Atlanta Braves players with more home runs in a season than Joe Simpson hit in his entire career (9), from the season he started broadcasting the team’s games (1992). At some point, Joe has told every one of these players to try to hit a single to the opposite field, and most of them to try to bunt a runner from first.
1 Chipper Jones 14 times
2 Andruw Jones 11
3 Javier Lopez 10
4 Ryan Klesko 6
T5 Fred McGriff 5
T5 Jeff Blauser 5
T7 Jeff Francoeur 4
T7 David Justice 4
T9 Brian McCann 3
T9 Rafael Furcal 3
T9 Marcus Giles 3
T9 Brian Jordan 3
T9 Adam LaRoche 3
T14 Marquis Grissom 2
T14 Terry Pendleton 2
T14 Gary Sheffield 2
T14 Mark Teixeira 2
T14 Gerald Williams 2
T14 Vinny Castilla 2
T14 Michael Tucker 2
T14 Andres Galarraga 2
T14 Ron Gant 2
T14 Kelly Johnson 2
T14 Edgar Renteria 2
T25 Matt Diaz 1
T25 Robert Fick 1
T25 Damon Berryhill 1
T25 Bret Boone 1
T25 Scott Thorman 1
T25 Eli Marrero 1
T25 J.D. Drew 1
T25 Reggie Sanders 1
T25 Jermaine Dye 1
T25 Wes Helms 1
T25 Sid Bream 1
T25 Yunel Escobar 1
T25 Brian Hunter 1
T25 B.J. Surhoff 1
I’m starting to think Kotchman may actually be a good player. As of late he’s been actually working the count. But every time he starts to come around on me he swings at the worst pitch imaginable. Just like the Braves. Build me up just to let me down. This team is awful. McCann and Chipper are the only good hitters and Chipper is 37. I know you want to avoid punting on 2nd down, but if our regulars don’t improve drastically, and I do mean drastically when I say it, within the next month, we should probably go into seller mode and look to be competitive in 2011, when Eddie Perez is manager.
Heck, I’m down with that @1.
Chipper probably wouldn’t care to be on a rebuilding team for the last couple of years, but dang…this team is so far removed from any of our pennant-chasing teams of The Streak, it is ridiculously sad to watch them play.
Trade/cut/fire/demote/designate away.
Ever seen Scanners?
In honor of the Braves this season, I just posted a postapocalyptic short story on Chop-n-Change about baseball in a hundred years.
Hope you like it.
Wow – even Thor.
“He [Jo-Jo Reyes] looks so much better than he used to. He’s so close to being good. You certainly don’t want to give up on him. We’re going to stick with him and see if he can get through this.”
-Baghdad Bobby
At the risk of being publicly humiliated, I think Jo-Jo is pretty good for the role he plays.
He’s starting pitching depth, the number 7 starter. That’s if you don’t count the guys that are bound to pass him. He gives us a quality start every here and there, plus, whatever one may think, he has a chance to develop.
I know hope springs eternal in April and May, but this team cannot be a playoff team this year without very surprising performances from more than a handful of players. We might as well see if Jo-Jo can be among them, to see if he can develop into something with value either for our team or in trade rather than burn service time for Hanson or Medlen in a futile effort.
lineup per DOB
1. KJ
2. Escobar
3. Chipper
4. Anderson
5. McCann
6. Kotchman
7. Francoeur
8. Schafer
9. Vazquez
Blanton gets Schafer to K on 3 pitches. Sigh.
Yep–just flat out overmatched by mlb fastballs.
How long until the Schafer experiment is over?
Until there is a better option in center field
Good thing Schafer has some idea of the strike zone. If he had (pre-2009) Francoeur’s swing at anything mentality, he’d strike out 300 times.
If he had anybody else’s ability to hit 88-mph meatballs, he’d have 15 RBI.
Schafer’s OBP is around .380 isn’t it? And he is batting eighth. Is he really a big problem?
A pace of 10 homer, 30 rbis and 200 strikeouts is a big problem.
Extrapolating counting stats a month into the season is not informative. If he keeps getting on at .370, then he’s doing a lot more for us than much of the lineup.
Calm down and give him time to adjust to the big leagues. It’s ridiculous how impatient you people are sometimes.
whoever the announcer with don sutton is, i like him. he is not near as annoying as chip caray.
jordan schafer is the best option. he supplies good to great defense, but he must cut down his swing. to me, he would be better suited for leadoff where, hopefully, he would carry the mentality of just getting on base. what sucks is he played one game at the top of the order and he went 2 for 5. he should have been given another opportunity.
Ryan’s wrong, by the way; McCann didn’t hit two HR on Opening Day. He hit one on Opening Day and one on Wednesday (in the fall-from-ahead debacle). Those are still his only HR of the season.
#17,
I agree. He’s a rookie. We should’ve all seen this coming. you can’t assume a rookie will step in and not struggle. Plus, there’s nothing in his minor league track record that suggests he’s ready for the big leagues. While he’ll battle through the pains of being a rookie and the inevitable strikeouts, what don’t kill you makes you stronger. And in the long run, he’s going to be a very, very good player. So show some patience and let him develop. And he IS still developing.
Ok, let’s not look at counting stats. His BABIP is .377 and his RISP is .091.
A lot of people are too impatient, sure, but our lineup isn’t good enough for him to hit like that.
*edit* I wouldn’t advocate sending him down just yet, but if he continues to strike out 20 times a week and wither with men on base, yeah, I would. I’m interested in his development, but I still think this team has a shot at the postseason…and it’s not like he’s the only CF prospect we have.
Turning five walks into one single and four outs isn’t a winning exchange, Weldon. Schafer shouldn’t get into Francoeur-esque habits; he should only be swinging at pitches he can do something with.
Grst and PWHjort are right; Schafer’s a rookie, and was a good enough prospect that he deserves patience and a chance to show that he can adjust to the league after it has adjusted to him.
Schafer should not be in the majors.
Of course, its just my opinion but he has shown me no reason that he was ready for this, getting alot of walks in the 8th spot in the order is no miracle.
He has tons of talent, i just hate seeing guys rushed in, Josh Anderson could have done as well if not better.
I didn’t suggest he do that, Brian J. That would be stupid, and a bad approach. Another bad approach? Swinging and missing at three pitches with one out and a man on third.
I’ll elaborate, I guess. His BABIP is pretty high, which suggests his OBP is not going to stay at at .370 if he continues on at his current rate – indeed, he won’t stay over the Mendoza line if his BABIP returns to the league average. As far as the RISP is concerned, I agree that he shouldn’t be swinging at bad balls, but he’s missing too many good ones. You can’t defend the 2-22 7BB 11K line…it’s great that he’s walking, but at some point you have to hit.
Sorry. I interpreted your statement as saying that he should swing at more pitches. He doesn’t need to do thst. On the other hand, how do you learn to hit? Practice, practice, practice. Besides, it’s not as if Blanco, our only other conceivable CF, is much better (or much different).
…Chip, if Anderson can’t hit a ball much harder than at the RF 30 feet in front of the fence, that should tell you and Garret something (RETIRE!)
BRIAN!
Greetings from West Palm Beach, former home of the Braves…
Another sharp outing from Vasquez, and isn’t it nice to have McCann in the lineup? I can get used to 3 hits from one guy in the middle of the order.
Cox is using Gonzalez after pitching him 3 days in a row, then resting him for 1 day. Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure James Parr, Buddy Carlyle, or Jeff Bennett can protect a 4 run lead.
@27 – not at Citizens Bank Park!
And another day’s work is done.
Do we even wear gray jerseys anymore? Nevertheless, nice recovery by Vazquez from his Monday night mid-game implosion.
@30 – I like the blue – it looks sharp.
Recap’s up.
moved to saturday comments…