07 May
Braves News (Official)- Braves News (AJC)
- Atlanta Braves: Freeman not getting protection in Braves lineup
- Atlanta Braves: Sizzling Freeman doing his best Kelly Leak
- Atlanta Braves: Braves scoring, winning despite leadoff deficiency
- Atlanta Braves: After 2 months of struggling, B.J.'s got it going
- Atlanta Braves: Braves' Gattis keeps making it look easy
Great poll! Nice and timely….
May 7th, 2009 at 8:17 amAs much as we complain about having no power, did you guys realize we have one more home run as a team than the Mets do (20-19)? (of course combined we’ve got 39 compared to the Rangers who have 49… or the Phils who have 35)…
May 7th, 2009 at 8:38 amI voted “Maybe” on the poll because I don’t think Ganderson is an asshole, I just think he sucks.
May 7th, 2009 at 8:40 amNice line about Kelly at Razzball.
“Kelly Johnson – DNP. He’s in Cox’s doghouse pretty good this time. Maybe dressing up as Gene Larkin for last Halloween wasn’t the best idea.”
May 7th, 2009 at 9:08 amas unappealing as Garret Anderson’s actions have been, I really think this shows a lack of strong leadership at the management/front office level. I don’t care what the union contract says Anderson can do or refuse to do; veterans do this minor league rehab all of the time, and there should have been some consequence for his actions. Leaving Brandon Jones on the roster a few extra days while we were doubly sure that GA was MLB ready would have been a good idea for starters. GA is 1-8 with 1 single since coming off the DL. Now many would say that is his current, functioning level of skill, but it sure doesn’t scream “ready to go”.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:10 amI don’t really care whether Anderson went on a rehab assignment or not. What I care about is he sucks and looks like he’s bored and barely trying at the plate. I’d give him 2 weeks playing full time to prove otherwise then it’s time for plan B whatever that is.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:16 amTo Another Alex (AAR):
This is totally off the subject but, Alex, I have noticed that the box scores in the Washington Post no longer include number of pitches for the pitchers or RBI totals for the hitters. Is this to save newsprint? If so, I realize newspapers are having economic problems, but this seems pretty extreme.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:21 amTo me, this is our biggest problem this year:
Vs. Starting Pitchers .289/.371/.455
Vs. Relief Pitchers .204/.306/.297
EXTREME HIBERNATION MODE
May 7th, 2009 at 9:36 am#2 – we do have one more HR than the mets, but they have 7 more triples than us. I didnt even care to see how many more SB’s they had
May 7th, 2009 at 9:37 am8
Thats not hibernation mode……..that is total system crash, blue screen of death stuff.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:38 amNo matter his results, Garret Anderson is always going to look the same. He looked bored when he got his World Series-winning hit in 2002.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:38 amOPS+ by inning:
1st-127
May 7th, 2009 at 9:39 am2nd-114
3rd-105
4th-133
5th-99
6th-54
7th-93
8th-76
9th-43!!
10th-244
Thanks for the vid, Mac. Hug?
May 7th, 2009 at 9:44 amJust looked this up. List of players with more strikeouts on the season than Jordan Schafer.
1) Chris Davis, Rangers 43.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:09 amper Dob, no Chipper – he’s just getting the day off
Infante
May 7th, 2009 at 10:16 amEsco
Anderson
Kotch
Frenchy
KJ
Ross
Schafer
JJ
Joe Pos has a new blog post up about how Bill James will be played by a cartoon in the upcoming Soderberg “Moneyball” movie.
However, here’s the money quote about future cartoon characters that cartoon Bill will interact with:
“Say, for instance, you have the not-evil-but-certainly-misguided Professor Francoeur* roaming the countryside with his .307 on-base percentage and using his anti-walk machine to remove on-base percentage from every scoreboard in America.”
Awesome. The whole exchange is great too.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:16 amHas any reporter yet asked Francoeur to comment on his quote? If so, I haven’t seen his response. I can’t believe he’s been allowed to fly under the radar like this (well, I guess I should know better). It was an incredibly stupid statement, but no one has nailed him on it.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:24 am@9 csg, but we’ve got more doubles/triples combined than they do… basically we’re not that different offensively on average (though they’ve got more speed it hasn’t translated into a ton more runs). We also have the same team ERA…
That said, when I see a line-up with Beltran, Delgado, and Wright up next, I’m worried about the ball leaving the yard. And Chipper, Maybe McCann, XXXX isn’t all that worrisome.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:29 am16 — Hilarious! Thanks for sharing.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:33 am@17,
Frankly, I think it was a joke, just as I believe his quote last year about having a good year except for 80 games was an attempt at sarcasm. I don’t know whether Frenchy is actually smart enough to have an ironic sense of humor, but if these quotes aren’t intended as humor . . .
But I would rather give him the benefit of the doubt here until proven otherwise.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:40 amCharles, I totally agree with you. I think over the course of the season, we’ll start seeing how much better they are offensively compared to us, but we’ll see our pitching become a lot better.
I still think we’ll have a very good opportunity to add a good bat sometime this season, before or around the deadline. We have too much SP not to be able to. Hudson, Vasquez, Lowe, Jurrjens, Hanson, Kawakami, Joseph potentially, Morton, Medlen, and others. Thats of course, if we can stay in the race that long
May 7th, 2009 at 10:48 amBreaking news: MANNY RAMIREZ suspended 50 games for testing positive for PED’s.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:49 amHere’s a source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4148907
May 7th, 2009 at 10:51 amFrom Yahoo sports: “CF Jordan Schafer’s batting average has taken a nosedive while his strikeouts have increased. 3B Chipper Jones detected some trouble spots with Schafer’s swing, and is working on that with the rookie.”
(Yes, I am unfortunate enough to have to start Jordan Schafer on my Fantasy team.)
May 7th, 2009 at 10:53 amWhat an asshole Manny Ramirez is. Frank McCourt isn’t going to be happy at all.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:57 amWow Manny… wow.
edit: Another source: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090507&content_id=4603850&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
on the front page of mlb.com
May 7th, 2009 at 10:58 amHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA, how does Boras leverage this one this offseason. What a dick
May 7th, 2009 at 11:02 amHere’s the original story the LA Times wrote:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-manny-ramirez8-2009may08,0,6324894.story
Of course Boras didn’t comment.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:04 amThere goes my fantasy season…
May 7th, 2009 at 11:15 amAnd mine.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:18 amThank goodness for that caught stealing.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:31 amFart, I remember going to see Manny play in Charlotte when he was called up.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:34 amCan David Ross hit 25 home runs? If so, can he be turned into a first baseman?
May 7th, 2009 at 11:35 amAnderson signing was questionable and seems bust-esque so far… Ross signing seemed foolish but has turned out to be working out pretty well at this point.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:36 amRoss signing seemed foolish
False.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:38 am@34
Agreed, apart from the “seemed foolish” part. That was just a Braves Journal meme.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:38 amRoss signing was needed and was a good deal then and its a steal of a deal now
May 7th, 2009 at 11:39 amwow. Manny. crazy.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:40 amgreat, Sportcenter will be unwatchable for the next month.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:45 amSo, nothing is changing at Sportscenter?
May 7th, 2009 at 11:47 amManny:
“I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons. I want to apologize to [Dodgers owner Frank] McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, [manager Joe] Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I’m sorry about this whole situation.”
gotta watch what you put in your body dude, doesn’t matter if a doctor prescribes it.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:48 am@40, yeah, as I wrote that I was like “wait a minute, SC sucks anyway”.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:49 amManny news bumping ARod news or Favre news doesn’t exactly alter the universe of SportsCenter, though, does it?
May 7th, 2009 at 11:49 amWhat’s 10% of 1/3 of Manny’s salary? Oooh, sucks for Boras!
May 7th, 2009 at 11:49 amPower surge????
May 7th, 2009 at 11:51 amKotchman goes deep before June. Nice.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:51 amOUR FIRST BASEMAN HAS POWER!!!!!
May 7th, 2009 at 11:51 amThere you go Casey.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:52 amHe loses 1/3 of it, I think. Not 1/10.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:52 amBoras loses 10% of the 1/3 lost by Manny.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:53 amOh sorry, misread it.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:54 amSorry guys… “seemed foolish” was easier to type than “seemed like it was possibly overpaying for a backup catcher in a down market when we had marginal internal options that might have worked out for the day off every week McCann would need”…
and while I was typing that Kotchman homered?!?!
May 7th, 2009 at 11:54 amI dont think we have marginal backup catchers
May 7th, 2009 at 11:56 amLooks like Kotchman got ahold of whatever Manny was having.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:56 am25 per season, 1/3 of that is 8.33 mil, so around $800K it’s going to cost Boras (if it works that way… not sure the agent cut comes out of final salary or contracted salary).
May 7th, 2009 at 12:01 pmCharles, the whole sentiment is false. It seemed like a good move at the time, and it seems even better now.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:02 pmMan, 1-2 with a single and a fly-out—will Jordan ever strike out again?
May 7th, 2009 at 12:07 pmIf this goes to extras, he could pick up another golden sombrero.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:14 pmCasey’s having himself a game.
Is he fast enough for a triple?
May 7th, 2009 at 12:24 pmKeep scoring, boys. Shock me.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:27 pmOur first baseman plays Gold-Glove defense and currently sports an OPS of .844. I’ll take it.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:29 pm@61 Me too. It’s the outfield that keeps me pissed off.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:30 pmFrenchy still knows how to finish an inning….
May 7th, 2009 at 12:31 pmAgreed. If they could just find a legit power guy for the outfield somewhere.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:32 pmCasey Kotchman has never been our problem. Our outfield is attrocious.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:33 pmStu;
I always thought of Ross signing as a “passable move if you’ve got the resources to spend 1.5M on a backup catcher, which I’m not sure we do”. I don’t think signing a career .225 avg .313 obp guy to two years for 3M is a “good” move per se, defensible maybe as it filled a hole for relatively little money. But when only 5 other teams have backup catchers making a million or more, and you’re as bad off as we were, it is questionable if spending your limited resources on that hole is the wisest use of said resources. There is a reason MOST teams have a marginal guy just up from the minors in that role (and while Sammons doesn’t look like he’ll stick in the majors he could have been a passable option for McCann’s off day… and for a million less). As many have pointed out, put the Anderson/Ross/Glavine money together and we could’ve probably patched the every day Anderson hole a bit better.
I never hated or loved the Ross signing…
May 7th, 2009 at 12:33 pmI’ve been getting reoccuring feelings that we shouldn’t have traded Josh Anderson (though I still think we got a good return on a player that we were otherwise likely to have to release.) These feelings subsided today when I reacquainted myself with his Spring Training stats… with the Braves in March everyone’s favorite Anderson had a .283 OBP and only 2 steals!
He’s played well for Detroit, but we can’t assume he’d be doing the same batting leadoff on an everyday basis. I was always of the opinion that we should’ve started Jordan in AAA just to humble him a little bit further, but his struggles were bound to come sometime, and I’d just as soon get them over with in April-May, if possible, instead of in the heat of summer competition.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:35 pmDavid,
So true. Some folks have been complaining about Kotchman, though.
Charles,
May 7th, 2009 at 12:39 pmAs sansho so thoroughly demonstrated, Ross is likely the best back-up catcher in baseball, so it makes sense that he’d be one of only a few making what he does. Also, our best player is our starting catcher, so it makes sense to have a legit back-up so that he can be adequately rested.
@17: Fly under the radar? No one has nailed him for it? I really don’t see how you can find this comment “incredibly stupid.” It is a gross oversimplification, as I’ve said before, but ultimately its true.
I also agree with Marc Schneider that it was likely said tongue-in-cheek. Of course Jeff would like to get on base more often, any player would, but he sees run production as more important to his team… and obviously with this team he’s right.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:39 pmDarn, that’s one of those situations where you’d hope that Schafer would pad his strikeout totals.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:44 pmTwo Four Six Eight!
May 7th, 2009 at 12:44 pmThis is how we hibernate!
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ys-ramirezsuspension050709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
It was a “sexual enhancer”. Haha.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:47 pmHmm, sounds like a performance enhancing drug to me.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:48 pm@66: There’s an argument to be made that we didn’t need to spend that kind of money on a backup catcher. However, we did NEED to add another ML ready catcher to the organization. JC Boscan just isn’t going to cut it in a situation, like we’ve been in for the last two weeks, where McCann is on the DL. When it comes down to it we’re likely only paying Ross a million more than we would’ve had to pay whoever we would’ve signed… I’d say Ross has earned that extra million just from his play over the last two weeks, and if McCann is down for any other extended period of time over this season or next we’ll be very glad to have David around.
As for Ross-Glavine-Garret’s money, assuming we signed a different catcher at the ML minimum, and possibly another starting pitcher, this trio adds up to roughly $4-5 million, which really isn’t enough to have put us in the running for any reasonable free agent outfielder upgrades this past season.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:49 pmOuch. But okay with two out nobody on. Make them hit the ball.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:52 pmWell if someone’s got to score, I’d just assume it be Hanley… finally producing for my Fantasy Team… even if it comes at the expense of another member of my team. So can we assume Bobby pinch-hits for Jair to lead off the 7th? (Guess not.)
Also, for anyone that is dying for a chance to call me an idiot, my Braves leanings inspired me to sit Carlos Beltran a couple days ago, and Jorge Cantu yesterday… damn loyalties!
May 7th, 2009 at 12:54 pmStu, good point on not wanting to take the overall offensive hit by having one of your best players replaced with total crap (though if those resources had been used to bring in somebody with a bit more power in the outfield it might have been no net offensive difference, obviously that’s a calculation that would be tough for the front office to make early in the off season so I don’t fault them for that exactly).
I don’t think I caught Sansho’s ‘thorough demonstration’ of how Ross is likely the best back-up catcher in baseball. Obviously there’s going to be a line where you’re either a very good back-up catcher, or a not-so-great every day catcher.
Like I said, it wasn’t the worst move in the world, but in a limited resource environment it looked like a possible overpayment for a limited time player. I think (taking into account the need to not skew your offense to crap when McCann is out) the odds were that it was a decent deal, with little chance for huge downside (we aren’t paying him 3M per) or huge upside. Right now it seems that the upside is winning.
Also… maybe JJ shouldn’t pitch to Hanley next time.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:56 pmObviously there’s going to be a line where you’re either a very good back-up catcher, or a not-so-great every day catcher.
Well, as we’re seeing, Ross can pass for a solid everyday player. He can take a walk, he can hit for power, and he’s elite, defensively; this is what sansho demonstrated, and this is why, from the outset, it looked like a good signing.
And $1.4M just isn’t a ton of money, even in this environment.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:59 pm@24 “From Yahoo sports: “CF Jordan Schafer’s batting average has taken a nosedive while his strikeouts have increased. 3B Chipper Jones detected some trouble spots with Schafer’s swing, and is working on that with the rookie.”
So is Chipper getting paid to be the “assistant to the hitting coach”? If not, why not? If so, then what are we paying TP to do besides sit in the dugout and look bored.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:07 pmGarret Anderson’s OPS is closer to Jair Jurrjens’ than to Jordan Schafer’s.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:08 pmSo… Does Ross get a shot at every day somewhere in 2011? will he be too old by then?
Didn’t Brayan Pena get DFA’d recently? Don’t I recall he was better than Sammons? could we get him back on a minor league deal… as the backup to our backup?
May 7th, 2009 at 1:12 pm@79… I think he’s being the team captain and trying to help his team(mates) win.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:13 pmand he’s also seeing that TP hasnt helped anyone and wants to see the kid improve
May 7th, 2009 at 1:14 pmCharles, Pena wasnt claimed by anyone so therefore the Royals sent him to AAA. We’d have to trade for him now
May 7th, 2009 at 1:14 pm@81: That’s what surprised me the most about the Ross deal. I can’t figure why HE would sign it. He’ll be almost 34 by the end of the deal, and I doubt he’ll get enough playing time in Atlanta to do anything more than earn a chance to compete for a starting role somewhere (which he probably could’ve done in a few places this year.) Then again, he was 14 and presumably in Georgia when the Braves division streak began, so perhaps he’s one of those guys that really wanted to play for Bobby, or maybe set himself up for a role in the organization.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:19 pm@84: I know there’s a Jairo Cuevas joke to be made somewhere there…
May 7th, 2009 at 1:20 pmIs Francouer doing bong hits between innings?
May 7th, 2009 at 1:20 pmWow, that was bad. Francoeur caught off the bag.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:21 pmWay to go, Frenchy. Nice one.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:21 pmThere’s a Yunel.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:21 pmKJ hitting where he belongs, 6-7th in the order. Frenchy is an idiot
May 7th, 2009 at 1:25 pmJeff was just trying to prove his point that getting on base isn’t as important as driving in runs. (Was it really that bad? I’m watching MLB Gameday, and the pitch looked like one of those that the catcher could’ve made a great play on and really hung him out to dry… am I overly optimistic?)
Meanwhile, there must be something drastically wrong with my internet connection… it’s telling me that Kelly Johnson stole a base!?! Did we trade him to the Marlins before the game, or something?
May 7th, 2009 at 1:25 pmDoes Jurrjens pitch the 8th?
May 7th, 2009 at 1:27 pm#93 – Id let him start the 8th, if anyone reaches Id go to the pen
May 7th, 2009 at 1:28 pm@93: No! At least not if my Fantasy Team has anything to say about it… looks like Soriano time to me.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:29 pmNope, it’s Soriano. For the third day in a row, I believe.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pmI agree with getting JJ out of there, but our top relievers’ arms are going to fall off.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pmNo–probably not….Frenchy just keeps getting better….
May 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pmNinety-first!
Why are we the only team in baseball that can’t get Ross Gload out?
May 7th, 2009 at 1:33 pm@97: This is only his third outing on back to back days (as Mac pointed out its his second straight, and his first back to back to back outings of the season.) But he’s only pitched 13 innings so far, that isn’t really an unreasonable workload, assuming he’s healthy.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:35 pmCS isn’t on the scoreboard. Who cares?
May 7th, 2009 at 1:37 pmThat seems like an odd pinch hitter choice in this situation… guess if you have a PR to spare, it worked.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:39 pmI’m scared.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:42 pmWell, I imagine Soriano and Gonzalez will be unavailable for tomorrow night’s game.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:43 pm#104 – shouldnt matter, Hamels will pitch a no hitter and only throwing 40 pitches
im scared also
30 pitches there from Soriano, Im guessing he’ll need a night off
May 7th, 2009 at 1:44 pmMoylan is warming in the pen so it looks like we’ll save Gonzalez. Good decision I think.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:45 pmWhew.
Gonzalez used 4 bench players that inning.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:46 pm@106: You think Moylan was warming for the 9th, or in case Soriano needed relief in the 8th? I’m guessing the latter, I think if Bobby was going to save Gonzalez he would’ve gone with Moylan in the 8th and Soriano in the 9th… but we’ll see.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:46 pmWow, I guess Chipper REALLY needed a day off…
May 7th, 2009 at 1:50 pmHow did Schafer get to second without an error being charged?
May 7th, 2009 at 1:51 pmHow did Schafer get thrown out? He’s sposta be fast.
Marc S, I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that one…
May 7th, 2009 at 1:53 pmGameday says throwing error on the catcher, Mac.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:54 pm#108, turns out you’re right.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:54 pmGameday has Baker charged with a throwing error.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:54 pmToo bad–but the Braves were right to send Schafer…Gonzo looks good….
May 7th, 2009 at 1:55 pmwas that Snitker’s fault? was it real close or a bad call?
hey, Anderson caught one. HEY A WINNING STREAK
another great outing from JJ, good games from Kotch, KJ, Schafer, and Ross too
May 7th, 2009 at 1:57 pmWINNING STREAK!
May 7th, 2009 at 1:58 pmThe thing that bothers me the most about Bobby’s use of the bullpen is how often he gets guys, especially Moylan, warming up, and doesn’t bring them into the game. I was okay with trying to bring Peter back this early from his surgery, but I thought we should’ve worked out a regiment to keep him from throwing back to back days early in the season. He’s now thrown two days in a row, and clearly he’s our only real option to close tomorrow’s game if we need it. Couldn’t we have gotten Bennett up for an emergency in the 8th instead?
But hey, a win’s a win!!! GO JAIR!!! GO BRAVES!!!
May 7th, 2009 at 2:00 pmYippee, a win.
Yes, the most modest of winning streaks.
May 7th, 2009 at 2:00 pmSweep!!
May 7th, 2009 at 2:00 pmFlorida must really suck to lose 2 straight to the Braves and to give up 12 hits to a lineup lacking both Chipper and McCann.
May 7th, 2009 at 2:01 pmUp, the recap is.
May 7th, 2009 at 2:07 pm