Eric O’Flaherty Statistics and History – Baseball-Reference.com.
The Mariners tried to sneak a live arm back to the minors last offseason, but the Braves caught them in the act and wound up with one of the better lefthanded relievers in the game. I was critical of O’Flaherty early on, when he had trouble in a couple of early outings, but like Moylan he righted himself. He wound up making 78 appearances with a 3.04 ERA.
The red flag here is his strikeouts; he only struck out 39 in 56 and a third IP. Even for a lefthanded reliever (and O’Flaherty was not used as a pure LOOGY, facing righthanders about half the time) that is a low rate. His components are much better against lefties, and the Braves should seriouly consider limiting his role. But a lot of that is dependent upon someone else stepping up as a fourth righthanded reliever.
It would be good to give him some different intro music, but the irish loogy did alright for the bravos last year.
Your right Mac, another RH RP (Proctor???) needs to be good in the pen to limit O’Flarety usage. He can be figured out if seen too much.
It seems like the plan is for the Braves to carry two lefties (Wagner, O’Flaherty), four righties (Moylan, Saito, Chavez, Medlen), and a 13th pitcher (does it really matter if the 13th pitcher on the staff is a lefty or a righty?). Between Moylan, Medlen, Saito, and Chavez, I don’t think they’ll have a whole lot of problems getting righties out late in games, especially if you believe Saito is healthy and the Chavez Spring Training cliches.
I think you mean 12th pitcher — right?
yep I want Proctor down there and not Acosta
Is the also the first ‘meaningless game’ thread of the new year? And… does anybody know how to watch these spring training games online for someone who does not have mlb tv?
Thanks!
Took a look at the Braves’ regular season schedule and man, they did them no favors early on. I count 3 off days in the month of april and every one of them occurs in between games the braves play in the same city. That means they don’t occur when the team could really use them – namely during travel.
But no, that would make too much sense. Instead, the braves have to play a Thursday night game against the Cubs in Atlanta, then be in San Francisco the very next day to play the Giants (they catch Lincecum and Cain too).
Again, not off day between playing in San Diego ont the 15th and facing the Rockies in Atlanta on the 16th.
Two cross-country flights with no rest. Thanks a lot MLB.
Back-to-Back night games in New York and St. Louis look decent by comparison, and at least they give them a day game to get out of STL early.
Hey, at least we don’t finish the season in Houston!
Scheduling is imperfect and all will never be pleased regardless of the attempts to do so. It is what it is.
No arguement here, sdp.
I wasn’t trying to rant against the system. Just stating the fact that got delt a bad hand in April.
Yay! Braves baseball. First thing I see tuning in mlb.tv is a Hanson strikeout. Sweet. And how annoying is Jose Reyes to listen to in an interview – y’know…
I got to hear Elmer Dessens get hit in the buttocks by a McCann line drive for the Braves’ first run. Not as elevated, but almost as enjoyable.
Heyward looking good so far with a walk and line drive single to right on a high pitch.
#1
What was O’Flaherty’s intro music anyway?
My feeling: Irish LOOGY? Irish music!
Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak” is a pretty good one have playing when you burst out of the ‘pen.
http://tinyurl.com/ltqq2j
Of course, The Pogues’ “If I Should Fall from Grace With God” is pretty rollicking. (Imagine Shane MacGowan’s teeth on The Ted’s giant HD screen!)
http://tinyurl.com/cushg3
And The Pogues’ “Sunnyside of the Street” has a pretty good start, too. Very summer-y, I think.
http://tinyurl.com/cvwqbq
Even though very few in The ATL would know what the song’s about, the beginning of Stiff Little Fingers’ “Alternative Ulster” would be pretty great to enter in from the bullpen & by the time the drums kick in the warm-ups could start:
http://tinyurl.com/yko5kh6
But I’d guess the Turner Field “DJ” would probably just play U2 or Van Morrison or something from “Finian’s Rainbow.”
Wait… HESSMAN? Mike Hessman is playing third for the Mets?
Jesse Chavez is not impressive so far.
So much for the hype.
he sure is throwing a lot of fastballs.
Wait, Spring Training games have started?
Yeah, the Braves are playing the Mets (Mets 3-1) on the MLB Network. It appears that the Met announcers are drunk.
They’re not only drunk, they seem to have no knowledge of the Braves. “Um, seems like they got back too little in Melky for Javier” Duuuuuhhhh!!! Sorry.
Did I hear that right? Reitsma?
Never mind, Chris Resop.
Resop in the game. Somewhere “wun” is jackin it.
(That was the Resop melter’s login, no? That whole saga was gold!)
LOL Resop gives up a bomb to a scrub the first batter he faces.
Hey wun, that guy sucks! Please, tell me otherwise.
Found the whole wun saga, looks like it took place over the course of April-May 2008 in several threads. But in one, Mac posts a solid compilation of “Wun’s Greatest Hits” in the May 26 game summary thread…
Link
Quoted:
The complete Wun, Part Wun…
April 13: “I guess Bennett for walking 4 straight and giving up too many hits and earned runs in his short outing” (After I compared Resop, who pitched poorly, to Campillo, who was just up and pitched well, and speculated as to which was more likely to be sent down.)
April 15: “I think if the players ever read the comments they would simply consider the sources from which they come from and laugh heartily….” (In answer to my post “Please be Resop… Please be Resop…” about who would be sent down for Carlyle.)
April 17: “I’ve read Braves Journal twice now and am convinced that it is nothing more than a bunch of 4 yrs olds who have learned to use a computer… get off the Resop, Ohman, Bennett and whoever else is not doing as well as you would like bandwagon… what a worthless site..” (After I said Resop sucked. And a lie, since s/he had been here twice before.)
Same post: “Drewdat yea you’re right…now go beat your chest and type somemore….great thought process that one brain cell puts out”
April 22: “send Campillo back to Mexico those were his own mistaken runs…not Resop’s. So he gave up a dbl…did that run score…not…” (When I mentioned Resop’s Triple Grybo of Campillo’s baserunners. Ah, nativism.)
Same post: “Parish: Resop is responsible for everybody’s runs even if he doesn’t inherit them… NOT…” (Wayne’s World was a long, long time ago, Wun.)
Continued…
The complete Wun, part Wtoo…
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.”
“You are correct about giving up 5 HR’s in one game.. you will LOSE…and we did…Arizona must have had an ass chewing before the game tonight after losing 6 on the road and turned that ass chewing around on the Braves” (Resop gave up one of the five homers, but this is the only wun I can find that wasn’t a defense of Resop.)
May 25: “Nasa: make sure your visa is up to date…I am certain that he will be waiting for you to take him out… might just be your last trip here…not like Ohman did well… look up the stats of Resop and then Acosta… other than the era looks like Resop might be the better pitcher and 2 yrs younger ….” (After Nasa said he’d make his first visit to the States to “take [Resop] out of the state” if he stayed on the roster after Smoltz/Soriano/Gonzalez were back.)
Yesterday: “Mac: Actually the game was put away when the ace of the staff gave up the grannie…and of course the offense did little to nothing again today…better days lie ahead… hopefully” (When I said that the game was put away after KJ struck out with two on and Resop followed by allowing a two-run homer to make it 8-3.)
Followup to that comment: “you’re right but the Braves don’t seem to be able to do that…granted Chipper was out and that did not help matters”
And then today (May 26): No wonder all of you sit by your computers and blog all day and night…you have no life at all…..what a waste of cyberspace…keep following Mac to the promised land…. believe me you will be in good hands…BRAVES JOURNAL delenda est
So Wun is some sort of Resop groupie.
😆 😆 😆
One of the great melts in not just Braves Journal history, but all of the internet.
It looks like the Braves will lose. I was hopeful for this season, but after today’s game, I’ve given up on them. No clutch hitting, bullpen is terrible, Heyward can’t do it by himself! 😆
Mets 4-2. Boo.
Meh, Chavez’s complete inability to spot pitches and Brandon Hicks uncharacteristic error lost us that game. (Along with the HR Resop gave up. What a scrub! Did you hear me, wun? I said Resop was a scrub. Worst player I’ve ever seen.)
Overall, I’d say seeing McCann dead leg Dessens for an RBI, Hanson mow a few down in a couple of scoreless innings, and Heyward post a 1.000 OBP while stealing third base made it a wortwhile day. I enjoyed watching the game. So pumped for another season with the team and you guys!
Postgame DOB tweets:
“Heyward had a single, two walks, SB today. McCann said afterward, Heyward belongs, just matter of making adjustments to big-league pitching.”
“But he’s the best 20-year-old I’ve ever seen,” McCann added, about Heyward.”
“Broadcaster Keith Hernandez called J Heyward’s scorched single down line “a Willie McCovey shot.” Cox said: “Hardest hit single you’ll see.”
“Cox said reliever Jesse Chavez: “just geeked up a little bit. Fastball, fastball, fastball.”
Which prompted our own JC to retort (if I might): “Between innings Jason Heyward saved a puppy, delivered a baby, and cured cancer.”
Sigh. If only.
I’ll be the first to say it:
If Chuck Norris wears Tim Tebow pjs, Tebow wears Jason Heyward pajamas.
Manny Acosta pitched a whole inning without allowing a run. Oh wait, we were losing, that’s what he does.
Lou Reed is 68 years old today.
I’m interested to see how high a percentage of Cody Johnson’s at bats end in a strikeout.
The human body is a miraculous thing. Who the hell could have predicted Lou would make it to 68?
For that matter, who would have predicted that he would release 20 albums in the 25 years after Metal Machine Music?
Keith Richards is 66 years old, or 185 by most peoples lives.
I watched the game today, PUMPED!!! Heyward .272 average 82 rbi’s 18 hrs, 22 sb.
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A SINGLE GIRL.
These pictures of Heyward out are insane. The dude is huge. I would not pick a fight with him.
Hey, remember when Andruw Jones had a 98.7% chance of hitting 500 home runs?
Andruw Jones has had a really sad decline to his career.
andruw has made a ton of cash playing baseball for a living, I dont feel sorry for him at all
Oh, I’m not feeling sorry for him in that respect. I’m just saying, he probably won’t be a HOF’er unless he has a major turnaround, and he seemed like a shoo-in just a few years back.
#38 – agree….Andruw basically prevented himself from becoming a “GREAT” player. He got in his own way it seems like because it seemed like every offseason he got in worse shape. That and bad fundamentals swinging the bat caused the huge dropoff for him
I’m of the school that Andruw was what he was. A very good player. Not the superstar that everyone seems disappointed he never became but during his good years, pretty damn good.
Saw the picture of Heyward and McLouth running to the outfield. Whoa! Mr. and Mrs. J-Hey must have gone broke feeding that kid.
I’m happy baseball is back, if only to fill that winter sports void, but I never really care about the results of spring training. I just hope nobody gets hurt.
ST is just a tease. Dont get me wrong in that I love March Madness, but Im ready for some meaningful baseball games
My best friend lives in Jupiter, FL where a lot of other teams have spring training. I’ll try to catch a Braves “away” game some time this month if I can find a cheap flight. Looking forward to seeing Heyward in action.
And did anyone see him steal third? He was halfway there after two steps. Huge guy.
I have been a long time reader of the Braves Journal. I would like to thank everybody who has kept me up to date on the Braves and your knowledge of the game. Mac, my thoughts are with you and I wish you a healthy and speedy recovery. Much love and respect for the awesome site, thank you man! Take care
I’m finding it very difficult to keep my cool about Heyward. I thought he looked great yesterday. In his first PA, he was down 1-2, and then worked a walk; and advanced on a not very wild WP. Maybe I read DOB too much, but the ball really did seem to sound different coming off his bat when he hit the worlds hardest hit single. Stealing third….oh my, I have the vapors…I swoon….
…to calm myself down I looked up Bob Horner’s numbers to gain perspective on 20 year old phenoms who go straight to the bigs. It didn’t help. He played in 89 games and was named Rookie of the Year.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hornebo01.shtml#batting_postseason
Bob Horner is the reason why I like the Yakult Swallows. That and the fact that they have a fantastic team name.
I guess that the Braves have no interest in Mateo:
http://markbowman.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/03/lowe_draws_the_short_straw.html
At least we are being aggressive with international signings….
@46
That is a fantastic name. I grew up watching Horner. I loved that the team paid him something like $100 per pound to lose weight.
Just remember all these great things about Heyward when (if) he starts off the season hitting .250/.300/.250 or something like that.
does a 20yr old make this team a LOT better for the first two months of the season? I’m not sure, but starting to think that he might. We need power and Id rather have Diaz/Melky platooning with Heyward playing, than having Thurston or Conrad as the extra player till he arrives.
You know, I think I’d rather the Braves not hype him so much so that he gets a diet of straight fastballs for the first two months.
Surprised I haven’t seen it mentioned here given the Heyward situation, but the D-Backs signed Justin Upton to a six year deal yesterday.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/03/justin-upton-close-to-multiyear-deal.html
I can’t help but think that if Heyward turns out that this will be a precedent for the kind of deal the Braves may offer. If Heyward lives up to the huge expectations, that would be a hell of a deal for the Bravos.
If anybody wants to buy Braves/Mets tix at Citi Field (or any other Mets tix for that matter), today is the Mets online pre-sale. The password is, ahem, COMEBACK.
Got a pair for April 23 & 24.
ububba,
Any chance they’ll play a series at the Tokyo Dome?
Thought not.
🙁
Didn’t the Mets & Cubs open there a few years ago?
ububba @ 58
Indeed they did. Much to Furman Bisher’s chagrin.
http://tinyurl.com/2jmsxo
For some people, wars never end.
Re: J-Hey
Here’s some Heyward love in today’s NY Times. It discusses Heyward’s NYC roots and his longtime love for the NY Yankees.
http://tinyurl.com/yfrws2k
Is this game streaming audio/video anywhere?
I know it’s on MLB.tv, but I’m gonna have to wait a pay check or two before I can make that yearly purchase thsi year. Stuck at work, pretty slow day, would love to be able to follow the game. (Yes, I know…spring training doesn’t matter.)
Heyward just walked in his first at bat….again.
Hudson with two scoreless innings. Chipper GDP in his first AB to end the first.
Somewhere, I hear Stu barking …
the guys announcing the game today are pretty alright. buck and somebody…
they took the video feed away on mlbtv, but do have the audio.
The Irish LOOGY sounded good on the feed with 2 ks
So this is up front at SI.com.
Heyward’s OBP drops by 200 points! What a bum!!!1!!!
heyward is in some pretty elite company. btw, 4 #1 prospects in 21 years for the atlanta braves. that absurd!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1003/mlb.number.1.prospects/content.1.html?eref=sircrc
Stephen Marek is AWFUL. He was awful in AA. He is barely even worth having as minor league fodder.
… And we’d have drafted Todd van Poppel, but he insisted he wanted to go to college. Until the A’s drafted him, of course. Somehow, that doesn’t bother me much, especially since we settled for some guy named Larry who turned out pretty well.
Apparently, Stephen Marek is the Casey Kotchman of relievers.
63—Goooooooooooo, Dawgs! Sick ’em! Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!
😀
chris (alabama)
In 10 years: JUpton or Heyward?
Jim Callis (2:45 PM)
In 10 years, Heyward. That’s our Braves question.
That’s high praise
why is this guy playing spring training baseball?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=marek-001ste
Because he was once — just a year ago, in fact — considered a prospect. As I recall, he and Medlen were both very impressive last year. He totally fell apart, though, and may never pitch in the big leagues.
Heyward with an RBI double off the wall. Scores on a Yunel grounder that got by the second baseman. Tied up at 4-4.
and the hype builds…
Posnanski on optimism — and the 1991 Braves.
Now that’s more like it. I want about 200 more of those (between ST, the regular season, and the playoffs, that should be about right).
BRAVES WIN, BRAVES WIN, BRAVES WIN!!!!!!!!!!!
(too early????)
any thoughts on the braves radio announcers so far? still trying to figure it out, i really miss Skip and Pete.
It would be great if mlb.com would allow you to pay an $5 to not listen to the same 3 radio spots over and over
The guys that announced the game today are not the Braves announcers. They are two guys who have a show on 680theFan in Atlanta.
Their names are John Kincaid (play-by-play) and Buck Belue (color). If you thought they were terrible, you’re not alone. Fortunately, they’re not the regulars.
Buck Belue wasn’t so terrible when he was wearing #8, though.
Yeah, but his job wasn’t that difficult. “Here you go, Herschel.”
maybe it was a small sample, but i didnt think they were that bad.
#85
Except for that time, before Herschel, when he led a massive comeback to beat Tech and another time when he threw this pass to Lindsay Scott…
When the Yankees and Rays were in town a few years ago, I got to see the Yankees play the (Hanshin) Tigers. I made a few Japanese friends when they realized I was rooting for the Tigers. I also got to see our old friend Darren Bragg play some center field.
Looking at the Braves early season rotation it looks like I’ll get to see either Jurrjens or Hanson when they come to San Diego. That’ll definitely be a treat to see.
keeper league – Zobrist or McCutchen
It looks like ACHE is headed back to the West coast–if he has a good spring, he will be wearing Dodger blue:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/
I hope that he is playing LF against us later in the year…..
csg,
Andrew McCutchen. Dude’s 22 with a bright future according to most scouts, Zobrist is 28 with one good (or rather, spectacular) season who OPSed .572 and .391 in 2007 and 2006, respectively.
But, I’m probably wrong, so go with Zobrist.
Hope it helped.
CSG, in 2010, I’d definitely go for Zobrist, because of all that incredible position eligibility. I’m assuming he’s just a 2B in 2010, though, so I’m assuming the eligibility won’t last past this year — and I think 2009 will prove his all-time career high. So I’d want McCutchen in 2011 and every year after that (with the usual caveats about how Pirate prospects usually bust after their one good season). Since it’s a keeper league, I agree with desert that McCutch is the one you want for the long haul — but Zobrist will probably be better this year, if that information makes any difference to you.
FWIW, I’ve written about Zobrist –I don’t think he’ll replicate 2009, but I also don’t think that he’ll disappear. His minor league OBPs were generally good, which means that he has one major skill that Ryan Ludwick, another late-blooming power hitter, never really possessed. So he’s not a complete fluke, even if he isn’t quite as good as he played last year.
Felix Hernandez from the mariners was offered more money to sign with the Braves but picked Seattle because Freddy Garcia, his idol…was pitching for them at the time.
Saw this in a post elsewhere.. true? If so, as Johnny Carson would say, I did not know that.
Shit.
Talk about marginal taste in idols…
I mean, it’s not like we ever had any pitchers worth idolizing, right?
90,
In keeper leagues I always bet on talent. I think McCutchen is a lot more talented than Zobrist, so that’s who I’d keep. Not that I’m any good at fantasy baseball…
Am I the only one who finds this line on MLBTR to be… odd?
“He held his own with a .714 OPS against lefties, but only posted a .701 OPS against righties. ”
.013 is a difference, but not a heck of a lot of one.
@97:
No. You’re not.
@97 – I’m not even sure that a .714 OPS should be considered “holding his own.” It’s a weird statement in general.
97 and 98,
ACHE bats left, so conceivably OPSing .714 against left handers would actually be a good thing (if he wasn’t completely worthless against right-handed batters).
Stupid audio player won’t work to listen today (didn’t try it the last couple days)… have to refresh maniacally instead.
Hmmm we’re up against Charlie Morton today…
Heyward went 0-2? DOOMED! WE’RE DOOMED!
edit: Mets pitchers today so far have been Dickey, Stoner, & Egbert. There’s a joke there somewhere. Oh yeah, it’s the Mets.
New thread this morning, BFR. Sorry.