Tommy John surgery for Kelly Johnson.  This was mentioned in comments, but I thought I’d point it out to everyone. Kelly hit well trying to rehab, but was playing more and more games as the DH. His arm just isn’t right, so there’s no way for him to play OF. I don’t know how severe the injury is, but I’ve got to wonder if he could have played first. Jeff Bagwell played there even after he lost the ability to all but soft toss. The Braves are very cautious with position switches, however, and I don’t really blame them for shutting down a talented player rather than force him to learn a new position while injured.Â
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Luis Gonzalez had TJ surgery in July or August and was back in the outfield to start the next season. He’s a fairly similar type of player, though obviously much older. He can’t throw very well but won’t kill you in left.
Sorry to see KJ go down for the season. It surly means that the Braves will continue the growing of Jeff Francouer in the majors experiment. Gosh for once I’d like to see the team be able to field 2 quality corner outfielders to flank Andruw.
Frenchy in May .295 .496 .280 needs a hot streak really bad.
Langy in May .326 .338 .221
I too had wondered if the team would consider KJ for first base. He would make a good one, I think. But really LaRoche hasn’t been a problem outside of his lousy lousy April.
Adam in May .372 .538 .275 If he hits this way he is a mlb quality 1B. If he hits like he did in April then not.
Just threw this one in as maybe a start of a topic.
Giles in May .358 .372 .273 Is this the REAL Marcus Giles?
When is McCann due to come off of the DL?
I think McCann is eligable soon (next week I think), but as for ready, I haven’t heard.
I think Bobby is really afraid of bad outfield arms — I wonder if he had a bad childhood experience? The few times I’ve seen Diaz try to throw someone out at the plate it’s been pathetic. I don’t think Bobby feels comfortable with that and I think that’s what’s keeping him from more starts. I just wonder how much it really matters . . . what’s Luis Gonzalez or Diaz going to cost you in wins for a year _with just his arm_?
I think Diaz has played as well as he can in left.
I want to request that the “Francoeur to AA” stop. It isn’t going to happen. He has gotten better as the season has gone on. He isn’t swinging at everything like he used to, stop it alreay! He is our everyday right fielder for the next decade!
“AAA” not “AA”
I’m with Smitty. Francoeur has gotten better this season. It must be tough for a 22-year old rushed to the majors and be given the “face of the franchise” label. It’s not like he’s getting playing time because his dad is the coach. He’s there because we need him and because he’s talented.
Looking ahead, the June schedule concerns me. We really need some wins before we head into the AL East storm (Red Sox, Jays and Yankees all in a 2-week span). Losing 2 of 3 to the Dodgers was tough. We can’t let the Diamondbacks win this series. For me, that’s why last night’s loss hurts so much. We could have taken the 1st 2 games with Smoltz going tonight.
I am tired of the NL West
I’m not proposing that he go down to AAA. I’m saying that overall he sucks. Short of a hot streak at the beginning of May he has become a hole in the lineup.
Maybe we should only play him in Atlanta. Now that would be a wierd platoon. A home and away right fielder.
Giles is proving to be a bit of a dead spot. He is a poor imitation of the player he was at 26. Even before the shift to lead-off, his numbers were declining. Where did he find the extra 20-30 K’s per year? I know whats wrong with Brian, he’s off the roids. But it appears marcus isnt seeing the ball as well.
Marcus just needs his Greenies!
Braves record against Marlins/Nats/Cubs: 12-3
Braves record against rest of Nat’l League: 16-23
Much of the problem is the bullpen, but not all. The hitting is much worse than the RF indicates–I think if you took some sort of standard deviation on runs, the Braves would be very high–they tend to pile on in some games and do nothing in others. The defense has generally been nothing to write home about, especially on the left side of the infield. Francoeur is learning on the job, Langerhans is a fourth outfielder, and laRoche is up and down.
I hate to say this but the Brave slook like a middling +.500 team to me. It’s highly unlikely that there will be some big trade to save the season. The only thing that is saving them is the Mets and Phillies have problems too. But even if they somehow make the playoffs, this is a one and done team again. I hope I’m wrong.
Marc, hopefully John Schuerholz will go into Billy Beane mode at this point in his career–let the team coast and play poorly the first third of the year, get a few extra players no one thinks much of, and then watch them rattle off a 20-win streak in August.
This team is playing extremely poorly right now. But it’s nothing that a couple hot weeks couldn’t fix. Look at what Jason Bay and Jose Castillo have been able to do for Pittsburgh–they took a team that’s a total joke and made them dangerous.