Milwaukee Brewers vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – June 05, 2009 – ESPN
New lineup, but the same old suckage. The Braves were limited to two hits, doubles by Prado and McCann. It was particularly frustrating because they were constantly ahead in the count but would swing at marginal pitches anyway and hit weak grounders and popups. Latest franchise savior Nate McLouth was 0-4 and failed to hit the ball out of the infield. Francoeur sucks.
Jair Jurrjens probably deserved a better fate. He allowed all four runs. The first two were pretty much his fault, and scored on a fourth-inning double by something called a “Mat Gamel”, which I think is a brand of couscous. Francoeur sucks. The other two weren’t really his fault, and if ever runs should have been scored “unearned” it was those two. Of course, they were scored earned. Yunel dove and stopped a grounder to short with a runner at first and one out. Instead of putting it in his pocket, he tried to make an impossible play at second and threw the ball into the right field foul territory to make it second and third. After the inevitable intentional walk, Jurrjens got a double play ball, except that Yunel dropped it and only got one out. And then he gave up a pop fly that a good centerfielder maybe gets to but that McLouth was about twenty feet away from to allow the fourth run to score. Remember, these are “earned” runs.
Francoeur sucks. Yunel doesn’t generally suck but did tonight. ESPN.com has added number of pitches to their boxscore, and you can see that Yunel, in making four outs, saw all of nine pitches. Way to work the count, big guy!
It seems likely that Kotchman will go on the DL. I’d like for them to call up Barbaro Canizares and give him a try, but more likely they’ll stick with Prado at first, leaving Blanco on the bench when Hanson is activated.
Francoeur sucks.
Way to pound the ball guys … it looked like everybody on the braves was in another world … we just way too many easy outs … we are not patient and we guess way to much on pitches .. see ball .. hit ball … it works for other teams … ball hit into LF gap ..I have yet to see GAnderson appear on screen .. he has to be the slowest human on earth .
Swinging at bad pitches will be the end of this team.
26-27.
Probably time to admit this ain’t a good team.
Oh, and the Resop lover from last year was named “Wun”.
Trade we should make: Jorge Cantu for [insert random minor leaguer here] and play him at first. Kotchman is not a first baseman and has a knack for nagging injuries. Kind of like Chipper, but Chipper is productive when he plays, Kotchman is a singles hitter in a first baseman’s body.
Glad to hear Francouer is breaking out.
Said it before…will say it again.
.500 team
Kotchman hasn’t been great, but he’s been better than expected. There are 2 to 3 other much more pressing needs that the Braves have. As far as nagging injuries, this is the first time that I remember him being out for an extended period.
Thanks for the link, Mac. Wun knew it was better to burn out than fade away.
I’ll have to remember this one next time I get in a fight:
May 13: “Mac: Since you suggested a team fight, why don’t you start it and try and kick Resop’s ass. I would pay money to see that happen. Just make certain to let us know which charity to which we should send our donations.”
edit @5 – The hole in RF is much more important than upgrading our offense at first. Kotchman isn’t a perfect player, but he’s a hell of a lot better than Francoeur.
so is Francine a good ball player. Two worst AB’s of the night go to Anderson and Francine after the McCann double. Unbelievable that these guys are playing ahead of Diaz. Replace either one, it doesnt matter. Hell go with Diaz Blanco and McLouth. GO with Barton Blanco and McLouth, it really doesnt matter
worthless
One entry found.
Main Entry:
worth·less
Pronunciation:
ˈwərth-ləs
Function:
adjective
Date:
circa 1577
1 a: lacking worth : valueless b: useless
2: contemptible, despicable
3: Jeffrey Branden Francoeur
Glad I didn’t see it…I doubt that Canizares is the answer, but it wouldn’t make much difference to let him get some ABs….Would Matt Diaz be that bad at 1B?
By the way, it was mentioned in the gamethread, but Buddy Carlyle was diagnosed type-1 diabetes, the type which requires insulin injections daily.
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/06/05/braves_carlyle_diabetes.html
#12- he wouldnt be, but Id still rather place him in JF or GA’s spot. Neither one of them deserve to be on the field right now
maybe after tonight Bobby will finally get KJ out of the leadoff spot
#13–Sorry to hear that: I wouldn’t want Carlyle or anybody else to have to go through that daily drill….
I was diagnosed with type-2 almost a year ago so I feel for Buddy right now. It’s far from the best thing in the world, but it’s a lot better than having type-1. Too many bad lifestyle habits finally caught up with me. It sucked like Jeff Francoeur at first, but my doctors have been amazed at what I’ve done–I’ve lost 75 pounds and now maintain normal glucose levels without medication. For me, it now boils down to making smart eating decisions and staying active. Unfortunately for Buddy, it won’t ever be that easy.
Man…if Philly holds on tonight vs the Dodgers…we are suddenly staring at 7 games back.
If these next 3 or 4 weeks don’t prove more fruitful for our offense, there seemingly could be a bunch of movement the following 3 or 4 weeks.
Jamie Moyer had a better OBP in 1987 than Frenchy did this year or last.
#18,
Yovani Gallardo has a higher slugging percentage this year than Francoeur does.
And for his career too. Gallardo is .437, Francoeur is .428 and dropping, dropping, dropping. I swear every time I check his stats his career numbers are down a point across the board.
sdp–I am sorry to learn of the diagnosis, but pleased to hear about how you have battled it. I hope that your example can help others who might face the same realities….
Buddy is going to find things difficult….
Otherwise, it looks like the Braves were right to promote Dimaster Delgado! Nice to see Diamond pitch a strong game as well….
I’ve got Type-1 (Juvenile) Diabetes. Had it since I was 9. (I’m now 27.)
Pretty sure Brandon Morrow is the only other MLB player that has it. Catfish Hunter had it. Adam Morrison (NBA) has it. Jay Cutler, of course, has it.
Welcome to the club, Buddy!
Phils choked one away in the bottom of the ninth. Feliz with an error with two outs, Ethier then double in the two winning runs.
4-3 LA wins
Why bother checking the other teams’ score when our team is a solid .500 team? This team is going no where unless we get one more major league caliber outfielder!
I just read all of the Resop fluffer’s posts. I LoL’ed.
Mommy, what’s a “Francouer?”
Bobby Cox: “I know we didn’t look good swinging the bat but you’ve got to give Gallardo credit.”
Tonight’s prospective Bobby Cox quote: “I know we didn’t look good in batting practice but you have to tip your hat to the BP pitcher. He was throwing some tought BP.”
Francoeur sucks and Braves suck.
new nickname for jeff francoeur: “john francoeur”. he’s not even worth getting his name right.
I still think we have enough talent to contend. We have solid starting pitching, decent defense and only 1 major hole in our lineup if Diaz starts (if not, we have 2). Our power is low, but improved with McLouth, but it should be enough given our pitching staff.
Given his tendency to continually run out players like Francoeur and Anderson, bad bullpen management (although to be fair it hasn’t been as bad lately), poor in-game decisions, and lack of motivating players, I’ve got to say that our number one weakness is Bobby Cox. Please retire soon Bobby.
Apparently Hanson and Medlen only had a crappy tv in their apartment, so McCann let them have one of his spare 60″ plasmas.
I wish I knew Brian McCann.
I don’t see how the outfield play can be laid at Bobby’s feet at all. Since Diaz is the only OF we’ve had on the roster to play remotely well (and, despite some of the opinions expressed here, he’s only been okay), who is Bobby supposed to have played? Greg Norton?
Any in-game decision is up for debate, but I don’t see Cox as having been egregiously bad. The starters aren’t throwing a punishing number of pitches. Moylan struggled for a while, but who else on the roster would you have entrusted to pitch the seventh? O’Flaherty’s profile has risen in proportion to his success, just as you’d want. Remember, nobody around here thought him capable of anything. Soriano and Gonzalez are being used more or less properly IMO. The other guys mostly suck, but that’s just who they are.
As for the lack of motivation, that’s a faith-based argument and therefore cannot be refuted. If that’s what you believe, there’s no talking you out of it I’m sure.
Fr0nc0e0r with three zeros, to match the holes in his swing.
Edit:
Or Fr4nc000r -to match his usual box score line ( 4 0 0 0)? I think I like this one better.
Why can’t we just call him ‘Free Agent’ already?
I don’t know why everyone is complaining about Francoeur. He hit a home run on Monday, so starting from game 51, he is on pace to hit 33 the rest of the season.
i know i’m probably beating a dead horse, but i would have liked to see bobby try schafer more at leadoff.
is there anyone here who has the internet knowledge to calculate what jordan has done for his career batting leadoff? he seems to have the mindframe (and confidence) to be at the spot. if jordan could become the leadoff man he is capable of being, with the addition of mclouth and, hopefully, the subtraction of francoeur, this lineup could be downright dangerous. i hope he finds himself in gwinnett. i really like his work ethic.
i would like august’s lineup to look like this:
schafer cf
mclouth rf
chipper
mccann
escobar
kj
kotchman
diaz
@13 I usually don’t like making fun of one’s disease, and I’m sorry to hear about Caryle’s disease, but I’ll say that type 1 diabetes is a condition, that if not cured, results in the destruction of the so called “islets of Langerhans”… I wonder if the 2007 Braves didn’t have type 1 diabetes…
@30 A spare 60″ plasmas? Mac, can we have a poll asking if anyone of us has one of those sitting in their house?
What’s funny to me is that he has spare 60″ plasmas, but when he leaves after this contract runs out, we’ll all still say “At least he gave us that hometown discount to buy out his arb years. What a guy…”
@28 ryan… very funny!!
@32
“Fr0nc0e0r”
{golf clap}
“Fr4nc000r”
{runs into street — shoots guns into air}
Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Tip your servers!
One of the great paradoxes of our time, can God throw a fastball so high that Jeff Francoeur won’t swing at it?
I nominate “Piece Of My Heart” for today’s game thread. Very appropriate…
Question at 42: “One of the great paradoxes of our time, can God throw a fastball so high that Jeff Francoeur won’t swing at it?”
Ans: What a stupid question. Francoeur is the incarnate child of the God of swing AND the God of miss, and clearly 2 Gods are more than the one God, and therefore Johnny would indeed be able to pull that off.
Or at least that’s what Gadfly would say.
In all seriousness, though, I’m beginning to think that Mac is actually Gadfly and makes comments to amuse us.
Thoughts?
I am not Gadfly.
But do you play him on Braves Journal?
No. He’s in Oregon somewhere.
A Eugene anarchist, no doubt. Explains a lot.
@31: I thought O’Flaherty capable of quite a bit actually, just for the record. I’m not sure I saw him being quite as consistent as he has, but we’ll see if he can keep that consistency up all year. I fully agree with you on the Bobby Cox thing… anyone that actually blames him for our problems is really stretching. I’ll try to stop agreeing with you now though, lest it cause you some problems around here.
@35: I definitely thought Schafer should’ve been thrown into the leadoff spot more… I doubt it would’ve worked, but I think it would’ve given us a better look at what he can really offer. I don’t have the motivation to look into Jordan’s minor league stats, which I assume is what you were asking about… My guess is that he played leadoff most of the time in the minors though, but that’s totally a guess.
Here’s some of Jordan’s pertinent Major League splits though:
37 PA Outside the 8th spot: .222/.432/.296
46 PA Leading off an inning: .244/.326/.268
158 PA Batting 8th: .200/.285/.286
That first split was made up of 5 PA in the one game he leadoff in early May, 2 PA in the recent game he subbed in for Diaz, and 30 PA batting 7th in front of David Ross.
@32: Okay, now THAT is funny… especially the Fr4nc000r version.
Feel free to agree with me anytime, Gadfly. I’m right almost all the time!
Haha, I’m not in Eugene…
But no, I am not Mac, and Mac is not me.
Game thread is up.
Gadfly is Greyson R—–, a political science major from Portland State. He’s real, and his reputation extends beyond this site. Ignore him.
You make it sound so ominous JC… and you sound so sure of yourself… what is this reputation of which you speak?