ESPN – Braves vs. Cardinals Box Score, August 26 2007 – MLB
You know, the Braves might have a somewhat deeper rotation if we still had Adam Wainwright. I’m just saying. On the other hand, he mostly seems to pitch well against the Braves, so maybe not. Anyway, Jo-Jo Reyes pitched well enough to win (four runs in six innings, six strikeouts and no walks) but Wainwright gave up but one run in seven to take the win.
Chipper was off today for some reason, meaning that the Braves had to overcome not only the loss of his bat but the presence of Chris Woodward’s glove. It was too much. With a run in and two out in the fifth, Woodward’s error allowed a second run to score and extended the inning so a third could. He is a terrible, terrible baseball player. He couldn’t carry Keith Lockhart’s jock. The Braves got a run back in the next inning, which would have tied it, but the Cards got a homer in the bottom of the sixth to get the lead back to three runs.
Joey Devine actually pitched the eighth inning. I’m as shocked as you guys… I’m not depressed anymore. Yes, I’ve moved on to acceptance. So no more Wham! videos. I guess that’s something.
Season is over. It’s all well and good to have “hope” but at some point you have to move on to acceptance of the inevitable.
New poll.
Woodward is more like a virus. Let’s say, Mono. One of those things you just can’t get over. Soon as you think it’s gone, it strikes back.
4.0 games back of first in wildcard, just enough to keep them in the back of your minds at all times.
At least the Marlins really suck right now.
We’re done. Even when Reyes pitches well enough we can’t score runs. I don’t get resting the Jones’ unless they requested it. I mean what the hell is Bobby saving them for?
Chris Woodward, I guess he must not complain or is a great clubhouse guy but I suspect that in reality he has the pictures. You are right this guy is a very bad ballplayer.
Yeah having Wainwright would be nice now but its possible that without Drew’s career year our Div title streak would have ended in 2004.
The Braves’ stages:
1. Denial: “It can’t be happening. There are still six games against the Mets, the division is still in reach.”
2. Anger: “Why ME? Why can’t Cox do anything right?!”
3. Bargaining: “Just let the Braves stay in contention until football starts.”
4. Depression: “I’m so sad, why bother with anything?”
5. Acceptance: “It’s going to be OK. There is always next season”
Finally the “Woodward delenda” est is up! Hard to win a playoff spot when you have on the dl:
Mike Hampton
Mike Gonzalez
Edgar Renteria
Chuck James
That the Braves have been in contention for so long is more about how the Mets struggled too rather than Atlanta being playoff worthy.
On paper, we should sweep or take 2/3 from a miserable Marlins team, but I’ll be shocked if we win more than 1.
Oops left out Octavio Dotel not that he was anything great for us but small sample size etc.
Chris Woodward is actually a girl (we call him Christine). Don’t let the fact that he has a beard and looks like a chimpanzee fool you.
he’s a girl.
Mac, that needs to be the fourth option in your poll. Christine is no devil. We need to be polite to the ladies.
Joey Devine gave up a hit and a walk. That should keep him from the mound for another what, two weeks?
Nah there is plenty of work for everybody in the bullpen with our current starting staff.
at least Wickman cant face Olivo in FLA
Dan, I go through every stage in every game..Is that really possible?
Sure there is plenty of work, but it’s nothing that Moylan and Mahay can’t handle every night
Dump Woodward and bring back Prado. Prado isn’t that much better but he has the excuse of being a rookie.
Actually Prado is quite a lot better than Woodward as a hitter… .690 OPS vs .540 (lower than Hudson’s).
My bad. I guess Skip has only one more game. too bad. Dang. All good things I guess.
Chipper’s groin is sore, I don’t think he’s expected to be out very long. I think Skip said Andruw got a day for his elbow as well…I’m not complaining there.
Chris Woodward is playing because:
1. He’s blackmailing Bobby.
or
2. He sold his soul to the devil.
Season is over at this point unless 3/5 of our rotation suddenly is better than their talent suggests and we win about 25 games in September.
4 games back of the Pods is pretty harsh at this point.
Looking at the bright side, today’s game from Reyes was definitely a great improvement from his previous starts. Not only he lasted six innings, but he also strike-outed six without issuing a walk.
Don’t give up on this kid. Avery was terrible in his first season in the major. This kid throws at low-90s and is light years better than HoRam. He may actually be better than Chucky.
I just hope Renteria/Thorman/some arm nets us a decent #3 in the offseason. The White Sox come to mind again. Maybe the Giants too.
I don’t think anybody was giving up on Reyes. He just hasn’t shown yet that he’s ready to be a major league pitcher.
21. I agree Reyes definitely showed some good stuff today.
On the plus side a Georgia team won the LLWS for the second year in a row. So while the major league team may not be that great, at least our 12-13 year olds are.
So, when is John S. gonna call up the Warner-Robbins kids?
The Braves should consider starting Smoltz and Hudson on 3 days rest this series.
With the off day on Thursday, they can make their next start after this one on 4 days rest.
Hm…perhaps the Braves can trade Edgar and Thorman to the Cards to get Wainwright back?! What a dream!!!
Man where is the heart on this team…
Maybe a lack of heart combined with:
-Harris overachieving and nosediving back to reality, he is actually just a utility player.
-Kelly Johnson is 9 for his last 43
-Renteria not being in that 2 hole has really hamperered an unclutch line-up in the late innings
-Even though he is batting 7th AJ is still killing the team.
-The righthanded starting line-up is very vulnerable against strong lefthanders in the opponents bullpen b/c Harris, KJ and McCann all have struggled against lefties, especially in key spots. Bobby should have adjusted the line-up.
-Francouer should be exhausted at this point, no wonder he swinging at the 1st pitch. Give the boy a day off.
Of course this is in addition to the pitching woes. I also agree that next year the Braves should at least try something different with the pitching coach position.
On the DL. (Renty)
Brian hasn’t hit lefties that badly (though oddly he doesn’t walk against them), and certainly hits them better than Corkless Miller does. That being said, it wouldn’t have been a bad day for a day off except that the Joneses were already sitting.
And KJ slumps. This is now readily apparent and is just something we’ll have to deal with going forward. He’s hit .282 with a .382 OBP against lefties (though with far less power) so there’s no reason to sit him.
Harris is useless against lefthanders but if Andruw doesn’t play there’s no way Harris won’t.
I don’t know if anyone was watching the Dodgers/Mets, but David Wells led off the 5th by dropping a perfect drag bunt down the 3rd base line while breaking for 1st. Wright had to hurry the throw, and threw it on a bounce that the 1st baseman couldn’t handle but it would have been close. I never really liked Wells, but for 44 years old he is a gamer. He probably ran faster than I’ve seen Druw run too many times to first.
Someone above said it best, this team just lacks some heart and I agree Renty was some of that.
maybe he could come show our guys how to bunt! If you notice all of our players try to slap the bat at the ball when they bunt. Is TP teaching them to bunt this way? Whatever happened to just letting the ball hit the bat?
What about the Blue Jays for a possible trade? While John McDonald can play incredible defense, Edgar is certainly an upgrade. Maybe we can net a Shaun Marcum, or on the high end, maybe Dustin McGowan if we throw in a prospect
I dont think the Jays would give us Marcum for one year of Edgar
Edgar was really the glue to this team. I’m not really surprised we nosedived once he dissappeared.
Have any of you guys ever been to a Atlanta Thrashers game ?
Rotoworld on Woodward:
Woodward is arguably the NL’s worst player right now. We’ll give the Braves the benefit of the doubt and assume they wouldn’t have kept him over Martin Prado last week if we weren’t so close to the September roster expansion. They should be regretting it anyway. Not only does Woodward have a 523 OPS in 123 at-bats, but he’s committed six errors in the equivalent of about 25 full games on defense. That’s simply brutal.
you would think that the Braves org. would have noticed that also by now, however, Woodward is still getting opportunities to play somehow. I cant believe this, but I really miss Franco and Prado right now. Dump Thorman and Woodward and give us a chance, please!!
Yeah. This latest 2-5 week has made me, too, realize that it’ll take something absurd in September for this team to be playing come October.
In the back of my mind is the hope that once Renteria (btw, how stupid was it letting him play on Wednesday? For chrissake, give him until the weekend!) and James get back we’ll reel off a 13-4 or something. But at this point, I dunno if that’ll even get us to the top of the WC.
Both Cody Johnson and Jason Heyward are now playing at Danville. Next year’s Rome will have an exciting team for sure.
Don’t forget Phil Stockman. He is now back at Richmond and is pitching extremely well. He should be in the Atlanta bullpen by next year.
I went through the three modes of depression lately: panic, desperation, acceptance. Rest in peace, Atlanta Braves 2007.
I don’t appreciate the loose attitude. When you see Francoeur humping somebody hanging from the dugout before the game it bothers me. The neglegent misuse of Brian McCann playing everyday is probably about to move from exhaustion to injury. Harris isn’t a serviceable everyday player. We have no consistant pitching and although Tex has been wonderful he isnt 70 times better than Salty which is what he costs. Schuerholz sold the farm in a selfish attempt to have one more go before he and Bobby retire. It failed this year and we will be failed for years to come as a result. I also think instead of resigning Tex maybe we should look to spend more and get Jake Peavy.
ps Wainwright for J.D. Drew started the decline in decision making. Thats everything I have wanted to say for a long time.
make or break week here, no question about it. 9 games…one game at a time. dont worry about going 7-2, 6-3, or 8-1…just play smart baseball. we have an incredible chance to pick ground up in the division and wild card. i will be going to the ted friday-monday and i expect nothing less than great baseball. lets please catch hot. braves stage “delusional” signing off.
ughh!!! That’s all I’ve got left. 🙁
I refuse to have hope again until this team gets within 2 games of a playoff spot.
Shuerholz wasn’t wrong to go for it this year and trade a lot of prospects. He couldn’t have known Renteria and James would go down in August, badly hurting the team’s ability to stay in the hunt. In hindsight, he probably regrets not trading Kyle Davies for a starting pitcher instead of Dotel no doubt, but at the time our rotation seemed pretty solid with the bullpen and first base seeming like more pressing needs.
Ron, the fact is there was no starting pitching available…unless you count Matt Morris and his huge contract…
Ron–I disagree about the rotation seeming solid at the time of the trade. There has always been a hole in the rotation. The Braves have tried Davies, Lerew, Redman, and now Reyes (who looked better yesterday). I think kc is correct in saying the problem with acquiring a starter was the lack of decent options rather than the lack of need.
There will be a lot of criticism of John Schuerholz if after this season one or 2 of the Texas 5 become stars and we lose Texieria to free agency. But with Chipper at 35, Smoltz 40 win now is important. Funny thing is both of these grizzled veterans are still the best position player and pitchers on the team (ok you could make an arguement that Hudson is better). Trading for a plus bat and glove in Tex and a decent left handed arm was way smarter than overpaying for a crap starter. Its frustrating as hell that we cant hit and pitch in the same games though. Reyes looked pretty good out there for a while. The kid has nothing to prove in the minors. Look at Glavine’s start and he went through hell too, albiet with a very bad team. That we can’t seem to hit with runners on is heinous.
Check out JC’s blog, http://www.sabernomics.com, for a different perspective and the greatest video on YouTube.
I’m with him, dang it—I refuse to believe this thing is over.
Well, shucks. The link won’t work because of the comma…so, here:
http://www.sabernomics.com
Good teams don’t go 2-5 against the two teams we just played. Ergo – The Braves just ain’t that good. And I certainly can (in my mind anyway) trace the string of mediocre at best play to Edgar going down with injury.
I still think the Texiera trade is defensible, but hindsight is 20/20. It looks bad now because injuries have gutted our chances for the playoffs.
Looking to the future, I think it’s time for JS and Bobby to ride off into the sunset, to well-deserved HoF inductions (I hope the same year)and for new blood to take over.
Who would you like to see in the front office and running the team on the field? I’ll throw out my crazy idea – I’d like to see Greg Maddux manage the Braves. I think his baseball IQ is very high, and feel he’d do a good job as manager. And as a pitcher, he might have a better idea of how to handle a bullpen than Bobby does (one of Cox’s major weaknesses, in my opinion).
For GM? I have no idea.
Anyway, I think we’re looking at two years of rebuilding before we can compete again. I would explore trade options for Smoltz and Chipper (with their consent) to give them one more shot at a ring, since I don’t feel we will be competitive until they’re too old to play a major role in the renaissance. Plus, if we can move those two, it should be for top-notch prospects to replenish the farm system, with our main focus on starting pitching.
Of course, if neither want to go, I wouldn’t trade them (probably because they’re 5/10 guys, right?). Anyway, it’s time to cut bait and start to rebuild to compete in 2010, rather than try to squeeze one more year out next year, fail then, and compete again in 2015 or later.
Hope is fine, but so is realism. And, frankly, watching this team play now is not much fun. This team has been mediocre at best for most of the year. Diaz was quoted in the AJC as saying, this is a good team that is not getting the breaks. I know he can’t say we suck, but IMO, that’s bullshit–you can’t blame being 3 games over .500 after 130 games on being unlucky. This is not a good team and has not been a good team all year (except on paper).
I thought the Teixera trade made sense and still do b/c there is no pitching out there. Plus, given the dearth of pitching in the organization (Reyes nice start nothwithstanding), the Braves have no choice but to go for it.
Having said that, JC is right–stranger things have happened and it is always possible the Braves could get hot. But, while I admire him for his attitude, it’s not one I can adopt.
Latest Chip comment: Wainwright facing Woodward with pitcher on deck: Woodward will see some tough pitches but he should get good pitches to hit. Huh?
@mailman
I have Thrashers season tix. It’s what I do in the off season 😉
Dayton Moore for GM and Ned Yost for Manager.
I just liked the quote yesterday…
“The Braves have gotten 3 good AB’s from Woodward today but he has nothing to show for it. He’s hit the ball hard three times….
one was a liner to Rolen and one was a lazy fly ball to center, dont knwo what the third was. However his 4th was so bad I actually laughed at the TV. Molina caught the ball of the dirt in the LH batters box, Woodwards swing wouldve made you thought it was a fastball over the middle. Maybe we should check his vision, he also booted an easy grounder that wouldve gotten Reyes out of the 5th with only giving up one run. Woodward 0-5 and gave us a huge error. Im just glad he’s here and not Prado or someone who can contribute
I am gald Tubby McGoo is gone!
Carlyle was pitching well around the trade deadline. At that point it looked like we had 4 solid starters with Cormier close to being back and Davies traded for more bullpen help. Then James got hurt, Carlyle stopped being effective, and Cormier is still struggling to regain his form from spring training.
Tex will still help the team greatly next year (who wanted to go into another year with Thorman as our main first baseman?). Mahay has been excellent in the bullpen too. The players we gave up aside from Salty who hasn’t hit very well for Texas aside from the 30 run game were years away from being effective major leaguers. By the time all those players got the majors, Smoltz and Chipper may be retired, Andruw will be patrolling CF in Boston or Anaheim, Hudson will be on the downside of his career, and the Braves may in a long rebuilding mode. It made perfect sense to trade those maybes for what looked at the end of July like a great shot at a playoff spot. It just hasn’t worked out due to injuries.
Glass still half-full:
As long as their fate is still in their hands, I won’t give up on this team yet.
My take is that it’s a 3 team race for the wild card-Braves, Padres, and Phillies. I think the NL Central teams will be up each other until only their champion makes the playoffs.
The Phillies are natuarally on our minds and the team has ample chance to KO them.
The Padres are a problem, though. They have the lead and if their pitchers are healthy, they’ll be tough to catch. And who wants to stay up for those late scores?
My heart sank when I saw White Flag Woodward starting yesterday, but if my faith in Cox and Co. holds true, the Jones’ resting may save us.
Let me keep my delusions through this week!
“Beat up” instead of “be up”. Although it kinda works.
Where the heck is Stu today? I need another optimist and I figure a Vandy fan has plenty of practice!
couple of things…Im surprised you havent seen any rumors being linked to Wickman at this point.
Our defense lately is what is costing us games, not so much the pitching or hitting for the last week. Harris had a terrible decision throwing home, McCann booted it, Cormier kicked it in the dugout. Carlyle misplayed a perfect pickoff attempt which cost him 3 runs. Escobar let a grounder get under his glove which would have gotten Hudson a DP and out of the 5 run inning only allowing 1 run instead. Woodward had a big error costing Reyes 2 more runs. Some here say its bad luck, to me its just bad defense that hurting us more than anything.
I agree with Ron, but counting on Carlyle was always iffy even though he did pitch very well for awhile. Frankly, I thought the Braves best hope was to beef up the offense and try to win some of these games Yankee-like, ie, outslug the other team. But that hasn’t worked out really even though Teixera has played great. The Braves just don’t seem to have the ability to really slug it out with teams, especially when they need to score late. They have lost too many games they could legitimately have won even with shaky pitching.
time to get a game or two back against the Marlins, when is James eligible to come off the DL?
If we win these 1st two, and James is eligible for the 3rd, I think you let him pitch. It then gives our starters and extra day of rest and you get Smoltz and Hudson to start the Mets series on plenty of rest. All depends on when James is eligible
just by looking I guess James isnt eligible until friday to come off the DL
whoever had hopes of getting Tori Hunter as Andruw’s replacement should think otherwise…
Rosenthal said Hunter will get Ichiro and Wells type money this offseason. says it could be looking at several multi-year offers at 18mil+, no thanks
Kevin Lee, see post #51.
I’m not actually optimistic, but I’m choosing to keep hope alive. We’ll see how long that lasts.
And you obviously don’t know many Vandy fans. We are perpetually hopeful, but very, very rarely optimistic, my predictions for this football season notwithstanding.
I don’t see a need to spend money on a CF or other offensive player. Put Francoeur in CF, Brandon Jones in RF, and Diaz/Thorman in LF. No reason to bring Willie back. He has “regression to mean” written all over him and won’t be worth the millions he’ll get based on his fluke of a performance this year. If you can trade Renteria or Escobar for a good, never injured starting pitcher, do so. Otherwise a lineup of
Johnson/Escobar
Renteria
Chipper
Tex
McCann
Francoeur
Diaz/Thorman
Brandon Jones
should score more than enough runs. The bullpen seems like it should be fine with young players like Acosta and Devine and Gonzalez coming back. Just need to add one more good starter and hope James and Reyes progress next year.
Diaz/Thorman in left?
I guess I’m the only one who doesn’t understand having a platoon when one player is batting .350 and gets 2-3 hits every time he plays. Thorman would also be a joke defensively.
Free Matt Diaz!
I still don’t buy Smurph as a CF. I think there’s very little chance of that happening.
And Willie Harris won’t make millions next year. I just hope he’s moved to more of a utility role if he returns to the Braves.
Acosta, Ascanio, Moylan, Soriano, Gonzo, Mahay, Devine….looks very good for next year
I dont see us trading Escobar to keep Renty for one more year, unless they feel that Lillibridge is the future there. But you’re right we need at least one good sub 4 era starter to add some stability there.
Smoltz, Hudson, Blanton type, James, Hampton/Cormier/Carlyle
I’m with you on this one, disgruntledfan. Diaz should be our everyday LF next year, though I’m sure he won’t be.
I’d love to have Blanton, but I don’t think the A’s are a match as a trading partner, csg.
I haven’t quite given up yet. As someone wrote, we are still playing the Mets and Phils 6 apiece. I think we have to do something drastic, go to a four-man rotation!
I think we have to do something drastic
This relates to the main reason I’m having trouble maintaining my optimism: Bobby Cox. There is no chance he’ll do anything drastic; this is a man who gives Chris Woodward consistent ABs and runs every single reliever we have—other than Joey Devine, of course—into the ground.
I hate being down on Bobby, and I’ve always been one to defend him, but as I’ve said, he’s been brutal this year. I don’t think it’s possible to have managed this team to fewer wins than Bobby has.
I’ve been pretty silent the past couple days, really just reading all of the posts about whether we’re in it or sunk. I’m, at this point, kind of on the same wavelength as JC. It’s not over, but crazy things have to happen.
With that said, if we don’t win this year, I don’t think it was because of sub-par managing or general managing. At the end of the day, we have had some really crippling injuries and overall player ineptitude. A complete inability for anyone not named Hudson, Smoltz, or James to consistently pitch effectively has probably been the worst thing. Couple that with gross under-achieving by Andruw and to a less extent Wickman, and it’s pretty bad. But then you take into consideration we lost someone who could have easily been the 4th starter or better (Hampton), and a legitimate relief ace (Gonzo), and you wonder how we’ve stayed afloat so long. It probably has more to do with the mediocrity of the NL, but as Stu said the other day, this seems like it should be playing so much better on paper. What’s frustrating is that the overall good raw stats of the players on our 25 man roster haven’t translated into any consistent winning. We’ve really played .500 ball since May 1st, which is really a shame considering how well we did in April.
OK, I’m done. With all of this said, I hope we can play better than we have (very possible), and atleast make this a race. If SD or NY fall apart, then we’ll feel even worse if the Braves continue to fall apart.
I think Harris will give us more value next year than Thorman will. I just dont see any potential in Thorman. If he’s on the roster he’s next years Todd Pratt/Chris Woodward. Still Diaz should be given the everyday job in LF. If he struggles go back to the platoon with Harris
Diaz/Thorman is what is going to happen like it or not or they would have traded Thor this year. If you look at how Francoeur has improved this year, it’s not impossible Thorman could turn his career around too. If not, it’s better to find out next year in a platoon than to lose Tex to free agency and try Thorman as the first baseman in ’09 only to have him flop agian.
Stu, yeah I dont think the A’s would let Blanton go. I also dont think that the Jays would trade Marcum. I would love to have either, but dont see it happening. We could probably get AJ Burnett from them, but then we’ll have to deal with his salary and arm/shoulder/elbow/mental problems
mlbtraderumors.com has a few interesting items. Steve Trachsel has cleared waivers and has a very low era in August but almost no strikeouts in his recent starts. Could be worth a try if we don’t have to give up much or pay him a lot. The Marlins are said to be looking to trade Dontrelle Willis in the offseason. Hard to see them trading him in the division but they’ve traded with the Mets before, so maybe the Braves have a shot if they are willing to give up Escobar or Reyes.
Why would the Braves want Willis? He’s had a horrible year in a pitcher’s park and it would be a big gamble. Plus, although he has had flashes of brilliance and some good years, his overall career hasn’t been that special. And he isn’t that young anymore. I think you are better off hoping Reyes develops.
@78,
Thor wasn’t traded because nobody needed him on a major league roster. He can’t be sent to the minors without clearing waivers.
The only possible trading partner would have been a bad team with no chance at playoffs that could let him play first. Royals, maybe, any body else, not likely.
Thor wasn’t waived because somebody would have taken a chance that the $600,000 or so to hold him this year and next might be “lightning in a bottle.”
Also, to everybody here, Renteria is not going to bring anything we want in trade. Trade partners want young cheap talent, except when the person is that last piece. Rent’s trade value would have been to a contender with a sudden shortstop injury just before the trading deadline.
If a shortstop is traded, it is Escobar. He has a credible Major League track record and is worth something.
Diaz/Thorman in left next year is NOT going to happen. They see Thor as a 1b only, and may keep him around to see if they can let Tex go after 08, but there’s no way in hell he plays in left over Diaz.
I mean, he’s no willie harris.
“Edgar was really the glue to this team. I’m not really surprised we nosedived once he dissappeared.”
Think about it, Renteria went down with a four run lead against the Astros and the Braves lost in extra innings. They’ve been in a tail-spin since that time. For all the talk about the great Yunel Escobar, he ain’t all-star Edgar Renteria.
“Schuerholz sold the farm in a selfish attempt to have one more go before he and Bobby retire. It failed this year and we will be failed for years to come as a result.”
Oh bull Ben. You have no idea what any of those prospects will do. Saltalamacchia, aside from his two homerun game in that 30-3 game, ain’t done much of anything. No one knows who Beau Jones and Feliz were. Matt Harrison was hurt at the time of the trade and Elvis Andrus might be good….in 2011. I highly doubt those five specific prospects will be the absolute undoing of the Braves for the next fifteen years.
I’m so sick of everyone overvauling prospects. The trade was good as it was and would be great if the Braves sign Teixeira long term.
The trade was good, but I still can’t help but think JS could have at least TRIED guys like Trachsel, Wells, Vasquez, etc. Yes, at the trade deadline Carlyle was pitching well and Chuck James was decent, but pitching –specifically STARTING pitching–has been a problem all year. Bad idea to try and count on journeymen and an average James when there were guys out there who can at least give quality starts most outings.
#81, from a quick glance at Willis’ career stats, I think you undervalue him. He’s been very good except for this year with a career era of 3.69. I don’t know why he’s been less effective this year, but if he’s not injured and can be had for a reasonable price, I’d take him in a heartbeat. He’d be a better 4th starter than Cormier, Carlyle, or Reyes next year that’s for sure.
Returning to one theme in yesterdays’ thread, I am glad that Reyes pitched well yesterday, because I thought he might get lit up; I do not want to see him pitching in the majors until he is ready…which might be now. I believe that the Braves did no favors to Davies and Lerew by rushing their paths to the big leagues.
In any event, there is no reason to abandon hope, but honestly it makes more sense to look to 2008. I hope that JS does not decide that the Braves are still in the race and decide to trade a few more good prospects to rent players (the Mercker deal comes to mind) for the rest of 2007.
The bullpen looks good for 2008, but as we knew coming into this season starting pitching was always going to be our achilles heel. The challenge ahead is getting quality starting pitching witout giving up our future….
I think really highly of Reyes. Hard thrower, left-hander, good fastball, good slider, good changeup and a good curveball. He’s been outstanding in the minor leagues and the Braves’ scouts project him as a future top of the rotation guy. I have a feeling he’ll great for the Braves sometime in the future.
Yeah, considering he should be learning how to pitch in AA, getting called up (and down) in a pennant race for the big club and immediately thrown into the fire (jo jo, meet albert pujols), he’s done fine.
Let me add that I like Reyes as well–and for another reason: this is a prospect who has overcome two very different injuries in the minors. In other words, I would add to the above comments by saying that I think he has great ‘make-up’.
You guys are expecting a rookie pitcher to throw like a veteran in a pennant race?
Not at all…my hope is that he can make a contribution now and develop into a quality starter. Sounds easy, but most promising prospects will still fall short. Lets hope for the best….
from mlb rumors…
Garner/Purpura Fired?
Some folks are telling me that 790 AM The Sports Animal is reporting that the Astros have fired manager Phil Garner and GM Tim Purpura, with a 2pm press conference coming up. I didn’t hear the report myself, so it’s not 100% confirmed. Seems rash to let Purpura go so soon, if true.
Reyes has a lot of potential and no you cant expect for him to pitch well this year, maybe not even next year. I’m impressed with what Ive seen so far