Show #164: The Braves Stumble on the Road
Looking at where it all went wrong this week. Plus Chipper batting second and the post season hope meter.
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September 12th, 2011 at 12:22 am
Chipper can bat anywhere in my lineup. The key is to have someone in front of him that can get on base and someone behind him who has some skill to drive him in. Not much to pick from that meet either criteria right now. Freeman is consistent but beyond him and Chipper, who would you want batting with the game on the line? What is the hitting coach (Parrish) and Fredi doing to help these guys hit? Nearly the whole team looks out of rhythm; if they are doing what Parrish tells them, he should be fired today.
September 12th, 2011 at 12:26 am
You just HAD to get rid of the “Post Season Hope Meter”…
September 12th, 2011 at 12:41 am
Parrish just isn’t a good hitting coach. Terry Pendleton was very successful during his time here and just last year the Braves had one of the highest team OBP’s in the league. I just don’t know why TP gets a bad wrap.
September 12th, 2011 at 2:03 am
Solid show considering what you had to work with. Hopefully Brian Jordan is right, and sleeping in their own beds turns things around for the team. The postseason rotation is just scary to even think about at this point.
I get that Fredi has had to deal with a lot of adversity, but so has every other manager this year. For example, La Russa has endured Wainwright’s season ending injury and an injured Pujols in his worse year so far, and they’re still making things interesting. I honestly thought Fredi did very little with a talented team in Fla, and I think he is continuing the trend in Atlanta. Maybe it’s part of being a young manager. Bobby certainly had similar issues early in his career. One thing we never talk about is the fact that Fredi is still learning his players and what resources he has with this group, but he is making very slow progress.
I’m not looking up the numbers, but Hamels and Lee probably have a better postseason winning percentage than Maddux and Glavine. I’m guessing Halladay is no slouch either.
September 12th, 2011 at 2:16 am
Frank Wren is going to have a busy offseason. The Four Horsemen of the Pitchpocalyse have looked very solid. The only real blemish for me was Minor’s Glavine-esque first inning. Teheran’s control was a little suspect, too, but that guy can really change speeds better than the other 3. Beachy is still the only one I fell comfortable with starting in the postseason. I think Stevie’s right and you have to take Lowe’s experience over Hanson’s unknown status and Minor, and Delgado and Teheran have to be approaching their innings limit.
September 12th, 2011 at 8:05 am
I don’t know enough about how to read pitches, despite much coaching from this board, so forgive my stupidity. Could Lowe’s struggles be attributed in part to his trying to add cutter to his pitches?
My hope meter was at a 5 but if you guys think we’ll go 4-2 this week then I’m a solid 6.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:07 am
#5 — What makes you think that Wren is going to have a busy offseason? It seems like most of next year’s lineup is in place:
Starting rotation:
Hudson
Lowe
Hanson
Jurrjens
Beachy
+Minor
+Teheran
+Delgado
+Vizcaino
Lineup:
LF Prado
CF Bourn
RF Heyward
3B Chipper
SS ??? (though I also think it’ll be Alex Gonzalez)
2B Uggla
1B Freeman
C McCann
He’ll need to add some pieces in terms of bullpen and bench, but for the most part, it’s a matter of health for some of these guys. If JJ and Hanson were healthy, I think our magic number would be less than 5, and we’d be talking about how our rotation would match up with Philly’s in the NLCS. As it stands, we’re hoping that a 4.5 game lead will be enough with 15 left to play.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:47 am
Don’t forget Medlen. And there will only be a couple of bullpen spots available as well.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Hanson and JJ get moved this off season for pennies on the dollar.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:53 am
#8 and they will proceed to torture us for the next decade.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:36 am
#7, I was thinking more along the lines of the starting rotation: Lowe, Hudson, JJ, Hanson, Beachy, Minor, Medlen, Delgado, Teheran, and Delgado.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:40 am
*”and Delgado” should be and Vizcaino. It’s hard to remember all 10.
I could definitely see Vizcaino and Medlen in the bullpen. Is a move to the bullpen out of the question for Lowe? I don’t know how they could possibly trade him, and he is probably the worst of the 10 potential starting pitchers I listed.
September 12th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
I would say yes. I think he has stated that he has no interest in going to the pen and where would they use him? $15 mill for a long reliever who can’t really go long in games?
I think they try and trade him too. I think they are getting proof that they can “rely” on these young starters and are going to do what they can to move salaries to free up room for them, thereby making us a fringe wild card team at best next year. Maybe Hudson gets shopped too. They have yet to waiver on these in-house cost cutting moves when they can.
Insert Uggla comments here.
If they could free up money to sign Bourn, I’m all for it. If they don’t make some legitimate effort to sign him, they are crazy.
September 12th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Ham, question. Are the Sox fans going more crazy than Braves fans, with their collapse and now 3.5 WC lead over Tampa?
September 12th, 2011 at 1:25 pm
Curt I dont think they will move both Hanson and JJ. I think just moving JJ makes the most sense.
September 12th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
@12, I would rather spend money on Michael Bourn than 2 injury prone starters, and the only reason I feel that way is our depth at starting pitching.
I think 2 of this year’s original rotation probably go. If I had my pick I would say Lowe and then JJ as most expendable. It has taken 8 solid starters to be contending for the WC this year. Chances are it might take the same number next year, too.
September 12th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
great show guys. after such a horrific week, its nice to feel like i can commiserate with some other braves fans.
good news is, weve been getting the job done all season, enabling us to get this large wild card lead which now looks very important.
every game from here on out is a big one. lets win tonight.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Curt – all of the 9/11 coverage was second to the Rays/Sox story. It is much doomier and gloomier up here.
September 12th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Perhaps a bit of hope for this week and the coming weeks…
I just looked at our week-by-week records. Out of 24 weeks so far, we have had:
- 13 weeks in which we posted a winning record
- 5 weeks in which we went .500 (3-3)
- 6 weeks in which we posted a losing record
We have not had any back-to-back losing weeks. So, every time we’ve had a losing week, we’ve rebounded in the following week.
During weeks 8-12, we went LW-WW-LW-WW-LW (losing week and winning week). Apart from that, our losing weeks have been spread throughout the season, not really close to each other.
We’ve had two losing weeks since the All-Star Break.
By far, last week was our worst week, in which we were 4 games under .500 for the week. We’ve had two weeks of -1 games, two weeks of -2 games, and one week of -3.
We’re due for a winning week.
September 12th, 2011 at 8:05 pm
We seriously have way too much talent for this to be going on right now. Slowly losing faith.
September 12th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
The only good thing about now is that if we lose it doesn’t mean the cardinals win. Those head to head match ups can kill you. Cmon pittsburgh.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:32 pm
“The only good thing about now is that if we lose it doesn’t mean the cardinals win.”
Sadly summing up the state of things right now.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:00 pm
GONZALEZ!
September 12th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Wow! See what sitting for a series does for ya? Also, I miss Omar.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
I miss winning.
And being good.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
I miss games where we don’t pitch every pitcher in the bullpen.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Fredi had better sent Varvaro out there at least another inning — I don’t want to see Linebrink.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
OK Chipper just scared the hell out of me. He’s so fragile.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
oh good lord, Chipper – BE CAREFUL!
September 12th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
We are so close but so far away.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Well, the way it’s been going that run that Florida just scored is bound to be all they need.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Man.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Why would you bunt with Wilson. Odds are that Boscan who is a career minor league catcher was not going to have a Francisco Cabrera moment. Maybe if Fredi didn’t pinch hit for Conrad who is a switch hitter earlier Diaz would be available.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
McCann must need another eye exam. 8 LOB; his bat is killing the Braves. I’ll look it up later but he must be around .180 BA since the all star break. He and Prado are showing no signs that they can contribute to a Wild card race. McCann is what Uggla was in the first half; you have to stick with him and pray he has a break out day. Braves pinch hitters must also be in the buck eighty range.
September 13th, 2011 at 8:13 am
Sit Mac and Prado. Yeah…I said it. Mama ain’t happy!
September 13th, 2011 at 11:49 am
As someone tweeted last night when McCann struck out with the bases loaded, “Why doesn’t Alex Gonzalez ever get to come up in those situations?”
I remember stating a few weeks ago how I had faith no matter what. Down big, extra innings, whatever, I knew they were going to win. I now have the opposite of that. When we blew those two late opportunities, I knew we were losing. i even knew when Stanton came in that he was going to get a hit to knock in that run. I hate this feeling.
September 13th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
and we’ve got 2 rookies and Lowe going out there for the next 3 games.
September 13th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
As someone tweeted last night when McCann struck out with the bases loaded, “Why doesn’t Alex Gonzalez ever get to come up in those situations?”
That is funny as hell.
A quick diversion. Review of Moneyball by Aaron Gleeman:
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/13/moneyball-review/
September 13th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
@ Curt and Steve……ditto. I hate this feeling!
On a lighter note…..who is the uglier Brave…..Jack Wilson or Otis Nixon?
September 13th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
WOW @ 38 how disrespectful……….. Wilson by a mile.
September 13th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Zane Smith
September 13th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Nixon wasn’t that ugly he just always looked really old. Bejamin button disease or something.
September 13th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Or maybe the opposite of Benjamin button
September 13th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
33 — McCann has been awful since the ASB.
1st half: .310/.381/.514, 15 HR, 50 rbi, 34 BB, 47 K, 15 doubles
2nd half: .197/.292/.402, 8 HR, 16 rbi, 17 BB, 34 K, 2 doubles
Ugh. It’s like he and Uggla are tag-teaming this season.
Uggla 1st half: .185/.257/.365, 15 HR, 34 rbi, 31 BB, 84 K
Uggla 2nd half: .316/.391/.598, 18 HR, 39 rbi, 22 BB, 55 K
This is some pretty brutal even-ing out.
September 13th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
LOL, We need the laugh after last night!
@ Curt…..doesn’t Zane Smith look like Moylan? Even guys in the clubhouse make fun of Moylan’s looks. Cool guy though……
September 13th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Braves had a team meeting today. Chipper said players and coaches spoke. Basically expressed need to relax.
Mark Bowman’s tweet.
Please let it help!
September 13th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Braves have been looking TOO relaxed already. It started when it looked like they had it wrapped up a couple of weeks ago. Time to play like they are hungry! They can relax in November.
September 13th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
I love the whole team meeting thing. It’s filled with great hope, like a “best shape of his life” story in spring training.
I just read that Chipper and Ross did most of the talking.
September 13th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
47 – I would love to be a fly on the wall in those meetings. I’m sure Chipper told it like it is without being too harsh about it.
September 13th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Um…doesn’t seem like that meeting helped. Is it just me? Hit it where they ain’t for crying out loud!
September 13th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
In keeping with the “I knew” statements — when Uggla came up, and before the first pitch to him, I knew that he was gonna hit a 3-run homer. Somehow knew.
Nice to have a game like this!
September 13th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
FINALLY!!
September 13th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
New rule: closed door meetings every night.
September 13th, 2011 at 9:50 pm
Maybe it’s just me — but isn’t a situation in which we have a 5-run lead, 2 outs in 8th, and on a night after Venters worked and Linebrink didn’t — aren’t those situations the reason that Linebrink is still on this team?
September 13th, 2011 at 9:52 pm
That is to say — shouldn’t Gonzalez have gone to Linebrink in the 8th rather than Venters? Especially when Venters pitched last night (19 pitches), Linebrink didn’t, and when he’s said that they’re going to try to rest Venters in these last few weeks?
Perhaps he’s saving his mop-up stud for the 9th inning.
September 13th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Alex Gonzalez is now our best hitter? Hell has officially frozen over!
September 13th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
As a wise man once said, “winning is better than losing”. I agree…netting every night. So fun to see how pumped everyone is in the dug out.
September 13th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
I have to reiterate. I am so glad we didn’t trade Minor. LOL@ the Giants.
September 14th, 2011 at 11:16 am
Maybe we are past the lowe point now. A few minor adjusments helped a lot. Last week, it looked like we were going to crash in the Hudson. Now, life is a beachy for the other teams especially since Delgado is not delgado (see spanish word-thin/weak).
September 14th, 2011 at 11:18 am
A good article by Mark Bradley about the JJ/Hanson situation is up on the Braves’ ajc page. Go Snakes!
September 14th, 2011 at 11:20 am
#58 – Love the insane pun post.
So, 2012 schedule is out. We’re back with the AL East for Interleague. Boo.
The Braves play a total of six interleague series, with three of the series coming at home against the Toronto Blue Jays (June 8-10), the New York Yankees (June 11-13), and the Baltimore Orioles (June 15-17). The Braves’ American League road opponents include the Tampa Bay Rays (May 18-20), the New York Yankees (June 18-20), and the Boston Red Sox (June 22-24).
September 14th, 2011 at 11:26 am
Miami Marlins. Weird.
September 14th, 2011 at 11:51 am
#61 – Agreed.
September 14th, 2011 at 11:57 am
I don’t know if any of you guys or gals listen to sports talk radio, but I do from time to time. There is a lot of debate out there about MLB shortening it’s season. I was curious about what fellow ABTers thought about this. I would not be opposed to a shorter season, and the playoffs starting in September. I also wish they would cut down on the amount of times you have to play your own division.
September 14th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Delgado is pitching out of the stretch with nobody on in the 4th. Bullpen audition?
September 14th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
DOB just tweeted that the Braves are trying to get Medlen ready for the postseason. Fingers crossed.
September 14th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
And Gonzo gets the Fish again. Awesome.
September 14th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Apparently article #6 of the closed door meeting was telling Alex Gonzalez to stop sucking so much.
September 14th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Sea Bass helping us out against his former team. Love it!
September 14th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
#67, Nice.
September 14th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
At work…just saw score…what happened? Dying for details…over and out.
September 14th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
#70, Gonzalez hit a 3 run homer. Prado also had a safety squeeze. Pretty uneventful other than that. If you DVR’d it, watch the 7th inning.
September 14th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
O’Ventbrel was O’Ventbrel, which was really reassuring. All 3 looked really good. As did Christian. I think the ‘pen set down 12 in a row to end the game.
September 14th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Those 3 days off really helped Alex. It feels great to win
September 14th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
In my day, schedule was 154 games and that was when there was just the American and National league winners playing each other in the WS. No additional rounds. They could easily shorten it up by a week or two so you wouldn’t need long johns to see a playoff game.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
@74
With baseball’s popularity is decreasing, going back to only allowing 4 teams in the playoffs would decimate it.
September 14th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
#63 – Would love a shorter season. Makes total sense, in every way, except to the owners who would lose hundreds of thousands in gate. Or, in the case of the Miami Marlins, who would lose $238 in gate.
September 14th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I really wish they would do away with the unbalanced schedule. It’s so unfair to the NL and AL East. The dregs of the NL Central are keeping the Cards in this thing. It makes me think they should go to 1 division per league with the top 4 making the postseason.
September 14th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
I’m all for shortening the season. The playoff teams have pretty much been set since late August and I don’t see any lead changes happening in these last couple weeks. The owners would never go for it though. The Marlins are counting on that $238 for Christ sake!
Side Note: It feels good beating up Florida
September 14th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
*top 4 from each league making it to the postseason. NY, Tampa, and Boston would love this.
September 14th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
“Or, in the case of the Miami Marlins, who would lose $238 in gate.” Solid.
I wonder how long it takes for them to make the new stadium smell like a urinal. Maybe it already does? I went to a game in Miami last year and it was one of the worst decisions I have ever made in my life. Watching Troy Glaus run in person has definitely scarred me for life.
September 15th, 2011 at 12:09 am
Prince Fielder, future Met/Cub.
September 15th, 2011 at 9:14 am
On that note, how disruptive, and self-serving, is it for him to announce NOW that this will be his last season in Milwaukee. That’s a good team that has a chance to do some things in the playoffs and he throws that out weeks before the season ends.
One guy on Baseball Tonight was trying to argue that it would motivate the team knowing the window was closing. I think it would serve to do the opposite. Now they are going to have to answer questions about him for the remainder of the season, instead of focusing on the real objective.
September 15th, 2011 at 9:18 am
#82, Dan Patrick is talking about it right now. Ridiculous.
They asked Dan if he would take Yanks/Phillies or the field to win the WS, and he took the field. Thought that was interesting.
September 15th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Yeah. The Fielder thing is nothing short of ridiculous. What a total eff you to his team and the folks paying him right now. To not say it won’t be a distraction is a total joke. Maybe I’m rooting to meeting the Brewers instead of the DBacks now.
September 15th, 2011 at 11:04 am
Alex sat to rest a chronic sore back flare-up. Then came back so go 8 for 11 in his last three games…
Now, it was against Florida (which he sort of plays like Chipper vs. the Mets), so it might be skewed… But with Wilson on the team to provide a day off w/o much downside defensively, I would LOVE to see them rest him at least a day as week… maybe sit him one out of every five the rest of the way…
September 15th, 2011 at 11:04 am
Are you kidding me about Prince Fielder? First time I have heard. You guys are a GREAT news source!
This is crap! Could you imagine if he was in New York or Philly? It would be like the return of John Rocker. Milwalkee is just so desperate for a WS I think that they will look over it. Some will boo, but they will still welcome him.
As for Prince Fielder……no class….he is JUST THAT….a “Prince”
AS for Medlen….whould be be in the bullpen? It would be great to have him back, but are we rushing him?
September 15th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
I’m sure Prince would take that comment back although he was being honest. No way the Brewers outbid the Cubs and Dodgers. I wouldn’t go so far to say he has no class.
September 15th, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Are we off tonight? Why didn’t somebody tell me? sigh… disappointed.
September 15th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
I just looked at the the 2012 schedule and every month except April is tough. I hope this team takes advantage of this moment because who knows if we will be back next year.
September 15th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Anne is teasing me with the knowledge of a “David Ross Show” featuring Martin Prado. I can’t find it. Is she just messing with me? If so…unkind.
September 16th, 2011 at 1:01 am
The Mets just got swept in 4 by the Nats. Let’s take care of business.
Go Rays. Sorry, Ham.
September 16th, 2011 at 2:52 am
Julio Teheran named Organizational pitcher of the year. Does he have much else to prove in AAA? Is he guaranteed a spot in Atlanta next year? I think so. You don’t hold onto all of these guys to have a solid rotation in Gwinnett for 2012.
September 16th, 2011 at 3:00 am
Can’t we trade some pitching for some prospects who can hit?
Patstornicky’s 26 errors have to be a concern. 2B is locked-up for the next 5 years, and if you’ve seen him play, Pasto sure looks like a second baseman…
September 16th, 2011 at 9:47 am
#92 – I agree that Teheran has a spot in the rotation next year. And, so does Delgado (maybe). Which certainly creates a surplus. I have zero doubt that either Hanson or JJ are gone next year.
September 16th, 2011 at 11:49 am
I vote we keep JJ. I know he’s been hurt but all the talk of Hanson’s delivery causing chronic shoulder troubles scares me.
September 16th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
I just looked at Starlin Castro’s errors and immediately felt better about Pastornicky’s fielding.
Part of me wonders what would have happened if the Braves could have slowed things down for Meds, JJ, and Hanson like they have for the new guys. All 3 got thrown into the fire out of necessity, before they really got a chance to build up some innings in the minors.
I like Hanson better. He just has that it factor, and he just seems like a more competitive guy.
September 16th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Yeah I vote to keep Hanson. He has better stuff and we have more control years with him. The good news is no matter who we trade it should bring a huge return. Re-stocking the minor league system would be great.Thinking ahead maybe long term success with these exciting young players can attract a big time owner.
September 16th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
I vote to keep Tommy. He isn’t arbitration eligible until 2013. Both have had injury issues so I’ll take the guy who’s cheaper and has higher upside.
September 16th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Poor JJ. *sigh*
September 16th, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Why Derek Why?
September 16th, 2011 at 7:57 pm
I’ve been moderately upbeat about Lowe up to this point. Big game pitcher, great Septembers, etc, etc – but that inning was an absolute atrocity.
September 16th, 2011 at 8:05 pm
He needs to make some serious adjustments because he’s throwing batting practice. Weak sinkers up in the zone will always be hammered.
September 16th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
@93
Think he could play third? Are his errors more fielding or throwing?
We had a guy on a softball team I played for. At shortstop, he tried to play everything off to the side… he was terrible. They moved him to third. He didn’t have time to move to the side, so he caught EVERYTHING that was hit that way.
September 16th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
Lowe maybe just pitched himself out the postseason rotation.
September 16th, 2011 at 9:28 pm
#104 – I wonder. Not convinced.
September 16th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Eta brought the valley of sucktitude with them.
September 16th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
Mets…I mean.
September 16th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Phillies tie it up! And have the winning run on 2nd in the bottom of the 9th!
I hate to root for the Phils, but it’s definitely a necessary evil through Monday.
September 16th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Just checked in and saw “Hamburglar” in the recent tweets. That told me everything I needed to know.
@103, I probably shouldn’t be as hard on him as I was. He is just very inconsistent in the field. He has good quickness, and he’s got a nice arm. Those things usually add up to a solid defensive player- except in the case of a former SS who shall remain nameless. His numbers show that he has made great offensive improvement over the last year. If he can do the same with his defense the Braves might have a very nice piece to add in 2012.
We really, really, really need Tommy Hanson back.
September 16th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
@ 108, indeed.
September 16th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
3 1/2 game lead. Gotta win tomorrow.
September 16th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Trying hard not to think about the year(s) the Mets fell apart and let a team that got hot late in the season into the playoffs…
September 16th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
20 hits given up to a team that has been just terrible lately.
September 16th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
I really hate that our fans booed Heyward. He has had a disappointing year. He’s also 22.
September 17th, 2011 at 12:38 am
Don’t read the postgame comments.
September 17th, 2011 at 12:47 am
Read this whole article as it will serve to divert your disappointment in several new directions. But this one note was particularly irritating:
- Interleague play continues to create huge inequities. Here’s one example regarding the two top teams in the NL East. The Phillies (15 games) and Braves (18) don’t even play the same number of games against AL teams. The Braves get road games against the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays; the Phillies play none of those teams on the road (they get the Orioles, which is like a home game, Blue Jays and Twins on the road). They don’t play the Yankees at all.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/tom_verducci/09/16/philadelphia.phillies/index.html#ixzz1YBKhpm1q
September 17th, 2011 at 1:20 am
A Marlins pitcher got trapped in a bullpen bathroom for 13 minutes on Thursday night. Seriously.
@116, Thanks MLB. I guess the road series in Citizens Bank in 2010 wasn’t enough.
September 17th, 2011 at 2:07 am
Thank God college hockey started to night! :/
September 17th, 2011 at 8:55 am
Don’t get me wrong, I always want to make the post season. But if we’re gonna play like this? What’s the point?
September 17th, 2011 at 10:09 am
@113
But they were a team whose, for lack of a better term, “manhood” was publicly challenged by their manager prior to this series.
That combined with the “Lowe point” of our starting pitching rotation spelled trouble…
September 17th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
@119
Anything can happen in the playoffs. A team is only as good as the starting pitcher sometimes. And Lowe always sets a negative tone in his starts and it allows the other team’s starting pitcher to relax more. Lowe doesn’t need to pitch in another meaningful game the rest of the year.
September 17th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Solid Solid win. Vets came through.
September 17th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Wow, what a game. Gramps can still do it. The guy’s amazing.
Several observations:
- I’m very grateful that we won’t have to face Livan Hernandez, Chris Capuano, or R.A. Dickey in the playoffs.
- Huddy really saved our bacon today. To go 8 innings after The Hamburglar (great nickname, btw) went only 2.1 was huge.
- Lowe has received $1 million per loss this year. The wins are his pro bono work.
- I don’t know what was worse: the entire game last night, or reading Fredi’s postgame comments.
- Oswalt is through 6 innings with a 2-0 lead. I hate to say it, but go Phils.
September 18th, 2011 at 9:27 am
What’s our magic number now? Can’t keep track.
September 18th, 2011 at 9:29 am
I think Kate should manage the Braves. She has led our fantasy league ALL SEASON. Or maybe that just shows the state of the rest of us.
September 18th, 2011 at 10:25 am
#123 – Awesome post.
Our magic numbers should now be 7.
And yes, Kate has been a force all season. No doubt.
September 18th, 2011 at 10:27 am
Just noticed that the Brewers are now two games up in the win column compared to the DBacks.
September 18th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
Had a friend call and ask to talk this afternoon. She sounds upset. Oh the moral decisions we face late in the season. Wonder if she’ll be offended by the earbud sticking out of my ear.
September 18th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Always walk the pitcher with the bases loaded and 2 outs?
September 18th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Nice response
September 18th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
4 words:
That sucks, Not surprising
September 18th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
Braves are trying everything possible to blow this season. As for Lowe, he is the MOST overpaid, wortlhless pitcher in the MLB. Remember, the BRAVES were the only team willing to give him more than 3 years. IT WAS A MISTAKE AND IS A MISTAKE TO PITCH HIM AGAIN THIS YEAR. I totally disagreed with the contract when it was done; sorry, I know some at this site still think it was a great idea.
September 18th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
@ 132
Lowe has been a disappointment but remember after the 2008 season the Braves starting rotation sucked and the Braves were desperate.
Would you rather not have Lowe and the Braves don’t make the 2010 playoffs or have Lowe and make the 2010 playoffs? So far that September he had last year is his only claim to fame.
I just wish Wren had played hardball and maybe got him to sign for 3 years.
September 18th, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Please don’t start the podcast until after the Phillies are up on the Cardinals later tonight…we don’t want Steve rocking in a corner waiting to be murdered.
September 18th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
#134 Anne, that made me laugh way out loud.
September 18th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
The Cardinals have one more with the Phillies and then end the season with the Mets, Cubs, and Astros. We a 3 game series @ Miami, @ DC, then home for Philly. Not feeling very good about. especially when you consider the way St. Louis is playing and the way we’ve been playing.
September 18th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
It’s scary that we as fans can’t be confident that the Braves can at least win 2 out of 3 against the Nationals and Marlins