Show #196: A Week of Good Signs for the Braves
The pitching, offense and defense all start clicking. Credit to Frank Wren and the six man rotation debate.
139 Responses to “Show #196: A Week of Good Signs for the Braves”
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August 13th, 2012 at 8:52 am
Someone’s catching up on breathing exercises into their mic this week…
August 13th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Not me. I have discovered the mute button. My breathing days are behind me.
August 13th, 2012 at 10:35 am
Sheets gave up only 4 earned runs, not 6. not that it makes me warm and fuzzy, since we still lost. just saying. sheets’ ERA is still 2.13, and without his stuff last night, sheets battled for 6 innings.
August 13th, 2012 at 11:05 am
i say no to a 5 man rotation, by the way. i want to take the best 5 and have them pitch as much as possible. im not sure when hanson is coming off the DL, but maybe give huddy another start and then see if he needs to skip one, or see how minor does in his next try, before picking the top 5 and going with it. heck, sheets might be hitting a bump in the road and could use a breather. maybe let him skip a start. but, i wouldnt just do a 6 man rotation.
August 13th, 2012 at 11:08 am
Lets assume the Braves and Pirates clinch the wild card before the final series of the season when they face each other. They would face each other 4 games straight. It would basically be a 4 game series where the first 3 games are meaningless and the 4th game is for all the chips. Weird scenario. Win 1 of 4 and win it all. But that 1 win has to be the right game.
Anyway
The Braves will sweep the Padres. The six man rotation seems great. And Frank Wren is one of the best GMs in baseball. I’m a little worried about the state of position players in the farm system though.
August 13th, 2012 at 11:49 am
walker “Frank Wren is one of the best GMs in baseball. I’m a little worried about the state of position players in the farm system though.”
Wren is really good. I say this offseason needs to be about locking up the young players, then spend the next few years drafting the crap out of high upside, toolsy players. no more of these 22 year old crafty lefties, topping out at 88mph.
August 13th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
I certainly agree that the playoff scenario is a joke. The Braves will probably be better than at least one of the teams getting a pass from the one-game playoff. The Braves may be better than two of those teams. Because MLB thinks geography should be a major factor in playoff seeding, the Braves will be forced in to the one-game playoff instead of an inferior team or two.
There has to be a way to get MLB its money and attention while still appropriately awarding regular season success and avoiding punishment for those teams that happen to play in strong divisions.
August 13th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
You think the Braves will pony up $10-11 MM a year for Prado?
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/08/extension-candidate-martin-prado.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
August 13th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
#8 no, i dont they they will have to.
August 13th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Morning radio here in Atlanta was positing that Hanson was pissed about having to make a rehab start in Gwinnett because he looked at it like a tryout given how well everyone is doing in the starting rotation (this was on 790theZone this morning and I only heard the tease about it).
Does this make much sense to folks? It doesn’t to me. Why isn’t it just to get him sharp and make sure he feels ok after throwing in a game situation?
August 13th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Curt @8, I think the Braves will sign Prado for $10M-$12M a season. Quality thirdbasemen are hard to find and that’s a reasonable price for Prado, who can be an everyday thirdbaseman and can also play other positions. Unless a thirdbaseman falls in their lap, I think Prado is the guy for the next few seasons.
I think they may go cheap in left and try to get a pretty good centerfielder, if they can’t re-sign Bourn. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go with a platoon of Reed Johnson and someone else in left, with Johnson also serving as the primary back-up outfielder.
Steve @10, I guess you didn’t hear whether they had a source or if the 790 folks were just speculating?
I can’t imagine that being the case. I could sort of understand if he were a veteran position player but pitchers usually always make rehab starts after injuries, so I can’t imagine Hanson is oblivious to this fact.
Not to sound snobby but it seems sports talk radio often overlooks and/or doesn’t understand the nuances of baseball. In their defense, baseball does have all these unique little nuances and rules and customs, many of which exist for good reasons, but that are very different from other sports. Sports talk radio gets by on broad appeal of all sports and on controversy, things that don’t play well with baseball.
August 13th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
The Braves have enough money to keep either Prado or Bourn. PICK ONE AND SIGN HIM!
No seriously, if Prado wants 11 million for 5 years sign him. He’s extremely versatile and too valuable. Plus the state of 3rd basemen around the MLB is pretty sad. Hang on to him.
I assume Wren already has plans to give Heyward, Freeman, And Kimbrel their deals to allow us to control them through their arbitration and a couple of their free agency years. Thats important because you know we eventually can’t keep all three for the rest of their careers.
August 13th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Shaun – regarding local sports talk, I would tend to agree with you, but Chris Dimino is a very sharp baseball guy, and I’m not just saying that because he has been on our show a couple of times. He also has some deep connections with the players.
Now, do I agree with that assessment of this Hanson start, no. I can’t imagine a scenario where Hanson is not part of the rotation, even as bad as he has been. Particularly, post-AS break the last couple of years.
Secondarily, screw him and his feelings.
August 13th, 2012 at 3:38 pm
@13 – what Curt said.
August 13th, 2012 at 5:10 pm
Curt @13, yeah, there are a few guys who know what they are talking about when they talk baseball. I like what I’ve heard from Dimino. He’s one of the few. I just wonder if he was involved in the Hanson talk, if someone actually had sources or if it was speculation.
I actually think Hanson in some ways has been a little underrated. I realize he’s been inconsistent and he’s not the pitcher we all hoped he would be. But he’s given the team decent innings, if nothing else. He’s going to have some blow-ups and he rarely shuts teams down but for the most part he’s going to go out and give you an outing that keeps the team in the game to some degree or another, if the offense does its part. He’s one of those players that gets judged on his expectations instead of what he actually offers.
August 13th, 2012 at 5:23 pm
This is from DOB yesterday
Gonzalez said Hanson uttered an obscenity at him and pitching coach Roger McDowell after they told him the plan.
“Which is good,” said Gonzalez, who laughed upon mentioning the incident to reporters. “He wants to get back in there. That’s why he was grumpy.”
After meeting with Gonzalez and McDowell, Hanson told reporters, “I’m not in a good mood,” then changed from his workout gear and left the clubhouse to go catch a flight back for the Monday game at Gwinnett.
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/08/11/hanson-set-for-rehab-start-sunday-at-gwinnett/
What a cry baby. Maybe you should pitch better Tommy.
August 13th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Fellas – podcast question: I am subscribed to ABT on iTunes. Sometimes I listen to it at work on the website and then don’t download it for that week, since I already listened. Does NOT downloading it prove problematic for you as far as having ratings numbers? Do they count via subscribers or via downloads week-to-week? Not like you’re vying for Kevin Smith’s or Adam Carolla’s #1 & 2 seats or anything…or are you??
August 13th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
The Ted in a thunder storm with my kid and still giddy with excitement. True fan my friends.
August 13th, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Please tell me we won’t get glavined or maholmed tonight.
August 13th, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Here we go
August 13th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Paint can won. Drill looks stiffer than last year. That is all.
August 13th, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Lethargy
August 13th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
this is frustrating
August 13th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
Hey Anne. First off, thanks for asking and caring. We measure our “listens” by each time the mp3 file is accessed. And that’s the same as when you listen to it on the site or via iTunes. All of which to say, either way is fine and results in the same “listen.”
In other news, this game is very disappointing.
August 13th, 2012 at 10:20 pm
ditto frustration w padres outcome…
on Hanson, come on, now it is wrong and diva behavior for a guy to show his frustration by cussing a bit? what is better, he smiles and says “Great!”. “Thank you sir may I have another!”
What a load of talk radio/blog fodder bs. Sounds like high school musical. “Did you hear, Tommy frowned and said a dirty word”.. get over it.. lets hope he sorts it out and comes back strong, and the fact that he is slighly grumpy about it..being his career and everything…only a good sign