Show #143: The Lineup Debate Continues
Peter from capitolavenueclub.com joins the conversation on the lineup and Fredi Gonzalez’s start at the helm. Also, Freeman improves while Hanson and Beachy go the other way.
160 Responses to “Show #143: The Lineup Debate Continues”
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Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7 » Show All
April 19th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
Ron- seriously? Your comment about Freeman. I loved the move to #6 for him almost as much as the Heyward move. This lineup is just right. It will start paying dividends.
April 19th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Scoreless first inning. Good sign. And Beachy’s bringing it. How I wish I had MLB.TV (can’t afford it). For now I’ll have to settle for Jim and Don + Gameday.
April 19th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Beachy looked pretty damn good tonight. I’ll take that from a 5. Freeman with a jack (solo of course). Now let’s get some hits with guys on base.
April 20th, 2011 at 12:20 am
The offense just showed up. 9-1 Braves. Top 9.
April 20th, 2011 at 12:28 am
10-1. 10 hits in the 9th including a 2 run HR pinch-hit homer from Hinske and a 3 run HR by Uggla. This game has been much more fun to watch. Venters was huge in cleaning up Linebrink’s mess in the 7th and shutting down their middle of the order in the 8th.
April 20th, 2011 at 12:32 am
Gonzalez’s UZR must me off the charts with all these plays he’s been making.
April 20th, 2011 at 12:37 am
Gonzo just put on a freakin clinic in the 9th.
April 20th, 2011 at 7:23 am
I went to bed after we couldn’t score with bases loaded and 1 out. Guess they were waiting for me to turn it off.
April 20th, 2011 at 7:37 am
Just watched the condensed game and Freeman looked 10 feet tall at first. Good grief that man can stretch.
In other news my mini van died.
April 20th, 2011 at 7:57 am
McLouth’s average is now .250! Can we pencil in that wildcard now?
April 20th, 2011 at 9:38 am
Pure – you’re #60 is funny and interesting. We’ve said on the show (I think) and in side conversations that if Nate would just hit .250, we’d be in. Now if we can just get Heyward going (semi-kidding). Crazy that he was 0 – 5 last night.
April 20th, 2011 at 9:44 am
Heyward is 0-fer batting second in the order…
McLouth has done pretty well in the 8th spot…
Let’s bat the pitcher 2nd and they can bunt all the time. Maybe they would FINALLY learn how with regular practice…
April 20th, 2011 at 9:59 am
Are we sure he’s comfortable in the #2 hole?
April 20th, 2011 at 11:37 am
Please, Leah. This is a family website.
April 20th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
While watching last nights win, I was reminded of an old baseball saying: every team no matter how good or how bad wins one third of their games and every team loses one third of their games; success depends on what they do with the other third. Another solid outfielder and a couple of dependable veteran pinch hitters would add alot to the Braves chances in the many close games that lie ahead. Braves pitching will take care of the rest!
April 20th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
Wow Steve where is your mind? Lol
April 20th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
When can we trade for Omar Infante?
April 20th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
I remember rumors that Mike Piazza was comfortable in the #2 hole.
April 20th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Steve, the same place it was when I wrote comment #59.
April 20th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Thought you might like this, Curt. Paraphrased from Scott Linebrink on the Braves Clubhouse Report:
“Hitting is timing, and pitching is disruption of timing. The most important thing to learn as a pitcher is how to throw a change-up with the same arm speed as a fastball. Kids want to throw 4-5 pitches, but no one should ever throw a breaking pitch before high school. All they really need is a change-up.”
April 20th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Can’t cry over spilled milk but Charlie Morton (traded for McLouth) is pitching tonight for minimum wage (2-0, 1.64 era). Other updates: Francoeur .323, 12 rbi (Where is Ryan Church?), Yunel @ .315. The good news is Infante is at .220 and Dunn has not pitched much but no earned runs (but the two together make all year what Uggla makes in one week). I really believe in sticking with the home grown kids as much as possible. The more any team pays the “outside”vets (McLouth, Gonzalez, Uggla, Lowe, Kawakami/Still making millions), the less you have to keep guys like Prado, McCann, Heyward, Hanson, etc.
April 20th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Francouer seems like a nice guy, but you can’t honestly be disappointed he’s not on the team anymore. His batting average since he left the Braves is sub .250 and his OBP is a tad over .300. He still strikes out about 25 percent of the time.
Most importantly, where would he play? You would start him over Heyward or Prado?
I prefer a franchise builds through a farm system as well, but it’s unfair not to point out that Hudson, Ross, Wagner, Vazquez, Lowe are just a few names we acquired through free agency that have been very valuable.
April 20th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Good points, Eric. Let’s be fair to our wonderful GM.
Hudson is the real winner here. Let’s keep in mind: Ross is inexpensive and of great value. Wagner wanted to come here for one year; call it luck we got him. We had to get rid of Vasquez because we couldn’t trade Lowe. Lowe only recently has shown the value of his $15 mil; so, the first half+ of his time here was clearly an “overpaid” situation. Win some , lose some?
Not so much that Frenchie will ever be a star but we got nothing for him (I’ll take him back for Ryan Church if we still had him) and we are short at least a 4th outfielder. Watched JF batting 4th with 2 hits and throwing out a runner at home the other day; also, he is only 27. Had not mentioned Melky or Ankiel or Mather (in all fairness, the list of bad acquisitions is much longer then I mentioned above and much much longer than the list of good ones).
Also, there are always surprises in the season, Prado may very well get plenty of games in the infield before it is all over. Hinske may very well get a lot of first base (as I recall, we didn’t need LaRoche ’cause Freddie was ready),. As of now, that means McLouth better improve and someone else needs to appear out of nowhere. Anyway, this family likes Jeff. PS: I’ll take Morton back for McLouth.
Guess from my viewpoint, McLouth’s average since we got him is better than GM Wren’s. If Uggla, Gonzalez, Sherrill, Linebrink, and our weak bench pan out, I’ll give Wren his kudos. Sorry, I got carried away. Will keep them shorter.
April 20th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Wow, there’s someone more negative than Curt.
April 20th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Easy