Zack Greinke is a dirty player game thread: June 20, Royals at Braves

He has no excuse for that crap. Not even “I’m an American League pitcher and didn’t know any better”. Of course, the Braves will never have a chance at any retaliation, but he definitely has it coming.

242 thoughts on “Zack Greinke is a dirty player game thread: June 20, Royals at Braves”

  1. @1 Thanks. I doubt Glaus will make it. You have Pujols for sure, then Manuel will surely pick Howard. Then you have Votto. I honestly doubt it.

  2. From the previous thread:

    “What is the ONE position upgrade that could make this team World Series contender?”

    Everyone on Baseball Tonight and the MLB Network has concluded that whichever team trades for Lee/Oswalt wins the division. I guess that means if, say, the Phillies reacquire Lee and the Mets get Oswalt, well then, there are your division and wild-card winners, respectively. So, the Braves HAVE to get one of them to have a chance, right?

    I hope my sarcasm is coming through here. Of course having one of these guys in the rotation would be awesome, but things are NEVER as predictable as the “experts” suggest. I shudder to think about what Wren would have to give up to get either of those guys anyway.

    That said, I honestly don’t know who the Braves could realistically acquire that could help that much. Again, these things are a bit like catching lightning in a bottle. (I hate cliches–so why do I use them?). Who really foresaw that Mike Devereaux would be such a crucial pickup in 1995?

  3. @5 I don’t think anyone on here would consider those ESPN clowns as “experts”.

    There is no way in hell the Phillies will get either Lee or Oswalt. It would completely defeat the purpose of trading Lee the first place and Amaro may as well resign.

    As for the Mets, I simply don’t care because they have nothing in the farm that is worthy enough to get Lee/Oswalt unless they give up their young talents at the major league level.

  4. I think this team is begging for another solid outfielder, but if it isn’t there, it isn’t there. I hope Diaz comes back and hits like he usually does…

  5. 1. Prado 2B, 2. Heyward RF, 3. Jones 3B, 4. Glaus 1B, 5. Hinske LF, 6. Cabrera CF, 7. Infante SS, 8. Ross C, 9. Kawakami P

  6. This team is not in need of a major trade, maybe fine tuning, but I am not even sure of that.

    Look at the roster and figure where the weak links are. Aren’t they all coming off when we get players back off the DL?

    McLouth is the only exception, I guess, and I think we just have to hope he gets better.

  7. Centerfield. Possibly LF, but a Hinske / Diaz platoon there, we have reason to believe could continue to be excellent

    I missed the game yesterday; what did Grienke do that was dirty? Throw at someone?

  8. Why is Glaus only hitting #4 when Ross is playing? He has been much more productive than McCann for seven weeks now.

  9. Tom, Glaus hits 4th against LH, 5th against RH when Bmac plays. It seems to be working just fine

  10. Hard slide into Prado. Stay down a while. Later. Chipper took out 2b and Heyward scored from second on force out.

  11. If I never see that ridiculous backhand flip from 60 feet away from Chipper again it will be too soon. Here’s the play in question:

    link

    In my opinion it was reasonable for Grienke to think he needed to break up the double play, Prado did throw through after all so he was thinking two. But his spikes are way too high obviously.

  12. Yeah, I don’t really think it was dirty. The spikes were high, but I’m willing to give an AL pitcher the benefit of the doubt on that one.

  13. Havens and Martinez are both medical disasters waiting to happen. Havens has always been old for his league too. They are certainly prospects, but I wouldn’t give you Lee for them.

    /and neither has played enough baseball to really judge much, as they are both hurt all the time.

  14. Davies’ last start as a Brave was on July 16th, 2007 vs. Cincy.

    0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 batters faced, 22 pitches

    That’s how little confidence Bobby had in him. He was optioned to Richmond on the 19th and traded on the 31st.

    Who assumed his spot? Jo-Jo Reyes.

    :)

  15. Whoever is in charge of supplying Zombie Chipper with brains has been doing a good job.

  16. Chipper turned on an inside fastball and pulled it down the 1B line. It skipped off of the bag and went funny but I don’t think Butler had much of a play anyway.

  17. In fairness, that was a rolled over DP ball, just hit to a lucky spot.

    Edit: That one wasn’t.

  18. What’s the problem? He gave up a bunch of consecutive singles to a bunch of players who… hit singles. A strikeout would’ve been nice, but it wasn’t a disaster inning or anything.

  19. @46
    but the balls that werent singles were also hit hard. he’s not missing many bats these days.

  20. Two of the singles were hit hard. One was a slow roller that would have been a tailor made double play if it were a rolled two foot in either direction.

    EDIT – Two of the outs were hit well, to be fair.

  21. I think Davies is walking guys after stolen bases just to spite Cox. Like, “See? That was a dumb decision to send him. He was going to advance in a couple pitches anyways!”

  22. @25, 3rd year in A ball, but he’s only 18. Holding his own, which bodes well, but Ithink the M’s want someone a bit closer, as you noted.

  23. FSS trivia question: Name the only two Braves 1B to have 30 HR and 100 RBI in a season. I’m agreeing with Simpson: Galarraga and McGriff.

  24. Yes, I was watching the inning. The contact was solid, but nothing was rocketed. The hardest-hit ball was probably by DeJesus. That’s the kind of inning that could be 0 runs or 4 depending on where the balls fall. If you’d had an opinion on Kawakami before then, there was nothing in that inning that should’ve changed your mind is my point.

  25. This is one of those cases where it’s a shame to take too many pitches; whoever the Royals throw out there after Davies can’t be any worse.

  26. Not sure about LaRoche. Not a bad option to replace McGriff, who may not have hit 30/100 in any of his ATL seasons. El Gato Grande is a shoo-in.

  27. @54
    i agree with simpson as well. laroche’s rbis never got to 100 with the braves, or anyone if i recall correctly.

  28. LaRoche only had 90 RBI in 2006 to go with his 32 HR. (Yeah, I’m cheating. Wanna make something of it?)

  29. Regardless, though, there’s no way you send Medlen to the pen when Jurrjens returns.

  30. Even if he wiggles out of this without too much damage, this needs to be KK’s last inning. He’s got nothing.

  31. king douchebag hit a grandslam to put the yanks up 4-0…

    edit: i realize that “king douchebag” could be several people on the yanks team so i need to clarify that i was talking about mark teixeira.

  32. The team goes out and scores 4 runs for him in the first and he does this. Pathetic.

  33. And the decision is made. That’s a hook for the game and from the rotation when Jurrjens returns.

  34. With an off-day tomorrow, good that Bobby is not waiting any longer…unlike yesterday…

  35. Sadly, I think we’ll be seeing KK start one more time, because JJ has one rehab start left.

  36. Apparently, Bobby saw what (almost) all of us saw. I feel really sorry for KK. But if he can’t get a win against Kyle Davies with a 4 run lead in the first inning, then WHEN is he going to get one?

    Thank God tomorrow is an offday.

  37. I’m having a great Fathers Day so far and Kawakami is going out of his way to ruin it.

    I don’t know HOW Bobby can justify not making Kawakami the sacrificial lamb when Jurrgjens is ready. Medlen has been so much better.

  38. That was rough. Now, I’ll be surprised if he stays in the rotation when JJ is ready.

  39. jj was campaigning to come back after 2 rehab starts. maybe kawakami is trying to help jj get back to the big leagues asap. WHAT A PAL!

  40. And seriously, you’re facing Kyle Davies, who stinks, with the Royals, who stink and have a weak offense, and you’re playing at home. And Davies gives up 4 runs in the first. I mean, if there was EVER a start gift wrapped from the word “go” for a win…and that is why KK has to go away.

  41. I think the seeds are being planted for a KK move to the bullpen after JJ comes back. Even the braves propoganda people aka the broadcasters are talking about how bad KK is pitching. Usually they are talking about how unlucky KK is.

  42. and now kawakami is on the hook for the loss. rather than putting kawakami in the pen, why dont we find a team that needs pitching and trade him?

  43. If the Braves end up losing a home game against the Royals, thats just simply a waste. Thank goodness there’s a LOT of game left and Kyle Davies is on the mound. I assume we’ll score more runs today.

  44. @92 – Would you trade for him at this point? I’ve defended him more than most, but today’s start was indefensible.

    The Lisp was getting dinked, too. The Royals do hit a lot of singles.

  45. Is GameDay on the fritz, or is Cox actually letting the Lisp hit?

    Edit: Cox, you idjit.

  46. No, that’s the right move from Bobby. We’re only in the third inning and Martinez is the only long man in the bullpen right now. You can’t burn up every reliever today.

  47. In his defense, the back end of the bullpen has been used a lot lately, and burning a 2nd pitcher before the end of the 3rd inning would be tough.

  48. We’ve already won the series. Anything beyond that is extra, as far as Bobby is concerned.

  49. Someone earlier said that the Royals have a bad offense. Well, that’s sorta true. They’ve very good at getting singles. Which is why I don’t find it shocking that they’ve hit a ton of singles. The Royals have bad starting pitching. Horrible starting pitching. The worst starting pitching in the majors by far. Other than that, they’re a decent team.

  50. But this isn’t a pitcher, it’s Cristhian frickin’ Martinez. Surely we can get someone to replace him from Gwinnett or Mississippi during the off day.

  51. I wonder if they get contract bonuses. Like, if they make the Southern League All-Star team, they get a $50 Subway gift card or something.

  52. Why are the Royals still giving Kyle Davies starts? He’s in the 6th year of establishing that he really sucks.

  53. i was just checking the milb scoreboard to see how gwinnett is doing and i noticed that pete orr is hitting 3rd for syracuse. i was dumbfounded until i took a look at his stats this year. he has 8 freakin’ homers. they must play on a little league field.

  54. Great. Now we can’t hit Davies all of a sudden.
    Hey guys–these games count too.

  55. Braves14, Brian Bannister’s ERA is 5.70 this season, and Gil “Gah!” Meche has the ERA of the Beast (6.66).

  56. Both of them have had better success career-wise than Davies.

    Davies has an ERA of 6.17 this year, worse than Bannister, who at least has a career ERA below 5. Isn’t Meche on the DL?

    Though, I think both should be replaced. I’m sure there’s some random Triple A flotsam somewhere.

  57. Davies is over 100 pitches through five. I’d like to see the boys take advantage of his being on the mound… may not be much longer.

    Edit that… nevermind. Too late!

  58. Who agrees that a rehabbing Jurrjens for five innings would be better than Kawakami next time around?

  59. Marte’s got good control (4 BB in 16.2 IP this season), but he’s given up three dingers.

  60. Sdp, Jurrjens gave up 8 hits in his last rehab start. We’ve got KK for that. I’d like to see JJ make a bit more progress.

  61. conrad brooks, braves cult hero! time for some good ol’ fashioned raw doggin’.

  62. It astounds me that Chip and Joe are complementing The Lisp on his performance. To clarify, Joe said he did a good job after he came in for KK. He allowed ALL of KK’s runners to score!

  63. Why? He made sure that all the damage he did went to KK. It was truly Gryboriffic, and explains how we put up with the original Gryboski for so long.

  64. I guess Chris doesn’t always Getz what he wants. :)

    (I’m going to the Chip Caray school of broadcasting.)

  65. And of course Hinske strikes out swinging. This failure to get runners in from 3rd with one out is a real pain.

  66. phillies lost, mets trail the yanks 4-0 in the 8th, they’re in a rain delay right now….

  67. Chip is such an idiot. He was recounting Conrad’s walk-off grand slam against the Reds (a Thursday), saying it was on a Sunday (Conrad was at the plate with the bases loaded when he said this.) Joe corrected him and then Chip said they were wearing the same jerseys (the Sunday reds) but they only wear those on Sundays! My God, Chip Caray!

  68. @ 153: I believe the entire sentence was “…speaking of cool, the Farns has been cool indeed for Kansas City.”

  69. The latest groaner was some play on driving and crying (the band apparently appeared during the stretch).

  70. The Royals even are collecting guys with the same names as former Braves but are different people, i.e. Texiera and Marte. I think Dayton is a little too obsessed.

    Hey, a Kimbrel sighting!

  71. I can’t imagine why Bobby doesn’t have confidence in this Kimbrel kid…

  72. If he can figure out how to do that without loading the bases first, he’ll have a future.

  73. Mac, that’s hilarious! Graduation includes passing the Witless Litmus Test.

    Kimbrel just impressed me… though as has been pointed out, that is NOT the way you want to pitch a scoreless inning.

  74. The maturity just shown by Kimbrel was impressive. He deserves to not be sent down with Saito is activated.

  75. Brian J., a lot of credit. Give him a break. He has a ton of potential, and he’s still a kid. He’ll learn.

  76. I was watching the game last night and thought Chipper looked younger to me. Is it the rejuvenating power of brains?

    Chipper walks and brings up… “the man from Troy!”

  77. Nothing like a nice two out rally to make up for all the failed attempts to get ’em in early in the game.

  78. Chipper has been outright Glausian lately. What is record for walks in 9 inning game?

  79. Hicks is either at SS or 3B with Escobar entering for Chipper. Infante’s basically got to play LF now that Hinske’s out.

  80. Ugh, I thought Glaus looked a little slow getting up from that last slide. Hopefully it’s just a scrape.

  81. He’s Troy Glaus. I think he’s having foot cramps lately.

    Hicks in at SS, Infante to LF.

  82. Hicks at 2B, Escobar at SS, you mean. Hopefully, Wags will keep striking people out to make it irrelevant.

  83. Glaus has been having some foot problems. He’s said that they’re just pains a guy just has to play through.

  84. A win, losses by the Mets and Phils, and high odds that Kawakami has officially pitched himself behind Medlen in the rotation. Good day.

  85. Interesting that with all those defensive moves, Chipper stayed at 3rd. I would have thought that Hicks or Infante would have moved there.

  86. Nice resilience by Kimbrel to battle out of the mess he made, and by the hitters putting up three runs in the eighth after a double play to wipe the leadoff runner.

    While Kawakami hasn’t pitched 0-9 bad this season, it certainly seems like it might be starting to get in his head. He really needed to have a better showing today with a four run backing in the first.

  87. 239 — He had to. The guys who normally replace him were playing other positions for guys who were already out of the game.

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