But, dare I say, the Fredi hate may have gone too far.  Some of the more reasonable criticisms of Fredi have gotten lumped in with the unreasonable.  When the Braves lose, it’s often interpreted as them being flat and seems to be associated with last season’s September collapse.  But how much of the September collapse is on Fredi?  I would say not much. 

We could probably say Fredi costs the Braves a few runs last season, which may have costs the team one or two wins and a playoff berth.  But we can also point to a number of other things, like injuries to Hanson and Jurrjens and the under-performance of the offense.  But the Braves were cruising to a playoff berth going in to September.  If Fredi’s lack of inspiration or something cause the September collapse, why did it not affect the team significantly until very late in the season? 

I strongly believe Fredi deserves criticism for any wrongheaded tactical and strategic decisions.  However, we need to recognize that those types of decisions probably do not cost a team that many runs much less wins throughout the course of a season.  This is especially true once you consider that most managers manage to wrongheaded conventions.  For instance, most managers will not use their closers unless there is a save situation, there is no chance for a save situation (tie game in the 9th or later at home) or they are running out of pitchers.  This is not just a Fredi Gonzalez problem.  This is a baseball-wide problem.  So to say Fredi managing his bullpen this way is costing the Braves is probably disingenuous, in some sense.  Since every team is managed this way, it’s not really a competitive disadvantage if Fredi does the same thing.

We should be critical of Fredi and any manager who makes the less-than-optimal move.  This is the only way the game will progress, to bring out well-reasoned criticisms of the unwise moves.  Often times those moves are going to work out, especially on the defensive side of things, because all hitters usually make outs rather than get on base.  So criticism of managers’ decisions should often be separate from results.  However, we need to be smart enough to recognize that a manager can’t control everything.  If the team looks flat, it may not be because of a manager and it may not even be flat at all.  If a team loses a bunch of games in a rather short time frame and blows a lead in a playoff race, it may having nothing to do with a lack of managerial inspiration, especially when the team is battling injury to some key pitchers. 

Last season I think there were some less-than-optimal decisions by Fredi that went beyond the typical lunacy of most managers:  The aforementioned batting terrible hitters at the top of the order, sitting Heyward too often, too much small ball, etc.  But it seems Fredi hasn’t made quite as many of these sorts of mistakes as he did in 2011.  Maybe that’s due to the front office getting to him, maybe it’s just that the offense is better so it’s harder to make bad decisions with this personnel, maybe it’s that the Braves now have basically three long-men in the bullpen.  Whatever the reason, Fredi deserves some credit for changing. 

Fredi now looks more like every other major league manager.  Sure we would prefer to see someone progressive like a Joe Maddon, that will do the unconventional because it’s the right thing to do and should lead to more wins.  We might want a Bobby Cox, who will not do the unconventional that often but will wear his spikes, constantly and loudly encourage his players and constantly and loudly go at umpires, but those highly-motivational managers are unique personalities.  The next best thing might be the conventional guy who just takes his place as the figurehead of the team, deals with the media in a low-key way, keeps the egos in the clubhouse in check and doesn’t earn a lot of attention for bad reasons.  That’s not to say I think Fredi Gonzalez is a great manager or even a good one.  But sometimes mediocre and ordinary works just fine.

But instead of just blabbering on about how fantastic our league-leading offense is, or how well Fredi has utilized the bullpen (weird, right?), I want to take a look at a couple of key players who have been underperforming thus far: Brian McCann and Mike Minor. If you remember my first blog for this season, the twelve bold predictions, then you know that I had high hopes for both of these guys coming into 2012.

McCann: Brian’s tied for the team lead in homeruns with 6, which I expect out of him, but he is thirteenth and eleventh on the team in the categories of BA and OPS. In 30 games, he has just 27 hits. What really bothers me about McCann’s slow start is that I can’t point a finger at a specific problem. His vision seems fine (despite Michael Bourn’s best efforts), he’s getting scheduled days off, and it’s not like opposing pitchers aren’t giving him anything good to hit. There’s no sense in pitching around McCann when he’s followed by Chipper and Heyward. Maybe he’s working out some psychological problems, or there’s a nagging injury that I don’t know about. In any case, I hope he figures it out soon.

And, for the record, I think it’s a good idea to keep him in the five spot, maybe even give him a few games at cleanup. Uggla is an okay cleanup hitter, obviously has incredible power, but he strikes out more than anyone else on the team (42 times so far this year), and I want more contact out of the cleanup man. I don’t see a reason to move McCann out of his comfort zone in the middle of the lineup. I mean, if he’s the biggest hole we have to worry about, we’re in good shape.

Minor: When he takes the mound, I have no idea what to expect. In his two wins, he’s looked like a pretty solid starter, and in almost every other game he’s been beat up so bad that I wonder if opposing batters take his lunch money after the game. So what do the Braves do with Minor? One option is to just keep him in the rotation, let him work out his problems on the bump. That might mean a few tough games for the club, a few games where we need a lot of run support. Or, who knows, maybe he makes a quick turnaround.

Another option is to bring JJ back and give Minor a few starts in the Minors. Honestly, this is probably the worst-case scenario. Mike has already expressed a strong desire to be in the majors and avoid the minor leagues. I don’t think he would respond well to being demoted.

A third option: we could trade him. Even though he’s struggled this season, he’s young, throws hard, isn’t erratic, and has a strong work ethic. I imagine that more than a few teams would bid on him, giving us a chance to acquire a fourth outfielder, someone better than Matt Diaz. Maybe this is the best thing for the club, to unload him while he’s still valuable. It will be interesting to see how Fredi and the front office handle this situation.

Oh, by the way, the Braves are tied for the second best winning percentage in the bigs, and the only team with a higher percentage is the Dodgers, who we beat two out of three games this season. Excuse me. I have to go run through the streets celebrating.

New York Mets – The Mets are playing well right now.  David Wright is hitting .400 as of today.  Johan Santana looks like the Santana of a few years ago (like Minnesota Twins Santana). They’re playing .500 ball on the road and they didn’t look too shabby in their games against the Bravos.  But when your second best offensive player is Kirk Nieuwenhuis and your second best pitcher is R.A. Dickey (no offense to Dickey, I think he’s a solid pitcher), the success just can’t last.  They’ll eventually get fatigued from changing into one of their 14 different uniform combinations and fade soon enough.  Remember, they were in good shape until All-Star break last year.

Washington Nationals – I know their pitching has been lights out (I have Ross Detwiler on my fantasy team).  I know they have ESPN’s new golden boy, Bryce Harper.  And they have ESPN’s old golden boy, Stephen Strasburg.  But Jayson Werth is out for the next 8 weeks.  Their catcher, Wilson Ramos (who is awesome by the way), is out for the season.  Strasburg is on a 160 inning watch list this year.  And their best offensive player NOW is Adam LaRoche.  Yep, Adam LaRoche.  So while the start of 2012 looks good for the Nats, they’ll go back to being the “Natinals” (uniform joke) by August.

Miami Marlins – BOOM goes the dynamite!  I don’t care what they are doing, how they are playing, the talent they have on the roster or the experience of the manager.  This team is Plutonium 239.  They are one day away from Jose Reyes doing something stupid.  One game away from Hanley Ramirez going postal.  One press conference away from Ozzie Guillen killing any mojo the team has.  And Josh Johnson looks more like Josh Groban in 2012.  So I have NEVER worried about the Marlins this year.  They don’t need anybody to beat them.  They’ll do it to themselves.

Philadelphia Phillies – WOW.  This team looks bad.  Really bad.  And I don’t think it’s going to get better this year.  Even when Ryan Howard and Chase Utley come back, who knows what they’ll get from them.  The “world greatest rotation” lasted ONE year and came up empty.  I’ve never been sold on Cliff Lee being anything but the pitching equivalent of Larry Brown.  ESPN has moved on from Roy Halladay to Justin Verlander as their “slurp-able” pitcher in MLB.  And I’m not scared of Shane Victorino anymore.  All good news coming out of Philly these days.

The Atlanta Braves have a long way to go.  And we know it can go south REALLY quick.  This year just has THAT feeling.  The way the Braves are playing just screams of playoff baseball. Every game that I felt last year they would have lost, they are winning.  They are winning with the bats and I LOVE that.  They have some slight issues in the bullpen, but I give Fredi Gonzalez credit.  His use of the bullpen has been different and it’s been working for the most part. So don’t hold me to it, because anything can happen.  But I feel better about these Braves then I’ve felt about any roster in the past 10 years.

For more of my shenanigans, follow me on Twitter at @YourDailyVinnie.  Thanks!

Gattis has received a lot of press, much of it deserved, considering his story.  But is he actually a prospect?  Could he play well enough in the big leagues to be an everyday player?  How likely is he to add much value to a major league roster?

We should be skeptical of anyone who has barely reached Double-A at age 25.  He’s hitting well but he’s hitting well against weaker competition than what most 25-year-old pros face.  It is true that he missed some development time at an age when amateur players are facing college competition and pro players are going up against players in the low minors.  So he is behind.  But that could be as big a strike against him as it is for him.  The Braves certainly are taking it slow with a player who hasn’t played much baseball over the past 4-5 years but also that time away from baseball is development time lost.  And that lost development time may not show up at the lower levels, against players in their early 20′s who are not as physically mature as Gattis.

Athletes are physically mature, especially nowadays.  But Gattis is a big dude, even for a pro athlete.  He’s bigger than most 25-year-olds.  So the differences in physical maturity between Gattis and his competition, minor leaguers in their early 20′s, is even more drastic than your typical 25-year-old.

It is true that these players in their early 20′s have more experience than Gattis.  But this goes back to the point about that lost time.  It will always be the case that Gattis will have less experience than other pro players, regardless of level.  Now, eventually that may not matter but there is a good chance it will always put him behind other players.

If we look at where his offensive value is coming from in the minors, it appears to be coming from his ability to hit the ball with authority and with power.  His career slugging percentage is .560 and his career batting average is .317.  He’s walked 45 times in 179 games and has a .380 OBP, in spite of a .317 average and .560 slugging; not bad but not overly impressive signs of a disciplined hitter.  Hitting the ball with authority should come relatively easy for a 25-year-old playing against players in their early 20′s.  Certainly it’s not a bad sign that he’s doing it but you would like to see some more signs of solid plate discipline considering the Braves are playing him in leftfield.

That brings us to another concern, which is his defensive value.  Gattis played mostly catcher in his first two seasons of pro ball.  He also played a few games at firstbase.  This season the Braves decided to play him some in leftfield.  It’s a good sign that the Braves want him to get experience at other positions besides catcher and that they feel he can do a serviceable job there.  After all, the Braves have Brian McCann in the majors and a great defensive catching prospect in Christian Bethancourt, so it’s to Gattis’s advantage that he finds a new position.

But given that Gattis is a big catcher, is already 25, and the Braves didn’t play him anywhere but first or catcher his first two pro seasons, he not likely to be much better than a replacement-level leftfielder, if that.  If the Braves thought he was a good defensive outfielder, they probably would have moved him at some point in his first two seasons or they would be playing him some in rightfield and perhaps centerfield.

Gattis looks like a bench bat, sort of a Ryan Doumit type, who can catch and play some corner-outfield but isn’t likely to provide enough offensive or defensive value to play in the corner-outfield every day.  If he’s is forced into an everyday role in leftfield, I don’t think it will be a disaster.  I just don’t see him providing a lot of value there.  Players need to hit a ton to provide offensive value in leftfield.  And it’s unlikely that he’s a valuable defender there.  It seems he has enough power to provide occasional pop and hit for a solid batting average in the majors but I don’t know if he’ll draw enough walks against major league pitching to be a legit offensive threat as a leftfielder.  That’s why I say his likely value is that of a bench bat who can play some left and catch.  If Gattis can do this, even if he’s the 23rd or 24th man on the roster, so to speak, it will be a great story and the Braves will extract plenty of value from a guy who wasn’t really on anyone’s radar before this season.

Fredi insists that O’Flaherty wasn’t trying to hit the batter, and I want to agree with him, but the pitch that hit DeJesus was the third pitch in a row to go way inside the strike zone. Because I don’t want to pony up the extra dough for MLB TV Premium, I was stuck listening to the home team broadcast. The Cubs commentators (Len Kasper and Bob Brenly) saw it as an obvious intentional HBP, payback for payback for an 0-2 breaking ball that slipped out of Tommy Hanson’s grip in the early innings. If it was intentional, it was foolish, because it resulted in a big run for the Cubbies.

As all this transpired, the commentators discussed Cole Hamels’s recent foray into the exciting business of intentional bean balls. His deliberate throwing at young phenom Bryce Harper earned Hamels a five-game suspension. Hamels openly admitted to throwing at Harper as a way of welcoming the cocky rookie into the big leagues.

I have so many problems with this that I don’t know where to begin. The Cubs broadcasters called Hamels stupid, but only for opening his mouth and admitting to his actions, not for throwing at Harper. Have intentional HBPs really become an accepted, expected part of the game? I find that a disgrace.

If you don’t think any harm is done by purposefully hitting a batter, take a trip to your local batting cages. Go to the cage with the fast-pitch machine, then stand on the plate, and turn into the pitch. And later, when you’re icing your back, remember that there is no way the pitching machine throws as hard as major leaguer.

Intentionally throwing at batters is dangerous, comes with a high potential for injury, and often results in retaliation from the opposing team. And if that’s not bad enough, it doesn’t make the sport of baseball look tough, or cool, but childish. It makes juvenile punks out of professional athletes (and I know a thing or two about juvenile punks, because I used to be one). There’s no place in the game for this kind of strong-arm tactic. I think it’s time America’s pastime grew up.

Of course, Hamels received his comeuppance. Better than the five-game suspension, he has to deal with the embarrassment of being the first MLB pitcher to allow a teenager to steal home in more than fifty years. Almost as bad as accusing Chipper of relaying signs from second base, but I’ll save that can of worms for another day.

I’d be glad to hear some other perspectives on the intentional HBP. Leave your thoughts in the comments or send a tweet my way: @ThomasMDuncan.

What do you do if you’re a Nationals fan OR have a player like Harper on your team?  Some fans say “I don’t care about character or bad attitudes, I just want to win”.  I assume these people are the same people who like the University of Miami Hurricanes, the Baltimore Ravens, live in Philadelphia and kill butterflies in front of kindergartners. I don’t understand people like this because they have no character filter AT ALL.   These fans would take Fidel Castro on their team if he was a “5 tool player”.  Too bad one of those tools is handcuffs.  Most fans, I believe, suspend their feelings about a player or two because they are a fan of the team.  I know a bunch of Pittsburgh Steeler fans that LOVE their black and gold, but aren’t going to buy their kid a Ben Roethlisberger jersey or go to any bars in Milledgeville, Ga.  Braves fans do this when they turn a blind eye to David Justice.  He wasn’t the worst guy ever, but he went trolling for drugs in Florida (I’m sorry, I mean he got lost in a BAD neighborhood) and broke up with Halle Berry.  Breaking up with Halle Berry is cause alone to question his character.  Then there are some fans that are total old school.  They want to keep their moral high ground at all costs.  These fans don’t care if they lose every game of every year.  As long as they root for a team that doesn’t have Ray Lewis or the Devil himself.  Like the quote from “Usual Suspects”, The greatest trick Ray Lewis ever pulled off was convincing the world he didn’t exist.

We don’t have this issue too often here in Braves Country.  John Rocker was a jerk and I’m sure most fans were ashamed of him being associated with the organization.  Escobar is the most recent malcontent Braves fans had to deal with.  But in the whole, the Atlanta club simply doesn’t put up with those type players.  Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz did a great job of indentifying those crumb bums and getting them on the first Grey Hound bus out of Fulton County.   And it most likely hurt the team in the wins column.  But as a curmudgeon AND a sports fan, I like this way of operating.  I love to win.  I love when the teams I root for win.  But I love being an aloof, snobby “nose down at the great unwashed” fan even MORE.  You’re player got arrested?  Good.  Your team got caught doing cocaine off the belly of a Columbian escort while watching a cock fight and illegally taking the tags off some mattresses?  Awesome for us! You like the Phillies and wear jean shorts?  Typical.  All of this bad behavior makes me feel better about my Braves.  Because we haven’t sold our soul to Ray Lewis…I mean, you know who, to win games.

So Braves fans, keep your chin up!  We may be the San Antonio Spurs of MLB, but that’s a GOOD thing. We may not get all the press, all the national attention and all the hoopla, but we get something much more satisfying.  Players we can root for and a team that, more often than not, does things the way we’re not ashamed of.  And that’s no small thing these days.

No matter what you’ve heard about the up-and-coming Nationals.  No matter how much money the Marlins spent in the off-season and how fiery their new manager.  No matter that the Braves’ new hitting coaches have improved their hitters’ approaches or the strides made by Brandon Beachy and Mike Minor.  No matter that the Phillies are playing maybe a less-than-fringe secondbaseman and the corpse of Juan Pierre in left (okay, so he hasn’t been terrible), and Cliff Lee, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are all injured.  The Phillies are still the team to be in the East.

We could have written this before the Phillies took two out of three from the Braves in Atlanta.  Twenty-three games is just not enough.  It’s impossible to overstate that 23 or 25 or 26 games is not enough.  If you are changing your preseason expectations and predictions after a month, the joke will be on you come July, August and September.  But with the Phillies taking two games in Atlanta, it’s a great time to remind folks that the Phillies still have the most talented pitching staff in the game and enough offense to support it.  Any hopes that they would go away is false.

The Phillies won 102 games last season.  They did it with a league-average offense.  Their offense wasn’t much better than the Braves’ in 2011.  The Phillies posted a .323 OBP and a .395 SLG while the Braves posted a .308 OBP and a .387 SLG.  But the Phillies play their home games in a very hitter-friendly ballpark.    But the Phillies allowed the fewest runs in the league while playing half their home games in that hitter-friendly home park.

Sure, it’s unlikely Shane Victorino will repeat their 2011 performances.  Ryan Howard was solid last season and they almost certainly won’t get the same value out of firstbase this season.  I wouldn’t bet on Jimmy Rollins or Hunter Pence having the same types of seasons they had in 2011.  And Chase Utley may not even play.  And I don’t expect the pitching staff to be quite as dominant as it was last season.  But 102 wins with the run differential of a 103-win team means they can afford to take some steps back.  And they still have Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee will return at some point.  They still have Carlos Ruiz, and Victorino, Rollins and Pence still provide plenty of value to keep the offense afloat.

Does this means that Braves can’t win the division?  Absolutely not.  The Braves truly have the offensive potential to be a top-5-in-the-league offense, especially if they can find a way to pull of a trade for one more bat at some point.  And clearly their pitching staff is just a notch below the Phillies, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Phillies’ run prevention take a step back enough for the Braves to hang close.  Certainly the Phillies stranglehold on the NL East is less of a sure thing than in previous seasons, even with the high expectations of the Braves coming in to 2010 and 2011.

But just because the Braves can win the East doesn’t mean that’s the most likely scenario.  That was true on April 4th and is still true on May 4th.  It doesn’t matter much what has happened between now and then.  It doesn’t matter what happened when the Phillies played the Braves this week.  Even if the Braves had swept the series, it wouldn’t have mattered.  The Phillies are good.  They aren’t going away.  We’re in for a race.

Andruw Jones: Remember that skinny kid from Curacao with the big smile who could cover center field like a tarp? Well, he’s all grown up, and his current gig is as a backup left fielder for the Yankees. Since leaving Atlanta in 2007, he’s bounced around the league and only played in more than 100 games in a season once. I used to play the MLB2K video games, and the game commentators were programmed to say a few things about each player for each team. In one of them, probably 2K2 or 3, the stock phrase the commentators used when Andruw made a catch was something like this: “It’s clear that he’s the best center fielder in the game today. The only question is, is he the best center fielder ever?”  I think we all know the answer at this point. I’ve always had a soft spot for Andruw, and I wish his career could have turned out better, but he seems to be happy in his current role. Besides, if he sticks around with the Yankees long enough, he’s bound to get a ring.

Jordan Schafer: Most people probably know what Schafer is up to these days, but I couldn’t resist. His career has been like a car wreck. No, wait, it’s been like a circus. No, I’ve got it: it’s been like a circus of car wrecks. I still remember watching his Major-League debut, seeing him hit a homerun in his first at-bat, and thinking, this kid is the real deal. He then proceeded to perform dismally, get sent to the minors, give HGH a try, and be arrested for possession of marijuana. He did start this season with the Astros by reaching base in 23 consecutive games, but then he got ejected for throwing a temper tantrum at second base. Also, he’s day-to-day with one of those nagging oblique strains. If you watched the Houston series last month, then you know Schafer had the cojones to test Chipper’s bare-hand abilities with a leadoff bunt. Chipper reminded him who’s boss.

Brent Lillibridge: I went to a Braves game in Toronto a few years ago. Before the game started, Bobby Cox came out of the dugout and to the railing near my section of seats. Immediately, an enormous crowd surrounded him, hounding him for autographs. At the same time, some short, skinny rookie in a Braves cap stood at the railing about thirty feet away. One or two people gave him a ball to sign, but there was no line for him. Mostly he got curious stares. I didn’t even know his name. That player was Brent Lillibridge. Unlike the other players on this list, you might have completely forgotten about our friend Brent. To be fair, he played less than thirty games with Atlanta.  Since 2008 (the season he played in Atlanta), Lillibridge has been part of the White Sox organization, and the last three years, he’s stayed in the Majors. And here’s something fascinating: as of today, Lillibridge has more stolen bases (6) this season than hits (4).

Derek Lowe: There must be something in the water in Cleveland. That’s the only way I can explain it. Anyone who followed the Braves last year will tell you that Lowe didn’t earn a spot on the roster, that paying him 10 million dollars to play for the Indians was our best option. Yet, so far this season, he’s been nothing short of an ace. He has almost half as many wins already this year as he had all of last year, and he’s pitching like the Derek Lowe of the pre-Braves days. Don’t get me wrong, I still think we made the right move, and I don’t want him back. I just don’t understand it. Maybe he just needed a change of scenery. Whatever the case, I’m happy for him. Right now, the Indians lead the AL Central (with an 11-10 record), so there’s a chance we could see our old friend in the playoffs.

Who are your favorite former Braves? Leave their stories in the comments.

Find me on Twitter: @ThomasMDuncan

Some of Chernoff’s Tweets:

“how bout let him win double digit games 1st…”

“[70-74 Matt Cain] has won 70 games…Beachy has won what 10? Let [Beachy] put 1 big time season together before we say he is a top of a rotation guy”

“tell Verlander, Halladay and Kershaw wins don’t matter..”

Now I understand what Chernoff was trying to say…I think:  Beachy has only had one season of 25 starts in the majors.  So let’s wait another season or two before we call him one of the better pitchers in the game.

However Chernoff did call Beachy a four or a five, which was a poor choice of words for a few reasons.  First, it ignores Beachy’s skills.  Second, it assumes a player needs experience to be considered a very good major league player.  Third, Chernoff emphasized that he hasn’t won enough games to be considered a two or a three, relying heavily on wins to measure the quality of an individual pitcher.

I think Beachy is clearly a three, an upper-echelon number three, and might just be a number two.  This is because of Beachy’s skills right now.  Beachy misses bats (10.1 strikeouts per 9 innings in his career), he has pretty good control (3 walks per 9 innings) and he does a good enough job keeping the ball in the park (0.8 homeruns allowed per 9 innings).  What I mean by that is I believe Beachy could likely be a number three, possibly a number two, on most major league pitching staffs and could likely do it this year and the next several years.  In other words, he’s not just a guy who could be a two or a three for a season or two if everything breaks right.  He simply is a number two or three, without qualification.

While it is true that Beachy is inexperienced–this is only his 5th professional season and will be his second full major league season–it’s okay to call him something greater than a number four or a number five.  Overrating experience in baseball drives me crazy.  Yes, I understand that players need repetition to hone their craft.  But if a player is good enough, he’s good enough, no matter if he’s played 40 games or 400 games.  If a pitcher has the skills to be a number two or three and they are actualized, he’s a number two or three.  I hate it when teams don’t give deserving young players a chance because the players lack experience.  I hate it when a fan wants his team to go with a veteran because the stud rookie lacks experience.  Lack of experience should never be a primary reason for a team not playing a player.

I understand waiting a couple of years before claiming Beachy is a better pitcher than some established, clear-cut number two or number three.  But it’s okay to say Beachy is a number two or three right now.  And if you don’t want to say he’s a number two or three yet, I’m not sure you can claim he’s a number four or five.  He’s certainly better than that.  If we are forced to categorize, I think we have to say Beachy is a two or a three.

Chernoff’s most egregiously flawed argument supporting Beachy as a four or a five is that Beachy hasn’t won enough games in a season or in his career to be considered better than a four or a five.  We should all know better by now.  Beachy’s first full season with the Braves happened to coincide with their worst offensive season since 2002, when Julio Franco, Keith Lockhart and Vinny Castilla received regular playing time.  Run support cost him wins in his first and, so far, only full season in the majors.  He started only three games the season before and has made four starts this season.   So the bulk of his career starts came with a rather poor offense attempting to give him run support.

It is true that Beachy doesn’t typically go deep in to games.  However it’s fairly normal for a high-strikeout pitcher to throw a lot of pitches.  The Braves were not and are not going to leave him out there at ages 24-25 to throw 120-130 pitches.  Sure that’s going to cost him wins when the Braves take leads in the late innings.  In the four games in which Beachy started and got no decision but the Braves won, the Braves scored a grand total of six runs.  The offense is just as much to blame for Beachy not padding his win total as is Beachy leaving those games early.

Discussing where Beachy ranks among major league pitchers is one thing and taking a wait-and-see approach is one thing.  Making an assessment as to where he would belong in most major league rotations, now and for the next several years of his career, is a little different.  If most teams had a pitcher like Brandon Beachy, he certainly wouldn’t be slotted in to number four or five in their rotations.

Follow me on Twitter: @PayneBall

Last season, before the All-Star break, if you told me that after four starts this season JJ would have no wins and a 9.37 ERA, I would have called you nuts. For half of 2011, Jair was white hot, almost unhittable at times, and he carried a league-leading ERA into the All-Star break.

Now his velocity is down, his breaking pitches don’t have the same bite as before, and he just looks uncomfortable on the mound. I have to ask: Does JJ have Steve Blass Disease?

For anyone who doesn’t know, Steve Blass Disease (SBD) is a label used to describe a pitcher who experiences a sudden and unexplained loss of the ability to pitch. It happened famously to Steve Blass in the early seventies. If you don’t remember that far back, think Mark Wohlers and his epic, sudden demise. Some say that SBD is just a psychological problem that pitchers who suddenly can’t seem to pitch are just over thinking. (Maybe it’s like Dizzy Dean said, “The dumber a pitcher is, the better.”) However, most players diagnosed with SBD never return to form. Rick Ankiel is an interesting exception, because he returned to the big leagues as an outfielder after coming down with a bad case of SBD.

While JJ has certainly struggled this season, I find it hard to diagnose him with SBD (yet), mostly because he is so young. Because he’s been with our club for six years now, it’s easy to forget that he’s just 26 years old. It’s just as likely that JJ’s current issues are just a bump in the road, a pothole on his path to his prime. Maybe a Triple A stint is exactly what he needs to refocus, perhaps make some mechanical adjustments before returning to the Majors. However, if he flounders in the Minors, or doesn’t show significant improvement when he rejoins the Braves, he might be an SBDer. In that case, I think it would be best to unload him in any way possible.

To be clear, I have nothing against JJ. In fact, I think he’s a great player, and I really hope he gets over this hump in time to resurrect his season. The best sign for JJ is his off-field attitude. After his last start (but before being told he’d be sent to the minors) he said to the press, “I’m not a quitter… I’m just going to keep fighting.” And that’s exactly the attitude he needs to have if he is going to be successful as a Brave.

We are lucky enough to have a wealth of pitching, especially with Tim Hudson returning to the rotation to fill in for JJ. Also, JJ’s Triple A assignment means more Major league action for Delgado, who most people assumed would be sent to Gwinnett when Hudson returned.

Leave a comment about your thoughts on Jurrjens, and follow me on Twitter @ThomasMDuncan

1. Michael Bourn – Bourn has been the table setter the Braves needed him to be.  It’s such a simple formula, but it’s so hard to find.  A player that knows how to get on base, put pressure on the opposing pitcher and get into positions that manufacture runs early in the game.  He leads the team in hits and runs (he’s leadoff, so no shock there).  Bourn also leads the team in steals.  I love a man who steals bases.  Lou Brock, Ricky Henderson, et al.
2. Brandon Beachy – B2 has an ERA of 0.47 and a WHIP of 0.88.  Those aren’t normal pitching stats my friends, those are breathalyzer readings.  This kid may very well be Atlanta’s next great pitcher.   With Jair Jurrjens 8.10 ERA and Tommy Hanson ability to sometimes look like Tom Glavine in the early innings (by the by…that’s NOT a compliment), we’ll need the young guns to carry the load on the mound.
3. Freddie Freeman – Fab Five Freddie is heating up and I think all Braves fans like what they see.  He’s leading the team in RBIs with 22, tied for second in hits with 17 and is hovering around 300 AVG.  His strike outs are a bit worrisome, but you can’t hit it if you’re not swinging.  And if Fredi with an “I” is going to bat Freddie with an “DIE” in the third hole more often, we need #5 swinging the bat.
4. Jason Heyward – Jay Hey could have easily been #3 on this list.  He is RAKING this year.  I’m not a big “mind game” guy, but since Fredi sat Heyward that 4^th game of the year, Jason seems like he’s out to prove to the world he’s “the man”.  Heyward is tied with Freeman with 17 hits, is one of two players hitting over .300 as of today,  second in OBP at .377 and his OPS is .904.  Jason is tied for second in BB at 6.
5. Chipper Jones – Chipper doesn’t have any gaudy stats on anything that really set him apart from the other everyday players (though calling him and everyday player is like calling Kim Kardashian “America’s Sweetheart”). His presence and leadership when it looked bad at 0-4 really kick started 2012 and put 20111 to rest.
6. Mike Minor – WHY did we want to trade this guy?  Minor has 20 innings in 3 games, a WHIP of 0.89, 19 strikeouts in those three games and ONLY 5 walks.  Watching Minor pitch this year, he looks mad.  I mean REALLY mad.  He seems like maybe he’s one of those people that when they get angry, they channel it and start destroying all competition in their path.  I kinda like that.  Being someone that people tend to dismiss as an inferior athlete, I love nothing more than when someone who doesn’t feel valued takes that aggression out on the nay-sayers.  I’ve always loved you Mike…really I have.  Please stay angry, it suits you.
7. Juan Francisco – Ok, this is weird to me, too.  After that first game, I assumed he’d be on the first boat, plane or aqua-car back to the Dominican Republic.  But in 12 games he has 8 hits, 7 RBIs, batting .286 AND has an OPS of 1.025.  Not too shabby for a guy that looked like he never saw a baseball up close during his first game as a Brave.  And his 20 total bases are a result of being tied for the team lead in HRs with 3.
8. Jose Constanza – The Braves are 10-3 since the “Michael Jordan” of two weeks in 2011 was sent down.  So thanks for doing your part, Jose.
9. Craig Kimbrel – Kimbrel is the one back end closer I’m not too worried about.  5 saves in 6 games and he looked REALLY, REALLY good this weekend. 9 strikeouts and a .227 opposing avg in 6 games is ok by me.  But that 1.67 WHIP for a 9^th inning guy has me concerned.  That means too many wild rides in that last 3 outs.  But he was shaky at the beginning of 2011 and was lights out most of the year.  He’s earned a bunch of patience from Braves fans.
10. Eric Hinske – I know, what am I talking about?  I think that whatever team this guy is on, he’s a positive and motivating influence.  Tito Francona was talking about him over the weekend and spoke of Hinske’s time in Boston.  He glowed about his unselfishness and willingness to do whatever the team needed.  And was a huge presence in the clubhouse.  And I’m a BIG believer that those types of people, in sports and in life, are vital to success.  People want to work with people they like and they trust people who are willing to help them get better.  Hinske, as well as David Ross, seem like that type of person.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Braves power ranking!  We’ll try to do this again around the All Star break. Feel free to let me know how stupid I am and where I went completely off the tracks.

However the Braves are walking more often and striking out less often than last season.  They’ve posted a higher on-base percentage and a higher slugging percentage this season.  The Braves are among the league leaders in pitches per plate appearance this season.  Last season they were just below the league average, ranking 9th out of the 16 National League teams.  Of course we all know last season the Braves’ offense disappointed.  This season the offense is one of the better offenses in the league in the early going.  Granted, it’s way too early to know how things will turn out but the team is living up to its offensive potential so far.

I’m not sure what to make of the fact that the Braves’ numbers with concern to making contact and swinging seem to intuitively be worse than last season, except that they must be taking a better approach and picking out the right pitches with which to do their damage.  It seems they aren’t overly concerned about making contact but–given that they are drawing more walks, striking out less, getting on base more and slugging higher–it seems they are picking out the right pitches to lay off of and they are definitely doing more with the pitches that they hit.

Hitting coach Greg Walker and assistant Scott Fletcher are already getting a lot of attention.  Fair or not, it’s understandable, given that the Braves offense was consistently solid with Terry Pendleton as hitting coach, wasn’t very good under Larry Parrish in 2011 and has bounced back early this season under Walker and Fletcher.  It’s hard not to draw conclusions.

Still, we should point out that it’s still very early.  The Giants have scored more runs per game than the league average and the Reds have scored fewer runs than all but one NL team.  It will be a while before we know for sure whether the Braves’ offense has turned the page from 2011.  And we can’t have it both ways.  The Braves’ offense looks great but the run prevention doesn’t look so hot.  So if we are willing to take a wait and see with the sub par run prevention, it’s only fair to wait to see what the offense does as the season progresses.

Follow me on Twitter: @PayneBall

Washington: For some reason, I find it hard to take this team seriously. Maybe it’s because they’ve only been in the US for a few years, or maybe it’s because they once wore jerseys with their team name misspelled (“Natinals”). But I have to take notice this season, because it’s quite possible that the Nationals have never fielded a better squad. Carried by a formidable starting rotation, the Nats are off to league-leading start. Jayson Werth leads the club with a .362 average, and former Brave Adam LaRoche is third in the MLB with 13 RBIs. They’ve won every series thus far, but haven’t exactly faced the toughest opposition (Cubs, Astros, Reds, Mets). We’ll see what the Nationals (or the “Natinals”) are really made of when they end April with a west-coast road trip, then begin May with a couple home series against the Dbacks and Phillies.

Atlanta: Having won seven of our last eight, that grisly start is little more than a distant memory, albeit a painful one. Since Chipper’s return, our offense has been clicking on all cylinders. His presence has had an obvious positive effect on our club, but they’ve been able to win without Chip as well, getting great production from Michael Bourn, Uggla, and especially J-Hey. Freeman slumped, but now he’s got four hits in the last two games, including his first homerun. Juan Francisco even has back-to-back games with homers. At this point, there’s no bigger concern than our inefficient pitching. Starters and relievers alike have been throwing too many pitches in too few innings. I worry about our pitchers getting worn out, and I worry even more about consistently using on Durbin and Hernandez. Even using them to eat up innings in out-of-reach games makes me nervous. If we could have a couple games in which the starter completes seven innings, we could avoid overworking the bullpen while sticking with our best four guys: Medlen, O’Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrel. Hopefully we can build on our momentum in our upcoming road games against Arizona and LA, and maybe even get a few deep starts our of our rotation.

New York: Even though they dominated us in the opening series (honestly, we kind of beat ourselves) nothing makes me think New York will be a true contender this year. Then again, maybe that’s just my anti-Mets bias showing, because David Wright is the hottest hitter on the planet, and the rest of their offense can get the job done as well. Their starters looked sharp the first time around, but in Atlanta they’ve been shaky at best (see Johan’s 1.1 inning start).

Miami: Between the preseason hype, the wacky new stadium (which looks more like a theme park than a ballpark), and Ozzie putting his foot in his mouth, the start of the Miami season has been a circus. But Hanley Ramirez is heating up, and our old friend Omar Infante is off to a great start (despite an unforgivable bases loaded error). If nothing else, they are fun to watch and make for good story lines. It’s just too bad that national sports media devotes more coverage to Miami’s controversy than the rest of the NL East combined.

Philadelphia: I can’t overstate how happy I am to see Philly at the bottom. For our chances at winning the division, it’s critical for them to lose as many games as possible early on, before Utley or Howard return (if they return this season). Halladay is going to get his wins; it’s inevitable. But the rest of their rotation has proved vulnerable, which is good news for opposition. I have complete faith in Atlanta’s ability to sweep Philly if we get matched up against their third through fifth starters. However, don’t get used to seeing them in the lower half of the standings. They’ll string together a winning streak sooner or later. I just hope they don’t get their act together by their first meeting with Atlanta on May 1^st.

Follow me on Twitter @ThomasMDuncan, and go Braves!

Last year, the trio of Eric O’Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel were about as automatic as they come. If the Braves got to the 7^th inning, it was game over. And no one pitcher was better than the other. All three of them were lights out. Well, someone forgot to pay the power bill in 2012. Because as Robert Palmer sang in “Addicted to Love,” “The lights are on…but you’re not home”. Actually, not having power would keep the lights out, but that contradiction in my analogy wouldn’t let me quote Robert Palmer, so I’m ignoring that little quirk. Maybe think of the movie “Glengarry Glen Ross.” If coffee was for closers only, these guys would need to think about switching to green tea in the mornings. Yea, that’s a better analogy.

Braves fans began to see the degeneration of this fabulous threesome of hurlers at the end of last year, but I think we all blamed Fredi Gonzalez for simply over using all three of them. By September, they looked gassed and out of energy. Kimbrel looked like every finish was a struggle. Venters didn’t have that same dominating stuff he had earlier in 2011. And I’m pretty sure O’Flaherty finally looked at his driver’s license and realized “Oh…I’M Eric O’Flaherty! I guess I need to start pitching like him”.

When you reflect on it, it’s amazing what these three amigos accomplished in 2011. And I’m not sure we’ll see anything like that again anytime soon. Like the two week old Mexican leftovers in my refrigerator, most relief pitchers have a short shelf life. John Smoltz was dominant for a few years. Marino Rivera has been KILLING it for about 15 years. But if you really think about the last 20 years of relievers in MLB, most of them have a good year or two and then fizzle out. Our boy Mark Wohlers was the man for about 2-3 years, then gone. Jonathan Papelbon did it for a 3-4 year stretch; now let’s see what he does. Eric Gagne was so dominant for his Cy Young year, and then they found a needle in his pocket. Brad Lidge closed out the Phillies World Series, now I have NO idea where that cat is.

So when you have three guys…yes, THREE guys all having career seasons, it’s safe to assume it’s the perfect storm. And for those of you who saw the movie “The Perfect Storm”, you know the boat got swallowed by a humongous wave and killed everyone. Fredi just might be that wave that kills the bullpen. That is, if a wave can “tip its cap” to inferior teams at will. The stars aligned for these guys to crush the competition for a season, but now it’s over. 2011 was 2011 and this year, the Braves need a new plan. Fredi already confused Braves fans when he brought in Kris Medlen the other night and pitched him for ONE inning only! What the heck, Fredi? Medlin is a total bulldog and he needs to be highlighted on this staff with a more important role. I know he’s a long reliever. But I honestly believe he fears nothing and loves the spotlight. He has total confidence in his pitches and should be Atlanta 7^th or 8^th inning guy in combination with Venters. Frank Wren can pick up another 40 year old pitcher if the Braves need long relief help down the road.

So like that crazy traffic on I-16, the late innings for Braves fans is going to be irritating. It will never be easy and it’s going to cause a lot of heartburn. And you can’t get the Garmin out and hit “detour” on this trip. Because the Braves got the cheap Garmin with no real bells and whistles (Fredi). The only function it has is a “repeat button” which allows fans to watch the same mistakes over and over and over and HOPE the outcome will be different. So Braves fans, enjoy the rubbernecking when you’re in that traffic jam of the late innings this year. Because the only satisfaction you’ll get about being in said traffic is knowing what caused the jam in the first place. Poor bullpen management and wishing it was 2011 again.

A nice summary of lineup optimization, from “The Book” by Tom Tango, Mitchell Lichtman and Andy Dolphin can be found here: http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/3/17/795946/optimizing-your-lineup-by

With Chipper:

Heyward

Chipper

Uggla

McCann

Freeman

Bourn

Prado

Pastornicky

Without Chipper:

Prado

Heyward

Uggla

McCann

Freeman

Bourn

Francisco/Diaz

Pastornicky

There are two notable differences between the optimal lineups and the lineups the Braves will likely employ this season.  Michael Bourn is hitting sixth in my optimal lineups.  Dan Uggla is hitting third.

Traditionally managers have made sure to put their best fast hitter in the leadoff spot.  Speed is nice, but it’s much more important for the leadoff man to get on base.  Think about it, the leadoff man is naturally going to hit in front of the very best hitters and hitters with power.  Those types of hitters will advance runners rather easily.  There is no need to rely greatly on speed.  A leadoff hitter is going to score on a homerun no matter how fast he is.

Speed is better utilized in front of high-contact, singles hitters.  These hitters usually hit lower in the lineup.  Juan Francisco really doesn’t fit this description but Prado and Diaz fit it perhaps better than any hitters on the team, although Prado has some pop.  But basically it’s somewhat counterproductive to have Bourn’s speed at the top of the order where a runner with just decent speed can advance two or three bases on an extra-base hit from Chipper, Uggla, McCann or Freeman.

Please note I’m not saying Bourn is an awful choice for the leadoff spot.  Bourn is a decent on-base guy and therefore is fine in the leadoff spot.  But this is about lineup optimization.

The other big change I would like to see is Dan Uggla hitting third instead of Freddie Freeman, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann or Jason Heyward.  The number three hitter should have some homerun power but, contrary to convention, the best hitter should not bat third.  The third hitter will typically come up with fewer runners on base than fourth and fifth place hitters.  The best hitters should bat leadoff, second and fourth, with the best power bats hitting lower.

I admit, there is something to be said for keeping players in spots where they are comfortable.  For example, maybe Bourn would see it as a slight if he were moved to the sixth spot.  And frankly the difference a decent lineup would make, in terms of runs scoring, over an optimal lineup isn’t that great, according to most batting-order studies.  Also, why cause the distraction?  If the Braves front office or Fredi Gonzalez decided (or any manager, for that matter) decided to go with a less traditional but more optimal order, it could cause a distraction.  The media and fan base might constantly ask the managers, the players, the GM what they think they are doing.  Again, frankly, it may not be worth the hassle the team would get from the media and fans who haven’t read in-depth studies on batting order optimization.

Twitter: @PayneBall

Now, this doesn’t matter all that much to me.  Baseball offense is all about getting on base/avoiding outs and gaining bases by slugging, good baserunning or both.  As long as Heyward lives up to his potential in the on-base department and posts a respectable slugging percentage while remaining a good baserunner and a good defensive player, that is good enough.  He’ll be an legitimate superstar if he does these things, regardless of counting stats.

So much of racking up counting stats is just getting the opportunity.  A player can be a poor hitter and still hit 30 homers or steal 30 bases if that player isn’t getting on base enough or not slugging all that well.  See Jeff Francoeur, who contrary to popular belief never had any very good seasons in Atlanta, as evident by his on-base and slugging numbers.  He just racked up a lot of RBI because he was in the lineup literally every day for two full seasons, was in a good lineup and pitchers weren’t afraid to walk him and he wasn’t one to take a walk so he got plenty of opportunities to hit.

Nevertheless, the question of whether Jason Heyward has the tools for a 30/30 season is a fun one and allows us to talk about Jason Heyward and his skills.

Let’s get this out of the way first:  I don’t think Heyward’s issues last season were a result of some sort of mental sophomore slump.  Call me naive but I tend to think a major league player’s mental state is the last thing to consider if he performs in a drastically unexpected way, especially when there are other, more obvious issues.  Heyward had injury problems last season and they were well documented.  Major League Baseball is hard.  It’s hard for a 27-year-old with plenty of experience against major league pitching.  It’s even harder for a  22-year-old with relatively limited experience against major league pitching.  It’s that much harder when the 22-year-old is suffering through nagging pain or injury.

I don’t mean to discount the possibility that Heyward’s mental state was affected but, if anything, I think it was affected by not being able to perform well because of injuries.  I seriously doubt his performance had to do with the pressures of performing after the hype of his rookie season.  Plenty were hyping Heyward as the number one or two prospect coming in to the 2010 season and he performed just fine at a very young age.  Not to mention he had been a pretty hyped prospect before that and made it through all the filters of several minor league levels, performing just fine through it all.  I think most major leaguers, by the time they’ve reached the big leagues, are used to the limelight and having to perform with the spotlight on them.  Players who can handle pressure and expectations probably don’t make it through all the benchmarks on the way to becoming a major leaguer.

So I don’t think Heyward has to get over any sort of mental obstacle in order to become a 30/30 player.  One concern for Heyward is injury.  He had some nagging injury issues in the minors, in his first two seasons in the majors and that has always been the red flag for him.  Injuries may not allow him to rack up enough plate appearances to hit 30 homers or, more likely, may not allow him to get enough opportunities to steal 30 bases.

Aside from injury, Heyward’s skill set may not be conducive to 30/30 seasons.  Heyward hits groundballs at a fairly high rate.  Even in his very good 2010 season he was seventh in the majors in groundball percentage.  Groundballs are more likely to become hits but of course have no chance of becoming homers.  (Well, besides that rare grounder down the line that becomes an inside-the-park homerun.)

I suppose Heyward could develop an uppercut in his swing but if he’s productive I’m not sure if he will change drastically.  But it’s very possible that he will to some degree, and will develop more homerun power as a result.  He also could hone his swing in such a way that puts more backspin on the ball and allows it to fly out of the park more often.  I would actually be somewhat shocked if Heyward, given his size, doesn’t have at least a few 30 homerun seasons, even if he’s never a big-time homerun threat.

I see Heyward more as a Chipper Jones type hitter than someone like a Matt Kemp.  Of course I’m not ready to say he’ll have as many consistently great seasons as Chipper.  But I think he’ll be near .300/.400/.500 for the bulk of his prime seasons.  He won’t be the type to put up overwhelming baseball card numbers, batting average, homeruns and RBI.  But, again, I expect a few 30 homer seasons.

It may be a while, however, before Heyward hones his swing and develops his power to such a degree that he hits 30 homeruns.  By the time he is ready to take that leap, his speed may be diminished somewhat and he may not have a chance for 30 steals.  Plus, it’s not clear that he has the type speed for a 30 steal season to begin with.

If he attempted steals often, he could probably steal 30.  However, Heyward seems like a smart baserunner and realizes that there is no reason to attempt steals and risk getting thrown out just to rack up 30 stolen bases.  Plus the industry in general is wiser as to the value of stolen bases versus caught stealing.  Studies suggest that if a player doesn’t steal at at least a 75 percent success rate, he’s probably not helping his team.  So Heyward seems like the type of runner that is going to pick his spots carefully.

So I think a 30/30 season from Heyward is fairly unlikely.  But that doesn’t mean he’ll never be an MVP-caliber player.  I think there is a very distinct possibility that Heyward, given his skill set, will end up being undervalued to some degree or another, which is what makes him fascinating to me.  His skills are not the type that show up in the traditional statistics in an attention-grabbing way.  Most of his value is in his plate discipline and defensive skills.  I don’t think he’ll put up overwhelming power numbers.  He’ll probably hit for a very good average but may not win batting titles.

Plus Heyward has the quiet, calm personality.  He’s not a Kevin Youkilis.  He’s not going to throw helmets or break water coolers when he makes outs.  I could see him becoming a rich man’s J.D. Drew, if you will.  When his batting average isn’t in the .300′s and he doesn’t have 35 homers and 120 RBI, judging by the perception of him so far, there may be a group of fans who accuses him of not playing with passion.  But he’ll be a darling of the sabermetric community.  He’ll draw walks.  He’ll hit for enough power.  He’ll be a solid baserunner.  He’ll play good-to-outstanding defense (the advanced defensive metrics have him as one of the best rightfielders in the game since the beginning of the 2010 season).

Barring injury it’s hard to see Jason Heyward becoming anything less than an extremely valuable big leaguer.  He may not have 30/30 seasons.  All his stats may not look good on the back of a baseball card.  But whether casual fans realize it or not, I suspect he’ll be one of the more valuable players in the game for a long time.

Twitter: @PayneBall

On Friday, some friends and I watched the Yankees start their season against the Rays. In the first inning, Tampa Bay took a 4-0 lead on a monster grand slam. The Yankees fans in the room weren’t really disheartened, and when the Yankees tied the game a few innings later, then took the lead, my friends weren’t even surprised. One of them said, “That’s the good thing about being a Yankees fan. No game is ever out of reach.” (Even though the Yankees lost that game, and were swept, just like the Bravos.) That must be an amazing feeling. On the other hand, any time a team scores a run against the Braves, the rest of the game feels like a lost cause.

Hopefully Chipper’s return and playing some games at home will revitalize the team, but if we continue struggle a lot of the blame is going to be on Fredi Gonzalez. But don’t worry: Fredi has a plan. He hasn’t explicitly outlined this plan for the media, but I can glean the basic points through his actions thus far this year.

First, Fredi has the perfect scheme to prevent another epic end-of-the-season collapse. It’s simple: don’t build a lead. If the team is behind the wild-card contenders by ten games for most of the season, there’s no chance for a collapse. Fredi figures losing the first four games just help put us in position for a comeback.

Another mistake Fredi made last year was overworking the bullpen, especially the “Oventribel” trio. To solve this problem, Fredi uses old, washed up starters as middle-inning relief pitchers in tight, critical situations. So what if they give up a few runs every game? At least our star relievers will be well rested.

Have you ever heard of “muscle confusion?” It’s an exercise theory that says you need to mix up your workout routine to keep your muscles guessing. It’s supposed to make you really strong. Fredi’s adapted this idea, except he calls it “player confusion.” See, he takes players like Pastornicky and Juan Francisco, rookies starving for in-game experience, and sits them for the third game of the season.  And he’ll keep a close eye on Martin Prado to make sure he doesn’t get too comfortable in left field. Starting an inconsistent lineup is a surefire way to keep our players from getting into a pesky groove.

All jokes aside, our bad start can’t be blamed entirely on the manager. Sure, he’s made some mistakes, but the players have also just failed to perform in clutch situations. And our biggest problem, our starting pitchers failing to make it deep into the game, isn’t something Fredi can fix; correcting that problem is the responsibility to the pitching coach and the pitchers themselves. There’s no reason for any radical changes to be made just yet. We’ve only played a handful of games. Let’s take a two-game streak into the home opener and then sweep the Brewers. If we can do that, maybe we can all forget about this season’s miserable beginning.

For the last few years, I’ve railed against our boy Larry. He’s hurt all the time. He’s a prima donna that craves attention. He is our version of Bret Favre, hinting of retirement to get us to love him more. He seems more interested in hunting with Adam LaRoche than baseball. He’s holding the Braves back from making moves to ensure the future success of the club. But I missed the obvious. Chipper is a one in a couple generations type player. He WILL go into the hall of fame.  He’s the best switch hitting player not named Mickey Mantle (Eddie Murray, I still love you). And you can bet money he’ll have a statue outside The Ted in about 5 years.

When Eli Manning of the NY Giants said he was in the same class of Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers and his brother Peyton, people laugh.  So he simply “balled out” and won his second Super Bowl. When Braves fans would wax poetic recently about how great chipper was/is, I would roll my eyes.  Sure, he’s really good.  But come on people, he’s no Jose Constanza! Boy oh boy, what a fool I’ve been. I feel like I asked Bobby Petrino for a ride home on the back of his motorcycle. Chipper is proving to anybody and everybody that he IS the best player on this team, the last link to the Braves’ glory days, one of the signature talents in MLB and the catalyst for winning baseball in Atlanta.

Man, I’ve been SO wrong. When Smoltz was in his last few years with the Braves, you could tell he was kinda mailing it in. The only thing he cared about was golfing, thinking about golf, lowering his golf score, Tiger Woods and golf…you get the point.  But in all seriousness, Chipper doesn’t do that stuff. He talks about winning, playing and succeeding. He DOES pull the “hey, I can’t live forever” type drama that all aging players do.  But maybe it’s because he wants us to appreciate him. Make sure Braves fans still love him, respect him and that we’ll reflect on what he’s meant to this club. Maybe Chipper is that crazy uncle that says, “Kid, you’ll miss me when I’m gone”.

Well, Uncle Larry, we WILL miss you. I’m not a 9 year old. I don’t have poster of Chipper in my room, although my wife HATES the Pussycat Dolls poster I have up. I don’t own a Chipper jersey or anything like that. My favorite Brave of all time is Dale Murphy, followed closely by Bob Horner.  But since I’m Chipper’s age, I DO appreciate what he’s done and what he’s doing. He’s 40 years old and he’s the best Atlanta’s got.  Better then Jason Heyward. Better than Craig Kimbrell. Better than…wait for it…wait for it…Jose Constanza! Chipper is simply the best and I won’t doubt him again. Isn’t that right, Pussycat Dolls?

1) The Braves will be a 500 team against the Phillies. The Phils are getting a lot of love, and many analysts are picking them to repeat as NL East champs. However, they have some issues to sort out, mainly how to fill the middle of their lineup while Utley and Howard are injured. Hopefully, by the first meeting between these two clubs on the first of May, the Braves will be in tip-top shape, whereas those two Philly stars might not be 100% for the entire season. I’m not saying that the Braves will finish ahead of the Phillies in the standings, just that they will split their head-to-head matchups.

2) Tommy Hanson will win 20 games. He’s got a new delivery that is designed to relieve shoulder stress, which should allow him to pitch more innings and stay off the DL. And in his last start, he unveiled a powerful sinker that can really add depth to his arsenal. I expect Hanson to be revitalized in 2012. The Braves haven’t had a twenty game winner since (drum roll please) Russ Ortiz went 21-7 way back in 2003, but if O’Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrel can close out games the way they did last year, all Hanson will need to rack up the wins is a little run support. Is that too much to ask for? Wait. Don’t answer that.

3) Jason Heyward will not hit a homerun in his first at-bat. This may not seem like a bold prediction, but if you’ve watched our last two opening day games, you know J-Hey has hit homeruns in 100% of his season opening at-bats. He won’t homer in his first look this year, but he’ll have a more balanced, successful season at the dish.

4) Livan Hernandez will have a stint on the DL this season. The 16-season veteran has never been on the DL. Also, he’s never played for the Braves. I think signing him was a good move, because it cost less than a million bucks, and keeping a veteran around a clubhouse full of young pitchers is never a bad idea. However, Atlanta seems to be infested with the injury bug, and I won’t be surprised to see it take a bite out of Livan.

5) Chipper Jones will hit 30 homeruns. I know, I know, he’s a fragile old man. Fans cringe every time he bends over to tie his cleats. But here’s what I think: as long as he doesn’t rush his return from the meniscus tear, and he gets enough scheduled days off to stay well rested, Chipper will provide the bleachers with plenty of souvenir balls. As I’m sure Chipper knows, the long ball comes with an added advantage: you don’t have to run so fast around the bases.

6) The Nationals will pose a bigger threat than the Marlins. The Marlins have a new city, some cool new hats, and the added talents of Jose Reyes, but the Nats are improving as well, even if it’s under the radar. Their rotation is pretty solid, led by Strasburg and Gino Gonzalez. Plus, I can’t imagine Jayson Werth batting .232 with 58 RBIs again.

7) The National League will win the All-Star Game for the third consecutive year. I’m sure you all remember Brian McCann’s three-run double in the 2010 all-star game. That game ended a huge winning streak for the AL, and now the NL is going to build a streak of its own.

8.) Mike Minor will be a strong 4th starter. I’m not going to venture any guesses as to an ERA or wins, but Minor will be an asset to the team. He’s super confident, and I expect that confidence to transfer to success on the mound. This season is his chance to prove his worth, and he knows it.

9) Larry Parrish will not be Atlanta’s hitting coach. Okay, this is just a fact, but I’m so happy about it. I feel like we paid Larry Parrish to put his feet up and watch our offense drown last year. Hopefully Greg Walker (our new hitting coach) will give our bats some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Figuratively speaking, of course.

10) Juan Francisco will have an immediate impact. Chipper Jones will probably play between 100 and 125 games this season, leaving plenty of action for Atlanta’s new backup 3rd basemen. The report on Francisco is that he’s a free swinger and that he hits with power, which, if nothing else, sounds really exciting. Look for him to impress crowds and intimidate pitchers with a few deep homers.

11) Brian McCann will win a fifth consecutive Silver Slugger. And if that’s not bold enough, when he retires he’ll have broken Mike Pizza’s record for most Silver Sluggers as a catcher (10), even if he doesn’t do it all with the Bravos.

12) The Braves will win 94 games. It will take a lot of one-run wins, production from bench players like Eric Hinske, and good pitching in tight spots from our bullpen, but they can do it. Will that be enough to make the playoffs? I think so, even if it is only the extra wild card spot.

Have some bold predictions of your own? Leave them in the comments, and feel free to follow me on Twitter @thomasmduncan.

WE are the ones saving our money and buying the tickets.  WE are the ones staying up until 1am to watch West Coast games.  The FANS are the ones living and dying with every game, buying the apparel and merchandise, teaching our kids the Tomahawk chop and imitating Skip Cary for the hell of it during the work day.  Dale Murphy doesn’t play in Atlanta anymore.  David Justice went to Cleveland.  Hell, Tom Glavine played for the Mets!  But the constant is you.  And me.  And your buddy.  Your Uncle, Aunt and 2^nd Cousin twice removed.   When spring training comes around, we won’t know if Martin Prado will be a Brave.  Will Chipper Jones play 120 games?  Not sure about that.  Who will be the Braves ace?  Don’t know.  But one thing IS for certain.  WE WILL be there.  WE will scour the schedule and see what games we want to go to.  We will check with our parents to see if they can watch the kids on a Tuesday so we can get to the Ted.  We will see when the “businessman’s specials” are and think about how we can skip out to go see the home team play.  We’ll dust off our Braves jerseys, hats, window stickers and the rest.  We’ll dress our daughters in pink Braves gear and slip the #22 Heyward toddler jersey on our son’s back.  WE.  Not them. 

LeBron James summed it up best when he told anti-Heat fans that he’d be ok and they would have to go back to their miserable lives…or something to that affect.  And you know something, he’s right.  Losing hurts, but if you have a 2 million dollar house, 4 Lexus sedans and a pool the shape of your face, it may not hurt so much.  But when you’re a “9 to 5’er”, your boss yells at you, your car breaks down and you’re just having a lousy day, losing stinks EVEN more.  Isn’t tomorrow a bit more fun when your team wins?  It’s a return on your emotional/financial/communal investment.  It’s like raising a child.  You put in ALL the hard work and when you get that one unsolicited “I love you”, it’s so worth it.

I know it’s silly.  It’s just a game and we should all have much more important things to concern ourselves with.  But isn’t that the whole point?  It IS just a game.  It’s an escape from our problems, our angst, our worries and alike.  It takes us from the real life we live to our past life as a child.  When you had sports heroes, you rooted for the home team and you shared that fun/passion with your friends and family.  No one wants to talk politics or religion anymore.  It stinks and it doesn’t get you anywhere.  But sports!  It’s fun and mostly harmless.  WE are going to stomp you this weekend!  No you’re not, WE are going to stomp you!  Sports give us the pride we may not be able to achieve anyplace else in life.  It’s the one place where as long as you jump on board and NEVER get off, you have a team for life.  And their success can be your reason for celebration.  So say WE all you want!  What’s it hurting?  Nothing.  What’s it helping?  Your soul.  Happy Holidays!

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

With the Fall Classic around the corner and the weather getting cooler here in the South, school is in full swing as well.  And one of the things all kids look forward to with school is yearbooks.  Getting your picture taken, hoping all your “besties” will write super long notes in the back pages of your book, thumbing through the candid shots to see how many you’re in and of course, Senior Superlatives.  I think every high school kid secretly hopes and prays to get one of these awards in the yearbook.  Even the ultra reclusive, non-fiction reading, 10,000 Maniacs listening, aloof, ponytail/uni-cycle guy in your English class secretly wants to be “best all around” or “cutest”.

So I’ve heard the Atlanta Braves yearbook is out now.  And the guys are passing them around the clubhouse getting everyone to sign them before they leave for the year.  Why don’t we take a peek and see who won some of those coveted superlatives?

Best All Around – Dan Uggla.  I know, I know.  How can a guy with a .233 average be best all around?  But that’s just it…best ALL AROUND.  You know I’m not a SABR guy.  I’m a perception guy.  And my perception is that without Uggla, the Braves don’t sniff the WildCard.  His defense is severely underrated and without his play during and after his hitting streak, the Braves don’t have a chance to have their infamous collapse.

Class Clown – Peter Moylan.  He gets the vote for two reasons.  One, he supposedly is a great clubhouse guy, funny guy, twitter guy and for some reason every Braves fan loves him.  I like him fine.  But reason #2 he gets this vote is because he “clowned” all of you Braves fans into thinking he was an important piece to the puzzle.  This is not a slam on the guy.  But I’m trying to figure out how a guy who really hasn’t played much recently and really only had one decent season with the club is SO vital to its success.  He’s a sidearm middle reliever.  Not Billy Wagner.

Smartest – Larry Parrish, former hitting coach.  This cat has to be the smartest guy in MLB, period.  He gets hired to be a hitting coach, gets paid to be a hitting coach, even gets a uniform.  Then he does absolutely nothing to improve the team’s hitting.  I’m not sure I’ve ever even heard him interviewed this year to be held accountable for the team’s shortcomings.  His philosophy was to be free swinging and see what happens.  Yea…what happens sucks, Larry.  Honorable mention goes to Kenshin Kawakami.  He got PAID big time to hang out in Gwinnett and eat funnel cakes at Coolray Field all summer.  Pretty darn smart if you ask me.

Cutest Couple – Eric, O’Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel.  These guys were absolutely great this season.  Anybody who blames Kimbrel for the last game loss to Philly is a Jose Reyes…umm…I mean…a sub human, no account jerk.   The guys were used more than the smoosh room on “Jersey Shore”.  Every time the Braves were up by 4/5/27 runs…I never understood why the lesser bullpen mates weren’t brought in to save these guy’s arms.  But what do I know?  Oh that’s right.  Even I know that’s stupid.

Most Likely to Succeed – Freddie Freeman.  This is the one category where I could have put 4 different Braves.  I even thought I’d put Jose Constanza as the winner.  But then I remembered, according to some of you, he was already the Dominican Mickey Mantle and was packing for Cooperstown as we speak.  His greatness transcends a silly high school superlative.  Give me a break.  He’ll be installing windows with Chuck James next year.  Back to Freeman.  This kid was everything we could have hoped for.  And his stats back up the perception that he’s the new BMOC.  And while Chipper Jones is still the ultimate Braves on this team, Freddie may well be the best Atlanta has to offer for the next 10 years.

Most Likely to Tip his Cap – Fredi Gonzalez.  Enough said.

Mr. Atlanta Braves – Chipper Jones.  Ok, most of you know that while I think Chipper is great, he has some MAJOR leadership flaws and is not the greatest face of a franchise I’ve ever seen.  But you know what, I’m warming up to an idea.  This guy is truly the greatest Atlanta Brave there’s ever been and it would be nearly impossible to have a player better than him.  Also, I’m starting to realize he is a much more effective leader than most give him credit for.  When they show those dugout meeting he holds, every player is riveted to Chipper.  And he may be the second greatest switch hitter in baseball history.  So while he REALLY needs to work on strengthening his oblique this off-season, my apologies to Chipper.  If 2012 is his last year, Braves fans will see one last year of the greatest Atlanta sports “idol” the city ever had to offer.

Some superlatives I left off like, “Most Awesome Player Ever”.   Eric Hinske wins that in a run away and everybody should know that.  “Most Likely to Screw Himself into the Ground While Striking Out” was left off as both Alex Gonzalez and Martin Prado were in a dead heat to win that award. “Most Likely to be Working at Olive Garden Next Season” was a three way tie between Scott Linbrink, George Sherrill and Scott Proctor.  These three make Manny Acosta or Blayne Boyer look like world beaters.  And “Most Likely to be Better at Drag Racing Drunk than Throwing a Ball Over a White Plate” goes to Derek Lowe. Too bad we’ll see him again next year.

So Braves Fans, thanks a bunch for putting up with me and reading my blogs.  I’ll be writing over the winter break and getting ready for the 2012 season.  I hope we have some classes together!

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

I don’t need to say how wrong I was. I don’t need to get into stats, or how big of a lead they had on what day. I don’t need to get in to who’s at fault or who’s to blame, because I really don’t care. The bottom line is it happened. Now, we deal with it.  Bad to worse.

It’s hard to describe how I feel at this exact moment. I’m not mad. I’m not depressed. The best way to describe my feeling is to have you picture yourself walking into a room with your parents having sex, then you realize—hey, that’s not my dad!

I won’t get too down though. Baseball is supposed to be fun. When taken too seriously (like I have in the past, trust me) it takes most or all of the fun out of it and if it’s not fun, what the point? I’m not 10 years old anymore. I don’t wake up, put on my cap and go outside and wait for another kid so we can start a pick up ball game. Now, I wake up and try not to bet too pissed off that I’m actually awake, shower and go to work.

One of the only things that gets me through the day (during the summer) is that I know the Braves are going to play that night.  I just need to get through eight hours of people grumbling at me and I’ll be listening to Chip and Joe call a Braves game. I can appreciate baseball for what it is—a break from real life. Baseball is the National Pastime and we need to treat it like that. Watching baseball is a luxury, not a job.

Now that the season is over, I can look back and say it was a pretty damn good year for the Braves. We saw the best rookie season ever for a closer. Craig Kimbrel is the NL Rookie of the Year and his teammate Freddie Freeman is a close runner up. No one else is close to them. We watched in amazement as Dan Uggla carried the Braves for two months, while putting an end to all the naysayers who got on him for his dreadful start. We watched Jair Jurrjens begin the season as the best pitcher in the league and got a good look (more than we should have) at the Braves ‘Fab Four’ pitchers in action.

Randall Delgado is the real deal. He pitched phenomenal down the stretch and made one of the most important starts of the year, though the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Mike Minor showed why every team at the trade deadline wanted him and why Frank Wren wouldn’t move him for anyone. Arodys Vizcaino was throwing gas out of the bullpen and has a devastating breaking-ball. We probably saw the least out of Julio Teheran than the others, yet he is their #1 guy and deservedly so. He went 15-3 2.55 ERA 122 K at AAA Gwinnett and was named pitcher of the year. He is going to be a top of the rotation guy for the Braves very soon.

As I get older life goes by faster and faster. Each season seems to go by in the blink of an eye—and it’s not going to get any better. Time is my enemy. It seems like the season started last week. I swear I was just listening to Spring Training games on my iPhone, getting more and more excited as the snow melted and hoping this year would be “the year.” The next thing I knew it was the All-Star break and now it’s nearly October and college football is in full swing.

There is an old saying that everything good eventually comes to an end. A great Braves season is no different. It was a great ride and I don’t regret being a die-hard fan for one moment. I had a great time watching this year, and 2012 should bring more of the same. It will mostly likely be the last season we watch Chipper Jones play. Here’s to the Hollywood ending for #10 that I ‘know” will happen…

My name is Matt and I am a Braves fanatic.

The End.

So let’s look at these so-called under achieving Atlanta Braves.  We won’t go back 20 years to 1991.  That’s when the Braves began taking shape as an organization dedicated to competing for a title every year.  We’ll only go back to 1994; the first year of the current NL East (not really, since because of the strike, of 1994 nobody won jack, and 1995 is actually the first year of titles).  This also allows us to compare apples to apples by viewing the NL East in its current form of the Phillies, Nationals (Expos), Marlins, Mets and Braves which began in 1994.  Let’s look at the numbers of NL East Titles.

NL East Titles since 1994

Washington Nationals/ Montreal Expos – 0

Florida Marlins – 0

New York Mets – 1 (2006)

Philadelphia Phillies – 5 (2007-2011)

Atlanta Braves – 11 (1995-2005)

Now let’s check Wildcard titles.

NL Wildcard Titles since 1994

Nats/Expos – 0

Marlins – 2 (1997, 2003)

Mets – 2 (1999, 2000)

Phillies – 0

Braves – 2 (2010 and PLEASE 2011)

Now, how about National League pennants?

NL Pennants since 1994

Nats/Expos – 0

Marlins – 2 (1997, 2003)

Mets – 1 (2000)

Phillies – 2 (2008, 2009)

Braves – 3 (1995, 1996, 1999)

And now, what matter most to all the SNE and other detractors of the hometown Atlanta Braves…World Series Titles.

WS Titles since 1994

Nats/Expos – 0

Marlins – 2 (1997, 2003)

Mets – 0

Phillies – 1 (2008)

Braves – 1 (1995)

First let me say this is pretty impressive.  For a division (in a league of 6 divisions) to produce 4 WS Champions in the last 17 years is not too shabby.  Considering the press of the Northeast would have you believe no real baseball is played south or west of the Philly train station.  Secondly, if you’re JUST looking at titles, the Marlins are the best of the NL East.  Florida has the same number of WS Championships as Boston and MORE than Philly in the last 30 years.

Ok, now let’s really get dirty.  We’ll give 1 point for WC Winners, 2 points for division titles, 3 points for NL titles and 4 points for WS titles.  Here’s how the NL East ranks:

5.  Washington/Montreal = 0 pts

4.  New York = 7 pts

3.  Florida = 16 pts

3. Phillies = 20 pts

1.  Atlanta = 34 pts

Wow!  For an underachieving, sorry, no good, crummy team like the Braves and a city with horrible, stupid, back water, non-savvy fans…this doesn’t look too bad.  I know what some would say.  Yes, they COULD have won more.  The Braves SHOULD have won more.  But what’s funny to me is how negative it ALWAYS is toward the Braves with their success.  The Buffalo Bills went to 4 straight Super Bowls and lost ALL of them.  But Jim Kelly and crew are celebrated nationally.  The Philadelphia Eagles went to 4 straight NFC Championship games and lost 3.  And they lost the Super Bowl the one time they did manage to win the NFC.  And they aren’t killed as an organization.  The city and press just decided to pin all the short comings on consummate good guy Donavan McNabb and ship his tail out of the city for Mike Vick.  That tells you all you need to know about that place.  City of Brotherly Love….whatever.

I think the attitude about the Braves is a systemic problem that all non-Southerners have about us (especially people from the Northeast).  They can’t grasp that we didn’t have the Braves (or ANY team) in 1918 like Chicago, New York, Boston and Philly did.  We don’t have generations of fans yet like they do.  We didn’t have a winning tradition for decades like they did.  But yet Atlanta can boast more success than some of them over the last 20 years.  But Braves fans and its organization fight the perception that all Southerners do in life.  That our achievements are just luck.  That we’re too stupid and unsophisticated to have achieved on our own.  That only with the help of the ultra refined, highly educated Carpetbagger can anything in the South be successful.  Yes, we Yankee Carpetbaggers will marry the South’s pretty women and live in its awesome weather, educated our kids in its schools and eat all its awesome food…but you Huckleberries are still pretty dumb.  Just shut up and let us win at baseball.  What do “youz guys” know about baseball?

So I say all that to say this.  The Braves may end up losing this year.  We may not even make the playoffs.  But be PROUD Atlanta Braves nation!  We have a team that competes EVERY year.  Ignore what everyone else says…GO BRAVES!!!

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

Sure, the Braves still hold a 3.5 game lead in the Wild Card, but the way they have been playing of late is like being the prettiest waitress at a Denny’s.  Sure you’ll get better tips than the rest of the girls, but the big picture is bleak.  You work at a Denny’s.  If the Braves were my waitress right now, I’d ask to see a manager and I certainly wouldn’t leave 20%.  If they don’t pull themselves together soon, they may just be working at Denny’s for a long time and by working at Denny’s I mean losing out to losers like the Mets.  This limp to the finish line isn’t going to impress many people and not going to get them far IF they make the playoffs.

The Braves have three series left this season and there’s really no reason they can’t get the job done. Or, should I say, they SHOULD get the job done. They will have to face their nemesis one more time this season and it may determine if they make the playoffs; and no, I’m NOT talking about the Phillies.

They start off with three games in Florida against a team they have owned this year—of course the Braves will face the Marlins’ best pitchers (Nolasco, Sanchez and Vazquez). It will be the last time the Braves play the Florida Marlins (as they will become the Miami Marlins) and the last time at Sun Life? Stadium. I will kind of miss tuning in to see the 12 fans in the stadium on a given night.

The Braves travel to Washington D.C next and play at team that owns them. It doesn’t seem to matter where the game is played, or who is playing for either team—the Nats simply own the Braves. It looks like we will see the bionic arm of Stephen Strasburg next weekend. My only solace is that he hasn’t been pitching deep in games (and probably won’t this year).

The Braves finish the year against the Phillies, who have nothing to play for except to spoil the Braves shot at a playoff berth. I would imagine the Phillies will rest some of the regular players and will set their pitching rotation, so the Braves may luck out and miss Halladay and Lee. Or at least I pray they do!

Be careful what you wish for; that’s something I seem to be saying to myself more and more. A few weeks ago I was worried that the Braves had such a big lead in the Wild Card that they would go into the playoffs without playing a meaningful game for 2 weeks. Now, I just want them to get there. I’m telling myself that maybe it’s good they are slumping now. They are too good to keep playing this poorly for a whole month, so when the NLDS comes around they will heat up and make a run at the whole thing. Whatever gets you through the day, right?

Brian McCann can’t keep slumping. Martin Prado’s average can’t keep going lower and lower. Jonny Venters can’t walk every batter he faces and Derek Lowe can’t let in 6 runs every start. OK, Maybe the Lowe thing can happen, but it can’t keep going this way for the Braves. It just can’t! They will win these last three series and they will make the playoffs. No more will the Braves be serving Grand Slam Breakfasts to truckers in spaghetti stained wife beaters. The Braves are going all the way!

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

But there’s one scene at the end where Jim Brown is throwing grenades into storm drains and trying to run to safety.  Right when he’s about to be free and clear, he’s shot in the back and killed by one of the Nazi soldiers.  DAMN!  Every time I watch DD and see that scene, I think, THIS will be the one time where Jim Brown makes it.  Where he lives and gets to go home.  But it never happens.  It’s always the same ending.  I think y’all know where I’m going with this.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve felt the same way when I watch a Braves game.  Atlanta has a lead, bases loaded with no outs, O’Ventabrel about to pitch, McCann at the plate or a grounder out to the mound.  Any of these scenarios earlier in the season would give Braves fans something to be happy and cheer about.  But now we all wait for the other shoe to drop.  We dread seeing the Braves #6 hitter come up with runners in scoring position.  We wring our hands as Venters comes in to pitch in the 8^th inning to a dirty Nazi…um…I mean…Shane Victorino or anyone on the Washington Nationals.  It’s not fun to watch and we all end up getting shot in the proverbial back.  And when the Braves magic number has been the same for about 12 days, it doesn’t give any Atlanta fan too much hope for the playoffs or World Series.

BUT!!!  There’s another movie to consider as well.  There was once a young man who didn’t know his parents.  He possessed great power, but didn’t know it.  He was befriended by a “crazy old man” who lived out in the desert.  The man taught him the ways of his power and how to use it.  They took off on an adventure to help save a rebel leader and destroy a symbol of pure evil.  That’s RIGHT!  Star Wars, Episode IV (I think Empire Strikes Back is the best, but New Hope was the first and my parents took me to see it at a drive in, so I have fond memories of it).

Luke Skywalker uses his new powers to save Lea, escape Jose Reyes (I mean Darth Vader) and blow up the Death Star.  He closes his eyes and destroys the Death Star with one shot; just like at home with his T-16 shooting womp rats.  So Braves fans…hold on to HOPE!  We just need one player to be our Han Solo, when he shoots Vader’s Tie Fighter and clears the way for Luke’s one single shot.  One guy to clear the way for that play to win it all.  One timely hit, pitch, out or HR.  So as Han Solo might say:

You’re all clear kid!  Now let’s blow this thing and go home! I hope the Braves take that single shot and hit the bull’s-eye.  Because if not, instead of celebrating with all the Rebel Alliance…we’ll be hanging with Jim Brown.  And nobody wants that.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

The good news is that unless the Braves have a Met-like collapse in the next three weeks, they are going to be in the playoffs. In fact, most of baseball is already decided. We are just waiting on the Rangers/Angels race to see who is going to lose to the Yankees in the first round.

This being said, the Braves have six more series to get ready for the Milwaukee Brewers. They have their roster expanded for September, so Fredi has the luxury of resting some guys down the stretch. Now, there is a lot of debate whether it’s better to go in to the playoffs with a  big lead and everyone is well-rested, or if it’s better to be like the 2010 Giants and have a do-or-die game every day and sneak into the playoffs on the last day. I don’t think we will ever know the true answer, but If I were Fredi…

…I would rest my starting pitchers the 3^rd week of September; especially Brandon Beachy. Jair Jurrjens is already out for 2 weeks resting his sore knee and Tommy Hanson has also been out for weeks. Hanson is feeling much better according to the reports and is close to returning; I’d keep him out another week. Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson are horses, but let’s face it they aren’t getting any younger. It wouldn’t hurt to give them a little rest too.

The Braves have four stud pitching prospects in Minor, Teheran, Delgado and Vizcaino (who is in the bullpen the rest of the year).  Why not use these guys for the next couple weeks? See what they have. I know Fredi has done this the past week, but it is more because everyone is hurt. Let’s see what these guys can do when given a few starts in a row.

…I would rest Freddie Freeman for at least a week. He seemed to re-aggravate his leg injury on a stretch in Philadelphia this week and I wouldn’t want to take any chances of him being banged up for the playoffs; he is way too important.

…I would get Eric Hinske, Matt Diaz, Brooks Conrad, David Ross and Jack Wilson in as many games as possible. These guys are going to be vital coming off the bench and the more at-bats they can get now, the better. They need to be ready to come off the bench in a big spot and getting them in the games now is the best way to prepare them. This will give the regulars like Dan Uggla, Chipper Jones, Martin Prado, B-Mac (it helps having the best backup in the majors) and the aforementioned Freddie Freeman some much needed rest.

…I would sit out Alex Gonzalez as much as possible over the next few weeks, if for nothing else than to cut down on the double plays. Sure, he is a great defensive player, but so is Jack Wilson. He has more Web Gems than Gonzalez since 2008 (I just made that up, but it seems right) and he can’t be any worse at the plate.

…I would rest Jonny Venters more than normal. He has given up runs in his last three games—now I know that he is human and it will happen from time to time, but he just doesn’t look like himself recently. I would however keep pitching Craig Kimbrel, if for nothing else than to get me some much needed saves in my big-money fantasy league.

…Lastly, I would do everything I could to beat the hell out of the Phillies those last three games of the year. I know the Phillies are probably going to have their Lehigh Valley roster in the games, but it would be a nice way to enter the playoffs and kind of stick it to them before (HOPEFULLY) a rematch in the NLCS.

Obscure Brave of the Week: Kevin McGlinchy.

Kevin McGlinchy was a relief pitcher with the Braves from 1999-2000. He was drafted by the Braves in the 5^th round of the 1995 Draft. He made it into 64 games in 1999 and pitched pretty well going 7-3 2.82 ERA 67 K. He pitched in only 10 games for the Braves in 2000.

McGlinchy may be best known for giving up the Grand Slam Single to Robin Ventura in the 1999 NLDS. I still get sick thinking about that game…

McGlinchy went to the Devil Rays after the Braves, but never really pitched in the majors again. He played some Independent League baseball with the Long Island Ducks and Nashua Pride for a bit.

He is currently living back in the Boston area. One of my co-workers’ told me he works with his dad—I can’t tell you exactly what he does because that would require me to go and talk to one of my co-workers. You know how that is…

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

Until Next time… Go Braves!

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1. Martin Prado.  I’m not sure what’s wrong with his play lately.  My feeling is that he was a GREAT #2 hitter when he didn’t need to protect a very good #1 hitter.  But with Michael Bourn getting on base and trying to manufacture scoring chances, Martin seems lost.  And it’s spilling into his defensive play.  I don’t think I would have ever said this, but Prado missed some balls that Chipper would have gotten to.  Martin is not making plays that Chipper would.  And Prado’s outfield play has been a bit pedestrian as well.  He’s been the main cog for the Braves the last 2 years and he needs to regain his first half form for Atlanta to be successful.
2. Right Field.  I mean, WTF?  Jeff Francoeur is my man, but I think he messed up that area at Turner Field for anybody now playing there. Jason Heyward, Jose Constanza, Matty Diaz, etc… Any team that is a contender has positions with big time “Big Boppers”.  1^st Base and/or 3^Rd Base.  Left Field and/or Right Field.  And oddly enough, 2^nd Base.  The Braves have Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla to fill in some of those spots.  And Chipper, when healthy, is more than adequate at 3^rd, even at his advanced age.  But it’s the same old song for Atlanta at the corner outfield positions.  No real power and/or dynamic players.   Prado can get it back in Left, but I’m not sure about Right Field.  Do the Braves currently have a player that is BETTER than Francoeur in Right?  I’m not real sure they do.
3. Starting pitching.  OK, so Derek Lowe sucks.  I think we all can agree on that.  And with Tommy Hanson, I really feel it’s a crap shoot on his health and production.  He’s like that crazy but funny friend you invite to a party.  He most likely won’t show up, so don’t count on him.  But if he does show, it’s a real nice surprise.  JJ…let’s hope he gets going.  Tim Hudson and the bullpen (if Scott Linebrink somehow misses the team bus) are solid and there are no worries there.  And these youngsters.  I feel like the super young Brandon Beachy, Mike Minor, Randall Delgado and Julio Teheran make a better wait staff at Chick-Fl-a than a MLB pitching staff.  Don’t get it twisted, they’re AWESOME.  But how good do you feel if the Braves really need them to start important games come post season?  Not real good.  But if Lowe and Hanson are the other options, maybe we cross our fingers.
4. Brooks Conrad.  Where the hell has this guy been?  Fredi has played just about everyone on the bench, but you don’t see Conrad getting any real playing time.  And his pinch hit appearances seems to be down as well.  If Julio Lugo was a better option that Conrad, Brooks must have some awful breath or something to keep him riding the pine.  Get him a Tic Tac, pronto.
5. NSE (National So-Called Experts).  I addressed these fools last week.  But now I’m WORRIED because I may actually agree with them.  If the playoffs began today, I’d have to take the Phillies and Brewers as favorites in the NL.  And out of the 8 playoffs teams, the Braves MIGHT be ranked 7^th or 8^th.  So while the thought of those slap nuts giving the Braves no credit drives me crazy, this the first time this year I actually think they’re on to something.  And it’s not Roy Halladay’s jock strap.
6. The City of Atlanta.  I feel it, don’t you?  Atlanta (and most of the US, save the Northeast) is slowly but surely flowing away from baseball to football season.  When BOTH local sports talk shows spend 75-80% of airtime talking about college football and the Falcons, the Braves are becoming an afterthought.  I think it’s imperative for a local team’s success to be tied to the amount of buzz coming from said team.  And that buzz needs to translate to radio, TV and other mediums (such as the Super Colossal, Gigantically Impressive AtlantaBaseballTalk podcast…available on iTunes).  So once the Braves are out of mind, it’s a wrap for the excitement in the city.

So don’t get me wrong, I’m really juiced about the post season.  And I’ll be at the Ted like most of y’all that can get to the A.T.L.  But I hope things get more exciting here in the next few weeks.  Because when the biggest news about your team is them getting Matt Diaz back, that’s not something we can rally behind for long.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

Derek Lowe began the year pitching lights out— his slider was nasty and it looked like he was going to have a year proving to everyone why he got that $60 Million contract. Then as the thermometer went up, so did Lowe’s ERA. It got to points where you thought Jo Jo Reyes was on the mound (OK maybe not THAT bad).

There was speculation in the offseason the Braves may try to move Lowe and his $15 Million-a-year contract to free up salary and a rotation spot for one of their young starters. Then again, at the All-Star break the rumors began to pick up again. Nothing happened, again.

Now, counting down the final 6 weeks of the season I can hear the engine of the Derek Lowe bandwagon roar, as he has found his groove (again). It’s fun to watch and I feel great for him personally, but didn’t this already happen? Last year?

I looked down at my left hand and saw a wedding ring, so I’m pretty sure I wasn’t in a coma since last October, so that’s a good sign. Then what the hell is going on?

As I thought I was imagining things, I looked at the TV and saw Matt Diaz—in a Braves uniform—batting—FOR THE BRAVES!

The Braves have been looking for a right-handed compliment to Eric Hinske for the whole year and they finally got their man (back). Diaz kills left-handed pitching and this move really gives them balance from both sides of the plate. Though Diaz hasn’t hit like he has in the past (0 HR this year) I am confident that he will flourish, being back in Atlanta. He is a much better option than the guy they picked up last week, Wes Helms—wait, WES HELMS?! You have got to be kidding me. If I see #6 walk out of the dugout tomorrow I’m done.

*****

Obscure Brave of the week: Greg Myers

Greg Myers was drafted in the 3^rd round of the 1984 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was a catcher and DH in the big leagues for 18 seasons for a total of 7 teams; including the Braves (on more than one occasion).

Myers was a solid back-up catcher (or as the Braves used him a 3^rd catcher for the playoff roster) and was a decent power bat coming off the bench. He was acquired by the Braves (for the first time) for the last month of the 1997 season. He only played in 9 games, but was on their playoff roster. He was acquired again in 1999 at the trade deadline and saw a lot more action this time around. He played in 34 games for the Braves and hit a couple home runs, backing up Eddie Perez (as Javy Lopez was injured).

Fun fact: Myers was Nolan Ryan’s 5,714 and last strikeout victim at the end of the 1993 season.

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

When people compare the American League and the National League and say the AL is demonstrably better, I giggle.  What a loaded conversation!  The argument that teams in the AL are SO much better than the NL is not valid.  The statement that the Junior Circuit is vastly superior to the Senior Circuit is simply just not true.  You’re comparing apples to oranges, or in this case, traditional baseball to church league softball.  The singular mistake everyone makes with the “AL/NL” discussion is not considering this reflection:

You MUST totally wipe out any knowledge of the American League’s Designated Hitter position to evaluate the leagues fairly.

What I mean by this is simple.  You can’t talk about how good Texas is if you add Michael Young…the DH Michael Young.  You can’t say the Boston is better than Atlanta if you even MENTION David Ortiz…the “I STINK at 1^st Base” Big Poppy.  The fact that the “so-called national experts” (we’ll refer to them as SNEs from now on, or you can just call them idiots) do their “power rankings” of BOTH Nation and American leagues is kinda stupid.  Let’s list just some of the DHs and then really take a step back.  Consider how differently you’d think about these teams without that DH.  Or the fact that the DH would be an everyday player, which we can safely assume they stink in the field or are old as hell and can’t play effectively.  AND the fact that they most likely would add a utility player or bullpen pitcher with the additional spot, which would not really add anything to the “power ranking” of that team.  Here’s just some of the list.

Victor Martinez – Tigers

David Ortiz – Red Sox

Billy Butler – Royals

Val Guerrero – Orioles

Johnny Damon – Rays

Hideki Matsui – Athletics

Jim Thome – $5 if you name a team he HASN’T been on this year

Jorge Posada – Yankees

And that’s just a list of players designated as DH for their teams.  Not somebody like a Paul Konerko, who’s been hurt the past month.   But he is STILL playing every day as the DH, not his usual position of 1^st Base.  Imagine what that’s like.  To have a player HURT, but still able to contribute in a big way to the success of the club and how the team is PERCIEVED around baseball and with SNEs.  Think of how the Braves would be thought of IF Chipper was the DH.  No “days off” for the old veteran anymore.  Just have him grab a bat 4 times a game and swing away.  The lineup would be, most likely:

Bourn – CF

Prado – 3^rd

Freeman – 1^st

Uggla – 2^nd

McCann – C

Chipper – DH

Heyward – RF

Constanza – LF

Gonzalez – SS

Not too shabby.  And think of HOW older guys get hurt.  Usually playing out in the field.  I know Chipper is infamous for his “oblique swings”.   But seriously, he mostly gets hurt playing the field.  I’ve heard the topic come up the last couple of years with Chipper, Carlos Lee, Todd Helton, etc.  Hey…do the Braves trade Chipper to an AL team and he’d just DH?  He’s got value to a team in American League. NOBODY says the opposite.  Hey…Jorge Posada can’t play catcher anymore.  Let’s see if we can trade him to the Astros and he’ll ride the pine there, too.  Jim Thome NEVER gets to 600 home runs without being a DH and not a real reliable one at that, lately.

So I know SABR people will have 16 different stats that will help the “Quasimodo Hunchback” non-stat guy understand how dumb I really am.  And those stats will allow them to make them feel like they’ve made me feel foolish to make this argument.  Trust me, that won’t happen.  Everyone thinks I’m an idiot already.  Adding you to the list is like drinking Diet Coke with your Whopper.   It ain’t doing much.  So whether it’s your 7 handicap or your thoughts on the Red Sox being vastly superior to the Braves…remember this.  You’re comparing apples and oranges.  And I’m a watermelon guy.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

I was never much of a baseball player growing up, football and basketball were more popular in Indy, but the summer of ‘98 is the reason I am a baseball fan today.  The summer of ‘98 pushed the needle heavily in the Cubs direction.  From 1998 to 2002 Sosa hit nearly 300 home runs.  For 5 seasons, Sosa’s at bats were must-see TV.  I was becoming a huge Cubs fan, but I never forgot about the Braves.

Then in ‘03 the tables turned.  By that point everyone was aware that Sosa was juiced but I didn’t care.  Then Sosa got busted in the game against the Devil Rays for the corked bat.  In the blink of an eye I could no longer ignore the cheating.  Still, I wasn’t completely off the bandwagon . The “Lovable Losers” moniker went from charming to down right annoying.  With remote in hand, the dial routinely found TBS and only out of habit would I venture over to WGN.  That season ended with the “Bartman Game” and I thought for sure the Cubs would never win it all. Still my strange journey as a displaced baseball fan was not over.

From ‘04 to ‘07, I watched just about every Braves game I could on TBS.  I planned my schedule around day games and for night games would have to strategically manipulate the rest of the family in order to control a remote.  Then somehow I started the ‘08 season without knowing what was in store for me.  At that time, I didn’t have many friends that were baseball fans so the news that TBS wasn’t carrying as many Braves games didn’t get to me right away.  I remember that first week checking the TV Guide thinking, “Where are all the games? What is going on here? This isn‘t very funny.”

With limited Braves games on I was left with little options to feed my baseball appetite.  It was back to WGN.  2008 was a good year for the Cubs, they won the division but were swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS.  I went into the playoffs rooting for the Cubs and when they lost I realized that I didn’t really care.  In January ‘09, the Cubs decided to give me 30 million reasons why I should never root for the team again by giving Milton Bradley a 3 year deal.  That officially ended my career as a part-time Cubs fan.

Most Braves fans had last week’s games against Wild Card hopeful San Francisco and NL West leading Arizona circled on the schedule.  For me, these 4 games  against the Cubs are bigger.  I don’t just want to win, I want to beat their fan base into submission.  I hope it gets so bad that by Thursday afternoon’s series finale Uggla, Chipper, and Freeman are bombing homers into empty bleachers.  I want to see the streets of Sheffield and Waveland full of wandering Cubs fans contemplating their core beliefs.  How has the least successful franchise in professional sports managed to keep one of the best fan bases?  Who could love a loser for this long?

Some people, mostly ones privileged enough to grow up in a baseball town, find my journey as a baseball fan flaky and fair weathered.  I can’t really argue against those opinions, but I know what I like.  I like winners and the Atlanta  Braves are winners.

2011 has really been a good year for the Braves and the holiday spirit has got me to thinking that, as a Braves fan, there are a lot of things to be thankful for right now—here are my top five:

5- Peter Moylan is going to begin a rehab assignment at AAA Gwinnett and, if all goes well, will be re-joining the Braves bullpen by Sept. 1. Many people, including me, thought the Braves were going to add a right-handed relief pitcher at the trade deadline. They chose not to act however and it looks like they made the right call. If Moylan comes back and pitches like he has in the past, the Braves are going to have one hell of a bullpen!

4- Dan Uggla is now Dan Uggla. It was tough to watch while Dan Uggla hit in the .170s for the first three months of the season. He was off-balance and looked so uncomfortable at the plate. When the calendar turned to July, something clicked and Uggla came alive. After a 33-game hitting streak his average is now around .230 and he’s now the right-handed power bat the Braves so desperately needed.

3-In a sick way I am thankful that the Phillies, Brewers and Diamondbacks are playing out of their minds right now. The way I see it, they’re playing so well that it’s nearly impossible to keep it up. We’ve all witnessed the Braves take such a huge division lead that they had it clinched by the beginning of September and didn’t have to play a meaningful game for 3-4 weeks going into the playoffs. I am hoping these teams are peaking too soon and they Braves can be there when they do. Maybe this will be the year the Braves can be the ‘hot’ team that heads into the playoffs and mows down everyone that gets in their way.

2- Back at the beginning of the year there was a lot of debate over who should be the Braves closer. Many thought Jonny Venters should be the guy and were very outspoken when Kimbrel struggled. I cannot be more thankful that Fredi Gonzalez stuck with Kimbrel through that rough patch. Kimbrel is leading the majors in saves and hasn’t allowed a run since June 11^th in Houston. He is one of the most dominant closers in the game (right now) and should be the 2011 NL Rookie of the Year.

1- The Braves didn’t trade any of their top pitching prospects at the trade deadline—Thank God! (I still can’t believe the SF Giants traded Zach Wheeler for Carlos Beltran) Each of “The Four Horsemen” has pitched for the Braves this year and I don’t think anyone has looked as good as Randall Delgado did Tuesday night. WOW! He threw strikes, worked quickly and didn’t look frazzled at all, unlike his first start. His fastball was up to 97MPH and his changeup was as nasty as it gets. This kid is good!

Mike Minor followed Delgado’s great start by pitching the best game of his career on Thursday. The Giants couldn’t touch Minor, who threw 6 scoreless innings, while striking out 9. Arodys Vizcaino has been throwing gas out of the bullpen this week and has made me all but forget about Neftali Feliz, or whatever his name is…

Finally, Julio Teheran, who many think is the Braves best prospect and the best pitching prospect in baseball, has torn up AAA this year. He has put up a 13-2 with 2.14 ERA 112 K 1.13 WHIP. The funny thing is, he has probably been the least impressive guy in the majors this season. I have no doubt he can put it together and be a front of the rotation guy; it’s going to be fun to watch when he does…

*****

Obscure Brave of the Week: Mark Redman

Redman was the first round pick of the Minnesota Twins (13^th overall) in the 1995 Draft. He played for a total of 7 teams in MLB and was the lone All-Star for the KC Royals in 2006.

Redman signed with the Braves in March of 2007 and was absolutely horrible. He posted a 0-4 11.63 ERA in 6 games before being released on May 22^nd. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m THANKFUL he was only with the Braves for 6 games and I never have to see him on the mound again!

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

By the way…The five teams to retire Jersey #5 are: NY Yankees (By the way…The five teams to retire Jersey #5 are: NY Yankees (Joe DiMaggio), Cincinnati Reds (Johnny Bench), Detroit Tigers (Hank Greenberg), Baltimore Orioles (Brooks Robinson) and the KC Royals (George Brett).

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Anywho, I felt like it was time to revisits theme/walk-up songs.  Some players are doing just fine with their songs.  Brian McCann has one that everybody stands up and does this little gesture with their hands.  It’s kinda fun.  But it seems to only be people under 25 or so.  If I get up too quick, I’d pull my back out.  So I’ll let them have their fun.  Some, however, need a bit of tweaking.  So here goes a Dog Days of Summer edition of possible walk up songs!

Martin Prado – Wait by White Lion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrPJgnOXjy8

Dude!  WAIT!  You don’t have to swing at every first pitch.  Did Francoeur take over for Larry Parrish as hitting coach?  It’s like some different Prado came back from the DL and the one we know and love is still there…waiting.

Jason Heyward – Sit down, You’re Rocking the Boat from Guys & Dolls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7kzsZreG0o

Umm, got the hint from Fredi yet, JayHey?  Bro, if they could go back in time and send you to Gwinnett in July, they would.  I’ve been a BIG supporter of Heyward playing and working this slump out.  But Jose Constanza playing this much instead of Jason is like holding the purse of a girl you like while she’s dancing with some other guy.  You’re not sure what’s going to happen next, but it’s most likely going to suck for you.

Chipper Jones – All I Need by Jack Wagner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn8E9rrBt7s

All…Chipper…neeeeeeeeeeeeds, is just a little more time, to be sure, that he’s heeeeeeealed.  I mean, the onions on this guy.  He BLASTS Heyward for not playing through pain and not being more consistent with his health.  Has there been ANYBODY more inconsistent with their health (beside Mike Hampton) that Chipper the past 5 years?  I know he’s had injuries, but if 2011 is his last year, the Braves may retire both Chipper’s number AND the numerous x-rays of his oblique.

Freddie Freeman – I Get the Job Done by Big Daddy Kane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVHZ0H2oVp8&feature=related

I work, baby.  Crisp and clean with no caffeine.  How clutch is our man, Freeman?  Everything we thought Heyward would be, Freddie IS.  He’s the new face of the Braves franchise.  He’s gotten better each month and if we didn’t have Craig Kimbrel LOSING his mind striking out more people than the Teamster’s Local54, he’d be the Rookie of the Year.  I was not high on Freeman the first month or so.  But his play has everyone believing he’ll be anchoring 1^st base in Atlanta for about 14 years.

Dan Uggla – I’m Bad by LL Cool J

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV8UC7HsjnY

Who’s badder than Uggla right now?  Nobody, that’s who (apologies to my man, Eric Hinske).  The slump is a thing of the past and now so is the hitting streak.  But name the one player that you want coming up in a pressure situation now.  McCann…maybe.  Freeman…possibly.  Hinske…now you’re talking my language.  But Uggla is NOW the player we thought we were getting.  I don’t think I’d rather have anyone else batting in key situations.  And I just don’t mean the 9^th inning.  Dan’s hits/runs seem to put the Braves on top, get them closer or tie things up.  He doesn’t have too many HRs that make the score 9 to 1.  Or hits a meaningless HR when the Braves are up by 6.  So forget Oreos…eat Cool Ugg Cookies.  He’s BAD!

Jose Constanza – Who Are You by the Who

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_FZVD5lsAw

Who IS this guy?  When you’re a 27 year old rookie, don’t get it twisted.  You have NEVER been considered a prospect with a high return.  27 year olds playing in AAA are the also rans.  So for Georgie to be playing this well and making SO many things happen for the Braves, it’s truly amazing.  I still think he’ll fade in another week, but give the guy credit.  He got a date with the really hot girl and he’s pulling out all the stops to impress.  I just hope he’s not holding somebody’s purse come playoff time.

So if I’ve missed someone you love to root for or if you have suggestions, I DEMAND to hear them!  Music is a big part of my life and I enjoy all types (Except the Bruce Springsteen/Bob Dylan genre…that actually kinda sucks).  So bring on the songs and Go Braves!

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

We all knew that eventually someone else was going to be batting #3 for the Braves and until recently many Braves fans, including me, thought it was going to be Jason Heyward. It seems to be a sensitive point for many people, especially after reading Vinnie’s blog and all the comments. Like most Braves fans I have loved this kid since before he was called up. I hope he is the Braves #3 hitter of the future, but right now the only team he should be hitting 3^rd for is Gwinnett (or maybe the Mets).

With Chipper back, Martin Prado is back in left field, newly acquired Michael Bourn is in center and Jose Constanza deserves to be in RF. I wish I could say Heyward does, but right now, Constanza gives the Braves the best chance to win and that’s what the pennant race is all about.

Constanza, who has spent five full seasons in the minor leagues, has been putting up good numbers since he signed with the Cleveland Indians organization; He is a career .290AVG hitter and has 233 stolen bases. It’s not like all of a sudden, he is playing over his head—the kid has talent. HE can go get the ball in the outfield, which we have all seen (ask Jose Reyes) and has been a menace on the base path. I love having Constanza at the bottom of the order, teaming up with Bourne to create a weapon the Braves haven’t possessed in many years—SPEED!

Lately the Braves have added speed to go along with their home run power to create a formidable offense to go down the stretch. While the Braves would always be waiting for the 3-run home run, they can now play small-ball and really give pitchers fits when they get on base—which they have been doing tremendously (they just have to figure out how to get them in more often).

I really think this newly added dynamic can give the Braves that edge they need to knock out Philadelphia in the playoffs. That is if their pitching can get back on track…

I was glad when I heard Jair Jurrjens was put on the DL, not because I don’t like him, but he hasn’t been “himself’ since the All-Star break. It looks like it was due to his knee and hopefully this will resolve the problem. The Braves need the Jurrjens that dominated the first half of the year to have a shot at Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hammels.

To take it one step further, I would really like to see Tommy Hanson placed on the 15-day DL to rest the tendonitis in his shoulder. Obviously with San Francisco and Arizona coming to town, I want the Braves best pitchers on the mound (Hanson being one of them), but I want the strongest rotation possible going into the playoffs (yes, I am thinking that far ahead) and a rested Tommy Hanson would give the Braves just that. It’s not like they don’t have a few stud pitching prospects to make a start or two…

*****

Obscure Braves of the week: Charles Thomas

Charles Thomas was selected in the 19^th round of the 2000 draft by the Atlanta Braves. He worked his way through the minor leagues and was called up to the majors in June of 2004, where he was a contributor to the Braves playoff run. He hit .283 7HR 31RBI in 83 games for the Braves and played a terrific LF.

Thomas, teamed along with Andruw Jones in CF and JD Drew in RF led Bobby Cox to nickname the outfield, “The Kudzu Kids” for their speed and ability to track down what seemed like every ball hit to the OF.  The spark Thomas provided the Braves in 2004 reminds me a lot of what Conztanza has done so far this year (except I don’t think Thomas ever licked his bat).

Of course, we all remember Thomas better for being the key piece that was sent to Oakland to get Tim Hudson in a Braves uniform, but Thomas was really good for the Braves, but unfortunately for Oakland, not so much.  Thomas last played professionally for the Nashville Sounds, a AAA club of the Milwaukee Brewers, in 2007.

*****

I am a huge Braves fan, but even more so I am a baseball fan. I love the history, the trivia, the players, and the science behind it. It is relaxing and exciting all at the same time—the only game where the defense has the ball. It’s the best game in the world…

One of the things I love to do when talking about baseball is to bring up trivia. I love the Jayson Stark question on Mike and Mike in the Morning, the one on MLB Network, and hell, even the AFLAC questions every game.

While I was in Atlanta, Walter Banks was grilling me on some questions and I felt like I held my own. I want to pose the same challenge to the readers on Atlanta Baseball Talk, so here is a trivia question for you. I just want to preface this by saying Ron Gant is DEFINITELY not an answer…

Five teams in baseball have retired the jersey #5, who are they players?

No cheating!

Follow me on Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

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You go to one of your favorite eateries and have a seat.  The waitress comes over and takes your drink order and says “let me tell you about our specials tonight”.  And then it happens. WOW, that special sounds GOOD!  Your mind starts racing.  You think, “I know what I’m in the mood for, and I know what I usually order here is good, and even when it’s not that good it’s still pretty good…ARRRRGGGHHH”!  Dammit!  Why did she have to tell you the specials?  Now you’re totally torn.  You make a game time call and you go for it!  “The Special” it is.  It comes to your table and it’s “ok”, but you kinda wish you’d stayed with what you really came for.  So much for your yummy night out on the town.  Right now, Jason Heyward is that old faithful meal and Jose Constanza is that really good sounding special.

Look, I know what most of you will say.  The Braves have to play the hot hand.  They have to go with who is playing well.  And, on the whole, I’ve always believed that, too.  There’s no “I” in TEAM.  The collective is greater than the individual.  Winning and team success trumps individual achievement.  But baseball is different.  It’s not really a team sport.  It’s an individual sport masquerading as a team endeavor.  And the Braves need Jason Heyward to develop as an individually singular “great player”.  I’m sorry, Constanza is not Heyward.  He’s not even in the same ballpark as Heyward…well, physically he IS…but you get my point.  Jason Heyward NEEDS to be great.  He needs to be successful.  And Fredi Gonzalez needs to let Heyward play everyday.  I know, I know.  You don’t have to tell me about Heyward’s struggles.  Look, I took the guy in the second round of my fantasy draft.  He’s been stinking it up more than you will after eating that special you shouldn’t have ordered.  And for a long while I’ve been in the “sit him down, send him down, put him down, whatever” camp.  But I’ve changed my thinking.  He JUST turned 22.  He’s never struggled to perform at a high level in his life.  He’s a superior athlete with tremendous skill.  Growing up, there were times where I just wanted to say “I got it, I got it, don’t worry” when faced with a challenging task.  Even though I had NO IDEA how I was going to achieve that success.  It’s all part of maturation.  Failing…sometimes failing badly.  Heyward has no choice (and the Braves don’t either) but to work through his struggles and overcome them. 

Yes, the Braves have a team that can win now.  And if Heyward isn’t playing up to snuff, he’s hurting Atlanta’s chances to make the playoffs, go deep and maybe win it all.  But at the beginning of this season, didn’t everyone consider Heyward a BIG part of this team and its estimated success in 2011?  Wasn’t he thought of as the present AND future of the Braves ballclub?  The Braves MUST let Heyward play.  Constanza is a good story, but he’ll be irrelevant by the time this blog gets posted.  If you need a real world Braves example, remember Wilson Betemit?  Remember when people were calling for him to take over 3^rd base and for Atlanta to get rid of Chipper?  Chipper may now be a shell of what he was, but at that time, getting rid of him would have been pretty stupid.  Not letting Heyward play through this would also be pretty stupid.

So an open request to the Atlanta Braves.  Don’t bring me a menu, don’t read me the specials.  Just give me “The Jason Heyward”…with a World Series on the side for dipping.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

Their starting pitching has taken a step back (and another now with Jurrjens back on the DL) and are leaving tons of guys on base—case in point; Sunday’s loss to the Marlins where they had 13 hits and only managed 1 measly run. It was really terrible to watch.

The Braves did improve themselves recently, adding speedster Michael Bourn to the top of their lineup, but if they can’t get hits with guys on base, he is just going to add to the LOB issues. I have to say, the buzz around the Bourn deal came with mixed results from the crew at Turner Field. Most of the people who work at the TED were not high on the deal; I definitely don’t think it was a disaster. Bourn is a great leadoff hitter and as long as he keeps hitting .300 and stealing bases it will be a solid deal (easier said than done). Though, my first reaction when I heard about the deal was, “Please don’t turn into Nate McLouth.” As you may remember, Bourn is not the first former All-Star and Gold Glove winning center fielder the Braves has acquired to bat leadoff…

I was expecting the Braves to add a right-handed bat, to compliment Eric Hinske off the bench and I still do. It will have to be a waiver deal, but I am 98% certain they are going to go and get a RH hitter before the rosters expand on September 1^st.

Now beggars can’t be choosers, so I am not expecting the world here. I’d be very happy with a guy like Oakland’s Josh Willingham or the Cub’s Russ Johnson; similar to the Giants acquisition of Cody Ross last season.

In terms of the right-handed reliever the Braves were expected to add, I am now fine with promoting from within.  I like the job Anthony Varvaro has done so far since being called up from AAA Gwinnett. It seems like every game we went to over the past week; Varvaro was on the mound—probably because he has been.

I also think there is a good chance the Braves may bring up Arodys Vizcaino to throw some heat from the ‘pen. He has been dominant for Gwinnett since being moved to the bullpen to cut down on his innings and I think he’s do the same in the majors—kind of like Neftali Feliz did in his first year with Texas. Then again, if Peter Moylan comes back like himself, we won’t have to worry.

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I have to take a moment to thank a few people that went above and beyond to make our time at Turner Field truly a memorable experience. First off, my good friend Roger and his wife Cathy were amazing to us the whole time. We had terrific seats down the first base line for the first three games and were able to get up to the Golden Moon Casino Level to avoid the blistering heat Sunday.

We were lucky enough to spend some time with Walter Banks down in section 105 and had a great time talking Braves, baseball and Atlanta history with him. He couldn’t have been more friendly and welcoming to us. Walter truly deserves all the praise and attention he gets.

Lastly, I have to say the staff at Turner Field is the friendliest of any sporting event we have attended. Everyone is always quick to say ‘hello’ and ask how we are doing. It starts at the top and trickles down to every employee we met. This definitely is not the case anywhere else and it definitely is noticed and appreciated.

*****

Obscure Brave of the week: Greg Colbrunn.

Greg Colbrunn was drafted in the 6^th round of the 1987 Draft by the Montreal Expos and played in the major leagues for a total of 13 seasons. He also had stops in Florida, Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona, Seattle and of course, Atlanta.

Colbrunn was a member of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks World Series team. He is now the Manager of the Charleston River Dogs, a Class A affiliate of the New York Yankees.

Battling for a playoff spot in 1997 and 1998, the Braves needed a right-handed bat to come off the bench (sound familiar?) and Colbrunn was the guy both years. He was a decent hitter, but I never thought he was anything special. I am hoping the Braves can get a guy of a higher caliber this year…

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY

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The hotel has been sold out since April and I got one of the last two rooms. As my luck would have it, it turns out they were both handicapped rooms. My shower is about 3 feet off the ground—it literally hits me in the knee when it’s turned on.  But I’m in Atlanta, I can see the TED from my window and the Braves are playing again today!

I have been able to do some really cool things here so far, thanks to a really good friend that works for the Braves. I have been documenting everything on a Flip Cam (shameless plug) and will be making a video of the entire trip.

My first game here (against the Pirates) was tough. A lack of offense was the cause of the Braves demise once again, something I am hoping changes very soon with a deadline deal. It definitely won’t be Hunter Pence, as he was dealt to the Phillies last night. I hope it won’t be Josh Willingham, Coco Crisp and definitely NOT Ryan Ludwick.

I think Carlos Quentin is the best fit for the Braves right now. He provides right-handed power and is very affordable for the next hear and a half—I actually thought he was the guy, even before Pence was dealt. I especially thankful the Braves didn’t give up two of their top four pitching prospects as reported!!!

I would also be OK with BJ Upton under two circumstances: The Braves don’t give up too much and he turns his attitude around. Of course , the latter is much for of an unknown and a gamble. He is the most talented guy out there on the market, but can he and will he harness that into his play on the field? That’s the million dollar question. I think he can; especially with the Braves.

Then there is Michael Bourn. It would be ideal for the Braves to add a proven leadoff hitter at last. I saw a tweet last night with a projected lineup including Bourne, and I have to say, it was scary. I never thought I would say this, but all the Braves would need is for Heyward to pick it up—he has truly been awful lately and I have heard grumblings about sending him down to AAA. Now, that may be extreme, but if you look at the way he’s been playing…I get it. It may be the best option for a month or so if the Braves acquire an outfielder.

We now have less than 24 hours until all these questions (and more) are answered. No more rumors and no more what ifs. The Braves are going to get a hitter and possibly a relief pitcher at the deadline. I truly believe it will be a quality player and (for the love of God) not Ryan Ludwick! The Phillies, Giants and Braves will continue to be the class of the league and the only real race this year will be in the NL Central. Who knows, something could be done by the time this blog is posted. We can only sit back and watch…

Obscure Braves of the week: Jose Hernandez.

Jose Hernandez played in the majors for 15 seasons, including the Braves, for their stretch run in winning the 1999 National League Championship—he was acquired at the trade deadline, along with pitcher Terry Mulholland.

Hernandez played for a total of 10 different teams; I could write another blog to list them all, but I will just say he was known primarily as a Cub. In 2002 he was sitting at 187 strike outs for the season (one shy of the ML record at the time), but his manager kept him out of the lineup 4 of the last 5 games of the year, as to avoid being the “Strikeout King.”

My most vivid memories of Hernandez involve me screaming at the heavens, “WHY?” when the Braves traded for him and again when he was put in a game… The good news is that it was only for a few months.

I am tweeting constantly during the games down here, so if you feel so inclined…

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

Until Next Time…Go Braves!

Larry Wayne Jones, Jr. (Chipper) is 39 years old.  And the fact he’s still playing at the highest level is amazing.  He won a batting title at 36 and was an All Star at 36 and 39.  He’s a seven time All Star and a two time Silver Slugger Award winner.  And this is on top of his 1999 MVP and 1995 World Series ring.  But from 2004 to present, he’s averaging less than 120 games a season (this is assuming he’ll play 120 in 2011).  He’s been on the DL so much the last few years, they’ve given him Mike Hampton’s old locker.  Now don’t get me wrong, Chipper is one tough dude.  I think his ability to play through pain and rush to play hurt (or not totally healed) is a big reason he’s so vital to the team.  But is THIS Chipper really that vital anymore.  I had a friend that had an old VW Bug.  It ran like a POS, needed water added daily, you could hear the gears shifting through the radio speakers and the car would lock/unlock itself at random.  My friend simply would say “but it’s a good car, it’s been such a good car”.  While Chipper is more valuable than any Volkswagen will ever be (sorry hippies and Fish fans), he’s breaking down and no amount of duct tape will help.  Would you take a road trip with a car if you knew there was a decent chance it would break down?  Would you ask a friend to help you move if you knew deep down they wouldn’t show up?

In 2008, when Glavine came back to the ATL, a buddy called me.  “Dude, I didn’t know Glavine and Smoltz were both back with the Braves.  Good staff now, huh?”  My reply, “Yes…if it was 2001”.  I feel the same about Chipper now.  Yes…the Braves need him.  Yes…Hall of Famer in my mind, no question.  But if Atlanta can’t count on some modicum of health and the organization is constantly scrambling to fill the lineup card with someone else and flip things around, how valuable is he really?  And while we’re all waiting for Chipper to remain healthy and we all keep thinking he’s the key to the Braves success…I’d take a “performing to expectation levels” Jason Heyward over a “healthy” Chipper Jones right now.  And I’d take that because it truly is a drag getting old.  And Father Time is still undefeated.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

When I think about the Braves making a trade, the first question to ask is what do they need? Well, the only players I would want to replace are Wilkin Ramirez (a right-handed outfielder), Julio Lugo (a capable backup shortstop), Scott Proctor (a right-handed relief pitcher), and, until today, Cory Gearrin—who was just sent back to AAA Gwinnett to bring up Cristhian Martinez. I really believe the Braves will need Martinez on their on their roster down the stretch.

So lets look first at the right-handed outfielder…

One of the biggest names linked to the Braves so far has been the Mets’ Carlos Beltran. In a strictly baseball standpoint, I’d love to get Beltran for the next two months. But, on a personal level, I still hate this guy from his days with the Astros. I guess the bottom line is, will he help the Braves win and what is he going to cost?

The answer to the first question, of course, is yes. I have been hearing the Mets like Randall Delgado and Arodys Vizcaino. If the Braves even thought of trading these guys for Beltran, especially to a division foe, I would tell you they are on crack—this can’t happen. I have also heard the Mets have been scouting Mike Minor, this is interesting. Though I still wouldn’t want to see a top prospect traded to the Mets, Minor is the one high-level prospect I wouldn’t mind being traded. The big three (Teheran, Delgado and Vizcaino) simply cannot be traded in my mind (unless the Rockies want to trade us Tulo).

If you were to ask me right now, would you trade Minor for Beltran (taking into consideration the Mets would be paying him), I would say no. I can’t give him to the Mets.

I actually think Minor is going to have some trouble being consistent at the big league level. Plus, the Braves drafted a pitcher that is very similar to Minor (Sean Gilmartin), so if they miss Minor, they will have a guy next year with the same skill-set.

The next name kicking around for the Braves has been the Reds’ Johnny Gomes. He’s barely hitting his weight now, but he KILLS lefties, which something the Braves desperately need. He would also help the Braves gain ground in the highly important neck-tattoo category. Who would the Braves have to give up though? Not Minor.  To make this deal work for the Braves they would need to give up only a low-level prospect with little upside.

The Rays B.J. Upton has been linked to the Braves for over a year. He definitely has the talent, but his attitude has been in question. It could be that a change of scenery would do him well, and I think Atlanta would be a good fit. Of course, I’m sure this would mean the end of Jordan Schafer’s days in Atlanta, but I can handle that; just as long as we get the GOOD Upton, not the guy who doesn’t feel like running after a ball in the gap.

The last name I have heard is the Astros’ Hunter Pence. I would GLADLY trade Minor and others for this guy. He may be the most awkward-looking player ever, but he produces. I would love, LOVE this guy on the Braves for many years.  But the problem is the Astros know he is good and will want the farm for him—though I’d be tempted to give up most of it.

Other names connected with the Braves have been Ryan Ludwick, Reed Johnson, Ryan Spilborghs and Michael Cuddyer (who would be ideal, but has been said to be ‘untouchable’ by the Twins.)

In terms of right-handed pitchers, I have heard the Braves express interest in the Padres’ Mie Adams and Heath Bell, that’s right THAT Heath Bell. Of course both would be set-up men. Can you imagine a back-end of Bell, Venters and Kimbrel?! WOW! I can’t see it happening, especially since they would have to give up a lot for Bell and/or Adams, but I could see a lesser name, like Farnsworth was last year.

I haven’t heard of the Braves potential interest in a back-up shortstop, but I wouldn’t mind an upgrade. Now, if the Braves go into September with Julio Lugo being the guy, I can live with it…But I wouldn’t mind a guy with a little more pop.

Most of the rumors you hear will never come to fruition—it’s always the deals you never hear about or expect that end up happening. I mean who would have thought Rick Ankiel would have been a Brave last year? Not me. But he hit probably the biggest HR of the year for the Braves.

I do have one major problem with the trading these days in baseball. Why is it that just because a team is having a down year, they think they have to trade every one of their good players? Let’s take Hunter Pence for example. Why the hell would the Astros even consider trading their best player? Now, maybe they are just rumors, but if I were the Astros, I’d come right out and say, “There’s NO WAY we are trading the face of our team.” I mean come on!

How about the Rays? There have been a lot of rumors about trading BJ Upton and James Shields. Why would you trade Shields? So, you are behind the Yankees and Red Sox this year, so let’s dump half the team?! Absurd!

*****

Obscure Brave of the Week: Ron Mahay.

Mahay was ‘the other guy” the Braves received when they traded the Rome Braves for Mark Teixeira in 2007. He was originally drafted as an outfielder by the Boston Red Sox back in 1991. He was called up by the Red Sox during the 1994 baseball strike, so he is not in the MLB players association.

After the Red Sox, Mahay played for the Athletics, Marlins, Cubs and Rangers before arriving in Atlanta. He pitched well for the Braves going 1-0 2.25 ERA 23K 28 IP.

Following the 2007 season, Mahay played with the Royals and Twins. He has been in the minor leagues with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks over the last 2 years and just recently signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals on July 5^th.

I will be driving down to the ATL on Wednesday and plan to make a video journal documenting the entire trip (iMovie is amazing!). I will be chilling somewhere between Sec. 111-115; I know a guy…

Go Braves…

Twitter: @BRAVEinNY

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Severus Snape – Bobby Cox.  Nobody saw this coming, right?  Hold on and hear me out.  The thing that Snape and Bobby (or Severus Cox as he might be called) have in common is knowing what WE don’t know.  When he was starting McLouth when no one else thought that was a good idea or trying to give Manny Acosta ONE more chance to prove himself…we screamed at the TV because we didn’t know why.  But give the guy credit; he won with ALL sorts of lineups and rag tag groups of players.  There were a bunch of situations where we thought Bobby’s moves were pure evil (ride the bench Ron Gant).  But take a step back, get all the info and THEN judge.  His motives were for a bigger, much nobler purpose.  So while the guy drove us crazy sometimes, he truly had the best of intentions.  And all those winning seasons should tell us that he’s not a bad wizard at all.  Just misunderstood.

Death Eaters – All New York Yankee players.  I know the line of teams that have fallen victim to the Bombers is long and distinguished (to quote Maverick from Top Gun), but the Braves may have had one of the worst defeats.  Out of the last 14 teams to go up 2-0 in the World Series, only ONE has not won the fall classic.  The1996 Atlanta Braves.  If you close your eyes, you can envision Jim Leyritz floating out to the mound and sucking the soul out of Mark Wohlers (good guy with bad luck that night).  And for good measure, throw in the Mets as death eaters as well.  I’m sure there were some total incompetent, silly, less talented death eaters that were assigned to lesser evils like making it foggy at Hogwarts or moving people’s keys, etc…

Harry Potter – Brian McCann.  This could have been a few different guys (Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Dale Murphy come to mind), but I feel like Mac is comparable to the Boy who Lived.  When we first met him, he lived under the stairs (the stairs being Francoeur’s shadow).  But we saw a quick flash of his skill and power (HR off of Roger Clemons).  He reluctantly took over al leadership role when other/older players didn’t want the responsibility (cough, cough…Chipper Jones, the Braves Hogwarts’ Prefect).  He came into his own when times got tough (Frenchy left, playoff drought, Bobby retired).  And now is a full blooded baseball wizard (he passed all his O.W.L.S.) that can go toe to toe with anyone (All Star MVP, 6 time All Star, multiple Silver Slugger winner).  And he even has his own scar (premature baldness).  But the bald head with the beard is magical.  It only enhances his swagger as our Tri Wizard Champion…umm, I mean…the best catcher in MLB.

Dumbledore – John Schuerholz.  Too easy?  This guy is the “Wizard of Peachtree”.  If The Ted is Hogwarts, then JS is the headmaster.  He’s pulled off so many magic moves you’d think he’s doing that thing where Hermione could be at two places at once.  Schuerholz has put together an organization that runs smoother than a 1^st year’s potions class.  Even when things look dark, this wizard throws up a Tomahawk shaped Patronus Spell and saves the day.  If he just wouldn’t have traded for Mark Teixeira (got caught up in dark magic by mistake).

Lord Voldemort – I’m not sure on this one.  Someone who turned to pure evil and tries to rule the planet with a dark, sinister, malodorous magic?  Man, that list is SUPER long.  I’d LOVE to hear your ideas.  Some that come to mind for me:

1.     Northeast worldwide leader of sports media outlets - (one in Connecticut comes to mind…let’s call it ESAN (Evil Sports Azkaban Network).

2.     Rival organizations/cities – Philly/Phillies, New York/Mets, New York/Yankees just to start.  I know this seems harsh, but, I MUST NOT TELL LIES! Actually, let’s throw all MLB teams in there, except the Cubs.  They’re the Dudley Dursley of the Major Leagues.  The little chubby team that just can’t get out of their own way.

3.    Carpetbagger Fans at the Ted – Really?  You move down here, eat our food, marry our women, get educated in our schools and make a life/living here.  And you can’t even get behind OUR teams.  Is your love for Philadelphia that great?  You were smart enough to move from the “Forbidden Forrest”.  Do yourself a favor and root for the good guys.  Staying a Mets fan once you move to Atlanta is like getting to Hogwarts and making Draco Malfoy your BFF.  Bad move, Slytherin House.

4.    People who order three soft tacos at Chipotle – Seriously?  Those take way too much time to make and I’m in a hurry!  Also, if you get behind someone with a little sheet of paper…RUN!  They are ordering burritos for 7 people and they’re paying separately for all of them.  PURE EVIL, I tell you!

Well, Harry Potter is coming to an end.  But it will always be a part of pop culture.  So do yourself a solid and be a part of “Braves Culture”.  It’s pure magic.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

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It starts Sunday with the Futures Game (which has only been around for the last ten years or so). I think it’s so much fun to watch the star prospects that you don’t normally get to see flash their talents in a major league setting. It was fun to see Julio Teheran again this year—and even better, he started. The star for the Braves though was Arodys Vizcaino, who seemed to just look at the batter and he was out. His outing lasted all of 40 seconds…

Then of course we have the Home Run Derby on Monday night. This has really become the marquee event. I can remember back to the early 90’s when Ryne Sandberg and Cal Ripken Jr. won and it was barely televised. It used to take place during the day and shown on tape delay—now it takes 3 hours just to get through round 1. This year’s Derby seemed to drag on forever; personally I feel it was the most boring one yet. Of course, I was spoiled 3 years ago by Josh Hamilton at Yankee Stadium…

Most people think the Celebrity All-Star Softball Game is awful, but it is one of my guilty pleasures. I don’t know what it is but watching Rollie Fingers, Ricky Henderson  and Fred Lynn take on Dean Cain and whatever other B (or more like C) star celebrities is absolutely fascinating! Hey, Roger McDowell used to do these every year, sporting that rainbow clown wig. He should bring that back…

MLB Network has really brought the day of the All-Star game to life with coverage that rivals Super Bowl Sunday. They show a press conference, red carpet show, batting practice for both teams, and interviews with half the players. It’s probably overkill for most, but for me I just love it! It’s summer and it’s baseball; what else could you ask for?!

Unfortunately Fox has been carrying the game and we have to deal with crazy Tim McCarver and Joe Buck, who is most likely having an All-Star Game in his head where he is the only player. I think it would be great to have the host team’s announcers call the game. Now, I know most announcers are terrible, but ANYTHING is better than the Fox crew—I’d rather have a kid scratching rusty nails on a chalkboard call the game than these guys.

One of my favorite moments is when they are announcing the teams. There’s just nothing like hearing the players on ‘your’ team announced. It is something that has always stuck with me and something I will always enjoy. Of course this year I was VERY annoyed that Tommy Hanson was left out and even more that Jurrjens didn’t start, it was still a fun game.

Apparently, I was in the minority in my feelings this year as the 2011 All-Star Game was the lowest rated EVER. To a point, I totally get it; it didn’t help that Derek Jeter blew it off to ride in a helicopter with Lyla Garrity (for the FNL fans).

Now, the problem is that this game is supposed to be an exhibition of the best players in the game. Every team has to be represented (so you are getting ALL the best players), but it’s nice for every fan to have a guy (or five) to root for. So why this game STILL counts for home field in the World Series is beyond me. I get why they did it, but it’s not working. If there was no tie in Milwaukee it would have never happened, and I hope it never happens again.

This is the best All-Star Game of any sport and I hope it always will be. They just have to keep it to what it was meant for and what it should be—an exhibition.

Obscure Brave of the Week: Jesse Garcia.

Jesse Garcia was a 26^th round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in the 1993 Amateur Draft. He kicked around the minors for a few years before making his MLB debut in 1999. On Dec. 18, 2000 Garcia was traded to the Braves for IF Steve Sisco (Obscure Brave shout out!). Garcia played for the Braves for parts of four seasons, with a career-high 50 games in 2004.

After the Braves, Garcia played a little for the Padres and played in the minor leagues for the Cubs and Astros. He was used as a utility infielder and didn’t hit for much (or at all).

I bring Garcia up now because he is the complete antithesis of an All-Star. Although I think he did play on his Jr. College All-Star team while attending Lee Junior College.

He is no relation to Jerry.

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY

(10 more days…)

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So I’m laying down some SERIOUS rules for the second half of the season.  These are not suggestions, thoughts or ideals that I’d like to see enforced.  We’re talking brand new by-laws here!  I’m communicating with the Braves and Turner Filed as we speak to get these rules implemented (and by “communicating to the Braves” I mean they’ve hung up on me several times, directed me to their legal counsel and have now blocked my phone number).

1.)     The wave – If anyone actually likes doing the wave, please tell me why?  The wave has run its course.  Just like YMCA, the Macarena, the Chicken Dance and Communism.  When they blast YMCA over the loud speaker, don’t you cringe a bit.  When they play “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang at a wedding, don’t you want to punch the DJ?  WHY are we still doing the wave?  And even worse, WHY THE HELL are you doing it in the 8^th inning of a tie ball game.  Everything has it’s time and place.  The time and place for the wave is high tide at Hilton Head Island.

2.)    Calling someone else that’s at the game then waving violently at them – You’ve all been warned.  If it’s before the game starts or in the first inning, I’ll allow it.  Because I know some of you can’t figure out how to agree on a time and place to meet people, so you have to scramble to see each other even though you most likely just saw one another in the parking lot.  But trust me, if it’s the 6^th inning, the game is tied, Freddie Freeman is up to bat with bases juiced and I hear “Hey, Kalee…can you see us?  It’s me, Liam.  Yea…I’m with Tanner, Bryce and Ashton. “   I PROMISE I will rip your bedazzled iPhone from your Bieber-like paw, shove it in your hippie “wanna be cool” hemp purse and fling it into section 336.

3.)    Wearing a suit to the game – Trust me, I know schedules are packed with activities.  But really?  10% of the country is out of work, but you were brokering a “big, couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning deal” 15 minutes before first pitch?  Hey, nothing says “let’s celebrate the good work on the Penske File” like going to a 100 degree game in August in your Men’s Warehouse three piece RIGHT after work.  Do us all a big favor, Trump…take a change of clothes.  Or wear a red suit with a blue Braves bow tie.  That’s acceptable.

4.)    Making me get up during tense moments so you can pass by – If you need to go potty…hold it, sister.  End of discussion.  And if you think you really, really need that funnel cake right when BMac is up to bat, you don’t.  Save it for when Alex Gonzalez is batting.  I would actually like to miss him striking out once and a while.

5.)    Bringing a book or magazine – I usually only see this at Georgia Tech football games, but it happens.  Unless it’s a Street & Smith or some kind of sports reference item, leave it at home.  Save the new Sue Grafton novel for the neighborhood pool.  ***also, any living entity that might fall asleep during a game, leave him/her/it at home.***

I’m sure there’s more I’ve missed and I’d LOVE to hear from you on what gets you sideways at the games.   I know you’re as passionate about the game as I am.  And it’s not just baseball and the Braves.  I love watching sports.  I mean REALLY watching it and checking out all the little things.  That’s what makes live sports so great.  The unexpected little things that make you say “WOW…never saw that before”.  So guys, pack the cooler and buy some peanuts (outside the stadium of course, to save some green).  Ladies, put your hair in a pony tail, run it through the back of your Braves hat and put on that Bravos gear (there’s nothing hotter than chicks wearing team logo gear at the ballpark).  Old people…enjoy the game, but please stay to the right, to allow others that can walk unaided to pass quickly.  I’d like to get to my seat by the 3^rd innings, Claude.  People of the world, let’s all get focused and enjoy this run.  It might be something you can think fondly on for years.  And you’ll never do that with a funnel cake.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

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Uggla, or the guy ‘supposed’ to be Uggla, had been hitting in the .170s all season and looked like he was going to be this year’s Nate McLouth. But in a surprising turn of events, it looks like Mr. Uggla himself is now playing 2B for the Braves. There have been some flashes of power before this year, but nothing like the mammoth shot hit Tuesday night against Colorado. It was followed up by another moon-shot Wednesday.

Uggla has been taking a lot of walks lately, showing that he is seeing the ball much better than the “impostor.” Nothing showed me that this guy is the real deal more than Tuesday night’s double to right center field. He wasn’t pulling off the ball trying to jack one to Tennessee; he was just trying to put a good swing on the ball and take what the pitcher had given…beautiful!

Speaking of Nate McLouth, this is NOT the same player from last year. He, like the new Uggla, is seeing the ball great, taking walks, making solid contact, and maybe best of all, playing terrific defense. McLouth has been aggressive both in the field and at the plate, and as I said before it all has to do with the hair. As soon as I heard that he had grown his hair back out and had the Lance Bass-esque blonde highlights, I knew he was back. Of course, back means he hits .250; but it’s a heck of a lot better than .150.

*****

The Braves are going to finish the first half of the year by making a trip to Philadelphia to face off against the best team on the planet (record-wise of course). They will be going against “The Big Three” (it was four, but Oswalt is on the DL, again), but I’m sure the Braves have a lot to say about starting pitching…

The Braves have actually had better pitching than the Phillies this year and at this point, I think they can stand up with any rotation out there. It has become so much fun (especially lately) to watch the Braves on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter who is pitching on a given day or who they are playing against, it just feels like they are going to win; no matter what.

What is scary is that Beachy and Hanson have spent time on the DL, Hudson hasn’t been the ‘real’ Tim Hudson for a long stretch yet, and Lowe has been up and down. IF these guys get it together, forget about it!

They should have had two starting pitchers named to the All-Star team (Hanson HAS to be named as a replacement!) to go along with two relievers (Kimbrel also has a good shot to be a replacement, joining Venters).  Can I just say this…WHY IS RYAN VOGELSONG AL ALL STAR?! I know a lot of people are bringing up the Omar Infante selection of a year ago, but there is a huge difference—Charlie Manuel named him, NOT Bobby Cox.

Bruce Bochy has made a FARCE of this year’s game naming both Vogelsong (and his whopping 12 starts) and Tim Lincecum (who is 6-7 on the year) to this year’s team. Look I get it, you want your own guys there, but if you are playing to win the game, you need to bring the best players. Leaving Tommy Hanson, who is 10-4 2.52 ERA off the squad is ridiculous and Bochy should be ashamed of himself!

*****

Obscure Brave of the Week: Travis Smith

Travis Smith was drafted in the 19^th round of the 1995 Amateur Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. He played college baseball for the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. He played in parts of five seasons for the Brewers, Cardinals, Braves (twice), and Marlins. He played with the SK Wyverns baseball club in the South Korean League for a year before returning to the U.S. where he pitched for the Las Vegas 51’s, a AAA-affiliate of the LA Dodgers before retiring in 2007.

Smith was a whopping 5’10” 170lbs and as you can imagine didn’t throw very hard, but we was effective for a few starts with the Braves. He didn’t go very deep into games but as least got them a couple wins in 2004. You could say he was a smaller version of Buddy Carlyle, which is pretty small.

My friend Zach and I were driving around the mid-west going to different baseball stadiums back in 2004 and after a game in Chicago (White Sox) we decided (well I decided) that we needed to drive overnight to get to the 1:00pm game in Philadelphia because they were playing the Braves, and Greg Maddux was scheduled to pitch!

It was a tough ride, but we got there at about 6am, killed some type by grilling bacon and eggs at a rest stop and was allowed in the parking lot at around 9am – they actually didn’t charge us to park because they felt bad for us…we were trying to pay in nickels and dimes since we were out of cash (except for ticket money of course).

My excitement turned to disbelief, which turned to anger when I saw this scrawny dude wearing #43, throwing in the outfield with the name “Smith” on the back of his jersey. I had never heard of Travis Smith before and no one in Philadelphia had either—of course they haven’t heard of toothpaste either.

You may remember this game for the fact that as Smith was warming up in the visitor’s bullpen and one fine, upstanding Philadelphia citizen remarked to Leo Mazzone, “Hey Leo, who’s the paperboy?”

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY…

Only three more weeks until my drive down south—I can’t wait!

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Jordan Schafer Bobblehead Night -  Everyone loves a good bobblehead and the more realistic the better.  Schafer’s tiny head won’t be lost on this give-away, it will be more like a bobble-helmet.  I’m picturing a G.I. Joe sized figurine with one of those batting helmets you used to get ice cream in.    What ever happened to the ice cream helmets?

Eric Hinske Tattoo Night – Free Temporary Braves Tattoos to the first 10,000 fans.  Also, as a side promotion, buy 1 get 1 free tickets to any fans with Braves tattoos. The team tattoo is a the sign of a dedicated fan.

Free Bro-Hawk Night sponsored by Great Clips -  If you’re looking for the main reason why the Braves have played so well in 2011 it has to be the starting pitching.  If you need more than one reason than let me point you in the direction of the Bro-Hawk.  Freddie and Uggla have it.  Schafer was talked into it.  Now everyone in the Ted will have a chance to be broskis!

Tim Hudson Soul Patch Night -  I can’t really grow a beard but I’ve always felt the soul patch would be do-able. Nobody, however, pulls off the soul patch as well as Huddy.   Free Soul patches would also help me avoid the sideburns from growing in all Joe – Dirt like.  One other hair related promotion that I considered was Tommy Hanson Red Beard Night.

Dan Uggla Shake Weight Night  – Say what you will about Uggla’s performance at the plate but damn does he have some rock solid forearms.  The Shake Weights will be a nice way to get those arms ready for Tomahawk Chops going deep into October.

Brandon Beachy Ball Night  -  When scanning down the roster looking for players to pair together with a game day promotion, Beachy Ball Night seemed like a no-brainer.  Then some common sense set in.   10,000 beach balls could surpass the White Sox Disco Demolition Night and the Indians 10 cent Beer Night as the worst game day promotion ever.

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3 Up

1. Freddie Freeman – Really impressive week from Freeman.  7 for 14 with 4 HR against the Rockies, is a great sign going forward. I feel the play of Freeman in the second half could be one of the biggest stories to follow.

2. Craig Kimbrel -  Picked up his franchise rookie record 27^th save of the season Thursday.  He seems to be getting stronger as the season goes on.  In his last 10 appearances dating back to June 19, 0 BB to 16 SO and 9 saves.

3. Tyler Pastornicky – The Mississippi Brave hit for the cycle Tuesday night and currently his average is up to .297 on the year.  The bat continues to improve but the challenge to Pastornicky’s path to the Majors is in the field. He is currently leading the M-Braves with 18 errors in 80 games.

3 Down

1. Vogelsong over Hanson -  I can understand where Bochy is coming from, he has to do what’s best for his team but Hanson led a group of about 50 players more deserving of the spot than Ryan Vogelsong.

2. Mark Reynolds -  The guy has serious power and will punish mistakes.  Still its tough to get beat by a guy that has averaged 200 K’s a year the last three seasons.

3. News Surrounding Chipper’s Knee -  The All-Star break would have given a little time for Chipper to get the surgery but now that he will be in Arizona for the game a procedure seems unlikely.  With Prado coming back and Lugo offering defensive flexibility the window to be proactive with this injury is now.

Blaine Boyer – Huge, silly wooden necklace.  My only regret is that it wasn’t too heavy that he couldn’t get to the pitcher’s mound.  Total gas can.

Kyle Davies – His performance in Boston after just being called up was AWESOME.  I liked that kid.

Joey Divine – The home runs he allowed in the playoffs still have not landed.  He deserved better from the Braves.

Chuck James – He went from installing windows to having to most wins the second half of 2005 on ANY MLB pitcher I believe.  Then, like Keyser Soze…POOF…he was gone.

Brain McCann – 6 time All Star and best catcher in MLB

Brayan Pena – He was the one player from Cuba that fans liked (Yunel Escobar being the other).

Andy Marte – Ummm…I’ll get back to you on him.

Jeff Francoeur – See below.  I’ll always root for him.  Stand up guy and good person.

Ryan Langerhans – The Langer “Hands” kids in the upper outfield stands.  Quite Clever.

Kelly Johnson – I still boo him when I see highlights of D-Back games.  Potential spoiled.

Macay McBride – I don’t remember him, but he needs to have a sandwich named for him at McDonald’s.  What were his parents smoking and/or injecting when they named him?

None of these cats were born before 1981 and that made for a young, inexperienced team.  But they gave the Braves what they sorely needed.  A shot of excitement and energy Bravos’ fans hadn’t seen in a while.  And the head of that class was Jeff Francoeur.  Frenchy was OUR guy.  Born in Atlanta.  Raised is Gwinnett.  Got all sorts of press at Parkview High School.  And he came on the scene with a BANG!  Jeff should have won Rookie of the Year and his mug was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the heading “The Natural”.  He was going to be the face of the Braves for years to come.  But it didn’t work out that way.

He worked out in the offseason and got totally muscled out.  He became impatient on the plate and struck out more than Dan Uggla is doing now.  He just wasn’t right and wasn’t playing well at all.  Then, out of nowhere, he was traded to the Mets.  He now is actually playing well for the Royals and I’m happy for the guy.  But during all that time here in Atlanta…the real player was coming into form.  Brian McCann was going from Francoeur’s sidekick to full blooded leading man.  His maturation from rookie to leader of this Braves team is something else.  And the moral of this story is one that a certain Braves player needs to pay attention to.  That player is Jason Heyward.

If you haven’t noticed, JayHey is STILL trying to figure it out while his buddy is killing it.  His buddy is one Freddie “Fab 5” Freeman.  Freddie is solid defensively at first base, he’s hitting for power and seems to have a durability that Heyward doesn’t have just yet.  Freeman is a good pick for NL Rookie of the Year and he seems to be getting better and better each day.  Heyward came in with a bunch of bells and whistles.  And rightfully so.  But he needs to realize that Freeman made be this groups B-Mac.  So hopefully Jason can get it going again and become the superstar we all want him to be.  Because I just don’t think anyone wants to see HIM wearing royal blue anytime soon.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

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Like Cox, Gonzalez has done a good job not getting to high during winning streaks and not getting too low during losing streaks. The Braves remain a very professional team and are still a top MLB franchise. There is just one place that the two managers differ, and it’s something I think needs to change…

We all know Cox was famous for getting ejected; He’s done it more than anyone else in baseball history. We could all hear him cheer his players at bat or bark at the umpires for what seemed like every pitch that went against the Braves for 20+ years. Gonzalez on the other hand, is the most quiet manger I have ever heard—or NOT heard.

There have been a good deal of calls that have gone against the Braves recently, and for the most part Gonzalez was nowhere to be found. A couple times he has peeked out of the dugout and had what seemed like a gentleman’s talk about the call, but I haven’t seen him get fired up once (Cox-158, Matt-1, Fredi-0; as a Brave).  I saw his face get red once, but it just turned out to be gas.

I want to see Fredi get fired up and yell! I want to see him get red-faced, in an umpire’s grill letting him know, in no uncertain terms, he blew the call…Just once! I want him to fire his team up, which they have desperately needed on more than one occasion. Like when they are losing 2 of 3 to the Padres; twice! Or, when the Mets are kicking their butts; twice! The offense has been slumping on and off all year and maybe a profanity-laced tirade would get them going—it worked for Bobby. So here is what I’m proposing…

We need to set up a quota for Fredi Gonzalez. He needs to get the boot a minimum of 6 times a year (just once a month), or there will be consequences (he needs to squeeze one in before the All-Star break too, just to get off on the right foot). I’m not asking him to be Ozzie Guillen or to challenge Bobby’s record, I just want to see a guy who gets behind his team and lights a fire under their butts when they need it.

Of course there is only one Bobby Cox; With a new regime comes a new way of life. Braves fans can adjust to a new face in the dugout, but a manager who isn’t getting rung-up on a regular basis? We’re only human for God’s sake!

*****

Obscure Brave of the Week: Albie Lopez.

Since we are on the topic of getting angry and yelling, here’s a guy that made me, and the rest of Braves Nation, scream at their TV on a regular basis.

Lopez was drafted in the 20th round (529th) in the 1991 Amateur Draft by the Cleveland Indians. He made his MLB debut with the tribe in 1993 and played there a few seasons before being selected in the 2nd round (48th) of the 1997 Expansion Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He moved on to Arizona, Atlanta and finally the Royals before moving on the Independent baseball in 2004.

Lopez signed with the Braves prior to the 2002 season (I am still asking myself why) and was horrendous, going 1-4 4.37 ERA. Luckily, he was hurt most of the year. WOW—I know that sounded horrible, but we were all thinking it, right? Signing Lopez has to go down as one of the worst Braves decisions in the last 25 years.

He currently pitches for the Edmonton Capitals of the Northern League. At least the Canadians have to put up with him now…

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

Go Braves!

Friday nights starter was Todd Redmond. I rarely feel bad for professional athletes, they get to play a sport they love for a living but its hard not to feel a little bad for Todd Redmond .  When most baseball experts begin talking about the Braves farm system the first thing they mention is the great, young pitching.  Redmond is neither great nor young but still you have to wonder if on another team he might get a chance to get that call to “The Show.“  Only 26, Redmond is in AAA for the third straight year, so for him there is still hope that he might develop into a back of the rotation starter down the road.  A former 39^th round pick for Pittsburg, Redmond has already exceeded most expectations by making it this far in professional baseball.  Redmond did not have it going Friday night, he gave up 8 earned runs in only 4 innings in picking up the loss.  I’m willing to give him a free pass on the poor outing since his mood must have been passive due to the fact Columbus was wearing pink jerseys in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. 

Saturday nights game was the one game I was really looking forward to since Julio Teheran was pitching.   Braves fans really turned out for this one and it was an amazing atmosphere that night with over 11,000 fans, the biggest draw for the 4 game series.   The crowd was awesome, my seats were not.  Located down the first base line and 20 rows up it was hard to see the location on Teheran’s pitches but for the most part he pitched really well.  I was hoping he could blow hitters away and have double digit strikeouts but that didn’t happen.  Teheran only struck out 4 but really made only one mistake when the Clips started the bottom of the third with a leadoff homer.  He pitched out of a jam in the 5^th and finished the night giving up only 1 run in 7 innings and getting the win in a 5-1 victory. 

Mike Minor pitched Sunday night in what turned out to be the best game of the series.  The Clips’ were all over Minor in the 3^rd where he was not sharp at all and they made him pay for his mistakes.  Minor loaded the bases then walked in a run on 4 pitches, struck out a batter and then gave up a grand slam.  After the 5 run third, Minor settled down and his final line was 6 hits, 5 ER, 4 BB, and 5 SO in 5 innings.  I was a little disappointed in the Minor as I expected him to continue his strong pitching from his last start in the majors and dominate in AAA, not beat himself with terrible control.  Minor was let off the hook for the loss when the G-Braves scored 5 in the 9^th thanks to recent acquisition Chris Carter’s grand slam. G-Braves win 8-5. 

By the time Monday’s game rolled around I was completely burnt out on the minor league game day promotions. The dizzy bat race just seemed childish, mascot tomfoolery became predictable, and even the kiss cam was dull.  I only took a few notes but and the G-Braves won Monday’s game, 5-1 and took 3 games in the series against a good Columbus team that has several good prospects. 

I mentioned the pitching in the series but there where three guys on offense I wanted to see in person; Mauro Gomez, Jose Constanza, and Stefan Gartrell.  Here are some of my thoughts on what I saw in Columbus from these three. 

Gomez has had a solid year for Gwinnett with a .830 OPS but is blocked by Freddie Freeman and will likely not be getting to the majors any time soon.  I was hoping to see tremendous raw power from Gomez but he really had a bad series and didn‘t show me enough to think he can contribute to the big league club. He did hit a homer on Saturday night but strike out in 7 of his 16 at-bats in Columbus.  The Domincan’s got quad-A player written all over him if he can’t find a little discipline at the plate.  You know what they say though, “You don’t walk off the island.”

Constanza is having a career year and leads Gwinnett in average, triples, and steals.  Unfortunately, he ended up getting hurt in Sunday’s game and was replaced in the lineup.  That was the last I saw of Constanza and to be honest  I’m not really sure why I like him so much after seeing him play a few games.  He is small and is a tough out, but with little to no power and Jordan Schaefer ahead of him, he is organizational depth at best.  Consider my man-crush for Constanza officially over. 

Gartrell is a guy I want to see the Braves give a chance as he is probably no better or worse than Wilkin Ramirez.  A 31^st round pick of the White Sox in 2006, Gartrell has been solid but not spectacular in his minor league career.  His power numbers have improved every year his .879 OPS this season is a career high.  I really wanted to see how he played in right field. His range seemed average and I didn’t get to see him show off his arm in any of the games and Gartrell did not have a great series at the plate going 3-15. For the record, none of my three batters I was looking forward to seeing did well at the plate, combined 9-40. 

This year I’ve probably watched either part or all of over 100 baseball games and these 4 games with Gwinnett in town were the first games I’ve seen in person.  It’s a completely different experience being at the game as opposed to watching on TV.  I forgot how much I loved just being at the ball park, hearing the crack of the bat, the pop of the mitt.  Now I can’t wait to get back to the park. I’ve already started counting down the days until the Bravos return to the Buckeye State.

As of this weekend, the only team that has more wins than Atlanta is Philly (I’ll pause as you boo violently or vomit).  Other stats to consider:

1.)   Second highest winning % in NL

2.)  Only three teams have more one run wins in MLB

3.)  No team has played more extra inning games (See, there’s EXTRA value in being a Braves fan, the most free baseball in the league)

4.)  Only two teams in NL have more day game wins (I guess no one has blue eyes that plays for the Braves, unlike Josh Hamilton)

5.)  They would be leading all other MLB divisions except the AL East.  They would be 2.5 games behind the New York Yankees (again…pause for vomit or boo break)

6.)  The top two ERAs in the NL – Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson (But wait, that can’t be right? Supposedly the only entity with a better rotation than Philadelphia is the Planet Earth)

7.)  First NL pitcher to 10 wins – Jurrjens (Sorry, Nurse Halladay)

8.)  Craig Kimbrel’s 20 saves ranks 4^th in NL.  And he’s had the most save opportunities at 25

9.)  And the only team to have more injuries is Custard’s 7thCalvary at the Battle of Little Big Horn

So what does all this say?  The Braves have been hanging in there all year.  Their pitching has been keeping them in games.  They’re leading the Wildcard.  And this is with everyone but Fredi Gonzalez on the DL (though I’ve heard he strained his right wrist when he tipped his cap to the Mets for the 19^th time in a three game series).  So now everyone is back except Martin Prado.  And don’t get it twisted, he’s a HUGE part of this Atlanta Braves team.  But if Uggla keeps slowly getting better and better…and the pitching stays warm to hot…and Jordan Shaffer keeps rolling along…and McLouth can keep LF warm; When Prado comes back, it will be like when the Braves got Mark Teixeira (Except Prado will actually help win games for Atlanta).  He’ll be this generation’s Fred McGriff.  Instead of the Crime Dog, that will be Prado’s nickname, the “Crime Hombre”.  Or maybe “The Bandito”.  Something cool like that.

So while Fredi doesn’t go all crazy like Rollie and Jason Heyward isn’t Ed Pinckney, maybe Braves fans can begin to get excited.  Maybe the Braves are the real “Beasts of the NL East”.  Just like in College basketball, the longer a team hangs around AND hangs around AND hangs around in baseball, the more likely something special might happen.  So let’s petition for them to put up basketball nets at Turner Field.  That way the Braves have something to cut down when they win it all this year.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

Over the past week I’ve been experiencing a slight to moderate to pain behind my left knee which blossomed into treacherous pain throughout my left leg with no visible sign of anything abnormal….until yesterday when I found small bumps on it. So, I call my doctor (who I have on speed dial), go to see him and find out that I have Shingles.  SHINGLES?! Isn’t that something my grandmother should get because she craps herself every night and sleeps in it?

Couple that with the fact that I have somehow gotten old.  Plain, old.  I may not look old (I was ID carded twice before I could see Pineapple Express). I may not technically be old, but since “you’re only as old as you feel,” I am 71, not 31—an old 31.  In coming to terms with this, from now on I will eat dinner at 4:30 PM, wear my pants so high that ball hangs out of my pant leg, and will be trading-in in my Volkswagen for a Buick.

What does this all have to do with the Braves you ask? I think the Braves and I are a lot alike. They are in contention most years and are regarded as one of the top organizations in baseball if not sports with a higher payroll than most teams. But like me, their share of unavoidable aggravation is never far behind.  They avoid catastrophe (heck, they’re not the NY Mets)…but if it can happen to a team, it will happen to the Braves.

From the press box fire on Fred McGriff’s first day, to Brooks Conrad’s errors in the 2010 playoffs, injuries like losing Chipper and Prado at the end of last season, to John Smoltz’ many arm injuries, to Andres Galarraga’s lost 1999 season, big time players (we are told) who haven’t panned out yet (McLouth and Uggla), playoff meltdowns like the entire 2000s… All nothing that destroy the Braves entirely but just enough to put them out of it until the next set of happenstance.

*****

Obscure Brave of the Week: Dan Kolb

Well, he is not so much obscure, but he fits this blog too well. This week, let’s call it Unfortunate Brave of the week…

Here is a perfect case of the Braves making a seemingly great move but as their luck would have it, turned out to be a calamity.

Kolb was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 6^th round (150^th) of the 1995 draft out of Illinois State University. He made his MLB debut with the Rangers in 1999 before moving onto the Milwaukee Brewers where he made a name for himself. From 2003-04, Kolb saved 60 of 67 games for the Brewers and was named to the 2004 NL All-Star Team.

Before the 2005 season, Kolb was traded to the Braves for hot prospect Jose Capellan and minor league pitcher Alec Zumwalt. Kolb was set to replace John Smoltz as the Braves closer, but, was horrendous, going 3-8 5.93ERA and just 11SV before being replaced by Chris Reitsma (who himself is eligible to be DREADFUL Brave of the Week in a future blog).

Following the 2005 season, Kolb was traded back to the Brewers for pitcher Wes Obermueller and a bag of…..well, you know.  I think the Braves would have given away another top prospect to get Kolb out of town.  Maybe they could have sent three of their top prospects to Milwaukee and then watch them play in the World Series two years later.  Wait, that happened in 2010 when the Gwinett Braves, err… Texas Rangers won the AL pennant.  See what I mean?

I have spent so much time watching the Braves over the years. No matter what was going on in my life, this was the one constant. I watch now more than ever and I think part of it is that it is a tie to my childhood and good times in my life, as well as the bad times baseball helped me through. I feel like I’m going to make a Field of Dreams/Terrence Mann speech so I will get on with it…

We each have moments that stick with us over the years; here are my top-10 Braves moments during my lifetime.

10. Welcome to the Show (2010): There has never been so much hype around a Braves rookie, but last April, in his first MLB at-bat, Jason Heyward showed everyone why he was this good. I said to my wife when he took the plate “How awesome would it be if the hit a home run?” Well, it was more awesome than I expected. Of course, no one could have missed this, it has been replayed at least 500 times over the last year, but it doesn’t get old.

9. The Benches Clear (1992): It was the first Braves game I attended and it was at the world famous Shea Stadium. John Smoltz was on the hill and it wasn’t his best day. Ryan Thompson hit a grand slam off of him and Smoltz drilled the next batter. The benches cleared and there was a huge pile in the middle of the field. I saw Ryan Klesko pick up a dude and toss him (what seemed like) ten feet. It was the first and only fight I’ve ever seen live.

8. Double Duty (1996): Coming off a Worlds Series win in 1995, the Braves went into the 1996 World Series as heavy favorites against the Yankees. In game 1 John Smoltz went up against the Yankees hot pitcher, Andy Pettitte. Smoltz won the Cy Young Award that year, but he wasn’t the star of the game. 19-year-old Andruw Jones hit home runs in his first two World Series at-bats—the first and only player ever to do so. The Braves blew out the Yankees in game 1 and game 2…I think they called the series after that; I can’t recall. I think it was something equivalent to the 10-run rule in Little League.

7. Classic Maddux (1997): I may be the only one who recalls this game, but during the first year of Interleague Play, the Braves came to Yankee Stadium for a three-game series. A family friend got us tickets a few rows behind home plate and Greg Maddux was on the mound. It was a classic Maddux start, as the game lasted 2hrs 3mins, Maddux threw 88 pitches and the Braves won 3-0 on a Ryan Klesko upper-tank HR.

6. Walk-off Walk (1999): The Mets and Braves were in the height of their rivalry in the 1999 NLCS and the Mets were gaining momentum in the series. They had just come off the Robin Ventura Grand Slam Single and my sleep patterns were suffering. Everyone I went to college with seemed to be a Mets fan and I was getting crap from all of them. I wanted the Braves to win just to shut them up almost as much as I did for being a fan. I don’t know how it happened, but Kenny Rogers walked Andruw Jones with the bases loaded to end the series. My main thought that night was, “Phew!”

5. Brooks Conrad’s Walk-off Grand Slam (2010): This is as excited as I have been in the last few years. I was in my office (ducking a meeting) to watch the end of this game. I did everything I could not to run laps around the building shirtless.

4. The Catch (1992): I still can’t believe Otis Nixon jumped that high; neither could Andy Van Slyke. A few years later he came to upstate NY for an autograph signing and he said it was the best play he’s ever made—that was an understatement. It’s probably the most famous defensive play in Braves history.

3. 1995 World Series (1995): Of course this has to be included. The Braves lone Championship of their dynasty capped off a playoff run that not many sportswriters predicted. I vividly remember Joe Morgan saying the Reds were “clearly the better team” and the Braves had no shot in the NLCS. Of course the Braves swept the Reds and then took care of the Indians, who were the powerhouse of the MLB.  I will always remember Marquis Grissom making the catch and Mark Wohlers jumping on the mound.

2. Brian McCann’s Home Run Game 2 NLDS (2005): I was down in Atlanta for the playoffs (the one and only time; so far) and was feeling pretty bummed about the game 1 loss. Then, McCann blasted a HR off Roger Clemens, over the Right-Center field wall. After the game, we saw him walking to the bus and he gave us all high-fives. It was the most exciting game I’ve ever attended.

1. The Slide (1992): I was struggling to stay awake when my grandmother started shaking me saying, “You aren’t gonna wanna miss this—they might do it!” Who would have thought Francisco Cabrera would get that hit, or Sid Bream could run faster than a turtle, but it all happened perfectly. I have had this poster on my wall since 1993 and will always remember this as the best moment of my Braves history.

*****

Losing 2 out of 3 to the Mets, again, is DISGUSTING!!!

*****

Obscure Brave of the week: Mike Bielecki

Since a few of these moments were during the 1992 season, I’d thought I’d stick with someone from this year—so why not Bielecki?

Bielecki was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates (8^th overall) in the 1979 draft. He made his MLB debut in 1984 and played for 14 seasons total, playing also for the Cubs Indians, Angels and of course the Braves. He had three stints with the Braves (1991-92, 1994, 1996-97) and was a solid pitcher out of the bullpen for Bobby Cox.

In 1993 Bielecki had been invited to join teammates Steve Olin, Tim Crews and Bob Ojeda on a fishing boat in spring training, but he ended up backing out. He was very lucky because the boat crashed, killing Olin and Crews, and severely injuring Ojeda.

Bielecki is currently living somewhere on planet Earth.

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

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There is, however, one area baseball needs to address,  and that’s the way most people watch the game.  I don’t mean adding another cup holder to the seats or putting Jumbotron’s the size of football fields into stadiums but changing the product being shown on television or the internet.  Baseball is America’s past time but an ever changing society with constant technological advancements has simply passed baseball by and gravitated to more TV friendly sports, such as football and basketball.

Baseball has always been behind the curve when it comes to adapting to technology.  In 1999 , the NBA announced they would be starting their own TV network via the internet and by 2003, NBA TV was in 45 million homes.  Later that year the NFL launched the NFL Network.  It took 5 full years for baseball to respond with a network of its own.

Baseball simply cannot continue to fall behind when it comes to fans being able to access the game.  I am currently a subscriber to MLB.TV and it is a tremendous bargain compared to the NFL Sunday Ticket and NBA League Pass.  For $130 I can see every out of market MLB game with home and away broadcasts.  NBA League Pass is $180 for the season and that’s about half as many games as baseball.  NFL Sunday Ticket is usually done through a cable provider that requires signing a contract and the final cost of full access for 17 Sundays works out to over $250.

This is a small advantage to baseball but it can be better.   MLB should look into applying the style of the NFL’s RedZone channel into a nightly baseball format.  No commercial breaks, no throws to first, no mound visits, just baseball.  Show live and taped delayed highlights of the biggest at bats in games and show multiple games at once.  Baseball overload.  This might not appeal to the baseball purists, “scoring at home,”  but in 25 years announcers will be saying, “And that’s a 6-4-3 double play, for those of you tweeting at home.”

The topic of realignment will likely get dragged out for another year or two and people’s defense will likely be that this will somehow change the historical aspect of the game.  Maybe all baseball needs to do is change is the way it looks at change and start protecting the future and not the past.

*******

Braves All Star Campaign

Martin Prado  -  It was a real shame last week that Prado landed on the DL as this likely will cost him any chance at making his second consecutive All Star game.  A career .300 hitter, Prado was having a slightly down year at the plate in average but made up for it in other ways.  After playing most of his career in the infield, Prado has made a smooth transition to left field and when it seemed just about everybody was either hurt or out of the lineup entirely, Prado was the glue that held this offense together through the first two months of the season.  Even if Prado wasn’t placed on the DL he likely would not have received enough votes or been a manager’s selection , but if you ask any Braves fan they will tell you that Martin Prado has been our first half MVP.

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The end of the 2012 season will serve as another turning point for the Braves rotation.  Derek Lowe’s contract is up and Wren will have to decide on a club option in 2013 for Tim Hudson.  With both Lowe and Hudson’s age a concern and the depth in the system at starting pitching, I doubt either are brought back following 2012.

At some time in the near future Tommy Hanson will face arbitration but the money left over from Lowe and Hudson’s departures should keep Hanson in a Braves uniform until his late 20’s.  Joining Jurrjens and Hanson in the post-2012 rotation will likely be a combination of Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy, Mike Minor, and Julio Teheran.  That’s six quality starters going into 2013 all under the age of 27 and don’t sleep on Randall Delgado and Arodys Vizcaino.   So where are we going to put them all?  Seems like we need to make a trade or three.

Now it would be unrealistic to expect all 8 of the names above to make significant impacts with injuries and the uncertainty of players actualizing their potential, but there still some depth behind them.  Add in recent draft picks and you have about 5 or 6 other guys that could realistically one day pitch in the majors. Those are the guys I want to see the Braves trade this year, the second tier pitching prospects.  The J.J. Hoover’s and the Brent Oberholtzer’s of the world. Guys with potential, but at the end of the day, guys that we just won’t have room for in the organization.  Granted they won’t fetch much in return but if you package a few nice prospects together we could probably find a trade partner to bring in some much needed power into the lineup.

Now let’s look at the offense.  As I mentioned in Part 1 of my draft recap, Frank Wren seems determined to someday replace Alex Gonzalez, whose contract is up at year’s end, with home grown talent.  I still wouldn’t be surprised to see a shortstop in the system packaged in a trade though.  The recent signing of journeyman Julio Lugo and the combination of drafting several SS makes me think Frank Wren has something up his sleeve.  Hopefully that “something” is a power hitting left fielder.  Easier said than done, I know, but with so much pitching depth there is little risk to making a small move.

It’s starting to get redundant but let’s face it, Dan Struggla is KILLING US!  At what point do you just face the facts and decide he can’t be counted on everyday?  My suggestion is to move Prado back to 2B and try to find an upgrade in left field.  Here’s my list of potential left fielders that might be on the move before the trade deadline:

David DeJesus   LF  Oakland Athletics -  Billy Beane will be looking to make a few moves before the deadline as the A’s are sinking fast as a franchise.  DeJesus isn’t having a great year which might make for a reasonable asking price and he is currently making $6 M this year and will be a free agent in 2012.  Beane would probably like to ride out this contract and lose DeJesus in FA to receive the compensatory draft pick but the Braves could offer more.

Alex Gordon    LF   Kansas City Royals -  Never going to happen but this would be a great fit. (None of these speculations will probably happen but welcome to the blog-o-sphere)  The only hope here is that Alex Gordon’s hot start will scare the Royals into fearing a huge arbitration raise for Gordon.  There is no secret that the Royals have the top farm system in baseball but there will be a time in the future where the Royals brass will have to part ways with one of their future stars for financial reasons.  If the asking price starts with the names Teheran and Delgado, end of conversation.

Jason Kubel  LF  Minnesota Twins-  I never said these names would be sexy.  Kubel is a free agent after this season so the risk would be limited and the Twins are going to be sellers at the deadline as they are already 11 games back in baseball’s weakest division.  Kubel would offer some pop with his bat, he’s averaged 23 HR a season for the last 3 years, but would be a defensive liability in left.  Currently on the DL with a foot injury, which might scare teams away, but the Twins have a promising trio of young OF in Delmon Young, Denard Span, and recent call-up Ben Revere and will be looking to re-build.  This could actually be a nice fit since I don’t see the Braves end of the deal being anything more than a Hoover/Pastornicky combination, and even that might be too much.

Alfonaso Soriano LF Chicago Cubs-   Okay, just seeing if you’re paying attention.  There’s 19 million reasons this will never happen.

Angel Pagan  CF/LF  New York Mets-  The fire sale is coming.  If the Mets can’t make a dead cat bounce up in the NL East standings they could be looking to dump salary before years end.  Mets officials are already saying that next year’s payroll could be significantly lower and Pagan’s contract is up at the end of the year.  Able to play both left and center, Pagan wouldn’t offer much power but some added speed could be nice.

*****

I’m taking a break from the 3 Up, 3 Down segment to focus my campaign efforts for the Braves All-Star hopefuls.  The first Brave I wanted to stake a claim for is “Everyday Jonny.”

Jonny Venters -  4-0  2 SV   38.2 IP    0.47 ERA

If Venters doesn’t make the If Venters doesn’t make the team there is a problem.  Nobody, in all of baseball, has been better out of the bullpen this year.  He has anchored a great Braves pen and has taken a lot of pressure of Fredi Gonzalez late in games.  The only obstacle in Venters way is that traditionally not many set-up men are included on the All Star rosters.  Last year, Hong-Chi Kuo, Arthur Rhodes, and Evan Meek made the NL squad despite not being closers on their teams.  Venters numbers this year are better than all 3 set-up men from last year’s team so there is good reason to believe “Everyday Jonny” will be in the desert for the Mid-Summer Classic.

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The bullpen was lights out (let’s just forget about that blown save on Wednesday; it was a lucky swing) as usual and Jonny Venters continued to make his case for the 2011 All-Star Game. Even Scott Linebrink joined in and earned a save!

The Bad: Once again, the Braves offense didn’t fare as well as the pitching—they have averaged 2.6 runs for the last 10 games. It seems like 2010 all over again, but at least that team broke out of the slump (eventually), this team has yet to break out for an extended period of time.

The Braves really do miss Jason Heyward, but it’s nothing like ESPN reported this week—basically saying Chipper is ‘calling out’ Heyward for not playing through pain. Of course this was taken way out of context (as usual) and there is no feud between the two. The fact is, Heyward is a huge presence in the lineup and he helps the Braves win. Eric Hinske has been playing great in RF for the past couple weeks, but he’s no Jason Heyward (sorry Vinnie!).

Uggla: Dan Uggla is really fighting it; I find myself pining for the days of Nate McLouth’s .180AVG. Uggla, who is now down to a .170AVG, actually finds himself in a very similar situation to McLouth; when do the Braves make a change? Although Uggla is not hurting them in the field, he is almost a sure out right now and if I were a pitcher, I’d throw him nothing but sliders off the plate. He is pulling off every pitch and if I can see it, why don’t the Braves?

During a recent broadcast, it was noted that hitting coach Larry Parish (I’m paraphrasing now) “wasn’t going speak with Uggla and make a change unless Uggla came to him first.” My reaction to this is WHAT?! What is a hitting coach for then? I don’t care who they are, or if they want help or not. If a guy is bailing out of the box, pulling off every pitch and killing the team, you better damn sure try and fix it! I hope the report was wrong.

The same thing goes for Uggla. He knows he is in a huge slump; trying to justify the contract he signed, why wouldn’t he go to the hitting coach for help? Now, maybe there are some things going on behind the scenes, but from everything I’ve seen and everything TV/Radio broadcasters and baseball writers have seen, nothing has been done yet and if Uggla doesn’t turn it around, the Braves need to take a serious look at 2B.

Obscure Brave of the week: Rudy Seanez.

Seanez was a relief pitcher for the Braves from 1998-2000 and signed with the Braves again toward the end of 2001. He pitched a total of 17 seasons starting in Cleveland, then made his way to San Diego, Los Angeles (Dodgers), Toronto, Boston, Kansas City, Florida and finally Philadelphia—phew that was a lot!

Seanez was an aggressive pitcher who could get his fastball up in the 96-97 MPH range and had a good changeup. He was a solid reliever for the Braves and was one of the guys that Leo Mazzone seemingly got from parts unknown and transformed into an above-average pitcher.

Back in the late 90’s I used to send baseball cards to players for autographs, since I lived in NY and didn’t get to many games at the time. I did so for Seanez, feeling like he probably didn’t get much fan mail, so I’d have a good shot at getting an autograph. Well, I did…but he also sent me a pamphlet about the devil; dead serious. It was all about Satan…fun stuff.

Seanez currently owns a Cold Stone Creamery in California…maybe I’ve spoken to him—my company deals with Cold Stones every day.

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

2008- 9 of the first 11 picks in the Frank Wren era were pitchers.  The only player to make it to Atlanta so far from this draft has been Craig Kimbrel.  Kimbrel alone makes this draft passable but with prospects Paul Clemens, Brett Oberholzer, and J.J. Hoover all under the age of 23 and pitching well in Double-A, (Hoover has been promoted to Gwinnett but has struggled in limited work) the 2008 class has a chance to be an above average draft.

2009- Wren’s second draft was a little more balanced as far as the ratio of pitchers to position players.  This was not a great draft for the Braves.  Mike Minor, 1^st pick / 7^th overall, was highly criticized at the time but now appears to be the only Major Leaguer in the entire class.  There was hope Mycal Jones, 4^th Round / 118 overall, could develop into the next shortstop for the Braves but he has already been moved to centerfield and has struggled in his age 24 season.  The only player that can save this draft from being a total disaster might be 11^th round pick, Chris Masters who at age 23 has pitched his way into being a fringe prospect.

2010-  The goal for the 2010 draft class was to replenish the system with position players as 8 of the first 10 players drafted were fielders.  It’s still way too early to put a grade on this class but the farm system is now stocked full with depth at SS.  1^st round pick Matt Lipka and 2^nd round pick Andrelton Simmons have put up numbers that should allow them to move up and join Tyler Pastornicky as the biggest threats to Diory Hernandez’ existence with the Braves.

Now here’s a list of the Braves 2011 top 10 selections with their college stats from this year and some of my initial reactions.

1. LHP  Sean Gilmartin Florida State

12-1  16 GS  113.1 IP  86 H  5 HR  20 BB  122 SO  1.83 ERA

2. SS Nick Ahmed Connecticut

183 AB  51 R  61 H  11 2B  2 3B  2 HR  35 RBI  26 BB  18 SO  23 SB  6 CS  .333/.432/.448

3. 3B  Kyle Kubitza Texas State

226 AB   59 R   70 H   12 2B  7 3B  10 HR  66 RBI  54 BB  48 SO  16 SB  3 CS  .310/ .446/.558

4. RHP J.R. Graham Santa Clara University

3-5   5 GS  23 App   62.0 IP  53 H  1 HR  9 BB  45 SO   3.34  ERA

5. C Nick Desantiago Blinn College

115 AB  31 R  36 H  4 2B  19 RBI  .313 AVG

6. RHP Mark Lamm Vanderbilt

5-0   1 SV   25 APP   26.2 IP   26 H  2 HR  3 BB  20 SO    2.03  ERA

7. RHP  Cody Martin Gonzaga

2-1  12 SV  25 APP   52.1  IP  30 H  1 HR   19 BB  63  SO   0.86  ERA

8. 2B Thomas La Stella Costal Carolina

231  AB  59 R  92 H   15 2B  4 3B   14 HR  70 RBI   32 BB  18 SO   7 SB  4 CS    .398/.476/.680

9. LF Chase Larson Cameron University

190 AB  74 R   82 H  13 2B  4 3B  29 HR  84 RBI  35  BB  28 SO  3 SB 0 CS   .432/.530/1.000

10. SS Logan Robbins Western Kentucky

199 AB  34 R  57 H  12 2B  2 3B   4 HR   33 RBI  21 BB  46  SO  20 SB  4 CS   .286/.371/.427

On paper this draft resembles the 2009 class with an established left handed pitcher from the college ranks and then a nice balance of pitchers and fielders.

With the Braves second pick being a shortstop I have to think Frank Wren is determined to eventually replace Alex Gonzalez with home grown talent.

All of the top 10 picks were all college players.  Hopefully they don’t have Scott Boras as an agent and can be easily signed.

Gilmartin,  Ahmed, and Lamm’s teams  have all made it to Super Regionals.  Saturday (6/11) at 4:30 ESPNU and ESPN3 will have FSU’s first game of the Super Regional, Gilmartin is the probable starter.  UCONN plays their first game on ESPN 2 Saturday at 6:00 and Vanderbilt plays their first Super Regional game Friday night at 8 ET on ESPNU.

I really wanted us to add a big bat with this draft and after reviewing the college stats I’m looking forward to following Chase Larson’s career.  Cameron University isn’t exactly a baseball factory but 29 HR in 190 AB is impressive.

Doesn’t Robbins sound like a great name for a shortstop?  He is buried in the depth chart at SS but maybe his 20 stolen bases in 24 chances will help pave his road to the big leagues.

Check back with Atlanta Baseball Talk later in the week for my ultimate speculations on what this year’s draft may indicate going forward with trades and potential 40 man roster changes.

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A few weeks ago, the Braves wore what I feel is their BEST uniform they’ve ever had.  The color scheme, the little ‘a’, the feather on the sleeve, the typeset on the player names.  Everything.  Simply an awesome look.  Don’t get me wrong.  I think the uniforms they currently wear are great.  They’re classic, harkens back to tradition, simple, with a flair.  The red detail on the belt loops and the piping going down the chest of the buttons is pretty sweet.  So here’s how I rank their uniforms from 1966 to current from worst to first (just like 1991, baby) listed by year introduced.

2005, red jersey with white pants – Simply horrible.  This is what it looks like if a porn shop had a softball team.  It has no flow to it, no cache, absolutely no redeeming value to it at all.  And it’s not that they’re simply repulsive.  It just looks like something the Marlins, Rays or Rockies would do.  Hey, we have no tradition, so let’s just do something crazy to sell some merchandise.  Totally lame.  Come on Braves, you’re better than that.

1966, Braves script with no tomahawk – In lieu of the uniform having its own unique style, the Tomahawk HAS to be part of the Braves uniform.  The Tomahawk dates back to 1948 and MUST be a part of the Atlanta uniform scheme unless you have another logo or style to replace it that’s much more hip.  The tomahawk symbolizes the Braves organization as much as ANY other logo in MLB (except for the NY of the Yankees…just can’t compete with that).

1980, Baby Blue road uniform - OK.  You either love these or HATE them with a passion.  I love them WITH a passion.  That blue was such a part of so many teams of that era.  It’s kinda hard to hate them if you grew up with them.  It’s like the White Sox “crazy shorts” uniforms or the wacky Astros with the orange stripe look.  Dale Murphy just wouldn’t look the same in today’s uni.  He HAS to be wearing that dashing blue outfit.  Gotta be.

1987, Current design of Braves script with Tomahawk logo – This is such a great uniform.  When you look around not only MLB, but all sports, you see an abomination of color schemes, stupid logos, and transparent attempts to go retro/classic.  This is a uniform that stands the test of time.  This style goes back to around 1948.  And they took some details from even further back.  The classic button down shirt, Tomahawk, piping, black belt.  This is what a uniform should look like.  Unlike some current items across sports like:

1.        Baltimore Ravens stupid helmet logo.  They need to replace it with handcuffs and the phone number to the city’s best bail bonding company.

2.       The Jacksonville Jags and Carolina Panthers uniforms and colors.  Yuck.  Next.

3.       Toronto Raptors.  The entire concept stinks.  Logo, uniforms, mascot.  It’s an injustice to one of “America’s toupee” greatest cities.

4.       Seattle Mariners and Florida Marlins and the color teal.  What the hell?  Tampa and Arizona had the good grace to dispose of that horrid color.  You both need to do the same.  Teal is the color of hospital bedpans, not uniforms.

5.       New England Patriots logo.  It looks like the Arena Football League and the Fat Elvis had a baby.  Just dumb and tacky.  The USFL didn’t have logos that bad.

6.       New York Mets 19 different uniforms looks.  Good grief!  Their uniforms have more combinations than the La Fiesta lunch menu.  What do they call the black jersey with white pants and black/blue/orange caps?  The #4 dinner portion Speedy Gonzales?  For the love of Bernie Madoff…pick a couple and stick to it.

7.       Cleveland Browns.  Really?  There’s NO WAY anyone can sell me on that uniform.  It may be the worst thing I’ve ever seen and the most uninventive, boring, lame uniform in sports.  But if they were designing the Browns uniform to illustrate the city of Cleveland in a single look…they actually did their job really well.

Ok…back to the Braves.  The NUMBER 1 Atlanta Braves uniform in history is:

1974, white and blue with small ‘a’ and feather on sleeve – For all the things I’ve said earlier, this one is so stupendous.  I mean, when you saw the Braves and Phillies in that Day game and they were both wearing this era’s uniform, didn’t you sigh just a little?  Didn’t you say to yourself “dang, they need to wear these more often.”  I don’t want them to go back to these full time.  It would diminish the coolness.  But I want to propose that the Braves make this their Sunday uniform. Frank Wren, if you’re listening, make it so!  Since you’re not too busy getting us some offensive help, you can take care of this, right?

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

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Gwinnett

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Mauro Gomez is killing the ball! He continues to lead the G-Braves offense hitting .328/.367/.570 10HR 36RBI and is begging for a chance to show his power in the big leagues. I’ve mentioned Jose Constanza‘s name before too, and with good reason – he’s hitting .312/.357/.357 12SB. He is the table setter, something that the Braves could use after Schafer took a ball off his eye. Finally, Stefan Gartrell is putting up solid offensive numbers with .290/.329/.548 8HR 28RBI. He plays mostly in RF, so I don’t see much of a future there for him, but he may be a guy that can fill in for a week or two if someone gets hurt.

Of course, we can’t talk about G-Braves pitching without mentioning Julio Teheran. He is the ace of the staff (when he’s not pitching for the big club) and has put up very impressive numbers going 4-1 2.86 ERA 41K 49.2IP 1.19WHIP. Juan Abreu, who we saw a lot in Spring Training, is pitching very well out of the bullpen at 2-0 2.19 ERA 31K 24.2IP. Rodrigo Lopez actually had the best numbers before he was traded to the Cubs this week, so here’s a shout out to him for giving the G-Braves a solid 2 months.

Mississippi

When the Braves traded Yunel Escobar to the Blue Jays they got a very talented guy in Alex Gonzalez to play shortstop. They may have their shortstop of the future in Tyler Pastornicky, who was also included in that deal. Pastornicky is tearing up AA pitching at a clip of .301/.346/.449 5HR 28RBI 9SB. His infield partner, 3B Donnell Linares is also having a good year at the plate hitting .297/.353/.445 4HR 33 RBI. Though he isn’t thought of as a highly ranked prospect, Linares has continued to put up solid offensive numbers over the last few seasons.

The M-Braves pitching staff may be the best in all of the minor leagues. It features Paul Clemens (4-1 2.08 ERA 53K 60.1IP), Randall Delgado (4-3 3.77 ERA 54K 59 IP), J.J. Hoover (2-3 2.27 ERA 44K 47 IP), Brett Oberholtzer (struggling recently at 3-4 4.13 ERA 56K 61.1 IP) and Arodys Vizcaino (2-2 2.45 ERA 37K 40.1IP 1.02WHIP at Lynchburg), who was just called up. I wish MiLB.tv showed more M-Braves games because I would love to see these guys pitch!

Lynchburg

The first year for the Hillcats as a Braves affiliate isn’t going so well. The wins haven’t been there, but a few players have really showed off their skills. Andrelton Simmons is in a groove, batting .309/.357/.370 20 RBI 8 SB. With his great defensive skills, Simmons may be high on the Braves’ Top Prospect list if he can keep on hitting like this. Along with Simmons, 1B Joe Terdoslavich is tearing the cover off the ball batting .279/.332/.558 11HR 31 RBI—not too shabby for A-ball.

There isn’t much to highlight when it comes to the pitching numbers. With Vizcaino no longer on the club, the lone bright spot has been Chris Masters. The 11^th-round pick is 3-2 3.00 ERA 49K 51IP so far.

Rome

The R-Braves haven’t fared so well in the win column either, though they have had some guys with good starts. Jakob Dalfonso has been the guy, hitting .308/.360/.478 7 HR 22 RBI, but he is the DH—last I checked the Braves don’t need one of those and 1B is locked up. Edward Salcedo has really improved offensively this season at .268/.356/.410 5HR 22RBI 9 SB. I know it’s not what we expect of him, but I really think this is the year we see the guys the scouts did. He has moved to 3B and has been a work in progress there, to say the least, with 21 errors so far. Yikes!

Caleb Brewer has led the pitching staff going 2-2 2.97 ERA 47K 60.1IP 1.17WHIP. The 22-year old Georgian has always had good stuff in my mind and I’m happy to see him start off so well. I expect to see him climb to advanced A very soon. Ryan Weber has been the guy out of the bullpen in Rome. Weber, who won’t turn 21 until August, has been lights out so far at 1-0 2.60 ERA 25K 27.2 IP 0.94WHIP.

*****

Obscure Brave of the Week: Trey Hodges.

Hodges was a pitcher for the Braves from 2002-03. He was drafted in the 17^th round of the 2000 Draft out of Louisiana State University. He was sold to the Hanshin Tigers on 2004 but left Japan the next year to kick around the minors for a few years with the Braves, Twins, and finally the Rangers. He last played in 2009 for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Independent Atlantic League. His older brother Kevin was also a big leaguer for the Royals and Mariners.

I first saw Hodges pitch at a Class-A Rookie level for the then Braves affiliate Jamestown Jammers of the New York Penn League. The only thing I remember from that game was he has really, really blonde hair and he signed his autograph with LSU below it.

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GR8 (great) – Martin Prado.  Nuff said.  This cat is leading the Braves in several categories and is clearly the team’s MVP.  Without Prado and his versatility and work ethic, the Bravos would be lost.

OMG (oh my gosh) – Jair Jurrjens. If this guy is keeps this up, the National Media will actually stop talking about Roy Halladay and give JJ the Cy Young Award.   An ERA of 1.51 and WHIP of 1.02???  Dude…OMG J

CYA (cover your a**) – Alex Gonzalez. Gonzo is covering up half the infield.  He has saved several runs this year with his spectacular plays and he cover more ground than Amtrak (and wrecks much less frequently).

SOL (sh** out of luck) – Craig Kimbrel. He’s a disaster waiting to happen OR a total stud.  Bad news for him is that even though he should be a great closer…Jonny Venters IS better.  So CK needs to be worried and might just be SOL.

XXOO (hug and kisses) – Eric Hinske. Ok…I’m not really thinking about giving this guy hugs and kisses because I have an emotional attachment to my teeth and spleen.  But is there anyone you’d rather have pinch hit or spot start for the Braves right now?  Please see my earlier missive about my boy Hinske to see how much this guy ROCKS!

WTF (what the f***) – Dan Uggla. I only need to explain this to you if you’re not a baseball fan or don’t follow sports at all.  Uggla was to be our slugger for the next 5 years and along with Heyward…our team’s big wigs.  I still think he’s going to be great for the Braves, but it’s not good how things look right now.  I didn’t think anyone would give me heartburn when they came to the plate like Frency did, but Uggla is coming REAL close.

STBY (sucks to be you) – Tommy Hanson. “Big Red” was going to be our ace in the rotation.  I think his true nickname needs to be “Big Disappointment So Far”.  He reminds me so much of Tom Glavine.  If Glavine could avoid that HUGE inning, he was really tough to beat.  Hanson is the same way.  He struggles early and lacks bravado on the mound.  I’d like to see more passion from him on the bump.  He came up the big club with such fanfare…now, not so much in 2011.

BTW (by the way) – David Ross. BTW, there’s no better back-up catcher in MLB.  Ross is a leader, a positive influence on the club AND has made Brain McCann a really good defensive catcher when it comes to throwing out runners.  Ross is so solid and a great part of the team.

DBEYR (don’t believe everything you read) – Jason Heyward. JayHey has this year to prove he’s the real deal.  If he keeps getting put on the DL and batting .214 with an OBP of .317…he’ll be the new Jeff Francoeur, not the new Hank Aaron.

FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Disinformation) – Fredi Gonzalez. I LOVED the hire of Fredi, but now I’m not so sure.  He seems to make changes much more than Bobby Cox did, but some of his decisions have been real head scratchers.  It would be VERY difficult for me to lament for Bobby Cox, but Fredi is making me think differently so far.

IMHO (in my humble opinion) – Brian McCann. Mac may turn out to be one of the GREATEST Atlanta Braves players ever.  If you had two ‘Mount Rushmore’, one for pitchers and one for every day players…Big Mac may end up being one of those faces.  Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy, Brain McCann are the three that come to mind.

TTFN (ta ta for now) – Vinnie. I’ll talk y’all next week.  Enjoy!

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

Then, the Braves current outfield started dropping like flies. The players (outfielders) that may have been a part of the Braves’ future are now forced to perform in the present.  When Jason Heyward was put on the DL (which should have happened a week ago) it was no surprise to us. When Nate McLouth injured himself standing at the plate, it threw a wrench in the works. What was thought to be a very strong outfield at the beginning of the year— Heyward, McLouth and Prado (assuming McLouth could somewhat come back) is now the biggest question mark (for the next 2 weeks) in the NL East.

I like Wilkin Ramirez—OK let me re-phrase that, I like his skill set. He has yet to put it all together. He can run, hit for power, and field very well, but he has been so inconsistent that he was basically given to the Braves (from Detroit). If this guy can figure it out, he is going to be a Justin Upton-type player – yes, that good! But that is a big IF.

When Jordan Schafer won the starting job in 2009, and especially after that first series in Philly, everyone thought he would be patrolling CF at the TED for the next 10+ years. Unfortunately, it has not worked out as we had all hoped. Injuries have led to Schafer being thought of as what could have been. Well Jordan, this is your chance…

This may be the last shot Schafer has with the Braves and I am rooting for him. He has shown that he can play the position (being the best fielding OF in the Braves’ system), but he needs to show he can do it at the plate as well, more specifically, hit the inside fastball. It didn’t take long for pitchers to figure out they could get him out on fastballs inside and above his hands. If I know it, he has to…. I don’t think the Great Gazoo helmet did him any favors in Pittsburgh…

I wasn’t shocked on Monday when I heard both Heyward and McLouth were on the DL, and I wasn’t surprised when I heard who was being called up—but I was a little disappointed. I really wanted to get a look at Mauro Gomez. You may remember him as the big guy who hit the Walk-off home run in the first exhibition game at Turner Field against the Twins. 

So far the 26-year-old Gomez is hitting .341/.384/.591 9HR 35 RBI, or in Layman’s terms—He is killing the ball! I get the Braves want to give Schafer another shot and want Ramirez’ tools on their bench, but if not now, I really want Gomez to get a shot. Of course, just because someone is tearing it up in AAA doesn’t mean it will translate to the majors – case in point Barbaro Canizares. I don’t think Gomez is another Barbaro.

Since we are focused on the Braves OF I want to bring up one more name: Jose Constanza. He is no spring chicken for rookies (27 yrs old) and he isn’t going to provide much power, if any…But he can run like the wind! He has averaged 35 stolen bases in his six previous minor league seasons (he has 10 SB this year.) Speed is something that has been talked about a lot lately regarding the Braves and it never hurts to have a guy on the bench that can burn on the bases, just ask the Red Sox.

*****

Obscure Brave of the week: Mike Kelly (I figured we’d stick with an outfielder)

I’m not talking about Mike “King” Kelly, the great star of the Boston Beaneaters, but the outfielder that played parts of two seasons for the Braves (94-95) and later the Reds, Devil Rays and Rockies.

Kelly was drafted by the Braves in the 1^st round of the 1991 Draft out of Arizona State, where we won the Golden Spikes Award and Rotary Smith Award, both given to the best college player that year. Unfortunately, Kelly didn’t pan out as well as the guy the Braves picked in the 1^st round the year before…

Kelly played in 97 games for the Braves Championship year of 1995. However, most of his action came off the bench. He had his best year with the Devil Rays in 1998 where he hit a career high 10HR 33 RBI. His final season was spent with the Rockies in 1999.  I have no clue what-so-ever what Kelly is doing now.

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Then on to Anaheim. The Braves and Angels are very similar teams centered around great starting pitching, solid defense, and underperforming offenses.  Despite the similarities I went into the series thinking the only edge they had over us in the series was their manager, Mike Scioscia.  After three games with the Angels I was convinced.  I want to be like Mike. 

It’s still too early in the season to grade Fredi Gonzalez as manager but watching the way the Angels play small ball left me wanting more from our skipper.  I spent the off day on Monday thinking how Fredi needs to get creative, hit and run more, bunt for hits, steal some bases, just do something different.  With all the injuries if felt like it was time to mix it up a little and try to manufacture some runs.  

The Pirates series couldn’t come soon enough.  I don’t know what happened on the flight from Los Angeles but a different team showed up in Pittsburg.  Maybe it was the presence of Jordan Schaefer leading off, but our approach at the plate was significantly better.  We actually played small ball.  We moved guys over, worked the count, a  few hit and run plays, Hinske even tried to lay down a bunt!  I know it’s the Pirates but this is how I want us to play.

*******

The Braves are stretched  super thin right now with all the injuries.   It would be easy to sit and sulk about the current state of affairs but that’s not healthy.  You could write off the club and start sifting through NFL lockout articles, but where’s the fun in that?  I’m trying to stay positive with the Braves right now.   In fact, I’m willing to go as far as to say we’ll even benefit long term from this stretch.

 First, its really good to see Schafer back.  If you believe the old saying that you should never lose your starting position to injury than Schafer should start the rest of the year.  Long before Heyward, Freeman, Minor and Teheran, the highest graded prospect in the system was Schafer and not just because he has a tiny head.  Hopefully McLouth can return and contribute, but honestly, Schafer is an upgrade. 

 All the talk in the beginning of the year about changing the lineup ignored one major flaw,  the Braves have no leadoff hitter.  Prado was outstanding at the top of the order but he could bat anywhere and probably is more suited for the 2 hole.  Keep chipper third, Mac forth, Heyward fifth, and then let Uggla swing for the fences. 

For now I’m going to keep channeling  my inner thoughts to Fredi.  Why stop now, I think it might be working.  How else can you explain “The Diesel” laying down a bunt?

 ********

3 Up

1. Jair Jurrjens -  Split his two decisions for the week but has pitched well all year.  Still hasn’t given up more than 2 ER in any of his starts. 

2. Joe Mather and Brooks Conrad – Game winning hits from some unlikely heroes.  Managed to salvage something out of the road trip thanks to these two.   

3. Alex Gonzalez-  11 for 27 in the last week despite the visible frustrations.  Maybe Gonzo needs to give Uggla’s bats a scolding. 

 3 Down

1. West Coast Trip -  1 win in 5 games looks awful but we just didn’t get many timely hits, 6 for 33 with RISP.

2.  Heyward to DL -   This might be long overdue but there is a big difference between playing hurt and playing injured.  Love the toughness, trying to play through pain, but in many ways he was letting the team down. 

3. Tim Hudson-  Hudson’s back was acting up during the Angels game, leading to his bad outing.  Let’s just hope this isn’t a re-occurring problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqO58ATjyoc

Hey, let me install this ceiling fan…whoops, ripped out half the ceiling.  I need to hang this mirror…then it hangs all whoppy-jawed for about 10 minutes before crashing to the floor because I can’t figure out where the wall stud is.  Nah, we don’t need to hire someone, we can totally reroof the house…good grief, we now have an unplanned sunlight in our guest bedroom.  I now hire someone to do all bigger projects around the house.  If you have the cash, it’s just a lot easier and a lot less work.  But there’s a downside, having to sit back and just watch the process.  No say into what’s going on.  No advice to the plumber.  No words of wisdom to the landscaper.  No helpful hints to the painter.  It sucks watching the sausage get made (you’re putting WHAT into that kielbasa???).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=001dtJ0srBI

I think the central consternation for me is seeing the unfinished product.  When the day is over and you sneak out to check on the progress of the work, you look and say, “Ummm…I hope they’re not planning on leaving it like that”.  It’s the worst stress there is.  Paying a bunch of money for something and, in reality, not having the knowledge to correct/check the quality of the work.  Trusting that the person you’ve hired has a solid work ethic and WILL do right by you.  This brings me to the 2011 Braves and more specifically, Dan Uggla.

Man, this cat is driving me crazy.  When he was with the Marlins, I gave him the nickname “Stupid Uggla”.  The reason was that this guy was CRUSHING the Braves all the time in key moments.  So when the Braves got him, I was excited.  Not only did the Bravos have him, but he would no longer use advance interrogation techniques on Atlanta as a part of the Marlins.   He is now doing “baseball water torture” on all Braves fans in 2011.  We’re waiting for that big breakout game from him.  But for now, every time he comes up in a clutch situation and:

1.       Swings at the first pitch, no matter what

2.      Second pitch gets wood on it, but goes foul to third base side

3.      Then either chases bad third pitch or pops out to the catcher

We all seem to have the same reaction in disbelief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95SYdjRVCR0&feature=related

I’m really not too worried about him.  In two/three more weeks if he’s still this way, we’ll have issues.  But I think Uggla is a great player (by the by…his defense is really, really good).  And once he turns it around, the Braves will be the better.  So while this “work in progress” Atlanta Dan Uggla is hard to stomach, I believe the finished product will be something to behold.  With the offensive struggles the Bravos have experienced so far, they’re right in the thick of things.  So once Big Dan and Heyward get going, the Atlanta Braves will be tough to keep out of the playoffs.

Walk up Songs

I was curious what the walk up songs were for this year’s Braves players.  So here’s somewhat of a list to the best of my ability.  Heyward seems to have a couple, but I’m pretty sure about the rest (by the by…David Ross has the best, hands down).  Maybe next week I’ll make some “suggestions” for new walk up songs based on performance, etc…

Nate McLouth – Shoulder Lean Young Dro

Freddie Freeman – The Show Goes On Lupe Fiasco

Jason Heyward (his seem to change) -

Welcome to the World T.I. ft. Kanye West and Kid Cudi
Moment of Clarity Jay-Z
Public Service Announcement Jay-Z

Dan Uggla – Move Ludacris

Martin Prado – King Without a Crown Matisyahu

Chipper Jones – Crazy Train Ozzy Osborne

Alex Gonzalez – A Cut Above Avery Watts

Brooks Conrad – Don’t Stay Linkin Park

David Ross – See link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtStNQ_wDh8

Brian McCann – All I Do Is Win DJ Khaled

Eric Hinske – Walk Pantera

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

So, recently I have noticed a lot of hate for the Braves play-by-play announcer, Chip Caray, on Twitter, Facebook, Message boards, blogs, etc. While everyone has a right to their opinion, I don’t see why the hate for Chip and I cannot disagree with it more, and frankly, it’s beginning to infuriate me!

I first saw Chip on WGN when he started announcing part-time with his grandfather, Harry, for the Chicago Cubs. After Harry passed away, the gig went to Chip full-time. Since the Cubs were on at 2pm ET and the Braves at 7:35pm, I was able to watch two games almost every day during the summer. I spent most of my childhood watching the Caray family call ball games.
When Chip got the job with the Braves and TBS I couldn’t have been happier. It was a joy for me every time Skip and Chip were in the booth together. Joe Simpson does a fine job when he is paired with Glavine on Peachtree TV, but for me, nothing beats Chip and Joe calling a Braves game.

I have watched game feeds from each of the 30 MLB teams over the last year. Vin Scully is top dog; I know he may seem boring to some people, but for baseball purists, he is a legend. The Yankees have a pretty good team, as long as Michael Kay is nowhere near the microphone. The Giants have two great guys, Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow calling games. The White Sox have Hawk Harrelson, who may be off-putting to some, but I love him. Of course I am partial to the Braves announcing team, not just because I am a Braves fan, but because I actually like their commentary.

That’s it folks! The other 26 teams have absolutely BRUTAL announcing teams. So, when I read multiple fans complaining about Chip Caray as the Braves announcer, it drives me up the wall. I don’t know if it’s because Braves fans were spoiled the last 30 years with Ernie Johnson Sr., Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, etc., but the grass is NOT always greener (except right now in New York).

If you are a Chip Caray hater, the next time you think about a replacement do yourself a favor and check out another game…MLB Network has games on all the time with feeds from the home team— you may be unpleasantly surprised.
I know that fans will always be unhappy with something, it’s part of the game—but I thought we watched baseball because it was fun… Of course, if it bothers you that much, you can always watch something else.

*****

Obscure Braves of the week: Darren Bragg.

Bragg was an outfielder who played 11 seasons in the major leagues for 9 different teams (Mariners, Red Sox, Cardinals, Rockies, Mets, Yankees, Braves, Padres and Reds).

Originally from Waterbury, CT, Bragg was drafted in the 22nd round of the 1991 Amateur Draft by the Seattle Mariners. He played for the Braves from 2002-03 and was a valuable player off the bench. He had good speed and power, but was never able to put a whole season together as a starter.

In 2006 he was named hitting coach of the Dayton Dragons, a class-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. He currently heads a company named, “The Hit Club” in Thomaston, CT where he works with kids and high school baseball players.

I met Bragg in 2005 at a game against the Bridgeport Bluefish when he was a member of the Nashua Pride, an Independent team in the Atlantic League. He rocked a home run on the first pitch of the game and before his second at-bat the game was delayed due to fog. We were sitting in the first row behind the on-deck circle, so he came over to shoot the breeze.

(The day before, the Long Island Ducks were in town and I had John Rocker sign a ball for me, nice guy, really.)
So as I spoke to Bragg I asked him, “Hey can you sign this ball?”

He said, “Sure.”

“One thing,” I said. “John Rocker signed it too.”

Bragg looked at the ball, signed it, and as he tossed it back to me he replied, “F@#! Rocker!”

I love that guy….

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

First, no trailers!   Trying to avoid trailers is nearly impossible.  I’ve already had a face tattoo, an adorable monkey, and a Bangkok backdrop as a spoiler.  Not deal breakers, but still, I like to go in fresh.  Second,  I’m going to the matinee, this protects me against the flop.  Film studios have shifted to an approach centered around quantity and not quality.  I mean really, does “Thor” deserve his own movie?  Or “The Green Hornet“?  I really believe that we’re less than five years away from an “Archie and Jughead” movie. If the matinee price doesn’t protect me against the flop, step 3 ensures I get my money’s worth.  Finally,  I’m bringing my own snacks.  That’s right, I’m dusting off the cargo pants and filling them up with Snowcaps!   Call me cheap, I don’t care, but I always hedge my bets.  On the heels of “Fast Five” and “Scream 4“, play it safe,  bet against the sequel.

******
I’m starting to grow anxious with another sequel,  Chipper Jones’ knee injury.  The day the Braves lost Chipper for the season last year started a downward trend on offensive and defense.  Sure we played our way into the playoffs but our lack of depth was exposed and I feel we could be headed down that same path now.

As someone who has had two knee surgeries, one after a small meniscus tear became a larger one, I have little faith in Chipper’s knee to stay intact for four or (hopefully)five months.  Look at the numbers, something is wrong with Chipper.  Throughout his career, Chipper has had an exceptional walk-to-strikeout ratio.  April started off good, not striking out in any of the teams first 11 games, but May has been tough.  16 strikeouts to only 8 walks for May and 3 strikeouts in the  series finale against Houston.  The last time Chipper struck out 3 times in a game was August of ‘09.

Sure this is a small sample space and you have to be encouraged by Chipper’s return to the lineup, but what is our backup plan?  Prado to third and Hinske/Mather in left?  That’s not a lineup card I want to look at everyday.  Not because we can’t win with that defensive alignment, but because we’re one slippery staircase or a crazy ex-girlfriend away from Brooks Conrad being an everyday guy.

A quarter of the way through the season and there are some red flags to this sequel.  My suggestion is to get the knee scoped, cleaned out, whatever.  Just get it done and put it behind us, otherwise I’m afraid I already know how this one ends.

******

3 Up

1. Brian McCann’s Walk Off Heroics-  2 hours of frustrations were washed away thanks to Mac.  Surely that punched a ticket to the Mid Summer Classic, right?
2. Christian Martinez-  Standing on 2nd base after his RBI double must have been a pretty cool place to take in a spirited tomahawk chop.
3. Kimbrel & Venters-  Kimbrel did blow a save against the Nats but for the last 7 days the two combined for 2 Wins and 3 Saves in  9.2 IP with 17 K , an ERA 1.95 and a WHIP 0.97.  Vinnie, where are we at on nicknames for these two?

3 Down

1. Brandon Beachy Injured- We can’t seem to stay healthy.  This one bothers me most since Beachy had pitched his way on to my fantasy team.  Back into the hopper he goes.
2. Those Pesky Nats-  There has to be some psychological explanation on our trouble beating Washington.  Our record against them is unbelievable.
3. Chip Carey-  The next time I hear, “Swing and a Drive!” on a fly ball it better not die a step onto the warning track.

At the end of last season Minor had to be shut down due to fatigue; he threw more innings than he has in his career, and probably will do the same again this year. I have no reason to believe he won’t feel some sort of fatigue again at the end of this season.  If he pitches the entire season in AAA Gwinnett, Teheran will be in the same place Minor was last year; tired in September. Why would you trade Lowe and replace him with two guys that are going to need rest? It makes no sense. Plus, it’s fun to pretend he is Owen Wilson!

There are always going to be trade rumors; it’s one of the most fun things about baseball talk. Who’s on the trading block…are the Braves going to get a right-hander to replace Moylan… I get it, but I don’t think the Braves should, nor will trade Derek Lowe at any point this season. Now, during the off-season, that is a whole different animal.

Going into next season (assuming no one is traded) the Braves will have Lowe, Jurrjens, Hanson, Beachy, Minor, Teheran, Medlen (back from TJ) and Hudson—who has $9 Million club options the next two seasons. That’s 8 starting pitchers for five spots. Maybe Medlen will be moved back into the bullpen, but do the math; there isn’t enough room for 7-8 starting pitchers. Someone will be gone; maybe that is the time to trade Lowe.

*****

The Sony Playstation Network is still down and probably will be for the month. On top of that MLB Network is down on Time Warner cable. BUT, the Braves are doing well. Actually I found this thing called a Roku player (I had no idea it existed) which streams video in HD to your television. I don’t want to talk too soon, but I think I can finally get back to watching the Braves on my TV. You don’t realize what you have sometimes until it’s taken away from you…I wonder how Hammy watches the games…What service do you have Hammy?

Now that I am back to (somewhat) normalcy in terms of watching games, I am excited for the Civil Rights Weekend games. The Braves will be rocking the old Atlanta Black Crackers uniforms on Saturday and as a tribute to Hank Aaron (breaking Ruth’s HR record) they will wear the 1974 throwbacks on Sunday.

I was at the Civil Rights game in 2009, at Comerica Park in Detroit and it was a really great time. They had a really nice ceremony featuring former Negro League players on the field before the game—and they gave us a Detroit Stars cap as a stadium giveaway!

*****

Obscure Brave of the Week: Pedro Borbon Jr.

Borbon played for the Braves for parts of 4 seasons (92-93 and 95-96) as well as the Toronto Blue Jays, LA Dodgers , St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros before his retirement from MLB in 2006.

He was born in Mao, Dominican Republic but grew up in Bronx, NY. His father (Pedro Borbon Sr.) was also a major league player, who is most remembered for his time with the “Big Red Machine” in the 1970’s.

After his retirement, Borbon took a job as a coach with the Cedar Rapids Kernals, a class A affiliate of the LA Angels. He now is a coach in Houston Texas where he makes his residence.

One of my most vivid memories in the 1995 World Series season for the Braves is picturing Pedro Borbon Jr. warming up in the Atlanta bullpen. It seemed like he threw in the ‘pen every game, though he only made it into 41 games. It was a running joke between announcers and my house as well—you knew it was an official game when Borbon started throwing in the bullpen.

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

Go Braves!

May is a huge month for Atlanta.  The Braves current 9 game stretch against NL East opponents includes 6 against the Phillies.  The Phillies a similar schedule of divisional matchups and is currently in the middle of 15 straight games against the NL East that ends next Sunday in Atlanta  with a probable Halladay/ Hudson matchup.

Comparing the two teams that just finished a series in Philadelphia, I see two teams headed in different directions. Between age and injuries the window is closing on the Phillies.  Unless Ruben Amaro can figure out a way to inject cash into Chase Utley’s  knee, its time to move over, the Braves are coming.  Their lineup should get a boost when Utley returns but I don’t see him being the difference maker many expect.

******

The next month will likely decide whether or not Frank Wren makes any big moves at the trade deadline.  The recent rumors of a potential Derek Lowe trade are intriguing, but I think there would be more to lose than gain by trading away a pitcher with so much post-season experience.  However, when the two most likely bidders are the Yankees and Red Sox, you pick up the phone and listen.

The only glaring hole right now in on our roster is CF and an overall lack of speed.  Those are weaknesses we can live with and do not pose large enough problems that would call for  a multi-player trade.  I could see us bringing in another big bat to use off the bench or a speedy utility infielder for pinch running situations, but not a blockbuster deal.

It would be a real long shot, but if the Dodgers financial situation doesn’t improve, you have to wonder if Matt Kemp’s name will be floated out there around the deadline.  All signs point to the club re-signing Kemp, whose in the final year of his contract, but with Kershaw and Either both expected to get big paydays after this year, Kemp could be the odd man out.

Playing fantasy baseball has always made trades fascinating to me.  To me, Minor and Beachy make the most sense when discussing potential trade bait.  While they have both shown great upside, their prospect ceiling is middle of the rotation starters.  Definitely players you want, but players that might be expendable if the season takes an ugly turn for the worse before the deadline.

Hopefully the Braves stay hot until the deadline and this trade talk is nothing more than rumors.  I really like our team right now and if the playoffs started today you would have to like our chances at the pennant. This team looks headed in the right direction and another series win against the Phillies this weekend will definitely turn some heads.

******

3 UP

1. Beating the Phillies – Now lets do it again this weekend!
2. Prado’s Defense   – Two amazing plays in the Phillies series; the diving catch in the corner to rob a hit and then the greatest diving stop to hold a runner to a single my eyes have ever seen.  Does anyone else think we could try him in center?
3. Julio Teheran – It was fun to just see him out there.  Fastball looked good and with better command and movement his changeup could be a deadly out pitch.

3 DOWN

1. Moylan and Marek Injury Status -     Moylan appears to be headed for surgery and Marek is set to undergo Tommy John.  Big hit to our bullpen depth.
2. Heyward Slumping -   2-25 to start the month, and now headed for an MRI.  A bump in the road but its nice to know we can absorb a slump like that from the J-Hey Kid and still go 7-1.
3. 31 Strikeouts in Philly-  31 times in three games and we still out pitched and out hit them?  Be afraid Philly, be very afraid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy-LQH8N6Ug

The Nature Boy.  What a stud.  This guy was “high profilin’, limo ridin’, Rolex wearin’” and then some.  And he created the most AWESOME wrestling alliance known to all mankind and most likely all other animals as well. The Four Horsemen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA5arwOq3jA

The Four Horsemen were Tully Blanchard, Olie and Arn Anderson (The Minnesota Wrecking Crew) and Flair.  These guys were a MUST see.  Appointment viewing (for those under the age of 25…that means you had to be home to watch, no VCR or DVR back then).  When these guys were in the ring OR giving an interview, WOW, what a show.  The Braves have that kind of excitement with their starting pitching.  Their rotation is appointment viewing.  Atlanta has MLB’s “The Four Horsemen”.  The Phillies can go pound sand….the Braves rotation IS better.  And it’s ONLY gonna get better.

Now, don’t get it twisted, Halladay is the man.  I guess we can equate him to Hulk Hogan or Dusty Rhodes.  But when our four guys jump him in the ring and beat him down with a folding chair, who’s coming to his aid?  Cole Hamels?  Phsttt???  That guy will be somewhere in the locker room combing his hair and making sure his eyebrows look even.  Cliff Lee?  He’ll be with two other teams by the end of August.  Charlie Manuel?  Hinske will “Pedro Martinez v Don Zimmer” him back to the dugout.

The Braves lead the NL in ERA at 2.85.  They’ve given up the least amount of HR with 17, along with ERs of 103 and Runs of 107.  To be fair, the Phillies are right at the top of most of the categories as well.  And they DO have the best record in MLB.  But ALL the press has been about the Phillies’ four aces.  Atlanta’s horsemen have flown under the radar this season.  Let’s compare starters.

Lowe v Halladay = winner – Halladay

Hudson v Lee = winner – Hudson (sorry, Huddy’s better and that’s the truth)

Jurjens v Oswalt = winner – JJ

Hanson v Hamels = winner – Hanson

Beachy v Blanton = winner – Beachy

Halladay is a total ace, but I’m just not sold on the others being better than the Braves other 4.  And the Braves MAY actually have the best rotation in the MAJORS (yeppers, as my younger friends would say).  So everyone in Philadelphia and the Northeast needs to take a step back, take their union mandatory 3 hour workday break and really think about who is better.  I think the answer is clear…WHOOOOOOO!!!

Braves nicknames

Ok, I’m bringing nicknames back.  And not the lame ones certain national broadcasters give out.  Or made up ones like Tim Duncan “Big Fundamental” or Roy “Doc” Halladay (completely lame and uninventive).  Here are my nickname ideas for the Braves.

Dan Uggla – “Pipes” (because of his arms) OR “The Vet”…cause his pythons are SICK!

Freddie Freeman – “Fab 5 Freddie” (one, his number is 5 and two, homage to MTV’s Fab 5 Freddie)

Eric Hinske – “The Reaper”.  Cause late in the game, it’s time to pay

Brian McCann – I know his is “Mac”, but I love “Sweet 16” due to his jersey number.  My wife actually came up with that one 5 years ago

Eric O’Flaherty – “The Shamrock”

Jonny Venters – Jonny “B-Good”, but not real sold on it open to suggestions

Craig Kimbrel – “Smoke”.   Do you have a better description?

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

I am excited to see this Pirates team play in-person. I have watched them quite a bit over the past few seasons, because I love their young players. Andrew McCutchen (who of course, replaced Nate McClouth) is just plain fun to watch. He runs like the wind, can hit for power and catches everything hit between Heinz Field and the Mellon Arena. Then there are guys like Jose Tabada, Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker, who came for the last half on 2010—they can really play. If the Pirates only had pitching they may finally overcome the ‘Curse of Sid Bream.’

It seems like I always see the Marlins while in Atlanta, and it doesn’t always go well. I can vividly remember the loud ‘CRACK’ of Miguel Cabrera blasting a HR off John Smoltz. I was sitting three feet behind the on-deck circle and I still wake up in a cold sweat from that sound. With my luck, Josh Johnson will flirt with another no-no—though I’d like to see him pitch, I’d rather it not be while I’m there. Of course it seems like whoever the Marlins send to the mound pitches like Johnson against the Braves, so I guess I’d better be careful what I wish for…

I was thinking of trying to squeeze in a game in Gwinnett as well, especially if Teheran is still there; I’d LOVE to see him pitch. You never know, he may be in Atlanta then too. We have done all the popular tourist things in Atlanta already (i.e. Atlanta Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, Coke Factory, etc.), so if anyone has some suggestions about something fun to do during the day; PLEASE feel free to make a suggestion.

On the way home, I may as well make a pit-stop in Washington D.C, since the Braves are heading there as well. I figure on August 1^st, there won’t be more than 500 people there anyway, so I’ll get a good seat. Not that I think the Nats are that bad this year; I think the Mets are much, much worse. I bet they will actually pay me to see a game at Citi Field this year—IF I go back.

*****

Obscure Brave of the week: Steve Sisco

Sisco was a utility player for the Braves in 2000; he mostly played 2B. He was in a total of 25 games for the Braves and did hit one home run. He played college baseball in the prestigious Cal State Fullerton program and was drafted by the KC Royals in the 16^th round of the 1992 draft.

In 1993 Sisco was in a bad snowmobile accident and broke his back, neck and left arm causing him to miss much of the 1993 season (in the minors). He was born in Thousand Oak, CA but currently resides in the Cincinnati area with his wife Karena and his kids Allie and Jed. (It’s amazing what you can find on the internet)

I remember seeing Sisco at spring training. I had Bobby Cox and Reggie Sanders (mistake on the latter) sign my hat and when it was passed back to me, to my somewhat displeasure, Sisco had signed it as well. Looking back, I’m kind of glad he did sign it, because it’s kind of cool. I mean, how many people have a Steve Sisco auto?!

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY and maybe I’ll let you see the Sisco autograph.

Anyone that lived through September 11^th will never forget.  Americans united and Patriotism was at an unprecedented level.   The image in my mind that still invokes immense pride for my country is when President Bush walked onto the mound at Yankee Stadium to deliver the first pitch at the World Series and delivered a perfect strike.  I still get chills when I think about it.

Often sports have a way of separating us from reality.  No matter what life hands us, watching our favorite teams and players can take us away, if only for a few hours.  If I could be commissioner for a day I would schedule double headers on 9/11.  Why not?  It would provide another avenue to remember that day in American history and also make for an exciting day of baseball late in the season. 

******

The Braves caught a real break last week in the PR department.  The initial reports, apology, and punishment for Roger McDowell seemed to slip under the radar of the national media.  People definitely took notice and made an opinion on the situation.  I think most of Braves Country  not only thought McDowell would be fired, but expected it. 

Seasons are often defined by a few moments that, either good or bad, alter the direction of a team.  Replacing Roger McDowell as pitching coach could have been one of those moments.  With a young staff that continues to show enormous upside, this was a potentially disastrous situation. 

******

3 Up

1. Alex Gonzalez -  Gonzo has been great in the field all year and anything with the stick is a bonus.  He hit .321 last week with 6 Runs and 8 RBI.  Now let’s talk about an extension.

2. David Ross- Tough to crack the “3 UP” lineup on only 8 AB’s but Ross’ 3 HR last week was a pleasant surprise.

3.  Starting Pitching-  From 4/25 to 5/2, Braves pitchers failed to go 6 innings only once(Derek Lowe) and they only gave up more than 2 ER once.(Derek Lowe)

3 Down

1A. Roger McDowell-  The front office must not have felt this situation threatened the bottom line, otherwise McDowell would have been sent packing. 

1B. Derek Lowe-  I’m sure if I had tons of money and a 2011 Porsche I would redline it from time to time, but not down a busy downtown street and particularly not after a night of drinking. 

3. Craig Kimbrel-  Two straight blown saves against the Cardinals cost us the series and took the momentum away from the west coast trip.   But great save tonight to complete the sweep against the Brewers.

Follow me on Twitter  @ABT_Paul

Look, Drinking and driving is NOT good (actually, it’s REAL bad).  Drag racing down Peachtree is even WORSE.  At some age, immaturity becomes irresponsibility.  Lowe’s decision making was obviously flawed.  But I’m willing to give the guy a second chance.  God knows I’ve needed a second chance from time to time.  We all have.  But some fans likely won’t forgive Lowe and rightly so.  And I can only assume they’ll redo that commercial with Hudson and Lowe talking about their “specialty” pitches.  I think Lowe’s new pitch starts off at 100 MPH, then suddenly drops off the plate before it’s arrested and taken downtown.  With McDowell’s situation, it’s so surreal that it’s almost hard to believe it actually happened.  And it’s so much worse from a fan’s perspective.  Allegedly dressing some parent down in front of his kids and then telling him the ballpark is no place to bring them?  The only way that could have been worse is if he was choking the “Snuggle Fabric Softener” bear while yelling at the guy.  Coming soon to Tuner Field’s pavilion…Roger McDowell’s “Tooner Field Nightclub and Tapas Bistro”.  Should be a big hit.  So I’ll continue to root, root, root for the home team.  If they don’t change…it’s a shame.

Ok..now we can have some fun and talk about good stuff!

I have a NEW BPF.  That’s Best Paisano Forever (the Italian version of BFF).  I have a total “bro-mance” for Eric Hinske.  He’s the guy you want to be, total badass.  He’s the kid in your neighborhood the other boys want to hang around (when he’s not hiding from the father of some totally hot chick).  Let’s begin with his walk up music.  It’s more violent sounding than Roger McDowell at a pride parade.  I’m not sure who the band is, but I can only assume they’re a garage band…Charles Manson’s garage.  Then there are the tattoos.  This guy has so much ink on his body, it looks like a squid threw up on him.  I mean…what a total stud move.  You’re pretty much cementing a career path when you get full body tats.  No one is going to let you take their loan application if you have a “skeleton riding a bleeding neon aardvark” tattoo flowing down your arm.  And in his last 10 games, he’s batting .444 with 8 hits, 4 RBIs and a HR.  The HR he hit in the San Francisco playoff series was one of the coolest moments I’ve had at the park.  What’s most impressive is how he can turn it on when needed.  In the most crucial moments…this cat delivers.  I envision him eating ribs and sipping a Pabst Blue Ribbon in the dugout when Fredi tells him he needs a pinch hitter.  Hinske simply chugs his PBR, grabs a MLB approved wet nap, picks up one of those “hulk” green wiffle ball bats, steps to the plate and “Roy Hobbs” a pitch to the World of Coke.  And from all accounts, he’s a super teammate.  We WANT to root for good guys.  We all want to work with people that we like.  Eric Hinske seems to be that person that EVERYBODY likes.  And that’s no small accomplishment to achieve in just one year with an organization.  So remember, looks can be deceiving.  Hinske looks like a Hells Angel, but I bet he stays off Peachtree at 3am.  Hinske is now my favorite Braves player…with Brooks Conrad as honorable mention.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

But the week wasn’t all roses…it was a rough West Coast trip; there is no other way to say it.  I wasn’t talking about the Braves—I meant it was rough for me.  The majority of games didn’t start until 10:00pm and the Dodgers series really got me bummed after those losses, and worse yet, the Playstation Network is STILL down after being hacked!  This has no effect on my MLB 11 The Show season (which I am up to June in BTW)…it has everything to do with how I watch the Braves (or DON’T).

As I’ve mentioned, I have an MLB.TV subscription.  In the past I had DirecTV and Fios but am now stuck with Time Warner Cable so the best option to see all the Braves’ games was MLB.TV because I can watch on my laptop, my computer at work (don’t tell my boss), my iPhone and best of all, my PS3.  OF course, with their network down and (oh by the way) my laptop screen busted, I’m left with a 2×3 inch screen.  Look, I am happy I can still see the games, but try holding a phone 3 inches from your face (and plugged in) every night—it gets to you…

Something good about MLV.TV is that it doesn’t show commercials, so no annoying singing fish or anything.  Sounds good right?  Wrong!  Instead, they show Volvo ads. Only Volvo ads.  One can only take so many pictures of Volvos before they key every one they see.

My other option is to listen to Jim Powell and Don Sutton call the game on the radio. It may be a nice throwback to catch a game on the radio. It takes me back a little bit hearing Sutton call a game. There is no more Ernie Johnson (I am old enough to remember him on Sportsouth), Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray. I still miss Skip—a lot.

In terms of baseball, it was really an up and down week and a half.  Losing 3 of 4 from the Dodgers was a kick in the groin, but a totally unexpected sweep of the Giants, in San Francisco (where the Braves are lucky to lose by only 3 runs) was euphoric shock.  Of course, it wasn’t great for everyone, as Roger McDowell showed his inner-Met by yelling a gay slur at some fans. Although, in all fairness, he may have just thought he saw Tony Romo in the stands.

Then the series in San Diego…well, coming into the series the Padres couldn’t have beat San Diego State (Tony Gwynn shout-out). Of course (like some type of cruel joke) they looked like a playoff team against the Braves in game 1. I feel for Cristhian Martinez; he is NOT this bad…I guess he had a worse week than I did. But games 2 and 3 were terrific. The ‘real’ J.J. is back on the mound (I can’t put into words how great that CG was) and Tommy Hanson has put his shaky start behind him. I’ll definitely take a 6-4 west coast trip any day.

I won’t take a player on the front page for making a poor decision though. I made my morning visit to the AJC to see our Opening Day pitcher Derek Lowe was arrested for suspicion of DUI. Lowe is the last guy I would have expected to see in a situation like this…

Matt’s Rant of the Month: OK, so I was sick when the Braves lost to the Giants last year in the playoffs; we all were.  Like Bobby Cox, since the Braves couldn’t win, I was glad to the Giants (and my friend Roger) win the series. It was fun to see Brian Wilson and the rest of the bullpen grow those jet-black beards, like they were part of the Stanly Cup Playoffs.

Then during the off-season they came out with a few commercials with Wilson and his beard; MLB 2K11 had a couple good ones. Now it seems like every time I turn on the TV there’s Brian Wilson and his big black hobo beard…enough is enough!  I can’t take it anymore! I hate that beard, I hate the ninjas that live in it, I hate the Irish dancers and I hate the lumberjacks in it.  It’s Johnny Damon in his Red Sox “Caveman” phase.  Brian Wilson, PLEASE SHAVE YOU SLOB!

Obscure Brave of the week: Chad Paronto.

Paronto is a relief pitcher that played for the braves from 2006-07. He was best known for his ability to come in a game and get a ground-ball out with his heavy sinker, oh yeah and he was freaking’ HUGE! Paronto is listed at 6’5” 285 lbs., but we all know better, this guy is three-bills, come on! (Remember Bobby Cox said he and Bob Wickman weren’t allowed to share a cab for fear of busting the shocks).

Paronto was born and raised in New Hampshire and played college baseball at U-Mass. He was drafted in the 8^th round of the 1996 Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He made his MLB debut in 2001 before being moved to the Cleveland Indians, then eventually the Braves. After leaving Atlanta, Paronto played a couple years in the Houston Astros before joining the Boston Red Sox system.

I have to say, Paronto was a personal favorite of me and my friends. I think I bought the only #54 Paronto Braves T-Shirt ever printed—it has to be rare.

Here’s to you Paronto-Saurus Rex!!  You were a key part of (arguably) the heaviest bullpen in baseball history.

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY…or else.

165 Hits

.276 AVG

26 HR

94 RBI

65 BB

He was a Gold Glover that year as well.  But checking his numbers before and after that 2008 magical season (the magic that I assume he used to get these numbers was Voodoo), he’s really is not much to look at.  2007 is the only other year we can consider him as an everyday player for the Pirates.  In 137 games he had 85 hits and a .258 AVG (granted, that’s with only 329 plate appearances).  But the reality is this.  Unlike Denny Green’s thoughts on the Chicago Bears…Nate ISN’T what we thought he was, BUT Frank Wren and Fredi ARE letting him off the hook.  Look, I think we all like Nate.  Actually, I REALLY think we all hate him, but it makes us feel better to say we like him as a person.  And really, I have no idea if he IS a good guy.  Maybe he kicks puppies, watches “Mike and Molly” and does scratch off lottery tickets all day.  At least that would explain why he’s not very good  He’s just REALLY tired from wreaking havoc all day.  Nate batting in the #2 hole (ok…way too easy to put a joke there) was KILLING the Braves’ offense.  There are all sorts of lineups out there for the Braves that don’t include McLouth.  The only line up I want to see Nate in is the lineup of criminals suspected of stealing my enthusiasm/passion for baseball and murdering my soul.  His defense is suspect as well.  He seems to jump late on fly balls, doesn’t judge the flight of the ball well AT ALL and makes the simple catch look superb.  I’m not sure why he’s so timid in CF, but I have some ideas that are list below.  McLouth is making 6.5 million this year.  And I’m not holding that against him.  Unless literally holding it against him would land him on the DL until September (which by the way, don’t underestimate his absence helping the Braves clinch the Wild Card in 2010).  Just think what the Braves could do with 6.5 million.  So while Tom Brady (Pittsburgh Pirates) has his Gisele Bundchen (Andrew McCutchen), we (Braves Fans) don’t even get Bridget Moynahan.  We’re stuck with that crazy looking chick from the Drew Carey Show.  And we have to take her out to dinner.  And let everyone see that we’re with her.  And buy that dinner at a cost of 6.5 million.  That’s a pricy meal.

Some possible reasons why Nate McLouth doesn’t  throw runners out from CF:

10.  excess pollen on sunglass obscures view of home plate

9.  hates the sound of the ball rapidly leaving his hand

8.  flirting with a hot girl in the stands…realizes later it’s just a beer vendor

7.  thinks his Gold Glove from 2008 is just plain tacky, doesn’t want another one

6.  tries to visualize what Andruw Jones would do…then does the opposite

5. while focusing on what color highlights to get,  loses fly balls in the lights

4. got too excited when he was called back up from Triple A, left his “good” glove in Gwinnett

3. pregame meal of buffalo wings and Maraschino cherries leaves his hands super slippery

2. preoccupied with the thought of changing his name to Nate McLovin

1. he’s Nate McLouth

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

With Bobby, I always reserved judgment, even when I might have done things different.  Now that Fredi has taken over, the managerial moves are easier to second guess.  After starting the year with a lineup that many questioned, Fredi changed the order and the bats responded.  Since then the lineup debate has calmed down but a new problem has risen up.  With the exception of Venters and Kimbrel, the Braves bullpen has me watching these games with way too much anxiety.

If you go back to the Opening Day game, you can see how Fredi intended to use his bullpen.  O’Flarehty, Moylan, Venters and Kimbrel came in and pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to preserve the win.  Then Moylan goes on the DL and without his sidearm services, Fredi has been forced to get creative out of the bullpen. Creative is the nicest way possible  to explain his use of Linebrink and Sherrill.  (Just the sight of them warming up has me running for the Rosary beads.)  The reports on Moylan’s status are good and he is eligible to come off the DL this weekend but no date has been set and his return will likely be pushed back.

Until the Braves can get Moylan healthy and back in a 7th inning role the rest of the relievers have  had to pick it up.   Currently O’Flarehty and Venters are on pace to appear in over 75 games.   If everyone stays healthy, the bullpen will be a strength for this team going forward but Fredi has to make sure to not over work our top relievers too early in the season.  The Braves lack of clutch hitting late in games hasn’t made it any easier on our relievers either.  The hitting will come around and I think our starting pitching will only get better as the season goes on.  The easy solution to overusing the bullpen is our starting pitching.  Consistently going deep into games will ease the workload of the pen while we wait on Moylan.  The easier the starters can make it on the bullpen, the easier things will be on Fredi.  For years the Braves had a manager that took the pressure off the players.  Now it’s time for the players to return the favor.

3 Up, 3 Down
A list of my three favorite and least favorite moments from the last week.

3 Up
1. Jair Jurrjens
Jair pitches a complete game the day after a 13 inning game.  Exactly what we needed.
2. Alex Gonzalez
“Gonzos,” should replace the term “Web Gems” when describing great fielding.
3. Bullpen High Jinks
Was it a coincidence we swept the Giants with cups on hats?  Maybe, but it showed me how close this team is.

3 Down
1.Dan Uggla
April is coming to an end and he is still hitting below the Mendoza Line.  I’m starting to wish this was his contract year.
2. NL East Standings
We’re heading in the right direction but not where I expected us to be.
3. Lack of Stolen Bases
At the rate we are on there will be several players around the league that will surpass the Braves SB totals for the year. Vinnie wrote a great blog about the topic this week and I demand you read it. Capiche?

Get Atlanta Baseball Talk and Braves updates 140 characters at a time by following me on Twitter @ABT_Paul.

Why don’t the Braves aggressively run the bases? I’ve been wondering for a while now.  I see highlights of stolen bases and runners sliding home and I think, “What is this they’re doing? You mean you can try to get extra bases after a hit and EVEN go to second when the pitcher’s not looking?  We need to let the Braves know.  This could be BIG for us.”  Other teams seem to steal bases and get themselves in scoring position a bunch, Atlanta simply waits, like the least attractive/kinda heavy bridesmaid at the wedding, waiting for someone to say, “No, No…it’s cool.  Go ahead and cut a rug.  Oh yea…you can TOTALLY take that chicken leg with you”. The Braves just stand at their station, hoping for that BIG 3 run homer to put them ahead.  I know the Braves fancy themselves as a clean cut organization, but you don’t actually get charged with “Theft by Taking”  when you steal bases.  I kinda figured it was Bobby Cox calling the shots, managing in the “Steroid” era, knowing that eventually someone would go deep and put the Bravos in front.  But Fredi’s doing it as well.  Not ONE brave cracks the top 100 in stolen bases in 2011.  Conversely, here are some players in the top 100 so far in 2011.  Maybe you remember these guys.

Elvis Andrus – 4

Rick Ankiel – 4

Jeff Francoeur – 3

Wilson Betemit – 3

The Braves have a whopping 5 stolen bases this year (5 guys with one each) and have been caught 8 times (that’s 13 total for you Phillies fans).  Sam Fuld of the Tampa Bay Rays has 13 attempts BY HIMSELF and leads the league with 10 stolen bases.  But it’s not just stealing bases, it’s being aggressive in their base running.  Brian Snitker (Braves 3^rd base coach) may be one of the most conservative coaches in the league when sending runners home.  I swear I saw him trying to hold up Heyward at third after he hit his homer against the Giants over the weekend.  Snitker is way too conservative and I was hoping he’d go away when Gonzalez came to Atlanta.  Snitker’s fear of running the Braves out of scoring chances actually makes Atlanta a much less dangerous team.  MLB players are great, but not perfect.  The Braves need to put pressure on the competition by making them BE perfect.  Force them to make the perfect throw, hit the cutoff man accurately, make a split second decision on what base to throw the ball.  Make pitchers THINK more when a Brave is on the base paths.  Halladay isn’t going to be bothered by it,  but make “Sam Slappy, 5^th in the rotation” really focus on the runner at 1^st.  I want that pitcher thinking, “Is that guy going?  Hit and run?  And who’s up next?  That guy’s going to be aggressive too, right?  Geez..we’re only up 1 run.  I gotta make the perfect pitch”.  Then BAM!  2 run homer because he makes a bad pitch.  Sounds good to me.

So Braves, do all of us a huge solid and start running more.  Go get a drink and loosen up.  Let the music flow over you.  Let go of your inhibitions.  Put down that chicken leg and get on the dance floor.  We won’t judge.

If you want more of my shenanigans during the week, follow me on Twitter @yourdailyvinnie.  Thanks!

OK, so obviously, this is ludicrous but the Braves need to do something to solve their first inning woes. It really is ridiculous how it seems to happen night after night; the pitchers aren’t getting hammered, but every ball seems to find a hole and every ball hit poorly is hit just well enough to get over the infield. It will eventually even out (it HAS to) but it doesn’t make it any easier to take, watching night after night. (It also doesn’t help that games are starting so late this week).

We have all weighed in our opinion on the lineup change (moving Heyward to no. 2 spot) and like most people, I love it. Right now Heyward is struggling, but this isn’t going to last long; it’s Jason Heyward! I like the move for a few reasons—Freddie Freeman is heating up, now hitting in the No. 6 spot— I love it. Batting in the No. 8 spot, Nate McLouth is also starting to hit, which can at least set up the pitcher to bunt; seeing that they are 0 for the year.

It’s funny how the Braves seem to begin each season so inconsistent, then pull it together when the weather heats up. I am expecting the same this year. It’s tough to watch, but I just keep telling myself that it’s going to get better and it’s only April.

What a tough series against the LA Dodgers… The entire Playstation Network was down, so I had to watch the game on my iPhone. It was such a brutal game to lose; it really may have been the game to get the Braves over the hump. On the bright side, I think I can finally distinguish Matt Kemp, James Loney and Andre Ethier as separate people. For years I thought they were the same person.

*****

I was thinking the other day (scary, I know) about where to get my oil changed and it dawned on me—since I listen to 680 the fan on the way to work, at work and on the way home, I know everywhere to get stuff done in Atlanta, but none where I actually live. If I were in Atlanta, I’d go to Express Oil Change and get a discount if the Braves scored five or more runs the night before. Then, I began to think about other services; I could only think of the places drilled in my head by the Atlanta commercials.

If I wanted lawn care I’d call Level Lawns. If I had bugs in my house, well I’d call Cook’s Pest Control. Then, other commercials popped in my head: Man’s Best Friend, Ackerman Security, The Punchline Comedy Club, U.S. Café (great burgers I hear), Georgia Southern online courses, weather, traffic…. The more I think about it the more ridiculous it is.

I guess what it all comes down to is that after my wife is finished with school, we should seriously consider moving to The Peach State. Of course, things like jobs and housing may come into play, but if anyone has a garage with some extra space, let me know (we don’t eat much).

*****

This week’s obscure Brave: John Hudek.

Hudek (unfortunately) pitched for the Braves in 15 games during the 1999 season. He posted an 0-1 record and a 6.48 ERA. He broke in to the majors in 1994 with the Houston Astros and actually was an All-Star that year (stupid rules). He played a total of six major league seasons for five different teams.

On a personal note, Hudek is probably my least favorite Brave of all-time. I absolutely loathed John Hudek; I know this is a bit much for a guy who played in so few games. The first time I heard his name was on WGN when Harry Caray was having fun with his name, continuously asking Steve Stone, “Hudek pitcher for the Astros?” I hated his mullet, I hated his goatee and I hated the fact that when I was at a Braves/Yankees game in NY he pitched, so badly I was almost physically ill (the 105F weather could have played a part in that).

Hudek is currently a baseball coach in the Houston area.

One more thing; and probably the most important… I just picked up some snipers in the ABT Fantasy Baseball League. I don’t want to put everyone off, but you are all going to be playing for second place—as my team now includes the likes of Wilson Betemit, Bruce Chen (yes, that Bruce Chen) and “The Natural” Jeff Francoeur. I’m sorry to everyone who thought they had a chance.

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

Seriously though, it’s only been two weeks and there is a lot of baseball left. I almost feel obligated to drive down to Atlanta and spark the team, as I did last year; you’re welcome again by the way.

Chipper Jones has reached two milestone this week—2,500 hits and 1,500 RBIs. He is only the second switch hitter to reach this feat; with Eddie Murray being the other. Chipper ranks 3^rd in HR and RBI by a switch hitter. He only needs 9 RBI to pass Mickey Mantle on the list (however he trails Mantle by 68 barrels of bourbon—it doesn’t look like he will reach that milestone).

I have said this before and I will say it again, Chipper is a Hall of Famer. He is a switch hitter, far above average fielder, former MVP, has a World Series Ring, 6-time All-Star, and has the offensive numbers to back it up.

After the Braves drop 2 of three to the Marlins, they gear up for the New York Mets. This could be just what the Dr. ordered for the Braves. The Mets are a mess and will only get worse. The Braves have to beat up on teams like the Nats and Mets if they want a chance at the NL East (we know the Phillies are going to).

Jair Jurrjens will make his season debut Saturday against Mike “Big Pelf” Pelfrey, who has been absolutely dreadful so far this season. The door is open for the Braves to make up some ground. Also, the faster the Mets pile up the losses, the faster Jose Reyes will be traded; hopefully to the American League.

*****

And now…Random thoughts:

I never thought anyone could wear their hat brim any flatter than Kris Medlen—then I saw George Sherrill.

I’m 98.5% positive Nate McLouth and Lance Bass go to the same hair salon.

With the Mets coming into town, it makes me wonder if Carlos Beltran has to book an extra seat on the plane for his enormous mole.

Dan Uggla’s forearms are probably thicker than my neck.

Several MLB players (including Chris Coughlin) have lines shaved into the side of their head—I guess Vanilla Ice is finally cool.

Scott Linebrink’s goatee is a totally different color than the hair on his head. It kind of creeps me out.

*****

Obscure Brave of the week: Brian Hunter.

Hunter was drafted in the 8^th round of the 1987 Amateur Draft by the Braves and played first base and outfield (mostly as a backup) 1991-93 and again from 1999-2000. Oddly, Hunter batted right-handed, but threw with his left; normally it’s the other way around.

In the first spring training game I ever attended, Hunter ended the game on a grand slam. After the game I got his autograph—he was wearing the ugliest Tommy Hilfiger shirt I’ve ever seen. This, along with his home run in Game 7 of the 1991 NLCS is my favorite memory of Hunter. He also had a pretty sweet ‘stache…

Follow me on Twitter for more random thoughts and obscurity @BRAVEinNY.

Now that that is out of the way, let’s talk baseball…

Since it is only a week into the season, I’m going to focus on the positive; there’s no reason to call anyone out after a week of play. The highlight of the first week has definitely been the bullpen. Kimbrel has been unhittable, Venters has been lights-out, Moylan has baffled with his improved changeup, and the rest of the crew has been outstanding as well. Obviously it can’t be this way every time, but as long as everyone is healthy the Braves are going to be playing 6-inning games.

Derek Lowe (1-1) is showing the world that his hot September was no fluke. He pitched great on Opening Day and followed it up with another solid performance in Milwaukee on Tuesday. He did get tagged with the loss, but he only allowed one run that was courtesy of a Yovani Gallardo bloop single that led to a Ryan Braun single off Chipper’s glove. He has been racking up the strikeouts (something Steve is benefitting from in the ABT Fantasy League).

After the series win against Washington and the game 1 win against Milwaukee (who I picked to win the NL Central this year), I was feeling pretty good about the Braves so far and I still do. I didn’t expect to drop the next three games, and more specifically drop them the way they did. You have to give Gallardo credit for the way he pitched (who I benefitted from in the ABT fantasy league), but Minor didn’t perform they way he has all spring and Hanson struggled again.

The offense was much too familiar to the Braves offense of April 2010 in the Milwaukee series. They didn’t get key hits when they needed them and looked like they didn’t have a game-plan. I wasn’t looking for a series sweep by any means, but the Braves did get a break not having to face Zack Greinke or having to pitch to Corey Hart (and they still couldn’t even manage a split.)

Omar Infante Who? It’s only been a week, but Dan Uggla has been as advertised, and more. He has shown he can play second base (he’s made some great plays in the field) and he is the right-handed power bat the Braves have needed. 1-8, there is no break in the Braves’ lineup this year, something I’ve been saying about the Phillies for the last couple years.

During the off-season I really wanted to come up with a reoccurring segment for my blog this year. I kicked around some ideas and I think I have found something that will be interesting. Here it goes…

Obscure Brave of the Week: Tommy Gregg

Gregg played for the Braves from 1989-1992 and again in 1997 (He kicked around with the Pirates, Marlins and the Reds for a few years too).He spent time at first base, outfield and was used as a pinch hitter quite a bit. A career .243 hitter, Gregg is best known (to me) as having a sweet moustache and mullet on his 1991 Topps card.

He is the first player I ever had a picture with—it was in 2001 at Spring Training when he was serving as a minor league coach for the Braves. I guess I was just in the right place, at the right time.

Gregg currently serves as the hitting coach for the Omaha Royals, the AAA affiliate for the KC Royals.

Follow me on Twitter @BraveinNY

Until next time… Go Braves!

//

Infielders

Catcher: The Braves have one of the best catchers in baseball right now in Brian McCann. He will turn 27 before the 2011 season begins, so he is still young. Of course, playing such a demanding position takes its toll on a catchers body, so it’s not certain McCann will be doing this another 10 years. Christian Bethancourt is the guy the Braves will be looking at as the catcher of the future. The 20-year-old from Panama is ranked as the Braves #1 catching prospect in every publication you can find, as well as top-10 in the Braves minor-league system. He still has to develop, but since he is so young, he as the time.

First Base: If all goes according to plan, Freddie Freeman will show everyone this season why he is regarded so highly by the Braves. He has shown tremendous promise from the time he was drafted and when you watch him play (hitting or defense) you can see why. He is a huge kid that still has room to develop power and is a slick-fielder. I don’t see any reason why we won’t be watching Freeman play 1B for years to come.

Second Base: The Braves signed newly acquired Dan Uggla to a 5-year extension last month, so unless he is absolutely dreadful in the field, this is the answer to 2B. The Braves drafted 2B Phil Gosselin in the 5^th round of the 2010 draft. The University of Virginia standout, who showed the ability to hit for average and power, may force the Braves to reevaluate Uggla at the position in a few years—of course when I say that, I mean moving Uggla to the OF.

Shortstop: I believe the Braves have more depth here than anywhere else in the field. They drafted SS Matt Lipka #1 in last year’s draft and Andrelton Simmons in the 2^nd round. They have highly touted prospect Edward Salcedo, who they signed from the Dominican Republic and Tyler Pastornicky, who they received in the Yunel Escobar trade. Of course Alex Gonzalez will be their guy for this season, at least, but looking ahead, it’s hard to say who will be playing shortstop in Atlanta.

Lipka and Simmons are very young and need a couple years to develop their skills. Salcedo has had a disappointing first year in the minors, but from everything we hear that isn’t going to last long. Pastornicky seems like the guy who will be ready first, but long term is up in the air. There has been talk about moving Lipka to the OF, and Salcedo and Simmons possible to third. But for now they are all developing at SS— it will be fun to see where they end up. I think the guy will be Salcedo.

Third Base: For years, as Braves fans, we never had to worry about this position. You knew who was going to play third and bat third. But Chipper is towards the end of a great career and the Braves don’t have much depth at the position. That was until they drafted accordingly in the 2010 draft. They drafted 3B Joe Leonard in the third round, who absolutely raked last year at the University of Pittsburgh. Edward Salcedo and Andrelton Simmons are at short stop for now, but could move to 3B. Personally, I think after Chipper retires, Martin Prado will take over at 3B and stay there (hopefully) for years.

Outfield

Right Field: I don’t need to say much here except this—Jason Heyward.

Center Field: A couple years ago it seemed like Jordan Schafer would be patrolling CF at the Ted for the next decade. Then, when the Braves got Nate McLouth, it seemed he would be the guy. I can say this; it won’t be McLouth, though he will start this year as the Braves CF. Shafer is an interesting guy because it seems as if he is finally healthy. He showed so much promise for a couple years in spring training, but something has always gotten in his way; suspension/injuries. The Braves have moved infield prospect Mycal Jones to CF for this season and I think it will work out well. While Jones could develop and Shafer could turn it around, I think the guy for the long-term is going to be SS prospect Matt Lipka. I think the Braves will move him to CF and he will serve as their lead-off hitter and spark-plug.

Left Field: This is the toughest position for me to foresee. The Braves have some good-looking OF prospects like Todd Cunningham, Robert Hefflinger, Kyle Rose, Adam Milligan, and Kurt Fleming. Mycal Jones may develop nicely and be moved to left as well. Maybe the Braves make a trade or sign a guy, or Dan Uggla moves there in a few years. I like Cunningham a lot. He is a good average hitter and could develop enough power to give him 15-20 HR a year. He can run well, so covering LF would be no issue.

Pitchers

Starting Pitcher: The Braves have the best crop of young pitchers, maybe the best ever in Braves history. Led by stud-prospect Julio Teheran, who many think can and will pitch at some point this year, the Braves promising pitchers include RHPs Randall Delgado, Arodys Vizcaino, Brandon Beachy and JJ Hoover & LHPs Mike Minor, Dimasther Delgado, Brett Oberholtzer and Carlos Perez—remember Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens are both going to be just 26 this season. And don’t forget Kris Medlen…

Tim Hudson is under contract for another year with the Braves and Derek Lowe has 2 years remaining on his 4-year deal. I can’t imagine either of them being in Atlanta after 2012, so there will be a couple spots for these guys. If everything works out, hell if half of these guys work out, the Braves are going to have an overflow of young starting pitchers, which could lead to a trade or two.

Teheran seems like as sure a thing as any, but of course anything can happen. I have heard some chatter about Jurrjens as a trading chip but, though he is probably the most likely option, I would hate to see him go. Hanson will be a fixture in the Braves rotation for years; I just don’t see him going anywhere. It seems as if Teheran has overshadowed Vizcaino and Randall Delgado, but after listening to some of their starts on the radio and seeing their stats, these guys are no joke! I do worry a little about Vizcaino’s arm though. He has hit 101MPH (depending on what gun you believe) this spring and had elbow issues last year. At this point, I see him developing into a reliever, rather than a starter. Dimasther Delgado missed time with an injury, but was actually pitching better than Randall before he was injured. Perez is young and needs to work on his control, but he has such good pitches that if he can develop them, he can be as nasty as David Price. I honestly don’t see Beachy in the Braves rotation long-term and I think Hoover may be packaged in a trade—just a guy feeling. I am so excited about what could happen here, I’m sure this is bias, but in 5 years, I think the Braves will have the best rotation in baseball.

Relief Pitchers: Billy Wagner had, by far, the best season for a Braves Closer since Smoltzie. Now he is retired and the Braves need that consistency from the back-end of their bullpen. Craig Kimbrel seems like the guy, as he showed last year that he is not rattled easily in tight spots. Jonny Venters showed us last year that he can close the door as well, though I see him more and the 8^th inning guy. The Braves also have some prospects that I can see developing into solid relievers, such as Juan Abreu, Lee Hyde, Stephen Marek, Erik Cordier, Cory Gearrin and David Filak. Kris Medlen is a guy that could see some time here if there isn’t enough room in the rotation.

Of course, the bullpen is never going to be made up solely of home-grown talent. I’m sure there will be veterans that come and go from the bullpen, hopefully guys with some nasty stuff. I see the combination of Kimbrel, Venters and Marek a solid combination for the Braves. I also think that Hyde and Cordier will be good middle-relief options.

I am jacked-up thinking about the possibilities! Obviously there are so many factors that go into the development of these players and so many things that can change the outcome. Let’s just say some things work out for the Braves, this is what I see their lineup looking like in 2014…

C- Brian McCann

1B- Freddie Freeman

2B- Dan Uggla

SS- Edward Salcedo

3B- Martin Prado

LF- Todd Cunningham

CF- Matt Lipka

RF- Jason Heyward

SP- Tommy Hanson

SP- Julio Teheran

SP- Mike Minor

SP- Kris Medlen

SP- Randall Delgado

CL- Craig Kimbrel

Now, it’s unlikely the Braves would have that many home-grown players starting for them, but the way things look now, why not?

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY.

Until Next time…Go Braves!

//

One of our faithful listeners, Tim, who catches a bunch of spring training games in Orlando is sending photos.  Check them out.

Obviously, I could not be any more sarcastic about this situation—I cannot wait until he is somewhere else. I can’t imagine he will ever pitch for the Braves again, but it would be nice not to have to think about it anymore. If only one of the pitching hungry teams, i.e. the Cardinals without Wainwright or the Yankees with Big-Fat Bartolo Colon and Co. would take him.

In some actual good news (I should really get over it already) Garret Anderson has announced his retirement from baseball—which is funny because I was sure he was retired a few years ago. Sure he was still playing, but he was acting as retired as you can get. This has to go down as one of the slowest, most lackadaisical retirements in history.

And now (somewhat) back to reality…

I recently became one of the millions to get an iPhone—I have been waiting years for Verizon to get this, so needless to say, I woke up at 6:00am to get one the day it went on sale. Since I am new to the Smartphone, I feel like an idiot discovering new apps and features that all my friends have known about for years. I can now listen to 680 the Fan on the way to work and read the AJC anywhere, anytime!  The best feature though, has to be the MLB At Bat app. I can listen to every Braves game wherever I am (not just sitting with a laptop) and now that MLB.TV has more spring games, I am able to watch about half of the Braves spring games. Technology is AMAZING! I even watched Cliff Lee pitch yesterday, just because I could.

One good thing about being in this snowy death hole called New York right now is that the Braves first spring game was television on WPIX (Channel 11 in NYC). Just hearing the crack of the bat brought a smile to my face and of course, seeing Keith Hernandez again.

A couple things drew my attention seeing a lot of the Braves players on the field again… Nate McLouth looks like he put on a good amount of mass. He looks much wider and more importantly he has that long blonde, frosted hair back. This is really the key to the Braves season. If you remember when McLouth was on the Pirates, he has that long, greasy-looking Chase Utley-type hairdo, and he was a really good player. With the Braves he was much more clean-cut. This hair is just what the Dr. ordered. Also not to be overlooked, he is back to wearing #13. He has been hitting like a fool so far (Hey more than one hit for him this early is news) and has been much more aggressive.

Another thing I noticed is that Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman are GIGANTIC! They dwarfed everyone of the field, including OF Matt Young who I swore was Eddie Gaedel for a minute. (If you don’t know who Gaedel is, look it up— seriously). We can’t expect Freeman to do what Heyward showed everyone in his rookie year, but after watching him lace three doubles (the second one was a bloop that was barely fair, but it looked like a rocket in the box score) it definitely created some excitement.

Lastly, even though it was spring, I really wanted to beat the friggin’ Mets! The two teams play 7 times this spring and 19 in the regular season. I don’t expect them to contend this year, but as long as the Braves pound them, I’ll be OK. Maybe they can get some players on loan from JP Morgan too.

Follow me on Twitter @BRAVEinNY (I can tweet from my phone now!)

Until Next time…Watch MLB.TV and Go Braves!

I hate the winter. February, the shortest month of the year feels like a whole season unto itself. Nothing against reading about what’s going on at the Disney Complex in Florida—Fredi’s first days in uniform as the new manager, Martin Prado and Chipper Jones looking healthy after late-season injuries and Kenshin Kawakami being “stuck” in Japan (I am thrilled about that one). With camp now open, I hate having to wait for spring games to start (and once they do I will hate that I have to wait for REAL games to start).  It’s nice to be a spoiled American with nonsensical hatred and inconveniences.

I also hate the fact that the Phillies have added to a dynamite rotation, making Joe Blanton by far their weakest link in it. Good news is the Braves only have to face these guys 18 times in the regular season.   Bad news is The Phils may go 144-0 in the rest of their games. They have had health issues in their lineup over the past few seasons, and though I don’t root for players to get injured (unless they are in my DL pool), I certainly won’t feel bad if they happen for HATED rivals.

I hate the fact that the Braves don’t travel to New York until the first week of June.  I do also hate everything about Citi Field.  I hate Mets fans.  I hate the usher who removed my friends and me from Citi last season for wearing Mets Suck shirts (right after the Braves took a lead). (His name is Kevin Anderson and I wish I had his personal phone number to list.)  I am willing to put all this hate aside to watch live Braves baseball. Wow, that was a lot of hate right there

I hate that Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche signed with the Nationals. It was a good news/bad news situation with Werth; he left the Phillies, but the Braves are still going to see him for 18 games this season. LaRoche is an all-around good guy and when he gets on a roll, you can’t get him out. I’d rather see them both in the AL. I would hate them less there.

I hate Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan.

I hate that Albert Pujols is acting like the greediest guy in the game. It is sickening that he would even consider leaving St. Louis after how he’s been treated there the past 10 years. That city worships Pujols. All you have to do is walk through the Busch Stadium concourse to see how beloved the guy is. It makes me thankful that Chipper (obviously not Pujols level) was never like that.

I hate Astroturf and the designated hitter.

Finally, I hate that during the season I take for granted how much I love baseball. There are 162 regular season games and in the dog days of summer, I can get complacent. There is a game almost every day so it becomes commonplace; normal.

It’s so true how you don’t realize how much you enjoy something until you don’t have it anymore. Missing a game in August seems almost meaningless, but on February 3^rd, I’d give my arm to watch that game. Well, I guess I’d better be careful what body parts I offer-up after last season…

Well, until next time…Go Braves!

I rarely do much on Saturdays when my wife works, so I sit around all day watching MLB Network—if I watched any more, I may have to visit a support group. They love doing countdowns on that channel; top 9 collisions at home plate, top 9 All-Star Game moments… Well last week they did the top 10 left fielders in the game right now. Of course, it was led by Ryan Braun and Josh Hamilton, but #7 on that list (who all the guys think should have been higher) was Martin Prado; who has played exactly 3 MLB games in LF.

I found it interesting that they had him so high on the list when he hasn’t even played there—instead they’re just going with speculation. And you know what? They are right. Prado is better than Jason Bay, Carlos Lee and most others. I guess it never really hit me, but the Braves have a pretty darn good outfield. Now, I know what you’re thinking and I have to say this… I think Nate McLouth is going to be back this season. Call me crazy, but I have a hunch.

Let’s face it, McLouth can’t do any worse than he did a year ago, so he has no place to go but up (or AA). When the Braves acquired McLouth, he was introduced as a Gold-Glove-winning, All-Star centerfielder; a guy that the Braves could count on being a big all-around threat for the next few seasons—and at a bargain price.  He hasn’t delivered so far, but 2011 is a new year and McLouth’s last shot. He’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Add Jason Heyward to this mix and the Braves have one of the best outfields in the National League. The only other clubs that measure up are the Brewers (Braun/Gomez/Hart) and the Cardinals (Holliday/ Rasmus/Berkman). No one else has an outfield with three All-Stars; though I know many of you think McClouth isn’t even an AA All-Star anymore.

It could be the fact that pitchers and catchers report in a little over a week, or it could be the fact that the snow has managed to find its way into my brain, but the Braves outfield, the weakest part of the Braves from last year, is going to do A LOT of damage in 2011.

Until Next time…I hate snow.

Go Braves!

//

The Braves stole Dan Uggla from the Marlins for Omar Infante and a ball boy, or something like that. They also added a guy named Joe Mather off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals. Now, of course Uggla is the big move of the off-season, but Mather, or “Joey Bombs” as he’s also known, is very interesting to me. At 6’4” 215 lbs, Mather is a big guy who can provide some right-handed pop off the bench, or as a back-up guy at first base, third base, or either corner OF position. In a perfect world, I see him as a right-handed Eric Hinske.

Speaking of Hinske, it was great news to hear he chose the Braves over his home-town Brewers for the 2011 season. Hinske had some big home runs last year and is a guy who can start (like Mather) at first or in LF. He’s a great guy in the clubhouse; which I feel, despite some MLB Network opinions (cough Mitch Williams) is worthwhile…and hey—he does have a 4-year playoff streak going.

Now, back to the Winter Meetings….

Unlike last season, there aren’t as many big storylines that will hog all the headlines at this year’s meetings. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jayson Werth are all signed, so the only big names out there are Carl Crawford and Cliff Lee; so the Braves aren’t going to be anywhere in the mix here. Speaking of the Jayson Werth deal—the Nationals are Bat (bleep) Crazy! They grossly over paid for a guy, who is definitely a great player, but isn’t going to do anything more than hit 30 HR for a last-place team.

I was going to get into a discussion about a veteran reliever, but before I could blink Frank Wren made a deal with the Chicago White Sox for RHP Scott Linebrink. This isn’t the same pitcher that was posting a sub-two ERA every year with the Padres, but I think it was a good deal—especially when you look at the other names out there on the market:

Jesse Crain (probably too expensive, both money and draft pick-wise), Aaron Heilman (God I hope not!), Trevor Hoffman (it would just be too sad), Mike MacDougal (If it were 2005 it would say OK), Jon Rauch (neck tattoos scare me), Kerry Wood (Really?), Chad Qualls (If you liked Kyle Farnsworth, you’ll LOVE this guy), and a couple guys from the Blue Jays—Scott Downs and Jason Frasor. These guys would be great, but they are both Type-A free-agents, so it is not very likely the Braves would go after either.

In terms of a utility guy…well, I have no clue who they’ll go after…the free agent names are really underwhelming. They include guys like, Cristian Guzman, Jerry Hairston Jr., Julio Lugo, Felipe Lopez and Nick Punto, who is the only guy that I actually like here; he’s helped the Twins a lot over the past few years. 

Perhaps the Braves have someone already in their system that can fill this role who is NOT named Diory—Joe Thurston is still a possibility and what about a guy like Tyler Pastornicky? He is a scrappy player that came over from the Blue Jays on the Escobar deal and has been tearing up the Arizona Fall League. He’s just about to turn 21, so he still has a lot to learn, but it’s a thought.

Lastly, some news and notes:

The Braves got a bit of a break last week as Adam Dunn signed with the Chicago White Sox. Dunn absolutely killed the Braves last season; he must have hit at least 20 home runs against the Braves last year…Of course now Jason Werth can take over his place.

Javy Vazquez in now with the Florida Marlins, which I can’t say I am thrilled about. I expect Vazquez to do much better pitching in the NL East again, with much less pressure from the half-dozen fans there, and it won’t hurt pitching in a park that is about double the size of Yankee Stadium.

The Dodgers are hot on the services of our old pal Matt Diaz; at least someone is. Ok, so that was a little harsh; in fact the Phillies, Mariners and Yankees are also showing some interest. I kind of felt bad for him after he was non-tendered by the Braves last week, but it didn’t last long. Well, he had a good run…

The Phillies and Royals are the top two teams right now to sign OF Jeff Francoeur. He would get much more playing time in Kansas City, but I guess I would too…

Finally, Dear Santa…PLEASE MAKE SOMEONE TAKE KAWAKAMI! I know this is probably the toughest task Frank Wren will have to deal with in his career. I can’t see who would want to pay any of the $6.7 Million he is owed, but Christmas is coming and I have heard of a little thing called a ‘Christmas Miracle.’ Maybe this year Santa will bring Braves fans the perfect gift: a suitor for Kenshin Kawakami.

Until next time…Go Braves!

I have just returned from my Honeymoon in Key West, FL where I spent way too much time with a hurricane named Paula. It rained a lot, the Braves were out of the playoffs, but it was great to get away and take the sting out of another playoff series loss. I guess this year didn’t hurt so badly because of the hectic time getting ready for the wedding, the injuries piling up and the fact that they actually made the playoffs; that in itself was a victory to me.

Hats off to Derek Lowe! Who would have thought it would have been Lowe to pitch them into the playoffs and almost to the NLCS? Look, I know they Braves didn’t make it, but they could have and maybe should have won every one of those games, and Lowe was huge. This is the guy the Braves paid $60 Million, who had been offered to every team last offseason for some minor leaguers, and a guy who most of the baseball world thought was all but gone from stardom.

Then you have to look at the bullpen—with or without Wagner (and Saito), this group was flat-out dominant. They kept the Braves in more games than they should have been in and won them some games they probably shouldn’t have won. Most will be back next season and I look forward to watching the battle for closer between Craig Kimbrel and Johnny Venters. Personally, I think Kimbrel is the guy, but what do I know?

Speaking of next year, the Braves have already made a couple moves that may be foreshadowing the upcoming offseason. Melky Cabrera and Takashi Saito were released earlier this week and I don’t think they are the only two that will have new homes next year—at least I sure as hell hope not!

Troy Glaus was by far the team MVP for a 1 ½ month stretch, but I don’t see him being a part of the 2011 roster. Rick Ankiel hit the biggest HR of the year for the Braves, but I’m not sure he is what the Braves need in their OF, that is, unless they can unload Nate McLouth. I don’t care what he did during the last month of the year (remember they played the Nats, Mets and Marlins a lot) I think McLouth needs a new home—but who is going to take him? He is owed a good chunk of cash next season and unless the Braves pay some of it, they may not be able to move him.

Anyway you look at it the Braves need a power-hitting outfielder and no, Jason Werth is not gonna happen. There isn’t too much of the free agent market the Braves can afford, so a trade is most likely. Hopefully the trade doesn’t involve Jair Jurrjens as some reports have indicated. That would be a moronic move; don’t trade starting pitching. Well, unless it’s Jo Jo Reyes, but I guess that’s using the phrase “starting pitching” loosely.

I was very happy to see Fredi Gonzalez announced as the Braves next manager sooner, rather than later. I think he is the perfect fit for the Braves and though Bobby Cox will surely be missed, it is going to work out for the best. And hey, the Braves will finally get that new hitting coach…Terry Pendleton was moved to first base after Glen Hubbard was let go from the team last week. Hopefully a new voice can jump-start some of those Braves bats that were so quiet the last month of the year.

Anyway you look at it; the 2010 season was successful for the Atlanta Braves. They made it to the playoffs, boosted attendance (thanks in a big part to Mr. Jason Heyward), said goodbye to one of the greatest managers in baseball history and won 4 of 5 games I attended this year—not too bad. And while the baseball gods didn’t keep their word to me and the luck of Hinske has run out, I am so excited to do it all again in five months. So, as the Cubs faithful have been saying for over 100 years—Just wait ‘til next year!

Go Braves!

The Braves, coming off a sweep of the Marlins will now end the regular season against the rival Phillies; who just swept the Braves last week in Philly. The good news is that the Phils already have their playoff spot and #1 seed taken care of and have no reason to play their starters deep into games—meaning the Braves have a shot to clinch the Wild Card early to give themselves that same luxury of resting players. It would really be nice if the walking-wounded could actually get a day to heal. Now, I’m not saying the Phils are going to just lie down, I’m sure they’d love to keep the Braves out of the playoffs. But Charlie Manuel is old school and he isn’t going to take any chances on someone getting injured.

Speaking of injuries, the #3 spot in the order is cursed. It looks like Chipper wasn’t injury-prone after all—he was just hitting in the wrong spot in the order. Brian McCann had better watch out. Hey, maybe Nate McLouth should hit third, then I wouldn’t have to cringe ever time I see his name in the lineup. Seriously, why is he still paying? He HAS to have naked pictures of someone—that’s the only explanation.

If indeed the Braves do earn a playoff spot, they will most likely open up on Tuesday in San Francisco…yikes! I have been saying all year, the one team I don’t want to see in a short series is the Giants. Three words—Lincecum. Zito. Cain. That is scary. But, it’s the Post-season; anything can happen! Look at the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals; the only reason they made the playoffs is because the Astros couldn’t win a game at the end of the season. They only had 83 wins, but they got hot with names like Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver emerging as heroes. Anything can happen.

The strength of the 2010 Braves has been pitching, and even though they lost a couple guys to injuries, the starting rotation is still formidable and their bullpen is the best in the game in my eyes. Derek Lowe has been pitching out of his mind this month and has tied Tim Hudson for the team lead with 16 wins. Tommy Hanson should have at least that many too, but hasn’t gotten the run support. They will be a solid 3-man rotation in the playoffs and if they can get anything from Jair Jurrjens, it will be a bonus.

Again, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but assuming the Braves are in the playoffs, they just need to win one game in San Francisco and the series will be over. Quote me on that, the Braves will not lose to the Giants in Atlanta. Period. Call it a bold prediction, call it stupid, just wait and see. This team is totally different at home and they are going to show the world. People may have no clue who half of the (healthy) Braves players are, but they will when it is all over.

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until Next time…Go Braves!

The Phillies came into this series, as Joe Simpson would say, “hotter than a dancing bobcat.” The truth is, the Braves were in every game of the series and probably should have won a couple—their pitching really kept them in it. Despite having rookies (one of whom made his MLB debut) start two of three games, the Braves staff was phenomenal. They kept the mighty Phils off the scoreboard for the most part, but a lack of any hitting and horrific defense eventually did them in.

I haven’t seen the Braves play that bad defensively in a single series in a long, long time. It was tough to watch at times, and Nate McClouth in LF? WOW! That was a disaster. I was watching this year’s Little League World Series and I kid you not, they had better arms than McLouth.

All in all, the Braves looked like a team playing tight and scared of the Phillies. Now, that’s just my opinion, I wasn’t in the dugout, I don’t know what was said or the mood in there. All I know is the Phillies are going to be one tough team to beat in October and if the Braves want to have a shot at them, or anybody for that matter in the playoffs, they need to turn it around—fast!

So, now what?

The Braves go to Washington D.C. where it seems as if they can never catch a break. Honestly, I think the Nationals put all their effort in to the 19 games vs. the Braves and just phone in the rest. I think Stan Kasten wants to stick it his former employer and is on vacation for the rest of the season. I just can’t explain it any other way. Of course, they will face Livan Hernandez on Sunday, who seems to own the Braves lately. In fact, he is so old; he could actually be their “daddy.”

After D.C, the Braves go home to Atlanta for 3-game series against the Marlins and the Phillies. With the Rockies, Giants and Padres battling for the NL West and a Wild Card Spot, the Braves have to kick it in to gear—bottom line. They played great this year, but if they can’t keep it up down the stretch, it’s going to end up like so many other years of Bobby Cox’ tenure—just short.

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Cox was not the only one ejected from Citi Field on Friday; I joined the party in the 4th inning, along with 6 of my friends. I know what you are thinking, but no we weren’t drunk, we didn’t start a fight, or even yell profanities. Nope, we were kicked out of the game for being Braves fans…and wearing specially made shirts to celebrate my bachelor party. My shirt had a “T” on the front and nothing else. My friends’ shirts…well they each had a letter as well and when we were sitting in our seats our shirts spelled M-E-T-S S-U-C-K.

I understand this is a family atmosphere, but I don’t think the word “suck” is a profanity. If you can use it on ABC Family Channel, you should be able to use it at a sporting event. Furthermore, if Snookie is allowed in Citi Field, then our shirts should look like the New Testament. She is much more offensive than our shirts, in so many different ways. We brought it to the attention of the Citi Field security that we had a First Amendment right to freedom of speech, but we were told that “This isn’t America, it’s Citi Field.” It seems this rule is loosely interpreted though, as a single shirts stating that “Yankees Suck” is acceptable to wear at a Mets game.

If I thought we really did something wrong, I would not have been so angry. If I do something illegal or immoral, I would absolutely own up to it and face the music, but without warning or just cause (in my mind), we were escorted by Mets security and the NYPD out of the stadium. Oh yeah, and they took our tickets so we couldn’t prove it happened. Well my friends, it just so happens one of us was dressed casually and video-taped the whole thing.

We were in no way being rude to anyone around us and in fact, the Mets fans thought it was hilarious. We had our pictures taken a number of times so they could capture the moment; or tell their friends about the idiots that sat behind them at the game. Well, for 2 innings anyway.

The good thing is, we got to the game in the 2nd inning and did get to see all the runs scored in the game. It’s funny how our shirts weren’t a problem when the Mets had a 3-0 lead, but when Jason Heyward blasted a home run off the Subway sign in RF, we were forced to leave the game.

So, we did have a really good time listening to the game in the parking lot and continuing the tailgate party; especially when Billy Wagner came in for the save and we hummed “Enter Sandman” when we thought we was taking the mound. In fact, the stadium (and parking lot) was so empty at that point the remaining fans probably heard our “Tomahawk Chop” chant from parking lot C.

When it comes down to it, I can’t say I’m surprised that we were kicked out. I am surprised that it was unprovoked and handled to poorly. But, I’m sure the security guard is a die-hard Met fan and had to take his frustration of the season out on someone and since we were rival fans and looked happy, he had to feel important and take our fun away. I am willing to bet if our shirts spelled out “Braves Suck,” we would have been there the whole game; just a hunch.

The good news was that the Braves came into New York and played really well, sweeping the Mets in 3-straight. We just need to Phillies to lose one of these days…preferable Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, as the Braves will be in Philly with the NL East title on the line. It’s not going to be easy with Hammels, Halladay and Oswalt scheduled to pitch, but if the Braves are going to win this thing, they have to prove they can beat the Phillies and dethrone the reigning champ.

By the way, if anyone visits Citi Field and runs in to the guy in charge of security, his name is Kevin Anderson. Give him a message for me—The Mets Suck.

You can see a video clip of the night on YouTube by going to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiJt4YzPKb8

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Until Next time…Go Braves!

Now that I have that rant out of my system, let’s continue…Obviously it has been a frustrating week for Braves fans, but the bottom line is the Braves play the Phillies six more times, so that is where the NL East will most likely be decided. I can say, it seems as if the Braves can play well against the good teams (we know how they do against the poor ones) so let’s hope this stays true against the Phils.

So, with the Braves recent skid (more like train wreck) on the road, I’ve found myself trying to find an answer as to why…so I have come up with three scenarios that may explain why the Atlanta Braves have turned into the Danville Braves on the road…

1. When the Braves were in Florida, Matt Diaz and some other players were surfing and he stumbled across this ancient Tiki Idol. Instead of asking the locals what it was or where It came from, he began wearing it around his neck. From this day on, the Braves have had terrible luck and the connection has not yet been made to the cursed artifact.
2. On the Braves last off-day, Derek Lowe went water skiing and came across some sharks circling a wounded fish. Instead of getting out of there like a rational person, Derek decided he would just jump over the sharks to show off in front of his teammates. He did this successfully, but in hindsight he did not just “jump the shark,” he jumped a school of them.
3. They just suck.

I tend to lean more to one, though as I was reading some Twitter entries last night, they tended to lean a little toward #3. The Braves don’t suck. They are in a slump and will break out of it. Any way you see it, there is plenty of time left and only ½ game (they are even in the loss column) separating the best two teams (in my mind) in the NL. Only time will tell…

*****

For years the Braves have had the luxury of having a strong minor league system. I followed the progress of the Braves affiliates this year and though the teams didn’t finish great, there were some players that stood out. Of course the gems of the system, Randall Delgado, Mike Minor (who is up now), Julio Teheran Craig Kimbrel, and Arodys Vizcaino, but here are some other players who had great years both statistically and developmental:

AAA Gwinnett: I have spoken about Stephen Marek before (as we know we came over from Anaheim with Casey Kotchman for Mark Teixeira) but he really had a great year going 2-2 1.43 ERA 9 SV 1.13 WHIP and 56K 50.1 IP. Also, Scott Diamond, who started in AA Mississippi, finished strong with Gwinnett putting up solid numbers. Combined (AA and AAA) he went 8-7 3.47 ERA 123 K. Erik Cordier, who the Braves received for Brayan Pena was strong in both AA and AAA going 11-7 3.71 ERA 113 K 135.2 IP.

Looking down the line a bit, RHP J.J. Hoover had an outstanding year, starting in A Myrtle Beach and finishing in AA Mississippi. Hoover went 14-7 3.29 ERA 152 K, not too shabby. Since everyone is talking about Julio Teheran as being the Braves’ next stud pitcher, here is what he did combined in A Rome, A Myrtle Beach and AA Mississippi: 9-8 2.59 ERA 159 K. If you saw him pitch in the Futures Game this year, you know his stuff is nasty!

Finally, the Braves 1^st round pick Matthew Lipka showed us why he was so highly regarded by the organization. Lipka played in the Gulf Coast League this summer and really flourished hitting .302 1 HR 24 RBI 20 SB .758 OPS. If he can continue putting up those numbers, especially AVG and SB, the Braves are going to finally have a guy at the top of the lineup to create havoc (not that Omar Infante hasn’t been great).

Stage 1: Denial- There is no way the Braves can afford to lose a series to the Rockies; especially when they have a 9-run lead to start the game. Sure, anything can happen at Coors Field, but they have that humidor now. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen anymore right? I mean, how can this happen?! There is no way the Phillies aren’t in first place by the weekend; they are playing the Astros….the Astros! I must be dreaming.

Stage 2: Anger- This is ridiculous! Who do they think they are?! Why the hell is Kyle Farnsworth an MLB player! Bobby Cox is going to pitch Jonny Venters in every game of the season and will never be heard from again. In fact, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t lose the arm entirely. Well, there goes that 2.5 game lead over the Phillies. This is crap!

Stage 3: Bargaining- Please, please let the Phillies lost tonight! Ok, I realize I ask for things all the time, but this is different…The Braves have to turn it around; they have to win this year. They owe me!

Stage 4: Depression- This sucks. I really thought this was going to be the year. But, if they play like this in August, what does that mean for October? Well, if they even get there. I’ll probably be stuck watching more crappy college football matchups (like Syracuse vs. Hofstra) again this fall.

Stage 5: Acceptance- OK, well you can’t win ‘em all right? I mean, it’s only three games. They have a pretty easy schedule ahead of them…Marlins, Mets at home and then the Marlins and Pirate on the road. They’ll beat those teams…they have to.

Over reaction? Yeah, probably. But at the time it always seems like it’s the end of the world. The crazy thing is, the Braves got swept by the Rockies in a 3-game series and the Braves ended up gaining ½ game on the Phillies, who were swept in their 4-game series (at home) against the Astros. I can honestly say I did not see that one coming.

*****

We are less than a week away from September 1^st call-ups and the Braves have a few guys that I really want to see (and some I really would rather never see again) that could be on that list. First and foremost is Freddie Freeman. The 20-year-old first baseman is tearing up AAA pitching and is showing everyone why he is on the Braves “untouchables” list. Freeman is hitting .324 18HR 87 RBI .918 OPS in Gwinnett this season, with most of that damage coming in the second half. He is the Braves’ first baseman of the future and like the rest of “Braves Nation,” I just can’t wait to see what he can do.

Joining Freeman will most likely be relief pitchers Craig Kimbrel and Stephen Marek. Kimbrel has dominated this season going 3-2 1.74 ERA 22 SV 76 SO 51.2 IP while Marek has almost matched Kimbrel dominance and surprise quite a few people going 1-1 1.17ERA 8 SV 53 SO 46 IP. I also wouldn’t be too surprised to see lefty Mike Dunn back in Atlanta.

As for more hitters, our old friend Barbaro Canizares is having another great year in AAA Gwinnett (it’s just too bad he can’t come close to that in Atlanta) hitting .337 10 HR 67 RBI, but it definitely would be nice to have a guy who has some pop on the bench. I also expect IF Brandon Hicks to come back up and join the team. He’s a guy who can pinch run for McCann and Hinske and play some SS at the end of some games.

Of course, whenever Troy Glaus is comfortable with his health, he will be back on the team and there are a few other guys who may be rewarded with a late season call-up; Wes Timmons (having a solid year in AAA), Brent Clevlen (who had a cup of coffee and a DL stint in Atlanta this year) and Joe Thurston (who many feel should have beat out Brooks Conrad this Spring). A third catcher will also be added to the roster to give the Braves some insurance and a day or two off for McCann and/or Ross. Either J.C. Boscan and Clint Sammons will be called up to help out; I’m not sure which one it will be, but both are good defensive catchers and neither can really hit their way out of a wet paper bag.

Then there are a few guys that I don’t expect to see, but I wouldn’t be too upset if we saw them. Willy Taveras has been atrocious in Gwinnett this year, but if the Braves need a guy to steal a base, late in a game, he is the guy to go to. An over shadowed deadline-deal brought OF Wilkin Ramirez from Detroit and, though he hasn’t hit for much average, can pop a home run every now and then.

Finally we have Nate McClouth and Kenshin Kawakami. What happens with these two? Well, I guess sending them on a top-secret mission to Mars is out of the question, so I assume they will be in Atlanta; I guess Kawakami will be for sure according to Bobby Cox, and he would know, wouldn’t he? McClouth is only hitting .225 for the year and Kawakami, well, is Kawakami. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I don’t mind watching these guys play…but not until Spring Training of 2011.

Until next time…Go Braves!

Even though Lee has had some back trouble this year, he is still a real power threat in the middle of the Braves lineup. He has killed the Braves in the past and it’s nice to know that he will be on our side now. In his career Lee has 9 seasons of 20+ home runs, with his career high being 46 in 2005.

Lee is also a Gold-Glove winner at 1B—Glaus was getting better in the field, but after watching Mark Teixeira for a year, it is amazing to see how a top-caliber fielder can change your entire infield defense.

So, what does this mean for Troy? Well, he is now on the 15-day DL and, after he rests his knees, will join the AAA team in Gwinnett to work on his swing and his defensive skills; at third base! It was reported by numerous sources that Glaus would not move to third, and maybe he won’t, but he certainly is going to give it a try. He is being a real team-guy and you can’t ask for anything more…well maybe a few more key RBIs.

After Chipper Jones went down with the ACL injury, let’s face it, the Braves were in a little trouble. I’m not saying Omar Infante can’t do the job, but really, he isn’t scaring anyone. Sometimes you need that big bopper in the middle of the lineup to create some fear in the opposing pitching staff. Someone has to compliment Brian McCann in the lineup and without Chipper they needed to some to step up, or step in…so Derrek Lee is going to be that guy.

If you were to tell me that the Braves would lose their Franchise player to a season-ending knee injury, their most versatile pitcher to Tommy John surgery, their first half MVP to a broken finger, their ROY candidate to a thumb injury (he still isn’t 100%), their All-Star/Gold Glove CF would be demoted to AAA (along with a starting pitcher) and their best clutch hitter from last year would be traded before the All-Star Break I would have said the team would end up close to last place; not the case.

Frank Wren has done a great job so far to ensure this team was going to be as competitive as possible. Maybe even more important, he didn’t let a bad situation linger to the point where is became a real burden, as things have in the past. McLouth and Kawakami are in AAA Gwinnett and Escobar is in Toronto…a year ago, I’m not so sure this would be the case; and look where they finished last year.

Martin Prado has carried this lineup all year, Tim Hudson has been the Ace he should have been when he first got to Atlanta, Jonny Venters has been a dominating setup man and Billy Wagner (for the most part) has been a shut-down closer, but it looks like the 2010 Braves MVP isn’t on the field…he’s in an air conditioned suite on the phone making this team better. He is the GM, Frank Wren.

Until next time… Go Braves!

It’s probably one of the best, if not the best, play I have ever seen Chipper make, and it could be the last play we ever see him make. As soon as the camera focused to Chipper clutching his knee on the ground, I turned to my fiancé and said, “This could be it.” It has been reported over the last couple months that Chipper is leaning toward retirement at the end of the season.  It will be interesting to see how this injury affects that situation. I’d hate to see him go out this way.

It’s tough news to grasp, especially after Chipper has finally been swinging the bat well. He had been hitting .307 7HR in his last 44 games (better than he has done in 2 years), but now we we’re left to find out who is going to take over at third base. Since the non-waiver trade-deadline has come and gone, it’s not likely the Braves can add anyone substantial via trade; unless Evan Longoria wants to dress up in an Adam Everett uniform.

So, when Prado comes back to the team, which should be in a few days, I imagine Omar Infante will get the majority of playing time at second and Prado will move to third, while Brooks Conrad will fill in (and hit grand slams) when needed. Or, maybe T.P. can come out of retirement. He can’t be that bad, can he?

The Infante and Conrad have been playing have to make you feel a little better, but the fact is that, though they are hitting well, they aren’t Chipper. I can’t imagine Charlie Manuel walking to the mound in the last series of the year, with a Playoff berth on the line and asking Doc Holliday, “Do you want to pitch around this Conrad guy?”

I hope Frank Wren has a trick up his sleeve because this may be the trickiest situation he has to deal with of yet…

*****

The Braves have gone 7-3 over the past week, which is just about where they should be, but I can’t remember another 10-game stretch (before October) that had me reaching for the Mylanta this many times. I don’t want to say, “I told you so” about Kyle Farnsworth, but— I told you so about Kyle Farnsworth! Along with a rough stretch from Billy Wagner and Peter Moylan, the Braves bull pen has looked shaky to say the least; except for Mr. Venters.

Venters is now 4-0 1.07 ERA 1.01 WHIP 62 K 58.2 IP. WOW! At the beginning of the year I thought the Braves would have their first Rookie of the Year since Rafael Furcal in 2000, and I still have a chance to be right. I don’t think he will actually win the award, but no rookie has been more dominating at their position in 2010 than Venters. Sure the big names like Buster Posey, Jaime Garcia and Jason Heyward top many lists, but no one has earned the true title “Rookie of the Year” and has been more valuable to their team than Venters.

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until next time…Go Braves!

We all remember when Jim Joyce botched the perfect game call earlier this season, and after the game he admitted his mistake. Davidson, on the other hand, still won’t admit he was wrong. Are you kidding me? Have you seen the replay? Davidson wasn’t even looking at the ball. He had already made up his mind it was foul. The game would have resulted in an extra game in the standings for the Braves; so if at the end of the season the Braves miss the playoffs by one game, we are all going to Bob Davidson’s house! Actually, the most surprising thing about the play was the fact he didn’t call a balk on that line drive…

*****

So, it looks like the Braves are going to be without Kris Medlen for quite awhile. Medlen left his starts against the Mets Wednesday with what he described as a burning pain in his right elbow; not good! The MRI shows that he has a tear in his UCL and will rest a few weeks before a decision is made. While we don’t know what this will result in, we know that news like this leads to Tommy John surgery more times than not. It’s definitely a blow to the Braves losing their most versatile pitcher for (if he needs TJ) this season, and most of next season; meaning he won’t really be back to full strength until 2012…if we are all still here then…

Braves 2009 1^st round pick Mike Minor will make his MLB debut Monday against the (actually red-hot) Houston Astros. He has been tearing it up since being promoted to AAA Gwinnett going 4-1 1.89ERA 37K 0.93WHIP. Ridiculous numbers really, for a guy who just over a year ago was pitching in college. It will be fun to see how he can do in the midst of a pennant race, but it’s not going to be the same with out Medlen. Big, big loss.

*****

Again I have to bring up the New York broadcast I was forced to watch this week on SNY and more specifically their play-by-play guy Gary Cohen. You would think I’d be used to this by now, but time after time they continue to show just how Bush-League they really are.

First off, they just hate Melky Cabrera. I’m assuming because he was a Yankee, but nonetheless, whenever he comes up in conversation (which they like to do a lot) they do nothing but rip on him for being a terrible fielder, taking bad routes to balls, not having a good arm, not hustling, etc. I’m not sure if they have ever watched Melky play, but as a fielder he’s pretty damn good! They probably don’t remember this (because of their anti-Yankee bias) but as a Yankee Melky led the AL in OF assists. He has been really good in the field this year and his bat has been good since May. I don’t know where they get their facts, but obviously they need to get a grip on reality.

Next, Cohen acknowledged the fact that the Braves have their former cities Boston and Milwaukee represented in the Hall of Fame and retired numbers, but for some reason don’t have the 1914 and 1957 World Series banners up in their OF with the rest of their playoff banners. I guess I shouldn’t have used the word “acknowledged,” because Cohen wouldn’t drop the subject for 3 innings.

What does this have to do with the game? I guess when you make 12 errors in an inning you need to try and change the subject, but it gets out of hand. Maybe it’s just do to the fact the Mets put a banner up for anything they can. They have their 1999 Wild Card banner on proud display in their new stadium, along with the 2006 NL East tile (which was so important they had to smoke cigars on the field), their 2007 NL East 2^nd Place banner and I’m certain they just put up a new banner for the Jeff Francoeur home run off Billy Wagner on Tuesday.

Lastly, Gary Cohen seems to know a whole lot more about the Braves then anyone. He has already given the closer job to Jonny Venters in 2011 and apparently Eric O’Flaherty is done for the 2010 season. Well, actually Venters has NOT been named the closer (he’ll have to battle Craig Kimbrel and others for that) and O’Flaherty just threw a 40 pitch bullpen session and is almost back to full strength.

OK so maybe I am taking this a little overboard. I guess that just happens when the lead in the NL East goes down to a single game and Keith Hernandez’ voice rings in my head.

Until next time… Go Braves!

The Braves sent Gregor Blanco, Jesse Chavez and Tim Collins (who they just got in the Escobar trade) to the Royals (shocker) in exchange for Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel. I am assuming Ankiel is the 8^th inning guy and Farnsworth is the power bat. Wait, what? I’m wrong again?! Just when I thought there wasn’t anyone I trusted less with a lead than Chavez, I was proven wrong, yet again. I don’t have anything against Farnsworth personally (which goes for all the guys I talk about) but it’s really hard for me to forget that awful game-4 against the Astros in 2005.

He has good stats this year—  3-0 2.42 ERA in 37 games, but it’s not the regular season I’m worried about. He was great during the regular season of ’05, but fell apart when it mattered. I’ve watched him with the Yankees the past few seasons, and he was even worse in pressure situations.

Ankiel has missed a good portion of this season with a leg injury and has hit just .261 4HR 15 RBI. Ankiel (who used to be the best pitching prospect in MLB) has shown good power since he made his comeback with the Cardinals, but is an all-or-nothing type hitter. He signed a one year deal with the Royals in the off-season, so it looks like he will be a 2-month (hopefully 3) rental player—which is good because he is one of the only guys in MLB that can go turf-toe to turf-toe with Mike Hampton in an injury competition.

I don’t have a problem with the Braves giving up Blanco, Collins or Chavez, it’s the fact they got two guys who have not shown me I should be confident with this move. I don’t have a problem with Frank Wren sitting down and having a social drink (or ten) with his old friend Dayton Moore, but the night before the trade deadline? Ok, so I am not really suggesting anyone was intoxicated, but this deal is a real head-scratcher. I guess all we can do it sit back with a case of Mylanta and watch…

In an unrelated move, the Braves also acquired OF Wilkin Ramirez from the Detroit Tigers for a bucket of balls and a Kit-Kat Bar. Ramirez has played with AAA Toledo all year and has hit .216 4 HR 14 RBI in 41 games. I don’t see this being a deal that will affect the major league roster, but it’s worth mentioning—I guess.

The worst news of all from this weekend is the fact Martin Prado broke his right pinky sliding into home plate against the Reds Friday night. Yikes! This really hurts! To me, Prado is the last person the Braves can afford to lose.  The reports are that Prado will miss at least 7-10 days, but I can’t see how it won’t be longer. I’m sure Omar Infante and Brooks Conrad will play well over the next two weeks, but they aren’t Martin Prado.

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Until Next time…Try and stay sober Braves fans!

This trade gives the Phillies a 1-2-3 punch of Halladay, Oswalt and Hammels (though Hammels scares me as much as a box full of puppies). I would still put Hudson-Jurrjens-Hanson against the Phils trio anytime; especially with that mess they call a bullpen. However, it is still unsettling for a rival team to add one of the top pitchers in the game to their starting rotation, for the second time this year.

Of course everyone is going to be asking the question about this move…Why the hell did the Phillies trade Cliff Lee??? They are giving up more for Oswalt than they got for Lee, they are paying Oswalt more money (especially since Oswalt insists on having his $12 Million option picked up) and they could have had Lee all season, instead of just two months this season. I don’t get it, but I can’t say I’m upset about it. Hell, I’d rather the Phillies have Oswalt than Lee any day.

*****

In my last blog I brought up the trade rumors that linked Cody Ross to the Braves. It looks more and more like these were just rumors and I am very glad! While Ross would be an upgrade in CF, the talent the Braves would have to give up has increased, and Ross isn’t worth it.

I was listening to 680 the Fan yesterday, and there were callers suggesting the Braves trade Kris Medlen for Cody Ross. WHAT?! That is outrageous to me! Medlen is one of the most versatile and valuable players on the Braves roster. He is an above average starting pitcher and reliever, and since it is a business, he makes virtually nothing in today’s baseball world. Maybe they should trade Heyward to get Francoeur back while they are at it!

Let’s not forget some past trades in which the Braves traded young players, particularly pitchers away at the deadline… Jason Schmidt, Adam Wainwright (though we did get Eli Marrero!) and of course the famous Mark Teixeira trade in which we gave away the whole Myrtle Beach Pelicans team including Elvis Andrus and Neftali Feliz (both All-Stars this year). Sometimes the best deals are the ones you didn’t make.

*****

So, I was writing a blog on Tuesday and a good part of it was about Nate McLouth. After I had a few paragraphs written, I went on the AJC site and saw the Braves had sent him down to AAA. “WOW! They read my mind,” I thought. It’s a move that had to be done and the same decision I would have made. Here’s what I had written before I heard the news:

They can’t trade him—If a GM gave up talent for McLouth, not only would he be fired immediately, I would guess he’d face criminal charges for his recklessness. They can’t keep him on the MLB roster—he clearly can’t hit major league pitching and I think the last time he tried to throw a runner out was in Little League. If the Braves release him they would have to pay the rest of his $5 Million salary this year and the $6.5 Million he is owed next season to play for another team (though if it were the Phillies it may be worth the money).  So, my opinion is to send him to AAA Gwinnett. The worst that happens is that he plays poorly and they part ways in 2012. Who knows, maybe he can work something out and be decent for next season. The bottom line is that he can’t be on the roster any longer.

I would rather see the Braves stick with Melky Cabrera and Gregor Blanco in CF and batting in the 8^th spot. They may not provide much power, but they can cover more than their share of ground in the OF and will provide solid at-bats and good speed on the bases. Hey—they can’t do any worse than Nate…

So it seems as if Frank Wren and I are thinking on the same wavelength. Since we are thinking so much alike, I’m going to start thinking about a move involving the bullpen…

How many times do we have to become physically ill due to Jesse Chavez entering a game? Look, he has a great arm, no one is questioning that, but time after time he has been hit around and the game has gotten away. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but maybe he needs more seasoning in the minors to work on his control.

I just checked the Braves roster on their website, and Kenshin Kawakami is still in their bullpen. This was news to he because I had just assumed he had passed away—I haven’t seen him pitch, in what feels like months (some GOOD months!), but apparently he did make an appearance one time this month. I guess I shouldn’t have sent that condolence card to his family…

Seriously though, I do remember him pitching the one time, and it wasn’t pretty. He gave up 5 hits and 3 earned runs on July 16^th against the Brewers, a game the Braves let get away from them—go figure. So what are the Braves going to do with KK? He is making about $7.3 Million this season and another $5.3+ Million next season (he received $2 Million signing bonus). I have a feeling Frank Wren is gun-shy on making a trade involving KK for PR reasons, which I can understand. But, I prey he is not in their plans for next year’s starting rotation, especially with Mike Minor doing so well in AAA Gwinnett.

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until next time…Stay classy Braves fans!

The Braves will start a 9-game, 3-city road trip Friday that will bring them to Florida, Washington D.C. and Cincinnati—and the Braves just may leave Florida with a new outfielder… Every publication I read, from Miami to Boston, has the Braves trading for Marlins’ OF Cody Ross in the next week or so. Earlier this week the Braves sent their top two scouts to watch the Rockies vs. Marlins indicating that they are VERY interested in someone and all reports are saying that someone is Cody Ross.

It makes sense, seeing that the Braves biggest question mark is in centerfield. Nate McLouth has just recently come off the DL and has to prove to everyone he isn’t the same player we saw earlier this season—something I don’t see happening. Melky Cabrera has been solid lately, but Ross would certainly be an upgrade.

So, what would the Braves have to give up for a guy like Ross? Well, everything I have read indicated the Marlins like LHP Mike Dunn, who the Braves acquired in the deal for Javy Vazquez last winter. Dunn has been up with the big club recently and has pitched…ehh…OK. He throws hard (95 MPH), but has issues with his control—not someone I’d want pitching in a tight situation. I’m not sure if the Braves would have to give up much more than Dunn, and if not, I’d say the trade is a no-brainer. And if Ross isn’t available, I hear the Mets are shopping Jeff Francoeur…

If this trade does happen, someone has to be the odd-man out. It could be Cabrera, if the Marlins ask for him in return for Ross, or he could be used in another trade (if need be). I would guess however, that it would be McLouth that goes, whether in a trade or some other form. I’m sure the Braves will give McClouth plenty of playing time this week to either show them he has bounced back from the .176AVG to start the year, or to increase his trade value. It only takes one team to believe he can do it.

This appears to be the only “big” trade the Braves would make, barring some type of injury. There was a bit of a scare Thursday when Eric Hinske injured his foot after being hit by a pitch, but all indications are that Hinske is OK, as he was in the lineup for Friday’s game.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Most of the rumors you read this time of year never come to fruition and the moves that do happen are mostly unexpected. Frank Wren has been one of the most aggressive General Managers of late, so I do except something to happen. What that will be? We will just have to sit back and wait…

Until Next time…Go Braves!

You may have never heard of the two minor leaguers the Braves received along with Gonzalez, but they are quality players. There was an AL executive that commented on this trade with awe for what Frank Wren pulled off. The Braves dumped a guy they desperately needed to get rid of (well make that 2 guys) and they got in return a veteran SS that is having a career year, a solid defender and an all-around good clubhouse guy AND got two good prospects on top of that. Now, I don’t expect Gonzalez to keep up the HR pace he is on right now (with 17) but as long as he is steady, this will be a win for the Braves. This could be Wren’s best deal yet.

Gonzalez was an All-Star in 1999 and won a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 2003, so this guy has all the experience needed to help the Braves get to the Promised Land. He is under contract for this year with a club option for 2011. At just $2.5 Million, Gonzalez is a very affordable option for the Braves this year and next if they don’t come up with a better plan—remember they may be in the market for a third basemen in the off-season.

In reality I was not the only one calling for Yunel’s head. In fact it seems as if many people high up in the Braves organization and many players were right with me—especially after the lazy throw that almost cost Troy Glaus a broken in the New York series. I don’t think anyone questions Escobar’s ability on the field. He is one of the most talented SS I have seen in my 30 years with the best arm at SS by far I have ever seen (better than Furcal’s). But the attitude and mental mistakes ultimately led to his demise in Atlanta. I think his talent and upside will be missed but in terms of his behavior on the field and his overall mind-set, I don’t think anyone is going to miss that. Plus after seeing Gonzalez on the Marlins (and other teams; as long as he plays like he always has, Braves fans are going to be very happy with this upgrade, that’s right, an upgrade.

*****

Brian McCann had the rest of the baseball world asking “Mauer who?” Tuesday night as he delivered the game-winning hit in the All-Star Game to give the National League a much needed (and long awaited) win. More importantly, it gives the Braves..errr..the National League Champ home-field advantage in this year’s World Series. You could really see the players and coaches into this year’s game for that very reason.

Since I have been sitting in my recliner for the past two weeks with nothing to do but watch the MLB Network and I have seen the replay 20 times, but it is sweet to see Braves’ solidarity in the ASG win as this year continues to point in the Braves direction.  Fate will deliver this I am going to have to win the lottery and since I don’t gamble, it’s going to be the Braves.

I was disappointed Omar Infante and Tim Hudson didn’t get in the game but it was sure nice to see Martin Prado hit between Hanley Ramirez and Albert Pujols, batting second in the lineup. Prado deserves to be honored among baseball’s best for the year he is having and the way he plays the game. He may not be a household name yet, but I have a strong feeling Chase Utley is in for a battle for All-Star votes at 2B for the nest few years.

Mike Minor and Julio Teheran both pitched a scoreless inning in this year’s Future’s Game—I told you I was bored. I watched the whole game! Both players looked good on the mound; Minor more so since Teheran was sporadic with his control, but I expect both guys (you can add Randall Delgado in this too) will figure largely into the Braves future plans either as a starting pitcher or a trade chip for a big-time player (Ryan Braun anyone?). Hey, we all can dream can’t we?

*****

The Braves will begin the second half of their season against Brauny and the Brewers with a four-game set at Turner Field starting tonight. Kris Medlen is going to get some rest to start this series because he is on pace to pitch way more innings this year than he is accustomed to. I like this strategy a lot because if the Braves are going to contend this year, they need a healthy Medlen.

The Braves have been winning series since I took the trip to Atlanta at the end of April (yes, I still take some credit) and if they continue to do so, I see no problem being there at the end of the year. The Phils will be getting Polanco and Utley back at some point and The Mets get Beltran back tonight, but the Braves have one thing those two teams don’t…a 4 game lead.

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until Next time…Go Braves!

I didn’t expect the Braves would have dominated the standings in the division as long as they had. I also didn’t except the Mets and Phillies to be having the seasons they are either. I, like the rest of the baseball world, expected the Phillies to have another huge season (which they probably still will) but injuries and poor pitching have really made the Phils seem pedestrian. I expect them to get it together with a deal at the trade deadline and Chase Utley and Placido Polanco return from injuries, giving the Braves a battle down the stretch.

The Mets on the other hand, as I’ve said before, are playing over their heads. I find it hard to believe that they can keep it up for the next three months. Maybe they will prove me wrong again (though I certainly hope not) but I just don’t see them being able to keep it going without adding a player at the deadline. From what the New York newspapers have been saying, they don’t have much to spend since the Wilpon’s lost so much in the Madoff scheme.

In terms of the Braves action at the trade deadline, I don’t see them making too many moves. I think they are actively looking for a right-handed OF bat like they have been for the past two years. Who knows what Nate McLouth will be for the rest of the season and though Gregor Blanco has been good, I don’t think they want to count on him. However, after watching Matt Diaz play in Philadelphia this last series, they may not need this bat after all. Diaz looked like his 2009-self blistering pitch after pitch off the Phillies pitchers. This could really be the shot in the arm the OF needs.

I could also see the Braves picking up a reliever. I know this is one of their strong points, but Venters, O’Flaherty and Moylan seem like they have pitched in every game and, do you really want Jesse Chavez to come in when it counts?

*****

At the beginning of the season I made ‘10 Bold Predications’ for the 2010 season. Let’s check in to see how I’m doing…

Jair Jurrjens will win 20 games- Well, I didn’t foresee Jurrjens missing two months to kick-off the season, so there really is no chance of this happening but, the Braves are looking good for the second half of the year with Jurrjens’ fresh arm. As everyone has been saying, it’s like the Braves just made a trade for an Ace starting pitcher, as Jurrjens has been the Braves #1 pitcher over the past two years.

Jason Heyward will win 2010 NL ROY- This one’s not looking too bad. Heyward was named NL Rookie of the Month for both April and June and is the best all-around rookie so far. He will be challenged by Marlins 1b Gaby Sanchez, Cardinals SP Jaime Garcia and Mr. Strasburg; I call him this because I don’t want to be impolite to the best pitcher ever born (according to ESPN). If the recent DL stint really does heal Heyward’s thumb and he can return to his earlier form, he will win the ROY award, no matter what Strasburg does.

Troy Glaus will hit 25 HRs- I’m going to say this one will happen. Glaus has been so good for the first half of the year; he was on a lot of mid-season MVP boards. I don’t think anyone could have thought Glaus would have been this good over the last two months. Glaus needs 11 more jimmy-jacks to reach 25 and unless he gets injured, he will do it.

Yunel Escobar will make the 2010 All-Star Team- Eshhh…The Braves did have two middle infielders named to the All-Star Team, but Escobar wasn’t one of them. Honestly, when I heard Omar Infante made the All-Star Team I thought I was daydreaming from the pain meds, but after realizing I was awake and semi-coherent, I couldn’t be happier for him. Not only is he not an All-Star, Escobar has been flat-out bad at the plate this season. He is one of the only starting players in the majors to have 0 HRs. Even Corky Miller connected on a long ball this year! I don’t know what to say about him…The Braves best clutch hitter a year ago is now a liability at the plate and after watching him in the field this first game against the Mets, he needs to ride the pine. Something needs to be done, the question is what…

Chipper Jones will rebound- OK, so I am going to go ahead and say I was wrong here. Chipper has been puttering around .250 AVG all season and I don’t think it’s going to get much better. He just looks old. It kills me to say it, but he looks like he is on his way out. Chipper will finish the season probably a little better than he started, and he will get his walks and some clutch hits along the way, but I have a feeling that this is it and I’m going to enjoy watching him now, while I still can.

Derek Lowe will finish with an ERA below 4.00- Another one I am going to concede. Lowe hasn’t been awful, but now with Jurrjens back, I think I can safely say he is the #5 pitcher in the rotation, which isn’t bad at all. I don’t think there is another team in MLB with a better all-around rotation than the Braves. Lowe won’t finish with an ERA below 4.oo, but he will have 15 wins again— to me that is much more important.

Billy Wagner will save 40 games- He does have a shot at 40, but even if he doesn’t quite get there, I cannot be more pleased with the way Wagner has pitched this season. He has been a lock-down closer; something that the Braves desperately needed. This is Wagner’s final season, and it is going to be one of his best when it is all said and done. This one is too close to call right now, we just have to sit back and watch.

The Mets will lose 82 games- Unfortunately, this one is not going to happen. I am not going to go into my feelings about the Mets again, so we will just leave it at that. I was wrong.

The Braves will make the Playoffs- This one is going to happen for a lot of reasons and I’m not just stopping at the playoffs. The Braves will win the World Series. I have some inside information here. I can’t divulge where it came from, but trust me on this one, there are just too many things that are happening that will make this come true.

First, it’s Bobby’s final season. They HAVE to do it for Bobby. That’s all I need to say about that. Second, they are playing really well, they have the best pitching in the league, their defense would make Tom Emanski jealous and their offense ain’t too shabby either. Third; they have Erick Hinske. Fourth (and most important); before this season a good friend asked me if I would give up a certain body part for the Braves to win the 2010 World Series. After a minute of thought I said, “Sure, why not?” Well…it just so happens that fate has taken said body part from me, so I now expect fate to put a new flag at The Ted. The Braves will win the World Series. THEY OWE ME!!!!!!!

Bobby Cox will swear at Angel Hernandez- Come on, of course he did!

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until Next time…Go Braves!

Let’s look at the reason the Mets are playing so well…Their starting pitching has been fantastic lately. After Oliver Perez and Jon Maine have been on the DL they have had two guys come out of nowhere and pitch like Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden…OK so maybe not that good, but they have been stellar. Hisanori Takahashi has gone 6-3 3.78 ERA and the knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is undefeated at 6-0 2.33 ERA.

The 35-year-old Takahashi has baffled hitters with his start-and-stop pitching delivery and good off-speed pitches while Dickey has looked like an old Tim Wakefield, floating his knuckler past batters. Here’s the thing—they aren’t going to keep this up all year. R.A. Dickey is not going to end the season 17-0; it just won’t happen. Johann Santana and Mike Pelfrey are really good pitchers (Johann not as good as he once was) and their fifth starter, John Niese, has been solid like the others, but still has a 4+ ERA. They just aren’t this good. I’m not saying this to take a shot at the Mets; I really don’t have anything against their players (just their fans). I’m simply pointing out that the team in the NL East we have to really worry about is playing at Citizen’s Bank Park, not Citi Field.

It was only last week when the Phillies’ slump had pushed them 5.5 games behind the Braves and into third place in the NL East. A week later, they are starting to play like they (and I) expect to and are now only 2.5 GB. It should come to no surprise that getting Jimmy Rollins off the DL has sparked the Phillies lineup and, I must admit, am little worried. I am NOT saying the Braves are not playing as well, or suggesting that they are not as good as the Phillies, but when you have the likes of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Roy Halladay leading a team, it has to scare you a little bit.

*****

I just want to mention a couple young pitchers the Braves have in their minor league system. The Braves have been known for developing great young pitching and if things keep going the way they are, they are going to have a gold-mine. Take a look at these stats:

Randall Delgado 2-5 (don’t worry about the record) 2.41 ERA 93 K 89.2 IP .99 WHIP
Arodys Vizcaino 9-3 2.34 ERA 66 K 69.1 IP 1.00 WHIP
Julio Teheran 5-3 1.27 ERA 83 K 78.1 IP .86 WHIP

Though only in A-ball, these three hard-throwing right-handers have been absolutely dominating hitters for the first half of the 2010 season. And if you want to add the Braves 1st round pick from 2009, Mike Minor, into the equation the Braves are really have a bright future in terms of quality young pitching arms. Minor, who completes what has been dubbed the Braves’ “Big-Four” pitching prospects, has had some rough outings that have pushed his ERA over 4, but Minor has led the league in strikeouts most of the year, with 109 Ks in 87 IP.

*****

Finally, I’ve got to mention that the best pitcher ever, Stephen Strasburg, is set to pitch against the Braves on Monday at Turner Field. I’m just a little worried about what is going to happen when Jason Heyward steps to the plate against Strasburg. I know Atlanta is not known for earthquakes, but I’m not sure the Earth can absorb the shock it is going to take if Heyward makes contact with a Strasburg pitch. I’m expecting some sort on lightning bolt to shoot out of the bat and the skies to darken, as in one of those disaster movies that are pumped out one after another.. I’m not saying that the world will come to an end or anything like that, but just be prepared. And it may be wise to watch the game in a tornado shelter…just a suggestion.

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until Next time….I just hope there will be a next time…Go Braves!

So, now that the Braves have shown they can go toe to toe with the top-dogs in the AL, the next few series should be a breeze right? Wrong!

The Kansas City Royals are coming to Turner Field for a three game set this weekend. The Royals are 10 games under .500 and it if weren’t for the Indians, they would be in last place. So, the Royals are bad, but it doesn’t mean this series is going to be a breeze.

The Braves will face Zack Greinke on Saturday, and though his record isn’t what it was a year ago, he still has some of the nastiest stuff in the league. Our old Friend Kyle Davies will pitch on Sunday and you never know what a guy may do when he faces his former team.

The Royals, or as many call them the Braves of the AL (Since they pick up every former Brave available) have some hitters too. David DeJesus, who has been on the trading block since he was born, is hitting .329 5HR 31RBI, Scott Podsednik has swiped 19 bases, Jose Guillen (who is in one of his healthy years) has put up 13 HR 41RBI, and the best player on the team (in my opinion) Billy Butler is having another solid year batting .336 6 HR 36 RBI. The Royals have five players in all with over 30 RBI, so this team can swing the bat, it just so happens they let their opponents swing it better.

After the Braves play the Royals they will take a quick 3-game road trip to the South Side of Chicago to play the White Sox. Though the Sox are not playing up to their expectations, they have quality starting pitchers who can shut an offense down on any day (i.e. Mark Buerhle, Jake Peavy,  John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Freddy Garcia, yes that Freddy Garcia). With a staff like that it is surprising the Pale Hose are not having a better season, but I guess it doesn’t help when the field manager and GM brawl once a week.

Like the Royals, the White Sox have some heavy hitters. Alex Rios is having a great year hitting .319 13 HR 33 RBI, Paul Konerko has 17HR 47 RBI, Juan Pierre has 27 SB and our old Friend Andruw Jones has jacked 10 HR (I’m assuming so he doesn’t have to run hard).

*****

It has really been great to see the Braves outfield put up some numbers over the past week without a hole in the 8^th spot in the lineup. Melky Cabrera has been playing every day and is acting more and more like himself (AKA like he played in New York). Gregor Blanco has come up from AAA Gwinnett and has been terrific both in the field and at the plate going 7 for 15 (.467 AVG). Eric Hinske has continues to prove that Frank Wren made some great decisions in the off-season (Roy Laus) and though Jason Heyward has been slumping, he’s still Jason Heyward!

I hate to say this is because Nate McLouth is out of the lineup for now, and I would never want someone to get hurt, or be happy about it…But I have to say during those rough games over the last month I may have rubbed an old lamp and said some things I shouldn’t have. I know I had nothing to do with that collision in Arizona, but just remember— be careful what you wish for…

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until Next Time…Go Braves!

That said; I have had to deal with some BRUTAL commentators when my only choice was to watch the “other” team’s TV feed—specifically Pittsburgh, St. Louis and worst of all Florida. My fiancé took my belt and shoelaces during the Marlins series. BRUTAL!

This isn’t always bad though, like this past weekend when I had to watch 3 of 4 games on the Dodgers broadcast. This time I got to listen to one of the best announcers (contrary to a certain fiancé’s opinion) of all time, Vin Scully.

Scully has been with the Dodgers (Brooklyn and LA) since 1950 and hasn’t lost anything. He does the games solo, which I can’t imagine many (if any) of today’s broadcaster’s being able to pull off so effortlessly. There are no awkward silences or time filling debates about which fan has the funniest hat; just baseball—vintage baseball.

Scully hasn’t changed his style in the 61 seasons of announcing and I am so glad he hasn’t. Listening to Scully call a game will tell you everything you need to know about the players and the game of baseball while not boring you with meaningless stats like a batter’s AVG against left-handed pitchers on a grass surface at night with 2 outs in the 7^th inning and so on…Just pure baseball!

If you have never listened to one of these games, I suggest you do so at least once. It will transport you back to the days when everyone would gather around the radio listening to the afternoon’s game…really listening to it…it was the highlight of the day. And if you are ever in a situation where you have to watch a game on FSMarlins…well, do yourself a favor and jam a screwdriver in your ear—it will be less painful then hearing  their broadcast.

*****

The Braves went into the 2010 Draft looking for quality bats to add to their minor league depth and after watching on my PC the last few days, it looks like they have succeeded. They began by drafting SS Matthew Lipka in the supplemental 1^st Round (35^th overall) —a pick they got for the Orioles signing Mike Gonzalez. Lipka will likely be moved to 3B, like his idol Chipper Jones, and will join 3 other third basemen drafted by the Braves with their first 10 picks; 7 of their first 10 were hitters.

In the 4^th Round (134^th overall) the Braves selected RPH David Filak out of SUNY Oneonta. This may be of no interest to anyone else, but Filak is from my neck of the woods and from a school I am very familiar with…I have seen SUNY Oneonta play my hometown SUNY New Paltz many times as one of my best friends played on the (New Paltz) team. Filak led all of Division III in strikeouts per 9IP (14.86) and fewest hits per 9IP (5.07). At 6’4” 220lbs, Filak has a good fastball (92-94MPH) and a nasty Knuckle-Curve. It would be exciting to see a kid from the “sticks” of New York State (like me) play for the Braves.

*****

I cannot be more jacked up about the Braves holding a 2-game lead in the NL East but I think what I am most excited (or should I say relieved) about is the fact these west coast games are over! Maybe I should be going to a Bingo Hall and watching Matlock, but these games are just too late! I haven’t been so tired since I used to have to watch Steve Trachsel pitch! In my college days I wouldn’t start the night until 2am. Now as a working stiff, I am struggling to keep my eyes open when the clock hits 10pm—most times before the late games begin.

Now, I know I could have done the smart thing and recorded the game on DVR, or simply looked at the box score the next day, but not knowing what’s going on would be worse than the fatigue. Luckily, it’s over for the rest of the season, or until October—that’s right!

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until next time…Go Braves!

The Braves have won eight straight games and are the hottest team in the majors right now. They are doing this behind the stellar play of Mr. Troy Glaus, whom I believe I owe an apology. Last month I referred to him as a “telephone pole in a baseball uniform,” and though I still think it’s true, the context I used it in has changed a great deal. Glaus is leading the world in RBI over the past month+ and was recently named NL Player of the Month for May (J-Hey was named NL Rookie of the Month for the second straight month).

Glaus is now batting .278 AVG 9 HR 40 RBI and if it weren’t for the Phillies’ outfielders, he would have 2 more HR. I guess he just needed a month to get his feet wet after missing most of 2009 with a shoulder injury. Whatever it is, I am not going to question it and just go along for the ride.

Along with Glaus, Martin Prado has emerged as the leadoff hitter the Braves were so desperately lacking the past few seasons. He is not the prototypical lead-off hitter who is going to steal a bunch of bases and drag bunt for a hit, but he gets on base, watches a lot of pitches and sets the table for the heavy hitters…and Chipper Jones. Prado currently leads the NL in hits (73) and Batting AVG (.324) and has been one of the Braves’ best clutch hitters with RISP.

The bad news has been and continues to be Nate McLouth. You can add Chipper and McCann to this list, but at least Chipper has been getting walks and McCann has been better over the last 2 weeks; McLouth, on the other hand, has been doing nothing but making outs. His AVG is down to .178 and has just 2 hits in his last 10 games. McLouth has 4 stolen bases this season and just 11 extra base hits…this is NOT the guy the Braves thought they were getting—Gregor Blanco could be doing this for a lot less money.

McLouth clearly has a problem with his swing—obviously! He has a sharp upper-cut swing that causes him to pop up any pitch above the belt. He is also a dead pull-hitter—he hasn’t hit a ball to the left side of the field with any authority this year. I can see all of this from a rocking chair in NY, I know I’m not the only one, Jo Simpson has made reference to this and I’m sure Terry Pendleton (among others) have been trying to work with McLouth…but why isn’t he doing anything about it? Something has to give…

I have also noticed whenever he has a chance to throw out a runner from the OF, he eats the ball and lobs it in; as was the case in Tuesday’s game against the Phillies. With a runner trying to score from 2B on a single and a pitcher running from first to second (so he wouldn’t be trying to stretch it to 3B on a throw) McLouth lobbed the ball in with no intention of trying to keep the run from scoring.

Over the past week Bobby has been making some changes to the lineup that I hope to see more of…

Against a LHP—Omar Infante in LF and Melky Cabrera in CF.

Against a RHP—Eric Hinske in LF and Melky Cabrera in CF.

Obviously if McLouth is going to break this slump he needs at-bats, but it’s now June and if things don’t improve over the next month, something needs to be done; whether it’s a extended period on the bench or a minor-league stint. I realize I am being hard on McLouth, but when you are brought in to be a big part of a team and you don’t perform, you are going to take some heat. (Also I’m hoping that ripping on Nate leads to the same thing that happened when I ripped on Glaus).

The Braves will now go on an 11-game road trip that will kick off with 4 games against the streaking LA Dodgers. The Dodgers have won 5 of 6 and have the same 31-22 record as the Braves. The Braves have not been the same team on the road (12-16) this year as they have been at the Ted (19-6) and have a tough task ahead of them having to face the Dodgers young 1-2 punch of Clayton Kershaw (5-3 2.95 ERA) and Chad Billingsley (6-2 3.74 ERA). The Braves need to play well against LA because, even though it’s June, a playoff spot could always come down to a game or head-to head record. I’m just saying…

Finally, Congratulations to Armando Galarraga for his performance Wednesday night! 28 up, 28 down.

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until Next Time…Go Braves!

The Braves took care of the Pirates, sweeping them all three games due to big innings in each game against the Pirate bullpen. The Braves got good starting pitching and timely hitting, granted it’s the Pirates, and are now 7-2 in their last three series.

In a pleasant surprise Derek Lowe (yes Derek Lowe) has seen his ERA gradually decrease over his last few starts and is finally under 5 (4.86), as is Kawakami (4.93). I would still love to see Medlen stay in the starting rotation when Jurrjens is ready, but I’m starting to feel a bit better about the starts, which was supposed to be the strong point of the team going into the season.

An even more pleasant-er (is that a word?) surprise has been the play of Melky Cabrera and Yunel Escobar. Melky raised his average .43 over the last three series and has really begun to look like the guy I expected when we sent Javy Vazquez to the Bronx. Yunel didn’t necessarily raise his average (at all) but with multi-hit games, the last two in Florida, and Sunday against the Pirates, he looks a lot more like the Yunel we saw the past two years.  If this keeps up, the Braves are in business—though it may mean Nate McLouth spends more time on the bench…but I’m OK with that, really.

The last thing I want to touch on from the road trip is Hanley Ramirez—plain and simple he is a punk. On Wednesday night he hit a first inning home run off of Tommy Hanson. As he ran….no walked down the line he raised his hands; similar to Mark McGwire in the 1988 World Series, but this wasn’t the World Series—it was a May game, in the first inning no less. Obviously Ramirez isn’t the only guy who show boats, there is another guy named Ramirez who does the same thing (just ask Scot Proctor) but it’s something that I wouldn’t take kindly and it seems that Tim Hudson didn’t either.

In the first inning of Thursday’s game, Hudson drilled Ramirez in the back on the first pitch. Ramirez then stole second, pointed to his chest so that Hudson saw it, and drew attention to himself the whole time he was on base. If it were me I may have thrown at him again as we went from home to first as soon as the catcher threw the ball back to me, and again as he stood at first, and so on. I was somewhat surprised we didn’t see any more fireworks, but I have a good feeling this isn’t over. This also isn’t the first time Ramirez has shown his unsporstman-like behavior.  Just last week he was benched by Freddi Gonzalez for not running out a grounder. Ramirez then ripped Freddi for the move and was benched until he apologized. This isn’t Hanley’s first year. He should know better but he doesn’t and never will. You would never see Derek Jeter, Joe Mauer, hell even David Wright act like this, which is why they are bigger stars. Ramirez may be more talented than a lot of players, but he will never earn the respect of a Jeter, or even Heyward.  Moral of the story—Hanley Ramirez is a punk.

The Braves will begin a three-game series against Ryan Howard and the Phillies, starting on Memorial Day, now just ½ game out of first place (one in the loss column). If the Braves can continue their great play at home (which I think they will) they could be in first place by June 1^st. I don’t want to get too carried away, but the Braves will miss both Roy Halladay and (I can’t believe I’m saying this) Jamie Moyer. By the way…you think we can return McClouth and get the Pirates NEW center fielder? Andrew McCutchen is really, really good! As long as the Braves win, I love to watch that kid play. Anyway…

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Until Next time…Hanley Ramirez is an imbecile, and GO BRAVES!

As the game went on and the Braves had all but lost it, I began to look on the bright side of things… split the 2-game series with the 1st place Reds, Jesse Chavez finally looked good on the mound, Chipper only looked 36 ½ years old and Troy Glaus had 3 more hits. Nice.

None of those things matter right now as the Braves pulled the most unexpected comeback I have seen since Sammy Sosa’s skin tone. Trailing 9-3 entering the 9th inning there was really no shot at a win, so I was just hoping for some hits to get them on a roll heading into Pittsburgh on Friday. As the inning unfolded I watched a little closer with each batter—mind you I was at work with a meeting going on that was delayed because I just so happened to “be on the phone” and had to arrive late.

After Nate McLouth’s 2 RBI double to make it 9-5, I hung up the phone and preyed no one came into my office to drag me to the meeting. Martin Prado hit a grounder right to Miguel Cairo at third, a sure double play ball, so I got up from my desk and started to get my notes…but then ANOTHER ERROR! The Reds made 4 defensive errors in Thursday’s game and generally looked like a team that was ready to get on a plane.

Then, Mr. Heyward steps to the plate with the bases loaded, Braves down by 3…I felt something great about to happen, and it did, for the Reds as Heyward went down swinging. That brought Brooks Conrad to the plate. It felt weird to think “at least it’s not Chipper,” but that’s exactly what I was thinking. To the amazement and pure joy of Braves Nation, Conrad hit a deep fly ball that was just far enough for Laynce Nix not to get it. I ran around my office, carefully trying not to make too much noise. I sent out a tweet, but there was no volume control to show how much I wanted to yell. A most improbable walk-off Grand Slam victory for Conrad and the Braves!

The final score—10-9 Braves. To put it in perspective, this was the largest 9th inning come-back win in franchise history. This is the Braves 3rd straight walk-off win and they lead the majors with 6 this year. The Braves are now 12-6 in May and 13-6 at home for the season. This looks like a team on the verge of something good. Since the Braves had so many road games to start the season, things could play out well moving forward. For example, the Braves have 29 games in August, 19 of which are at Turner Field. We could be in for a lot more magic over the summer.

If you are bored and want to listen to an unstable person tweet about nonsense…Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until Next time…Go Braves

Pelfrey has bounced back from a lousy 2009, but after seeing him pitch against the Brave twice (winning both games) I am perplexed as to why his numbers are so good.  The Braves had multiple chances to take the lead Monday, but as we have seen much too often, they squandered the opportunity with ill-timed strikeouts and double plays.

Of course, you can’t win every game, but wins against the Mets would be nice.  The Brave are now 0-4 against the Mets so far this season and personally, it feels awful.  Losing to the Mets is like jock itch—it is most annoying, painful and generally irritating but it won’t kill me.  It’s a feeling that I wish I never had to feel again.  Sure, when it’s been a few days it will hurt less and less, but in the back of your mind it may come back, worse than before.  This is the most accurate way to describe my feelings. John Madden, where are you when I need you?

Tuesday night it finally happened—the Braves won.  It was the most relief I have felt in a while.  Though it was partially a gift from Mr. David Wright, I will take it, no questions asked!  Kris Medlen pitched very well once again, giving up just 2 ER. I have felt from the beginning of the year Medlen is the 4^th best starter on the Braves’ roster and until Jurrjens returns, he will get to show why I’m right.  I know it won’t happen, but I’d love, LOVE to see Medlen remain in the starting 5 and KK sent to the bullpen.  I know, I know, KK earns too much to pitch in middle relief, but I’d actually like to see the best player be given the job and a winning team on the field.

*****

The Braves will next take on the NL Central leading Cincinnati Reds for a 2-game series. (The schedule-makers really showed what they are made of this week). The Reds are the hottest team in the league (winning 8 of their last 9) and will send their super-rookie Mike Leake (no relation to Kelly) to the mound for the finale on Thursday.   Leake has been a surprise to many this season around the baseball world, but not the Reds.  A #1 pick by the Reds in 2009, he is their version of Tommy Hanson (who I can’t even put in the same class) and oddly enough, will face Hanson in a battle of potential aces.

The Braves will then enter a stretch of 9 games that they absolutely HAVE to dominate—three in Pittsburgh, three in Florida and Three more against Pittsburgh at the Ted.  The Braves are again in last place in the NL East and won’t get a shot to pick up this much ground again until August.  This is obviously not the start the Braves (and Braves fans) had envisioned; it may be a carbon copy of last year.

The problem, as it seems like it always is, is the hitting.  The Braves bats are coming off their best week of the season, but because of some glaring holes in the lineup, it is hard to stay consistent.  The foundation of the Braves lineup, Chipper Jones and Brian McCann, has been their biggest downfall so far.  When you add in the sub-.200AVG of Yunel Escobar, you have a recipe for disaster.  The 2009 Braves MVP, who has just come off the DL, has not had a hit since Opening Day.  OK not really, but it sure seems like it.  I would like to think Omar Infante will be called back to duty soon if Escobar doesn’t produce, but after watching the Braves for the past 20+ years, I know better.

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Until Next time…Go Braves!

Are we going to get the same Chipper Jones who always has a nagging injury (or two) and has to miss a series once a month?   If so, then is it really worth it? I am as big of a Chipper fan as anyone, hell the guy IS the Atlanta Braves, but by looking at the big picture, it may not be the best thing for the Braves…though it is better than any option they have in the minors—unless you really want to see Van Pope hit .103 2HR 20 RBI for a year.

Ultimately I feel it is good for Atlanta to have Chipper in a Braves uniform, if for nothing more than to sell tickets, but it cannot be in the same role we are accustomed to seeing him in.  Chipper is not a number three hitter anymore.  We have seen Jason Heyward in the spot this week and I’d like to see him stay there for the next 15 years.  If Chipper is going to play in Atlanta for the next couple years, it has to be as a guy who hits lower in the order and one that takes a day or two off a week.  He is not going to play 140 games and he is not going to hit 30 HR.  Believe me, I wish it were different.   I just want to see the Braves win and this is what has to happen to see that—hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.

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Jordan Schafer has been making steady progress as he is recovering from wrist surgery.  Schafer started his rehabilitation in Rome (going 6/22 2 doubles) and has now moved up to AA Mississippi.  He has been hitting well here too going 3/8 so far and will be in Gwinnett Saturday.  As soon as he is back to 100% I (hope to God) expect to see him in Atlanta—most likely sometime in June.   I don’t need to list the dreadful stats the Braves outfield has been putting up (save Heyward and Hinske), so the addition of Schafer can do nothing but help the offense.  It’s sad to say, but I have absolutely no faith in Melky Cabrera, Matt Diaz and especially Nate McLouth or as I like to think of him as “The New Dan Kolb.”

When McLouth was acquired from the Pirates last season, he was introduced as an All-Star and Gold Glove-winning outfielder that the Braves somehow maneuvered away from Pittsburgh.  In reality, the Braves got a .256 career hitter with good speed and power, but a guy who just doesn’t seem to be able to handle pressure outside of the Steel City.  We have seen glimpses of the player McLouth is “supposed to be,” but he never puts it together for long stretches and I’m beginning to think he never will.  It’s depressing.

Speaking of Eric Hinske, I am happy to see him in the lineup for a few games this week.  He is a solid bat for the Braves and has been one of their best off-season pick-ups in the last few years.  So far Hinske is .314 AVG 12 RBI in limited action.  I look forward to see him playing more OF and spell Troy Glaus at first on days he needs a rest.  A week ago I would have been calling for Hinske to play every day at 1B as Glaus was hitting like a blind man, but recently there isn’t anyone I want to see up there more than Glaus with RISP—crazy!  But, Glaus has been ripping the ball all over the field and recently over the fence.  Maybe he’s not a telephone pole after all…Troy Glaus is a real human being! And he’s even a baseball player!

*********

The Braves couldn’t have gotten much worse news (unless they heard Heyward was quitting to become a spiritual healer) this week when Jair Jurrjens not only re-aggravated his hamstring injury, but may have made it much, much worse while running on the field in Milwaukee.  I’m sure Kris Medlen will fill in OK as a starter while Jurrjens is on the DL, but I was kind of hoping (dreaming is more like it) that Medlen would take over for Kenshin Kawakami at some point to give the Braves 4½ solid starting pitchers (I say ½ because that’s how often Derek Lowe is serviceable).  I know KK has the worst run support in the majors and if the team scored more for him, he may not be 0-6…But he still has a 5.73 ERA for crying out loud!  Maybe we can take back the Vasquez trade…I’m sure the Yankees wouldn’t argue.  In fact, they may let us keep Dunn and Vizcaino just to get Javy out of the Bronx.

Yunel Escobar is set to play for AAA Gwinnett on Friday and if all goes well he’ll re-join the Braves in Atlanta on Saturday.  Let’s hope this time off has given his leg and brain some time to recover.  When Yunel is healthy (both physically and mentally) he is one of the most dangerous hitters with RISP in the majors.  I expected a huge year from him this season and frankly still do.  He is too good to put up numbers like he has so far, but unless he adjusts his attitude he will be another talent that didn’t live up to his potential.

*********

Finally, congrats to Tom Glavine for getting his number retired by the Braves!  Well, it hasn’t happened yet, but it will on August 6^th.  Of course, this is no surprise, but still I am glad to see it happen.  Next up…John Smoltz (and hopefully Chipper sooner than later)!

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Until Next Time…Go Braves!

Well, what a weekend! The Braves snapped their 9-game losing streak last Friday, beating the Houston Astros 4-2. Tommy Hanson pitched phenomenal going 8 strong innings, striking out 7. The game started with Nate McLouth blasting Bret Myers’ first pitch over the center field wall—a signal of what was to come for the rest of the three-game series. After the Astros tied it up, Mr. Heyward un-tied the game with a laser home run to give the Braves the lead and eventually the win as Billy Wagner closed the door.

I was promised before the game by Chip Caray that the Braves were going to snap the streak that night and the Braves didn’t disappoint. I guess I should have gotten a playoff promise to be safe, but at that point I just wanted to see a W.

The second game went even better. The Braves bats awoke to a 10-spot on the board and Tim Hudson pitched great as usual. My hands actually were swollen from clapping so much. What made the game even better was that we met Steve (who I actually thought was Hank Azaria at first) and his son Ike, and had some pretty good seats behind the Braves dugout. It was great to finally meet Hank…..err Steve and have some face to face talk about the Braves. Oh, and Jason Heyward hit ANOTHER home run.

Sunday capped off a great weekend of Braves baseball. Derek Lowe actually pitched a decent game, though he didn’t go as deep as I would have liked to see, but still only gave up one run. The Braves’ bats put more crooked numbers on the board and Mr. Wagner, though not a save situation, ended the game and series with another dominating performance.

After the game I was standing outside by the announcer’s lot and a guy that looked like Luke Wilson came out next to me. Then I realized holy crap, it IS Luke Wilson. Why he was at the game, I’m really not sure. My only thought was that he confused Derek Lowe for his brother Owen and thought he was watching him pitch against the Astros.

Overall, what a great series! The pitching staff pitched great, I couldn’t ask for much more out of them as a unit. The Braves bats were back to Opening Day form and I take FULL CREDIT for that. Well, I guess maybe the Astros deserve a little of it. Nate McLouth showed glimpses of his “Pirate” form with some solid hits and stolen bases. Omar Infante played so well that I didn’t notice Yunel wasn’t in the lineup, though the way he had been going it was hard to notice him in the lineup. Finally, Troy Glaus absolutely ripped the ball every game; even his outs were hard hit. No one was more surprised than I, but I have to give him credit—he was a monster and I actually was glad to see him step up to the plate.

On the other side of things, Brian McCann and Chipper Jones looked horrible. McCann looked tired. He has been catching almost every game (save day games after night games) and is not hitting the ball solid at all. Though he did get a rest for Saturday’s game, he may need to be sitting a little more often. I know he is one of our big “threats” in the lineup and David Ross isn’t, but for the best results in this long season, McCann needs to get more rest. Chipper, well…Chipper’s bat speed is not good right now. After watching him all weekend (both at the plate and in the field) he looks like he is hurting everywhere. He isn’t getting around on fastballs like he used to and he isn’t getting much on the ball when he does.  Of course, this is easy for me to say sitting in the stands, but Chipper looks like he is 38-years-old. I’m afraid this isn’t only Bobby Cox’ last season, but Chipper’s as well.

-Intermission-

Act II: Nats Town

The Braves flew into Washington on a 3-game tear and were quickly brought back down to earth by the mighty Nationals. Kenshin Kawakami didn’t pitch horrible if you look at his line, but again he is showing us he is NOT the pitcher we thought we were getting when the Braves gave him all that money. The good news was that Jason Heyward hit another BOMB to bring his totals up to 8HR 24RBI—right up there on the MLB leader board. This kid is really amazing.

Game two seemed to be heading in the same direction. Tommy Hanson didn’t have his A-game, but the Braves played well enough to win. They had the lead going into the 8^th inning, but Takashi Saito, as he has been doing seemingly every appearance, gave up two runs and Hanson’s chance at a win. Luckily, the Braves were able to pull out an extra innings win and give some hope for the series.

Then there was Thursday…not again…Scott Olsen has had some good performances in his career, but he probably isn’t a starter on half the teams in MLB, so to see him no-hit the Braves for 7.1 innings was gut-wrenching. Tim Hudson left two pitches up and was punished with two solo HRs. He didn’t deserve a loss for that performance. Then, again, Mr. Heyward, sore groin and all stepped to the plate in the 8^th inning as a pinch hitter. What did he do? With two strikes on him, Heyward got a pitch up and slapped a 2-run single to LF tying the game 2-2. I’m 99% sure that one of Jason Heyward’s parents is Superman.   I can’t be totally sure without kryptonite.

The game didn’t end well, as we all know and now the Braves are looking at games in Philadelphia and Milwaukee down 1-2 on the trip. Gotta beat the Nats if you want to get anywhere this year! I feel like I am watching last year’s team, which I basically am…On a given day 1 or 2 hitters will be on and maybe if we’re lucky they will get an at bat with a runner in scoring position. The pitchers will pitch well, save for Lowe and Kawakami, and they will be a .500 team. Something has to change. Last year it took subtracting some players, I hate to say that they need to do something like that this year, but there are a few (well more than a few) guys not pulling their weight. Hell, they aren’t pulling the 30-some ounces of their bat’s weight.

The million dollar question is why…Kelly Johnson, Jeff Francoeur, Casey Kotchman, Adam LaRoche, etc. are all having good offensive years after leaving Atlanta. I truly believe is KJ was still a Brave he’s be hitting .190 1HR 4RBI. The only one that you can blame is Terry Pendleton. TP may have to go. Something has to be done. SOON!

Now, we will sit back and watch what the Braves can do in Philadelphia. They need to make a statement and show the Phils and the rest of the baseball they are for real. Luckily, they will miss Roy Halladay….so there’s chance!

Finally, I want to thank a few people for such a great week in Atlanta. First and foremost, my friend Roger who helped me again and probably doesn’t know how much I appreciate everything he does for me. He is a class act all the way and I will find a way to pay you back some day.

Steve, it was great to meet you face to face. Thank you again for allowing me to get my thoughts out there on the site. It is a pleasure to write for you and the rest of the Crew…even Curt.

Thank you everyone who has been commenting on my blogs and who has been following me as I tweet during the games. I am sorry I can’t reply at the time, as I have an old-fashioned phone and can only send tweets but not access the actual web page. It really means a lot that people are out there following me.

Finally, my fiancée Danielle, thank you for putting up with my Braves obsession. Most people would probably call it a sickness and I have no clue how she doesn’t want to burn everything with a tomahawk on it after awhile. I guess because then everything we own would be gone…

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until Next time GO Braves!

It started with the ticketing system.  I was transferred tickets via email which I chose to pick up at WILL CALL (this will come into play later) instead of printing them on my black & white laser printer that barely has any toner left.  Then after paying $19 to park in what the locals use as an outdoor bathroom, I was on my way (45 minutes before first pitch) to pick up my tickets.

So…I went to a ticket window for “Day of Game, Advance, and Internet-Pickup tickets.” I waited patiently in line and when I finally got up to the window I was told I need to go to WILL CALL because, even though I did have “Internet-Pickup” tickets, this was not the window for me.  OK, fair enough.  So, I walked a few hundred feet toward the Ebbets-esque front entrance and went to a WILL CALL window only to be told, that “NO” I don’t have WILL CALL tickets, even though they were left at WILL CALL.  So, let’s think about this again…Someone transferred me tickets, instead of printing them, I had them waiting for me at WILL CALL, but they aren’t there.  I needed to go back in line for “Today’s Game” tickets.  

Now, 25 minutes until game-time, I’m in another line. This line though, did not move.  I waited, and waited, and waited.  The ticket windows has to be run by “special” workers that all arrived together on a green bus.  There is no other explanation to the chaos that was the Citi Field ticketing system.  I peeked through the ticket window and of course the worker in my line was more incompetent than I could have imagined.  Manager after manager came to assist him, as must have been the same in every window because no line was moving.  It shouldn’t be this difficult to find a ticket, print the ticket and take the money, especially when it is your job—something that you do every day, over and over and over. Maybe it’s me.  Maybe I expect too much from people.

So I finally get the tickets and it’s 1:05pm—40 minutes wasted watching people with the mental capacity of a grape “work.”  I missed the first few pitches but did get to my seats in plenty of time to see the game.  Maybe I should have stayed in the ticket line.

Jair Jurrjens pitched a phenomenal game.  He kept the Met hitters off-balance and only made a few bad pitches.  He left a ball up to Jeff Francoeur and was punished by giving up 2 runs in the 7^th inning, which ended up deciding the game.  As they did on Friday, the Braves played absolutely AWFUL in the field and at the plate.  I lost track of fingers and toes to count how many men were left on base and don’t care to remember how many balls were lost in the sun or were thrown into center field.  It was a bright day in Queens, but for a major league team it is simply not acceptable.  I was sick to my stomach that Jurrjens got the loss Saturday. SICK!  Then there was Yunel Escobar.  I didn’t have the announcers to shed any light to what could have happened in the 5^th inning.  All I could do was put my hat over my mouth to try and muffle the obscenities that poured out.  It was a week of frustrations that just so happened to erupt in a sea of orange and blue.

It got even worse on Sunday night when a rain-shortened 5-inning game was decided by a throwing error.  Tommy Hanson received another loss dropping his record to 1-2 on the season.  I can’t image how frustrated these pitchers have to be.  But, this is baseball.  There are plenty of ups and downs throughout the season; it just so happens that this down it a pretty rough one.  The Braves will bounce back and will regain the form that we saw to start the season.  We aren’t even a month into the season, so no reason to panic…yet.

Now that the weekend is over I can focus on something positive. Thursday I will be packing up the car and driving down to Atlanta for the weekend series against the (not so awful anymore) Astros.  I have been planning this for awhile and I honestly thought the day would never get here.  I am looking forward to seeing my favorite usher, Roger, and finally getting to meet Steve (and others?) for Saturday’s game.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who was following me on Twitter and responding as I vented during the game.  It’s hard to do on my ancient phone, but I will be doing the same for the Astros series this weekend at Turner Field.

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until next time…Go Braves!

Sure, they Braves have looked ugly in a few games—I don’t think any of us care to think about Jair Jurrjens’ awful start in San Diego, or Ubaldo Jiménez no-hitting the Braves on Saturday (I can’t be too upset about it—gotta give the guy credit), but for the most part they have looked like a playoff team. They win, and they win late—a sign of a true winning team.

They are also doing this without the offensive production we all expected. Before the season, Chipper Jones boasted that this year’s lineup had no holes 1-8, unlike a year ago. They do seem to have some holes because a few players expected to have hot starts have underachieved in the first few weeks of the season. I won’t name names but it rhymes with Roy Laus. I’ve yelled more than my share of horrible profanity at Mr. Glaus as he has lumbered, stumbled, bumbled and looked generally uncoordinated. He is like an enormous telephone pole wearing a baseball uniform.

Nate McLouth, despite his walk-off home run on Tuesday, is hitting just a paltry .176 1HR 2RBI. Matt Diaz, who has provided a spark in the leadoff spot, is hitting just .194 0HR 2RBI. Melky Cabrera has not shown his New York form batting .119 0HR 2RBI. Yunel Escobar, who I feel is going to have an All-Star caliber year is hitting only .121 0HR 3 RBI after his 5RBI performance on opening Day. Finally, Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus have been better than the previous players, but are each barely hitting over .200.

That said—with Heyward, Martin Prado and Brian McCann as the only consistent hitters thus far, when the rest of the lineup comes around (and they will), the Braves are going to give the Phillies one hell of a fight all season.

New York State of Mind—this weekend the Braves will be traveling to my neck of the woods to take on the Mets at iti Field… oops sorry, I guess it’s Citi Field again now that they put the “C” back up. I will be there Saturday to see Jair Jurrjens take on Jon Niese, or as the Mets fans call him “One of The Four Guys That is Not Johan.” I always tell myself that I won’t be going down there. It’s too much hassle and I have a better view of the game on TV. But…to avoid having to listen to Keith Hernandez, I’ll put up with the traffic and Mets fans (if their team is still in contention by Saturday). I will be Tweeting during the game as long as I don’t get eaten by a Yeti in a Mets jersey.

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Until Next time…Go Braves!

After flying out of the gate against the Cubs, the “new look” Braves offense bears a striking resemblance to the 2009 team; inconsistent and poor hitting with runners in scoring position—two things that don’t make for a winning club.  Of course only 7 games into a season you can’t judge this small sample, but that’s all we have to go by right now.  I know the Braves were off yesterday, but I think Troy Glaus just struck out again with the bases loaded.

Then there is San Diego…ugh. Well, at least it only counts as one game!  It’s the same as a 2-3 loss in the standings, but it sure is deflating… something I wouldn’t expect from Jurrjens, but hey everyone has a bad day now and then—this won’t happen again.  The best thing to do is forget about it and start again on Wednesday…

Now that the negativity is over, let’s focus on the positive…

 Marin Prado leads the the league with a .519 AVG and has a hit in every game this season, and dating back to last season has an 11-game hitting streak—45 more to go!  Prado is also playing great on the other side— defense.  He has filled in great for Chipper at 3B and as usual, he has been solid at 2B.

We all know how Jason Heyward began the season, but after his amazing first two games, he cooled off rapidly to the tune of an 0-11 slump (with 7 Ks).  As he as he has done time and time again, Heyward impressed us with quick adjustments, going 3-3 with a HR on Saturday and adding another HR on Sunday.  Maybe even more impressive, the home runs were to left field.  After being pounded inside with sliders and away with fastballs, Heyward began to take the sliders and hit the fastballs away—HARD!  If he continues this trend (one that reminds me of how Ryan Howard does it) he will be one of the most dangerous hitters (not just rookies) in the game.

Going into the season the Braves strong point was thought to be its pitching. So far, so good, kind of…

The Braves “weakest” pitcher (I say weakest because I will not say worst about any of the starters), Derek Lowe, is 2-0 despite struggling with his command.  There has been a lot of bad luck so far this season.  Jair Jurrjens should have gotten a win in his first start against the Cubs—Tommy Hanson also pitched well enough to win against the Cubs—Tim Hudson was robbed of a win Friday against the Giants—Kenshin Kawakami received a tough luck loss against Lincecum, and Kris Medlen does not deserve a loss on his record (Thanks Tim Tschida!).  I am going to chalk it up to some bad luck and believe things will begin to even out as the season unfolds.

Finally, I just want to say ‘congratulations’ to a couple former Braves on their hot starts.  Jeff Francoeur is sizzling this first week batting .476 2 HR 6 RBI 1.538 OPS—and even better (for me), he is doing with the Mets losing.  Kelly Johnson has been hitting BOMBS in Arizona compiling .368 3 HR1.426 OPS (And from what I hear former Brave Marcus Giles has been doing some hitting himself).  I’m not saying that if these guys were here they would be doing the same thing, but a change of scenery is doing them well. I’m happy for them and wish them the best…for the most part.

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until next time…Go Braves!

That’s all I can say. Wow. Hollywood couldn’t script the Braves season opener any better than the reality of Monday at Turner Field.  53,081 fans, the largest opening day crown in Braves’ history and the fourth largest ever, watched the Braves make history; in more ways than one.

After falling behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning on a Marlon Byrd home run, the Braves came back and scored 6 runs in the bottom of the inning to take a three run lead.  Oh yeah, and Jason Heyward hit a HOME RUN! In his first MLB at-bat—on a 2-0 count, Jason Heyward got fastball on the inner-third, knee high and SMOKED it. Heyward joins the likes of Jeff Francoeur and Bob Horner by homering in his first MLB game, and Jermaine Dye and last year’s phenom Jordan Schafer by homering in his first plate appearance.  Heyward then added an RBI single to make it 4 RBI for the day.  To top it off, Heyward received his first shaving cream pie during a post-game interview courtesy of Peter Moylan.

Living in New York and seeing big-time games I have heard crowds make a lot of noise, I mean a lot! I’m not sure if you have heard this before, but New Yorkers can be loud.  I know, shocker—but this rivals the loudest crowd I have heard in a long time and it’s definitely the loudest I have heard an Atlanta Crowd; including the McCann homer off Clemens in the 2005 playoffs and Jeff Francoeur’s debut home run.

Overshadowed by J-Hey was the rest of the Braves lineup.  Martin Prado had 2 hits and 2 runs, Troy Glaus had 2 RBI, Chipper had 1 hit, walk and 2 runs, Brian McCann had a home run and 2RBI and Yunel Escobar led the team with 2 hits and 5 RBI (which helps 6 of my 8 fantasy teams).  Nate McLouth showed us all his hamstring is healthy as he made a terrific running catch to save a big inning, and another diving “catch” that led to a double play. The Braves got a break on that call folks— it wasn’t even close.

 The Braves bolstered offense definitely delivered.  By the end of the game, they put a 16-spot on the board, the most runs the Braves have scored on Opening Day since 1900 when they were known as the Boston Beaneaters—led by Kid Nichols, Hugh Duffy and who could forget Nig Cuppy?  But there’s something that is more surprising to me than any of this…Eric Hinske hit a triple. Yes, a legit triple. I knew the Brave got an OF from the Yankees that had some wheels, I just thought it was Melky Cabrera—who knew?

Derek Lowe did not have the outing he had hoped, but he did pick up his first win of the season.  Lowe started his second consecutive Braves opener and was inconsistent to say the least.  He had bad first and third innings, but looked like his old self in the second and fourth. The bullpen however was a different story. Peter Moylan and the newcomers Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner looked great.

Obviously the Braves are not going to score 16 runs a game and even though it is just one game; anything can happen over a 162 game season and you can never get too high or too low.  I can spout-off a list of clichés until I’m blue in the face, but I’ll just say this…if the Braves can hit like they have shown they are capable of, pitch they way we all know they can, and keep those seats filled, they are going to have one hell of a season.  Oh, and just a hunch, Heyward is not going to be in the 7^th sport very long.

One down, one hundred sixty one to go!

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Until Next Time…Go Braves!

With Kimbrel starting in AAA, it looks like the final two bullpen spots will be awarded between Jesse Chavez, Scott Proctor, Johnny Venters and Jo Jo Reyes.   Proctor, who is only 11 months removed from Tommy John Surgery, will probably begin the season in AAA to assure the Braves don’t rush him back too soon. If you remember last year Peter Moylan felt great after the surgery, but it took him a month or so to really get back in the groove. From everything Cox has said, it appears one sport will go to Jesse Chavez, even though he has pitched…well, not so good this spring.  He did the same thing last year, but still surprising to him, made the Pittsburgh Pirate’s roster out of spring training.

The final spot appears to be Jo Jo Reyes’.  He has pitched lights-out this spring but Cox and the Braves could still opt to start him in AAA in case they need an emergency starter.  If a situation like that came up, I’d rather have Kris Medlen (already with the big club) make the start.  So, if Reyes gives the Braves the best results out of the bullpen, leave him there.  The case could be made for Venters, however because of what Cox calls his ‘super sinker,’ a pitch that has won many pitchers a spot in the Braves roster (i.e. Kevin Grabowski, Chad Paronto, etc.).

The final bench spot will go to either Brooks Conrad or Joe Thurston.   Conrad was with the Braves at the end of last season and performed well, impressing many people with his hard-nosed approach.  He is a good defender and it always helps to have a guy on the bench who can switch hit. Thurston signed a minor league deal with the Braves this offseason.  He spent last year as a utility guy with the St. Louis Cardinals.  He has similar offensive numbers to Conrad and has played well this spring.  Thurston however, is not on the 40-man roster so it may be a safer choice to keep Conrad in the majors rather than risk losing another player to waivers.

I see Jesse Chavez, Jo Jo Reyes and Brooks Conrad claiming the final three spots, but I expect to see Proctor very soon and Kimbrel as soon as they need another arm.

Opening Day Anxiety: Opening Day is just a few days away and I could not be more anxious for it to get here. The winter seems so long and it feels like the NFL scouting combine will never end.  Mock Draft this and NCAA Tourney that— it lasts an eternity.  But now, now it’s baseball season.  Derek Lowe will toe the rubber and face Carlos Zambrano.  I expect a tough 3-game series against the Cubs who always seem to play well against the Braves.  The outcome of the opener may depend on which Zambrano shows up to the park that day; the pitcher with the blazing fastball and nasty slider, or the pitcher who thinks the ball is talking to him.  Win or lose, I cannot wait for the season to begin; of course I’d really prefer they win.  There’s no better season than baseball season!

ABT Party Time: In some news that will make the guys on the podcast happy, Manny Acosta has been claimed off waivers by the New York Mets.  Now I (unlike the guys) didn’t hate Acosta that much. Sure, he’s blown a few (I say a few to be nice) games, but he does have an electric arm and has shown glimpses of brilliance.  Unfortunately for the Braves, it’s been overshadowed by bad outings.

Acosta appeared in 103 games for the Braves over the past 3 seasons, posting a respectable 3.55 ERA and 85K in 114 IP—also not too bad.  The problem is the 1.447 WHIP from the 59 Walks.  If Acosta could have been more constant he may have been in the Atlanta bullpen, instead he will be taking a plane to Queens to be a part of the Mets bullpen—and why not?  He has everything the Mets look for in a pitcher…an arm that’s healthy enough to throw a baseball.

Get Those No. 22 Jerseys Ready: I just have to touch on one more thing; all of us have heard (I assume) that Jason Heyward has made the Braves and will be their starting RF for the 2010 season, and will wear number 22, which hasn’t been formally announced since J.C. Boscan is currently wearing it this spring.  I expect quite a few of these No. 22 jersey to be sold, but I have a suggestion for some of you—just take those old Marcus Giles or Casey Kotchman jerseys and replace the name. Wait? Did they even sell them? Have the Braves ever had a good player to wear 22? Let’s look back at some of the players who have worn this number for Atlanta in the past…

Willie Harris, Jesse Garcia, Walt Weiss, Geronimo Berroa, Ken Griffey Sr., Brett Butler, Bob Porter, Gary Cooper, Rowland Office, Jim Panther, Mike McQueen, Gary Hill and Dick Kelley. Well, there are a few named that you may have heard of, but we don’t exactly have an All-Star team here. I am going to go out on a limb and say Jason Heyward will be the most popular and best No 22 the Braves have ever had… just a hunch.

Well, as soon as I wrote this #22 piece, I saw something similar on the AJC website.  I may have left Adam LaRoche off the list, but they didn’t have any pictures like Mike McQueen or Rowland Office.  Take that AJC!

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Until Next time…Go Braves!

Philadelphia Phillies: Two words—Roy Halladay. The rich get richer as the Phillies added arguably the best pitcher in MLB in Halladay, giving them a strong 1-2 punch at the front of their rotation with Cole Hammels poised to show that the 2008 season was no fluke. Hammels has been working hard all winter to re-gain his dominance, and be the Hammels of old, instead of the “Hollywood Hammels” we saw last year.  THANK GOD that the Phillies decided to trade LHP Cliff Lee after the acquisition of Halladay; a move I’m still not 100% sold on, but as a Brave fan all I can say is PHEW!

The Phillies also added a couple other players that will improve their club. Former Detroit Tiger Placido Polanco will serve as the new 3B and RP Danys Baez (former Brave) will serve as a big-time set-up man (or possible closer if Brad Lidge continues to struggle). Lastly, Former Marlin Ross Gload will serve as a back-up 1B and top-line pinch hitter; remember the Braves tried to sign Gload at the Winter Meetings. This gives the Phillies a dangerous bench with Gload joining bopper Greg Dobbs and underrated Ben Francisco, who came to the Phillies with Cliff Lee last July.

There are no weak spots in the Phillies lineup, but the one spot they may struggle is their starting rotation. Obviously with Halladay and Hammels at the top they are very, very strong, but after Blanton and J.A. Happ (let’s hope he doesn’t repeat his terrific ’09 season) the 5^th spot is iffy. This spot will likely come down to 26-year-old Kyle Kendrick and the ancient one, Jamie Moyer, who I’m pretty sure can legally get a 10% discount at Denny’s this year.

Ultimately, the Phillies success will be determined by how Hammels and Lidge can rebound, or not, from last season’s struggles. Let’s just hope, as Braves fans, that they can’t be that good 4 years in a row.

Florida Marlins: This team has become one of the most consistent teams of late, finishing above .500 five of the last seven seasons. They just locked up SP Josh Johnson with a 4-year $39 Million extension that will see him with the Marlins as they move into their new stadium in 2012. They also have the 2009 batting champion Hanley Ramirez and 2009 ROY Chris Coghlan returning to give the Marlins a hell of a 1-5, joining Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross.

Johnson leads a strong starting rotation with Ricky Nolasco and Anabel Sanchez. The 4 and 5 are between power right-handers Chris Volstad and Rick VandenHurk, Lefty Andrew Miller, and RHP Clay Hensley, who has looked terrific this spring and may have the inside track on the 5^th spot. As Braves fans know, it doesn’t really matter who the Fish throw out there, because they always give the Braves fits.

The one thing the Marlins struggled with last season was defense, finishing at, or near the bottom of the league the past two seasons. Manager Freddie Gonzalez had emphasized this fact this spring and looks to improve on the error total for 2010.

 The Marlins always play tough within the division and will continue to do so as long as they have Han-Ram in the #3 spot.

Washington Nationals: The Nationals didn’t have the best 2009 season, losing 103 games and worse yet, losing young pitcher Jordan Zimmerman to Tommy John Surgery. The Nats added some veteran players this off-season starting with 15-game winner (and another former Brave) Jason Marquis. Along with Marquis, the Nats added C Ivan Rodriguez, 2B Adam Kennedy, RP Brian Bruney and CL Matt Capps. Though these aren’t perennial All-Stars, the Nats should be improved from top to bottom for the 1020 season. They have a legitimate top part of the order with SS Christian Guzman, Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham and Ryan Zimmerman; a BIG TIME player.  They have an up-and-coming OF Justin Maxwell, who the Nats expect to start in RF, and really looks like a solid player.

Their starting rotation will be led by Marquis and LHP John Lannan, who though won’t blow anyone away with his fastball, but just gets outs. The back end of their rotation is weak with Lefty Scott Olsen, RHP Garrett Mock and whoever else they can get with a pulse that day. The Nats also have one other guy expected to be there at some point this year; you may have heard of him…Stephen Strasburg. He has looked great this spring, but will likely begin the season in the minors to gain seasoning before joining the big club in D.C. I wonder what will happen when Strasburg faces Jason Heyward…it just may open another dimension.

Ultimately, the Nationals will not be contenders for the NL East Division this year, but they will not be as bad as last year; I think.

New York Mets: The Mets had an injury-plagued 2009 season and it looks like they are picking up right where they left off. SS Jose Reyes who missed most of 2009 with a leg injury has been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid and will miss most, if not all of spring training; probably some of the regular season as well. OF Carlos Beltran had off-season surgery on his knee, which wasn’t exactly in the Mets’ plans, but none-the-less will cost Beltran a couple months (at least) of the regular season. Oh yeah, and CL Francisco Rodriguez missed over a week with pink eye!

The Mets did make some off-season acquisitions that could help them stay competitive this year. OF Jason Bay signed a 4-year $66 Million deal to become the new cleanup hitter. Bay, who the Red Sox deemed too much of a health risk to offer big money, will give the Mets a good 1-2 punch with 3B David Wright, who looks to improve on his power numbers from 2009. Wright hit a career-low 10 HR in 2009, which may, or may not have had something to do with the MASSIVE outfield in Citi Field. The Mets also signed C Rod Barrajas (after trying to get deals done with Bengie Molina and Yorvit Torrealba) and traded for OF Gary Mathews Jr.

The rotation will once again be led by Johann Santana (if he is healthy of course) who also missed a good part of the 2009 season. The rest of the rotation however, is a question mark. Will John Maine be able to come back from missing all but seven games in 2009? (It sounds like a broken record, I know) Will Mike Pelfrey regain his 2008 form? Which Oliver Perez will show up this season? There are a lot of “ifs” for the Mets this year, not a good sign. They lost out on free-agent pitchers John Lackey and Joel Pinero, whose first choice, like Molina was the Mets.

There are a couple bright sports for the Mets though, with two 21-year-old prospects; SS Ruben Tejada and RPH Jenrry Mejia. Tejada may open the year as the Mets starting SS and Mejia would be a super set-up man for K-Rod, but many think the Mets would be rushing these players too much, therefore potentially ruining them. But hey, it’s the Mets…

The odds are in the Mets favor in terms of the number of injuries for the 2010 season, but there are so many question marks that it doesn’t look good for them this year. Sorry NY.

Atlanta Braves: One of the hottest teams in the second-half of the ’09 season, the Braves have made some major off-season moves that could put them in prime position for a playoff spot in 2010. It starts off with CL Billy Wagner and set-up man Takashi Saito. Troy Glaus is once again healthy and will look to regain his power-hitting form and be the right-handed power bat the Braves need. Eric Hinske is a great bench guy and relievers Jesse Chavez and Mike Dunn are looking better and better every day. Oh yeah, and they have Jason Heyward, ever hear of him?

The Braves have lost their best pitcher from a year ago in Javier Vasquez, but with Tim Hudson returning from Tommy John Surgery, a full season from Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe’s new sinker grip and Kenshin Kawakami’s higher comfort level, the Braves could potentially have the best starting five in the league.  They have a solid bullpen, with Peter Moylan adding a change-up named “Dave,” and a shut-down closer in Wagner.

Can everyone stay healthy? Can Glaus be his old-self? Can Chipper rebound? Will Nate McLouth ever get a hit? I say yes to all. AND from what I hear, Heyward is expected to hit at least 70 HRs.

Here is what I see happening in the NL East this year:

Team                                     W            L              GB

Phillies                                  95           67           —

Braves *(Wild Card)            92           70           3

Marlins                                 88           74           7

Mets                                     78           84           17

Nationals                             70           92           25

The Phillies just look too strong. I have never, ever picked against the Braves to start a year, but I guess there is a first for everything. Hopefully (for Braves fans) it won’t turn out this way, but I will be happy just getting into the playoffs. Because once you’re in…it’s a whole new ballgame!

Follow me on Twitter @ BRAVEinNY.

Until Next time…Go Braves!

Bobby Cox has been the Braves manager for, well, pretty much as long as I can remember and for most of my life—dating back to the early 80’s and then again starting in ’91. He is the 4^th on the all-time MLB managerial win list (2,413) behind Tony LaRussa, John McGraw and the great Connie Mack (of course we all know he is #1 on the ejections list). Bobby is second on the post-season win list and no one can rival his 14-straight division titles. He is the best manager in Braves history and one of (if not THE) best in baseball history; especially if you ask his players.

If Cox does indeed retire at the end of this season, then who will be the next Braves manager? Allow me to make a suggestion…The names that I have heard in connection with this job are current bullpen coach Eddie Perez, AA manager Phil Wellman, and Marlins manager (and former Braves 3B coach) Fredi Gonzalez. While all of these are viable options, I have a better one—Joe Torre. Yes, that’s right! Joe Torre.

Torre is entering the final season of his 3-year $13 Million deal with the LA Dodgers and has recently broken off contract negotiations for next season, leaving him open to a new job. Torre has plenty of ties with the Braves organization, as he played for them from 1960-1968, finishing second in the ROY vote to Billy Williams in ’61 and winning Gold Glove awards in 1948 and 1968.

After his playing career ended, Torre had a brief stint as the Braves manager from 1982-1984, winning the NL West division title in 1982; the only good year the Braves had in the 80’s. The 1982 season was also the year the Braves started out by winning a record 13 straight games. Torre then went on to manage the Cardinals and some other team that I think was pretty good, but I can’t remember that stretch for some reason…

Torre is 5^th on the all-time managerial win list (2,246) and 1^st in post-season wins. Cox and Torre have been compared to each other for years for their managing style, success and demeanor. They are both favorites by their players, and actually many other players in the league. In 2009, Sports Illustrated polled MLB players about which manager they would most like to play for (players were not allowed to pick their current managers), and Cox and Torre were at the top of the list. Cox finished 1^st with 25% and Torre 2^nd with 16%; really not surprising if you ask me.

Whoever replaces Cox is going to have a tough time, because they will always be compared to him; which really isn’t fair. If Braves fans expect the next manager to have as much success or to be the kind of guy Cox has been, they need to re-evaluate their expectations because they are unrealistic. No one can ever replace him, as there will never be another Bobby Cox.

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