26 Apr
Fredi Gonzalez, super-genius game thread: April 26, Braves at Padres
Now remember, none of you is qualified to criticize the thinking of such a super-evolved manager, so don’t. I just hope he can take time out of his busy day to think about the energy crisis or world peace or something.
From the last thread:
Nate Schierholtz is available. In the fourth outfielder universe, he’s much better than Matt Young, certainly. Should we trade someone who can actually play baseball for him?
April 26th, 2011 at 3:29 pmCan he actually play center? He’s also a left-handed hitter…
April 26th, 2011 at 3:38 pmYes, but he’s not Matt Young.
April 26th, 2011 at 4:13 pmRandom stat I found while looking for the key to the team’s offensive struggles (which I’m attributing to low BABIP; poor overall speed; too many groundballs)
So far in the NL 134 batters have reached base thanks to an error by the opposition. Braves hitters account for only 2 of those.
April 26th, 2011 at 4:53 pmHe’s an above-average defensive right fielder, but he’s been in the Giants system since 2003, and he’s played exclusively corner positions: third base, first base, left field, and right field, never an inning in center. It’s certainly possible that he could handle center, but I’m guessing that if he had it in him, the Giants would have tried to find out, especially because they now see him as a possible trade chip — every team in the world could use a center fielder with a bat, even if only as trade bait.
April 26th, 2011 at 4:56 pmAccording to this Royals blogger, “Kyle Davies is the worst starting pitcher in the history of the game.”
April 26th, 2011 at 5:14 pmBowman…
http://tinyurl.com/66ftssq
and DOB…
http://tinyurl.com/634ylrc
calling for change. I’m betting we see a DFA soon if both of these guys are discussing this situation.
April 26th, 2011 at 5:30 pm7 – It’s kind of interesting considering that Wren’s specialty was, supposedly, his ability to put together solid benches and bullpens. This year, however, there was simply less money left for both after the Uggla trade. And Wren, put simply, did not do a great job with his limited resources.
At the time, I really, really felt like the $3 million thrown to Linebrink and Sherrill would have been better spent on a backup infielder and center fielder, but we apparently desperately needed that veteran influence in the bullpen. Clearly.
April 26th, 2011 at 5:36 pmWhat Chipper said in that DOB interview was absolutely spot on:
“I was saying tonight, the most important inning in every single ballgame that we play this year is the seventh. The seventh inning. If we get through the seventh, we’re fine. If we don’t get through the seventh, we’re going to get beat. It changes the whole outlook of the game.”
April 26th, 2011 at 5:36 pmWell if both Pravda and Isvestia are saying it, then it will be so
April 26th, 2011 at 5:39 pmYou can’t DFA the manager.
April 26th, 2011 at 5:45 pmAnybody want to take a bet that George Sherrill is DFA’d by week’s end?
April 26th, 2011 at 5:46 pm@7,
Sounds like they are saying, “What can Fredo Gonzo do? He is so limited.”
His bullpen management has put us in this mess.
April 26th, 2011 at 5:49 pmPrado 7 Heyward 9 Chipper 5 Uggla 4 Freeman 3 Gonzalez 6 Mclouth 8 Ross 2 Jurrjens 1
McCann sitting. Understandable, but frustrating nonetheless.
April 26th, 2011 at 5:50 pmMcCann has been sitting a lot lately, no?
April 26th, 2011 at 5:56 pm“Fredo” has long been Wil Ledezma, I guess it’s time for a change.
April 26th, 2011 at 6:04 pmSherrill (rightly) never pitches except in blowouts, which we don’t have. There’s no place for him on the roster, that’s an easy decision.
Linebrink makes a bit more than him so he probably will get more time.
Conrad’s days are numbered, he isn’t hitting and can’t play the field.
Hicks hits like a little leaguer.
Ed Lucas and Jose Costanza I would think are likely to replace Conrad and Hicks.
April 26th, 2011 at 6:10 pm15 — Guess that happens when you have 3 extra inning games in a week.
It’s unfortunate because McCann has hit Harang well.
April 26th, 2011 at 6:12 pmNo complaint with ditching Sherrill but I wouldn’t assume that he’s a goner. He’s a liability against many teams but he gives another LOOGY to use against the Phils’ Howard, Utley, etc.
April 26th, 2011 at 6:33 pm19 — But we already have Venters and O’Flaherty to do that, plus I think Fredi has lost complete trust in Sherrill already and wouldn’t even let him in a close game…let alone him face Utley or Howard.
I really think Sherrill is demoted or DFA’d at the end of the road trip.
April 26th, 2011 at 6:36 pmI agree with Frank; I’d be surprised if they got rid of Cheryl.
April 26th, 2011 at 6:45 pmWe’ve scored 3 runs or less in half of our games. A few guys are starting to hit the ball harder and seem close to coming out of it (Uggla in particular). The team-wide problem so far has been way too many weakly hit ground balls. We have to lead the league in ground-outs to the right side.
Good news is that it probably can’t get much worse. Bad news is that we currently suck.
April 26th, 2011 at 7:10 pmFor anyone who can’t see the game tonight, it is the free game on MLB.TV.
Both the useless “veteran” relievers should be gone, though I won’t be too unhappy if we can just get rid of Sherrill as a start.
Also, someone needs to beat some game management sense into Fredi. Last night was ridiculous.
April 26th, 2011 at 8:18 pmI took a bit of heat last week for saying our problem was too many weak ground-balls, not a lack of patience… now suddenly it’s the conventional wisdom
April 26th, 2011 at 9:01 pmBrent Lillibridge just made back-to-back great plays in right field to save the game against the Yankees.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:03 pmTwo great catches by Lillibridge ends the white sox game and let’s me watch braves game on MLB network
April 26th, 2011 at 9:04 pmWow. Brent Lillibridge just made 2 great catches (in Right Field!) for the White Sox to save a 3-2 win for them over the Yankees. First he made a catch running into the wall on an ARod fly ball with 2 runners on, then a diving catch on a Cano flare (still 2 on).
April 26th, 2011 at 9:05 pmYes… Two men on base. Two circus catches in rf for outs 26 and 27. Either play not made would have meant “Yankees win, Yankees win,daaaaauh!, etc.
I was proud of him
April 26th, 2011 at 9:09 pmHey, a walk
April 26th, 2011 at 9:10 pmCHIPPA!
And congratulations on tying Mickey Mantle for second most RBI among all switch-hitters (and 50th overall).
April 26th, 2011 at 9:11 pmOh yeah.
@21 “Cheryl.” I love it.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:12 pmTime to put Hicks in at third as a defensive replacement and let McCann run McLouth
April 26th, 2011 at 9:13 pmAnother fine play by AGon.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:19 pmAnother terrific turn by AAG
April 26th, 2011 at 9:19 pmYour gut, Fredo?
April 26th, 2011 at 9:22 pmDoes dick enberg usually do baseball? He’s great at tennis
April 26th, 2011 at 9:22 pmSomeone go tie up Fredi and stuff him in the broom closet.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:23 pmboom!
April 26th, 2011 at 9:23 pmYeah, don’t let that guy pinch hit
April 26th, 2011 at 9:24 pmNice shot.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:24 pm@36,
Yeah, he is the Padres announcer
April 26th, 2011 at 9:24 pmFredi’s gut can’t handle it because it’s sick of doing his brain’s job.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:28 pm“there goes the no hitter” – chip careys brain
April 26th, 2011 at 9:29 pmboo, he didn’t have to hurry that much
April 26th, 2011 at 9:30 pmand the padres oblige with another dp opportunity anyway.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:30 pmGot it the second time, but yeah Uggla got a little too careless there. At least his defense hasn’t really been any kind of issue as one might have feared before the season.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:31 pmif any of you guys have mlb atbat on your phones, go check out the white sox announcers call on the game ending catch by “lillybridge”. it’s outstanding. he actually says the word “bleeping”.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:40 pmHow the hell did that just happen?
April 26th, 2011 at 9:58 pmNot well done, McLouth.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:58 pmYes, that was entirely Jurrjens’ fault and he alone deserves to be charged the run.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:58 pmMcLouth takes great angles.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:59 pmToo bad JJ didn’t take the walk when he had the chance.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:07 pm46 pitches (36 strikes) through five innings for Jair.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:13 pmAnother nice play by AAG. Helps to just have to get it in the vicinity of first base for Freddie to pick it.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:13 pmWow, that’s a double play ball if the infield isn’t in.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:25 pmWhee!!!
Edit: Guess it’s Harang him out to dry night.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:25 pmDavid “Babe” Ross
April 26th, 2011 at 10:29 pmYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 26th, 2011 at 10:29 pmRoss! And with that, I’m off to bed. Night all…
April 26th, 2011 at 10:29 pmWhat else needs to be said? Ross is still Boss.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:29 pmRoss doesn’t care where they put the infielders.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:29 pmReally a shame that McCann had to sit…
April 26th, 2011 at 10:30 pmHave a day!
April 26th, 2011 at 10:30 pmOk, how apparent is it that David Ross needs to get more ABs? Can he please start taking some snaps at first? Freddie’s going to have to sit occasionally.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:31 pmUmmm, I don’t suppose theres a way we could make David Ross our everyday Center Fielder so he and McCann could be in the lineup everyday together?
Nahhh, just wondering out loud…
April 26th, 2011 at 10:31 pmYou know, there really is value to rooting for the team with one of the top 3 catchers in Baseball and easily the best backup catcher as well.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:32 pmIts like we left the Porsche parked in the garage today and took the Lexus SUV out for a spin…
April 26th, 2011 at 10:34 pmWow, I had the braves*dot*com site up in another tab and they just fired up a look-in that was a good 10 seconds faster than the SS feed, FYI.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:43 pmeven after a long inning thats only 66 pitches thru 6
April 26th, 2011 at 10:44 pmBraves franchise career OPS leaders:
1) Hank Aaron — 944
April 26th, 2011 at 10:48 pm2) Chipper Jones — 940
3) Eddie Mathews — 896
4) Wally Berger — 894
5) David Ross — 888
*Gasp* Uggla singled!
April 26th, 2011 at 10:49 pmI just tuned in today. Apparently we have an offense, now?
April 26th, 2011 at 10:49 pmOh, it’s a party.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:59 pm@70, number five is awesome.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:01 pmThe Padres have a really sad offense.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:02 pmVenable has a weird hair cut and/or head shape.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:02 pmI have confidence in our ability to hold a seven-run lead, I’m going to bed!
April 26th, 2011 at 11:03 pmJJ with 89 pitches through 7.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:05 pmBraves need JJ to finish this one on his own.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:05 pmCharlie Morton: The Next Halladay??*
(*actual ESPN Baseball Tonight headline)
April 26th, 2011 at 11:08 pmI’m ok with Asencio finishing up if JJ gets gassed (he has laboured a little the last two innings).
April 26th, 2011 at 11:09 pmLet Sherrill take the 9th. He should be OK since it’s Petco. Of course, I said the same for Linebrink last night, but different circumstances.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:10 pmCary, you should have heard them talking about it for 5 minutes. If you are wondering, there is only 1 Charlie Morton. Same guy that has more walks than K’s this year and has a career 5.72 ERA. Yep, thats just like Roy Halladay.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:11 pmI’d prefer to not see Sherrill lest Fredi getting any weird ideas about him being useful.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:12 pmYeah, Im tired of Ludwick
April 26th, 2011 at 11:13 pmThat is why I don’t watch Baseball Tonight.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:15 pmMorton apparently has tinkered with his motion to make it like Halladay’s. It’s sure to work.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:27 pmThe Braves’ last 9-inning complete game was in September 2009 by Javier Vasquez. Kind of sad.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:27 pmWell, the last 9 inning complete game. They’ve had some 8 inning complete games in road losses and Hanson had a 5 inning complete rain-shortened 1-0 loss last year.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:28 pmI don’t always agree w/ Bowman but I agree with a lot of this:
April 26th, 2011 at 11:30 pmhttp://markbowman.mlblogs.com/2011/04/26/braves-need-to-assess-roster-needs/
Great game from Jair
April 26th, 2011 at 11:30 pmGreat job, JJ.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:30 pmWow. Jurrjens is a bad mother.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:30 pmNice game! And quick, too.
ETA: Shut yo mouth!
April 26th, 2011 at 11:32 pmAnd the Phils lost. Not a bad night.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:32 pmGood win, good game by JJ (even though it *is* the Padres).
Should have been the second win of the series, Fredi.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:32 pmAnd Brian Jordan continues to get worse at his job.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:35 pmRecapped. I’m gonna leave this one up for the game thread, as tomorrow is an afternoon game.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:40 pm