Saturday blackouts because of Fox’s stupid afternoon game monopoly sucks. :-/
Parish
on April 11, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Indians lost again today.
So, at 0-5, they are the only winless team in MLB.
The Fish are the only undefeated team.
David
on April 11, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Kotchman hitting at 5 is killing me. What do you think the lineup will look like when Schafer hits 1st? You think Bobby will just put him at 1 and slide everyone down a slot, or what? I’m sure he’ll leave Chipper at 3rd though
I think Escobar should hit somewhere other than second. I like having him at the top of the order, but he hits into too many double plays. Maybe he could lead off or hit fifth.
I think it’s better for KJ to bat ahead of Chipper because KJ is a fairly patient so Chipper will have a chance to see some pitches before his AB. Plus I’m kind of a homer for KJ so any batting order that seems him getting more ABs is one I’ll support.
Escobar gets on base at about a .375 career clip. He should bat first or second. I’m fine with KJ & Esco at the top of the order.
And if you think Esco hits into too many DPs now, just wait til he breaks your heart 30+ times a year batting 5th or 6th. He’d be like Jim Rice without the homers.
Stu
on April 11, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Not to jinx anything, but the Nats are winless, too.
braves14
on April 11, 2009 at 4:37 pm
So if we lose tonight, I’m blaming Stu lol.
Weldon
on April 11, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Yeah, batting him fifth was not the brightest idea in the world. I’d rather have him there than Frenchy or Kotchman, though. Ultimately, I would rather him lead off. But if Schafer can get on at as high a rate as Escobar and steal, well…
Any idea where he was hitting when he grounded into those 24 double plays last year? I don’t really know how to look that up.
Frank
on April 11, 2009 at 4:41 pm
2-isn’t the game on Peachtree tv?
CourtneyC
on April 11, 2009 at 5:16 pm
we have 3 guys than can it 1-2 and nobody you want to see in hit 5-6. What a weird team.
NickC
on April 11, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I’m apprehensively anticipating tonight’s game. Didn’t see anything of Kawakami in Spring Training, so he’s currently just a $24m gamble to me.
As for Escobar, I wish he’d turn on balls more. It seems like when he’s prepared to do that he has more than enough power if he connects.
Parish
on April 11, 2009 at 6:04 pm
braves14 – You might end up blaming me for speaking into existence, should it happen that is.
GoBraves
on April 11, 2009 at 6:07 pm
no chip caray tonight?
Parish
on April 11, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Stu – also not to jinx anything, but the ‘Dores have a nice weekend going in Fayetteville right now.
Dan
on April 11, 2009 at 6:12 pm
no chip caray tonight?
Nice, isn’t it?
Stu
on April 11, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Parish,
Yeah, I could get used to these blowout wins on the road. Minor and Cotham both pitched very, very well.
Stu – I may have almost jinxed them. The Hogs scored twice in the bottom of the 9th. I thought the 9-run lead was looking pretty safe. It’s not like they have the Braves bullpen.
Parish
on April 11, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Kudos to Schafer for beating out the infield single and bringing up the pitcher. Too bad Kawakami swings like a pitcher.
He had a pretty good strikeout rate in Japan, and a very good K/BB. So hopefully he’ll do a better job of cutting down on the walks when he’s gone through the league once.
kc
on April 11, 2009 at 7:11 pm
AAR, I am surprised by what you said (without rechecking the numbers). I thought Kawakami has a low walk ratio when he was in Japan and is considered as a control pitcher!
I can see some good baseball instinct in him from the last play though.
kc
on April 11, 2009 at 7:13 pm
ok, getting out of that inning without allowing another run. Good, another scoreless inning and let the bullpen take over…oh no!!!
braves14
on April 11, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Fein hasn’t bothered me. Sort of a laid-back style and he hasn’t said anything dumb (yet).
Nathan
on April 11, 2009 at 7:17 pm
How do you ‘single to the first baseman’?
Sounds Prado-ish, but I thought Johnson was a good glove.
Edit: and Gameday thinks the first pitch to Kotchman was totally a strike. Is that accurate?
Nathan, you single to the first baseman by hitting a little swinging bunt in no-man’s land, then winning a footrace to first. Johnson made a terrific play on an earlier smash by Brian; Schafer and Diaz just tapped ’em to the right place.
Funny thing is, as much as we all ragged on LaRoche, he’s clearly a far superior hitter to Kotchman at this point.
spike (back in the ATL)
on April 11, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Kotch is pretty smooth at first though – give him that.
Weldon
on April 11, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Great, great play by Escobar. Man.
Kotchman is hilariously slow. Is he hurt or something? He can’t possibly be that slow. He looked like a friend of mine who tried to play softball with a torn ACL. Kind of like a lame horse hobbling away from a shotgun.
NickC
on April 11, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I do like that in Diaz, Kelly, Chipper and even McCann we have guys who know how to take the extra base when the fielders are dozing.
I still love Escobar stealing 2nd while the pitcher was wandering around behind the mound.
kc
on April 11, 2009 at 7:36 pm
AAR, but Adam is making $7M now. There is no way I give $7M to Adam.
Yunel almost broke Kotch’s hand on that throw….
kc
on April 11, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Hey, easy 1-2-3 inning for Kawakami-san! One more inning for him!!!
kc
on April 11, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Frenchy’s swing still looks pretty weak to me…
Weldon
on April 11, 2009 at 7:41 pm
AAR – re: Laroche, I thought that was a great trade for us at the time. But looking back, Laroche had a very good year when we traded for him and hasn’t been bad for the Pirates. He’s been too streaky, but he’s a much better hitter than Scott Thorman, Chris Woodward and Casey Kotchman.
Who knows what it would look like if Gonzalez had gotten injured, but if we had never traded Laroche, we might still have Harrison, Feliz, etc. Anyway, it’s all speculation.
Weldon, I was just thinking about that — funny how that works out.
OH MY GOD CHIPPER GREAT CATCH!
Also, KC, that’s a fair point about LaRoche’s salary — but they basically got screwed by the arb process. Before this year, $7mill’s a fair price for him. This year, it’s way, way too much.
Hmm… they’re hitting Kawa kinda hard this inning. Good thing it’s right at people.
kc
on April 11, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Nice!!! Another inning for Kawakami?…ok Prado is hitting, I guess not…
SHUTOUT INNING FROM PETER MOYLAN! I am going to cry…
…as long as Moylan doesn’t need to face Zimmerman, I guess things will be ok…but his velocity is obviously not back to normal yet…
Nasa from france
on April 11, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Critics, silenced.
NickC
on April 11, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Has he thrown his slider yet? That’s his really vicious pitch (especially when it starts out at a RHB’s legs) in my opinion, and I didn’t see it in that inning.
Nick, according to Gameday, he threw two sliders: his third pitch to Bard, and his first to Milledge. Both were out of the strike zone.
And Francoeur works his first walk of the year!
kc
on April 11, 2009 at 8:10 pm
NickC, I thought I saw a couple sliders in that inning…
Weldon
on April 11, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Holy crap, anyone else getting the Time Warner feed? They forgot to turn off Joe’s mic…
mraver
on April 11, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Weldon- What’d he say? Was it, “%!&$*@ needs to learn to hit to the opposite field”?
Ethan
on April 11, 2009 at 8:16 pm
You could have seen this hibernation mode coming a mile away
kc
on April 11, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Back to back night for Sori?! I am holding my breath…
kc
on April 11, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Man, Frenchy looks so slow on the field…
Weldon
on April 11, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Fein: Sorry about that, I had heard you talk about that kind of thing before…
Joe: Yeah, that Moneyball thing, I just hate it…
Fein: So you didn’t see the article on the fielding zone? It, uh, it was an interesting article…
Joe: I heard about it, I just think that’s another geek sittin’ in some computerized thing tryin’ to figure out what kind of ZONE he could come up with for Willie Harris when he’s never even laid eyes on Willie Harris.
Fein: Something something Torii Hunter…
AND we’re back. And I swear to god, that part about “computerized thing” is exactly what he said. Thank god for DVR, I guess.
Jon K
on April 11, 2009 at 8:20 pm
watching this braves bullpen is going to give us all peptic ulcers
I propose that we give Yunel Escobar the nickname “Emanski.” Watching him play short is like watching a Tom Emanski defensive drills video (it’s endorsed by Fred McGriff!) for free.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
GO BRAVES!
Regarding ugalaw’s comment in the last thread, these are my two favorite win expectancy graphs, a braves win and a mets loss:
http://www.fangraphs.com/wins.aspx?date=2006-09-17&team=Braves&dh=0&season=2006
http://www.fangraphs.com/wins.aspx?date=2003-06-08&team=Mets&dh=1&season=2003
Saturday blackouts because of Fox’s stupid afternoon game monopoly sucks. :-/
Indians lost again today.
So, at 0-5, they are the only winless team in MLB.
The Fish are the only undefeated team.
Kotchman hitting at 5 is killing me. What do you think the lineup will look like when Schafer hits 1st? You think Bobby will just put him at 1 and slide everyone down a slot, or what? I’m sure he’ll leave Chipper at 3rd though
1- Schafer
2- Escobar
3- Chipper
4- McCann
5- Francoeur
6- Johnson
7- Diaz/Anderson
8- Kotchman
Thoughts?
I think Escobar should hit somewhere other than second. I like having him at the top of the order, but he hits into too many double plays. Maybe he could lead off or hit fifth.
Schafer
KJ
Chipper
McCann
Escobar
Kotchman
Francoeur
(warm body)
pitcher
I think it’s better for KJ to bat ahead of Chipper because KJ is a fairly patient so Chipper will have a chance to see some pitches before his AB. Plus I’m kind of a homer for KJ so any batting order that seems him getting more ABs is one I’ll support.
Escobar gets on base at about a .375 career clip. He should bat first or second. I’m fine with KJ & Esco at the top of the order.
And if you think Esco hits into too many DPs now, just wait til he breaks your heart 30+ times a year batting 5th or 6th. He’d be like Jim Rice without the homers.
Not to jinx anything, but the Nats are winless, too.
So if we lose tonight, I’m blaming Stu lol.
Yeah, batting him fifth was not the brightest idea in the world. I’d rather have him there than Frenchy or Kotchman, though. Ultimately, I would rather him lead off. But if Schafer can get on at as high a rate as Escobar and steal, well…
Any idea where he was hitting when he grounded into those 24 double plays last year? I don’t really know how to look that up.
2-isn’t the game on Peachtree tv?
we have 3 guys than can it 1-2 and nobody you want to see in hit 5-6. What a weird team.
I’m apprehensively anticipating tonight’s game. Didn’t see anything of Kawakami in Spring Training, so he’s currently just a $24m gamble to me.
As for Escobar, I wish he’d turn on balls more. It seems like when he’s prepared to do that he has more than enough power if he connects.
braves14 – You might end up blaming me for speaking into existence, should it happen that is.
no chip caray tonight?
Stu – also not to jinx anything, but the ‘Dores have a nice weekend going in Fayetteville right now.
no chip caray tonight?
Nice, isn’t it?
Parish,
Yeah, I could get used to these blowout wins on the road. Minor and Cotham both pitched very, very well.
Not sure that Mark Fein is an improvement.
Stu – I may have almost jinxed them. The Hogs scored twice in the bottom of the 9th. I thought the 9-run lead was looking pretty safe. It’s not like they have the Braves bullpen.
Kudos to Schafer for beating out the infield single and bringing up the pitcher. Too bad Kawakami swings like a pitcher.
Too bad Ryan Zimmerman doesn’t.
I’ve only seen 2 different pitches from Kawakami so far, and he can’t control either of them.
KJ gets one back.
Was hoping for a crooked number there. No such luck.
Francoeur still sucks.
braves14, that’s exactly what I was planning to say…
Kawakami still can’t find his control…
Mark Fein isn’t much of an improvement, but it’s better than that colossal jackass Chip Caray.
Was Kawakami supposed to strike this many guys out? Is the wildness doing that much for him, anyway? All I have is Gameday.
He had a pretty good strikeout rate in Japan, and a very good K/BB. So hopefully he’ll do a better job of cutting down on the walks when he’s gone through the league once.
AAR, I am surprised by what you said (without rechecking the numbers). I thought Kawakami has a low walk ratio when he was in Japan and is considered as a control pitcher!
I can see some good baseball instinct in him from the last play though.
ok, getting out of that inning without allowing another run. Good, another scoreless inning and let the bullpen take over…oh no!!!
Fein hasn’t bothered me. Sort of a laid-back style and he hasn’t said anything dumb (yet).
How do you ‘single to the first baseman’?
Sounds Prado-ish, but I thought Johnson was a good glove.
Edit: and Gameday thinks the first pitch to Kotchman was totally a strike. Is that accurate?
KC, I rechecked them too — and rewrote my post!
JORDAN!
Fein is alright but he sounds better suited for an ACC baseball broadcast.
Nick Johnson can still pick it at 1B.
Who’d win a race between Kotchman, LaRoche, and McCann?
Jesus, I think McCann could beat Kotchman in a foot race.
I hate to talk like Bobby, but Schafer looks like a very good baseball player to me… and Frenchy looks like a decent football player to me.
KOTCHMAN IS LIKE A ONE LEGGED CRIPPLE OUT THERE ON THE BASE PATH
Nathan, you single to the first baseman by hitting a little swinging bunt in no-man’s land, then winning a footrace to first. Johnson made a terrific play on an earlier smash by Brian; Schafer and Diaz just tapped ’em to the right place.
If Kotchman wasn’t so slow, that was a triple.
Johnson also just saved an error on a throw that Guzman airmailed.
KELLY!
Man, Kelly is the MAN!!!
KJ!
OMG~!!~! HOW DO U HOLD JOHNSON THERE!. there has been some suspect 3rd base coach decisions this year so far
CHIP!!!!
Snitker’s off the hook — that’s just Chipper being Chipper.
Chippah!
lol
Kotchman gets no mercy around here.
Snitker’s decision making has always been a topic of discussion here since the day he became our 3rd base coach.
If Bobby kept pinch-running for Tex, I wonder why he doesn’t pinch run much for Kotch…
Geez, I guess Livan can still pitch…
geez, Yunel made that looks so easy…Edgar can only dream about making those plays.
DAMN, Escobar can pick it and throw it.
Funny thing is, as much as we all ragged on LaRoche, he’s clearly a far superior hitter to Kotchman at this point.
Kotch is pretty smooth at first though – give him that.
Great, great play by Escobar. Man.
Kotchman is hilariously slow. Is he hurt or something? He can’t possibly be that slow. He looked like a friend of mine who tried to play softball with a torn ACL. Kind of like a lame horse hobbling away from a shotgun.
I do like that in Diaz, Kelly, Chipper and even McCann we have guys who know how to take the extra base when the fielders are dozing.
I still love Escobar stealing 2nd while the pitcher was wandering around behind the mound.
AAR, but Adam is making $7M now. There is no way I give $7M to Adam.
Yunel almost broke Kotch’s hand on that throw….
Hey, easy 1-2-3 inning for Kawakami-san! One more inning for him!!!
Frenchy’s swing still looks pretty weak to me…
AAR – re: Laroche, I thought that was a great trade for us at the time. But looking back, Laroche had a very good year when we traded for him and hasn’t been bad for the Pirates. He’s been too streaky, but he’s a much better hitter than Scott Thorman, Chris Woodward and Casey Kotchman.
Who knows what it would look like if Gonzalez had gotten injured, but if we had never traded Laroche, we might still have Harrison, Feliz, etc. Anyway, it’s all speculation.
We are all better than Chris Woodward.
Nice play chipper!
Looks like Kawakami is getting his control back!
Weldon, I was just thinking about that — funny how that works out.
OH MY GOD CHIPPER GREAT CATCH!
Also, KC, that’s a fair point about LaRoche’s salary — but they basically got screwed by the arb process. Before this year, $7mill’s a fair price for him. This year, it’s way, way too much.
Hmm… they’re hitting Kawa kinda hard this inning. Good thing it’s right at people.
Nice!!! Another inning for Kawakami?…ok Prado is hitting, I guess not…
…I am not sure if I want to see Moylan…
Ugh… Moylan’s warming up in the bullpen. With a one-run lead.
This guy needs not to be on the roster.
The funny thing about Moylan is he says he feels good in the pen and he performed well down in Florida.
I only would have kept Kawakami in the game for a bunt. I guess that was Bobby’s thinking, too.
Good debut by Kawakami!
I would assume that this is Moylan’s last opportunity to record an out.
8k’s from Kawakami, Id like him to cut down on the walks. im sure he will, 1st start in the US and in line for the win. Come on bullpen.
Moylan’s keeping his pitches down a little better…
I’m still nervous as hell.
AN OUT FOR MOLYAN!!!
The guy seriously needs his glasses back.
Well that was a sight for sore eyes! Congrats to Moylan for finally getting an out.
His ERA is now 67.50
3 up, 3 down, 3 K’s.
Looks like you just saved your job, Pete.
SHUTOUT INNING FROM PETER MOYLAN! I am going to cry…
…as long as Moylan doesn’t need to face Zimmerman, I guess things will be ok…but his velocity is obviously not back to normal yet…
Critics, silenced.
Has he thrown his slider yet? That’s his really vicious pitch (especially when it starts out at a RHB’s legs) in my opinion, and I didn’t see it in that inning.
Nick, according to Gameday, he threw two sliders: his third pitch to Bard, and his first to Milledge. Both were out of the strike zone.
And Francoeur works his first walk of the year!
NickC, I thought I saw a couple sliders in that inning…
Holy crap, anyone else getting the Time Warner feed? They forgot to turn off Joe’s mic…
Weldon- What’d he say? Was it, “%!&$*@ needs to learn to hit to the opposite field”?
You could have seen this hibernation mode coming a mile away
Back to back night for Sori?! I am holding my breath…
Man, Frenchy looks so slow on the field…
Fein: Sorry about that, I had heard you talk about that kind of thing before…
Joe: Yeah, that Moneyball thing, I just hate it…
Fein: So you didn’t see the article on the fielding zone? It, uh, it was an interesting article…
Joe: I heard about it, I just think that’s another geek sittin’ in some computerized thing tryin’ to figure out what kind of ZONE he could come up with for Willie Harris when he’s never even laid eyes on Willie Harris.
Fein: Something something Torii Hunter…
AND we’re back. And I swear to god, that part about “computerized thing” is exactly what he said. Thank god for DVR, I guess.
watching this braves bullpen is going to give us all peptic ulcers
YEAH!!! DOUBLE PLAY!!!
I propose that we give Yunel Escobar the nickname “Emanski.” Watching him play short is like watching a Tom Emanski defensive drills video (it’s endorsed by Fred McGriff!) for free.
Hey, this Schafer kid is pretty good!
this schafer kid is decent
anyone else glad Esco didnt get traded
Nobody wants to see Yunel being traded.
Yeah, I’d say I’m okay with us not trading Emanski.
good job from the pen, good outing from Kawakami, big games from KJ Yunel and Schafer also
4-1. Can’t complain.
Great game. THAT is how the bullpen is supposed to work.
Recap up.