No, John, the gag goes over Yoko’s mouth.
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No, John, the gag goes over Yoko’s mouth.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
Decided to change the subject Mac?
Greetings from Atlantic City…
Yesterday, I got introduced on a seminar panel as a “Braves fan.”
I got booed.
@3,
You can’t get booed by a classier bunch…
Re-post from last thread re: “Right Field”
One of my favorite songs! Hereās a great Peter, Paul, and Mary performance:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5d0kz_peter-paul-mary-right-field_music
A portion of this song played in the Pizza Hut commercial before the live-action Ninja Turtles movie, so it holds a special place in my heart. š
Pizza Hut and Ninja Turtles..all that’s missing is some Teenage Head…
Add this one to the list of corny MLB.com headlines:
“Braves hope they can swat away pesky Nats”.
I was looking at the Cy Young Predictor formula on ESPN. Right now, Felix Hernandez leads the AL in CYP. I hope he wins it.
If Yoko is involved, I prefer the gag for me to put over my eyes. I would rather damage my ears than my eyes.
I could be wrong about this, but it always seemed to me AAA was more of an important step for pitchers than hitters. Usually a few more patient hitters in AAA that will challenge a pitching prospect with some control issues. As was mentioned is the previous thread, other than getting to see some more “pitchability” types, there’s not much more to gain as a hitter by going to AAA.
That said if the plan is to delay Heyward’s arb clock, I would just assume he get as much time at AAA as possible.
I’m not a big fan of arb clock games. If he’s ready, he’s ready. But, I’d rather not rush a guy right into a playoff race. At this point, it could do more harm than good.
When in recent memory has rushing a player from the Braves minor league system affected the players’ development? What’s the big deal?
You’re being sarcastic, right, Dix?
Will someone please take care of Dix? He seems a little distracted. Hopefully, it won’t end up like that scene in “Garp”.
How soon will Carlyle be ready? No reason to rush Hudson right now …
nice video mac……..anybody know who the dweeb playing tambourine is? he looks like he could be anything but a band member.
Two words: Joey Devine
Jason C. from previous thread,
I don’t care if it is 100 plate appearances. If (approx) 15 of those are walks, 8 are strikeouts, 8 are HR’s, 12 are doubles, and another 10 singles, with only 43 or so as “batted ball outs”, I would call that “conquered.”
He went up a level and performance went up. Probably, better pitching made him a better hitter because those pitchers think they can get him and aren’t inexplicably wild (but more “purposefully wild”). Heyward is able to make a pattern out of what they are doing and hit it when it’s there.
And by the way, Heyward didn’t jump all over High A late last year when he was called up. So, he has shown he can adjust and has stepped forward.
I still say let him get his next 60 PA’s in AAA and see what happens. If he is stilll OPS over 1000 and if you have an outfielder go down, you have an option.
I would not bring him up to take plate appearances away from Diaz, Church, ACHE and MCLouth. Each of those guys should OPS 800 to 850 the rest of the way and it’s not worth the arb clock running and the risk of reversed development to try to get more performance at those levels.
Heyward le Conquerant
You guys haven’t repressed the Francoeur era memories yet?
Gluttons for punishment…
I’m trying to figure out a way to get to go to Huddy’s rehab start… not sure I can convince my wife of the merit, I may have to enlist the kids.
I think that the tamborine player is Mal Evans, the Beatles’ roadie.
I think the next few MLB Braves’ series will determine what will happen with Heyward. I say no way they are bringing him up if they are decidedly out of the playoffs. What would be the point?
Just don’t let her out of the basement that day…what’s the big deal?
“Teenage Head” is a fantastic album by the Flamin’ Groovies.
Depending on what you mean by “development,” I disagree that player development is largely complete by the time a player reaches AAA. It is not infrequent that players learn new positions, new stances, and new pitches after hitting the major leagues, not to mention improving their control of the strike zone by increasing walks and cutting down on strikeouts.
The minor leagues are a much better place for development — it’s hard to develop when you’re utterly overmatched — but that’s not to say that players basically stop developing at age 22 or 24. And that’s not a reason for Heyward to attend or skip AAA.
I tend to prefer for top prospects to go through AAA rather than skip it — it’s a way of making them better major leaguers without burning any of their arb clock. Obviously, if need dictates for the team to have a warm body, that can be disregarded, but even top prospects — perhaps especially top prospects, since they tend to be promoted young — tend not to shine in their first couple weeks out of AA. Very few completely hit the ground running.
I don’t think bringing Heyward up would help us or him all that much. Maybe a September call up, if that.
8,
Seems right.
23,
I guess what I should’ve said is you’re not developing your tools at that point, you’re fine-tuning your game. Which I think is largely right.
@23 I like “Shake Some Action” a lot
24,
The organization knows what they’re doing. If they really think he can help (and I suspect you’re probably right and he can’t really help all that much) they’ll call him up.
Per Carrol:
So we’re back to having faith in the organization again? good times.
Laroche is out too? Maybe Bunson screwed up an experiment and needed him to help out.
I think there’s more risk than reward in bringing Heyward up at this point. The jump from AA to the majors would be tough on any 20-year-old. Add in the pressure of a playoff race, and I don’t like what could happen to the guy if he struggles.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Chipper DL’d.
The whole, “spasmed the next day unlike any oblique injury I’ve ever had” line seemed fairly descriptive to me.
@6
I don’t understand that at all. Greinke has made more starts, has more innings pitched, more strikeouts, a better ERA, and they are tied in shutouts…I guess we’re all still getting on our knees for the almighty W-L record.
“The Church / Diaz platoon is working very well. Between them, weāve got close to an All-Star right-fielder.”
Adequate maybe, but definitely not an all-star.
“I think thereās more risk than reward in bringing Heyward up at this point. The jump from AA to the majors would be tough on any 20-year-old. Add in the pressure of a playoff race, and I donāt like what could happen to the guy if he struggles.”
You are underestimating the kid. He is the son of two Dartmouth graduates. So I’m pretty sure he is head strong. I say call him up in September, if he deserves it, he deserves it. Can’t argue with that.
McCann in the clean-up spot against Lannan. Interesting.
If you set a cat on fire while showing it a picture of a naked Marge Schott – that’s the sound of Yoko Ono singing.
31,
There’s nothing subjective about it. It’s just a formula.
We have a winner Mac, THAT would be an interesting way to kill that cat you posted about.
Thank god. Diory optioned to Gwinnett.
Heyward will not help the Braves win this year.
Diaz’ platoon split this year is .416/.520/.936
Church is .400/.444/.844 as a Brave.
That’s about a 130 – 140 OPS+.
I guess if that’s “adequate” to you, I’d hate to play in your league.
31
I agree there is too much weight given to W-L, but didn’t Greinke just go like 2 months without a W. Kind of hard to give the Cy to someone with that kind of slump.
He was so great for the first two months and hasn’t really been that bad for the last two, but I think it will take a finish similar to his start of the season for him to win now.
Dix is on fire.
39,
Yeah, but the Royals suck. He was pitching fine. It was hardly a slump.
In other news, now Chipper is in the line-up.
“http://twitter.com/mlbbowman/status/3251516035”
Mark Bowman is on frickin’ Twitter?
Wow, Peanut has Twitter. I will cancel my account
@38. I don’t need stats to tell me the Diaz/Church split would be an all-star rightfield. I’ve seen almost every game they have played since the trade. Stats don’t always tell the whole story.
Leave it to The Onion.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/controversial
@44 Right. Unsubstantiated assertions are definitely the way to go.
There are good arguments for bringing Heyward up. There are good arguments for not bringing him up. I’m of the “if he’s ready, he’s ready” school of thought, but I’m not sure where a 19 year old call up from AA plays every day on this team. Anderson has been – dare we say it – pretty good. Diaz/Church have been awesome since Church’s arrival. If Heyward would be relegated to 4th OF I’d leave him where he is, move him to Gwinnett at the most.
You may note none of these arguments hinge on anything remotely to do with Jeff Francoeur. Jeff Francoeur was not so much harmed by his rush to the majors as he just never was a particularly good baseball player. He could have taken the Mike Kelly path and played at all levels of the minors and he would have still been a white Mike Kelly that people loved way too much.
Tony, just wondering, did ‘stats’ beat u you up in elementary school or something?
Sam, Diaz/Church have been merely “adequate, maybe”. Keep up, please.
Let’s not sell Francoeur too short. He was never a very well rounded baseball player, but the kid had/has serious talent, and some MLB caliber skills.
He just didn’t/doesn’t have enough MLB caliber skills to warrant every day playing time, and he doesn’t seem to have the capacity or motivation to learn them.
Heyward clearly has MLB caliber talent. You can hurt a kid by calling him up too early, but I don’t think you can hurt him significantly by leaving him in the minors for even a year after his skills surpass the competition. I say, call him up when he’s ready AND we need him.
So Diaz/Church have been only adequate because Church was hurt for that span, and Diaz was a little overexposed against righthanders. I think going forward, Diaz/Church will be a good spot in the order.
Diaz divided by Church = Francoeur?
@48 I like that, it was funny.
@51 I agree, going forward the platoon will be great as long as Matty hits against lefties only and Church can stay healthy. I felt sorry for Diaz getting embarrassed against righties.
I guess “adequate” just looks better to me than it really is due to 2500 at bats of “steaming pile of dog shit.”
As for the Steaming Pile’s minor league credentials, aside from 38 games in the Rookie League back in 2002, he never did much more there than he did here.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=franco001jef
If Diaz hits against righties then that alone undermines the platoon. You can’t even call it a platoon at that point.
It’s like saying Miranda Kerr is a really attractive woman, so long as she has a vagina and an apron.
I know that the lineup will change, but it’s nice to have a lineup with several subs that you have confidence in. Just a month ago, a lineup of Francoeur, Hernandez, and a slumping KJ and Anderson was pretty much a recipe for disaster.
@55 I guess Church needs to stay healthy then, now doesn’t he.
On ESPN, they ask the question is Todd Helton a HOF? My answer: Nope.
If Todd Helton is a Hall of Famer, Wally Joyner is a Hall of Famer. Thirty years of public sabermetrics and the supposed Worldwide Leader In Sports doesn’t understand park factors.
Only if you care about the integrity of the platoon
I am bias, Helton is a former Vol and is only like two notches below Peyton in Tennessee. So yeah, he is a HOF
Id like to see what Diaz’s stats are when he starts in right field
Who’s on the notch between Peyton and Helton? Britton Colquitt? At least one name has to end in ‘ton’ in order to qualify I assume?
Church
Prado
Chipper
McCann
Escobar
Anderson
Diaz
Infante
Hanson
Todd Helton career home/away spilts:
Home: .361/.459/.647 ~.483 wOBA
Away: .295/.394/.492 ~.394 wOBA
Well that sucks. The office manager just got fired. How can you get fired for making sure everyone gets their mail? Anyway, now I have no one to talk baseball with, now it will be Redskins, Redskins, Redskins. Damn. I guess I will be on bravesjournal everyday from 9:30 to 6pm M-F.
That does suck.
Infante has been activated and is in the lineup. Subzero back to Gwinnett.
Make sure you don’t lose your job reading Braves Journal all day at work, Tony. š
On Heyward coming up, McCann only had 100 some odd at bats at AA (and none at AAA) at age 21 before coming up in 2005. Francouer had just over 400. I could see Heyward coming up in September when the rosters expand. Does that start his clock? At this point, I don’t see him making much of a difference (though if he got off to a hot start, he could help us win some games. That’s a big if to take chance on when it seems like we’ve finally got the team to gel.)
Damn Stu,
Take it easy on Tony…he’s not Gadfly. His presence on the board from 9:30 to 6 isn’t going to kill you.
okay, per fox sports
Church
Prado
Chipper
Bmac
Yunel
Anderson
Diaz
Infante
errrr…..who is the “center” fielder?
Gotta be Church. I assume Prado’s at first and Infante’s at second.
Intriguing. Is there something wrong with McClouth? I think he would be the better choice than Diaz vs Lannan?
McLouth’s been out the past few days with a hamstring problem.
The mute button might be useful tonight with Chip and Gant.
McLouth injured his hammy, Ill take Diaz vs the lefty. Wouldnt mind seeing ACHE getting a game off
The long-awaited Bill Hohn post.
Fire Chip.
I dunno Todd Helton was the best 1B in baseball from 00-04 and should have won the mvp in 2000. A couple more years of solid production and he should make the HoF imo.
When Ron fell off that dirt bike, was he perhaps not wearing a helmet?
The Braves need to patent the concept of having the bases loaded and only getting one run. I laughed when I saw Omar’s fly was unzipped in his first PA back.
It wasn’t close at all. He was obviously safe. I have to watch these arguments now.
lol whoop his ass Eckstin!
If we win this by one, I don’t know if we should complain about the umps again this year. It’s pretty clear now that mistakes go both ways.
The umpires are really making my side project easy.
Marvelous Martin!
kinda looked like church missed 3rd on the replay…
Chipper!
Ah yes, that’s are the Natinals.
Nah, he got it with his left foot.
Discussion: Is the Nats pitcher an actual Moyer-like BA depresser, or is he more a lucky lefty, HoRam style?
It’s looking more like the latter, thank goodness.
@68 Don’t worry about Stu, he’s still bitter b/c I was right about Escobar. He’s my mortal enemy on bravesjournal. I try not to engage the old guy.
Let’s see what did I miss. Diaz hit into another DP. Wow…
Good job Prado.
I guess no one in Atlanta cares about the “red hot” Nats. Looks pretty empty.
Nitram liner.
@91, good hitters hit into double plays. You hit the ball hard, DPs are more likely. i.e. McCann last AB.
Nice job, Dix, now Tony thinks I’m elderly. He does, however, rightly point out that there’s nothing I hate more than an elite Braves player.
@93 Didn’t say he didn’t hit it hard, I didn’t see it, just stated he hit into another one.
I wonder what Diaz and Escobar averages are when they try and pull the ball instead of going to right?
There’s a Prado.
Rick Porcello hit Kevin Youkilis with a pitch. Youkilis charged the mound. Both were ejected.
Bobby has got to stop playing Prado at 1st.
What is it with Ron Gant and the phrase “cat-like reflexes”?
@94 Haha…not elderly Stu. Old guy on here means you have been on bravesjournal for a long, long time.
Lannan’s AB is reason #648 why bunts suck.
Anyone else notice Hanson’s drop off in velocity since his first few games?
I’d wet myself if Youkilis ran at me.
Astros leading the Marlins 6-2 in the 5th.
@102 I was thinking the same thing. Good to have Infante back, another solid hitter.
No, Chip, Bobby did not yell “easy.” He yelled “second” trying to fool them into screwing up. You are incredibly bad at your job.
Church!
Daaaaaang. I like Church.
Has any fly ball ever not been “hammered”, Chip? Ron?
Church can hit lefties….I like.
You really should be authoring “Crappy Commentating,” Mac, and every entry ought to be about Chip F. Caray.
Mac,
Only when it’s not a ‘mile high’.
I still can’t believe Wren got that guy for the Out Machine. He’s useful!
I was pretty shocked they were pitching to Chipper. I guess they weren’t.
If hitting ground rule doubles was so important, they’d put it on the scoreboard.
@109–just the ones that aren’t “fisted”
On a 2-2 count Chip exclaims “Deuces Wild!” OMG.
C’mon BMAC. You are a much better than .185 hitter against lefties.
Thanks
Lannan looks like he wants to cry.
There already is an “Awful Announcing” blog, of course. I miss FJM, though.
I like a 4-run lead better than a 3-run lead.
Just sayin’.
Yeah!!!!!! Nicely done Yunel.
How about six?
I prefer a 5 run lead over those 2 options haha.
Well, I also like 5-run leads.
I want a 435 run lead.
Edit: I never get what I want…
Wait, did Cox actually hint towards a six man rotation? If so, that’s awesome. I’m already kind of worried about Hanson’s workload.
@127. I’m more worried about Jair.
Another thing about having Infante, he can play the outfield. I think it would be good to give Garrett a day off.
Bleh. I was ready to keep that up as long as they kept scoring.
@68 Donāt worry about Stu, heās still bitter b/c I was right about Escobar. Heās my mortal enemy on bravesjournal. I try not to engage the old guy.
Good move. My bravesjournal experience has been greatly enhanced by enacting a no-Stu rule. Just gotta stick to it.
Good chance to get Hanson out of there early tonight and save his arm. Hope Bobby does it.
Wow…terrible strike call. Good for Tommy I guess.
Tommy Hanson is a badass.
97 pitches works for me. Pull the plug.
Hanson reached back to get 93? Remember his first few games up? He was reaching back for 97.
How do his innings look vs last year?
Bttm of the 6th. Bases loaded, nobody out. Astros now lead the Marlins 7-3, make it 7-4. Still no one out. Thanks Roy Oswalt.
Hanson looks pretty good to me.
Chip, the Natinals are not going to put Strasburg in the majors this year if they sign him. STFU.
do you guys think anyone ever gets on chip’s case when he prematurely gets excited about every fly ball?
How can you not love Chip’s falsetto voice?
By having ears?
Nice AB, Church.
Why are there so many stolen bases today? Is Tommy not looking good working out of the stretch?
Harden has no-hit the Phillies through 5.
Ryan C, John Stirling has taken that to a new art form. He was going ga-ga over a flyball this weekend that didn’t even reach the warning track.
142 — Looks the same as always. He does have a deliberate arm action as he loads up.
Nice try to catch that, ACHE. Even Chip noticed.
That was a hanger.
Having a nice jog out there Garrett?
Is 91 as hard as Hanson throws?
What was Garrett doing on that play? He definitely needs a day off.
Hanson pitched in winter ball too in addition to this season. That’s probably why he’s down velocity-wise.
The nice thing about that Phils/Cubs series is whoever loses, the Braves win (as long as they take care of business themselves.) They either gain in the division or gain in the WC.
I say we do a six man rotation in September.
Marlins have cut the deficit to 7-6.
Holy crap. Chipper!!!
Chipper hit that one to Gwinnett.
DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, Chip, that was worth getting excited about.
How far did that go? That might be a Turner Field record
Phillies tied the Cubs on a Rollins homer.
Geez…Phillies tied the Cubs
I think that one was “belted” not “hammered”
Speaking of six man rotations, I was hoping to see Hudson on Saturday at Gwinnett. Now, I get Wakefield. Oh, goody.
Five more runs and Soriano can have another night off.
Well, this proves we are better than the Pirates
Anderson getting fired up about a call? I didn’t know he was capable of that.
Wow, you don’t see that call everyday
Anyone got video of that? I’m on the internets tonight.
There was no way Chip wasn’t going to make a Steve Bartman reference.
Cecil Cooper is an idiot. I guess he will let this guy blow the game. Who lets a reliever throw 36 pitches?
I was right…8-7 marlins. I will never complain about Bobby Cox again.
Running Bobby or ACHE there would have been Good Umpiring. Sheesh, you’re winning 7-1, it’s the seventh inning, and there were two out and nobody on base. Shut up.
Again, Chip’s falsetto voice.
Chip – the catcher makes that play without the fan leaning into him. It did not cost Garrett Anderson an out.
What a weak ass Home Depot. question. Followed by a weak ass answer
The Astros organization as a whole is dumb. They’d be in bad shape if they had an owner with no money.
O’Flare looking good!
Stretching out O’Flaherty was a good move. Please use a disposable pitcher in the ninth.
McClain isn’t that great of an owner. I grew up going to Astros games and most of the fans don’t like him
He isn’t a good owner, but he spends money.
Apparently the Astros are interested in Smoltz. John pitching in that park could get ugly.
I say we pick up Smoltz and send him to AAA and let the G-Braves draw a bunch of fans every 5th day
Smoltz needs to swallow his pride and retire.
Quit holding up the game Norton….
Ron Gant just said “heck” ha ha ha
Derek Lee is 0-10 against Chan Ho Park. Hell, even I have a few hits on Park
Norton at third for the first time since Regan was a Democrat
2-out magic?
Have I said that I like 7-run leads better than 6-run leads?
“But Ron,” you say, “You were the centerfielder in 1991, and you fielded the position like a bear with an inner ear problem.”
CHip and Ron bring back Torbore and Rathburn nightmares
@184, I do, too, because seven runs apparently means “rest Gonzalez”
What does Acosta have against a 1-2-3 inning?
Yes – It takes 7 runs to get into Acosta territory.
He needs to work, so he allows two or three extra batters to reach.
Am I the only person who was turned on by that?
I think the Braves should flip Vazquez and Kawakami to give KK another extra day.
Cubs are about to give this one away
Lol…Manny Acosta are you shitting me???
I would have rung Dukes up there. It’s 8-1 and that was close.
wtf, why is Gonzo warming up
@191–I wasn’t turned on by it, but I caught the double meaning and chose to ignore it.
Acosta is looking like someone whose next game might be for Gwinnett.
See, the home plate ump didn’t want to risk that last swing call going to 1st base.
The Cubs bullpen sucks.
Stupid Cubs
@191: just you and the other dix
Dix, you are hilarious.
Great pitching tonight
Leo Nunez blows the save, Astros tie the game and are still batting.
Acosta has great stuff when he throws strikes!
Mac @ 185 I about fell off my chair laughing!
@201
I think I get it but I have a doubt.
@202
Thanks Catz, not so bad catching yourself š
Astros tied it up.
Dix, I doubt there’s much that doesn’t turn you on.
good luck with the Cubs scoring another run with that sorry offense. Is anyone any good in the central?
The Pirates are leading the Rockies 5 – 1 in Colorado in the bttm of the 5th…not holding my breath.
@207
catching…it hurts my knees
Recapation complete.
always changing the subject mac…
Teenage head.