September 03, 2012

Show #199: Two Bright Spots for Braves in a Rough Week

Chipper’s homerun. Medlen’s continued dominance. The September collapse. Faith in Hanson?

Show #199 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 

70 Responses to “Show #199: Two Bright Spots for Braves in a Rough Week”

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  1. 1
    Steve Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 9:04 am

    Regarding the discussion of Medlen’s inning limit ala Strasburg. Had anyone else seen mention of that at any point this year?

  2. 2
    DAP Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 10:22 am

    Steve, dont know where, but i think i saw some quotes from Fredi about discussions he and Wren had about handling Medlen. They started him in the bullpen to limit his innings, because, as Wren told Fredi “Once you put him in the rotation, you won’t want to take him out…”

  3. 3
    DAP Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 10:52 am

    sorry steve, i responded before hearing that part of the podcast. im pretty sure what im mentioning is the same thing y’all were talking about.

  4. 4
    Sam in Charleston Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 11:20 am

    Wren went on Sirius/XM this morning and talked about Medlen’s place in the rotation. Said their thoughts about Medlen’s limit weren’t related to TJ, but his career innings pitched. Said at Spring Training, they didn’t consider Medlen would be a starter until after June. As usual, Wren is a little blustery and defensive on the call, so who knows what the real story is.

    http://siriusxmsports.posterous.com/frank-wren-braves-gm-calls-in-to-first-pitch

  5. 5
    Leah Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    Great show. I believe D. Uggla will produce once again but for now I’m sure glad he’s riding the pine.

  6. 6
    Eric Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    Hi Guys,

    I remember pretty clearly hearing a quote from someone the first time they sent Medlen down to get stretched out that the delay was for an innings limit. I can’t remember where I heard it, it could have just been Don or Jim on the radio broadcast.

    At the time, I thought the Braves were brilliant. I’d much rather have Medlen in the post season than the first two thirds of the year. Given how they handled him after he was stretched out, I think it is all bologna. They just need a story line convince themselves they know what they are doing!

    Thanks for the show!

  7. 7
    Shaun Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 12:39 pm

    I think it’s pretty obvious they wanted to limit his innings but I’m skeptical that there was a plan to put him in the rotation at some point this year, definitely, unless there was an emergency. I give them credit for doing it but I have a hard time believing they knew he would be anything close to this great and that they were just waiting for the right time.

    Regarding Uggla, I’m concerned that benching him might not do much, as far as adding to the overall offense. Reed Johnson is a league-average offensive leftfielder. If he plays only against lefties, that’s very good, but I don’t think Constanza is much of an answer against righties.

    I dislike the Uggla contract and I’m as frustrated as anyone that the Braves are stuck with him (or at least a significant portion of his contract) beyond this season. I’ve been a proponent of trying to trade him in the off-season is something similar to a Derek Lowe type deal, where the Braves get what they can. But I’m not sure that benching him for most of the remaining games this season actually helps the offense.

  8. 8
    Shaun Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    DOB: “Innings limit was never once mentioned to media as reason to put him in bullpen instead of rotation out of spring training, or mentioned to Medlen. It was all about how they had so many other starters and how Medlen’s value was great to the bullpen to bridge gap between starters and big three relievers who got so overused last year.

    “Only now, in past two weeks, has that — innings limit — been presented as the big reason Medlen wasn’t in rotation out of spring training. So I have a tough time writing it now as if it were the plan all along, when it was never told that way to us in the dozens — and I mean dozens — of times that we asked during spring training about the decision to put Medlen in ‘pen and whether they were thinking any differently as he kept out-pitching most other starters during spring.”

    Just theorizing here, but perhaps they didn’t want other pitchers looking over their shoulders and didn’t want Medlen to be anxious about when his opportunity will come.

  9. 9
    Steve Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 7:44 pm

    @8- or maybe they were just hell bent on having him cover up for deficiencies in the starting rotation. Remember that last year, both Beachy and Minor were 5 inning pitchers and that was about it. And Wren couldn’t stand the thought of seeing the bullpen burned out again. All that said, I still don’t get why it’s being presented this way now. Why bother?

  10. 10
    Curt Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 7:44 pm

    Just because:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaFLd-hVKFY&feature=share

  11. 11
    Leah Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 7:56 pm

    OMG! Kris Medlen choking up talking about baby on the way. Killing me.

  12. 12
    Steve Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    Can only follow tonight’s game on my phone. How crazy/awful was the strike out, thrown out at the plate with Ross and Prado?!?!?!

  13. 13
    Adam Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 9:42 pm

    @12: It wasn’t that bad. Heyward was in a rundown between first and second to try and give Prado time to go home. The Rockies played it perfectly though and made a good throw to get Prado.

  14. 14
    Steve Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 9:46 pm

    In related news, the Rockies are a terrible team with terrible pitching yet the score reflects neither of those things.

  15. 15
    Anonymous Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 10:07 pm

    …I mean, it’s like I’m watching a rec ball game tonight! Throwing the ball all over the place out there. I know we can’t run the table the last month of the season but geez, can’t we aks the boys to compete tonight?

  16. 16
    Walker Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 10:17 pm

    Uhhh….. Shouldn’t we be winning this game.

  17. 17
    Curt Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 10:50 pm

    “They had early scoring chances against rookie left-hander Drew Pomeranz, who came in with one win in 16 starts and was 0-5 with a 7.04 ERA in his previous nine games.”

    Guess the Chipper homer bounce was a brief one.

  18. 18
    ham Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 10:55 pm

    #17 “blah blah blah blah blah blah left-hander blah blah blah blah Braves lose.”

  19. 19
    Leah Says:
    September 4th, 2012 at 10:57 pm

    I hate baseball.

  20. 20
    Walker Says:
    September 5th, 2012 at 1:03 am

    This is a weird team.

  21. 21
    ham Says:
    September 5th, 2012 at 11:59 am

    In honor of Kris Medlen being named NL Player (not pitcher, PLAYER) of the month for August, here is Grantland’s recent take on the Bravos:

    “A 4-10 stretch threatened to knock the Braves from their perch as the top NL wild-card team. Their two most reliable starters wouldn’t let that happen. Chipper Jones’s second walk-off homer of the year was a three-run bomb Sunday that capped a huge comeback from a 7-1 deficit against the Phillies. Chipper’s line for the season: .302/.381/.500, putting him on pace for his best year since 2008′s ludicrousness.

    Then Kris Medlen fanned 12 Rockies and walked none en route to a complete-game win Monday. Medlen’s effort hiked his line since joining the rotation to 7-0 with a 0.54 ERA, with 50 strikeouts, five walks, and just one homer allowed in 49⅔ innings. An unearned run cruelly ended his scoreless-innings streak at 34⅔ innings. But the Braves’ in-season bullpen-to-rotation switch serves as a reminder that such moves can work if done right. By using Medlen as a reliever for more than two innings five times over the course of the season and giving him ample time to heal from Tommy John surgery and gain strength, Atlanta gave its surprise pitching beast enough long-form preps ahead of his transition. Daniel Bard is shaking his head right now.”

    When does Meds pitch again? I don’t like that they give the Front Office credit, because i truly believe it’s revisionist history, but still . . .

  22. 22
    Bub Says:
    September 5th, 2012 at 12:06 pm

    I’m late to this, but the Front Office Medlen Myth is enough to turn the stomach. They’ve derp’d him around for 2+ years and now they’re some kind of geniuses??? In what world does the same organization that tried its damnedest to burn the best reliever in baseball to a crisp suddenly have some kind of Super Protecto Voodoo going???

    Remember when this organization had the best reputation in the game for doing the little things right? It wasn’t that long ago.

    I’m glad Meds is such a good sport.

  23. 23
    David Says:
    September 5th, 2012 at 2:18 pm

    I can’t provide a link to it bc I’m on my phone right now, but I just read an article by Bowman that includes some praise from Tommy John himself about how the Braves have handled Medlen. Its the exact opposite of what y’all were talking about on the show – this article is trying to make the Braves look like this was part of their plan all along, which is pure hogwash.

    If that were the case, why complete trades for Dempster and, when he vetoed that one, complete another trade for Maholm?

  24. 24
    Walker Says:
    September 5th, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    I’m glad everybody is calling the Braves out on their BS.

  25. 25
    Walker Says:
    September 5th, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    Kimbrel in the 8th . Wow

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