Today’s game thread video is dedicated to Jason Marquis’ mustache!
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Today’s game thread video is dedicated to Jason Marquis’ mustache!
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
Braves not the only blind optimists – SweetSpot by Rob Neyer – ESPN
Mac,
See also Keith Law’s chat comment about Jordan Schaefer to the effect that they rushed him and they rushed Francouer and look what happened.
I think the Braves reputation as a well-run organization is taking a hit. For the last few years, they seem to be making decisions based on expediency (or perhaps Bobby Cox’s desire to win again before it’s too late).
Re Francoeur’s problems being caused by his batting in the 7th spot–way to throw Schafer under the bus. The kid’s got challenges of his own w/out being blamed for Mondesi II.
Does anyone know if there will be a Medlin sighting tonight?
@3: If anything it’s a cascade effect. I’ve been saying for weeks that I want to get Schafer out of the 8th spot. Put him at the top of the order, and if he can’t succeed there after a few weeks send him down to AAA. I don’t buy the Francoeur batting 7th is his main problem, but it certainly can’t help. I think batting 7th in front of Kelly would reduce the effect… even if Kelly is having an awful year, he has more respect built up around the league than a 22 year-old who is 2/30 with RISP.
Also, Jordan was 2/5 in his one game in the leadoff spot this year, and he’s 9/29 with 5 BB leading off an inning this year. I think it’s time to take off the training wheels…
@4: Medlen’s start got pushed back to Thursday by the rain on Sunday. He won’t be added to the roster until then.
Two more days until the Medlennium.
Here’s another idea. “Jeff, the problem is that you’re anxious. Here, take these pills and lie down for the next few months.”
I want to repost this link that urlhix originally posted in the last thread.
http://www.careersportsentertainment.com/baseball-clients.aspx
Cox and Francoeur have the same agent. There must be some kind of Manchurian Candidate scenario going on.
For all of Schafer’s issues, his OBP is still higher than Frenchy’s has ever been at any point of his career.
If he can continue to play solid CF, I say let Schafer be. He was probably rushed a bit, but its too early to say he won’t work his way through it. Prior to this year, he’s only played about a half a year above A ball, and from every thing I’ve seen, cat’s got his head straight.
Most weren’t expecting a lot of offensive from center field anyway.
@1: Rob Neyer does a good job there to point out the fatalism of rooting for, or being part of, a team. Chipper realizes that there weren’t enough spare resources to bring in a viable replacement, so he rightly pointed out that Jeff was going to play a key role in determining our success.
On the other hand, Neyer clearly hasn’t spent enough time looking at Jeff’s career to make the claims he does: “Francoeur and the people around him think he’s going to hit, even though he hasn’t ever hit, really, except for three magical months four years ago.”
First off, Jeff didn’t hit for three magical months, he only hit well for the first month and a half until his OPS dropped under .700 from September through the playoffs. Secondly, Jeff has now played about 22 months (technically 21 and 2 half months by the calendar.) Discounting his first half month which was meteoric, and this last half which has been catastrophic, 10 of these months produced an OPS of .748 or higher, and 4 of those were .845 or higher (Aug ’05, Jul ’06, Mar/Apr ’07, and July ’07.) Jeff’s shown he can hit, he just hasn’t shown he can hit consistently enough to be the kind of player that the media wants him to be, and the team needs him to be.
Yeesh, weird piece about Khalil Greene. But I assure you Frenchy doesn’t suffer from a similar ailment — he’ll apparently blame anything (even the scoreboard) before he blames himself for failure.
Tenth!
May the Jurrjens train keep rolling.
@10: But hitting in the 8th hole should theoretically increase your OBP, as there are numerous situations where you’ll be unintentionally intentionally walked to get to the pitcher. It should have a negative effect on AVG, especially for a free-swinger who is willing to trade a free walk for a better chance at driving in a runner.
Well I guess it’s good I’m planning to go to the game tonight AND Thursday then.
Has there been any talk of moving Chipper to first much like the Royals did with George Brett in 1988 to save his body?
If the Braves were to do that, could Infante play third, thereby keeping his hot bat in the lineup and allowing the Braves to dangle Kotchman and a couple of other pitchers/prospects for a big bat OF?
What about snagging someone like Alex Rios or Nick Markakis with that deal?
@1 The funny thing about the Neyer story is that the Braves have been fairly ruthless during the Schuerholz years. Anyone that didn’t produce after a fair chance was either cut or traded. Didn’t matter if you were Greg Maddux or Chuck James. If you couldn’t produce to the level expected see ya don’t want to be ya. This is what is so perplexing about the Francouer situation. But better ball players than Jeff Francouer have made millions milking 1 or 2 great seasons (or in Jeff’s case a good 50 games or so)with a team hoping that he returns to that level of performance. The baseball landscape is littered with failed ex Braves. Yet even with a huge sample size the Braves continue to trot that kid out there to hurt the team.
Peanut says stuff like this:
‘Through his first 18 games this year, Francoeur was hitting .292 with 12 RBIs. Over the course of the past 19 games, he’s hit .203 and tallied seven RBIs.’
BUT IT WAS AN EMPTY .292 WITH NO WALKS AND NO POWER! 12 RBIs is the measurement of success? That kind of stuff from the Braves is just drives me crazy.
@13: That was almost funny the first time… and now you’re not even getting your math right… well at least you noticed your error in time to change it.
@10: Also, Jeff’s OBP after 37 games was .383, quite a bit higher than Jordan’s through the same period. He kept his OBP higher than Jordan’s .349 through 57 games, and as late as 61 games into his career it was back above it (.352).
@16: Markakis is untouchable. First base is likely being saved for Freddie Freeman, and Chipper seems to be doing just fine at first. I’ve seen numerous denials that they would ever consider such a thing, which makes sense since the last time they moved him to a new position to “save his body” it didn’t work.
Superfly from the last thread @61 : “While we’re doing definitions, here’s a much better one for the term Gadfly: “used by Plato in the “Apology” to describe Socrates’ relationship of uncomfortable goad to the Athenian political scene, which he compared to a slow and dimwitted horse.””
I love it, Superfly admits that he is analogous to Socrates, a dude that spent his time annoying the hell out of people by trying to convince them that claims about reality (Francouer sucks) should not be based on what is tangible or measurable (OBP, OPS, watching him fail) but that they should instead believe in incorporeal ideas (Francouer’s talent=Socrates’ daimon).
Seems more likely Schafer isn’t seeing good pitches because the stiff they bat in front of him can’t seem to ever get on base.
JCM – Willpower, man – try to stay strong.
Did Jon K get banned?
I wish people would stop pointing to particular months to prove Jeff can hit. Over the course of a single month you could be lucky or unlucky, and to top it all off you will only get like 100 ABs which is hardly significant enough to draw any conclusions.
Jeff has had 2400 major league at-bats. He has career numbers of .267/.309/.430/.739, with an OPS+ of 90.
That’s who he is. A guy with no plate discipline, bad pitch recognition, doesn’t walk, strikes out a lot, and has a little bit of power.
Jeff has had 2400 major league at-bats. He has career numbers of .267/.309/.430/.739, with an OPS+ of 90. That’s who he is. A guy with no plate discipline, bad pitch recognition, doesn’t walk, strikes out a lot, and has a little bit of power.
To use a phrase I heard from someone else here, you’d have to have no imagination to rely solely on OPS to determine a player’s ability. It’s a shame none of the other things I would use look any better.
Wow, JoeCraig… maybe you should bone up on Socrates again. That high school civics course didn’t quite give you an honest depiction.
Of course I wasn’t saying I was analogous to Socrates in every sense, only that I am not scared away by any sophistry or deafening shout-downs in the same way he wasn’t.
@24: You can explain a bit of variation by luck, but over 100 ABs luck isn’t going to make the difference between a .739 OPS and a .908… that’s 17 bases (or on base trips) of difference. You can also look an entire season (2007) and show that Jeff can hit in the Majors, and you can look at ’05-’07 and show that Jeff can drive in runs consistently… unless anyone cares to show how that isn’t the case (full analysis at the end of Sunday’s game thread if you want to see it.)
@25: So why wouldn’t you use the analysis I provided before? Because that looks much better… 71 points of OPS better when compared to Garrett Atkins… I hope to have more comparisons soon too, since I’m sure you all are tired of hearing about Garrett. That is unless someone thinks they can show why that analysis should be ignored?
Just to discuss OPS — no reason, nobody seems to be using it around here — it’s a dumb stat. It adds things together which really should be multiplied, and it counts slugging as being as important as on-base, which is absurd. It had its time in the sun, and it was better than relying upon batting average. But it doesn’t really measure player value in any meaningful way. For example, it greatly overestimates Jeff Francoeur’s value — I know, nobody brought him up — because it doesn’t sufficiently discount for how many outs he makes.
I remain convinced that if a hundred years ago someone had turned on-base percentage on its head and called it “out percentage”, as in, “Jeff Francoeur’s out percentage is .734” — just taking a name at random — people would be a lot more accepting.
Superfly,
As a professor of Ancient Greek who routinely teaches Plato and Xenophon, I’d love to hear more about your “honest depiction” of Socrates. Or not.
Man oh man – I had no idea that bravely transcending shout downs and sophistry on an internet chat board ranked up there with being the foremost logician of the Hellenic age – Christ, how do some folks get their head through a doorway when they come home at night?
#8: Also, Khalil Greene went to Clemson…
Amen, Spike.
I can’t believe every thread is turning into the same Jeff Francoeur discussion. The same. Identical. Same arguments by everyone, same senseless counterarguments by Gadfly. Aaaaaargh! Frenchy sucks.
I’ll let Woody Allen handle this:
http://tinyurl.com/qfa65a
@28,
Frankly, when I see Jeff Francouer hit, I feel like drinking hemlock myself.
Wow. Surely no one will think to accuse Rob Neyer of not analyzing data and statistics enough. Especially when the data is of the “smash you in the face with obvious conclusions” variety.
If ever someone does spew such a ridiculous notion, I truly hope someone gives that man some TP to wipe the brain diarrhea with.
“That’s who he is. A guy with no plate discipline, bad pitch recognition, doesn’t walk, strikes out a lot, and has a little bit of power.”
HAD a little bit of power
I have an idea that some friends and I have been discussing for a few years now that I wanted to throw out to be ripped apart.
What if…MLB created a traveling Home Run derby. And do it exhibition style. It would be like baseball’s version of the long drive competition in golf. They could put it in the stadiums when the teams are on the road. Do it the same style as the All Star game. You could do it in pools and have the winners advance. You could even have playoffs and crown a champ. The possibilities are endless.
This would also help revenues for the stadiums and the chance to catch a HR ball would attract a lot of people to come/bring their kids. Seating might be tricky, but you could figure it out.
I know some old-schoolers might be against it for whatever reason, but I think it would be awesome.
What do you guys think?
Brilliant, Ububba. The guy running his mouth in line reminds me of the folks here that think a new hitting coach would change anything. lets try a new 1st base coach while we’re at it.
How does being a 10 out 10 on the Black Hole of Suck spectrum factor into out percentage?
@37 Ethan,
Are you talking about like the old Home Run Derby with the all-time greats? I’m not sure players today would be willing to participate. A lot of players, rightly or wrongly, think the HR derby affects their swing/approach to regular season hitting.
great idea Ethan………but only if the bunting and pop-up catching competitions get equal time.
Bobby must have swine flu……
Escobar
Casey Kotchman
C. Jones
Brian McCann
Garret Anderson
Kelly Johnson
Jeff Francoeur
Jordan Schafer
Jair Jurrjens
per Carroll Rogers
If he isn’t seeing the same pitches batting 7th, why isn’t he walking more?
This bit is awful for me, “But there’s also some reason to believe that Francoeur might be pressing to avoid a repeat of the 2008 season.”
So the reason he failed in June last year was because he was pressing for May, the reason he failed in July was because he was pressing for failing in May and June etc. etc. etc. If he can’t work out the right mental approach after a year, what gives anyone any confidence he’ll work it out soon?
#41, or he reads this blog. At least the non-Francoeur parts.
@39
No,
I mean have it completely separate from MLB baseball. Current MLB players wouldn’t participate.
Get the old guys who can’t hack it anymore, or the young guys who never could.
It would be kinda like the golf long drive competitions.
Are you serious, csg? OMG! Now, only if Francoeur was out of the lineup.
csg,
I actually like that line-up.
Also loved the Annie Hall reference ububba. That’s one of my all time favorite movies!
That is one outstanding lineup, Bobby. Well done, sir.
well ethan, you pretty much made my argument for me. thats why i always hated old timers games and probably why they’ve stopped doing them . (or is it because the “old timers” aren’t broke anymore)? and just like the long drive competition has nothing to do with actually playing golf, home run derbys have nothing to do with playing baseball……….i like your capitalist spirt though, and if you think you could sell enough tickets to cover the utility bill for a mlb stadium to people who want to watch the Dave Kingmans and Cedil Fielders of the world flail away, by all means, go for it.
lets dont give him credit until the game starts and its correct. Frenchy will probably have a good bp session and get moved to 4th
Barrycuda,
Nobody flails away at BP balls. You’re saying you never would go the stadium early as a kid to try to catch homerun balls at BP?
I’m not saying they would actually play the game, because if the players could do that, they’d be doing it. But the HR Derby is a completely different skill. If it was a traveling, novelty type event, I think people would go.
Look how popular it is at the all-star game. I mean, we’re going this year in StL and there was a big argument over whether to go to the Derby or the actual game (only have money for one). This wouldn’t be that popular, but you really don’t think the event would draw?
We better win this game, lest Bobby re-roll the lineup dice.
I’m not sure an HR Derby would be a draw without the star power of the MLB sluggers.
I dont know if I hate the HR derby or if I just hate that it last for 6 hrs and I have to listed to Chris Berman the whole time. I dont know if Id go or not, but I did use to enjoy the old black and white HR derby’s that came on tv
Why didn’t I just lump all three of these brief posts together into one? That’s strange…
Did Bobby read Braves Journal?
Why are we giving Bobby credit for intentionally putting together a nearly ideal lineup given our roster of players?
Let’s call it what it is and thank lady luck for the blessing. Eventually, even double zero green comes up a winner.
I like the lineup, but I’d make one change. Bat Jurrjens 7th.
Ethan, i’ll say this and be done with it. next time you watch the HR derby, notice how many of the best hitters in the world DO flail away and how many really good hitters end up with 2 or 3 homers. i think the novelty has long worn off and its damn boring…… as a kid the only games i ever got to see were ST for the Orioles in the old miami stadium and i’d get there 2 hours early to watch BP…… i once watched Bad Henry take his 20 or so swings off Warren Spahnn and rattle the big plywood fence in left without ever hitting one over it.
Yes, short of benching our RF, the lineup’s fine, IMO. At least Bobby’s trying to shake it up a little bit. Yunel & Kotch at 1-2 works for me.
I had home run derby tickets last year—the Yankees forced me to buy them (and old-timers game tix & Fanfest tix) with my all-star game tickets. But I sold them. I know Josh Hamilton hit a million bombs, but it just wasn’t something that interested me.
When I was a kid, though, I loved getting there early for BP. I remember watching Stargell put on a show at AFC.
@28: I would love to talk philosophy with just about anyone here except for you, Mr. McMurtry. If you really think Socrates was no more than “a dude that spent his time annoying the hell out of people…” then I feel bad for your students.
Stu @ 10,
I noticed you mistakenly said “Ninth!” originally. I assume from the respective timestamps that the mistake was due to a simultaneous comment from Jeff K. I cannot think of another logical reason why you’d have initially claimed the 10th post was the 9th.
In fact, all other potential explanations that I considered failed upon consultation with my logic textbooks. While I won’t take the time here to explain exactly where the failures were, I will provide some other form of information that is actually irrelevant but somehow might appear to be relevant, in that it references something contained somewhere in the ether, where my point obviously lies. The ISBN numbers of the textbooks I consulted are as follows: 0511060637, 1551116359, 1568810938, 079239786X in addition to Musicpro Guides: Logic 8 – Advanced Level software…in case you want to take the time to check my work.
Anyway, it’s about time I head off to work, or home, to do whatever it is I’m doing when I’m not contemplating the apparent numerical mistake made by you earlier today.
Don’t even get me started on how philosphicaly wrong the entire premise of your numbering system is. Oh, and your soccer tee shirt is too small. I pity you, fool.
I bet Socrates would have thought Jeffy was cute.
Dix @52: Sadly, I’m about to head home from work now, too, so I won’t be in front of a computer for a while and I don’t have time to go into the entirety of my reaction in quite as much detail as I’d prefer here in this space, but I did want to note briefly that the assumption you make in your first paragraph is an accurate one, although I must admit that I’m somewhat perplexed by your interest in the situation.
While I really must go, I’d also like to add that your comment, while seemingly ill-timed and perhaps even a bit silly, reminds me of someone, although I’m unable to put my finger on precisely whom at the moment. I’m tempted, initially, to say it’s Manilow, but I can’t fathom that Barry would ever compile such a sequence of numbers in any sort of online discussion. I’ll be working on an analysis of your comments, and I hope to be able to provide a clearer picture of who it is you’ve reminded me of when I next have an opportunity to post here.
http://tinyurl.com/ql5znb
This reads like something out of Pravda.
I feel like the plug is very close to being pulled though despite this article.
@53: Before I depart for the day, I wanted to quickly note that I’m glad, though a bit surprised, to see that I’m not the only one here to have had something in his brain triggered by Dix’ thought-provoking, if slightly simplistic and not terribly helpful, soliloquy @52. Socrates is exactly the gentleman I was trying to recall, Mac. As I’ve thoroughly explained several times in previous threads to which I direct your attention on the off chance you’re open to a thoughtful discussion, we mustn’t rush to label shades of gray as black and white when it comes to identifying similarities between us and our musical or ideological forefathers. To that end, I’m quite confident that Dix’s remarks are quite Socratic, though of course not in interrogative form, as one might typically expect to find.
Anyway, now that we have that business squared away, I’ve said enough, so farewell for now….
McCann’s slow, but you don’t normally see him get thrown out on the bases.
whaddya know, the Braves Journal formulated lineup resulted in a 1st inning run
I’ve been at work the past 10 1/2 hours…is this lineup for real? What is Bobby’s name on here, he must’ve read the thread from last night….
This Turner Field crowd might be worse than last night.
On a separate note….A-Rod hit his 5th homerun in 33 at-bats this season, while nobody on our team has that many for the whole year. Sad. So sad. Sorry Lowe, Jurrjens, and Vazquez, you’re going to have to pitch shut-outs and pray for 1 run.
Wow, a MegaPrado.
They just won’t let us give it to them, huh…
The next time Joe Simpson says something about “shortening your swing and poking it to right field”, i’m going to put an axe through the TV.
“Productive at bat because you clear Jurrjens”
Wow, let’s celebrate not hitting into double plays instead of wasting 2 on 1 out situations.
Holy crap, Francoeur got a hit there?
No, he hit a perfect GIDP ball but the second baseman dropped it.
Jurrjens!
C’mon, Kotch. Be clutch…
Yes, but the scorer gave Francoeur a hit there.
edit: or did they? I checked Yahoo and it says error. Thought Simpson said hit.
I’m keeping up with Gamecenter as well as watching the game, and they’ve got it as a Barmes error.
I guess the scorer felt too sorry for him. YAY KOTCHMAN
No, it was an error.
Very clutchy, Casey…
And Jurrjens gets to walk home, which is nice.
The Rockies are looking like the Braves right about now
How many times this year have we batted around?
A crooked number for a change.
One more base hit & we might breathe a little easier.
Their Defense is terrible.
Chip mentioning the no-hitter after 2 innings. Fun times.
And right on cue, Barmes doubles.
Their defense is not normally a problem. And at least their outfielders hustle, GARRET.
Atlanta may have the worst fans in baseball (Braves Journal posters excluded of course.)
I think Marlins’ fans are worse, to name one team.
Garret Anderson is one gigantic piece of shit.
big lagtime on MLB TV tonight, even their boxscore is ahead of the game.
Braves14, truth.
I always had trouble with delay with MLB.tv, so my roommate and I finally coughed up the $180 for the Extra Innings package.
Wasn’t it Helton that hit that 2 out game winning HR off of John Rocker on the last day of the season that cost us home field vs the Cards?
Twas.
Was that Anderson hustling?
Francoeur was safe.
Schafer!
Looked out by a half step to me.
SCHAFER!
Man, the Rockies are awful tonight.
Stupid to run on that. Oh well.
@62, 63, and 65: FINALLY, that’s some decent humor there. I knew you would eventually get better than the sophomoric stuff you usually trot out again and again.
Bobby must have someone reading Bravesjournal. I swear this line-up has been discussed over and over here.
Hmmm….Schaffer running with Escobar coming up. Is he the fastest Braves? Wow this team is slowwwwww
Somebody’s gonna have to explain this play…
rob, that was not stupid. that’s called stretching to find a complaint.
@93: You’d have a good point if such a thing existed. Florida gets a few spectators every now and then, but they have no fans.
It was pretty shallow and he was out by ten feet. With Esco coming up. It’s a legitimite gripe.
I’d guess Whitey Ford.
It is never a stretch to question Snitker’s judgment. That’s always in play.
Christy Matthewson? Yeah, I would have guessed that.
Five-run game and they’re obsessing about a guy thinking about stealing second with two out. Anyone have the charts on win probability in that situation? What would stealing second do, take the Rockies from a 3.3 percent chance of victory to 3.4?
Obviously, KJ has fixed himself and needs to go back into the leadoff spot.
Amazing. Kelly just became the first Brave with two stolen bases- in our 36th game.
Francoeur is awwwwful.
Frenchy Being Frenchy.
Good KJ’s back.
I’ve asked this before, but I don’t recall ever getting an answer: Which of Chip Caray and Jeff Francoeur is worse at his job?
I think it might actually be Chip. As embarrassingly awful as Jeff Francoeur is, he’s still better than a seventh grader would be.
ACHE’s batting average is now higher than Stenchy.
I can’t really answer that, Stu. That’s like wondering about death by drowning or burning.
With his performance tonight, Frenchy is down to a career-low .356 Slugging. The .261 OBP is also a career low (by 32 points!). But his .242 average is still 3 points above last year, so he’s got that going for him.
is Chip worse than Joe?
Jurrjens is the man.
is Frenchy now in the .230’s again? give me Diaz, Brandon Jones, Norton, Infante, or something other than this clown
@120
that’s because ACHE is a professional hitter and jeff is a professional shitter.
ACHE is at .243 and Stenchy is at .242. (ACHE had been below .200 when coming off the DL)
I haven’t seen Francoeur’s at bats this game, but my guess is the short bus rider of plate discipline has seen maybe 5 pitches in 3 PA. Anyone know the actual number?
if kotchman is looked over for the gold glove, then we all know it’s a sham. but i think we all already know that.
Nine pitches, Frank. Three in each at bat.
It’s so sad that KJ is basically screaming for Cox to keep him down in the order, but we know how Cox operates. Look for KJ to be leading off again very soon.
Kotch is really good.
Hey we are winning!
thanks Brian–3 per AB is below avg but not grossly so
its amazing what guys can do when they are put in the correct places. This is the perfect lineup for our team if you replace Frenchy with anyone else.
Whoever is blaming Francoeur’s horrible performance thusfar to him batting 7th,
You’re off base. Completely. The bulk of his PA’s this year have come batting 5th or 6th. He has 57 PA’s batting 6th, 62 PA’s batting 5th, 26 PA’s batting 7th, and 9 PA’s batting 4th (yikes).
That would be Peanut.
Great lineup with the notable exception of right field. Puts your best hitters getting the most at bats. Gets KJ down in the lineup where he seems to hit best. I guess no one has told him that place in the order shouldn’t matter.
138–LF also leaves a wee bit to be desired …
Jurrjens has been pretty good, hasn’t he?
I’ll give Anderson credit for being servicable since he’s come back, though.
Jair Jurrjens is really good.
Yes, and thank goodness for that. 7 3 1 1 3 8 is a damn good linescore, and one you need with the kind of ‘help’ our outfield gives him.
Do the Tigers have any more minor league pitchers we can trade for? It seems to work out all right for us.
great outing from Jair
7IP 3H 8K (he does have a strikeout pitch)
JJ has been good all year. Maybe KJ should see a psychiatrist. Something is not right up there. Or maybe he just can’t handle the pressure at the top of the order.
Edgar who? Another great acquisition from the Tigers.
@139 Yeah I know but G seems to be IMPROVING little by lttle.
Is anyone else thinking we might be watching Francoeur’s swan song? I realize the Braves are seemingly and endlessly attached to the guy and he’s blogging for one of their biggest sponsors in Delta; but I’m getting a very distinct feeling that it’s about over for him here right now.
btw, everyone including the pitcher has a hit tonight, except Frenchy
I also think so, Dan. Actually, I think ‘hope so’ is the operative term. Seriously, I cannot imagine him sticking around if it inconveniences Heyward in any way.
I hope you’re right, Dan.
I think that if he doesn’t shape up by the end of May (which we all know he won’t) that he will be gone.
Nah! Come on guys he only has 154 PAs Gonna need at least 200 more before they decide he truly sucks. Sarcasm aside I am guessing, using the Mondesi time frame as a reference that the figure it out by the end of May or 1st week in June.
Chipper and Garrett two great 37 y/o single hitters…..how exciting.
I’m listening to the Colorado feed and they were discussing how happy Chipper was to have someone else in Atl from his generation. That’s special. Actually these guys are fun to listen to.
I would say KJ saved Francoeur there.
Would have certainly been 3 more LOB if Kelly had taken the walk.
Mondesi had 155 PAs when we released him in 2005. So Frenchy hit that reference tonight. (Mondesi was hitting 211/ 271/ 359, BTW.)
I will be shocked and relieved if we drop Francouer. That said, I don’t see it happening.
francoeur’s last year is most definitely this year, but how early is the question.
this might not be a popular idea, but jordan schafer is the only natural leadoff hitter on the team. i like this lineup but we need a spark at the top. putting schafer in the leadoff will truly test his ability to adapt his swing. however, i do like kotchman in the 2 hole. my lineup (against righties).
schafer
kotchman
chipper
mccann
anderson
escobar
kj
anyone but francoeur
Amazingly, not an out! Frenchy chooses to get hit by a pitch instead.
Atta boy, Jeff.
That almost took care of him.
HE GOT ON!!
I find I’m okay with Francoeur getting hit. Best thing he can do, really.
#147
From your fingers to God’s ears, Dan.
Ryan, I’d move Escobar and KJ ahead of Anderson, but otherwise that lineup looks good.
Schafer has definitely shortened his swing.
Ryan,
Schaffer is not that fast to have to deal with his .218 BA and his billion strikeouts.
Why would you put Escobar, one of your 3 best hitters in the 7th hole?
Re: the HBP
I’m surprised he didn’t swing and turn it into a strike
Dexter Fowler looks to be fluid. 10 SB already, good persona, 23 y/o and from Atlanta, Ga. Hmmmmmmm
167- That happened when I was pitching in high school once. I hit a guy in the ribs and he almost swung all the way around. Too bad both umps were retarded and gave him first base.
Did anyone else have their MLB.com crash?
This lineup is as good as it gets with Stenchy around. But look how much better the below looks:
Escobar
Kotchman
Chipper
Dye (Ludwick?)
McCann
KJ
Anderson/Diaz
Schafer
This pitcher sucks….geez.
I think Francoeur makes it through the end of the year and then gets non-tendered.
At some point, though, I think he will hear that it’s to the bench or a platoon role for him or back to the minors to learn to hit.
Nope. There’s an injury delay. Anyone know what that’s about?
Schafer’s on-base skills are such that he’d be more valuable at the top of the order, but I would stick with the best hitters. The best argument for Schafer at leadoff is that he’s been so bad with runners on base that you don’t want him hitting in those situations. That two-run single in the third was the first run-scoring single of his career, and the first RBI hit he’s had since the third game of the season.
Two hands on one pitch. Ouch.
Escobar was hit by a pitch and it stung.
When I was in H.S. I was given the sac bunt sign, and I squared around and the pitch came right at my chest. I had no way to pull the bunt back to “unswing” and no way to dodge because I was square to the pitcher. I had to bunt it with the part of the bat between my hands, halfway down the handle.
Esco was hit also but cant see the game, anyone?
Why didn’t Nick Esasky ever make it back?
Esco got hit on the hand, along with the catcher.
Hits two of our batters, you gotta make him pay.
Nice work, Kotch.
@166
he’s actually batting 6th, and i’m not sure he is the 3rd best hitter. kotchman has been great this year. i would actually like escobar batting 5th, but bobby would not do that.
schafer has not been given any kind of opportunity to show his base stealing ability. he’s the only person on this team with any ability whatsoever to steal a base. he needs the chance.
Vertigo….for the Nick. I think Nick would have been ok in Atlanta. Another double for Kotch.
Keep Kotchman in the 2 hole. Looking solid.
Well, I know he had vertigo, but he never recovered from it?
does anyone know if schafer led off for all his minor league years?
Is that Gonzo? Why? Why was he even warming up in a 5-run game?
there is absolutely no reason, NONE, to have gonzo pitching in this situation
This would have been a good time to bring Jo-Jo out of the pen.
Gonzo in.
Does he qualify for the Atlanta save?
Of course, unless he allows seven runs. This makes no sense, but why should Cox start now?
GONZO is in? LMAO
Thirteen pitches to retire Hawpe. I refuse to believe that this is a good sign.
Schafer hit 3rd a lot, but I think I remember him at leadoff and 5th.
The guy will be a decent hitter. He just got called up too early and has some maturing to do.
You guys really need to learn some patience for these young guys.
I hope you’re not talking about Francoeur.
Jo Jo will get the call when we have the bases loaded with no outs
Gonzo seems to be getting something of a tight strike zone for an 8-1 game.
Heh, heh. Not French Toast.
And for all our complaining, the good guys won and made it look easy.
Wish we had more games like this.
Nats and Pirates in extra innings
.500!
Infante will start tomorrow and Esco will be back in the 2 hole, even after KJ’s 3 hit game
HA, I was right….per Carroll at ajc
tell me Cox wasn’t on the blog last night. here’s what he said when I asked him about the lineup shuffle: “Switch it up a little,” Cox said. “The last few days we haven’t done much, why not?”
Of the move with Johnson, who started 0-for-8 this homestand, is hitting .225 on the season and has been platooning with Omar Infante.
“Maybe this will help him,” Cox said. “We’ll get Infante in tomorrow and get other guys in too like (Martin) Prado.”
so who knows what tomorrow’s lineup will look like. The two guys with 3 hits today are apparently platooning now
Recapped.
Nice win–things look so much brighter when KJ is hitting.
Otherwise, the D-Train won, but the Tigers must be pissed about the Renteria trade….