I’d be beyond furious if I was a Royals fan in part because it’d mean I had some connection with Kansas City. But yeah, Moore sucks. I’m thrilled it was Wren who got the reins in Atlanta.
Why not bring up Heyward? Or would that start the infamous clock….seems like we could use a little more pop, and no shame in giving him the occasional OF start.
Apparently the ChiSox are planning on bringing up Tyler Flowers with expanded rosters (according to the guy from Talking Chop… on twitter… so it’s just like an official club announcement)
More misery for the Royals but good news for Braves castoffs. Maybe Norton will land in KC next year; Acosta would be also good match for Moore’s affinity for hard throwing mediocre relievers like Farnsworth.
#8 – couple of reasons. Chances are we wont make the playoffs anyways and there is no point starting his arb clock, biggest reason is that he’s hurt and shut down for the rest of the season
A) we have to win our series against the fish.
B) While I think we can expect the Phils to take at least one game from the Giants, I’m not sure we can count on the Mets helping us with even one win against the Rockies.
Who gets called up? Jojo Reyes, Gregor Blanco, Clint Sammons, and Diory Hernandez of course! Because you just can’t ever have enough AAAA players on your roster.
I’d rather they called up Alvin Colina, but he’s not on the 40-man. Give him Sammons’ spot — you think teams will be rushing to add him to their rosters?
Yeah the callups will be the usual pro(sus)pects. That’s all Bobby knows.
Blanco who can’t play, Jojo Reyes who can’t pitch, Sammons who can’t hit, and Hernandez that probably couldn’t have hit that LLWS pitching this weekend. Who is only surpassed in his ineptitude by Reid Gorecki, who I’m not convinced could hit good high school pitching.
It’s not like the upper reaches of the system are being manned by hordes of super-prospects. Dave Brundage should be the International League Manager of the Year for keeping that team in contention. Gorecki was his second-best player. Diory is his best.
i dont mind blanco, but calling up clint sammons when our backup cather gets 1 game every 2 weeks is dumb. barbaro should have been given an opportunity.
Our minor league system has a lot of talent, and I don’t care if they’re not bringing up legitimate players in September. If they had a player who would be of use being brought up now, I’d be wondering why he wasn’t brought up sooner. Sure, it’d be nice if we were calling up Hanson or Prado or some other good, young player, but we didn’t have that kind of depth at the major league level.
@34
which is why barbaro should have been called up. surely barbaro is a better hitter than ross. why not just use barbaro as a ph and leave ross for backup duties, instead of suffering through extra inning games with a catcher not worthy to wear a cup. whether its “customary” or not, in this playoff race, it doesnt make sense to have another player on the bench that has one skill: sucking.
scenario 1: 8th inning: tied 2-2, ross hits for gonzo, leaving clint sammons for extra inning duties.
scenario 2: 8th inning: tied 2-2, barbaro hits for gonzo, leaving david ross for extra inning duties.
i’ll take scenario 2 all day long. it provides a good bat to ph and a good bat as emergency catcher.
Mr.Swings@Everything
on August 31, 2009 at 5:24 pm
He doesn’t use Ross because making certain that he always has a catcher to put in the game. Now that he has three catchers he won’t be dissauded from putting one of his backup catchers in the game. Cox maintains the Little League philosophy of “everybody plays” regardless of ability so Sammons will play.
Scenario 3. Both Barbaro Canizares and David Ross are available for pinch-hitting duties with Sammons or Ross (provided you select Barbaro for pinch-hitting duties) left for extra-inning catching duties.
#38 – that’s not bad. Move GA to sixth and slide everybody up one would be my personal preference but that’s minor. The real problems is the talent level of the players on that lineup card – in whatever order – is not very high.
#43 – you are always good for a laugh. I doubt Sammons appears in even five games next month unless there is an extended amount of time between being officially eliminated and the end of the season.
Mr.Swings@Everything
on August 31, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Isn’t even one game or AB too important to give away to a player who’s only value to the team is September callup emergency backup catcher? It always bugs me when people act like one AB does not make a difference. A lot can happen in one AB. Maybe it decides a game and 1 game can most certainly be the difference between a playoff berth or lack thereof.
Used to get the SS games in HD. No more. Instead, FSS has gone full-time in HD, even though their programs are all regular definition. So it’s regular TV for me. The horror!
Isn’t even one game or AB too important to give away to a player who’s only value to the team is September callup emergency backup catcher?
Um, no. Even you must understand the concept of leverage. If you see Sammons at the plate in a situation with any kind of leverage please let us know and we’ll all rip Bobby appropriately.
Letting him leadoff the top of the ninth with a 9-1 lead is probably ok.
Mr.Swings@Everything
on August 31, 2009 at 6:23 pm
We can reason from our previous observation of Cox that he will use poor players in high leverage situations. How many games has Norton ended at the plate this year? I do tend to discount the convential wisdom with respect to leverage in that I think that any situation where the score is close or a large number of runs could be scored or prevented to be just as important as the next regardless of the inning.
I do tend to discount the convential wisdom with respect to leverage in that I think that any situation where the score is close or a large number of runs could be scored or prevented to be just as important as the next regardless of the inning.
I’m not sure what you were trying to say but this sentence, as written, is incoherent.
We can reason from our previous observation of Cox that he will use poor players in high leverage situations.
Again, please let us know if you spot Sammons pinch hitting down a run in the ninth.
Just got home and turned on the game. Is Johnson dealing or are the Braves just hapless at the plate this evening? Also, is Bmac just getting a night off?
Johnson always has good stuff, the offense is just pathetic. But hey at least they made him throw 60 pitches through five. By the tenth inning he’ll be gassed.
Mr.Swings@Everything
on August 31, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Just imagine how good the Marlins will be when their new, publically financed, stadium fixes everything and simultaneously revitalizes whatever god forsaken area of Miami where it will be located.
Norton is slightly better than Joe Blanton, Ryan Dempster, John Lannan, Jorge de la Rosa, and Javy Vazquez against the fastball. Still, he’s no Chris Volstad, Chris Carpenter, Chad Billingsley, Doug Davis, or Cole Hamels.
But if you think about it, some of those guys are all-stars. Unrealistic to expect Norton to match up with those guys. Plus, several of them have pretty big contracts.
And of course Norton always pinch-hits against power guys, like Lidge. Wish that someone in the org would check that stat (way down from 08’s average performance vs. fastballs) and recommend that he be used against soft-tossing lefties (or righties, whichever side of the plate he used to be able to hit from).
anyone here Joe complaining about Uggla’s single earlier? He said he hated how Uggla put his head down while running to 1st. It was a decent single hit right at ACHE and there was also a runner in front of him. Joe is just a complainer
why Gorecki over Infante in CF? and why is Norton still a brave and still hitting in big spots throughout the game? Do us a favor and walk him, please
Guesses: Blanco, Valdez, Sammons, and Brooks Conrad.
If nothing else, we should see Conrad get some of Norton’s ABs. He’s got a lotta making up to do.
HAHA. I’d be beyond furious if I were a Royals fan.
Kansas City is a swirling pit of madness:
The Associated Press: Gailey out, Haley in as offensive coordinator
Because they weren’t playing well in preseason. The problem, guys, was hiring Gailey in the first place.
I believe if you were a Royals fan you’d be desensitized to that sort of thing by now PWHjort.
I’d be beyond furious if I was a Royals fan in part because it’d mean I had some connection with Kansas City. But yeah, Moore sucks. I’m thrilled it was Wren who got the reins in Atlanta.
Why not bring up Heyward? Or would that start the infamous clock….seems like we could use a little more pop, and no shame in giving him the occasional OF start.
Any chance we make a waiver deadline deal?
Though I’m not responsible for this, I wouldn’t be embarrassed at all to take responsibility for bees swarming Scott Boras’ suite:
http://deadspin.com/5349578/plague-of-insects-descends-upon-scott-boras-angel-stadium-suite
I believe Borass is now due for the other nine plagues.
Apparently the ChiSox are planning on bringing up Tyler Flowers with expanded rosters (according to the guy from Talking Chop… on twitter… so it’s just like an official club announcement)
More misery for the Royals but good news for Braves castoffs. Maybe Norton will land in KC next year; Acosta would be also good match for Moore’s affinity for hard throwing mediocre relievers like Farnsworth.
on mlbtr:
“The Toronto Sun notes that Mike Hampton won’t pitch again this year.”
The Toronto Sun of such other notable headlines as “Water found to be wet” and “Fire surprisingly not cold”
#8 – couple of reasons. Chances are we wont make the playoffs anyways and there is no point starting his arb clock, biggest reason is that he’s hurt and shut down for the rest of the season
Considering that Heyward hasn’t started in over a week for the M-Braves I’d be very surprised if he was called up right now.
Sounds like they maybe resting his heel injury to get him ready for the Arizona fall league.
only 3.5 back we can still make it
#8, 14, 15 Another reason not to bring up Heyward:
Heyward has been slumpling of late (.147 – 5 for 34 with only 2 extra base hits in has last 10 games)
This may have to do with his heel injury, but whatever the case, he doesn’t need a call up this year.
A) we have to win our series against the fish.
B) While I think we can expect the Phils to take at least one game from the Giants, I’m not sure we can count on the Mets helping us with even one win against the Rockies.
I hate the wild card.
I’ll hate the wild card a lot less if we get it, and manage to get into the WS again.
@20
That’s the sign of a weak will. The 2009 Braves no more deserve to call themselves “World Champions” than did the 1997 Marlins.
#13,
Very funny.
Who gets called up? Jojo Reyes, Gregor Blanco, Clint Sammons, and Diory Hernandez of course! Because you just can’t ever have enough AAAA players on your roster.
With his .217 avg and .616 OPS in AAA, I’m not sure you can consider Sammons AAAA.
I’d rather they called up Alvin Colina, but he’s not on the 40-man. Give him Sammons’ spot — you think teams will be rushing to add him to their rosters?
Sammons is an emergency third catcher. Anyone shocked to see him called up shouldn’t be allowed to call themself a Braves fan.
Yeah the callups will be the usual pro(sus)pects. That’s all Bobby knows.
Blanco who can’t play, Jojo Reyes who can’t pitch, Sammons who can’t hit, and Hernandez that probably couldn’t have hit that LLWS pitching this weekend. Who is only surpassed in his ineptitude by Reid Gorecki, who I’m not convinced could hit good high school pitching.
It’s not like the upper reaches of the system are being manned by hordes of super-prospects. Dave Brundage should be the International League Manager of the Year for keeping that team in contention. Gorecki was his second-best player. Diory is his best.
My gosh, poor guy. I mean he is REALLY bad.
Oh, and the ace of the staff — since Hanson is in the majors and Morton was traded — is Jo-Jo.
The reason the expansion call-ups are so mediocre is because the first tier of call-ups are already in Atlanta playing for injured MLBers.
i dont mind blanco, but calling up clint sammons when our backup cather gets 1 game every 2 weeks is dumb. barbaro should have been given an opportunity.
Our minor league system has a lot of talent, and I don’t care if they’re not bringing up legitimate players in September. If they had a player who would be of use being brought up now, I’d be wondering why he wasn’t brought up sooner. Sure, it’d be nice if we were calling up Hanson or Prado or some other good, young player, but we didn’t have that kind of depth at the major league level.
Again, having Sammons around as the emergency catcher will make it possible for Ross to pinch-hit, which is a good thing.
Ross in against a right hander. Surely we play enough left handers to be able to pick and choose when he plays to face them.
But, having Sammons around will force Bobby to use him in a much greater role than he should be given, which is a bad thing.
He barely uses Ross; why would he use Sammons?
Diaz
Prado
Jones
Anderson
LaRoche
Escobar
Infante
Ross
Kawakami
so, garret anderson, cleanup. bobby smokes crack.
32,
The point of calling up Sammons would be so you can actually use Ross to pinch-hit occasionally.
38,
What can you say? ACHE back in his namesake role. All is good.
@34
which is why barbaro should have been called up. surely barbaro is a better hitter than ross. why not just use barbaro as a ph and leave ross for backup duties, instead of suffering through extra inning games with a catcher not worthy to wear a cup. whether its “customary” or not, in this playoff race, it doesnt make sense to have another player on the bench that has one skill: sucking.
scenario 1: 8th inning: tied 2-2, ross hits for gonzo, leaving clint sammons for extra inning duties.
scenario 2: 8th inning: tied 2-2, barbaro hits for gonzo, leaving david ross for extra inning duties.
i’ll take scenario 2 all day long. it provides a good bat to ph and a good bat as emergency catcher.
I didn’t say Barbaro shouldn’t be called up. I just said it’s far from dumb to call up a third credible (defensive) catcher.
He doesn’t use Ross because making certain that he always has a catcher to put in the game. Now that he has three catchers he won’t be dissauded from putting one of his backup catchers in the game. Cox maintains the Little League philosophy of “everybody plays” regardless of ability so Sammons will play.
Scenario 3. Both Barbaro Canizares and David Ross are available for pinch-hitting duties with Sammons or Ross (provided you select Barbaro for pinch-hitting duties) left for extra-inning catching duties.
#41, Ross is OPSing .848, for an OPS+ of 122.
Looks to me like he’s been underused so far.
Edit: My apologies, before you edited it it looked like you were saying Ross was not a good option.
Hopefully the team won’t be cheap and will call up six or so players, in addition to Hudson and McLouth.
Did Barbaro show anything in his brief time with the big club to lead you to believe he’s anything more than a AAAAA player?
Mac,
Predictions on how you think Huddy will do tonight?
I’m guessing he’ll take lots of notes for tomorrow’s start.
Good point, LOL
#38 – that’s not bad. Move GA to sixth and slide everybody up one would be my personal preference but that’s minor. The real problems is the talent level of the players on that lineup card – in whatever order – is not very high.
#43 – you are always good for a laugh. I doubt Sammons appears in even five games next month unless there is an extended amount of time between being officially eliminated and the end of the season.
Sammons has already appeared in three games. I think there’s a good shot that he’ll make two more.
Yeah I thought of that and went back and edited my posted to say “next month”. Not quickly enough I guess.
Isn’t even one game or AB too important to give away to a player who’s only value to the team is September callup emergency backup catcher? It always bugs me when people act like one AB does not make a difference. A lot can happen in one AB. Maybe it decides a game and 1 game can most certainly be the difference between a playoff berth or lack thereof.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=4435804
Anyone want to take a chance on Dye?
Used to get the SS games in HD. No more. Instead, FSS has gone full-time in HD, even though their programs are all regular definition. So it’s regular TV for me. The horror!
MSAE, a lot of ABs don’t matter. Those are the ones you give to the scrubs.
Yay, way to waste an out!
Isn’t even one game or AB too important to give away to a player who’s only value to the team is September callup emergency backup catcher?
Um, no. Even you must understand the concept of leverage. If you see Sammons at the plate in a situation with any kind of leverage please let us know and we’ll all rip Bobby appropriately.
Letting him leadoff the top of the ninth with a 9-1 lead is probably ok.
Dye? Tempting, but no.
We simply must get younger (from the manager on down, if you ask me).
I do like his curve.
We can reason from our previous observation of Cox that he will use poor players in high leverage situations. How many games has Norton ended at the plate this year? I do tend to discount the convential wisdom with respect to leverage in that I think that any situation where the score is close or a large number of runs could be scored or prevented to be just as important as the next regardless of the inning.
hankonly, I tend to agree, but a 35 year old Jermaine Dye is better than any other OF we have. Which is sad.
Turn your back, miss an inning. We’re not only going to lose, there’s a good chance we get no-hit.
Johnson has killer stuff. Wow.
Their third-base coach is Cole Porter?
Kawakami loves to get in trouble and then wriggle out. We really need that here.
I do tend to discount the convential wisdom with respect to leverage in that I think that any situation where the score is close or a large number of runs could be scored or prevented to be just as important as the next regardless of the inning.
I’m not sure what you were trying to say but this sentence, as written, is incoherent.
We can reason from our previous observation of Cox that he will use poor players in high leverage situations.
Again, please let us know if you spot Sammons pinch hitting down a run in the ninth.
WRIGGLE!
The sooner KK goes to the pen the better. Unfortunately with his knack for getting in trouble in early innings, he may not be much help there either.
convential = conventional
The rest of it is perfectly clear.
NICE WRIGGLIN’!
Joe really hates Yunel.
New poll.
I voted for them being bad at it, but really it’s a chicken/egg thing.
Shame on you, David Ross!
I’m sure that the Marlins have to wonder what would have happened if Coghlan had started the year in left field.
I’m guessing Grady Sizemore.
What is the question?
Odds on a no-hitter???
Powell and Sutton are suitably impressed with Josh Johnson’s size.
NOHITTERNOHITTERNOHITTERTHEMARLINSHAVEANOHITTERGOING.
Just got home and turned on the game. Is Johnson dealing or are the Braves just hapless at the plate this evening? Also, is Bmac just getting a night off?
Yes on all three.
Johnson always has good stuff, the offense is just pathetic. But hey at least they made him throw 60 pitches through five. By the tenth inning he’ll be gassed.
Thanks Mac. Robert that was pretty funny!
Matty! The jinx worked!
Man, he’s good!
Leadoff hit by Chipper. Let’s get some runs.
I dont see why it would be a bad thing to just assign Ross to a pitcher and let him go every 5th day, looks good with KK also.
KK said, I might as well throw lights out since being kicked from the rotation
Did Chipper just “fist” that ball into left field!? Man I miss Chip!
Pettite perfect through 6
If Chip were on this game, I never would have had to jinx Johnson.
Why did someone just shout “Ryan Doumit!”?
Schafer had surgery on his wrist today according to Boog, should be ready in the spring
That was sudden.
Infante!
Yes!!
Way to go Omar!!!
\/\/()()7
Bah, Norton sighting!
Anyone know Kawakami’s pitch count?
With Norton on deck, you have to walk Ross.
Kawakami was at 75. But his shoulder is iffy, and he fell apart at just about that point against the Padres.
Guess not.
Greetings from Delta Flight 1794…
Guess I flipped on MLB.tv just in time.
I’d go ahead and get Moylan in the game now and save Norton’s
bateye for later in the game.The Norton Virus.
On the other hand, Norton’s spot has now been cleared which will be a great boon to the people.
@70–send KK to the pen if you like but I’ll take his one run in 6 IP
Wow. That’s my comment on every event in this game.
I do believe that Greg Norton, 2009, is the worst Brave I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen some bad ones. But he’s got Andres Thomas beat.
106,
Awesome.
Norton’s new nickname is the Virus, all agreed?
and Infante has shown that he can play a decent CF, his triple off of Johnson also shows why Gorecki shouldnt ever start ahead of him again
Just imagine how good the Marlins will be when their new, publically financed, stadium fixes everything and simultaneously revitalizes whatever god forsaken area of Miami where it will be located.
Well, it’s the old Orange Bowl site, which is probably a toxic waste dump after all the UM games there.
I was searching for Greg Norton’s loss probability added when I found this guy.
“He was expelled by the team on August 14 when he told the team he was going to a funeral, but instead went drinking.”
LOL, awesome.
Langerhans 2007 performance is still worse than Norton’s
.068/.192/.091/.283 in 44 AB’s
compared to Norton’s
.135/.325/.169/.495 in 65 AB’s
Langerhans was a good glove, and he played fewer games. Norton’s PA’s are mostly in high-leverage situations, too.
Hey, the Marlins fans are trash-talking ACHE! Yay, Marlins fans!
I’d hit Gorecki for ACHE when they bring in the lefty, but that’s probably too much to ask for.
Nah, Francoeur hurt the team way worse.
An OPS of .283 egads!!!
I cannot believe that we traded away this Meyer guy, terrible terrible trade. Plus we included Charles Thomas
Norton is slightly better than Joe Blanton, Ryan Dempster, John Lannan, Jorge de la Rosa, and Javy Vazquez against the fastball. Still, he’s no Chris Volstad, Chris Carpenter, Chad Billingsley, Doug Davis, or Cole Hamels.
But if you think about it, some of those guys are all-stars. Unrealistic to expect Norton to match up with those guys. Plus, several of them have pretty big contracts.
And of course Norton always pinch-hits against power guys, like Lidge. Wish that someone in the org would check that stat (way down from 08’s average performance vs. fastballs) and recommend that he be used against soft-tossing lefties (or righties, whichever side of the plate he used to be able to hit from).
BTW, Gorecki is probably going to enter the game for defense now.
Baker told Gload to cut it off, Joseph.
Can we just have someone hit for him and have him re-enter like Little League?
Maybe he means worst in terms of inability to play the game rather than overall negative effect on the team.
Feeling a little loopy tonight, Adam?
Millions of ADD sufferers are offended by that statement!!!1111
See, Gorecki in for ACHE. Why not against the lefty?
anyone here Joe complaining about Uggla’s single earlier? He said he hated how Uggla put his head down while running to 1st. It was a decent single hit right at ACHE and there was also a runner in front of him. Joe is just a complainer
Gonzo working quicker and throwing more fastballs, not rocking much either. Looks pretty good
LOL, just heard this call:
“gliding over to get it is….Reid Gorecki”
“Soriano pitched the 9th because his arm is still attached.”
Soriano with a 4-run lead. Sigh..,
This is a crucial four-game series. Save the closer for the close games for crying out loud.
Just got a text from smitty’s hairdresser–Braves sniffing around on Mike Cameron b/c of McLouth’s hammy and the team’s general lack of RH hitting.
Does Mike Hampton own a functional body part?
#137 – better do it today or apparently he wont be eligible for post season roster, wouldnt make sense to do it after today
Cox needs to bring someone else in to rack up a stat.
139,
I think because McLouth is on the DL the Braves can use any OF on the post-season roster.
Recapped.
After last night, Bobby is in no mood of gambling. We need to sweep the Marlins.
Did Sammons get called up?