Sometimes you make fun of a hitter by saying he hits like a pitcher. But Tony Pena Jr. really does hit like a pitcher. His career minor league stats are significantly worse than Mike Hampton’s career major league stats. I don’t have MLEs but I’m guessing that L’il Tony’s would be around .230/.255/.300.
Rafael Belliard’s career line was .221/.270/.259. So we’re talking a guy who has a little more power than Belliard — say one homer every 300 PA — but who walks even less and doesn’t hit for a much higher average. L’il Tony’s career SB/CS is 84/63. He has a reputation as a good glove, but anyone who hits like that will even if they field like a drunken Jeff Blauser. Pena is far below replacement level and (God’s honest truth) is a far worse player than L’il Jonny Schuerholz, who should have been called up instead.
yeah what ever happened to Yunel Escobar? he can play second and short, right?
Jon Schuerholz may well be better, but at this point he is 1 for 26 at Richmond. I think that makes his batting average .038.
Not quite a fair comparison since Hampton has some Coors field adjusted offensive statistics. I’ll bet that if Pena played his career at Coors he’d really pump up those numbers to something more like .240/.280/.320.
I just emailed this to Alex…
If it didn’t come across, I am really pissed off by the Braves calling this guy up. To be honest, I’m upset that he’s in the system. This isn’t one of those Neifi Perez types — he is far sub-Neifi. He has no ability to play major league baseball beyond a decent glove. You can talk LaRoche and you can talk Sosa, but these are genuinely major-league caliber baseball players, two of the best 800 or so baseball players in the world. L’il Tony is not one of the best five thousand. There are guys who went undrafted who are better players. Most of the players in the Northern League are better. He’s a worse hitter than Hampton and it isn’t close. I am serious.
Wow, that’s a little extreme, don’t ya think? I mean, he can’t be that bad. You would think that if the GM’s son was better, he would get the call.
Johnny Schuerholz likely was held to a higher standard precisely _because_ he’s the GM’s son. Now, i’ve been making fun of the inept minor league career of Little Johnny Nepotism for years, but he’s a better player than Pena.
I’m sorry, if your minor league OBP is .279, you’d better be a pitcher. You should never be in the majors. That’s beyond putrid. it’s freaking ridiculous.
Well, let’s just hope he’s not asked to do much more than pinch run and catch the ball for the next two weeks. Hating Tony Pena, Jr., ain’t worth the effort. Unless Chipper and/or Edgar are down for some time, he’s not gonna be around anyway.
Pena sucks but I wonder if JS thought we had an alternative?
I hate the fact that Tony Pena’s up here too, but this isn’t the first time this has happened to the Braves. He’s not that much worse of a hitter than Jesse Garcia, who posted an approximate minor league line of .258/.315/.343. His major league totals: .216/.241/.304, which is almost exactly the MLE line that you posted for Tony. The difference is that Jesse didn’t exactly have a reputation for defensive wizardry, and even though he was mostly a pinch runner, he certainly wasn’t as fast as Pete Orr.
Actually, since I didn’t know about this blog back in Jesse’s days, I would love to hear your thoughts on the Jesse Garcia Era. You could probably clip the post verbatim and apply it to Tony.
I thought they might have tried Wes Timmons, since he plays 3B. Then again, a Timmons-Betemit left side of the infield might be scary defensively, and as has been noted, our pitching staff puts a lot of balls in play. Obviously, we’re not deep enough in the organization to lose both our starting 3B and SS, but I don’t know who is. We’d be sweating it out no matter who we brought up.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say sosa has a good day tommorow. With the amount of luck he had last season he’s bound to strike some more this season, though he of course has an equal chance to be severly unlucky. So I’ll say 6.2/2er/3so/2bb (dunno waht that order for pitchers is).
Also, I’m a bit worried about the Renteria situation. Not that he’s hurt, but that we’re not eitehr putting him on the DL or sending pena down and bringing up someone else more capable. From the shuffling of Orr/Giles/Bettimit it’s obvious bobby is not comfertable enough with pena being a true back up, which is about his only value – defensively. With holding off on renteria (they are saying 6 days minimum) that leaves 2 roster spots which can’t play or at least shouldn’t. That’s not good with the way bobby this year has had substitutionitis. Either bite the bullet and extra 9 days on retneria and his what seems to be a lingering spring training injury, or send pena down and get someone who can play for the next 6 days so you can end up postdating a 15 day DL for renteria, which at this point seems almost certain.
Will L’il Tony’s line be worse than this?
.093/.109/.116 .225
That’s Rondell White, through 47 ABs. No joke.
Over or under?
I can’t see pena getting enough time to post a line like that (where his at bats hit a multiple under 100). Today was a sunday day game, on easter (so the crowds light). Just all in all Low key, one of your best pitchers all year on the mound etc etc. And leading off we have Pete Orr. This was teh oportunity for this kid to start and get something more significant than pinch hit at bats and it didn’t happen.
Surely it isn’t happening against the mets. Maybe Washington and Colorado (col if renteria is out that long?)
Since Jurries can play third base, I really prefer he would be the one who get the call up instead of Pena…but well I am not the GM. My wish is that Luis Hernandez will not develop into another Tony Pena Jr. At least Luis has better plate discipline, even better glove, and is three years younger.
So, Renteria will be out for at least a week…
http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/stories/0417bravesnotes.html
…time to call up Jurries…
Mr Mets, imagine your team loses Wright and Reyes to injury. The Braves losing this series to the Mets will not mean anything.
KC, I think they feel that a defensive left side of the infield of Betemit and Jurries would be too stiff for comfort. They weren’t willing to hand Betemit the starting shortstop job this winter, seemingly on defensive grounds, because he certainly hit well enough to earn it last year; I think they would feel that Betemit wouldn’t be able to pick up Jurries’ defensive slack.
I wish they’d call the kid up anyway, though. At least we’re getting our injuries early in the season, and not midsummer, when they really, really hurt.
I know what you mean AAR, but I am not sure how much Orr is better than Jurries at third base…
…Orr made a great play today though, I must admit that…to my surprise…
I too am pissed off to here your players are injured as this puts this whole series in an awkward predicament. If the Mets win It does mean something, but not nearly as much as it would with all your players. However if you win It’s great for the braves and the mets look bad. This just sucks……….
But do realize, if we win it will count in the standings. If we take 2-3 from you at shea you will be a jaw dropping 6 games back from the mets this early in the season. At the end of the day all that matters is your record. And I will take the wins however we get them. I will not feel sorry for your team or you in any way if we beat you without full strength. Heres to a great series this week.
I will try to make it here on this site right after the game tomorrow to discuss the game, WIN OR LOSE! I expect there to be many of you here if you win.But lets just see how many of you show up if your team loses. We will see…
Cheers
Danny Kolb
I ment hear. ( I said it so you don’t have to)
Six games in April ain’t jaw-dropping, unless it’s Little League & your season ends in June.
Let’s not forget what this franchise has done in the last 14+ years. Very little will make me give up on this team, this manager & this franchise, least of all some dumbass who knows very little about the game or its recent history.
Mets, we are always here regardless of whether we win or lose. This is OUR forum where we come to talk to eachother. Your presense here is meaningless to most of us and a nuisance to many others, your inevitable boasting if the Mets win a game will not make us stop visiting the site. If it does, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Hey Mr Mets, one thing I want to highlight to you about your Mets…Willie Randolph is already killing Heilman and S?nchez to death in April. Willie is using Heilman and S?nchez like Frank Robinson used Majewski and Ayala last season. Those two guys will be worn out by July I am telling you.
Considering none of your five starters can pitch deep into the seventh or eighth innings, I am surprised Willie only carries six pitchers in the bullpen…while only trusting three of them (adding Wagner).
The Mets can start off the season as good as they can, but the team has absolutely no pitching depth in the rotation or the bullpen. We will see how good the Mets pitching will survive the summer.
Hey NY METS, there isn’t a way we can get Jorge Julio to pitch every game in this series, is there?
Oh, and if we somehow find a way to win tomorrow with Jorge Sosa going against Pedro Martinez, it’s entirely possible that that will be all we need to continue our seemingly neverending mental stranglehold on the Mets. Honestly, if we win that game, we might be in first place by the end of the week. That’s how big a mismatch that is. I’m fully expecting to lose that game 10-3 or something of the like. The way he puts baserunners all over the place and the way the Mets have been hitting lately, tomorrow’s game could make our West Coast trip look like an afternoon stroll in the park complete with butterflies flitting through the air and a cool breeze wafting through the trees.
If the Mets take 2 of 3, they’ll be 5 games up, not 6. I can see that your math skills are on par with your grammar, spelling, and reasoning skills, NY METS.
Also, nobody on this site wants to talk to you, WIN OR LOSE. Why is it that you think we do? You have nothing of value to say, you’re a pest, and this is a Braves site. Just go away. Please?
Sorry for the double post, everyone.
Just saw the site’s “banner.” Yeah, I miss Leo too. I’d miss him even more if I had a TV.
I think Sosa will rise to the occasion tonight and pitch a good game. He’ll go right after those Mets hitters.
Go, Braves!
Yeah, I miss Leo, too. But it is a bit interesting that the banner came up just after 15 scoreless innings in a row by our starters… The bullpen meltdown is what it is–typical of the two years of our bullpen (UGGGHHH).
Ouch, a little harsh on Pena. I guess I don’t think of him that differently than I did Rafy or I do L’il Jonny.
Oh, and L’il Met just reminded me of another drink recipe:
Bu^^ F**k
2 oz Amaretto
2 oz Southern Comfort
splash of Yukon Jack
splash of lime juice
Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Pour into two shot glasses … L’il Met always enjoys this one with a friend.
I will try to make it here on this site right after the game tomorrow to discuss the game, WIN OR LOSE! I expect there to be many of you here if you win.But lets just see how many of you show up if your team loses.
The folks here love complaining. There will be more people around if we lose, not less.
I think the Pena call up is all about options. Why waste options on Jurries (or anyone else decent for that matter) for only a week or 2 and 5 to 10 at bats? (I think that’s the plan anyway).
From what it sounds like, the Braves are expecting Chipper and/or Renteria to be ready within a week or so. I don’t like Pena being called up, but we should be able to hold out for a few more games. How long were we able to endure Mondesi anyway?
By the way, the universe seems to be getting into it’s proper rotation again. The Braves lost on Sunday the way Braves teams have lost the majority of their games for the last 15 years. Good starting pitching, below average bullpen work, and average hitting. If the good starting pitching holds up I think we’ll be in the playoff hunt again.
Does anyone else feel like today is the first real day of the baseball season. For some reason I just cant wait till tonight. I havent been this excited about a baseball game in a long time.
If Sosa can avoid the big inning and he can get settled down this could be a great one. I’ll take two of three and move on! This is great!
I think the Pena call up is all about options. Why waste options on Jurries (or anyone else decent for that matter) for only a week or 2 and 5 to 10 at bats? (I think that’s the plan anyway).
Options are based on the number of years a player is in the minors with a separate factor for his age at time of signing. Calling a player up from the minors will start his arbitration clock ticking, but it does not affect the ability to call him up / send him down in the future.
By the way, baseball-reference is a great site. At the end of April 2005, the Braves were 1 game back of the division leader. 2004, they were 3 games back. ’03 tied for the league lead. In aught-two, they were 4.5 games back of the mighty Mets. In ’01, they were 3 back. In (at least?) two of those years, they were under .500. This series against the Mets will be fun, but it is far from important. http://www.baseball-reference.com/games/standings.cgi?year=2002&month=4&day=30&submit=Submit+Date
Did you see metsgeek’s writeup about the upcoming series? It’s a bit scathing.
http://www.metsgeek.com/articles/2006/04/17/upcoming-series-atlanta-braves-pitchers-7/
I never did a full Garcia writeup, because he never had the team made in spring training, but here’s the longest bit I can find:
Jesse Garcia hit TWO home runs in 36 ABs last year for San Diego. How is that possible?
Someone mentioned Escobar above….he’s hitting around .235 at Mississippi right now. He started off the year hot, but has cooled off a good bit lately. Defensively, he’s great and could handle Atlanta right now. I’m betting he didn’t get the call because I think they see him as Renteria’s eventual replacement in a year or two (even though Renteria has a 3 year contract). Why start the arbitration clock now, you know?
I’m betting he didn’t get the call because I think they see him as Renteria’s eventual replacement in a year or two (even though Renteria has a 3 year contract).
I think it’s more likely that he replaces Giles at second base in 2008. The Braves likely see King Andrus as Renteria’s heir apparent.
I appreciate the clarification on options BamaDan. I admit utter confusion on the whole issue. I still believe that the plans for Pena are mostly as a defensive late inning replacement. I can’t see him getting more than 10 abs, but Bobby will probably suprise us all and start him for the next few games.
I think the Braves would prefer to let legitimate prospects come up when they feel there’s a chance of significant playing time and more than 2 weeks service time available. Hopefully this is a positive statement about Chipper’s health.
I want to get excited for this game tonight, I really do. But it’s hard to get too pumped up when I honestly believe we are going to get thumped. No Chipper, no Edgar, and I think Jorge Sosa is a joke. I personally don’t see any way he makes it through the season in the starting rotation. I can’t imagine any scenario in which we win this game unless we can score a bunch of runs of Pedro. Also, the pitching doesn’t shake out well for us over the entire series. I just wish we could play these guys at full strength. On the other hand, from reading the Mets’ website (among other things), it really seems like they are putting a ton of pressure on themselves to win this series. Maybe that will work to their disadvantage. If they were to lose this series to a less-than-full-strength Braves team, I really think it would crush them.
Greetings from the capital of Fuhkt-upistan. This is the most insane chaotic poverty stricken bullet ridden joint I’ve ever set foot in, and I’ve been to a few. Public fountains as the only water supply for 80% of the residents, and a 2 hour wait for one of those. You get real interesting looks when you are whipping down the road in a chaufferred BMW – not that I’d set foot outside the hotel without a driver. Not a single traffic light – folks in trashed cars just seem to have reached a social contract that they won’t hit each other all that much. The burned out exceptions litter the pothole with some paved spots that passes for a highway for miles.
Glad to see the home teams’ pitching improvement has coincided with a run drought. Oh well, if they can hang around .500 while they are scuffling, they should be alright.
…bunch of runs of Pedro,
Is that anything like Montezuma’s revenge?
Thank you. I’ll be here all week. Tip your waiters. Try the veal.
Anyway, my problem about Pena is that it appears that the club has done a fairly poor job of filling AAA with the minor league lifers that can fill a slot as a replacement level talent. We have some potential future stars and a bunch of sub-filler. But no Damon Hollises, Wes Helmses, Matt Francos, or the like. I don’t think we should expect to go down to the minors and find an undiscovered Honus Wagner. But we shouldn’t find our only option a clearly labeled Mario Mendoza either.
Bunch of Runs on Pedro
-1 Shot of Tequilla
-1 shot of vodka
-1/2 a squeeze of lime
-2 dashes of Texas Pete
To be drank with a sack of Krystal Burgers
I guess I’m a little surprised by the range of anticipation for this Mets series. Like any three-game set I hope the Bravos win at least two, but we play the Mets 18 times this year so let’s not put the cart in front of the horse. Even if we get (I’ll say it: very lucky) and win all three at Shea, against the top of their pitching order, and with a few guys banged up, it only means that we’re still a game back with 15 more head-to-head matchups.
We can all count on annoying blather from those who aren’t welcome regardless of the outcomes, so enjoy the games whomever plays and whatever happens (that’s why we’re fans after all), and let’s hope that the Braves make it back to Atlanta with everybody healthy and playing for the next home series (against the Mets, BTW).
Kumbaya.
Smitty, that sounds absolutely beautiful…
Then again, I’m pretty sure that Rod Beck is drinking it right now.
Does anyone know when mcbride is due back? getting james down to richmond to get some actual starting work would be nice before he exhausts his rookie status (im assuming he hasnt done this yet Mac?)
That’s a great recipe. I assume those of us now located too far north to have a Krystal’s nearby can substitute White Castle or Taco Bell?
McBride is pitching in the minors, so hopefully he’ll be ready in a few weeks.
I heard that K-Mac (I am going to push that nickname) was going to make two more appearances then get called up. I don’t know who would be sent down, Moylan or James or someone else.
I want to reinstate our nickname contest. I’m thinking Golden Age nicknames, like Moose, Bull, Bump, the Big Cat, the Big Train, the Chairman of the Board and their more modern equivalents, Nook, Pronk, the Big Hurt, and the Big Unit.
For example, our batting order could be:
“Crash” Giles
“Stretch” Renteria
Chipper Jones
Andruw “The Big Easy” Jones
“Lefty” LaRoche
Jeff Francouer, “The Leader of the Pack”
“Babe” Langerhans
“Pudge” McCann
Our bench could be:
“Too-tall” Betemit
“Dee-az” Diaz
“Either” Orr
Todd “Old Faithful” Pratt
And, if any of them get injured:
“Not one of the best 800 players in the world” Pena, Jr.
I still want to go with “Pimpbot 16” for McCann. (Reason.)
Maybe it was a dream, but I read somehere maybe AJC.com that they only wanted to get one more outing for McBride last week before he was going to be called up. Maybe I’m wrong, but it should be any day now!