The Bearded Icon

Say It Ain't So

2009-08-07T19:33:00.007-04:00

Tough day for us (me) at The Bearded Icon. The Icon himself was designated for assignment by the Red Sox after going 2-5 with an 8.32 ERA in in 8 starts and 40 IP. As much as I hate to say it, Frank Wren looks pretty good right now for not matching the $5.5 million salary the Sox offered Smoltz this winter.

There has been speculation that Smoltz may accept a move to the minors in an attempt to come back as a reliever. Unsurprisingly, there has even been mention of the Icon returning to the Braves, though management has "no comment" on his future. To see whether it's worth bringing him back, I used the great PitchFX tool from Brooks Baseball to compare Smoltz's stuff from last year versus this year. The main issue with the PitchFX tool is that it cannot capture location, but it should be a good indication of the velocity and movement of his pitches. Smoltz made only 5 starts with the Braves in 2008 (and one relief appearance) versus 8 this season with the Red Sox, but because I'm lazy, I only looked at data for his last three starts in both years. Who's ready for charts?

The top chart shows that the average velocities on his fastball and slider are way down and his changeup's speed is up. From the bottom chart, the break on every pitch except the sinker (which I'm guessing is actually a splitter) is down, significantly so on the fastball, change, and slider. As for his location, the walk ratio is consistent with the last 5 years of his career. However, his HR/9 is more than double that of the last few seasons, his K/9 is down, and he is giving up 13.3 hits per nine.

Clearly his pitches aren't as sharp as Braves fans are used to seeing them . His right arm seems to finally be showing the signs of aging and his numerous surgeries. I personally would love to see Smoltz come back to Atlanta and finish his career in a Braves uniform, but I can't see him being effective in meaningful situations, and you can't bring him back as a mop-up guy. So here's hoping The Bearded Icon comes back to Atlanta, but sticks to working on his golf game.

Uppers and Downers

2009-07-29T18:53:00.004-04:00

What Could Have Been...

As painful as it is having Garret Anderson's outfield play ruin the excitement of watching the grass grow, Braves fans could be suffering through Ken Griffey Jr.'s corpse doing its best impression of the Kid in left field. It has been over five months now since Griffey "crushed the Braves' hopes" and signed with Seattle. Both Anderson (293) and Griffey (302) have made about 300 plate appearances this season, but Griffey has been the DH in 57 of the 76 games in which he has played. Even concentrating almost solely on hitting, Griffey's batting average is hovering just above the Mendoza line (.211), while Anderson has steadily raised to his .295. Junior's patience at the plate (and Anderon's refusal to draw a walk) means that they both have an OBP right at .325, but Griffey is slugging a paltry .375, nearly 70 points lower than Anderson. So even though it hurts me to say that Garret Anderson is actually playing well, it hurts much less than the thought of an early-season outfield of Griffey, Schafer, and the Braves's version of Jeff Francoeur.

Just Like the French

Speaking of Francouer, has anyone noticed his stats as a Met? Well, in his 14 games as a member of that poor franchise, Frenchy has hit a very good .321/.350/.518, including 3 homers, 2 doubles and 16 RBIs. I'll just let that sink in while you think about the fact that Frenchy also drove in 16 runs in 50 games between May 12th and July 9th prior to his trade...

Hopefully this will make you feel better (via Big League Screw):

Which One Terrorized New York City in Ghostbusters?

2009-07-27T21:09:00.003-04:00

Links: Scouring Them Internets So You Don't Have To

2009-07-22T20:36:00.007-04:00

Marc Anthony just bought a share of the Miami Dolphins. Here's hoping that T.I.'s first order of business on May 27th, 2010 is to team with Ludacris and Lil Jon to relieve Liberty Mutual of the Braves

Quote from Posnanski's list of the Top 100 players in baseball right now, where Yunel Escobar was ranked 90th: "There are issues with him, sure. But last I checked, brilliant defensive shortstops who hit .307 with some power are not all that easy to find." Other Braves on his list: Chipper (87), Mac (81), Soriano (75), Vazquez (55).

The Mets begin to unravel. What's that? They're 44-49? Oh... this is awkward...

This has to make Garret Anderson nervous

Drinking the Kool-Aid: Jason Heyward named as Baseball America's number 1 prospect, joined by Zeke Spruill (A) on the Hot Sheet

Awesome to see a (relatively) big crowd tonight as Jurrjens dominated the Freak and the Giants

Who Would Win This Race?

2009-07-20T20:49:00.004-04:00

In honor of the 40th anniversary of us dominating the Soviet Union by winning the space race, I've come up with a race of our own:


Full Name	Garret Joseph Anderson	NASA's Crawler-Transporter System
Date of Birth	June 30th, 1972	January 1966
Place of Birth	L.A.	Kennedy Space Center
Age	37 years	43 years
Years in Service	15	43
Height	6' 3''	20' - 26'
Weight	190 lbs.	5,400,000 lbs.
Cost	$2,500,000	$91,916,294.90 ($14,000,000 in 1966)
Top Speed	Unknown	2 mph

Around the bases, I have to like GA, but in a straight sprint, I'm going to say it's too close to call.

Long Reliever or Second Baseman?

2009-07-15T18:55:00.012-04:00

Although Martin Prado has been excellent since replacing Kelly Johnson at second base (.403/.467/.567), the Braves have had a perfectly good, run producing middle infielder wasting away in the bullpen since the start of June: Kris Medlen.

While some of the Braves's relievers sit at or near the top of the NL in appearances (Moylan 1st, O'Flaherty 3rd, Gonzalez 5th), Medlen has had plenty of time to find his inner Little Pink Pony, making only 8 appearances since May 31st. Now it seems to me that you wouldn't want a prospect who averaged 10.4 K/9 with a 2.42 ERA in the minors to waste away in long relief, but the Braves refuse to send him back to the minors where he can get some meaningful and consistent work in. Luckily for the Braves, Medlen has other skills that the team has yet to harness.

Drafted in the 10th round in 2006, Medlen was primarily a switch-hitting shortstop at Santa Ana Junior College. A quick look at his hitting statastics as a professional player shows that he is a clear upgrade over Kelly Johnson. From June 2nd to July 2nd, KJ made 87 plate appearances. In those appearances, he managed 9 hits, 3 doubles, 13 strikeouts, and 2 stolen bases. His percentages over that month span come out to .122/.224/.162. In his minor league career, Medlen made 32 appearances at the plate, in which he hit .333/.355/.567. He scored 6 runs, drove in 5, had 2 doubles, a triple, a homerun, and 2 stolen bases. For those of you keeping track at home, in about a third of the plate appearances, Medlen hit more homers and more triples, scored more runs, drove in more runs, and stole the same number of bases as the Braves's starting second baseman.

Those numbers are all the proof I need that Medlen can make a Rick Ankiel-like transition to position player. With his middle infield history, he can probably play defense equal to KJ's. Plus, it gives us even more opportunities for goofy pictures of the kid.

Or, maybe we should just send him to the minors and let him pitch. What do I know?

(Images from http://braveslove.blogspot.com/)

A Eugoogaly for Jeff Francoeur

2009-07-12T21:52:00.000-04:00

It was weird for me to see Jeff Francoeur in a Mets uniform. Although I knew that it was unlikely he would be a Brave after this winter, I never really thought it would happen. I also never thought any team would give up a serviceable major leaguer for him. To me this was a job well done by Frank Wren. Before The Cuban Missile tried to take him out, Church seemed to be developing into a decent outfielder. In 2007 with Washington, the only season he has had more than 360 plate appearances, Church hit .272 with 15 HRs, 43 2Bs and 70 RBI. Certainly not mind blowing, unless you're a Braves fan and forgot that outfielders do, in fact, produce runs. Versus left handed pitchers this season, Church has hit .310/.360/.424, and in the 35 games he played as a Met away from Citi field, he hit .326/.359/.444 with 13 doubles. Clearly an upgrade for the Braves, especially if platooned with Matt Diaz.

All that being said, this post is about Francouer. Getting rid of a gaping hole in the lineup is great, but part of me is sad to see him go. I admit I was a sucker for the hometown hero story, the local kid who dominated at Parkview, sped through the minors, ripped a three run homer in his second major league game at the ripe old age of 21, and appeared on an SI cover with the tag line "The Natural" (priceless subtitle: Can Anyone Be This Good?). Even through the all the struggles at the plate, I liked a lot about Francouer. Sure he didn't always take the best line on a ball hit to right field, but that arm could make any play exciting. Unlike some of the Braves's other corner outfielders, he seemed to hustle and have a genuine joy for the game. Seeing him hit three doubles the other night and take some balls to the opposite field, I even convinced myself that there was a chance he would come out of this. Maybe it's my eternal optimism when it comes to ballplayers (Chien-Ming Wang will lead me to a second half fantasy title, right?), but I'm terrified that Frenchy will eventually figure it out, even more so when I see him in a home jersey at Citi Field.

I think Francouer and Church have both been the victims of mental problems these last few seasons: Church's due to TCM's knee, Francouer's due to his insecurity at the plate. Church claims his head is finally clear after the two concussions. Perhaps the move from Atlanta will have the same effect on Francouer. Personally, I hope he absolutely bombs as a Met, signs with the Rangers this winter, and goes on to hit 40 homers a year in the AL.

7/11/09 - Braves 4, Rockies 3: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2009-07-11T20:11:00.003-04:00

The Good

The MLB Network broadcasting Joe and Boog
Conrad's hustle on his grounder in the 2nd, allowing Mac to score after GA moved him over
JJ scoring Conrad (through a stop sign) on another hustle play by the second baseman
Soriano in the 9th (3 K's)

The Bad
Prado jogging on the tag from second in the 5th, nearly costing the Braves a run

And The Ugly

Joe likes Lady GaGa
Whatever happened when Moylan's pitch went off Mac's mask, allowing the third Rockies run

Retro Live Blog

2009-07-09T20:25:00.003-04:00

Another live blog from the Ginger Beard of Javier Vazquez's gem. Kids, don't try this at home.

7:00 : Time for the second running diary of The Braves Drinking Game. Things could be a little strange since I have to watch it on WGN, the local Chicago network, and so will have to deal with the Cubs announcers. In order to compensate, I have elected to begin the game with a Sparks. If you are unfamiliar with the beverage, it is a “premium malt beverage with natural flavor, certified color & FD&C yellow number five”. Also, it is 6% alcohol by volume.

7:02 : Just heard that Javier Vazquez is pitching. He is the ideal pitcher for the BDG. I like where this is going.

7:05: A few more rules for tonight's game. Back when this game was created, we would always drink to a Pete Orr sighting. Now, we have decided on Eddie Perez. He always looks happy, so I can drink to that. Since it is an away game, we will also be drinking to any Braves fan in the stands.

7:06 : Even though Zambrano is going on short rest, it will be tough without Chipper. Seems like a pretty telling sight that Conrad is playing 2nd and not KJ, even though Zambrano is a righty.

7:08: Zambrano working very quickly. After a McLouth walk and Prado sacrifice, McLouth almost gets picked off of second. Anderson grounds out to second, allowing McLlouth to make it to 3rd with 2 outs and McCann up to bat.

7:09 : And the Braves take the lead! McCann RBI single to right.

7:11 : The Cuban Missile strikes out on a high fastball. Not a bad inning by Zambrano, but the Braves get a run.

7:12 : After running the count full, Fukudome strikes out to start it out for the Cubs.

7:16 : A nice defensive play by Escobar to get Theriot.

7:18 : And Vazquez gets the strikeout on Lee to end the inning. Solid first inning by the Bravos, hopefully they can keep it going. Vazquez looked pretty solid, and maybe the offense will be able to get another run or two off Zambrano.

7:20 : Kotchman starts out the 2nd by grounding out to first. Some great defensive first basemen in this game with Kotchman and Lee over there.

7:21 : Since Frenchy somehow hit the ball to opposite field, everybody loses the Frenchy Mini-Game.

7:22 : I think Conrad gets a x3 multiplier. He was hitting well in AAA, but hasn't looked awesome.

7:23 : Well Conrad shows me. After a solid 9 second hit, I think Conrad might deserve a x2 multiplier. Sadly, Vazquez follows him with a groundout to short to end the inning.

7:26 : And the Cubs clean-up hitter starts out the bottom half of the 2nd with a single to right.

7:27 : Ramirez just misses a double by pushing it foul down the right field line. Scary moment.

7:28 : The Cubs announcers just describe Ramirez's swing as “very violent”. Interesting way to describe a talented hitter's swing. He ends up with a single to bring up Soriano. He's pretty fast, so it could be tough to double him up.

7:32 : And Soriano strikes out for the first out of the inning. Cubs fans boo him, which they probably should. On top of a disappointing year, that was a pretty poor at-bat. More than a few Cubbies are probably annoyed he is under contract for a while.

7:35 : One of the guys playing the BDG just burnt popcorn. This is miserable. And he has had less than a beer. Yes, not even a beer.

7:37 : Great over the shoulder catch by McLouth after a long at-bat by Fontenot. Koyie Hill, the back-up to Geovany Soto, comes to bat.

7:40 : Hill runs the count full with 2 outs, putting the runners into motion early. Hill gets the RBI after a solid at-bat. McLouth makes a decent play to hold Ramirez at second, but he could have been caught in a run-down.

7:43 : Zambrano up to bat, but this is no easy out. He is a solid hitter that really likes to take his cuts up there.

7:44 : Vazquez strikes out Zambrano to end the inning.

7:46 : McLouth grounds out to short to start out the Braves half of the 3rd.

7:48 : I just found out KJ went on the DL for a wrist injury. Either way, Prado is usually the starter and he singles to right. Anderson will probably just ground into a double play anyway.

7:50 : Well he struck out. That's a little better. He has to be the worst 3 hole hitter in any game tonight.

7:52 : McCann doubles to right to bring in Prado from 1st. He really is great to have. The Cuban Missile up to bat now.

7:54 : Escobar whiffs badly on the same pitch twice. I wish the cameras had stayed on him long enough to capture his reaction.

7:57 : After his 5th strike out in 10 batters, Vazquez retakes MVP of the BDG from McCann. He follows up the strikeout to Fukudome with a great defensive play.

7:59 : And Vazquez retires the side quickly. Another good inning for the Braves.

8:01 : Kotchman takes a walk on 4 pitches to bring up Frenchy. The guesses are a double play to short and a single to left.

8:04 : And he strikes out on a pitch at the eyes. Should have known.

8:05 : Conrad almost gets a seeing-eye single, but Fontenot tracks it down. Still advancaes the runner. Maybe Vazquez could help himself out here.

8:06 : Vazquez grounds out to end the inning. Zambrano has slowed down a lot, maybe we can get to the bullpen pretty early tonight.

8:09 : The Cubs announcers began the inning by talking about how impressive Vazquez has been this year. Hopefully more people will look past his records and into the other stats to see just how incredible he has been.

8:11: Prado catches a little flair to 3rd to get the first out of the inning. On the next pitch Conrad makes a great diving stop on a ball off the side of the mound to get Ramirez.

8:13: The WGN cameras show a guy creepily stroking the arm of a girl who looks incredibly uncomfortable. I'll drink to that. Soriano up to bat.

8:14: Soriano singles on Vazquez's 65th pitch of the night. Of those 65, 50 have been strikes. That's an amazing rate.

8:17: Fontenot grounds out to end the inning. The Braves bring the top of the order up, maybe we can get an insurance run or two for Vazquez.

8:21: And Zambrano quickly retires McLouth and Prado to start the 5th. I don't know if WGN completely lacks a trivia game or if we just missed it. Either way, I'm fairly disappointed.

8:22: Anderson walks to bring up McCann. A two run homer here would be awesome. Instead he just misses a double down the line and strikes out looking on a great pitch to end the inning.

8:27: McCann starts out the bottom of the 5th with a great/lucky play to get Hill, which is followed up by a nice diving play by Escobar to get Zambrano.

8:28: Also, Zambrano is a switch hitter?

8:29: Another quick inning by Vazquez. And a Natural Light commercial!! “natastrophe- the unfortunate loss or destruction of one's Natty Light”. Do you really need to advertise for beer that costs under 70 cents per can?

8:31: WGN gives out a player of the game in the 6th inning. Does that make sense to anybody? And it was given to Zambrano, not Vazquez. Everything about that situation is incorrect.

8:33: Kotchman hits a looping single with one out. Same guesses for the Frenchy Mini-game, and again nobody wins. Still, he hits it to right again, so maybe that's a good sign for him.

8:35: I'll drink to Brooks Conrad not wearing batting gloves. Good for him.

8:38: But Conrad strikes out. The announcers seem to think Zambrano is done for the night, which is probably good for the Braves.

8:39: One of the guys playing the BDG just said “the only way to eat a Pop-Tart is get the unfrosted kind and put butter on it.” I am appalled.

8:42: Vazquez gets the first batter of the inning to ground out. Even though Theriot is on my fantasy team, I want nothing more than for him to strikeout every time he gets up for the next couple of games.

8:46: And Vazquez gets Lee to strike out. I missed the third out.

8:49: Another Natty Light commercial!! “natapult- the act of launching a Natty Light as to eliminate time or movement.” God Bless America.

8:50: Cox sends Vazquez up there. I guess it makes sense, he's looked great and was leading off the inning. I can't see him going more than 7, though, with Gonzalez and Soriano in the pen.

8:51: The WGN cameras just showed a little kid with a Red Sox hat and Cubs sweater. I can't blame him for that, but I can blame his parents. He should be a fan of one or the other, not both.

8:55: And McLouth gets a one out double. We really should be able to get him home with Prado and, I guess, Anderson up. I still don't like Anderson there.

8:57: And Prado hits a looping flyout to right. Please prove me wrong, Anderson.

9:01: Anderson gets one friendly call, and then an obvious one to run the count full. After fouling a few off, he flies out to left to end the Braves threat. And now we get the traditional Take Me Out to The Ball Game. By some guy I have never heard of. Whatever.

9:17: After a brief hiatus in which I missed the entire 7th inning, I return to see Vazquez has kept it together. After 108 pitches, he is probably done. McCann almost beats out an infield single, but is somehow called out. I disagree, but neither McCann nor Hubbard were too angry about the call.

9:20: The Cuban Missile hits a little flair to Lee for the second out of the inning.

9:21: And Kotchman taps out to the pitcher to end the inning. From the way the announcers were talking, Cox will send Mike Gonzalez in for the 8th. Gonzo is a solid player for the BDG.

9:24: The always crazy Milton Bradley takes the first pitch of the inning to left, but Anderson snags it for the first out of the 8th.

9:26: A fly out to left notches the 2nd out of the inning. The Cubs announcers are criticizing Gonzo for his delivery, but I have no doubt in my mind that both of them would bend over backward for the chance to have him as their closer over Gregg.

9:28: Theriot gets a good bounce off the right field wall to grab a double off of Gonzo. Immediately afterwards, Lee flies out to Prado to end the inning and the threat. Let's see if we can an insurance run or two.

9:31: And everybody loses again. Shockingly, nobody guessed infield single to short. There cannot have been very many of those this year, right? For anybody?

9:33: And Conrad lays down a beautiful bunt. After a second straight infield single, Diaz comes up with a great chance to add a few runs.

9:34: But, instead, Diaz pops up trying to sacrifice. I would rather let him swing away than bunt. He knows how to hit and runs hard, so it would be tough to double him up. If you want to bunt throw Blanco in there, or maybe even a pitcher. Diaz cannot practice bunting often, if ever.

9:36: And McLouth flies out to left for the 2nd out of the inning. Hopefully Prado can get us something out of this inning.

9:38: Prado runs the count full, letting Frenchy and Conrad get a running start. Both can move, but Fontenot makes a diving stop to just beat Prado at first. Headed into the bottom of the 9th, Braves lead 2-1.

9:41: Soriano comes in to try and pick up the save. It will not be an easy task with the cleanup hitter(whose name I can't spell) Ramirez and Soriano up for the Cubs.

9:42: And the first batter for the Cubs lines out to deep center. One down.

9:47: Where the hell was Escobar on that Soriano single? He wasn't even on the screen. Was the Cuban Missile playing him to that much of a pull?

9:50: Braves win!!! Solid inning by Soriano, and Vazquez finally gets a win. It's a shame they only got 2 runs, but I guess we can get away with it while Vazquez is on the mound. And any win the Bravos get with Chipper out is a huge plus. Well that brings us to 1-1 on the year while writing a running diary of the BDG. I plan on doing this more, so maybe this could become like Frenchy's Turkey Underwear.

Links: Scouring Them Internets So You Don't Have To

2009-07-07T22:32:00.000-04:00

Lance Niekro, nephew of Phil, made his debut as a knuckleballer the other night.

Bleacher Report gets to the root of KJ and Francouer's woes.

There are two things in these pictures of Jenna Jameson that I'm not used to. The first is that she looks awful.

Carlos Delgado is insecure.

I hate these people, but love this website.

The Man Wall. I'm speechless. (via Joe Posnanski)

Apparently we just missed out on Jason Bay last year, who has 19 HRs and 70 RBIs. (via Chop-N-Change)

7/1/09 - Phillies 1, Braves 11: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2009-07-01T19:42:00.006-04:00

The Good

Jurrjens (7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER) no hitting the NL's leading offense for 6.2 innings
Martin Prado's 2 RBI double and scoring from first on Chipper's double
Francoeur's opposite field single after a few that way last night
Diaz's homer in 5th. Vying for a job?
Diory Hernandez's first major league homerun and his hustle on The Cuban Missile's infield single
Medlen and Acosta in the 8th and 9th: 1 H, 0 BB
Kelly Johnson's saying all the right things after his benching

The Bad

Mac's throws to second on steals by Rollins and Victorino
He's human: Prado's error in the 6th
KJ striking out... Hate to see it

And The Ugly

Courtney Love

Look on the Bright Side

2009-06-29T23:41:00.018-04:00

As it gets harder and harder for me to watch the Braves, between the physical and mental errors, I thought maybe we could take a look at the one bright spot for this team: the starting pitching. We'll look at the year each pitcher is having as well as his contract status, then finish up with what all this means moving forward.

Derek Lowe

The Braves's so-called ace, he of the 36 years of age and 4 year, $60 million contract, has pitched pretty well overall this year. Through his first 13 starts, he was 7-3 with a solid 3.44 ERA. After getting roughed up in two of his June starts, his ERA jumped to 4.53 and his record fell to 7-6. For the year, most of his relevant statistics are up, though that seems to be a product of those two awful outings. Lowe is one of the hardest workers on the team and as consistent as they come, so I'm not worried about him this year. That big contract, though, signed probably out of panic after this past winter's Smoltz fiasco, is going to come back on the Braves eventually.

Jair Jurrjens

To say the Jurrjens has continued to progress after last year's solid performance would be an understatement. Though the walks are a little high (3.2/9), he has pitched out of his mind this year, sporting a 2.93 ERA and .227 BAA. Given any sort of run support, he would be heading for his first all-star game appearance in a couple of weeks. He is arbirtration eligible until 2013, meaning that he should be pitching for the good guys for years to come.

Javier Vazquez

The Braves got more than they bargained for when the acquired Vazquez this past winter. He leads the league in strikeouts per nine (10.5) and has an ERA almost as outstanding as Jurrjens's (3.05). His walk ratio of 1.9/9 is the best on the staff by a long shot. He also leads the staff in innings pitched at 106.2 and WHIP at 1.059. Simply put, Vazquez has dominated this year and would also be headed to the all-star game with a little run support. At $11.5 million this year and next, his contract is pretty good considering the production.

Kenshin Kawakami

Kawakami certainly gave Braves fans cause for concern early this year after signing a 3 year, $23 million contract. However, he has seemingly settled down, with very respectable, if not downright good, stats since May 5th. In 10 starts, he has posted a 3.18 ERA, 6.7 K/9, 1.245 WHIP, and a .239 BAA. His next start will be skipped to allow him a little more time to recover from the liner of his neck in his last start. Though it was a scary situation, this may actually help him by keeping his workload down a little. I honestly don't know if this recent performance is a sign of things to come or a lucky streak.

Tommy Hanson

After adrenaline got the best of him in his first start, Hanson settled down and has given Braves fan a glimpse of the talent that has had scouts everywhere raving. He has won every game since that first start while posting a .222 BAA and a 2.48 ERA. In his last two starts, he threw 11.1 scoreless innings against the juggernauts of the AL East, the Sox and the Yankees. He even walked only two hitters in his last start, down from the worrisome 5.3/9 he sports thus far. Besides the fastball clocked up to 95 mph and the nasty off speed stuff, I have been impressed with his poise and the confidence that he has showed against some formidable lineups. His performance has already given him a great shot at the Rookie of the Year. Every Braves fan with a pulse has to be excited to watch this kid for plenty years.

Kris Medlen

I am, admittedly, bitter about Medlen's move to the bullpen. After two rough appearances that saw Medlen give up 9 runs over 8.1 innings, he pitched beautifully in his last game: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 K. His control was the major issue in those first two starts, but he found it in the last one, throwing 62.6% strikes. His minor league 2.0 BB/9 ratio indicates that the first two starts were probably the product of nerves more than anything. I understand that with the promotion of Hanson, there isn't any room in the rotation for Medlen, but moving him to the bullpen, where he made only 4 appearances in all of June, is not the solution for a young pitcher who has showed a lot of promise. He has to be sent down where he can continue to develop as a starter.

Jo-Jo Reyes

I've got to believe Braves fans have (thankfully) seen the last of Jo-Jo in Atlanta. In 5 starts this season, 19 runs for an ERA of 6.58. Some career numbers over three years with the Braves: 5-15, 6.09 ERA, 1.631 WHIP, 4.5 BB/9.

Tim Hudson

He hasn't pitched yet this year, but I included him because he is relevant to the discussion of the Braves's future. He'll be 33 next year, and he has a mutual option that stands to pay him $12 million next season. He should be back in August in time to make a few appearances.

So how will all of this play out this winter (or perhaps sooner)? Well, there are obviously a few guys that are here to stay. Jurrjens and Hanson should be front liners on this staff for a while. Lowe's contract and age make him all but untradeable. I think I'm OK with this. While I don't love the contract, he does give the Braves an ace with playoff experience and a great clubhouse guy. Plus, he will hopefully take the young guys under his wing. Kawakami is harder to gauge. If his recent performance is the pitcher the Braves signed, he may prove a steal at about $8 mil a year. However, if he is somewhere between how he started and how he has fared lately (which I think is about right), he will be difficult to move with that salary. Even if someone wanted him, I'm not sure it's worth giving up the international interest. Working under the assumption that the Braves will have Kawakami through the terms of his contract, that leaves four of the five starters' roles filled. With Hudson's return in August, the Braves have a big decision to make. Medlen is currently wasting away in the bullpen, while Vazquez has, as I said above, been outstanding this year. That's three pitchers for one spot. I have already made my opinion on this known, any one else have any thoughts?

What Happens When You Listen to Me? This.

2009-06-27T01:38:00.002-04:00

As promised, a retro-live blog from last nights Braves-Red Sox game. Shockingly, the Braves scored an entire run. Note that the time stamps are CST:

6:35: First pitch, first beer cracked. I’m nervous about not having McCann, especially playing the Red Sox. At least Cody Ross is a major league player, unlike Corky Miller.

6:39: No Ellsbury is a good sign. Nice pitch from Jurrjens. I’m also still violently hungover. This first beer is a struggle.

6:40: Nice, quick inning from Jurrjens. He keeping the ball down very well, hopefully he remembers that the Braves can’t score more than 2 runs for him.

6:43: McLouth jumps on the first pitch, but it’s a long lineout. Beckett is going to be tough. I usually like for our hitters to see a few more pitches, but you can’t really criticize McLouth.

6:44: I like Prado way more than Kelly. However, much like Kelly, Prado hits an easy grounder to second.

6:46: I really hope the offense shows up tonight. Otherwise I’ll have start making up new rules, like “Grass is green, drink” or drink for every strike. Also, Chipper somehow fouled off a ball, but ultimately grounds out.

6:47: I wish Chipper and Beckett had invited me to join the Sweet Facial Hair Club. The ladies love the ginger nutduster.

6:49: Announcers are talking about the attendance. It’s good that we’re selling out, but I wish the stadium would sell out for the Braves, not their opponent.

6:50: I hate David Ortiz. I’m thrilled he popped up.

6:53: A ball hit to Chipper, THAT HE ACTUALLY CAUGHT! Really though, another good inning by JJ, minus the walk. I wish he got a few more strikeouts, but that’s only so I can drink more.

6:57: Frenchy Mini-Game time!! The guesses, from the 3 of us playing: 6-4-3 double play, fly out left, strike swinging. We almost had a winner, but Frenchy elected to just watch.

7:01: Ross rolls one to third. At least we have one hit.

7:03: How is Nick Green starting for the Red Sox? Being Nick Green, he grounds out.

7:06: We may have added a fourth member. But he is struggling to stand up. Take note of the time. Another strikeout for JJ, he’s pitching well.

7:10: Diory Hernandez double!!! 8 Seconds!!! Good start to the third. Until JJ pops up a bunt attempt. At least McLouth and Prado are coming up. We need to get something going.

7:12: HBP from McLouth, then a nice, borderline illegal slide on Nick Green. He may get hit again later, but it did break up the double play. I like the trade for him more and more every time I see him.

7:16: The Braves have almost scored more runs with 2 outs than with none or one combined. I’d like to call that clutch hitting, but my guess is dumb luck.

7:17: Great pitch by Beckett to strike out Chipper. Typical Braves to get a lead-off double and get nothing out of it.

7:18: Trivia Question! “When was the last time the Braves led the league in being shut out? (Which they currently do)” The guesses: 1990, 1991, 1992. Not really sure why were focused on early 90’s, but my guess was 1990 since we were awful.

7:21: Nice strikeout. Hopefully JJ can stay out of trouble after that leadoff single.

7:24: Great double play. JJ is dealing tonight. On a related note, one of the other players (FlexSteel) just threw in a horseshoe dip. This should be entertaining.

7:25: Trivia Answer: 1988. Nobody wins, so everybody drinks. On a related note, I’m feeling better.

7:28: Great start to the bottom of the 4^th. Two straight singles, sadly Frenchy comes up. Mini-Game time. Our guesses? 6-4-3 double play, strikeout looking, and the rare single.

7:31: Frenchy struck out on an awful pitch? I wish I could bet on things like that. Help me out Vegas.

7:34: The announcers are talking about Beckett’s legs. They forgot to call “no-homo”.

7:36: And a weak tapper by Diory ends the inning. I am not remotely surprised we did not score despite having 2 runners on and no outs.

7:39: I am conflicted about this game. Beckett is on my fantasy team, and I usually try to not start my pitchers against the Braves but forgot to remove him today. I still want the Braves to get about 8 runs off of him, though.

7:40: I hate David Ortiz even more now. That was a bomb.

7:45: Good pitch to get the strikeout. Beckett looks totally disinterested at the plate, like he has no desire to be up to bat. Nice pitch by JJ to notch his 6^th strikeout of the night.

7:49: The announcers are still talking about the All-American Rejects. Please stop talking about them. Inform people they are playing at Turner Field and move on.

7:50: Beckett almost gets trucked by David Ortiz on a pop up by the Braves dugout. Shockingly, JJ is having a good at-bat and making Beckett throw some pitches.

7:52: JJ works Beckett for 9 pitches, so his strikeout is not totally worthless. That also means that at-bat by JJ was better than any at-bat Frenchy has had in the past month.

7:55: Hopefully McLouth tries to take 2^nd here. Veritek isn’t near where he used to be, and it would be a good RBI chance for Chipper. After 3 pitches, he hasn’t moved, and on the 4^th pitch of the at-bat, Chipper grounds out to end the inning. I hate the Braves offense.

7:58: One commercial just took up the entire commercial break. What company dropped that sort of bank? Nashville Auto-Diesel College. Good to know I still have options. Hernandez misses on a tough chopper and Pedroia takes 2^nd on some heads-up baserunning.

8:00: A chant of “Let’s Go Red Sox” can be heard on TV in Turner Field. That is embarrassing for all Braves fans.

8:01: A balk by JJ moves Pedroia to 3^rd with no outs. And J.D. Drew grounds out to 2^nd to bring in Pedroia. Interesting move by having the whole infield in except Prado. Maybe he supposed to be there since Drew pulls it so much, maybe he missed a signal. Either way, the good guys are down 2-0 now.

8:05: JJ gets Jason Bay to fly out just shy of the warning track to end the top of the 6^th. The Braves really need to the offense going to get a win. And so I can continue consuming “the smooth pilsner with all-natural ingredients”.

8:07: National Lampoon’s European Vacation has me more excited than the Braves offense.

8:09: Horrendous swing to strike out by Anderson. If Beckett keeps pitching how he has been, the Braves may get shut out for the ninth time this year.

8:10: Kotchman gets another hit, bringing him to 3/3. Apparently Frenchy’s intro music is Kenny Chesney. Among all of the problems I have with Frenchy’s offensive game, this one is near the top.

8:11: A 6-4-3 double play! We have a winner in the Frenchy Mini-Game! Sadly, winning the Mini-Game means the Braves ultimately lose.

8:14: David Ortiz pops out. Good.

8:18: After David Ross catches Kotsay trying to steal, I realize there is no rule for a caught stealing. I’ll throw in 5 seconds for a caught stealing.

8:24: Great play by Green to get Hernandez. We have little to no offense and aren’t even getting any luck. And then Beckett strikes out JJ to end the inning. We’ve got a nice pitching duel here, which sucks for me because that means you drink less.

8:29: Only 84 pitches for JJ through 7 innings. Good night for JJ, but gives up a lead off walk to start the 8^th.

8:36: And now the Braves are down 3-0. It would be nice if the Braves could manufacture a run or two.

8:38: JJ in a little bit of trouble here with 2 on and only one out. Hopefully JJ can get Youkilis to ground into a double play.

8:41: Another balk by JJ. Bobby comes out, he may extend his lead for career ejections. Sadly he does not. I’m with Bobby, I didn’t see a balk there, but now there’s no double play.

8:43: And we get a special play. A wild pitch and then a pick off of Youkilis who thought about taking 2^nd after the walk, but got picked off 1^st. Ends with the Sox having 2 outs, but plate their fourth run.

8:47: Grounder to first ends the inning. Braves need a bunch of offense very quickly.

8:50: Good start to the 8^th for the Braves, as long as McLouth didn’t hurt himself. He gets pulled, though. If McLouth is out, the Braves are done. Blanco replaces McLouth after the error by Okajima.

8:55: After a walk by Prado we now have runners on 1^st and 2^nd for Chipper. But instead of the typical good at-bat by Chipper, we get one that resembles a Frenchy at-bat. Awful at-bat for Chipper, hopefully Anderson can get us something out of this.

8:59: Another reminder that we are under .500. And then a strikeout looking by Garret Anderson after he swung at a pitch at his eyes. I hate our offense. Kotchman is 3/3, hopefully he can make it 4/4 and break up this shut out.

9:02: Kotchman strikes out. I am not remotely surprised that, for the second time tonight, the Braves get 2 runners on with no outs and don’t get a single run.

9:04: That’s a good stat to see that Mike G. and Soriano are 2 and 3 in strikeouts by relievers. It would be even better if we could ever get a lead for them to protect.

9:07: Ellsbury is falling over while swinging, but is still fighting off pitches. And now Gonzalez throws the ball juuuuust a bit outside. Finally he strikes him out with a nasty slider.

9:10: Gonzalez is a key player in the Braves Drinking Game. Those strikeouts really help.

9:12: And Gonzalez strikes out the side. Fantastic inning for the Braves Drinking Game. Now all we need is a Mike Gonzalez grand slam to really get this party started. But really getting any runs off of Papelbon (a.k.a. Pap-Smear) will be tough.

9:15: Frenchy Mini-Game! The guesses are strikeout swinging, pop out right (definitely not happening) and a groundout to short. Shockingly, he takes the first pitch, but flies out to short. Nobody wins. Again.

9:16: Cody Ross is now up. Well crap.

9:17: CODY ROSS HOMERUN! A solid 9 second batch, but Kelly Johnson flies out in a pinch hitting appearance.

9:19: I just got a text saying the Braves should convert Ross to a corner outfielder or second. That is actually a great idea. Second isn’t realistic, but Ross cannot be a worse leftfielder than Garrett Anderson. There is no way. And he is a better hitter than Frenchy.

9:20: And now we’re threatening after a Brian McCann pinch hit double.

9:23: But Gregor Blanco strikes out to end the game. I guess it’s good we didn’t get shutout but it still sucks. Man, I really hate our offense.

How to Get Through a Jeff Francoeur At-Bat

2009-06-25T16:43:00.009-04:00

While it may be true that they tend to be short, many just one pitch, in fact, watching a Jeff Francoeur or Kelly Johnson at-bat can be a truly painful experience. To help Braves fans everywhere come to grips with these unfortunate displays of baseball, my brother, The Ginger-Beard, has compiled, for all on them internets to see, The Braves Drinking Game. The rules, of course, follow:

Braves Drinking Game - designed to be played with your favorite light beer

Braves on Offense

Single - Drink 1 second
Double - 2 seconds
Triple - 3 seconds
Homerun - 4 seconds
Inside-the-Park HR - 6 seconds
Walk - 1 second
Hit-By-Pitch - 3 seconds
Opponent Error - 3 seconds + 1 second per base gained on error

Example: infield groundball thrown away, runner reaches 2^nd, 5 seconds

Runners Advance on Play - 1 second per base advanced
Stolen Base - 3 seconds for 2^nd base, 5 seconds for 3^rd base
RBI - Additional 1 second per RBI. So 2 run HR is 6 seconds
Jeff Francoeur Walk - 8 seconds
Jeff Francoeur Mini-game - When Francoeur begins walking to the plate, each player shouts out what he thinks will occur. Players must be as specific as possible (“Ground out to Short” or “Fly Out to Left” or “Strike Out Swinging”). If nobody guesses correctly, all players drink 3 seconds. If somebody guesses correctly, losing players drink 5 seconds.

Multipliers - Multiply all Hits by these players.

Starting Pitchers - x4

Relief Pitchers - x6

David Ross - x2

Diory Hernandez - x3

Jeff Francoeur - x2

Gregor Blanco - x3

Kelly Johnson - x2

Example: Tim Hudson hits a double, 2x4= 8 seconds

Braves on Defense

Out - 1 second per out
Double Play - 3 seconds + seconds per outs
Runner Thrown Out From OF - Bonus 5 seconds
Run-down - 1 extra second per throws made
Strike Out Swinging - 3 seconds
Strike Out Looking - 5 seconds
Pitching change - 1 second per inning pitch
Potential Web-Gem Nominee - 7 seconds

Any Time

Braves Player Ejected - 3 seconds
Opposing Player Ejected - 5 seconds
Bobby Cox Ejected - 10 seconds
Phillies loss - 5 seconds
Mets loss - 5 seconds
Marlins loss - 3 seconds
Nationals loss - 2 seconds
Hot Girl in the Stands - 3 seconds
Tomahawk Chop - When the Chop begins, everybody must start chopping. The last player to begin chopping must finish their beer. If a player goes to the bathroom, they are still playing and must chop.
Trivia Question - Every player gets 1 unique guess for trivia questions. If the answer contains 3 players, only 1 player must be different to be unique. If any player of the BDG answers trivia question correctly, all others must drink for 8 seconds.
Obscure Statistic - 3 seconds

Example: Kelly Johnson is hitting .384 with runners on 2^nd and 3^rdand a 2-1 count.

To celebrate the publishing of The Braves Drinking Game, The Ginger-Beard will be chiming in with a live blog of tomorrow's matchup between Josh Beckett and Jair Jurrjens (which I will have to post Saturday). May this game guide Braves fans through Jeff Bennett appearances, balls booted by Chipper, and inexplicable plays by The Cuban Missile for years to come.

6/23/09 - Yankees 0, Braves 4: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2009-06-23T21:50:00.006-04:00

The Good

The Cuban Missile's baserunning. Stole second then advanced on the throwing error and tagged from first on Chipper's deep fly ball. Heads up play, for once.
Mac continuing to play out of his mind: 3/4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
Garret Anderson's big double to plate two
Tommy Hanson not backing down from the vaunted Yankees lineup
His 3 strikeouts of Posada on those nasty sliders
The bullpen: 3.2 IP, o H

The Bad

The call on Hanson's pitch to Jeter in the 4th
Chipper making another error on the throw from TCM, his 9th already
Francoeur and KJ: 0/6. How did Kelly see only 8 pitches?

And The Ugly

Watching Garret Anderson "run" after Jeter's double
5 walks issued by Hanson in 5.1 IP. Those are eventually going to catch up to him.

A Week Later, How We Feeling?

2009-06-23T17:36:00.005-04:00

After my post last week attempting to convince myself that these Braves are still worth watching, how do I feel now? Well, believe it or not, I think I feel better. Watching Nate McLouth the past few games has been fun, with him stealing bases (!), getting some big hits, and playing pretty good defense. Vazquez finally figured out that if he wants to win a game, he can't give up any runs. The bullpen pitched well. I guess I'm still amped up from the game last night.

Now, the Yankees come to town, with whatever is left of Chien-Ming Wang facing Tommy Hanson tonight. The Yankees, losers of 4 of our their last 6 (to the Marlins and Nationals no less), come to Atlanta not playing their best ball. Despite their 38-31 record, the Yanks are only .500 away from the New ~~Coors Field~~ Yankees Stadium. After them, the Braves will try to make up for blowing the series against the Red Sox in that bizarre game (Bobby, Chipper and O'Flaherty ejected). I'm less optimistic about that matchup than the current Yankees series, what with the Sox throwing Becket, Wakefield, and Penny at the Braves. No Dice-K this time around (or Smoltz!).

Elsewhere in the NL East, the Phillies and Mets look to be in trouble. The Phils, who come to Atlanta for a three game series after the Sox, are in the midst of a six game losing streak, which won't get much easier when they visit Tampa Bay today for three games. Ryan Howard is sick. Raul Ibanez is on the DL. Their pitching remains atrocious. This team looks pretty vulnerable right now. The Mets are also in trouble. They have won only four of their last twelve games. Their best player this year just went on the DL with an injury that could keep him out more than 15 days. And, they too need pitching.

So, like I said last week, this team still has a chance. We play in a weak division without a dominant team and we're right in the hunt for the wild card. Now, this is all the Braves need...

6/17/09 - Braves 3, Reds 4: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2009-06-17T21:50:00.002-04:00

The Good

The Cuban Missile's homer and diving stop in the 4th.
Francoeur's hustle on his single/triple to center.

The Bad

Leaving a man on third with no outs.
Mac: 0/4, 4 LOB
Kelly Johnson 0/4 again, couldn't bring Francoeur home from third.

And The Ugly

Leaving men on first and second with no outs.
Micah Owings's 3-run HR. He kills us.
0/9 with RISP.

Why I'm Not Giving Up On These Braves (Yet)

2009-06-17T18:08:00.006-04:00

It's been pretty difficult to find something to like about the Braves lately. In their 13 June games, the good guys have mustered a record of 5-8 versus such powerhouses as Baltimore (27-37) and Pittsburgh (30-34). They have averaged only 3.5 runs scored per game and hit a paltry .238 in that span. The Cuban Missile was benched for his boneheaded play. Even Chipper endured a nearly career worst slump. It seems that only Mac has been playing well, and the averages bear that out:

McLouth: .239 (since joining the Braves)

The Cuban Missile: .250

Chipper: .286

Mac: .364

The Player Formerly Known as Garret Anderson: .243

Minor Leaguer 1 (Francoeur): .250

Minor Leaguer 2 (KJ): .160

So what is there to like about this team? Well, they do rank 6th in the NL in ERA and the starters have, for the most part, held up their end of the bargain. Vazquez has continued to dominate and Derek Lowe is pitching well, apart from getting shelled in his last outing, with 10 quality starts in only 14 appearances. Jurrjens has been proving that his early season success was no fluke. At the backend, Gonzalez has looked shaky at times and Soriano was roughed up in his last outing, but I still feel pretty good about them both.

I know this team is flawed. I know we haven't scored runs all year. I know we don't run well. Or field well. Or do the little things. BUT, we aren't the only team with issues, even in our own division. Philadelphia is second to last in the NL in ERA, ahead of only Washington. With the injuries of Brett Myers and Brad Lidge, their pitching looks even more questionable. However, you can give up plenty or runs when you score nearly 5.5 per game. I don't know if they can keep up that pace, but I can't see the pitching getting much better unless they make a move.

The Mets also aren't perfect, either. They rank just behind the Braves in team ERA, but there are rumors that Johan Santana's knee isn't right. After him, their starters are nothing to marvel at, what with them sending Livan Hernandez to the mound every five days. Like us, they have problems in the outfield, though not on the same order. They continue to trot out the ageless Gary Sheffield to pretty decent success (.270/.387/.475), and Carlos Beltran has played out of his mind, but they have a pretty gaping hole in left field, where Daniel Murphy (.234/.318/.347) has been doing his best Jeff Francoeur impression since his torrid start.

While the Braves probably don't have what it takes to win the division, they may be able to overtake one of those teams and get into wild card contention, a race in which they're 3.5 GB. To win it today, they'd have to pass St. Louis, Chicago, Colorado, and San Francisco, in addition to the Marlins and Mets. On that list, only St. Louis and Chicago have much business being there: Colorado is bound to run out of 11 game winning streaks and the Giants's offense is bad, even compared to ours.

So, I'm not giving up on this team. I swear.

Links: Scouring Them Internets So You Don't Have To

2009-06-15T18:15:00.004-04:00

Brief review of the Braves's draft (via Talking Chop)

On the heels of another attempt to rid ourselves of Francoeur, an exhaustive look at outfielders that could potentially be available.

The Bearded Icon himself, making his first start in the majors any day now, says he wants to pitch next year, too. That'll really get in the way of his making the PGA tour.

The lawyer that represnted 23 of the 24 Florida Gators who have been arrested under Urban Meyer has been the subject of a few cases himself. Here's a few lines from a 2000 lawsuit filed by his secretary, Pamela Thigpen:

Johnson repeatedly told Thigpen: she just wanted to 'get down on his hog and honk it
He also told her, at least once, to give his client a 'mercy fuck.'
Johnson also dictated to Thigpen while urinating in the bathroom in his office and left a nude picture of himself for Thigpen to find in his office

Nice. (via Deadspin)

Sticking with that theme, here's a little something from Kobe's Colorado deposition (again via Deadspin):

I asked her if I could cum in her face and she was like no um, I thought she was cool, you know, I stopped. I stopped pumping and uh, I just, I just stood there ... She wasn't that attractive.

This website claims it's "no joke." I beg to differ.

A little late, but here's a review (by a fellow Vandy Alum) of Mike Minor.

6/14/09 - Braves 2, Orioles 11: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2009-06-14T21:09:00.004-04:00

The Good

~~Cody~~ David Ross filled in for Mac and went 2/2 with 2 solo homers, providing the only offense of the day for the Braves.

The Bad

After going 0/3 today, Chipper is now 0 for his last 21, just 2 hitless at bats shy of his career high. As usual, he is seeking the advice of his father, not Terry Pendleton. With the offense struggling the last couple of years and more than one hitter seeking outside advice (Francoeur in the offseason), seems like the hitting coach is not doing his job.
Kris Medlen walked 5 in 4 relief innings, giving up 4 runs in the process.

And The Ugly

Derek Lowe got rocked: 2.1 IP, 8 H, 7 ER.
After botching a double play in the first inning and throwing home (about 4 seconds too late) during a rundown inthe second, Bobby Cox benched The Cuban Missile. These boneheaded plays came on the heels of a number of mental errors by the Missle. Hopefully this will get through to him.
Kelly Johnson, with a hit today, raised his June batting average to .174.
The offense. In general.

Why the Braves Should Trade Javy Vazquez

2009-06-11T17:13:00.008-04:00

So he struck out 12 in 8 innings today with no walks. So what? Anyone could do that, right? Look, I know Vazquez has been great this year, leading the NL in strikeouts with 105, sporting a 3.31 ERA, a WHIP of 1.03, and a .225 BAA. Did I say great? I meant dominant. So why on Earth should the Braves try to deal him? His contract's not horrible ($11.5 mil this year and next), he is only 32 years old, and he's durable, averaging 215 IP a year since 2000. Everything you want in a starter.

Growing up a fan of the Braves in the 90's, I believe that starting pitching wins championships (even if they are only divisonal). Most of the rotation has looked great this year, with Lowe, Jurrjens, and Vazquez pitching phenomenal. After them, the Braves roll out Kawakami, who has begun to turn things around little, and Hanson, who showed plenty of promise in his first big league start. Braves starters rank 9th in the NL with an ERA of 4.45. While that may not be great, that stat is skewed somewhat by the 19 ER Jo-Jo Reyes gave up in 26 IP as a starter and Medlen's first two outings. With the recent callup of Tommy Hanson forcing Medlen into the long relief role, I think his talent is being wasted. Long relief is where pitchers go to die, not where you put a rookie who struck out 9 in 6 innings in his third start. He came on a few nights ago in extras and proved that it was no fluke.

Besides Medlen, the Braves also expect to get Tim Hudson back in August. He and the Braves have a mutual option for 2010 worth $12 mil, about the same as Vazquez's. Assuming he can return to his old form (more and more common with major arm surgery these days), the Braves will have enough quality pitchers for a mean 7 man rotation. Yet, despite all this pitching, the Braves are a game below .500 and 6 back in the East. How? Well, as we saw yesterday and today, the offense is often anemic, averaging 4.3 runs per game. The McLouth trade is bound to help, but no one after the fourth spot strikes fear into any pitcher's heart. The Braves need a bat, and dealing Vazquez could get them one.

Given this plethora of pitching, the Braves are in possession of an extremely valuable commodity in Vazquez. All those stats I listed in the beginning are precisely why Vazquez would make for good trade bait. If the team can get a bat for Vazquez, Medlen can move back into the rotation where he belongs, at least until Hudson is ready to go. If we don't deal a pitcher, someone is going to lose his place come August. Who will it be? Well, Lowe and Jurrjens have been lights out. Kawakami then? Not with that contract. Hanson? Not sending him down or to the bullpen. The Braves should shop him now and hope they can get another player like McLouth, a young guy, with a grea contract, who plays the game the right way. (Braw Hawpe? Please, Rockies. Pretty please?)

If you made it this far... your reward is Danny DeVito. Drunk. At 8 AM.

6/9/09 - Pirates 3, Braves 4: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2009-06-09T20:00:00.005-04:00

The Good

McLouth scoring from second on an infield single in the 2nd.
Chipper continuing to carry the offense. At this rate, he's bound to blow out his back any day not.
Francoeur sitting.
Bunt for a hit by KJ. Why doesn't he (and Schafer, for that matter) do more of this?
Quality start by Lowe (7 IP, 3 R).
The Cuban Missile coming through in the clutch again (hitting .411 with RISP, second in the NL) and his throwing play in the 8th after the ball went off Chipper's glove.
Gonzo and Soriano shutting the door in the 8th and 9th and looking dominant doing it (2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K)

The Bad

The player formerly known as Garret Anderson. What happened to his bat speed?

And The Ugly

Couldn't find anything here... Any body got one?

Links: Scouring Them Internets So You Don't Have To

2009-06-09T19:08:00.004-04:00

Elton John says Joe Mauer is the best catcher in the league, something Sir Elton has a keen interest in

Gotta like it when the team you just made a trade with has to issue a letter to its fans afterwards

Zack Morris impersonating a real person impersonating Zack Morris (via HotClicks)

Posnanski, despite writing otherwise, doesn't seem to be a big Francoeur fan...

Isn't this the man who pitched a perfect game hungover?

Never watched it before this one, but a pretty good Mayne Street

Your Bearded Draft Preview

2009-06-08T20:57:00.008-04:00

Tomorrow night at 6 ET Stephen Strasburg will become a very rich man. That is, of course, unless Scott Boras deems the Nationals unworthy of this particular incarnation of the "once in a lifetime" prospect. As for the Braves, they have the 7th overall pick, their highest since 1991 when they selected Mike Kelly second overall. Kelly went on to hit .241 in 327 major league game, just one example of how difficult the MLB draft is to project.

After the 7th pick, the Braves don't draft again until 87th overall. The Capital Avenue Club says that Wren and Co. have made it known that they plan to select a pitcher with the first pick, only slightly narrowing the field. They lay out four players that might be available at 7: Tyler Matzek (the dream pick), Zack Wheeler (the logical pick), Shelby Miller (the flamethrower), and Alex White (the UNC kid). The CAC is hoping for Matzek, but projecting the Braves to take Wheeler, the local product.

The best high school position player in this year's draft is Donavan Tate, son of former UGA and NFL running back Lars Tate. A 6'3'' outfielder with good power and plus speed, he has committed to playing football at UNC and is represented by Scott Boras. The football scholarship and his choice is representation are a little worrisome, so the guys at Chop-n-Change doubt the Braves will gamble on him. Most of the mock drafts around have the Braves drafting one of these five. Finally, the guys at Talking Chop take a look back at the Braves's 2008 draft, when, as usual, we hoarded high school pitchers early.

- Had to throw this in (via Get The Picture)... Hilarious.

The Sky is Falling

2009-06-07T20:57:00.004-04:00

Hanson's line from his first major league start was not too impressive: 6 IP, 6 ER, 5 K, 3 HR. So maybe the Brewers aren't the Toledo Mud Hens. Don't depsair, though; there is a lot to like about Hanson's much antipated debut. First of all, the Brewers are one of the best power hitting clubs in the National League, ranking third in homers with 54 this year (compared to only 38 by the Braves). The homeruns didn't surprise me a ton, anyways. Power pitchers typically give up more homeruns than those that pitch with more finesse. Think Javy Vazquez here. Similiar pitching styles: both strike out a lot of guys, both throw hard, both are fly ball pitchers. In 2008, Vazquez had the 14th highest HR/9 among AL-qualifiers. So the kid is probably going to give up some long balls, but considering he allowed only 5 in 66 IP in Gwinnett, I wouldn't count on 3 per game from here on out.

What can we take awat from this game? Well, for most of us, it was the first time seeing Hanson pitch, and his stuff sure didn't disappoint. In fact, the kid was downright nasty at times, bringing a fastball that averaged about 93.5 mph but topped out at 97, a big, slow curveball that made a lot of professional hitters look bad, and a slider that comes in around the high 80's. He showed all of them off in the bottom of the second when he struck out the side on only 12 pitches. One thing I always like to see from a pitcher is throwing strikes, which Hanson did with 67% of his pitches, slightly better than the league average of 62%. However, Mark Bowman writes that most of those came against his first 9 batters faced, when the threw 24 out of 31 pitches for strikes. After those hitters, only 34 of his 60 pitches came in as strikes. So, I think we saw what the 22 year old is capable of when he retired the first 10 batters he faced, but also some of the inconsistency that is bound to plague any young pitcher, even phenoms. Any opinions on the kids performance?

6/7/09 - Brewers 7, Braves 8: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2009-06-07T17:01:00.006-04:00

The Good

- 97 mph fastballs from Tommy Hanson

- Hanson striking out the side in the 2nd

- Chipper. Jones. (4/4, 2 HRs, 3B, 5 RBI)

- Everything about the bottom of the 8th

- Mac getting a pinch hit, RBI double on "McCann Bat Day"

- Huge hit from McLouth to tie it in the 8th

- The Cuban Missile's go ahead single (and him not going psycho after the called strike)

- Prado's double play in the 9th

The Bad

- The Cuban Missile making errors (3 in last 2 games)

- The call on Council's triple in the 7th

- Francoeur and KJ (0/8, 6 LOB, the only hitless position players)

And The Ugly

- Jeff Francoeur hitting 0-1 in 69% of his at bats

- 3 HRs from The Phenom

6/6/09: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2009-06-06T21:37:00.006-04:00

The Good

Jeff Francoeur drawing a walk
Peter Moylan's pickoff in the 8th
Brian McCann hustling out a triple on a popup (better slide than last time)
Javy Vazquez's continued performance
3 SBs in one game (including a double steal)
32,000+ in attendance (wonder how many bought tickets because it was supposed to be Hanson?)
The Braves on MLB.TV + laptop = no need for magazines

The Bad

KJ continuing to hit leadoff
Chipper left the game because of "dizziness"
Seeing Trevor Hoffman without hearing "Enter Sandman" (best intro in baseball)

And The Ugly

The offense going scoreless in the last 22 innings
3 for 28 with RISP during this homestand

The Braves Get More Cowbell

2009-06-04T18:17:00.015-04:00

I was going to start off this post by mostly bitching about the Braves's handling of Tom Glavine. However, a few writers much better than myself already did a fine job: DOB and Buster Olney (Glavine part is free). The Bearded Icon himself even weighed in, with appropriate disapproval. So I'll move on to the other moves the Braves made yesterday.

Within just a few minutes of announcing Glavine's release, Tommy Hanson was called up. Everyone is probably already familiar with his stats in Gwinnett thus far, but here they are in case you've missed them: 11 starts, 1.50 ERA, 66.1 IP, 17 BB, 90 K, 0.864 WHIP. Whew. And if you can't do the math, those strikeouts work out to a ridiculous 12.3 K/9. Though the kid has always been a big prospect for the Braves, he really skyrocketed after his performance in the Arizona Fall league last year, which draws some of baseball's best prospects. The stats that led to his becoming the first pitcher to win the MVP in the fall league: 0.63 ERA, .105 BAA, and 49 K's in 28.2 IP (15.4 K/9). Bringing Hanson up moves Medlen to the bullpen. I'd like to see him stay a starter, but there's no where for him to go. Personally, I think the Braves should send him back to Gwinnett where he can pitch regularly. The bullpen could get a little crowded, with Soriano, Gonzalez, O'Flaherty, and Moylan better options late in the game.

As for the McLouth deal, I love it. Charlie Morton didn't show much when called up last year, though he was dominating in Gwinnett (who wasn't?). Gorkys Hernandez is a highly ranked prospect, but he is years from seeing the majors, and he isn't stealing as many bases as he did early in his career (54 in 2007, 20 in 2008, and 10 so far this year). The guys at FanGraphs say that McLouth is one of the most projectable players around: "a quality left-handed bat who draws some walks and has some power." They're not a big fan of his glove, saying he is a serviceable centerfielder, despite his 2008 Gold Glove. What this says to me is that Braves will move him over to left next year (or maybe right this year) when Schafer is ready to come back up. He does have a great contract, owed $15 million through 2011, with a club option for 2012. According to FanGraphs, he should be commanding upwards of $12 million. A pretty good deal, even if he does look like a young, blond Christopher Walken. I've got a fever!

Hop Aboard the Roller Coaster of Emotion

2009-06-03T18:50:00.004-04:00

This Braves season has truly been one of highs and lows. Let's take a look:

4/5 - 4/12: Start out the season winning 5 out of 6 on the road versus the World Series champion Phillies. Rookie phenom Jordan Schafer homers in his first at bat.

4/13 - 4/21: Lose 7 out of our next 8 games, including a 5 game losing streak. Average just 2.6 runs after putting up 6.3 in those first 6 games. However, Francoeur has hit .309 up to this point (4/25) and Schafer, though only hitting at about .270, has on OBP of .400. Sure, he's striking out more than once a game, but who cares?

4/22 - 5/5: After winning 3 in a row, the Braves went 2-7 at home, getting easily outplayed by St. Louis, Houston, and New York. Mac goes on the DL with a bizarre eye problem.

5/6 - 5/13: The Braves then took an NL East trip, traveling to the Mets, Phillies, and Marlins. They win 6 out of 8, but Frenchy's OBP has plummeted to .273 and Schafer is clinging to life above the Mendoze line (.214), with 44 K's in 34 games.

5/15 - 5/24: On this homestand, the team goes 6-3, including a sweep of the AL East-leading Blue Jays. Kawakami has seemingly turned things around after a rough start, pitching an 8 inning, 3 hit gym. To close out the sweep, Jurrjens continues his dominant start, yielding only 2 runs. But, Kelly Johnson is hitting .230 in the leadoff hole, finally prompting a change in the lineup that is immediately abondonded after a game.

5/25 - 5/28: Another 4 game losing streak, as the good guys get outscored 7 to 23 by the Giants and Diamondbacks. Chipper has a nagging toe injury that may land him on the DL.

5/30: 2 runs in the third give the Braves an early lead, and Javier Vazquez continues to blow people away, striking out 8 in 6.1 IP. However, the offense can't get anything else going, and the bullpen finally yields in the 11th. A 3-2 loss.

6/2: Flash to the 7th inning. The Braves are getting no hit by a rookie. They're flailing at everything. Chipper finally gets a hit, then we cut the lead to 2 in the 8th. In the bottom of the 9th, the much-maligned "hometown hero" Francouer blasts a two out homer to tie the game. Soriano mows down a few Cubs in the 11th and 12th, until Chipper drives home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th. Braves win 6-5.

6/3: After recovering from last night's huge win, the Braves have sent Schafer to work his problems out in the minors. But, when things are looking up, news comes across that Tom Glavine, who threw 11 shutout innings in his last two rehab starts in anticipation of being called up for his next appearance, has been cut by the team. I was never in favor of this signing, but it felt like the Braves just strung along a legend then discarded him. I'm pretty down about this.

But wait! We called up Tommy Hanson to make his first major league start on Saturday. The super-prospect is almost the symbol of hope for this franchise. What's that? Nate McLouth? We got some power in the outfield? And he steals some bases? So we gave up Gorkys and Charlie Morton, this outfield could actually produce some runs! McClouth has 7 SB, the entire Braves team has 12. The outfield has hit 10 HRs so far, McClouth 9. I'm excited. I'm pumped up. This team will never slump again, right?

In Frank Wren We Trust: Part 2

2009-06-02T18:17:00.002-04:00

Back for more Wren moves. Still using the RJTS.

3/26/08 - Tyler Yates to the Pirates for Todd Redmond

After posting a 5.18 ERA with the Braves in 2007, Yates posted similar ERAs of 4.66 in 2008 and 7.50 so far this year.

Redmond held his own in AA Mississippi in '08, going 13-5 with a 3.52 ERA. However, some other numbers did not bear this success out: 7.2 BB/9, 4.03 K/9, 8.9 WHIP. Every one of these numbers has been even worse this year, even the already high WHIP. All things said and done, Wren got something for a player we didn't want anyways, albeit something seemeingly not worth taking.

No Thumbs

3/29/08 - Claimed Ruben Gotay off waivers from the Mets

In 88 games in 2008, Gotay hit .235/.322/.343. I have nothing else to say.

1 Thumb Down

7/4/08 - Signed Julian Tavarez

Tavarez actually pitched pretty well after signing with the team in mid summer, appearing in relief in 36 games and posting an ERA of 3.89.

1 Thumb Up

7/29/08 - Mark Teixeira to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and Steve Marek

Most Braves fans probably know how Tex (nickname used solely for ease of typing, no affection here) performed in half a year in Anaheim, but in case you forgot, he simply hit .358/.449/.632 with 43 RBIs in 54 games.

After some well documented struggles after changing leagues, Kotchman seems to have found his grove this year. This is about what to expect out of him: hitting .281 with 16 2Bs, 24 RBIs, and 17 Ks to 14 BBs, all while playing gold glove caliber defense at first. Meanwhile, Marek has done nothing to impress in AA last year or this. This deal obviously doesn't look great because Tex is such a great player, both on offense and defense, but his stock was deeply declining last summer, as teams realized they would only be getting a rental. Since the Braves couldn't afford his $180 million contract, this is probably about as much as could be had for the rental. Additionally, Kothcman is still arbitration eligible, a factor that becomes more and more important to the Braves every year.

2 Thumbs Up

8/27/08 - Mark Kotsay to Red Sox for Luis Sumoza

Kotsay played nothing short of terrible for the Sox last fall, hitting .226 in 22 games. Sumoza, a 20 year old outfielder in Rome, isn't doing anything special, though he isn't approaching Schafer/Francoeur numbers either. Wren effectively rid himself of Kotsay and his back for a mediocre prospect.

1 Thumb Up

11/21/08 - Claimed Eric O'Flaherty off waivers from Seattle

An excellent pickup so far for the Braves. While being the only lefty in the bullpen, O'Flaherty has appeared in 24 games with an ERA of 3.12 and a 0.865 WHIP. Filled a big need for the team with some of the hitters in the East and filled it well.

2 Thumbs Up

12/4/08 - Tyler Flowers, Jonathan Gilmore, Brent Lillibridge, and Santos Rodriguez to the White Sox for Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan

After a brilliant performance in the Arizona fall league (eclipsed only by Tommy Hanson's) that saw Flowers hit .385 and lead the league with 10 HRs, his value as a prospect sky-rocketed. Though I doubt he will stick to catching due to his big frame, there will hopefully not be an opening there in Atlanta for quite a few years. He was the gem of this deal from the White Sox perspective. Gilmore is hitting .214 thus far, while Lillibridge's stock has cooled the last few years as he has lost his bat. Rodriguez averaged 14 BB/9 in 2008, but a young kid all the same.

Javier Vazquez has pitched absolutely phenomal in 2009, although his 4-4 record does not show it. He is leading the league in strikeouts and is on pace for about 280 for the year. He's got a solid ERA of 3.58 and a WHIP of 1.15. You know he is going to eat innings up throughout the year, something that the Braves truly lacked last season and stands to help the bullpen immensely. Given some run support, he would be a shoo-in for an allstar spot (sound like any other Braves pitchers?). Logan has pitched decent in Gwinett this year, sporting a 3.13 ERA but a 1.300 WHIP. Clearly the Braves gave up some possibly elite prospects in this deal, but they got an inning eater who strikes guys out and doesn't get hurt. Although his price tag has sparked some rumors that the Braves may be shopping him for a much needed bat, I like this deal a lot since he is a sure thing, whereas none of the prospects are.

4 Thumbs Up

1/13/09 - Signed Kenshin Kawakami to a 3 year deal worth $23 million

Probably still too early to call this one. That price tag is awfully steep, and the "shoulder fatigue" coupled with his early season performance certainly set off alarms for Braves fans. However, over 5 starts in the month of May, Kawakami had an ERA of 3.03 (even though he pitched only 29.2 IP in that stretch). Plus, during that stretch, his WHIP was an unimpresive 1.416. I'm still a little nervous about this one.

2 Thumbs Down (so far)

1/13/09 - Signed Derek Lowe for 4 years, $60 million

Lowe has pitched like the ace he was advertised to be in the offseason when Wren took the plunge on a 4 year deal with a 36 year old pitcher. $15 mil is a lot for a pitcher that old, but the guy has been consistent. Since returning to the NL after a failed stint with Boston, he posted a 3.59 ERA while averaging 212 IP over 4 years. Among the league leaders this year in wins so far. Barring a major injury, I like this move despite the steep price tag.

2 Thumbs Up

2/20/09 - Signed Tom Glavine for 1 year, $1 million (incentives up to $3.5 million)

Wren took another shot on Glavine, again a sentimental move. Talked in Part 1 about his saeason in 2008. Thus far in the minors this year, Glavine, who starts tonight against the Augusta Green Jackets, has an ERA of 3.60 over 10 IP. With a plethora of major pitching talent waiting in the wings (Medlen, Hanson, maybe even Morton), could this move actually make the team worse? I love Tom Glavine, and his experience and knowledge about the game would be invaluable for this team, espcially the young pitchers I just mentioned. That being said, I would like to see him take on a consultant's role rather than a starter's. Of course, he could totally prove me wrong, as I hope he does.

1 Thumb Down

2/22/09 - Signed Garret Anderson for $2.5 million over 1 year

A move made to try to improve the abysmal outfield offense of 2008, Anderson hasn't quite lived up to the expectations. After being hurt early in the year, Anderson has improved his stats to .266/.294/.358. Given his consistency the last few years, those numbers are likely to go up. If they stay where they are, though, it is certainly not an upgrade over Matt Diaz, who is probably a little better defensively. On the other hand, if he can bring them up closer to his career averages, this is as good a way as any to spend $2.5 million.

1 Thumb Up (for now)

4/20/09 - Blaine Boyer to the Cardinals for Brian Barton

Boyer has posted a 5.06 ERA in 13 games so far in St. Louis. The 27 year old Barton is hitting just .241 in Gwinnett. Nothing special here.

No Thumbs

That conlcudes the exhaustive review of Frank Wren's tenure with the Braves. The total tally on the RJTS: 19 Thumbs Up vs. 12 Thumbs Down, with 9 positive moves vs. 7 negative ones. Given the budget constraints, the floundering hometown heroes, the phenoms that transform into dazed rookies, and some of the streakiest players in baseball, I think Wren has done pretty well overall. Feel free to leave me a comment if you disagree on a move or if I left something out.

Links: Scouring Them Internets So You Don't Have To

2009-06-02T17:50:00.000-04:00

Pathetic Phillies Fan

Sir Charles being Sir Charles. How does he get away with this? Here's hoping he makes good on his goal to become governor of Alabama.

College Baseball: Big Ten Sucks & a simply incredible performance by Texas relief pitcher (12.1 IP, 0 H, in relief)

Joe Posnanski and stat guru Bill James discuss super prospect (and Georgia Tech alum) Matt Wieters

Spent a solid 10 minutes on this website. Did you know that homer by Greg Norton last year was the fastest off the bat for the whole year (tied with Mac)? Me neither. (via Peter King)

Does anyone else think that this Lamar Odom candy story is bizarre? Should a grown man really be eating this much sugar, especially a professional athlete?

A Las Vegas high school sophomore makes the cover of SI this week, very reminiscent of Francoeur's "The Natural" cover... hopefully not a bad omen for the kid.

In Frank Wren We Trust: Part 1

2009-05-31T20:57:00.013-04:00

Frank Wren replaced the legendary John Schuerholz as GM of the Braves on October 11th, 2007. Because there has been so much talk lately about making a move to upgrade our offense, especially in the outfield, I decided to take a look back at Wren's moves since becoming GM (also, I have nothing better to do). I will be using the Rick James Titty Scale, with "4 Thumbs Up" being an exceptional move and "4 Thumbs Down" being atrocious. We'll go in chronological order, looking at trades, players claimed off waivers, and free agents signed (not players resigned).

10/25/07 - Chris Resop claimed off waivers from Angels

In 16 relief appearances in 2008, Resop went 0-1 with a 5.89 ERA. Not a great pickup, but no major damage.

1 Thumb Down

10/27/07 - Edgar Renteria and Cash to Detroit for Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez

Since leaving the Braves, Renteria's numbers have declined dramatically. In 2008 with the Tigers, he hit .270/.317.699, while thus far in 2009 with the Giants, he has hit .250/.333/.671.

On the other hand, Jurrjens has been superb in his 1 and 1/3 years with the Braves. Last year he went 13-10 with a 3.68 ERA over 188 IP. This year he has performed like an allstar, sporting a 2.59 ERA and a 5-2 record (which would be better if not for weak run support). Hernandez is also excelling in the minors. In 2007, he hit .293 and stole 54 bases in A ball. After a slight decline in 2008, he seems to have turned things around in AA Mississippi this year, hitting .316 with 9 steals. He is ranked as the 62nd best prospect in baseball by Baseball America. A simply brilliant move by Wren, getting a possible ace-to-be and an excellent prospect while making room for The Cuban Missile at short.

4 Thumbs Up

11/19/2007 - Signed Tom Glavine for 1 year, $8 million

Hard to argue with bringing back one of the faces of the franchise, but this move proved to be more sentimental than anything else. Glavine went 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 2008 before going down with an injury. On top of that, signing him gave the Mets a first round compensation pick.

2 Thumbs Down

12/4/2007 - Jose Ascanio to Cubs for Will Ohman and Omar Infante

Ascanio played awful for the Cubs in 2008 (7.94 ERA, 2.118 WHIP), but may have righted the ship this year, bringing his WHIP down to a respectable 1.286 with 10.3 K/9 and a 3.86 ERA.

Ohman did a great job in a Braves uniform, appearing in 83 games in 2008, going 4-1 with a 3.68 ERA. Super-utility man Omar Infante has proved to be a valuable pickup, playing any number of positions while wielding a solid bat. His 2008: .293/.338/.416. He was off to an even better start this year: .349/.389/.430. A solid deal by Wren.

2 Thumbs Up

1/14/08 - Joey Devine, Jamie Richmond and Cash to the A's for Mark Kotsay

A move made out of the need for a stopgap centerfielder before Schafer was (seemingly...) ready for the big leagues. After his memorable, grandslam-filled performance as a rookie, Devine proved to be an excellent reliever in 2008. He appeared in 42 games for the A's with great numbers: 6-1, 0.59 ERA, .832 WHIP (!), 9.7 K/9. Had a shot at the closer role this year before being forced to undergo Tommy John surgery. Richmond has a respectable ERA right around 3.80 in the minors.

Kotsay, in a typically injury-plagued year, played pretty average (.289/.340/.418). Hindsight being what it is, the Braves should have let Josh Anderson man centerfield and kept the two young arms, especially Devine.

The Milk's Gone Bad!

1/17/08 - Willy Aybar and Chase Fontaine to the Rays for Jeff Ridgway

Aybar worked out his issues enough to appear in 95 games for the Rays in 2008, hitting .253/.327/.410. SO far in '09, he's improved to .283/.376/.446. Fontaine has done nothing special in the minors, hitting .248 last year.

As for Ridgway, he had an ERA of 5.47 in 44 games last year for Richmond. The Braves released him on March 30th this year. Aybar clearly had some issues, and the Braves just needed to rid themselves of him, although it would have been nice to get something back in return.

1 Thumb Down

That's enough for today. Back with more tomorrow...

Death, Taxes, and the Braves Wasting Dominant Pitching

2009-05-31T13:43:00.005-04:00

Another excellent pitching performance by Vazquez last night (6.1 IP, 1 ER, 8 K) squandered by the Braves inept offense. Granted, this was a lineup featuring Garret Anderson hitting third and Martin Prado cleanup, but they were facing Doug Davis, he of the career 4.31 ERA. Francoeur went 1/5 with 3 K's. The bullpen pitched well overall, with Jeff Bennett finally yielding the winning run in the 11th. Schafer did steal a base, tying the Braves with Milwaukee for last in the NL with 11 (though the Brewers are second in HRs).

The good guys try to split the series this afternoon at 4:00 with Kris Medlen facing Max Scherzer, a young guy with seemingly nasty stuff (10.4 K/9 in 16 career games started). Hopefully Medlen can avoid the disastrous inning and pitch like he did for most of his last game. Throwing more strikes (only 56% thus far) would be nice.

Links: Scouring Them Internets So You Don't Have To

2009-05-31T09:42:00.000-04:00

Gammons says don't read anything into the Red Sox alleged interest in Francouer. Here's Frenchy imitating Sox fans after hearing the news.

Tom Verducci says Tommy Hanson could be called up as early as Sunday. Can he hit?

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Adam Dunn is currently on pace to hit more homeruns this year (16 and counting) than the number of games that his team wins (13). (via Jayson Stark)

White Men Can't Jump (via TBL)

Charles Barkley is a Round Mound of Bitterness

Madden 10 Ratings: Position and Rookies

Shaq, dressed as Bill Cosby, and Ben Stein outtakes (via Awful Announcing)

Everyone's favorite Woody is back (soon)

Babe Ruth Pitches/Hits Braves to Win

2009-05-30T10:01:00.006-04:00

OK, so Jair Jurrjens may not be Babe Ruth, but the Braves' best pitcher of the year looked pretty good with the bat last night, hitting a 2 RBI double in the 2nd and drawing a walk (!) in the 3rd (the chick in that video looks like a younger, uglier version of Mindy Sterling, she of Austin Powers fame ). Ironic that in his worst pitching performance of the year, Jurrjens finally gets some run support to improve to 5-2. Over his first 10 games of the year, Jurrjens had an ERA of 2.07 and a .228 BAA, yet only had a record of 4-2, while last night, he had an ERA of 9.00, yet recorded his 5th victory of the season. Go figure. Escobar returned to the lineup and crushed a three run homer. The Braves send Vazquez to the mound this afternoon to face the Diamondbacks' Doug Davis (2-6, 3.77 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 1.5 HR/9, 6.5 K/9).

Down in the Minors

2009-05-29T17:31:00.002-04:00

By: The Bearded Joo

The Braves outfield has been receiving a lot of attention lately, for all the wrong reasons. With Schafer and Francouer underwhelming everyone in the ballpark, the weak outfield stands out for a team struggling to score runs. The Braves’ outfielders rank dead last in homeruns and slugging percentage. This power outage also extends to the rest of the offense, which currently ranks 26^th out of 30 in homeruns hit and 24^th in RBI. Francouer is mired in a year-long "slump," Schafer is struggling to get the bat on the ball (though still drawing walks), and Garret Anderson, signed in the offseason to add some pop to the outfield that ranked last in most hitting statistics in 2008, is slugging only .319. Having been signed to a one year contract, Anderson will most likely serve as a stopgap for uber-prospect Jason Heyward, who could represent a solution to the problems in the outfield and the power drought.

Heyward was drafted 14^th overall by Atlanta in the 2007 Draft and signed a deal worth about $1.7 million, receiving the same amount of money as 2006 14^th pick Travis Snider (now in the majors with the Blue Jays). Standing 6’4’’ and weighing in over 220 pounds, Heyward has the prototypical body of a power hitter. In 2008, he hit .316 with 11 homeruns and 56 RBIs and stole 15 bases (in 18 attempts) for Rome. Though only 18 at the time, he also showed a keen eye, striking out only 78 times and walking 51. This year, Heyward is off to another good start at high A in Myrtle Beach, sporting .295/.373/.561 percentages with 9 homers in 139 ABs (1 in about 15.5).

Now I’m sure by now you’re asking yourself: how do we know Heyward will be successful in the majors? The truth is we don’t, but if Heyward’s first Major League camp showed us anything, it’s that Heyward can already hit professional pitchers, and good ones at that. During spring training, Heyward crushed 2 balls off Kawakami and also went deep off of Jair Jurrjens, the same pitcher that is currently fourth in all of baseball with a cool 1.96 ERA and who allows a homerun only every 15 innings pitched.

So it may not be this year or even next, but when it does happen, expect the Braves to get that little boost to perhaps take us back to a tradition that Braves fans had become accustomed to … the playoffs.

McCann Allstar?

2009-05-27T15:51:00.008-04:00

Let me start off by saying that I'm just as guilty as the next guy: I just now submitted my first all-star ballot, though not my last. While the fans don't vote for the one true bright spot of this Braves season, starting pitching, they do get to vote in the starters at each position. I was motivated to vote last night while watching Tim Lincecum dominate a ~~Gwinnett~~ Braves lineup that featured Francouer hitting 5th, a scary thought. Anyways, Joe and Boo got to talking about the other bright spot in Atlanta this year: Brian McCann. Amazingly, he ranks only fifth in all-star balloting as of May 26th.

Apart from the Twin's Joe Mauer, McCann is the best hitting catcher in the game. His combination of power and contact is rarely seen at his position. So how is it that he is fifth in vote getting at catcher? Let's compare his season to the players in front of him (in order): Yadier Molina, Jason Kendall, Pudge Rodriguez, and Russell Martin. Maybe these guys are blowing him out of the water. And being who I am, I of course wanted to do this comparison in chart form:

Mac is the only one of the five hitting over .270 (.313), the only one with an OBP over .380 (.402), he is out slugging his four competitors, and is blowing away the others in OPS. Homers? Mac is tied with Rodrizguez for the lead at 5, despite playing in only 29 games compared to 41 for the others. RBIs? He trails Rodrizuez's 21 by only 3. By nearly any measure, McCann stands out above the other NL catchers. So, in the words of P. Diddy: Vote or Die!

Links: Scouring Them Internets So You Don't Have To

2009-05-26T18:30:00.001-04:00

Mets fan goes looking for Carlos Delgado's career.

Conversation between SI's Joe Posnanski and stat guru Bill James about Randy Johnson, who will be going for his 300th win soon. They compare him to the three other beyond-dominate pitchers of the Steroids Era: Pedro, Clemens*, and Maddux.

Ted Keith of SI puts together his dream team of young players and chooses Joe Mauer at catcher. An argument for McCann can definitely be made: he's one year younger, doesn't have the injury history of Mauer, and hits for more power (career SLG .503 vs. .474). However, Mauer is (much) better definisively and if he can get close to keeping his HR pace this year (11 in 100 PA), he becomes the clear choice.

Tommy Hanson makes Baseball America's Hot Sheet this week. Why? How's 13 IP, 3 H, O R, 16 K, and 2 BB sound?

ESPN360 is coming to Comcast at an unspecified date (in time for college football). On a related note, Comcast executives still eat puppies.

Rockies Horror Picture Show

2009-05-21T14:15:00.010-04:00

The Braves teed off for 9 runs in the fourth inning last night on the way to a big win. Vazquez looked dominant again, striking out six of the first nine batters he faced, despite ringing up a pitch count of 120 in only 5 innings. How he managed to do that while giving up only three hits and one walk, I can't say.

The big news, of course, came on the injury front. The Braves lost super-utility man Omar Infante when he was struck by a Manuel Corpas pitch, breaking the same finger he broke a couple of years ago in winter ball. This loss hurts in a few big ways. Besides the fact that Infante was hitting .349 this year and gave the Braves their best leadoff option, he can play nearly every position on the field. In his 2 years with the team, Infante has played LF (33 games), 3B (38), SS (25), 2B (23), and CF (5). DOB makes a good point in that the loss of Infante leaves the Braves without a backup CF, although Frenchy did play some in the minors. Losing Infante also means that Cox will be forced to play KJ most games, abondoning the platoon, although KJ's splits are the opposite of what one would expect for a left-handed hitter: for his career .261 BA vs. RHP, .295 vs. LHP.

Oh, and some washed up, lovable veteran with a cute name got hurt too. What's that? Jo-Jo isn't a veteran who has earned the right to work out the kinks in the majors? Hm. No one hopes his injury is serious, but maybe it will give Cox a chance to rethink his love affair with the kid. Could his injury free up a roster spot for Tommy Hanson, who starts tonight in Gwinett? Having waited this long, I doubt the Braves will call him up before the arbitration deadline. Plus, with Kawakami seeming to have found himself (fingers crossed) and Medline having been given the chance to take over Reyes's starting role, there may not be a spot for Hanson in the rotation.

The Braves enter tonight with a chance to take the series 3-1, a big momentum booster before facing off against the AL East-leading Blue Jays, who come to town Friday night. Finally, in other news, Smoltzy takes the mound tonight in Augusta in a rehab start on his way back to the majors for the Sox.

P.S. Sorry about the picture...

Yunel "The Cuban Missile" Escobar

2009-05-20T15:17:00.019-04:00

Nicknames should flow easily. They should have some personal significance and tie to the individual. They should be fun. If possible, they should even embody some aspect of the the person they describe. Lebron "King" James, "Joltin" Joe Frazier, Ron "Rhinoceros" Jeremy, you get the picture. With these rules in mind, I propose "The Cuban Missile" as Yunel Escobar's.
Let's start with the obvious: he's from Cuba. His game is explosive, from his rocket (see where we're going?) arm and ability to cover the left side of the infield, to his line-drive, free-swinging approach at the plate.
It's more than his game, though. This nickname also references Escobar's personality and emotion: the Cuban Missile Crisis featured everyone's favorite dictator, Fidel Castro, a man who, with help from the Soviet Union and the US, nearly started World War III. Passionate and unpredictable, he was the center of this Cold War event. What does he have to do with Escobar? I present an illustrative example. Let's say Yunel gets hit by a seemingly innocent pitch. What does he do? Walk it off on his way to first? No! He glares towards the mound, menacingly pointing his bat and screaming at the pitcher.

Dictator or SS?

Remind anyone of another fiery, maybe not-quite-all-there Cuban?
What's that? Not good enough? OK, what does Escobar do after hitting a tailor-made double play ball to the shortstop? Trudge down to first with his head down in dissappointment? No! He flips the bat into the stands!

Watch Out in the Booth!

This nickname is perfect. I'll make it stick if it's the last thing I do. And don't even tell me that Alexei Ramirez has already claimed it. When his average gets above Jordan Schafer's and his OBP above Francoeur's, then we can talk.

Thoughts on the New Lineup

2009-05-19T21:38:00.008-04:00

Cox finally shifted the batting order around last night, moving KJ out of the leadoff spot into the 6 hole, Escobar up one spot to number 1, and Kotchman taking his spot at 2. The early results sure looked good, as the Braves exploded for 8 runs and 13 hits against the Rockies Tuesday night. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, as the team hit .262 Tuesday, one point below the team's average for the month of May. That being said, it was definitely time for a change, and there are a few to like about this new lineup and few things that worry me.

I'm as a big a fan of KJ as the next guy, but he has hit .191 at leadoff this year and .267 there for his career. This is the third year that Cox has tried him at leadoff, and the third time that it's failed. When he hits in 6 - 8 spots in the lineup, KJ has a career BA of .325. He seems to be a little more comfortable hitting lower in the order, going 3 for 4 last night ( and raising his average 18 points). Hopefully Cox will get the picture.

Escobar certainly has had more success leading off, with a career BA .316 in 75 games there. One thing I don't like about the Cuban Missile (it will stick!) hitting first was evident on the first pitch of the game, when he went up there hacking and grounded out to second. I know that Yunel is a first pitch hitter, and he certainly has success that way, hitting .360 when he swings at the first pitch. However, I like a leadoff guy to see work the count and see some pitches. It gives the other guys a chance to see what that pitcher has on a given night as well as boosting his pitch count. The Missile is about as far from this as you can get, seeing only 3.2 pitches per plate appearance, good for third to lowest in the NL (just ahead of Cristian Guzman and Bengie Molina). Indeed, the Braves are dead last in the league in pitches/PA and only have one regular who sees more than the league average of 3.84: Jordan Schafer. So we'll have to see how it goes with Escobar hitting there, but at least the bar has been set low.

Not sure what to make of Kotchman in the 2 hole. Over his career, he has hit about .300 regardless of his position in the order, but I feel like he is a walking, talking double play waiting to happen. However, in an order with no speed and very little power, he may be the lesser of many evils...

It was about time that Cox did some shuffling, and the immediate results sure look promising. Not sure what the lineup will look like tonight: with the Braves going against a lefty, we may see Infante at second. But, if the Missile is going to leadoff against righties, I hope he's given the chance to do it on a full-time basis.

15,364??

2009-05-19T19:03:00.003-04:00

Last night's attendance in the Rockies series opener: 15,364. A Turner Field record. How is it possible the the 7th largest market in America can only fill its baseball stadium 31% full?

Maybe it's the economy, people avoiding the (outrageously) high-priced concessions, expensive parking, the extra trip downtown. Maybe not. The Braves currently rank 20th in average attendance with just over 24,500 paying nightly. How about the city hit hardest by the economy: Detroit. Their Tigers rank 15th in attendance, drawing nearly 2,500 more a night. Granted the Tigers are in first place in the weak AL Central, but their record is the same as the Phillies, a team only 2.5 games in front of the Braves.

Maybe it's the product on the field. With last night's loss, the Braves did fall to 18-19, but they are still a mere 2.5 back in the division. Every team in this division has its problems, and, at this point, no team is running away with it. Besides remaining competitive, this Braves team, despite its shortcomings, has plenty of interesting stories. There are the established stars: Chipper, McCann, and Lowe. There are the budding stars: Escobar, Jurrjens, maybe Schafer. The bullpen has power arms in Soriano and Gonzalez. So the team that Liberty Mutual trots out every night should draw enough interest.

So what is it? It's us. The fans. We're too lazy. We don't care. It was a school night. It was unseasonably cool. Atlanta's population is too transient. Whatever it is, this Braves team deserves our support. Go see them, the stars, the struggling vets, the rookies. Go see Javy Vazquez pitch, he may strike out 12. Go see a hall of famer man third base. Go see Jordan Schafer glide gracefully around center field and maybe not look overmatched at the plate. Go see one of the league's most dynamic shortstops. Go drink an 8 dollar beer. Whatever the reason, get out there and see some baseball.

Happy Belated Rockies Preview

2009-05-19T11:05:00.016-04:00

Despite another brilliant performance by Derek Lowe (8 IP, 3 H), the Braves were dominated Monday night by Jason Marquis, who now sports a 2.79 ERA and .226 BAA away from Coors Field. SHould the words "Jason Marquis" and "dominated" appear in the same sentence? Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Atlanta Braves. On with the preview!
A Rockies team that has struggled thus far comes to Turner Field as the Braves continue their homestand. If the Braves want to compete in the division, they need to win these kinds of series. Tuesday night's game features a matchup between the Jair Jurjenns, debatably the Braves's best starter (no small feat on this team), and Jason Hammel, whose WHIP and performance versus righties leaves something to be desired. Let's see if the some of the slumping Braves can turn it around. Will Bobby play the righty Infante over the 1-for-his-last-million Kelly?

Braves Starters
	Day	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thrusday
	Start Time	7:00 PM	7:00 PM	7:00 PM
		Jair Jurrjens (RHP)	Javy Vazquez (RHP)	Kris Medlen (RHP)
	W-L	3-2	3-3	W-L
	ERA	2.06	3.71	ERA
	K/9	4.5	11.3	K/9
	WHIP	1.167	1.125	WHIP
	Home ERA	4.05	5.20	Home ERA
	Home BAA	.300	.243	Home BAA
	BAA vs. RHB	.181	.250	BAA vs. RHB
	BAA vs. LHB	.270	.218	BAA vs. LHB

Rockies Starters
		Jason Hammel (RHP)	Jorge De La Rosa (LHP)	Aaron Cook (RHP)
	W-L	0-2	0-3	2-1
	ERA	4.62	3.16	5.71
	K/9	5.7	9.5	4.6
	WHIP	1.697	1.172	1.634
	Road ERA	0.00	2.25	9.00
	Road BAA	.229	.228	.369
	BAA vs. RHB	.368	.252	.269
	BAA vs. LHB	.280	.130	.329

Links: Scouring Them Internets So You Don't Have To

2009-05-18T11:16:00.031-04:00

Nice article from Kurkjian about the resurgence at third base. Obviously Chipper gets some love. The best part, though, is an amazing story about Evan Longoria (not her): "Longoria is so gifted at the plate, he takes batting practice against a machine that fires tennis balls -- some of them marked with a black spot, some with a red spot -- up to 150 mph. At 100 mph, he can identify the color of the ball that's coming, then will hit the black ball to the opposite field, and pull the red ball." Wow.

Jason Heyward and Kris Medlen, who had his first MLB start pushed to Thursday, make Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet this week. Medlin's stats at Gwinett: 1.19 ERA, 10.5 K/9, 0.80 WHIP, 0.152 BAA. Tommy Who?

Draft Buzz: Mark Bradley (among others) sees the Braves picking Zack Wheeler, a wiry local pitcher with a fastball clocked up to 95, a plus curve, and poise to spare. Here's MLB.com's Draft Report (with video!). No third pitch yet, but seems like a good pick with upside. Mac Thomason of Braves Journal has the Braves grabbing Donavan Tate with their first pick (number 7), an athlete signed to play football at UNC. No relation to former UNC super-athlete Brandon Tate (wonder if that play made ESPN's "Notre Dame Week" coverage).
The ugly Mets... featuring Livan Hernandez as a fourth starter.
Harry Caray weighs in on Manny's suspension.
Manny Being Manny