Show #157: The Braves Pitching Struggles on the Road
Trade deadline talk. The starting rotation. Chipper’s return. And the Wayward Heyward Meter
505 Responses to “Show #157: The Braves Pitching Struggles on the Road”
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Pages: « 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 21 » Show All
July 26th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Foul
“With the looming deadline comes speculation that the Braves might deal for a right-handed bat or a reliever. [Chipper Jones] said he sees the Braves acquiring bullpen help. He is just fine with the everyday lineup as is. “I don’t have a problem standing pat,” Jones said. “I think we have a really good ballclub. Obviously any team would love an injection of new blood, especially top-notch quality. To be honest, I don’t see where we are going to go out and better the ballclub everyday lineup-wise. You say what you want about the [Carlos] Beltrans and the [Hunter] Pences and the [Ryan] Ludwicks, people like that, but everybody in our lineup contributes to our success each and every day.”
Read more: http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/298614-chipper-doesnt-see-how-beltran-helps-braves?xid=cnnbin&hpt=hp_bn10#ixzz1TEaS2WBV
July 26th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
@25
Certainly I would like to have Yunel batting 6th or 7th in this lineup right now… as long as he was hitting the way he is hitting right now for Toronto…
But not if he continued hitting as he was hitting (and playing… and behaving (or not behaving)… before he was shipping to Toronto… and there was NOTHING that was pointing toward him EVER playing that way in Atlanta… He was on a downward slide showing no signs of pulling himself out of it… he had lost the confidence of his manager and his teammates…
This was TRULY a case of him being the proverbial “change of scenery” guy (regardless of the reasons for it).
Unfortunately it seems in baseball, you just never know how players will react… Denver was terrible under Clint Hurdle (one winning season in 7 full years, fired after 46 games in the 8th), but his attitude/personality has spurred on the Pirates to being competitive after losing 105 games the previous season…
July 26th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
An article I read suggests the Braves should look to Chicago for their aquisitions, both north and south…
Sox: outfielder Carlos Quentin, shortstop Alexei Ramirez, reliever Jesse Crain
Cubs: outfielders Marlon Byrd and Reed Johnson, infielder Jeff Baker
It also suggests “Replacing Alex Gonzalez with Alexei Ramirez would be huge for Atlanta”… Looking at Ramirez’s recent stats, I don’t see that he is that much better an option than Gonzalez…
July 26th, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Enough with the Yunel revisionist history. He quit on the team, was checking out of games and was not producing last year. It was the right move. And Gonzo was fine last year. He just sucks this year. Yunel had to go.
July 26th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
I think Gonzo will get better. I predict they all get better. We’re having a funky dry spell. I believe…sorta.
July 26th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
A 4 month dry spell
Not producing for 70 games. We have guys who have not produced all season, and not only are they still Braves, they are still starting. I’m not revising my opinion on this at all. It was a stupid move then and it’s a stupid move still. Hanley Ramirez is no less a pain in the ass than Escobar is/was and you were singing Fredi’s praises for handling him on this very show. It has hurt the team.
July 26th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
I agree with Curt on Gonzo….
I have 1 memory of Escobar…..
him getting caught on TV flipping someone “the bird”
July 26th, 2011 at 4:07 pm
#31 Exactly…definitely going to start producing. I feel it. Or maybe that lime chipotle dressing from lunch is talking to me.
July 26th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
When Escobar was traded, he had a change of scenery coming in a just a few months: Fredi Gonzalez.
July 26th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
@27
AND 29
Yunel Escobar was fine here. He did not quit on the team. It was almost unfair at times because some of his mistakes were seen as if he did them on purpose. He didn’t purposely want to get get Troy Glaus hurt for example. People just need to put themselves in other people ‘s shoes. He was a young man in a foreign country playing Major League Baseball. If you knew nothing about the Braves, from all the stories you would think he punched and cussed out every person on the team. I’m sure he was not a jerk or a mean person. Now you got what you wished for. A shortstop who can’t hit instead of one who can. I haven’t heard any complaints from the Blue Jays. It’s amazing how certain players get singled out. I swear they are on Hanley Ramirez’s back like a dog on MLB network everyday. I’m still confused why Alex Rodriguez is disliked because all he did wrong was take steroids like 65% of other MLB players. I think its jealousy. And it perplexed me why Joe Simpson kept taking shots at Brandon Phillips last Friday when players on our team do the same thing. I wonder if he would have called out Chipper? Nope. Everyone likes an easy target.
July 26th, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Change of subject…..
Did anyone see Roberto Alomar steal the shirt from the fan?
July 26th, 2011 at 6:21 pm
#31 and #35, I’m glad to know I’m not alone. I thought I was missing something. The guy was arguably our best player and most clutch hitter since he was called up, and then became the most expendable part of a mostly mediocre (in terms of talent) team. Yeah he had a bad first half. Many Braves have done the same and kept their job. He flipped off a New Yorker. Who among us hasn’t wanted to do the same in their lifetime? Chipper has had nothing negative to say on the guy, and Yunel has never had anything bad to say about the Braves. He’s a very talented player and, for the most part, seems like a nice guy. I don’t know him, I just go off what those who do know him say about him, not what a writer writes in an article just because he’s probably trying to create a great story. The language barrier was a huge disadvantage for him with the media. Don’t buy everything a sports journalist puts to print.
July 26th, 2011 at 6:28 pm
@29
Thank you Steve
July 26th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
@37
Chipper Jones quote:
“I think it probably worked out good for both sides,” Jones said. “I think maybe he might have needed a chance of scenery, may have needed to go somewhere where there were some influential Latin players who could, you know, show him the way and how it’s done.
“It worked out good for him. He got an extension with Toronto. But I never wanted Yunel to leave. I’ve been a big fan of Yunel all along, because the guy’s a good player. You figured if if he maybe turned the corner maturity-wise, that he could be a perennial All-Star. I really felt that way. It’s unfortunate how it worked out, but maybe it worked out for the best for both sides.”
Is this the definition of “damning with faint praise”? Or saying “He needed to grow up and it wasn’t going to happen here” (my opinion, reading between the lines)
“I think maybe he might have needed a chance of scenery…”
“…some influential Latin players who could, you know, show him the way and how it’s done…”
“…if he maybe turned the corner maturity-wise…”
July 26th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Good comments on Yunel. Even if he had problems, which I doubt, do you want a good player with problems or a crappy player without?
Sorry Chipper, but they need you and a couple more like you to get this done.
July 26th, 2011 at 6:52 pm
My last comment on Yunel:
We shouldn’t have traded him.
July 26th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
#39, I think Jose Bautista has been a huge influence on Yunel in Toronto.
July 26th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Pastornicky did have a good first week in AAA. Given Gonzo’s recent performances, we should all be hoping that kid comes on like a freight train. We need it. Like immediately…
July 26th, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Nats acquired Jonny Gomes.
July 26th, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Frank Wren has what appears to be a great eye for young prospects, and he really likes Pasto.
July 26th, 2011 at 7:03 pm
#44, thank God.
July 26th, 2011 at 7:12 pm
***SPEAKING OF HINDSIGHT***
I think we have reached the staute of limitations on the Mark Teixeira trade.
The cost was high, but we got what we paid for. He performed up to what was expected (.317/.404/.615/1.019) . The Braves didn’t take advantage of it. Had they, they could have been contenders for the WS for 2007 & 2008.
You have to use prospects to play for you or to get you what you don’t have.
Are you playing to win WS?
Or are you afraid to trade prospects to try to win now being afraid of how that prospect might look two or three years down the road for someone else? If so, you are going to have to “home grow” your team (how ’bout them Rays – at least for one year…)…
You can be competitive, year after year, and sit home watching the WS, year after year. (Braves traded three prospects for McGriff in 1993. Braves traded three players in spring training of 1995 for Marquis Grissom. They also had pitching running out of their ears and won the division by 21 games.)
Yes, Neftali would be nice to have.
Elvis Andrus would probably have never played for Atlanta while Yunel was here – Elvis started playing for Texas in 2009, Yunel was still our starter. Maybe if Elvis was pushing him, Yunel might have “matured” (or atleast acted like it).
Salty would NEVER have played for Atlanta as a catcher (read blocked by McCann – not going to use a 1st round pick as a “back-up”). He ws GOING TO BE TRADED. Otherwise, we would have suffered through him showing he can’t play first. He is still not a starting catcher.
Jones never saw the Majors.
Harrison is not good enough to break into our starting rotation. Didn’t post a sub 4.70 ERA prior to this year, has never posted double digit wins.
2008 – started 15 games – 9 and 3 with 5.49 ERA.
2009 – started 11 games – 4 and 5 with 6.11 ERA.
2010 – started 6 games (appeared in 37) – 3 and 2 with a 4.71 ERA (relagated to bullpen in 2010), didn’t post a sub 4.70 ERA prior to this year, has never posted double digit wins.
2011 – started 19 games – 8 and 7 with a 3.05 ERA.
Thank you – this concludes the rant for the day
July 26th, 2011 at 7:33 pm
Not again…
July 26th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Runner on 3rd with 0 outs and we don’t score. Now we’re down 2-0 after the first inning AGAIN. This is definitely going to be one of “those” nights.
July 26th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
Well, here we go again, 3-0 and no body’s hitting.