ESPN – Braves vs. Giants – Box Score – August 05, 2008
Okay, okay, so Hampton has pitched well in a game. He still hasn’t pitched in a game that mattered.
The game was scoreless through four. In the fifth, the Braves loaded the bases; Prado grounded into a double play to score McCann. Hampton followed with a double to score KJ, and then came in on a double by Escobar. The Giants got one run back in the bottom of the inning.
In the seventh, KJ singled in a run, then the Braves got runs on a sac fly and a wild pitch. The Giants got a run back on a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, but it was 6-2. Hampton went seven, allowing just four hits, striking out two and walking one. Of course, the Giants are a bad team, but then so are the Braves.
Bennett came in to pitch the eighth, and he had nothing and let the Giants back into the game. It was 6-4 with two on, one out when Ohman came in; he got one man, then Boyer got the last out of the inning. The Braves got five runs in the eighth, capped by back-to-back doubles from Kotchman and Infante. Gonzalez pitched the ninth, getting another Atlanta Save.
KJ had a big night, going 3-3 and scoring three runs. Francoeur, who sucks, had two hits, as did Prado; the Braves had 14 hits in all.
Hampton silenced many of his critics. That is because many of them were asleep.
Hampton should be hitting 5th in that lineup.
Hey, two cheers for Mike Hampton. Whatever was really happening with those curiously-timed injuries, he’s back now and competing hard.
I’m reserving the third cheer for how he handles next year’s contract negotiations.
Quick put Hampton on waivers and hope somebody claims him before his body breaks down again! Also I’m thinking from now on Hampton should bat 8th and Francoeur 9th.
C’mon Mac. Don’t be a curmudgeon. Give the guy a little credit.
Mac is good at being a curmudgeon. Let him be.
At this point i’ll just take a win, and reserve style points and significance for another time.
Lando!
Oh, Francoeur had two hits last night. Makes sense…
Greetings from Cooperstown.
I have to say that as impressed as I was with the HOF, I was more impressed with the town. I encourage a trip for anyone who loves baseball.
What impressed you about the town?
Cooperstown & that area are beautiful.
Parish,
Are you up there for the 12u tournament?
We did that last year and it was wonderful. All baseball fans need to experience the town and the HoF.
Cooperstown sure is a beautiful part of the country. If you’re up there, I highly recommend checking out the Ommegang Brewery — they make some truly excellent Belgian-style beers.
We are just traveling across the state. In the Finger Lake region now and Lockport tomorrow.
The town is beautiful, picturesque, on a lake. We were at the Otesaga resort hotel which is awesome, with awesome food. There’s tons to do in the town and quite a few good restaurants. I will certainly bring the kids up when they are a bit older.
I really just loved the place. I also could think of a few ways to improve the HOF.
Cooperstown and the HOF are both wonderful places to visit. I’ve managed to make two trips there and thoroughly enjoyed both of them.
A rare start for KJ with a lefy pitching, and he continues his good hitting against them. I wish Bobby would stop platooning him. (Sigh)
Prado vs LHP: .286/.375/.500/.875
KJ vs LHP: .350/.384/.427/.811
Considering the team’s offensive problems, platooning at 2B makes some sense for the extra power Prado brings. He sucks defensively, but KJ is no Marcus Giles either.
The real issue is why Jeffy doesn’t get platooned vs RHP when he has a .668 OPS vs them (worse than Gotay’s and Blanco’s). OTOH, his .600 OPS vs LHP isn’t so hot either. Why is he not in the minors again?
@16,
Because he is such a great outfielder.
I amend something from yesterday. After looking at Duchsherer’s numbers, he might be a good target. He has a career WHIP of 1.11. More of that in relief than starting, but this year he is below 1.00. K/9 is around 9. He isn’t as big of a name as Sabathia or Sheets and there will only be so many teams looking at 12 million plus for 5 years plus.
It may not be fair to call him a #1 based on mostly one year, but he looks like a solid #2 with upside. We could do a lot worse.
bmac,
I am a KJ booster. Even after this year, I think we have a “near Utley.” But, last year he looked horrible against many lefties (particularly Rich Hill of the Cubs). Also, we have been horrible against lefties. Thus, Bobby is looking for any advantage. Plus, for Prado to have any chance at being useful, he might need to play once and a while and it might as well be there.
Hampton deserves credti–coming back from injuries is never easy–especially for older players. For what it is worth, I would rather have Hampton starting than Chuck James….
But, last year he looked horrible against many lefties (particularly Rich Hill of the Cubs).
Oliver Perez also comes to mind.
I can understand getting Prado in against the lefties, but he should replace someone who can’t hit lefties. Namely the Human Out Machine. Prado can’t be any worse in right field either.
Has it been talked about that the Braves won’t even need to offer Ohman arbitration to receive the sandwich pick (assuming he’s a Type B)? Rosenthal’s latest article mentions it.
#22, if you aren’t going to play Jeff vs lefties, you might as well send him down to Richmond — which I’m all in favor of.
Don’t care what is said. I’m glad Hampton is pitching well. Wren can get a prospect or two from the Phillies or Mets. do it today!
Oh, I think you have to put Hampton on waivers. He will clear them and if he pitches well in his next few starts, then a team that is desperate might take a flier on him.
Hampton might be someone worth keeping next year, obviously at a reduced cost. Assuming that the Braves can really sign CC or Sheets might be stretching reality a bit and Hampton, if he can stay healthy-admittedly a huge if–has shown he can be a productive pitcher. I don’t think the Braves can afford to simply discard guys like this just because they have a lot of money to spend, especially if all you are going to get is some low-level prospect. Let’s face it, he is a proven major league pitcher and those don’t grow on trees.
He’s “proven” in the sense that when he’s healthy he can get some people out. He also missed three seasons. Give me a break.
Well we can always resign him if we want.
Anythoughts about picking Andruw up if the Dodgers cut him at the end of the year?
He’ll probably be available through trade or waivers, but man don’t we have enough problems as it is?
#29, if there’s one thing the Braves don’t need, it’s another light hitting centerfielder. Blanco should be perfectly adequate until Shaeffer or Hernandez is ready. The Braves need to pick up at least one if not two high OPS corner outfielders for next year and Andruw is no longer that kind of hitter. Let somebody else take a chance on him regaining his form from 2006.
Game thread is up.
i’m all for stinking up the joint for the rest of the year while guys like B. Jones and Schafer and Hernandez (even though he’s still 2 years away and will be better than Schafer, IMHO) get some playing time in the bigs against some quality ML pitching.
i’m all for trading Kotsay for something useful.
i’m all for trading Hampton IF he gets hot.
the fact that we stink up the joint allows us to get a pick in the top-15. if we sign any free agents (i like sheets on a 3 year deal), the team that FA left DOES NOT get our draft pick because it’s in the top 15. they’ll get a supplemental AND our 2nd rounder. but let’s be honest here, more talent is in the 1st.
i’m then all for signing a guy like garland for an incentive-laden 2 year deal.
that would give us:
Sheets
Jurrgens
Garland
Campillo
Reyes/Morton
we would then be able to sign someone like Crawford and a THINK about moving Frenchy. I know that doing so would be selling low, but sometimes you gotta cut dead-weight. Addition by subtraction.
you think we could sign Sheets, Garland AND Crawford?
haha, i’m nuts.
Why is Chuck James pitching? What part of “toast” do they not understand?
He’s had nearly a year to learn to use his legs and hasn’t changed a thing and, guess what?, he’s getting shelled. Again. And not lasting to the fifth. Again.
Hell, start Buddy Carlyle. At least he tries to improve.
Not to nitpick, Chris, but it’s spelled “Jurrjens”, not “Jurrgens”. He’s not a body wash. 🙂
Also, signing a Crawford who is now in decline (and wasn’t very good to begin with) would be a bad, bad move. We need a power bat, preferably with some OBP, not a guy who steals bases.
Also, if someone wants to give us a decent prospect for a month and a half of Mike Hampton, I say do it. Seriously, what’s the worst that can happen?
my bad…guess i just needed a bath
🙂