-11T21:07:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I fell behind again in my updates. Both Saturday and Sunday's games were loses anyways and I don't really take pride in talking about them, especially when it was against a division rival.

It's best to remember that season still very early yet, and that things are likely to get better shortly.

Saturday

Phillies 10, Braves 2

What an ugly game. Every pitcher the Braves threw out on the mound gave up at least two runs. The good news is that the guys that pitched out of the bullpen are the worst in the bullpen. The most expensive yet the worst pitchers named George Sherrill and Scott Linebrink certainly earned their money this time.

- Brandon Beachy kept the Braves in it right up until the 7th inning. He pitched six innings giving up seven hits, four earned runs (one earned from RP) two walks, and struck out two.

- The bullpen was horrible. Of course it was the worst pitchers of the bullpen that did so.

- George Sherrill is going to have to get it together very quickly. He gave up a hit, walked one and had two earn runs and yet didn't record an out. That's zero innings pitched!

- Scott Linebrink gave up a nice fat grand slam to Carlos Ruiz on a 0-2 pitch count. Way to go!

- Cristhian Martinez pitched two innings giving up four hits and allowing two runs to score.

- The bats were pretty bland. Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt didn't really dominate on the mound either. Alex Gonzalez had the best day going 2-4 with a run.

Sunday

Phillies 3, Braves 2

Another awesome game by the Braves. They had a couple opportunities to score yet did a usual pop up or ground ball right at someone when a hit was needed the most.

- Derek Lowe has pitched games allowing zero runs, one run, and two runs yet sits with a record of 1-2. Lowe pitched another good game going seven innings, giving up seven hits, two earned runs, and striking out two.

- Jonny Venters pitched a scoreless inning.

- Kimbrel gave up his first hit (fluke) of the season to Jimmy Rollins who later scored. The run wasn't earned because of a Jason Heyward error.

- Nothing worthy of noting offensively other than that Dan Uggla was hitless all series.

One thing I did enjoy was watching Brian McCann walk back to the dugout after his at bat and stopping to yell explicit words at Phillies Carlos Ruiz. Apparently Ruiz was crying at the umpire about balls and strikes and McCann decided to shut him up. Perhaps because Ruiz was catching balls in the opposite batters box that were called strike three on Friday night?

Take a look at McCann's baseball reference page and look at the sponsor advertisement (in yellow box).

McCann > Ruiz is what it says. Someone (not me) paid money to put it there.

The Braves got today off which was much needed. Such a coincidence that the Phillies get the day off as well before facing another NL East opponent. They have one less game played than the Braves too.

* The Florida Marlins will be visiting Atlanta tomorrow. Tommy Hanson will look to finally get things going. The Braves need to get the series win.

Chipper Jones' Milestone

2011-04-09T00:46:00.001-04:00

Chipper Jones got his 2,500th career hit in tonight's game as they beat the Phillies 6-3. Chipper is second all time in hits as a Brave. Hank Aaron holds the number one spot. The crowd gave a nice standing ovation as Chipper stood on 1st base and tipped his cap. Bobby Cox, who threw the ceremonial first pitch, was also present in the crowd. It was weird to see Bobby in the stands and not in the dugout.

- Tim Hudson had a little difficulty in the first inning, but he settled down and pitched 7.2 innings giving up eight hits, three runs (only two were earned), and striking out two. He issued no walks but did hit a batter.

- I was surprised to see Jonny Venters in to pitch. He only threw four pitches but he did pitch two innings last night.

- Craig Kimbrel got his 3rd save of the season.

- Offense finally got something going. It was nice to see them knocking hits off of a good pitcher like Cliff Lee, especially when he was getting strike three calls that were in the opposite batters box.

- Martin Prado was 3-5 with a run and one RBI.

- Nate McLouth is doing well. He was 2-5 with a run and an RBI.

- Chipper Jones was 2-4 with three RBI. 2,500 hits for his career.

- Dan Uggla was hitless going 0-4.

* Brandon Beachy will be on the mound for Atlanta tomorrow. The Braves will face yet another tough pitcher named Roy Oswalt.

* Chipper Jones is three RBI away from another milestone. He will be reaching 1,500 career RBI.

Braves Lose Series vs. Brewers

2011-04-07T23:15:00.002-04:00

Well, that was a Debbie Downer. After taking the first game of the series, the Braves went on to lose the next three. The games were relatively close and I feel that the Braves should of won at least two. The team's pitching and hitting just haven't been in sync lately.

Tommy Hanson wasn't much better this time around. I hope he can find a way out of his funk or it's going to be a long season for him. People have high expectations of Tommy this year. It's certainly way too early to be worried yet though.

- Tommy Hanson pitched 5.1 innings allowing seven hits and three earn runs. He walked one and stuck out two.

- The bullpen did well as usual. Peter Moylan did allow a run to score however. The bullpen has been pitching a lot lately.

- Not a whole lot offensively yet again. Prado had a nice 2 RBI hit early in the game and that was it.

- Chipper Jones did have the day off. I hope he's ready for the Phillies this weekend.

- Brian McCann continues to hit well. He was 2-4 today.

- Dan Uggla was 2-3 with a walk.

- Jason Heyward and Alex Gonzalez failed to take advantage of the runners they had available. They were both hitless and left 8 runners on base combined.

- Alex Gonzalez shouldn't be hitting anywhere lower than 8th in the order. He is by far the worst hitter on the team at any given time. Not to mention he terrible at getting on base. His career on base percentage is lower than .300 which is laughable.

The Braves will finally be back at home tomorrow and the Philadelphia Phillies will be the visiting team. The Phillies are 5-1 to start the season. The have had a few breaks such as bullpen implosions from their opposing teams, not to mention their cake walk schedule so far.

* Assuming Tim Hudson is his usual self, it will most likely be another low scoring game as the Braves can't quite get anything going offensively yet. The Phillies "big acquisition" Cliff Lee, will be on the mound for the Phillies.

The Phillies supposedly have one of the best rotations ever assembled going into this season. Many wanted to call it the best of all time (mainly Phillies fans, because they weren't fans before they started winning) before they even threw a single pitch. Yeah, I've been to Philadelphia before they started winning, you could hear a pin drop during the game. Give me a break, the Braves have had a decade of greatness from their rotation. This Philly staff will never touch the likes of the 1998 Braves rotation, where all FIVE members of the staff had 16 wins or more. Here's another rotation (in 1997) with just FOUR guys since the Phillies and their fans think Joe Blanton will somehow disappear from the stat book.

Keep in mind that the Phillies have nearly double the payroll as the Braves do. Anything short of a World Series title is a major FAIL.

I'm not worried about the Braves yet. They are notorious for being slow starters. I saw someone post some good stuff on a message board. Here it is.

The 1991 Braves started the year 39-40 and concluded with 94 wins and the first of fourteen consecutive division championships (and the first of five NL pennants in the decade).

The 1992 Braves began the season 20-27 and finished with a major league-leading 98 wins (and a National League pennant).

The 1993 Braves started the year 12-14 and 30-27 and finished with a major league-best 104 wins.

The 1995 Braves began the season 11-10 before winning the most games in the NL and their division by 21 contests. Ultimately, they won the World Series.

The 2000 Braves began the season 5-6 and then won 15 consecutive games, finishing with 95 wins and another NL East title (despite John Smoltz missing the entire year, plus season-ending injuries to Quilvio Veras, Rudy Seanez, and Eddie Perez).

The 2001 Braves started the year 17-21 yet won their division and reached the National League Championship Series.

The 2002 Braves began the season 19-21 and then went 60-20 (.750) in their next 80 games, finishing with a National League-best 101 wins.

The 2003 Braves began the year 4-8 and finished with a National League-leading 101 wins.

The 2004 Braves began the season 32-38 and then went 48-16 (.750) in their next 64 games, finishing with 96 wins (second in the NL) and winning their division by 10 games.

The 2005 Braves started the year 7-8 and 33-32, but won 90 games and their division.

Finally, not included but I'll add myself.

The 2010 Braves started the season 9-14 including a nine game losing streak, only to win 91 games and go to the playoffs as the wild card winner.

Braves Lose

2011-04-07T00:09:00.001-04:00

Go figure, the Braves get screwed over by the umpire. Oh well, I guess I can't blame it on the ump all the time. Mike Minor just flat out sucked. Braves now sit at a 3-3 record while the Phillies are already running away with the division. Thank you Mets!

- I get why Minor was sent to the minors. He has to establish some kind of control. Walking four batters and giving up seven hits in 4.1 innings is unacceptable.

- The Braves should of scored more than four runs. Yet again they allowed for a nobody pitcher named Marco Estrada to handle them.

- Chipper Jones was 2-4 with a run and an RBI. He will possibly get the day off tomorrow.

- Brian McCann was 3-4 with a run.

- Jason Heyward was 1-3 with a walk and a three run homer.

* Will the real Tommy Hanson please show up tomorrow? We are going to need him to do well because the Braves will face a good and unfamiliar pitcher named Shaun Marcum tomorrow. How about tying the series before heading home.

Bad Luck

2011-04-06T23:25:00.000-04:00

A few innings ago, Brian McCann tagged Prince Fielder out at home, yet Fielder was called safe. Saw the replay several times and it was obvious he was out.

Game score is 4-5 Brewers. Should be a tie game.

Is there some sort of conspiracy against the Braves? They get screwed over so much it's ridiculous.

Braves 0, Brewers 1

2011-04-06T21:50:00.000-04:00

It was a boring game and rather frustrating to watch. I'd rather watch the Braves get beat 10-0 than watch them get beat 1-0. A big wasted effort from Derek Lowe as he pitched another good game, only giving up one run. Opposing pitcher Yovani Gallardo pitched a complete game shut out but he wasn't exactly dominating. He only had two strikeouts, both from Eric Hinske. Gallardo happened to get a bloop hit and score the only run of the game. I wasn't in the mood to do a game followup after that.

- Derek Lowe pitched six innings giving up five hits, one run, walking three and striking out seven. He did throw a lot of pitches going into full counts often. Hopefully he can change that part of his game.

- Offense got shutout. Nothing worth a mention.

*Mike Minor is pitching as I type this up. Not sure about this game. We will see shortly.

Braves 2, Brewers 1

2011-04-04T23:16:00.002-04:00

Whew, this game wasn't looking so good until the 8th inning. The Braves just couldn't seem to get a string of hits together; a lot of pop ups and ground outs right at someone. The Braves patient approach allowed the opposing pitcher Chris Narveson to throw several pitches and he was out after the 6th inning. If you can't hit him, at least take your pitches and try to hit the bullpen later.

The Brewers threw Takashi Saito on the mound in the 8th, and my initial thought was "This game is over." A former relief pitcher of the Braves, Saito did very well for them just last year. He's a pretty good pitcher and has been since entering the Majors. Saito did well for the Braves again, this time giving up two home runs to Martin Prado and Dan Uggla. My thought was true somewhat, the game was over for the Brewers. Okay, not really, because anything can happen even with the largest of leads.

That's one thing I love about baseball. The game isn't over until the game is really over. There isn't a game clock where the opposing team can just kneel (Hey, I like football!). In baseball, you have to earn the win up until the last out.

- Brandon Beachy was a little shaky at first. But after the fourth inning he was mowing down the hitters one after another. He could of went seven innings but he only did six. He gave up four hits, one run, one walk and struck out seven.

- Craig Kimbrel got his 2nd save of the season. He struck out the side in a dominant fashion. Heck, he struck out Yuniesky Betancourt twice in that inning. With two strikes, Betancourt swung at breaking pitch in the dirt. The ball was called strike three but then Betancourt argued that he made contact with the ball making it foul. Upon viewing the replay, McCann actually caught the ball before it touched ground making it a foul tip, therefor he should of been out anyways. After a couple more replays, it was concluded that Betancourt's bat never even touched the ball to begin with. The next pitch...strike out.

- Martin Prado was 2-4 and contributed with a game tying home run.

- Dan Uggla was 1-4 with a home run that put the Braves in a 2-1 lead.

Finding ways to win. It's all that matters.

* Derek Lowe will be on the mound for his second start of the season. Opposing pitcher Yovani Gallardo will be pitching for the Brewers. Gallardo is a tough pitcher so I'd expect a good match up.

Two Game Update

2011-04-03T21:24:00.000-04:00

Well I have a little bit of catching up to do. I was a little busy Saturday with work and a family gathering. Saturday wasn't a pleasant game for Tommy Hanson and for us fans. Today (Sunday) turned out to be a fantastic day.

Saturday

Atlanta 3, Washington 6

The day started off with a rain delay. Perhaps the poor weather contributed to Hanson's poor start. Either way, we need consistency from him, I like knowing that the Braves have a good chance of winning in games he is scheduled to start. I don't like having to guess which Hanson we might get.

- Another rain delay during the fourth inning might have been the best thing for Tommy. He gave up five hits and four runs (three being earned), walked one, and struck out one batter. He also had a poor pick off attempt that was ruled an error. Hanson gave up a three run home run to former Brave Rick Ankiel. Much better days are ahead.

- The bullpen did alright for 4.1 innings of work. Martinez, Linebrink, Sherrill, Moylan, and O'Flaherty combined gave up five hits, two runs, walked three and struck out three.

- The offense didn't come through in clutch situations. They had ten hits but could only score three runs. They left 15 runners on base throughout the game. Despite all of these runners, the two home runs the Braves had were solo shots.

- Dan Uggla hit his first home run as an Atlanta Brave.

- Alex Gonzalez is having a nice start to the season. He was 3-3 with a walk and a home run.

- Rookie Freddie Freeman was 2-4.

Sunday

Atlanta 11, Washington 2

Now that is more like it. Tim Hudson pitched well and the hitting was spot on.

- Tim Hudson pitched seven innings, giving up three hits, one run, walking one and striking out five. He only threw 85 pitches. I like the idea that he didn't pitch another inning or completed the game. With the huge lead and being only three games into the season, there was no reason to work him more.

- Jonny Ventures gave up a run in his one inning of relief. That must be a pain considering he went through all of spring training without allowing any runs.

- Martin Prado finally collected a few hits. He was 3-5 with a run scored and one RBI.

- Brian McCann is on fire. He was 3-5 with a run and four RBI.

- Jason Heyward was 2-4 with a walk, one run and one RBI.

Overall it was a good series. They came to a cold, chilly, and rainy Washington D.C. and left with the series win.

The Braves will visit Milwaukee tomorrow to play the Brewers. Brandon Beachy will start the series.

Jair Jurrjens to the DL

2011-04-03T20:26:00.002-04:00

The Braves place Jair Jurrjens on the disabled list due to his strained right oblique. It appears it's a safe measure and they want Jurrjens to be 100% when he makes his next start. He will have to make a start in the minor leagues to get back on tract before his scheduled return on April 16.

Mike Minor will be starting in his place.

Let's hope that Jurrjens can remain injury free after this.

Opening Day Victory

2011-03-31T19:55:00.002-04:00

A great start for the Braves as they opened their season by beating the Washington Nations 2-0. Shutting out the opposing team is also a nice little addition to the win as well. Beating Nationals Livan Hernandez is always a plus in my book too. I say this because Hernandez was the pitcher in game five of the 1997 National League Championship where he was given an alien like strike zone by umpire Eric Gregg. He went on to strike out 15 batters that game for a win. Yeah, if you don't remember this controversy, go find a clip of this and see for yourself. Strikes being called in the opposite batters box! Click on Hernadez for pitching stats and you can see that this was certainly not talents here that won the game. I can only give him credit for his continued use of the gift he received.

Here's a video I found that shows a few strikeouts of this game. About 1 minute 34 seconds in it shows one batter swinging, but what other choice did he have? Then the next batter (Fred McGriff?) watches a ball go by for a strike at least 6 inches off the plate.

- Derek Lowe struggled in the first inning a bit, but he got settled down and did well. He had over 100 pitches before he could finish the 6th inning. I think he got into a full count seven times. 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 SO was his line.

- Braves bullpen was fantastic for 4.1 innings. Kimbrel got the save.

- Chipper Jones went 2-4 with a run. He hit key double where he later scored on a Brian McCann hit. Chipper's knee looks to be causing no problem.

- McCann was 2-4 with an RBI.

- Jason Heyward was 1-2 with a walk. He had a home run in his first at bat of the season. Last year, he hit one in his first at bat of the season and of his career on opening day as well.

* The Braves have an off day tomorrow (Friday) and will continue the series vs. the Nationals on Saturday. Tommy Hanson will be on the mound for his first start of the season.

Final Spring Game!

2011-03-30T23:48:00.000-04:00

Finally, the last of spring training games have been completed. The Braves lost 0-2 vs the Twins.

-Not a whole lot worth mentioning for this game. Or rather it really doesn't matter.

- Brandon Beachy was phenomenal again. He pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five. Carry this over to the season and we have a heck of a 5th starter.

- Braves are still prone to making errors. Prado made an error in left field. I'll give him a pass because he is still learning the position. Like usual, Brooks Conrad made an error. Only difference is that Conrad is not a starter (thankfully). Keep Conrad OFF the field as much as possible please. It's unbelievable how much this guy can't field.

Okay good, spring training is done. Here we go season, where games finally matter. The Braves schedule starts off pretty tough. They are away for their first six games, and then when they return home they get to play the lovely Phillies.

Derek Lowe will be opening day starter vs the Washington Nationals tomorrow at 1:00 pm. Only problem is, I have a good feeling the game is going to be a wash out with rain in the forecast. How about we get some nice lovely spring weather for a change. It's killing me!

Minnesota @ Atlanta

2011-03-30T01:27:00.000-04:00

The Braves returned to Turner Field today after having a game rained out yesterday. Must of been a nice little break before the season opener which is less than two days away. I was able to catch the game through MLB.TV for free. Must be a little preview to get people to buy it. I do have a month of free MLB.TV that came with my PlayStation 3 game called MLB: The Show '11. It was a pre-order special offer. I'll enjoy that.

The Twins were the visiting team, and they lost 4-2 in the 10th after Mauro Gomez hit a walk off home run. Overall it was another boring spring training game.

- George Sherrill just continues to suck. He allowed a walk and a run one inning.

- Linebrink, Moylan, O'Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrel all pitched very well. All of them combined pitched five innings, allowing four hits, one run (unearned), one walk, and striking out six. O'Flaherty and Venters both have not allowed any earned runs for the spring.

- The offense collected nine hits which isn't bad. Otherwise not a lot happened other than the walk of shot by Gomez.

* Tomorrow (Wednesday) Brandon Beachy will pitch in the final spring game. The Twins will be the visiting team again.

Starting Lineup Predictions

2011-03-30T00:24:00.000-04:00

To make things a little bit easier on me, and more simple for the reader, I'm going to post the projected statistics of the Braves starting lineup in one article. I'm not going to have time to do full articles on each player individually. Like I did with the pitchers, I'm going to remain conservative with stats. There are a few guys who I think could potentially have much better seasons than I predict though. Jason Heyward was a rookie last year, obviously in his 2nd year of Bigs he could be even better.

I'm going to stick to a few basic stats. These are all based on a full season of play except for Chipper Jones. Here we go.

1. LF- Martin Prado

105 Runs, 33 Doubles, 2 Triples, 13 HR, 60 RBI, 7 SB, .310 BA, .350 OBP, .460 SLUG, .810 OPS

2. CF- Nate McLouth

93 Runs, 25 Doubles, 3 Triples, 17 HR, 68 RBI, 13 SB, .258 BA, .346 OBP, .445 SLUG, .791 OPS

3. 3B- Chipper Jones (130 Games) *Based on last couple seasons. Spring results not considered. Could have .300/.400/.500 line based on excellent spring.

80 Runs, 25 Doubles, 1 Triple, 20 HR, 80 RBI, 5 SB, .275 BA .385 OBP, .470 SLUG, .855 OPS

4. 2B- Dan Uggla

91 Runs, 34 Doubles, 0 Triples, 34 HR, 108 RBI, 4 SB, .263 BA, .365 OBP, .510 SLUG, .875 OPS

5. C-Brian McCann

65 Runs, 39 Doubles, 0 Triples, 23 HR, 85 RBI, 3 SB, .277 BA, .372 OBP, .490 SLUG, .862 OPS

6. RF- Jason Heyward *Where he bats in lineup could change numbers.

87 Runs, 37 Doubles, 5 Triples, 26 HR, 94 RBI, 15 SB, .289 BA, .402 OBP, .510 SLUG, .912 OPS

7. SS- Alex Gonzalez

67 Runs, 30 Doubles, 3 Triples, 16 HR, 68 RBI, 2 SB, .254 BA, .305 OBP, .410 SLUG, .715 OPS

8. 1B- Freddie Freeman *Rookie player-Basing numbers off 8th spot of batting order and minor leagues.

53 Runs, 25 Doubles, 1 Triple, 15 HR, 70 RBI, 6 SB, .283 BA, .358 OBP, .485 SLUG, .843 OPS

Braves Aquire Billy Bullock

2011-03-29T23:56:00.003-04:00

I like this trade. The Braves got the better end of the deal I think. You'll see why.

"LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Braves acquired right-handed pitcher Billy Bullock from the Twins in exchange for left-handed pitcher Scott Diamond.

This swap of Minor League pitchers gives the Twins the opportunity to keep Diamond without having to carry him on their 25-man roster throughout the season. They would have had to do so, because they originally acquired him from the Braves in December's Rule 5 Draft.

Bullock has posted a 3.18 ERA and recorded 150 strikeouts in the 107 2/3 innings he has pitched during his first two professional seasons. Selected by the Twins in the second round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, the 23-year-old right-handed reliever soared to the Double-A level by the end of last summer.

While pitching for Double-A New Britain, Bullock worked 36 2/3 innings, recording 60 strikeouts and issuing 24 walks.

Diamond went 8-7 with a 3.46 ERA in the 27 combined starts he made for Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett last year."

From Talking Chop

Billy Bullock, a 22-year old from the University of Florida, was a second round pick in the 2009 draft. He's a big kid coming in at 6'6'' and 225 pounds. He's destined to be a late-inning reliever should he reach the Major Leagues. He recorded 27 saves and 105 strikeouts in just 74 innings last year in A and AA-ball. He was ranked as the Twins' 8th best prospect in John Sickels' most recent top-10 list, and this is what he had to say about him:

Grade B- : Could be a huge bullpen force if the command sharpens up a bit more.

Keith Law also had this to say about the deal:

Really like this move for Atlanta - Bullock > Diamond by a wide margin.

Yup, another big power arm prospect with a lot of potential.

Final Roster Is Set

2011-03-28T00:29:00.002-04:00

So, the last of spring cuts were made, and now the 25 man roster is set for opening day.

David O'Brien of AJC writes;

- "A pair of long-time Braves minor leaguers came on strong to win bench jobs on the opening-day roster, while Joe Mather faltered and was placed on waivers and reliever Scott Proctor was released."

- "Those were among the flurry of personnel moves announced by the Braves on Sunday, when they presented an opening-day roster that included rookies Matt Young and Brandon Hicks on the bench and Cristhian Martinez in the last bullpen spot over Proctor."

- "Infielder Brooks Conrad will fill the other of three bench jobs that seemed undecided when spring training began, although manager Fredi Gonzalez said that, in his mind, Conrad was never competing for a job; he already had one."

- "Starting pitchers Kenshin Kawakami and Rodrigo Lopez were reassigned to minor-league camp along with catcher J.C. Boscan, infielder Ed Lucas and outfielder Wilkin Ramirez."

BRAVES OPENING DAY ROSTER

Infielders (6): Brooks Conrad, Brandon Hicks, Freddie Freeman, Alex Gonzalez, Chipper Jones, Dan Uggla

Outfielders (5): Jason Heyward, Eric Hinske, Nate McLouth, Martin Prado, Matt Young

Catchers (2): Brian McCann, David Ross

Pitchers (12): Derek Lowe, Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Brandon Beachy, Jair Jurrjens, Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters, Peter Moylan, Eric O'Flaherty, George Sherrill, Scott Linebrink, Cristhian Martinez

Overall I'm satisfied with the selections. I know Brooks "error" Conrad made the team, but apparently his switch hitter pinch hit abilities are too valuable. Just keep him off the field on defense as much as possible!

Phillies vs. Braves

2011-03-27T23:19:00.002-04:00

The Phillies beat the Braves 6-1 on this sunny Sunday afternoon in Florida. I was able to catch a little bit of the game on the MLB Network channel. It was another one of those, "alright, next?" kind of games as the season draws closer. Opening Day is March 31.

- Kenshin Kawakami pitched. I'm not going to bother with posting his line. The guy is pretty irrelevant moving forward and hopefully we can move him via trade.

- Cristhian Martinez struggled a bit today. He walked one, struck out one, but allowed three runs to score in one inning. He made the team regardless over Scott Proctor so that's the good news out of his day I bet. Good news for us Braves fans as well.

- O'Flaherty and Kimbrel both pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout. I'm pretty confident about the Braves bullpen this season. Although there is one exception and that is George Sherrill's ugly spring numbers. I believe he can turn it around if he is used specifically against left handed batters.

- Nothing spectacular on the offensive side. McLouth hit a nice double off of Roy Halladay and almost had another nice hit that was barely caught. Chipper Jones was 1-3 and Jason Heyward was 1-2. The team was 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base total. Can't win games leaving the runners stranded.

Former Brave Mike Hampton Retires

2011-03-27T13:20:00.003-04:00

Mike Hampton calls it a career after 16 seasons in the Majors. This guy made a lot of money and used a lot of sick and vacation time. He had a good span during the late '90s and wasn't too shabby with a bat for a pitcher either. In 2000, he signed a monster deal with the Colorado Rockies which was an eight-year, $123.8MM contract. The Braves later traded for him after the 2002 season (no clue why) and ended up paying for the majority of his contract.

In fact, here is the exact transactions (baseball-reference):

November 16, 2002: Traded by the Colorado Rockies with Juan Pierre and cash to the Florida Marlins for Vic Darensbourg, Charles Johnson, Pablo Ozuna and Preston Wilson.
November 18, 2002: Traded by the Florida Marlins with cash to the Atlanta Braves for Ryan Baker (minors) and Tim Spooneybarger.

He had a decent first year with the Braves in 2003 and then absolutely stunk up the joint from then on. He was injured for most of his time from 2005 till 2008. Since baseball contracts are guaranteed, he made made about $29,000,000 for missing all of 2006 and 2007! Good thing a so called "insurance policy" paid for a good portion of this.

According to baseball-reference, this guy made approximately $125,000,000 for his career. He had 2,268 innings pitched in his career, so I did a little math fun and divided his total earnings by his total innings. That comes to earning a little more than $50,000 per inning pitched.

In comparison, Greg Maddux (former Brave), who will most likely be a first ballot Hall of Famer and is regarded by many as one of the best pitchers to ever play the game (top 10), made approximately $154,000,000 for his career. He pitched 5,008.1 innings with considerably better numbers. It's almost like an insult to even compare Hampton to this legend. Divide his earnings by innings, and Maddux made about $30,750 per inning.

Hampton made out quite nicely, or rather he was vastly overpaid according to his performances.

Good Riddance!

Braves 2, Mets 8

2011-03-27T02:28:00.001-04:00

The Braves played and lost their final game verses the Mets this spring. The Braves committed a grand total of five errors this game. Good thing none of them were made by any of the Braves starters. Go ahead, take a wild guess as to who one of the players that contributed in the error festival was...

If you thought of Brooks Conrad then I congratulate you.

I realized that I'm getting tired of spring training games. Since it's officially Sunday (1:13 AM) there is only four more days till opening day!

- Derek Lowe got hit around a bit. Not a big deal. Looks like he a little bit of an issue with control as he walked three batters in four innings giving up seven hits and four earned runs.

- Venters pitched an inning. He allowed a hit and run, however since he made one of the errors, the run wasn't earned therefor keeping his spring ERA at 0.00.

- Freddie Freeman was 2-2 with a walk.

Tomorrow the Braves will play the Phillies. Roy Halladay will be on the mound for the Phillies and the Braves will supposedly play their starters. Not a bad idea, it gets them a little more experience verses last year's National League Cy Young winner.

Split Squad Recap

2011-03-25T23:00:00.003-04:00

Today there were two games played. The Braves split the games with a win and a loss.

The first game of the day was verses the division rival Phillies. They lost the game 3-1.

- Most be a little more Rodrigo Lopez showcasing? Anyways, he pitched five innings giving up five hits, three earned runs, three walks and three strike outs. He allowed a home run to Jimmy Rollins.

- Cristhian Martinez solidified his spring a little more by going two innings giving allowing one hit, walking two, and striking out one.

- Craig Kimbrel pitched an inning with a hit and a walk given up. Considering his ridiculous 17.42 k/9 rate last year after he was called up, he surprisingly did not strike out a batter this time.

The second game was a 5-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. Anyone who was upset about Brandon Beachy being selected over Mike Minor should be rather calm after his performance today.

- Beachy wants "Ace" status rather. He pitched six innings, giving up two hits, walking one batter, and striking out six. I think it's possible that all five of Atlanta's starting pitchers could have ERA's under 4.00.

- George Sherrill was ugly again as he allowed two earned runs in one inning.

- Eric O'Flaherty still owns an ERA of 0.00 for spring.

- Braves SS Alex Gonzalez, arguably the Braves worst everyday hitter, is having a good spring. He was 2-4 with run runs and an RBI in the lead off spot.

- Jason Heyward was 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored. I learned that he lead all rookies in merchandise sales last year. As I am typing this, I am wearing an Atlanta Braves shirt that has the number "22" and Heyward on the back of it.

- Chipper Jones blasted a three run home run, his fourth of the spring.

Well, that concludes my notes on today. Braves will face the NY Mets for Saturday's game.

ATL @ TOR

2011-03-24T22:54:00.002-04:00

The Braves got themselves a win as they beat the Blue Jays 5-3. Mentioned in an earlier post today, Jair Jurrjens left the game early as a precautionary measure. He had discomfort in his right side.

- Jurrjens went one inning with one strikeout.

- Peter Moylan of old? He pitched two scoreless innings giving up a hit and striking out two.

- Scott Proctor does it again, this time allowing three hits, two runs (one earned) in one inning. He had a throwing error on top of his horrible performance.

- Juan Abreu who I haven't mentioned at all in game reviews, had himself a nice spring. He pitched one scoreless inning with a strike out.

- Jairo Asencio is another whom I didn't mention of. He too quietly had a nice spring. He pitched a scoreless inning.

- Dan Uggla finally hit his first home run of spring, a three run homer it was.

Tomorrow the Braves have a split squad going again. Rodrigo Lopez will face the Phillies while Brandon Beachy will face the Tigers.

Another Round of Cuts

2011-03-24T22:36:00.002-04:00

The Braves cut five more off the roster.

The five players cut were;

Mike Minor
Jordan Schafer
Diory Hernandez
Juan Abreu
Jairo Ascencio

All five were optioned to triple A Gwinnett.

Juan Abreu and Jairo Ascencio had terrific springs. Good to know that there are potentially good bullpen options in the minors in case somebody needs moving.

The linked article mentions:

Ed Lucas and Brandon Hicks remain for a bench spot.

Scott Proctor and Christhian Martinez remain for final relief spot.

What about Brooks Conrad? Why does this guy not get mentioned? Why does he deserve to lose games for the Braves yet again? Why do game winning home runs count but costly errors that lose games not count? He's going to have to win a handful of games in the 9th and not commit any errors this season to get my support.

What about the remaining Outfield spots? I believe Joe Mather, Matt Young, and Wilkin Ramirez still remain.

Brandon Beachy for 5th Starter

2011-03-24T21:41:00.003-04:00

It's been rumored for a few days now but it's now official, Brandon Beachy will be the 5th starter. The Braves will go forward this season with five right handed pitchers in the rotation, which is something I have probably never witnessed before on the Braves. If they are all really good then who cares? I'm not disappointed nor really surprised at the selection, this isn't Rodrigo Lopez who got the job after all. Both Mike Minor and Brandon Beachy pitched very well and I'm sure the decision was difficult.

Mike Minor can get more time in the minors, work on solidifying his pitches and not have to face major league caliber hitters. It also sets his arbitration clock back. Plus, struggles in the Majors can cause a player to lose confidence.

Here is yet another article from TalkingChop discussion the decision.

"Brandon Beachy had a monster breakout season in 2010, and even pitched for the club in September down the stretch. He doesn't really have too much left to prove in the Minor Leagues. Beachy, 24, went 0-2 in his short stint with the Braves last year, but he was a victim of low run support. He posted a strong ERA of 3.00, and his FIP (2.48) and xFIP (3.93) show he could put up pretty similar numbers in 2011. Especially considering that two of his starts were against the Phillies vaunted offense."

Jair Jurrjens Projection

2011-03-24T21:32:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I did a player forecast. Honestly I don't even know if I'll get through the batting lineup before the season starts, but it doesn't matter I guess. I decided I'm not going to do any relief pitchers, bench guys and even Brandon Beachy. Relief pitcher's and utility/bench player's are hard enough because their stats usually fluctuate year to year. Beachy doesn't have a large enough sample size of stats to really go off of. Now that I say that, I might not even do Freddie Freeman. We'll see.

Jair Jurrjens is not an easy one to predict. FIP and xFip suggest he was pretty lucky in 2009 with an ERA of 2.60 in 215 IP. His WHIP was 1.21 which is pretty high for someone with an ERA that low as well.

In 2010 Jurrjens struggled. He dealt with a couple of injuries and never got it together. He compiled 116 IP and had an ugly 4.64 ERA and 1.39 WHIP to go with it.

Speaking of injuries, Jurrjens pitched today in Spring vs. the Toronto Blue Jays, but left early after one inning due to right side discomfort, but it was probably a "cramp" and he could of continued to pitched if he needed. A precautionary measure apparently is all it was.

I got a lot of different stat suggestions from fangraphs. It appears no one is really sure what to expect.

I'm going to throw something out there, perhaps something similar to his 2008 season.

11-8, 180 IP, 3.72 ERA, 130 K, 1.30 WHIP

Braves for Sale Soon?

2011-03-24T21:04:00.004-04:00

It's possible, since the Braves are basically disposable trash to a multi-billion dollar corporation called Liberty Media, where the CEO makes more than entire Braves roster in a year. Absolutely ridiculous.

"But John Malone, Liberty Media chairman and founder, is famous for making use of tax advantages, and he has said Liberty Media doesn't consider the baseball team a strategic asset."

Money, that's what all of it is about. Anything to get more money is obviously first on the checklist. Were not talking about moving from a cardboard box to a nice house here either. It's more like how many Mansions can be bought? Whether or not there are hundreds of thousands (a million perhaps) of Braves fans who are negatively effected by this is not a concern at all. Oh no. It's just a baseball team after all!

A sale of the team could be a really bad result, or really good. Bad meaning the new owner would slash payroll significantly in order to pocket more money (like Florida Marlins Owner Jeffrey Loria), or even get too involved in team management. Now, George Steinbrenner, who was the NY Yankees owner (passed to his son Hank) for years before he passed away was an example of a guy who got too involved, but when he let things go a little bit and spent like crazy the Yankees started raking in World Series titles. All George wanted was to win.

So, anytime the idea of different team ownership comes up, I get a little nervous.

Here's a little bit about it from Talking Chop.

Rodrigo Lopez, Kenshin Kawakami on Trade Block

2011-03-23T20:10:00.002-04:00

Lopez and Kawakami have no where to go but down in the Braves system. Lets get someone to eat some of Kawakami's contract and get a couple of young players with potential. Someone has to like Lopez and his minor league contract.

Here is the latest rumors involving Braves transactions.

Braves Tie Game vs. Marlins

2011-03-23T19:57:00.003-04:00

The Marlins visited the Braves today and the game ended up being a tie. The score was 4-4 in 11 innings. Nothing spectacular, just an average spring training game. Speaking of spring, I was rather irritated to see 6 inches of snow fall on the ground today. It is a rather depressing sight, and when you have a job that involves working outside as well, it brings my mood down another notch. I think I declare March my most hated month.

- Tim Hudson pitched six innings giving up four hits and a run. He had two walks but struck out four batters. Hudson has a 1.35 ERA for the spring.

- George Sherrill is pretty ugly this spring. Now, I assume he's not being used as a left handed specialist this spring like he will be during the season. Let's just take this as a stretch out session. Four hits, three runs, one walk in an inning of work. He has three blow saves now this spring.

- I have to mention Venters yet again. He pitched another scoreless inning with two strikeouts.

- Kimbrel has been lights out for a while as well. A scoreless inning with one strikeout for the new closer.

- Nate McLouth had a little cold streak, but he picked it up again going 2-5 with an RBI and a run.

- Chipper Jones hit a double for an RBI.

- Rookie Freddie Freeman smacked a home run in this game.

* Jair Jurrjens will make the start tomorrow vs. the Toronto Blue Jays.

Houston @ Atlanta (Tommy Hason Report)

2011-03-20T21:40:00.008-04:00

The Astros visited the Braves today and lost 3-5. A decent game overall, and a very good one by the bullpen. In other news, Tommy Hanson got his scheduled start pushed back a few days until Wednesday due to discomfort in his back. Doesn't look to be serious.

- Derek Lowe pitched 5.1 innings giving up 7 hits, 3 earned runs, walking one and striking out five. Still a good game but not as dominant as he has been. He is human after all.

- The bullpen was tremendous giving up three hits, zero runs, and striking out seven in 3.2 innings. No walks were allowed either. Notables were Moylan, Sherrill and O'Flaherty.

- Nate McLouth was 1-4 with walk and a run scored.

- Is this a robot with Chipper Jones' skin on? Chipper was 3 for 3 today. He is hitting .420 for spring training so far. Please save some of this for the season hoss.

- Wilkin Ramirez deserves a spot on the team. He was 1-4 with two RBI and a stolen base. He is hitting .303 and has four SB for the spring.

* Kenshin Kawakami will get the nod for tomorrow's game against the NY Mets. He also has pledged $50,000 for Japan relief since that is his home country.

Three Game Coverage

2011-03-19T20:47:00.002-04:00

Obviously, I didn't get to Friday's game. I work rather stupid hours for my particular job and I went out afterwords. I almost was going to wait till tomorrow (Sunday) to post again, but I needed to do something a little constructive to keep awake (I work Saturdays too!).

Today there was another split squad going playing two different games at once, so that makes it three games total.

Starting with Friday

Atlanta vs. NY Mets 0-3

- I hope it isn't one of those seasons where the Braves score 20 runs in one game and get shut out the next.

- Jair Jurrjens pitched in this game. He was on a roll until our favorite guy Brooks Conrad made a couple of errors, messing up Jair's rhythm. Jair pitched six innings, giving up five hits, three runs (two earned), and striking out two.

- Venters pitched a scoreless inning. He got into a little trouble at first giving up a hit and a walk, but still got out of it. His ERA remains at 0.00.

- Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless inning with one hit allowed and striking out two batters.

- Nothing special on the offensive side.

- Brooks Conrad has to be off the roster! I don't care how good his switch hitting pinch hitting abilities are.

Atlanta 1, Detroit 2

- Brandon Beachy really wants the 5th spot of the rotation. He pitched five scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and striking out three. He did have three walks but otherwise another good outing.

- Arodys Viscaino didn't have himself a pretty game. He blew the save and lost the game as he gave up three hits and two earned runs in a third of an inning.

- Nothing special on the offensive side here either. Only one strikeout from the team is the only real positive find.

NY Mets @ Atlanta Braves Tied 3-3

The Braves have played the Mets a lot this spring; six times total and one more to play yet.

- Rodrigo Lopez pitched 4.2 innings giving up three hits, three runs (one earned) and walking three. He had five strikeouts as well.

- Linebrink, Sherrill, and Kimbrel all through a scoreless inning with no hits given up.

- Nate McLouth has cooled off a little lately. He was 0-3 but did have an RBI.

- Chipper Jones was 1-3. He has seven doubles this season.

- Jason Heyward was 1-1 with one walk and a run.

- Brooks Conrad thought he could erase our memories of his errors by blasting a two run home run. I just shrugged it off, it was only good enough for a tie Mr. Conrad.

- Freddie Freeman was 0-4 with a throwing error to boot. Ouch!

*Derek Lowe looks to continue his great spring vs the Astros for Sunday's game.

Second Round of Cuts

2011-03-17T22:37:00.001-04:00

Nothing big or surprising here. Just another sign that the season is getting closer! Two weeks from today to be exact.

Here's a bit from talkingchop.

"Right-handed pitchers Cory Gearrin, Stephen Marek and Anthony Varvaro were optioned to Gwinnett (AAA). The five players who were re-assigned to minor league camp include left-handed pitcher Yohan Flande, catcher Wilkin Castillo, infielder Shawn Bowman and outfielders Brent Clevlen and Jose Constanza."

WAS @ ATL

2011-03-17T22:17:00.002-04:00

6-7 was the score as Atlanta got themselves another spring training win. Although the score doesn't suggest this, this was a good game in many ways for some of the players. There were four errors however, but only one starter committed an error and that was Chipper Jones.

- Tim Hudson pitched five scoreless innings giving up two hits and striking out five batters. That looks great, but I have to mention his four walks. He had a little trouble with control but eventually figured it out.

- Kenshin Kawakami pitched two scoreless innings with one hit allowed and a strike out. Good showcasing!

- Scott Proctor continues to pitch his way off the team (good). He pitched two thirds of an inning and 5 runs scored. Only one run was earned, so I can't fault him for the errors his teammates made that allowed for the other four runs to cross the plate. He did walk two batters as well.

- Nate McLouth continues to rake this spring going 2-4 with a run.

- Chipper is on fire, he was 2-4 with a run and two RBI. One of the hits was a home run.

- Jason Heyward with a sophomore slump this season? No way! He's hitting .440 this spring. He contributed by going 1-1 with a run, walk, and a two run home run.

- Freddie Freeman was 1-3 with a run and walk. He copied Jones and Heyward and hit a blast as well for two RBI.

Luis Salazar Update

2011-03-16T23:10:00.005-04:00

I posted the news when Salazar was hit in the face (left eye) by a line drive foul ball off of McCann's bat. This news update came rather shocking and even disturbing to me. Things looked to be going well and he would recover, however his left eye was removed after doctors were unable to save it.

I hope that this doesn't effect McCann and his play. He was bothered by it when the incident happened, but now knowing that the man lost an eye as a result is like rubbing a little salt in the wound.

Mark Bowman explains the case in more detail.

Derek Lowe to Start Opening Day

2011-03-16T23:04:00.003-04:00

It's well deserved I believe, but it also really doesn't matter. It's just giving a little bit of honor to the guy. Lowe was terrific at the end of the season (September) and in the playoffs, and he has had a great spring as well.

Here's an article regarding the situation.

Boston 3, Atlanta 4

2011-03-16T22:42:00.005-04:00

The Braves won their match up vs the Boston Redsox Wednesday. Final score was 4-3. Overall a good game, the offense showed up this time collecting twelve hits total.

- Tommy Hanson allowed a home run to the first batter he faced, but then settled down and had himself a nice session. Five innings pitched, two hits, one earned run, and five strikeouts.

- George Sherrill, who the Braves signed this off season for veteran presence in the bullpen, hasn't looked too pretty this spring. Perhaps it's because he's still adjusting to being on a new team or it takes him a while to get back in shape. I still have hopes that he will be used only as a LOOGY or I believe "lefty one out guy." Basically he is a left handed specialist that will only pitch against left handed batters. Two earned runs and a walk in one inning pitched was his line today.

- Peter Moylan and Eric O'Flaherty both pitched a scoreless inning.

- Martin Prado was 2-4 with a run.

- Chipper Jones was 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Tim Hudson will pitch tomorrow vs. the Washington Nationals.

Cardinals Shut Out Braves

2011-03-15T20:31:00.003-04:00

Wait what? The Cardinals AGAIN? Yeah, the Braves played the Cardinals and lost 0-4 for today's game. Atlanta's batters decided not to show up this spring game (tired of the Cardinals?). The pitching was actually pretty good, its the FOUR errors in the game that lead to three runs being scored. This team hasn't improved defensively I'm afraid. One of the errors was by the defensive whiz Brooks Conrad. If he makes the team this year...

- Derek Lowe pitched this time, going five innings, giving up four hits, one earned run, a walk, and striking out one. That's a good outing.

- Scott Proctor, who I don't really care for, pitched an inning, giving up three hits and three runs (unearned due to errors).

- Craig Kimbrel looks to be back in normal routine. Pitching a scoreless inning and striking out the side.

- Jonny Ventures pitched a scoreless inning. Seems to be the norm for him, as he still possesses an ERA of 0.00.

- Nothing worth mentioning in the hitting department.

* Tommy Hanson gets the start vs the Boston Redsox for Wednesday's game.

ATL @ STL

2011-03-14T21:24:00.002-04:00

It seems as if the Braves have played the Cardinals a dozen times already this spring. The game ended up being a tie after calling it a game in the 10th inning. The score was 1-1. The Braves have allowed the least amount of runs out of all teams in spring training so far. Although some teams have played a few more games, and some have played a few less.

- Mike Minor pitched five scoreless innings, giving up two hits, striking out four and walking two. I hope he continues is spring success. I want this guy for the 5th starter.

- Kenshin Kawakami pitched two innings giving up three hits and a run. That run allowed was a home run allowed to Matt Holliday.

- Pretty quiet day offensively, Chipper Jones played another day at third base. He was 1 -3 with the hit being a double.

- Freddie Freeman was 0-4 with three strikeouts. Ouch!

- I noticed Jason Heyward being out of the lineup the last three games due to back discomfort. I'm really kind of concerned about him. He seems to have a lot of little nagging injuries. He will be back for tomorrow's game.

* Brandon Beachy, who is also looking to win the 5th rotation spot, pitched in a separate game today as well. Beachy hasn't made it any easier for a decision to be made. He pitched five scoreless innings and gave up only two hits as well.

Houston vs Atlanta

2011-03-13T20:14:00.003-04:00

Atlanta added another win to their spring record today, finishing the game with a 7-1 score vs. Houston. The Braves were on the verge of shutting out a team for a second consecutive game, but Cristhian Martinez blew it by allowing a one run home run in the 9th inning.

- Jair Jurrjens pitched five scoreless innings giving up 2 hits. He struck out four batters and walked one. This is the Jurrjens we need to see.

- Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless inning.

- Chipper Jones played at third for a second day in a row. He had another strong game, going 2-3, hitting a home run, and collecting two RBI's.

- Brian McCann, who I haven't talked about much, went 2-4 with a home run as well.

- Wilkin Ramirez has potential to win a job on the team. He's having a good spring hitting .421. He was 2-4 with a home run and three RBI today.

* Mike Minor, who is looking to win the job for the 5th spot in the rotation, will be pitching tomorrow vs. the St. Louis Cardinals.

Braves Stomp On Mets

2011-03-12T21:04:00.002-05:00

The NY Mets visited the Braves today and got a good spanking. The final score was 12-0, a sign of things to come I hope.

- Tim Hudson pitched four shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out four.

- Linebrink, Sherrill, Moylan, Venters, and Asencio combined for five innings, three hits allowed, and six strikeouts.

- No walks were given up by any of the Braves pitchers.

- Any worries about McLouth and his shoulder should be put to rest. He went 2-4 today.

- Alex Gonzalez is having himself a nice spring. 2-4 with an rbi in today's game. He is hitting .344 for the spring.

- Chipper Jones played at third base and had himself a nice old fashioned Chipper day. Chipper's line consisted of a bunch of twos. He was two for two, scored two runs, knocked in two runs, and had two walks. Oh, and those two hits were both doubles.

- Braves excellent back up catcher David Ross had the best day of the bunch. He was 3-4 with five RBI total.

- Unfortunately, Jordan Schafer was 0-5.

* Jair Jurrjens will be throwing off the mound tomorrow vs the Houston Astros.

Braves 6, Yankees 2

2011-03-11T23:09:00.005-05:00

Another good game by the Braves as they bested the Yankees 6-1. The Yankees have a couple of former Braves players on their team. One favorite of mine is Andruw Jones. I wish him the best of luck and hope he can find a way to bounce back his career. Despite being in the majors for what seems like forever now, he will be only 34 years old this season, so he has time left. Mark Teixeira is another. A very good ball player who the Braves obtained via trade. It didn't work out so good as the Braves weren't able to afford his monster contract shortly after. The biggest loss was that a few of those prospects the Braves traded away were a large part of last years American League Champion Texas Rangers team. Rafael Soriano is the last guy. He was very good relief pitcher for the Braves, and also served as their closer at times.

Anyways, here's some game notes.

- Tommy Hanson pitched four innings, giving up five hits and one run while striking out two. He gave up a home run to Jorge Posada.

- Kenshin Kawakami pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Trying to showcase this guy for a possible trade perhaps. The Yankees could use him!

- Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one, but walking one as well. He has to bring down his walks.

- Any doubts about Heywards thumb this year are being erased. Heyward went 2-3 today and is hitting .417 so far this spring.

- Freddie Freeman was 1-2 with a walk.

- Jordan Schafer rebounded a little today, going 2-4 with a home run.

* Tim Hudson will be making the start tomorrow vs the NY Mets.

First of Spring Training Cuts

2011-03-10T20:05:00.002-05:00

Article

The Braves announced their first round of cuts. Teheran, Viscaino and Delgado are among the names listed. They do have to get stretched out so they can pitch readily in the minors. It's not possible to do that throwing only one inning at a time while being on the Braves spring roster.

A total of 14 players were either optioned or re-assigned. According to talkingchop,

"Right-handed pitcher Erik Cordier and left-handed pitchers Lee Hyde and Jose Ortegano were optioned to Gwinnett (AAA), while right-handed pitcher Randall Delgado was optioned to Mississippi (AA)."

"The 10 players who were re-assigned to minor league camp include right-handed pitchers Michael Broadway, Jay Sborz, Julio Teheran and Arodys Vizcaino, left-handed pitcher Brett Oberholtzer, catchers Christian Bethancourt, Braeden Schlehuber and Jesus Sucre, infielder Tyler Pastornicky and outfielder Mycal Jones."

Cardinals vs Braves Round Two

2011-03-10T19:39:00.002-05:00

The Braves took a win instead this time around, beating the Cardinals 2-1.

- Derek Lowe is looking very good. He pitched four innings, gave up two hits, walked one and struck out four batters. He has yet to allow any runners to cross the plate.

- Top pitching prospect Julio Teheran pitched a scoreless inning. He too has an ERA of 0.00.

- Martin Prado was 2-2 with a walk and a run scored.

*Tommy Hanson will pitch tomorrow against the NY Yankees. Kenshin Kawakami will make his first appearance in relief.

Nate McLouth - Luis Salazar

2011-03-09T20:30:00.001-05:00

In other news, Nate McLouth received a cortisone shot in his right shoulder. It appears to be nothing serious but rather a "bruise" as Nate puts it. Hopefully he comes back on schedule and resumes his successful spring.

Also, Minor League Manager Luis Salazar was knocked unconscious after being struck in the face by a foul ball hit by Brian McCann. He was taken to the hospital.

According to Bowman,

"Salazar suffered multiple facial fractures and will have to undergo further tests to determine the significance of damage to his left eye. But doctors have ruled out the possibility that he suffered brain damage and been encouraged that he can interact with family members."

St. Lous Cardinals vs Braves

2011-03-09T19:59:00.007-05:00

The Braves couldn't get their bats going as they lost to the Cardinals 6-1.

- Rodrigo Lopez pitched four innings and gave up 3 earned runs. His four strikeouts were a plus. It's nice having a decent experienced pitcher for pitching depth.

- Jonny Venters has yet to allow a run this spring, pitching another scoreless inning and striking out one.

- Pitching prospect Arodys Viscaino pitched as well, giving up two hits and striking out two in an inning of work. He too has yet to allow a run this spring.

- Jordan Schafer had an ugly game. He was hitless in five at bats.

- Freddie Freeman was unable to get himself a hit as well, going 0-4.

*There was also a "B" game against the Cardinals minor leaguers today. Two guys competing for the 5th spot pitched in this game. If you haven't guessed it already, those two were Brandon Beachy and Mike Minor. Here's a DOB writeup. I like Mark Bowman's better here.

- Brandon Beachy is using a slider he used to throw in college this time around. Beachy pitched four innings and allowed two runs. He had control issues, walking 3 batters.

- Mike Minor allowed one run in four innings. He allowed three hits, but also recorded an impressive seven strikeouts.

*Derek Lowe will get his chance to pitch again against the Cardinals tomorrow.

Monday's Game 3/8

2011-03-09T19:47:00.002-05:00

The Braves took a loss from the NY Yankees with the final scoring being 5-4.

It was another typical game, a starting pitcher getting stretched out for the season and the relief guys getting an inning or so in.

- Jair Jurrjens got roughed up this time around. He gave up four runs in four innings, but he did strike out four batters as well. I'm not worried. Here's a little bit on his performance from David O'Brien.

"After feeling rusty in his first two spring outings, Jurrjens said he could tell – without looking at the radar gun or asking anyone for readings – that his fastball was better Tuesday. And he was right. It was consistently 90-91 mph and topped out at 93.

'The first two outing I don’t think I even broke 90,' he said. 'Finally I feel loose, and really that’s the thing I wanted to accomplish today, try to get that looseness again and trying to see that zip on the fastball. I think my next bullpen I’m going to start working on the sinker and make it sink a little more.'

Gonzalez also had suspicions that the Yankees were seeing something that tipped Jurrjens’ pitches, because they kept stealing on breaking pitches and not fastballs.

'Yeah, that leads me to believe they were seeing something at first base,' Gonzalez said. 'We can correct that. It’s not that big of a deal.'"

- Peter Moylan struck out all three batters in his one inning of work.

- Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless inning while striking out one batter.

- Nothing tremendous worth noting on the hitting side.

Predicting Derek Lowe

2011-03-07T21:38:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I predicted a players stats for the upcoming season. I'm still on my starting rotation, and so I decided to do Derek Lowe this time. It's hard to not be real optimistic of Lowe considering him being named NL pitcher of the month for Septemeber and his strong performance in the playoffs. Take it with a grain of salt, but he's having a pretty good spring training as well.

Lowe has been a disappointing pitcher during his time in Atlanta so far. He certainly hasn't lived up to the contract he signed in January of 2009. Perhaps we will see it payoff this season?

I'll have to keep in mind that Derek Lowe will be turning 38 years old this season. So I really can't expect him to have a season like he did in 2008 with the LA Dodgers. One plus is that the guy is never injured, and he should be a lock for at least 190 innings pitched. He hasn't pitched less than 193.2 innings in the last 6 seasons, and his lowest was 182.2 innings (2004) in the last 9 years.

With all that being said, I think he will have his best season as an Atlanta Brave yet for 2011. I like Bill James projections for Lowe on fangraphs.

I'll give it my shot.

14-11, 191 IP, 3.80 ERA, 128 K, 1.27 WHIP

Braves Lose to Marlins

2011-03-07T17:57:00.002-05:00

The Marlins scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th today vs the Braves. The final score was 4-3. The Braves totaled 14 hits but could only get 3 runners to safely cross home plate. Today marked the first time Fredi Gonzalez faced the Marlins since being fired by them.

- Tim Hudson pitched 3 innings, giving up four hits and one run. He had 2 walks and 1 SO as well.

- The biggest part of the game was Julio Teheran. He pitched a scoreless inning, giving up 2 hits and striking out 1 batter.

- Randall Delgado pitched again. It was another solid effort as he struck out 2 in one inning, allowing no runs.

- Martin Prado is having himself a good spring. He was 2-4 today with one run.

- Nate McLouth is still doing his thing as he went 1-2 with a home run.

-Freddie Freeman continues to rake, going 3-3 in today's game.

*Tomorrow the Braves will face the NY Yankees. Jair Jurrjens is expected to make his 3rd start.

Four Game Review

2011-03-06T18:36:00.004-05:00

I had a busy weekend, so I was unable to keep up with the games that were played. The Braves played four games total; a split squad for two games on Friday, one game Saturday, and one game today (Sunday).

Overall they were solid, finishing with a 3-1 record.

Two games were played on Friday due to split squad play. The total roster is basically split in half and made into two separate teams.

Friday - Atlanta Braves vs. the Washington Nationals. The result was 6-4.

- Brandon Beachy made the start for this game. He certainly did well as he pitched 3 scoreless innings, giving up only 1 hit and striking out four.

- Eric O'Flaherty did good as well. He pitched a scoreless inning.

- Craig Kimbrel gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in 1 inning of work. He did strike out 2 batters and did not issue a walk. Hopefully he is just working on his pitches. I'll keep noting his progress through spring.

- Nate McLouth went 2-2 with a walk and a run scored.

- Jordan Schafer was 1-4 with a run.

-Freddie Freeman is having a solid spring so far, 1-3 with 2 RBI in the game.

Friday - Toronto Blue Jays vs Atlanta Braves. Blue Jays 7, Braves 5.

Some poor pitching overall in this game.

- Mike Minor got the start. 3 innings, 5 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO.

- New RP George Sherrill walked 2 and allowed 2 runs in his 1 inning.

-Chipper Jones went back to DH role this time, going 1-4 with a run scored.

-Dan Uggla had a good game. He finished 2-4 with 2 rbi and a run scored.

Saturday - NY Mets vs Atlanta Braves. Braves win 6-4.

- Derek Lowe looks like he is picking up where he left off. He pitched 3 scoreless, and hitless innings. Striking out 2 and walking 2.

- Randall Delgado had a better outing this time around. 1 scoreless inning pitched with a hit given up and 1 strike out.

- Nate McLouth was 1-3 with a walk.

- Chipper Jones was on the field again at 3b. A real good game for him, he hit a home run, knocked in 2 runs and was 1-3 for the day.

- Jordan Schafer was 1-3 with a run.

Sunday - Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nations. Braves shutout Nationals 5 -0.

Awesome game on the mound today. Total pitching results out of five pitchers today was 9 IP, 2 hits, 1 BB, and 9 SO.

- Tommy Hanson took the mound, pitching 3 innings with 1 SO and a walk.

- Jonny Venters continues to be very effective. 1 inning and 1 SO for him today.

- Cristhian Martinez really wants a place on the team. He pitched 2 innings, gave up one hit, but most impressing of all, he struck out 5 batters.

- Arodys Viscaino pitched. 1 inning, 1 hit and a SO.

- Chipper Jones was at 3b, going 1-3 with a run scored.

- Jason Heyward return from missing a few games with a sore groin. Everything looks to be ok. He went 1-1 with a walk.

- Jordan Schafer was 0-4 with a walk.

That's it for the weekend. Even though it means very little the Braves are now 7-2 in spring training.

*Tim Hudson receives the ball tomorrow vs the Florida Marlins.

A look at Spring Game Six

2011-03-03T21:06:00.002-05:00

The Braves pulled off a win against the Tigers, winning 4-3. This game was televised on ESPN. I completely forgot about this and was thinking about taking the day off from work. I guess I'm glad I didn't afterall. I'd rather take time off for a real season game instead.

- Jair Jurrjens was okay. He went through 2 innings before giving up two runs in the 3rd.

- Pitching prospect Randall Delgado pitched today. 3 hits, 1 run allowed in an inning. He was credited with the win, but also blew the save.

- Nate McLouth was 0-3

- Chipper Jones played at 3rd base today. He went 1-2 with a run. Good to see.

- Brooks Conrad is having himself a poor spring. 0-4 today with a strikeout.

Braves play the Blue Jays tomorrow, with Mike Minor starting his second time.

Atlanta vs. Boston

2011-03-02T21:35:00.004-05:00

The Braves came out with another win in spring training, beating the Red Sox 6-1. I can't help but mention that the Braves pitching has been superb thus far. I know that one or two innings vs lineups that are half major leaguers and minor leaguers doesn't tell a whole lot, but it's still a good sign.

-Tim Hudson pitched 2 innings. 2 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 1 SO was his line.

-Craig Kimbrel had a much better outing this time around. Pitching an inning without giving up any runs.

-One of the Braves top pitching prospects, Arodys Vizcaino pitched today as well. He impressed throwing 2 scoreless innings. I read that he was throwing in the mid to high 90's. Will the Yankees regret trading this guy a few years down the road?

-It's encouraging to see Alex Gonzalez belt a home run. He might be the worst hitter in the everyday lineup, but if he can duplicate his season from last year as a hitter, that would be quite nice.

-Ed Lucas, a guy who seems to have come out of nowhere (career minor leaguer) is tearing it up at the moment. I'll be keeping an eye on this guy. He's got decent numbers in the minor leagues and I'm rather surprised he didn't find a spot on the Kansas City Royals team.

-Jason Heyward has some groin tightness. Hopefully this is just a spring training thing, trying to get fully stretched out.

Kenshin Kawakami finally showed up to camp. Kawakami has been better than his record indicates and would be a solid forth or fifth starter for a number of teams out there. The Braves would like to move him, and perhaps he showcases himself well enough this spring for that to happen. I personally think the guy deserves better and should be starting somewhere, just not for the Braves.

Jair Jurrjens will get his 2nd start tomorrow vs the Detroit Tigers.

Braves Beat Astros Again

2011-03-01T19:50:00.003-05:00

The Braves got a win today as they played the Astros for a second time in a row. Unlike yesterday, today's was a much lower scoring game, Braves 3, Astros 0.

-Tommy Hanson took the mound this time. 2 innings, 2 hits, 1 SO, and no runs allowed.

-Two of our great lefty relief guys pitched today. Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters both pitched 1 inning with no hits and no runs allowed.

-Not a lot happened offensively. Jason Heyward got 2 hits in 3 at bats. Chipper Jones played at DH, but was hitless.

-Jordan Schafer was 1-3, Nate McLouth was 1-2.

Speaking of Nate McLouth, here is a little read on him. Just a little bit about him hitting 2nd in the lineup and his progress so far.

Tim Hudson will pitch tomorrow. The Braves will play the Boston Red Sox.

Overview of Spring Training Game Three

2011-02-28T21:40:00.003-05:00

Braves had a little batting practice vs the Houston Astros beating them 13-3 in today's game. Even with the high score, there were no home runs hit by any Braves player.

-Derek Lowe did well, pitching the usual 2 innings, allowing 2 hits but no runs allowed.

-Chipper Jones played again at DH. 1-2 with an RBI and a walk.

- I mentioned keeping an eye on Nate McLouth. Well he's off to a hot start. He went 2-2 with 3 runs, 2 RBI, and 2 walks. We need a bounce back from this guy.

-Newly acquired relief pitcher Scott Linebrink gave up 3 hits and 2 ER in an inning of work. Nothing to worry about just yet.

- Martin Prado looks to be doing well after missing last years playoffs from injury.

Braves play the Astros for game four tomorrow.

Spring Training Game Recap

2011-02-28T10:49:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, the Braves played the Mets again for their second spring training game. They lost 5-4 this time, however it is no big deal.

-Chipper Jones sees his first real action since the ACL injury. He played as the DH and went 1-3. He even attempted to break up a double play by sliding carefully into 2nd base. Aside from slight fluid build up around knee, things look good so far.

-I'm keeping close eye on CFer Jordan Schafer this spring. So far not a whole lot to show. Still way too early to come to conclusions. Nate McLouth is the other on to keep an eye on.

-Three guys who are are fighting to fill the last spot of the rotation pitched in today's game. Rodrigo Lopez, Mike Minor, and Brandon Beachy. I'm rooting for Mike Minor here.

-Lopez pitched 2 scoreless innings with 1 BB and 1 SO.
-Minor pitched 2 scoreless innings. No hits allowed, no walks, no strikeouts, a clean outing.
-Beachy pitched 2 innings, giving up 2 ER. 3 SO are only plus.

-Scott Proctor gave up the rest of the runs. 3 ER, 2 BB in 1 inning of work. Why do we keep hanging on to this guy?

Derek Lowe will be next to pitch, starting today's game.

First Spring Training Game

2011-02-26T19:34:00.002-05:00

Today was the first spring training game for the Atlanta Braves. The game ended up being a tie. 5-5 was the score after 10 innings vs the New York Mets. It's one thing to get excited, but keep in mind that spring training games are pretty much meaningless, except for a few players that are battling for a spot on the team.

Here is the game boxscore.

Things to note:

-Freddie Freeman went 3 for 3, three doubles that is.

-Eric Hinske 1 for 3 with a home run. Nice pop off the bench. Glad we resigned the guy.

-Jair Jurrjens pitched 2 scoreless innings with one strike out. If I am seeing this right, he only threw 9 pitches, all for strikes.

-Craig Kimbrel had a rough outing. I'm not to be worried unless this goes on all spring. He just has to work on lowering his walks.

The Braves will play the Mets again tomorrow. Chipper Jones will get his first at bat in since the knee injury, and will be batting as the DH.

Frank Wren Signs Extension

2011-02-21T14:22:00.004-05:00

Braves General Manager Frank Wren has signed for an extra two years, going to 2013. I think it's well deserving and I have no objections to this. He wasn't signed for long term either so if he does somehow send the team spiraling downward, at least his contract will be up shortly. I'm pretty sure it's a guaranteed contract so even if he was "fired" the team would still have to pay until the contract is up. I don't think they get paid anything like the ball player does but it's still money.

Taking it one step at a time is good.

Here's an article. Link to Mark Bowman's twitter as well.

Predicting Tommy Hanson

2011-02-16T22:06:00.006-05:00

I figured I would go with Tommy Hanson next in my predictions. He seems to be one of the easier guys for me to round up some numbers for, so I'll get him out of the way.

I'm expecting big things from this guy. With his rookie season and that second season or common term "sophomore slump" season out of the way, it may the time for him to take it to the next level.

I don't usually care about W-L records as they are mostly team dependent (you need runs) but Hanson could of had a record of 14-4 instead of 11-4 in his rookie season. He left the game with a lead where the bullpen blew it three times.

His 2010 season was solid, you couldn't ask for much better numbers out of a guy who was only 23 years old and in his 2nd season. He got no run support, which explains his 10-11 record despite having an ERA of 3.33 in 202.2 innings. I'll take that as a slump, his rookie season numbers were better across the board, but in less innings pitched.

I looked at some of the fangraphs projections. Bill James doesn't really like him, but overall the numbers are okay. I have no doubt that he will produce an era better than 3.41 as he "projected." In fact I think he will have an ERA under 3.00 for this season. Why do I say this?

-In his rookie season he posted an ERA of 2.89.

-He had a few bad months in 2010, without those he was awesome. These bad months or string of bad starts were not anywhere near the norm. I know that these bad months count, but as a pitcher matures, he should find ways to get out of these flukes more frequently.

-April 2.17 ERA
-May 5.09 ERA
-June 6.31 ERA
-July 2.43 ERA
-August 3.05 ERA
-September/October 1.81 ERA

Take away those two bad months and it looks pretty good right? Ironically, during the bad stretch he was 8-3.

That's a 2.40 era from July through September, including one start in October, with a 2.17 ERA from April.

So, you can see why I think he can easily have an ERA under 3.00 for this season.

Now, I don't want to be too crazy here. With a bunch of sources predicting his ERA to be over 3.00, I'll go along that line as well. Perhaps they see something I don't? But I do think he will take things up a notch, or rather, take over as the top starter of the staff.

15-7, 218 IP, 3.09 ERA, 192 K, 1.14 WHIP

Fredi Gonzalez Rides Bikes?

2011-02-13T22:24:00.005-05:00

I thought this was an interesting read. A little interview of Fredi by Atlanta's beat writer David O'Brien. Even though he is not a new face to the organization, he's the new Braves new manager and it's nice to learn more about him.

Here's the article.

Here's a different version, same interview but other information and pictures.

Predicting Tim Hudson

2011-02-09T20:57:00.008-05:00

Since there is really nothing major going on for the time being, I decided to finally do my personal predictions.

I will start with Tim Hudson's 2011 season stats. I created an article regarding him and predictions prior to this a little less than a month ago.

I still like to be able to see how they do in spring training before I go posting stats, but spring training really doesn't mean a whole lot unless the player is fighting for a job. The ones who are proven and guaranteed a spot on the team usually just try to get ready for the season and not go all out. More specifically pitchers, where they might just throw one or two of their pitches in a game to work out any kinks, to get back into rhythm.

I don't think I'm going to get real optimistic here for the most part. I'd like to post average to below average kinds of numbers, or maybe along the lines of Marcel projections which are very conservative. When I say very conservative I'm saying predicting Albert Pujols to hit a league high 34 home runs, and that five people in all will hit 30 home runs or more. It's not likely that those results will happen, the league leader in home runs will have more than 34, and there will also be many more players with 30 or more home runs. So in that case, I will like the end results better if they exceed the expectations, especially Atlanta Braves players.

I will also link to fangraphs so you can see projections from other different sources as well.

Tim Hudson 2011

14-10, 207 IP, 3.35 ERA, 130 K, 1.20 WHIP

I'm going to keep it simple as well. I'm not going into k/9 or FIP and all that stuff like the great Bill James. I included a few more basic stats not listed in the other sources as well. Those are strike outs (K) and WHIP.

As you can see, I went with a more conservative approach. He could very well win 20 games, pitch 230 innings and have an ERA under 3.00, but then that would be pretty optimistic if I posted those numbers.

More On Chipper

2011-02-02T14:11:00.005-05:00

"Tell 'em I'm gonna be in the lineup opening day." Were the words from the Braves legend.

So, baring any setbacks, look for him to be in the opening day lineup. If he can give us 120-130 games that would be a huge boost to our lineup. He might not hit .300 AVG 30 HR, 100 RBI anymore, but he can still get on base and he is not an easy out.

Looks like he will remain in the 3rd spot of the lineup.

-New manager Fred Gonzalez said he has tinkered with several possible lineups. He said every combination includes Jones playing third base and hitting third.

I don't necessarily agree with that spot in the batting order at this point in his career. But that's what he is used to an it may be best to keep him there.

Also an interesting bit according to TalkingChop.

- He's going back to "old school" Chipper look, and will be rocking the knee-high socks with his pants rolled to his knees.

You don't see style that much if at all in the Majors these days. I wonder if this old school Chipper look includes getting rid of the chin hair.

Another Chipper Jones Update

2011-01-31T19:26:00.003-05:00

ATLANTA -- Daily cortisone treatments begun last week have calmed the tendinitis in Chipper Jones' surgically repaired left knee. This week, the Braves' third baseman will start agility drills.

As Spring Training nears, Jones feels that he is on schedule to be ready for Opening Day. But there are still hurdles -- and questions -- that remain.

"I'm starting to get ready to do it for real," Jones said Monday at Turner Field. "That's when I'll see where I'm really at."

Jones, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in August, will report to Spring Training with the pitchers and catchers on Feb. 14. He hasn't taken any ground balls yet, but has been hitting since December.

The tendinitis, which wasn't unexpected, had limited him and made batting right-handed painful for the switch-hitter. But he hopes that is in the past.

"I've felt good since I began the treatments and I've had no limitations since," Jones said.

The colder-than-usual Atlanta winter has kept Jones from doing much outside, which may not be a bad thing.

"Everybody who knows me knows that I'm going to try to do too much too quick," Jones said. "[The weather] has helped keep the reins drawn in, which is probably a good thing. I'm resigned to not doing any of the fielding stuff until I get down to Spring Training, which is probably in my best interest.

"My knee isn't quite there yet. I can run straight ahead, but it still feels like my left leg is five pounds heavier than my right. That's just something that comes with the surgery."

As he eases back into things, though, don't expect Jones to wear a bulky brace like former Atlanta teammate Sid Bream. He will wear a sleeve for support instead during workouts as well as games.

The flareup of tendinitis wasn't a setback in Jones' mind, just something to be expected as part of the rehab process. And he said it has been much less of a problem than when he tore the ACL in 1994. That repair required major surgery, rather than being done arthroscopically.

"Now that you're starting to get into the everyday hustle and bustle of getting yourself ready for Spring Training, you've got aches and pains," Jones said. "Tendinitis is just one of those steps you've got to get by."

His treatment is through a process called phoresis, an alternative to a cortisone shot. Jones wears a pad on his knee and the anti-inflammatory is electronically distributed through the skin.

Jones, 38, had hinted at retirement as he struggled early last season, but he had regained his hitting stroke before being injured on a fielding play in Houston on Aug. 12. He vowed to come back, saying, "I don't want the fans' final image of me to be one of me hurt on the field."

Jones, who has a .300 career average and 436 home runs, feels that his return is on schedule.

"I've got to get to the point where I don't mentally think about the knee," Jones said. "As long as I don't have any pain down there, I won't think about it. That's why I'm really excited about coming down here [to Turner Field], getting the treatment, getting that tendinitis out of there."

Things are looking pretty good so far. Let's hope that everything goes well and there are no setbacks. It would be nice to have Chipper and his .400 obp back in the lineup. Over or under 100 games this year? I'll be optimistic too and say over.

Rodrigo Lopez Signs with Braves

2011-01-31T19:05:00.002-05:00

Rodrigo Lopez chose the Braves out of three possible destinations. The New York Mets and Colorado Rockies were the other two choices. I can't blame him for choosing the Braves, but he would of had a better chance of joining the Mets or Rockies rotation in the future.

It's a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. With the abundance of young pitchers in the organization already...why waste money or time on a below average pitcher?

Aparantly this is the 2nd time the guy has signed with the organization as well. He signed in 2008 after Tommy John surgery only to be released shortly later.

If it's for more pitching depth, it seems to be okay. I do not expect him to be involved in any future plans with the big club.

Anyways, here's an article from the Braves official site.

Keith Law's Top Ten Braves Prospects

2011-01-27T20:09:00.005-05:00

Keith Law of ESPN posted his top ten Braves prospects. This is on ESPN Insider if you have access to it. There is some discussion about this on talkingchop.

1. Julio Teheran, RHP (6)
2. Freddie Freeman, 1B (43)
3. Arodys Vizcaino, RHP (47)
4. Randall Delgado, RHP (50)
5. Mike Minor, LHP (61)
6. Craig Kimbrel, RHP
7. Carlos Perez, LHP
8. Matt Lipka, SS
9. Edward Salcedo, SS
10. Cristian Bethancourt, C

The numbers to the right of the player's name indicate their rank in all of MLB. I believe it is out of 100 players, so that is why the other half of the prospects don't have a number. They didn't make the top 100, but they could easily make it on the list next year.

I haven't talked about Vizcaino at all. He missed a lot of time last season and yet still remains high in the system. His upside is supposedly greater than Delgado. Arodys was a prospect aquired in the Javier Vasquez trade; perhaps the biggest piece of the trade (not Melky Cabrera).

Kimbrel doesn't have a number because Keith Law doesn't value relief pitchers much in his rankings. Craig Kimbre l already proved to be a nasty pitcher in his short time in Atlanta. He will take over the closer role once held by Billy Wagner (retired). Billy Wagner has not officially retired yet, but several sources say he will.

ESPN's Keith Law Ranks Braves Minor League System

2011-01-26T20:22:00.003-05:00

Keith Law ranks the Braves minor league system number three in all of baseball. It's good to see the Braves farm system back on top after John Schuerholtz nearly drained the system by doing trades such as the one that involved Mark Teixeira. In fact, I have an article about this trade back when in happened. The Texas Rangers went to the World Series last year with a few guys that were top prospects in the Atlanta Braves system. These two are known as Neftali Feliz and Elvis Andrus.

Good thing current GM Frank Wren seems to understand the value in keeping top prospects.

If you have ESPN insider, you can read the article here. If not, you can still see that the Braves are number three on the list.

Top Ten List: Teheran, Minor, Freeman

2011-01-22T20:56:00.006-05:00

I found an article on MLB.com that has best prospect lists; top ten left handed pitchers, top ten right handed pitchers and top ten first basemen. These lists include a few Braves.

Mike Minor was ranked number four on the list for left handed pitchers.

-4. Mike Minor, Braves: Minor's stuff was pretty good at Vanderbilt, but he fit more of the sensible lefty mold. As a professional, though, his stuff has been much better than expected. His fastball has gained a few ticks, his changeup is a plus pitch and his curve has improved as well. He can throw all three pitches for strikes. It took him a year to get to Atlanta, and he could very well be there to stay. Braves fans should get excited about having Tommy Hanson, Julio Teheran and Minor in the rotation.

While Minor has already had some time with Atlanta he still has potential to be a #1 or #2 pitcher in a rotation despite his poor performance. Eight games at the Major League level isn't big enough of a sample size to declare anything. He possessed a good k/9 rate throughout the minors and his WHIP was fairly low. He could be a pretty good bargain for a number five starter out of the rotation. Let's hope he has a good spring training. Brandon Beachy could still get the 5th spot.

Julio Teheran was ranked number two in the right handed group.

-2. Julio Teheran, Braves: Teheran jumped on the fast track in 2010, pitching across three levels. He's got a terrific three-pitch mix (fastball, changeup, curve), all of which are at least above-average. Just 20, his command on the mound belies his years and that, combined with his stuff, points to a future at the top of a rotation. Atlanta already has Tommy Hanson and Mike Minor. It may not take too long for Teheran to join them.

Teheran might be a September call up to get some time in this year. Teheran is a lock for the 2012 season, unless he has some crazy horrific year in the minors. Some have compared this guy to a young Pedro Martinez. That is huge considering that Pedro is one of the best pitchers in the history of the game. He will be 20 years old this year, plenty of time to develop even more as he gets older.

The Braves also have Randall Delgado, who is a top pitching prospect who didn't make the list (surprisingly). But lets not get all upset, it's just a writers opinion.

The best part is that no other teams in the NL East are represented on either list for pitching.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Freddie Freeman appeared at number two on the first baseman list.

2. Freddie Freeman, Braves: He belongs on any list for 2011 National League Rookie of the Year Award candidates, and not just because he'll have the opportunity to play every day for Atlanta. He might not have the best power in this group, but there's plenty more than what he's shown to date (though he did have 35 doubles and 18 homers in 2010). His smooth left-handed swing should allow him to hit for average and drive in runs right out of the gate.

This guy should bring some excitement to the team this year. He will be starting the season without any kid of spring training competition, a rarity. It will be like Jason Heyward all over again, although no one will or should be expecting him to match Heyward's rookie season numbers.

Freeman absolutely raked in Triple A. At 20 years old, he posted 18 home runs, 87 RBI, 35 Doubles, and had a .319Avg/.378Obp/.521Slug line in 124 games. If that doesn't have you optimistic, I don't know what will. He is also supposedly very good with the glove as well.

I'm liking the trend. Heyward (2010), Freeman (2011), Teheran (2012). Throw in Delgado somewhere too.

Nate McLouth: A Lot to Prove

2011-01-20T18:11:00.007-05:00

Nate McLouth, who last season batted an awesome .190avg/.298obp/.620Ops and made millions of dollars, is likely to be the starting center fielder for the Braves again for the 2011 season. It's fairly obvious why this guy should be given another shot.

-He will be making $7.75 million regardless of how he plays. $6.50 million with a $1.25 buyout. That kind of money alone is worth trying to get this guy to perform. Lets try to get some value while we can, and if he does perform, it pays off right?

-Although it might not really be his last year of the contract (has an option). Another reason would be the phrase "contract year." This is the last year they have in a contract before a player hits free agency. In McLouth's case, his option would have to be dropped. Sometimes players seem to miraculously perform better than usual in a effort to get their numbers up and get that extra pay. Adrian Beltre is a great example. Check out his stats in 2004, the best season of his career. That was a contract year. Check out last season(2010), another great year out of average years. You guessed it, another contract year. Since McLouth is possibly in his last year of his contract, will the Braves benefit from this? That's another $10.65 million for 2012 if he wanted the Braves to pick up his option. It could be his last chance...or else he might not find another major league job. Not that it matters, he's already set for life with the money he's already been given.

-McLouth is only 29 years old. An age usually associated within a player's prime years or best years.

-He looked decent in his brief return to the Braves on August 31.

-Nate has already proved he can be a good ball player, as evidenced by his 2008 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. How do you think he got that three year $15.75 million contract of his?

I think we can remain optimistic about a turnaround. I wouldn't make a bet on it however. If he fails to be a beneficial asset to the team, we can probably look forward to seeing Jordan Schafer give it another try.

Here's a better read on Nate McLouth by David O'brien.

Arbitration Eligable Players Signed

2011-01-18T17:23:00.003-05:00

Four important players were up for arbitration and all of them have avoided that by agreeing to one year deals, according to AJC's David O'Brien.

-Martin Prado agreed to a $3.1 million deal. A raise from $440,000.

-Jair Jurrjens agreed to a $3.25 million deal. A raise from $480,000.

-Peter Moylan agreed to a $2 million deal. A raise from $1.15 million.

-Eric O'Flaherty agreed to a $895,00 deal. A raise from $440,000.

I consider this a pretty good bargain all around. It's little more than $9 million for four guys who contribute greatly to the team. I like how they just signed one year deals.

Jurrjens kind of worries me a bit regarding injuries, and with a couple of ace projected guys developing in the minors in Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado, he might be expendable. Jurrjens is also a Scott Boras client, who may be overpriced someday. Can he stay healthy and pitch a full season? If so, I doubt he duplicates his 2009 season. I would expect his 2008 season to be the norm.

*In other news, former Brave and all-star center fielder Andruw Jones might be signing a contract with the New York Yankees. Horrible news. I was hoping the Braves would grab him as a 4th outfielder option. He is only 33 years old, still hits lefty pitching well, and a little reunion would perhaps draw some more fans.

Tim Hudson 2011 Forecast

2011-01-17T18:15:00.008-05:00

Tim Hudson had Tommy John Surgery after an elbow injury during the 2008 season. He had put in 142 innings of work before he was finished for the season. He came back at the end of the 2009 season and put in 42 innings, making the surgery successful, as it usually is.

2010 marked his first full season since his surgery, and he looked like a new pitcher. After only having a 2.13 ERA when he finished his start on August 13th 2010, he slumped, finishing the season with a 2.83 ERA. It was his best season as an Atlanta Brave.

Many say his low BABIP or (Batting Average on Balls In Play) contributed to his fall off, saying he was extremely lucky for his successful season. BABIP is a measure of the number of batted balls that safely fall in for a hit (not including home runs). Since his was a .250 avg and the normal is around .300, it suggested all along that he was likely going to regress.

There is also xFIP, which is Expected Fielding Independent Pitching. It's a measure of all those things for which a pitcher is specifically responsible. It's supposed to help you understand how well a pitcher pitched, regardless of how well his fielders fielded. This stat also supposedly can tell you how well a pitcher might pitch in the future. Should his ERA regress or get better? Keep in mind it is for ERA. Think opposite of BABIP. The lower the number here, the better. If his xFIP is way higher than his current ERA, then you might see a increase in his ERA in the future.

Here's an article that can help you understand a little better as to what all this is about. It's not the best article and I don't think it really helps my case. The reason I bring all this nonsense up is because I will be predicting the Atlanta Braves' pitchers and ERA is one of the stats. BABIP, FIP, XFIP are some tools used to help predict future ERA. Not 100% accurate, but pretty good overall. Some people put way too much emphasis on these three stats. Some people don't like these at all, specifically traditionalist, who use only the basic bare bone stats such as W-L, ERA, strikeouts, average, home runs, and RBI and refuse to learn any more about the sport. Yeah, those are fantastic for fantasy purposes. If you want to only use those as arguments for comparing players in reality, you're going to get beat.

Other than the article I posted, the reason I say it's not 100% accurate is because it can penalize certain pitchers such as those who produce a lot of ground balls. Tim Hudson is a ground ball pitcher. Strike outs are a plus, but he pitches to contact for ground balls. His main pitch is a sinker ball, which in most cases causes a batter to hit the top half of the ball, thus forcing it downwards producing a ground ball. Derek Lowe is also a ground ball pitcher.

I'll have to keep in mind who's fielding behind these guys. People don't like the idea of Dan Uggla occupying 2nd base when Martin Prado is a better fielder. Uggla should be in left field (least important position) while Prado remains at 2nd base. Tim and Derek will be relying on their defense to be fielding these ground balls. Chipper Jones will be at 3rd base with a surgically repaired ACL as well. Limited range could be a problem.

Personally, I think that part of Tim Hudson's struggles in late August and September are as a result of pitching 228.2 innings his first full season back from Tommy John. Not all from a particularly "lucky" season. Perhaps he dealt with fatigue? 228.2 innings is a big jump from years of 142 innings and 42 innings. In his career, there is no year to year correlation of late season collapses. In other words, he has never dropped off in performance as significat as .70 Runs to his ERA at the end of the season. Here's an example, in 2007, Hudson remain fairly consistent through the season.

During Hudson's best season in 2003 with the Oakland Athetics, he had a BABIP of .261, the second lowest of his career. Hudson didn't regress that year. He remained consistent. In, fact, he went from an ERA of 3.29 in June and finished in September with an ERA of 2.70.

So with all this said, I don't see any reason to see any serious decline in Hudson's overall play. I'll be safe and bump his numbers up a bit. Just for the sake of the guys playing behind him, his age, and the whole "fluke factor."

I decided not to post Tim's prediction just yet. Maybe I will for my next post.

Player Predictions

2011-01-15T23:23:00.003-05:00

Back before the start of the 2008 season, I was going through the Braves roster and giving a quick overview with a prediction of season stats. That didn't go so well. As you can see I only got a couple players in before I became a slacker and then all of the sudden the season started. I disappeared thereafter.

I'd like to give this another shot. I think I'll go through the starting pitchers first. It's early yet, and at this time pitchers are easier to predict. I am not sure of what lineup the Braves will be throwing out for the season quite yet, but I can guess. It does have an effect on a players statistics in some regards. For example, a player batting lead off is more likely to have more Runs and less RBI than a guy batting in the 6th spot.

I don't think Fangraphs has all its predictions or "projections" up yet. The fan projections are up, but I will wait. I like to look at Bill James, Chone, and Zips as well. Looks like Fangraphs only has Marcel, Zips and Fans for comparing this time around.