Atlanta Braves vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Box Score – June 07, 2010 – ESPN.
Ah, the Bad Lowe. And bad he was. In the first, he gave up three straight hits to start the game, with two of the runners scoring. He managed to get through the next two innings unscathed as the Braves were blowing chances to score. Two on in the second, and Yunel struck out and Melky grounded out. First and third in the third, one out, and Heyward grounded into a 3-6-1 double play. In the fourth, they loaded the bases with one out and Melky grounded out, allowing one run to score, but that was it, 2-1.
And then the Bad Lowe showed up with a vengeance. A homer to start things, then he loaded the bases with a single and two walks with two out. He almost got out of it, but Yunel got fancy on a groundout, trying to flip the ball to second when it looked like he had a good chance to throw the hitter out at first. The ball got away for an “infield single”, 4-1. The next man tripled to get the game out of hand, 7-1.
The Braves still had chances. They scored two runs in the sixth, Melky singling in Hinske then scoring on a double by Ross. In the eighth, they loaded the bases with one out, scoring on a bases-laoded HBP of Ross, but couldn’t get anything else. And in the ninth, they loaded the bases on walks, but Yunel grounded into a double play to end it. Sheesh.
By the way, the three relievers Bobby wouldn’t use on Sunday? Four innings, one hit, seven strikeouts, no runs. The Lisp threw two perfect innings and Kimbrel his usual two-walk, two-strikeout, no-hit seventh. Wagner pitched the eighth, because he hadn’t pitched in a while. Sigh.
So is there any doubt that Derek Lowe’s contract is the worst in the history of the Braves franchise?
Derek Lowe is the gift which just keeps giving….
Otherwise, Lipka is a solid pick at #35. Sure, there were better players available (there still are), but at least the Braves got a signable, middle infielder with a great upside, and one who will probably not break the bank. I hope that means that they can go a bit over the slot for some of their other picks.
It would be great if at #53 they took anyone of the following: Cabrera, Austin Wilson (if they can sign him), Cole, Golden, Parker or Smelter.
The great thing about the Braves is they always surprise….
#1–Nick Esasky’s should be re-examined. Of course, the nice thing about Mike Hampton is that we did not have to him pitch every 5 days….
This is one of the best pieces of journalism I have read in a while:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20100606%2FSPORTS02%2F6060457%2F1318%2FHow-ump-went-from-Ohio-to-bigs-to-national-scrutiny&template=fullarticle
Pretty long article about Joyce and the near-perfect game. Give it a read.
When does the draft start today?
Esasky and Hampton were worst aquisitions ever, maybe throw in Albie Lopez. At least with Lowe you have a 50/50 chance of a decent outing. Esasky and Hampton hardly ever took the field, and Albie Lopez, well, he just sucked as well as blowed
Austin Wilson would make my day.
Hampton’s contract was largely relieved with insurance.
Did the Braves buy suck insurance on Lowe? That would’ve been a good investment.
I don’t blame this one on Lowe. We had major scoring opportunities and blew them last night. That ninth inning was just embarrassing on both sides.
Mike Hampton would probably be our second best hitting outfielder right now.
#6–If we can sign him….
9—Well, of course. If the Braves were to pick him, though, I would take that as a sign that they’re willing to pony up.
7—Lowe gave up 7 runs in 4 innings. We lost 7-4. I think he gets some blame.
I think I had a post disappear into the ether.
It was about how Hampton’s contract wasn’t that bad since insurance picked up a lot of it.
And how I hope the Braves bought suck insurance for Lowe. That should be easy to collect right about now.
The ether is not to be confused with the Ethier, btw.
Lowe was awful, he gets most of the blame
I see the Rockies took Kyle Parker 26th overall. I’m not so sure about his signability with a quarterback job waiting for him here at Clemson. What do you think? Rumors are he wants $3.5-4MM to take him away from another year of football, but I don’t see a 26th pick getting anywhere near that, especially with the Rockies.
Baseball or Clemson football… why does that sound familiar?
I’m not sure why he’d go to school when he could instead opt to get paid over a million dollars.
Or why he’d go to Clemson.
Oh sure, now it shows up.
The spam filter didn’t like it for some reason, I have no idea what. I rescued it.
Congrats to Vandy! (The enemy of my enemy is my friend.)
Speaking of going to Clemson.
When the spam filter turns on you, you might as well surrender. (Or at least start thinking of a new screen name.)
One more time: why not start Blanco in CF? He simply can’t do any worse than McLouth.
Thanks, Mac.
John Sickels likes the Lipka pick.
Actually, he doesn’t like it. I’ve read that the intention is to move Lipka straight to the outfield.
Any guesses for #53?
The Braves got a couple of pretty good years out of Hampton. They aren’t getting much of anything (except not being injured) from Lowe.
@25. I guess it’s time to consider Blanco in center, but he really offers very little, even though at this point it’s better than McLouth. Over the course of a month I would expect Blanco to hit about .250 with some walks and absolutely no power. I would hope that McLouth could hit at a .250 clip over the next month, but it’s definitely not a given. McLouth will almost definitely give us more power in center and has a better arm.
As much as I can’t stand Melky, I don’t know what Blanco could give us that Melky can’t. As much as I would like to think Blanco’s 1.000 avg with a 2.500 OPS is sustainable, I have serious doubts about it. He hit .251/.676 OPS in 2008 with Atlanta and .186/.488 in 2009. His entire 2009 season at Gwinnett was only slightly better than McLouth this year. He hit .228/.605 last year in Gwinnett compared to McLouth’s horrible .175/.579 this year in Atlanta. Blanco was doing better this year at Gwinnett, .294/.767, but I don’t think it will translate to much better than .250/.680 this year in Atlanta.
In short, McLouth stinks, but Blanco will stink only a little less. We either need to hope for McLouth to turn it around (patience with him grows less every day and I don’t think even Cox can hold out much longer), hope Melky continues to hit at an improved rate, or look for someone else in a trade. I don’t see Blanco as an everyday option at all.
Todd Cunningham!!
The MLB coverage is crap….
Didn’t McLouth’s toe hurt?
If he were to be DL’d, how long of a AAA rehab assignment would be acceptable?
Just curious to know what would be possible… not trying to abuse the system, but work within it in an advantageous way.
I’m not even sure that McLouth is out of options.
@19
Why not? Looks like its working out pretty good for him?
Braves pick 3B Joe Leonard from the U of Pittsburgh at #101, 3rd round. He’s also pitched, apparently.
Looking at our recent acquisitions it looks like we’re putting a premium on trying to get some speed and short stops and center fielders into the organization.
Edward Salcedo, Dominican short stop.
Yasser Gomez, Cuban center fielder who’s best asset is speed.
Matthew Lipka, Texas High School short stop that will play center known for his speed.
Todd Cunningham, Jacksonville State center field, with plus speed and probably not enough power to play a corner.
Andrelton Simmons, Western Oklahoma JC short stop known for his arm.
Never mind. Carrol Rodgers is reporting they plan to move Cunningham to 3rd base and Simmons to pitch.
Wow, Heyward up to second in the All Star voting, and McCann not too far behind Molina for catcher. Prado in second but a long way away from Utley. Might have two starters this year!
Major League Baseball investigating injury to New York Mets pitcher Oliver Perez – ESPN New York.
And in round 4 at #134, the Braves choose David Filak, a RHP from that baseball hotbed, SUNY-Oneonta.
Kevin Goldstein: Just did some radio, but love Filak to #Braves in fourth, HUGE HUGE arm from tiny, tiny school.
http://twitter.com/Kevin_Goldstein/status/15721313199
Here’s the BA Top 200 ranks for the Braves picks so far.
1. Lipka, #76 (picked @ 35)
2. Cunningham #87 (picked @ 53)
3. Simmons #90 (picked @ 70)
4. Leonard #104 (picked @ 101)
5. Filak #73 (picked @ 134)
Glad we’ve focused on hitting thus far.
Round 5, #164, and the Braves win… a new Philip Gosselin, second baseman from the U of Virginia.
Great idea to open Strasburg at home on a mid-week game vs. Pittsburgh. They’ll draw an extra 30,000 fans or so.
Who wants to make guesses about Strasburg? I’ll go ahead be the who one says he’ll get rocked.
Baseball Rumor Mill –
Scouting Report: Filak has a big, loose body and has made strides in refining his long, Iron Mike-like, straight-over-the-top arm action and release point. His fastball was consistently 90-92 mph, touching 93, although the pitch is pretty straight. Filak’s downer curveball is a solid second pitch, when he throws it in the strike zone. Hitters obviously have trouble picking up Filak’s pitches as he has struck out 146 hitters in 93 innings in two seasons at Division III SUNY Oneonta. He topped D-III pitchers in most strikeouts (14.86) and fewest hits (5.07) per nine innings in 2009.
Fangraphs –
Dave Filak | RHP | SUNY-Oneonta
Filak walked on to this small Division III program, and has almost no history of facing elite competition. But he’s 6-foot-5, has touched 95 mph, and offers a curveball that hitters at his level could not touch. He’ll have to assuage concerns about the health of his elbow, as he missed a start with elbow soreness this spring. The team that believes in their own development staff could definitely take a chance on Filak, who offers all the potential coaches need to mold a Major Leaguer.
He threw a no-hitter last year as well, as well as being named an All-American.
The Nats and Strasburg are -230 favorites today (you have to lay $230 to win $100). That’s an outrageous price for a guy making his major league debut.
So take their money, Jeremy.
@ 49,
Or, as Richard Pryor channeling Jim Brown would say, “Let the man go so that he can express himself.”
You can get the Pirates at nearly 2-1, but it’s the Pirates. No thanks. The line did open at -164 offshore. Huge move to the Nats.
I predict that Strasburg will look impressive in spots, but he’ll have some control issues before leaving in the sixth. I say 5-2/3 innings, 3 runs (2 earned), 3 hits, 4 walks, 7 Ks and a no-decision.
While we’re on the subject, some interesting Strasburg prop bets today. Strikeouts (over/under): 5.5; walks: 1.5; innings pitched: 6; pitches: 90.5; earned runs: 2.5.
The most interesting one to me is pitching result of the game:
Win -158
Loss +271
ND +267
Latest pick Kurt Fleming @ #254, HS OF from VA.
His dad is Steven Fleming, the Braves’ East Coast crosschecker
Strasburg gets touched up?
Please. It’s the Pirates. He was facing better lineups in AAA. I think the Pirates might have better bats in AAA.
@54 Does Schuerholz have another kid in this draft?
In Round 11, the Braves took pitcher Chasen Shreve from… the College of Southern Nevada. Maybe Wren’s after a Bryce Harper scouting report.
194th pick Joseph Terdoslavich
Imagine the nickname.
Turd sandwich!
Barrett Kleinknecht (Round 12) won’t have that problem, just one of repeating his name several times to everyone he meets so they can pronounce it.
“Kleinknecht” means, literally, “little servant”. So he’s got that going for him.
Thanks, Dusty. Here’s the comparison of the Braves’ picks to Keith Law’s top 100.
1. Lipka, #54 (picked @ 35)
2. Cunningham unranked (picked @ 53)
3. Simmons unranked on June 2 list, #100 on May 14 (picked @ 70)
4. Leonard unranked (picked @ 101)
5. Filak #57 (picked @ 134)
I like the last two picks, but otherwise, it looks like this has been another draft in which the Braves have been limited by financial resources. This thread started out with Derek Lowe and I fear that his contract has again played a role in limiting what the Braves can do.
Lipka and Simmons are nice prospects, but I am afraid that Todd Cunningham may come to resemble Langerhans. We have too much experience with corner outfielders without power. Meanwhile, the Braves passed on many excellent prospects….
More from Perfect Game USA:
Surprisingly, they had Filak ranked at #133 on their top 300. Going by their predraft rankings, they think our first few picks were overdrafts, but they liked our late-round selections.
Here’s how Perfect Game USA ranked our picks:
1. Lipka, #141 (picked @ 35)
2. Cunningham #65(picked @ 53)
3. Simmons #82 (picked @ 70)
4. Leonard #90 (picked @ 101)
5. Filak #133 (picked @ 134)
6. Gosselin #153 (picked @ 164)
7. Terdoslavich unranked (picked @ 194)
8. Suschak #159 (picked @ 224)
I would guess Strasburg’s debut will be something like Hansons–I’m betting something like 4.2 ip, 4 hits 2 runs, 5 k’s, 4bbs. Of course, this game is being treated something like a playoff or World Series game; if he can do better in this environment, it will be very impressive.
The draft doesn’t sound good. But the FO will play it up as the Braves organization knowing something that the other teams don’t.
Well, everybody thought Minor was a signability pick last year, and that has worked out well. I’ll give the FO the benefit of the doubt and trust they know what they are doing.
i’m about to leave work to head to the strasmageddon at nationals park. should be home around the 2nd or 3rd inning in arizona tonight…hope for a fun night
#65–Exactly–with the same rhetoric about how happy the organization is with draft.
#66–While it is still too early to evaluate the 2009 draft, after Minor the current results appear to be terrible. I think it will get better, but I fear that the criticisms of that draft were well founded….
Seems like a disappointing draft to me, but I compared Mike Minor to Mark Redman last year. I’ll reserve judgment.
I wonder how many people’ll leave when Strasburg comes out of the game.
A friend of mine attended Aaron’s 715 game & he said the place pretty much cleared out after the home run.
I’m going to see Strasburg tonight too. Anyone else here planning to go? Email me at alexander dot remington at gmail dot com.
Seems like an unusual emphasis on position players so far–9 of 15.
#70–I was at that game and most of us watched the ending at home. It did not help that it began to rain….
@53-
Over, Over, Under, Over, Under.
Also, hard to have an exciting draft without a first rounder. Sounds like a solid crop to me. Got some bodies in the places where we needed them, plus there’s some high-upside guys there as well.
MLB’s Draft Tracker found something to say about Thomas Girdwood (round 15), even if it was that he was first team in the Southern Conference and is Elon’s record-holder in saves. I insist that this must be a good sign.
I had my eyes on some tickets to go to the Nats game tonight, but flights and hotels sent it out of my affordable zone quickly.
Our most recent draft pick was C Corey Brownsten, Joe Leonard’s teammate at Pitt.
Brian J.,
That might be a legacy pick. Wasn’t Billy Wagner a player at Elon?
Nope. Wagner went to Ferrum College in Virginia when Houston drafted him in 1993.
Dan Winnie from Lackawanna College was the Braves’ Round 16 pick. Four players have been drafted from Lackawanna in the past. None made the majors.
Dont know where most are following the draft, but this seems to be working well and you can follow each pick or by the team
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2010/draftcaster.jsp
Round 17. Another write-up for Stefan Sabol, a California HS catcher who isn’t expected to stay behind the plate.
Our latest pick (round 17, #524 overall) was Stefan Sabol, whom mlb.com writes up
The video made Sabol’s arm look pretty unimpressive. That means LF/ 1B and high offensive demands.
Game thread.
The O’s pick RHP Sebastian Vader. I pity him already.
@85 Why? If he becomes a reliever, he can use the greatest closer music of all time – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_WERPN8KO8