Normally, I don’t like the all-star break, but the bullpen needs it bad.
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Normally, I don’t like the all-star break, but the bullpen needs it bad.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
The waiting is the hardest part…
Can we add “Optimus Prime” to the poll?
The new poll question really cracked me up! Thanks for that bit of amusement.
Ha. I wonder who voted for Morgan.
Not me *laughs*
I did. I mean Bill James said he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. And he’s gotta win, what would Jon Miller do without him? I couldn’t bear watching Sunday night baseball without Morgan.
Warning : this post may contain sarcasm.
Yeah, if Morgan didn’t win, maybe they replace him with Chris Bearman on the Sunday night game… no thanks.
continued discussion from last thread:
Andruw’s rankings in outfield putouts in his career at the centerfield position:
‘98- 1st in mlb
‘99- 1st in mlb
‘00- 1st in mlb
‘01- 1st in mlb
‘02- 3rd in mlb (1st in nl)
‘03- 5th in mlb (2nd in nl- behind pierre who should never be a gold glove candidate)
‘04- 3rd in mlb (2nd in nl behind podsednik)
‘05- 8th in mlb (3rd in nl behind clark and beltran, but blew them out of the water in assists)
‘06- 4th in mlb (2nd in nl behind the no-armed wonder pierre)
‘07- 3rd in mlb (1st in nl)
an argument can be made in ‘05, but reputation alone? really? please answer me and let me know which year, besides ‘05, he should have not been a gold glover. also, if he goes to the al, i bet his po’s rise a 20 or so just factoring in the dh plate appearances. and by the way, he is on pace for about 450 po’s this year.
Alright, Mets bite the dust. Let’s get the win & creep to within 2. Not bad, considering…
Mets lose. Here’s hoping Da Pen doesn’t have to bail Kyle out after a couple.
Ryan is making a good point there, that I hadn’t seen before. Why is it that his PO’s have gone down significantly, yet his ranking has stayed very strong, though? Are pitchers collectively across the league inducing more and more ground balls? That’s weird.
I would wait for the end of 2007 before seeing how he ranks among the league leaders. I think a lot of people say that defensive stats fluctuate too much during the season. I don’t know; I don’t really follow defensive stats in-season.
Buehrle is officially off the market.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2929809
According to Dewan’s plus/minus defensive system, Andruw was the best CF in baseball over the last three seasons, and was behind only Corey Patterson in 2006.
He’s still real damn good out there.
Yeah, Kenny Williams is talking about it during an interview at the Futures Game.
I want to point out that Brent Lillebridge let down his teammates — and America — by striking out with the tying runs on base and two out. He does strike out an awful lot.
tonights lineup
Harris
Renty
Jones
Jones
McCann
Francouer
Johnson
Thorman
Davies
Thorman .220, Davies .217…its a foot race
OPS+
Thorman: 71
Davies: 78
Is it true that Bowden wanted both Salty and Escobar for Young? No wonder the Nats suck, he shouldve traded Soriano last year when he could have
csg,
Yeah it’s true. Apparently all GM’s are asking for the moon for players. Kenny Williams wanted Khalil Green and Linebrick from Jermaine Dye.
Three weeks to the deadline. Maybe the price of players will come down over the break.
Davies should bat seventh in this lineup… not that it matters, since he may not be in the game long enough to bat. Even I’m having trouble believing we can win this one.
Yep, I’ve written it off as a loss myself. Plus, it’s on ESPN. Ain’t no way in hell I’m watching it tonight. I’d rather dust than sit through that torture.
I think this game is very important. Obviously with the Mets losing we would only be two out at the break but I think that if we can win this series going into the allstar break it would help the teams confidence alot.
Yes, it would. I would be pleasantly surprised if the Braves won tonight but my brain says they ain’t gonna.
If I read ESPN’s scoreboard right, home team has one every single game played in MLB thus far today. I wonder how common that is?
Here’s to breaking that streak.
Look for Chuck James to make an appearance tonight when and if Davies falters.
Don’t you mean just “when”? ;P
“home team has one every single game played”
What does that mean?
I think he meant “won.” In other words, all the home teams have won so far today, therefore the stars must be lining up for a Dodgers victory (Not that I agree with that assessment).
Or Padres…
Ha! Sorry for the lapse:)
er, I was kidding.
Maddux versus Francoeur is unfair.
I thought that ESPN cameraman was going to run over Kelly, that was just weird looking to me.
Kyle, can you hold onto a multi-run lead for at least one inning, please?
Miguel Cabrera is out of the home run derby. Anyone know if hes gonna play in the all star game? If not, do you think Chipper would be his replacement?
c’mon Davies …. jeez
It’s so frustrating watching Kyle. He has all the talent in the world but he doesn’t trust it.
Wow, Thorman useful for once!!!
way to go Thorman
btw, you owe the team $349.77 for all the broken bats this year
The good news about tonight…with the next game not until Friday, we can essentially EMPTY the bullpen (except Kali, the man needs to rest) with 4 days in between.
I would even consider Soriano for 2 innings tonight with so many days off (with the lead of course).
We need every win we could get…especially facing a good team on the road, with Davies starting and a chance to win another season series outright from a possible head to head competitor for the wild card.
Something to keep in mind.
Andruw to the opposite field!!!
Greg Maddux is a god.
I have to agree…after hearing Mad Dog’s sound bite, he definitely handles ump disputes with a lot more class then Boomer Wells.
Who doesn’t love the Mad Dog?!
Any other park but Petco and McCann has two homers.
Nice Kyle, that’s what I want to see more often…
@39
make that $416.86
What Thorman can do: breaking bats after bats after bats.
What Thorman can’t do: Everything else.
Kyle…throw a damned strike.
Kyle is rushing his pitches…
did Kyle really hit 96mph on that Gonzalez strikeout
that espn gun is juiced
It is juiced. There is no way Maddux is throwing 89mph heaters.
please dont be hurt chipper
Oh, good god, Chipper. Stolen bases aren’t that important.
Please, don’t ask Chipper to run…please please please…
Nice!!!
I’m having a lot of trouble watching this game. It’s just too surreal watching Maddux and Marcus — my two favorite Braves in succession — so intertangled in the game playing for the other team.
Sorry Greg, we have to win this game.
I didn’t realize Marcus is struggling so much at the plate. Is he really hitting only .240?
Mac,
Is Marcus really one of your favorite Braves? Huh.
So, is Kyle having a good start or is the Padres offense just that bad? I think it’s option #2.
Wow, guess who pitched in middle relief between Robertson and Todd Jones today for the Tigers?! McBride, Capellan, and Minor!!!
Alex, Marcus was my favorite Brave after Maddux left. I thought you knew that. It’s now McCann.
Can we NOW DFA Woodward? First pitch swinging badly hit…pathetic.
Mac,
I am sorry, I didn’t beleive considering how mediocre Marcus was. But I think you’d agree the Braves upgraded and saved $ by letting Marcus leave?
For example, I called Marcus “My favorite player” leading off two player analyses and his Top 44 Braves article.
KC-
I guess if the Tigers play the Padres or Dodgers in the W.S. this year (assuming the Braves don’t make it), there will be several familiar faces on TV.
Sorry, Mac, I thought you were kidding.
You may have forgotten how good he was with the Braves before last season.
Braves Journal
Well, Marcus was one of the league best second basemen from 2003-05. He and Furcal were amazing at the top of the lineup…ok…when Marcus was healthy enough to play. I love Marcus, but letting him go was the right decision.
The amazing thing about this game is Davies….Sorry Mac–it looks like the Braves were right to let Giles go; at least you predicted his decline…
I just wish that we had traded him for something…
Go Moylan…
Timmy!
Stephen, I think the Padres didn’t take advantage when they had Davies shaking early in the game.
You are right on Marcus, I wish the Braves didn’t have to dfa him.
Moylan is slowly becoming very dependable.
Here’s something interesting, to me, anyway… Marcus’ most-similar hitter through Age 28 is AJ Pierzynski, and the list is full of catchers: current teammate Michael Barrett, Earl Battey, Big Tony Pena, even Gabby Hartnett. I don’t know what this means.
Marcus Giles Statistics – Baseball-Reference.com
Nice of you to join us, Andruw.
Andruw to the right field again!!!
Andruw is really starting to hit…he should be over .210…he hits really well in SD…
great way to go into the all-star break Frenchy….. swinging like a goofy kid at a pickup game
atta boy willie
Andruw is now at .211.
Willie!!!
Wickmania is on the horizon….
looks like it. I wonder why Bobby won’t let Soriano pitch another?
Because Bobby likes relief pitchers pitching one inning at a time.
tell that to Villereal, Yates, Moylan…
Too bad Scott couldn’t pull off a bat-breaking hat-trick…
does anyone actually feel good whenever Wickman is spotted warming up in the bullpen?
there is no way he’s coming back next year
It’s amazing how quickly we forget about how dominant Wickman was last year. He was pretty dominant earlier this year too. Two bad months and we’re ready to have him liquidated…
They are long relievers. Yates is starting to work only one inning at a time now that he is more frequently used.
A couple more
well, lets see. usually it means we have a lead, and late so yeah I generally feel good seeing Wick. No he’s not lights out like Smoltz was, but not many have been…ever.
Rob, you are so right.
kc, just thinking out loud here, but it just seems to me that it would give the pen a break if you let one guy go 2 innings instead of using two guys. again, not to start an argument, but do you think that is a defensable position?
I love Wicky
there’s the mandatory Wickman run
Boo
Thanks for making me look like an idiot, BOB.
Poop.
now here comes the mandatory Wickman heart rate jolt
krugerindustrialsmoothing, Bobby’s logic is that the pitcher who pitched the two innings will not be available the following day. However, if he uses two pitchers for one inning each, he will have both pitchers available the following game.
Come on Wick.
Come on. Let’s just get this win, and go into the break only two back. PLEASE!!
One out. Come on, I just want one out.
Just like last year and the year before, we need to trade for a closer.
wow …
The opponents are sitting on Wick’s sliders nowsdays…..
Grr
Is there anyone warming up? Wickman stinks….again.
No, Soriano should BE THE CLOSER, BOBBY.
Man, I’m starting to wish that we had Soriano available. I think someone could have pitched a scoreless 8th and we would have Soriano available. Oh well…
Crap, Paronto’s in the bullpen.
Paronto?!?!?!?!?!
Yuck…hell, just bring Hudson out.
kc, that makes sense, thanks.
c’mon wick, get us home
We should use Wickman in non-South Florida, non-save situations.
I think that it is do or die with Wickman….We are so close to a 6-4 road trip and 2 back from the Mets….Go Wick….
This is sickening.
Someone PLEASE get an out. We just need one out.
Hudson should go out for the save, I have no faith in Chad Paronto
5-4 godammit
hahahahaha…. that’s all I can do. LAUGH EVERYONE!
this is pathetic
bunch of two out singles. get this guy!
why is wick still out there? I am gonna be sick.
hopefully Marcus is too excited to stick it to his old team and K’s to end it
beauty
YES!!!!
WORST. SAVE. EVER.
Phew
Not a save, Alex. It was a four run lead when he came in.
Wickman …. hahahahahahaha!!!!
i’ll settle for 50 more like that one.
@124
Worst NON-save ever
The home plate ump (bucknor?) should get the save for that one. Wickman got lucky
Phew, indeed. And yeah, that pitch looked outside. Good for us.
0-2 and you’re complaining that wick didn’t throw him a pitch down the middle. It looked like we caught a break, but that was a good pitch for the situation
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