Atlanta Braves vs. Pittsburgh Pirates – Box Score – September 06, 2010 – ESPN.
A good way to lose a game in which you have twice as many hits as your opponents is for all your hits to be singles and for you to continually fail to get any of those hits with runners in scoring position. It was pathetic.
Hard Luck Tommy Hanson (his official name now) gave up an “unearned” run in the first on a walk, a stolen base/error, and a sac fly. The Braves got the run back in the second, but it was a sign of things to come as the Braves loaded the bases with none out and got only a David Ross sac fly, Nate McLouth popping up with a chance to get the lead with a fly ball.
The Braves didn’t do much of anything in the next several innings, but left two runners on in the sixth. Hanson followed by allowing a single and a homer, and that turned out to be the ballgame, as the Braves went into Futility Mode. In the seventh, they loaded the bases with a single and two two-out walks (against Chris Resop — we lost to a team that pitches Chris Resop in the seventh inning of a close game) but Martin Prado sort of accidentally swung at a pitch up and in and it turned into a 5-3 putout. In the eighth, they had two on and one out, and second and third, two out, and couldn’t score. In the ninth, Jason Heyward singled with two out, but Prado flew out. Personally, I’m disgusted.
Puke city.
WTF.
:'(
well, the yankees lost to baltimore…
Despicable. Aggravating. And I’d like to just blame McLouth but he did have a hit and the entire team sucked, save for maybe Lee and Heyward.
I just don’t understand how we could lose to a pitcher coming in with the highest career ERA among all pitchers with at least 300 IP. What a terrible lack of offense.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMEEEEEEED
My shutout prediction was off by one run.
That pitcher AND Chris Resop.
Who ends with a higher batting average? Heyward or Prado?
We’ve now lost 4 of 5, right?
We look soooo bad at times. It is hard to imagine this team holding off the Phillies who are back to full strength and added Oswalt this year.
Ouch
My liver.
This really sucks. These are the games you HAVE to win. When they say you win 60 and lose 60, and the 42 left make your season, they’re talking about these kinda games. The Pirates throw the crap factory pitching staff at you in September is when you run away with the division with a three game sweep. At least the Marlins are functioning as an equal opportunity spoiler. Uhhh… go Fish!
Prado has been struggling the past week, and surprise! So has the Braves’ offense. This is because there are currently only four good hitters on the Braves.
At least we have Lowe coming back on Wednesday! (Lips wrap around shotgun)
The Braves suck.
Disappointing, to be sure, but at least the Phillies lost. I’ll be more concerned if we lose the next two.
Hey, Gwinnett won!
And somehow still in first.
Yeah, it would be really nice if the Giants lost this game.
Hey, at least we’re not the Padres.
Or the Cardinals.
I’m not worried because we only suck against the bad teams… we will sweep the Cardinals and handle Philly.
It will all come down to whether or not we handle Philly.
But the Cards suck now
Our wild card lead is about to shrink to two games…
I just don’t understand how we could lose to a pitcher coming in with the highest career ERA among all pitchers with at least 300 IP. What a terrible lack of offense.
Yeah, it’s official now. There is no lefty starting pitcher bad enough that he couldn’t shut down this offense. This was the worst guy.
I hear they are just going to have McDonald throw left handed tomorrow.
Stanton just hit a ball that may make it to south Jersey.
Go Fishies!
Anibal Sanchez just walked in the first run. Still no outs… Phuck.
Eh, Phils about to blow it open in the 2nd. Unlike the Braves they’ll plate a few with bases loaded nobody out. Sanchez can’t throw a strike.
Marlins blow.
4-1 Philly. Wait, no… 5-1. I’m just going to assume the lead is down to a 1/2 game. How many games do the Braves have left on the road?
@29 Correction, the Braves blow.
We are 6-8 since Colorado, and have been playing teams with losing records. And the Marlins almost have a losing record.
You included Colorado in that. Since we got swept we’re actually 6-5.
@32 Sorry, my mistake. It’s still a sorry record against sorry teams.
Must think of the Padres… I need to be glad I’m not a Padres fan…
Why is the Boise State mascot Shannon Sharpe?
I know you guys think I’m crazy, but I think getting Farnsworth was a good idea that hasn’t worked well so far – he still beats Chavez. It’s good to see Farnsworth pitching well his last few outings – I hope it continues!
Farnsy ain’t the problem. All of our midseason trades have failed to gain any production from 1st, OF and short, and none of them shored up our weakness against lefties. That’s the problem.
About time for our good buddy Chief to make an appearance.
@35–don’t forget the other pieces of the trade–Blanco’s ops with the Royals is better than Ankiel’s ops with the Braves
The braves get the cardinals and Nats at home after this series, thenthe braves still have a 9 game east coast trip going to the Mets, Phils and Nats.
If the braves are not eliminated before then, it will happen on that trip the way the braves hit on the road.
Let’s see how the series goes.
Tomorrow is close to being a must-win. Our ace, Hudson is facing a scrub replacement-level guy and the worst team in the league. We can’t lose games like this.
These are the two ugliest uniforms I have ever seen on a football field.
DOOOOOOOOMED!
Had to give it a try.
Georgia’s next football coach is doing well in his interview.
By the way, just so you know:
Hank Aaron, rookie, age 20:
122 G, 509 PA, 468 AB, 58 R, 13 HR, 69 RBI, 28 BB, 39 K, .280/.322/.447, 104 OPS+
Jason Heyward, rookie, age 20:
117 G, 511 PA, 431 AB, 75 R, 16 HR, 65 RBI, 70 BB, 110 K, .281/.389/.473, 132 OPS+
Giants win, Rockies win, Cardinals win, Phillies about to win. At the risk of being melodramatic, I believe we’re witnessing the beginning of the end for our Braves this year. I just don’t see them holding on to the division or the wild card at this point. They did give us a hell of a ride . . .
The Marlins don’t seem to have much use for taking pitches.
You guys are absolutely hilarious. If the Braves make the playoffs (and they very likely will), I’m gonna remember how at least 75 percent of you were certain we weren’t going to, despite still being in first place.
75% is a bit high. I’d be curious about how a poll would play out: people who think we win the division, the wild card, no playoff apperance.
I think we’ll pull out the Wild Card. I’m hoping we split the 6 with Philly, but I’m afraid we’ll be 2-4 at best, especially if we get Hamels twice.
I predict:
East – Phils
Central – Cincy
West – SF
WC- Good Guys
We usually play them pretty tough. But there’s no question, the division will come down to those 6 games. As of course it should.
EDIT: And the Phillies win one. Lead’s down to half a game.
jj hoover struck out 12 tonight for mississippi. man, do we have some pitchers!
http://tinyurl.com/256rsvb
This has turned into a very sloppy game.
Caught Big Boi from Outkast at the Brooklyn Bowl tonight. He, his DJ, his other MC & his little kid (quite the dancer) all rocking different Braves caps. Helluva fun show, too.
Let’s take this series. It’s only the worst team in baseball.
75% is a bit high. I’d be curious about how a poll would play out: people who think we win the division, the wild card, no playoff apperance.
The division is probably the Phils at this point. They have caught us and they are better.
Still like our chances for the wild card, especially with the Padres cratering as well. It would take some doing to get passed by both the Giants and Rockies.
jj hoover struck out 12 tonight for mississippi. man, do we have some pitchers!
It’s a shame we didn’t use some of it to bolster this team for the stretch run. Obviously some moves were made but they didn’t really fix any of the problems. Except of course for the all important chemistry.
AAG isn’t the reason we play poorly on the road.
They have not caught us. We are alone in first place. For now.
I think it’s important to recognize that the Braves aren’t this bad. If they are, there really is no point in even making the playoffs since they’ll be thrashed by their first round opponent. The Braves are a good team, even if they are given to some poor performances.
People are getting too high when the Braves win and too low when they lose. Every team loses games, even to really bad teams. It happens. As I have said before, IMO, the Braves are a moderately good team that has probably performed a bit above their heads. They lack power, speed, and are (being kind probably) mediocre defensively. They have won a bunch of games they probably should have lost (how about Rick Ankiel winning the game in the 9th inning in Chicago off Carlos Marmol?). Obviously, they are a much better team at home for whatever reason and have struggled on the road. Having said that, it makes no sense to panic because they’ve lost a couple of games. They have strong starting pitching and a good bullpen, and do a good job of working pitchers (at least at home). They are still in good position for at least a WC. I think the Phillies, with Oswalt, are probably a better team but it’s not as if the other teams in the NL are the 1927 Yankees. Could the Braves not make the playoffs? Of course, but some on here seem to think it’s inevitable because they lost a game.
It is getting a little tiresome hearing about how the AAG trade apparently doomed the team. It’s not as if Yunel Escobar’s performance at Toronto has been otherworldly. You can argue about the trade, but I think, for this year anyway, it’s pretty much neutral. Clearly, Wren has been unable to fix the problems that exist; it’s not for lack of trying but he is constrained by Liberty’s unwillingness to take on payroll. The fact is, they need a big bat, which they don’t have. Next year, that big bat will probably be Jason Heyward. (He is a drag on the offense. I said it so now he will get four hits. 🙂 )
But, for God’s sake, I don’t want to see Melky Cabrera anywhere near this team’s outfield next year. How can a major league outfielder be this bad? I spoke to a Yankee fan in my office and he was pretty started to hear me talk about how bad Melky was in the outfield because that apparently wasn’t the perception in NY. He absolutely cost them the game in Florida; you have got to cut that ball off.
While I agree with you that Melky should not be on this team next year — and, at his salary, I really don’t think he will be — but he didn’t cost the Braves the game in Florida. I still say O’Failurety was more at fault for the belt-high meatball he threw Bonifacio on an 0-2 pitch, allowing that scrub to hit it hard somewhere.
Tommy Hanson is going to be a stupendous badass when he figures out that he has to throw a shoutout every game.
ok, time for a melky rant..
we all see it. he’s fat. he takes terrible routes to many balls. he’s performed well below average at the plate. our eyes know he’s bad.
adding to what our eyes see, there are absolutely no statistics out there that show melky cabrera is a good baseball player.
UZR/150 in CF: -30.9
+/-: -4
ops: .691
WAR: -0.5
value: -2.1 million dollars
this freakin’ joke of a player has seen 450 plate appearances this year.
i have never loathed a player more than melky. whether it’s the post-season or regular season, i hope the braves-melky era ends in 2010.
adding to this thought: matt diaz needs to play cf in winter ball to prove that he’s capable of the position, at least in a part-time role. his .872 ops since returning from the dl is more of a reflection of his true self and he could be a very valuable piece to a very lh ballclub next year.
Let’s just trade for Colby.
Obviously, there is blame to go around but pitchers make bad pitches all the time; if Melky cuts the ball off, O’Flaherty might get out of the inning. I am just stunned at how bad an outfielder he is. I sat in the outfield for a game when the Braves were here in DC and I have never seen a major leaguer look so uncomfortable playing what is supposed to be his primary position.
I don’t hate the guy; I just say, Melky, don’t go away mad, just go away.
The Braves have to upgrade their defense this offseason. I don’t think Matt Diaz in CF is the answer.
Bonifacio on second with nobody out is pretty much a sure run. He’d have stolen third on the next pitch.
And you don’t see too many major-leaguers make pitches that bad in that count to that type of hitter.
But, yes, we can agree that Melky doesn’t need to be here.
I’d really like to see a concerted effort to get younger and more athletic. I understand the necessity of taking flyers on guys like Glaus, but those can’t be the only options left to the Braves, can they?
I don’t believe the Braves will miss the playoffs solely because of yesterday’s loss; I believe it because they are in a slump right now and I don’t like their chances against the Cards, even at home. If the Cards, Giants, Phillies, and Rockies have all had their slumps–and I think that is a real possibility–and the Braves are having theirs now, well that could be devastatingly bad timing.
I agree with Marc that these Braves are a “moderately good team” who have won some games they should have lost. To make the playoffs, with things as tight as they are, they’ll have to win several more like that. I don’t think they will.
Of course, I’d be ecstatic to be proven wrong, and anyone who wants to rub my face in my wrongness later one is most welcomed to.
ESPN actually said that Tommy has struggled since the Allstar Break, shows how much they pay attention. They only pay attention to W-L records I guess. They’d fit in nicely over at DOB’s place
Since the break
2.75ERA 1.00Whip .208BAA
@62
yes, let’s.
the cards might be interested in aag. their shortstops have been an offensive black hole this year, and aag has been the 4th most valuable ss in the game. trade aag + prospect for rasmus. sign magglio ordonez to play left and edgar renteria to an infield backup role, and move infante to ss.
I like the ads I see on ESPN (or is it CNNSI?) that state the average Braves fan IQ is 88. I guess they got that from the AJC.
We’re still under-performing our Pythag by 3 games. This has not been a lucky team. We just haven’t been getting big hits on the road.
A random aside, but I have started watching Ken Burn’s Baseball documentary, and it’s freaking awesome. I’m sure most of you have seen it, but if you haven’t check it out from your library.
aag has been the 4th most valuable ss in the game.
By WAR, or some other measure? Do you have a list?
I am not saying the Braves have been lucky, but they have won some games they probably should not have in the sense that the odds of winning when trailing in the 9th are pretty low. If you take away the 9th inning wins against the Dodgers, Cubs, and Marlins (not to mention the Reds game earlier), they would be in real trouble. (And, yes, give them the win against the Rockies.)
But they aren’t really slumping, or at least it’s too soon to say. Basically, they have been playing a lot of road games where they have struggled all year.
From the time we first signed Melky he has been everything I expected and less. I was expecting him to hit about .280 with a little power, but 4 hrs and an OPS of .691 is even below Melky standards. I also thought he could field a little, but I wasn’t expecting him gaining 20-30 pounds and waddling in the OF. With that being said, the problem is that we don’t have an outfielder outside of Heyward and Diaz who is appreciably better – that’s bad! I still would like to see Infante in center, Glaus at 3rd and Prado at 2nd. Due to Prado’s injury (and probably a lack of conifdence in Glaus’s fielding) this probably won’t happen.
Of course, given our recent hitting performances against AA pitchers with ERAs approaching and exceeding 6, Melky is only one of our many problems. I’m still confident that we can turn it around though. Let’s finish off the Pirates and start dominating at home again against the Cards!
AAG as a brave .266/.328/.423/.756, total 4.7UZR on the year….he’s definitely not our biggest problem
I thought our 1st order pythag was minus 5? About 4 weeks ago, ours and the Phillies were both around that level. Now, we continue to reside in negative pythag land and they have almost gotten back to 0. that means that their “run”, in the last 3 to 4 weeks, is mostly a bizarrely lucky stint (as addressed by pythag).
Our run differential is # 1 in the league. An OBP heavy offense driven by walks produces MORE (not less) deviation in scoring than an SLG driven offense. That causes some of the frustration. We don’t seem to have “overscored” based on our components, nor do we seem to have “underallowed” based on our pitching stat components.
The question for this team is where are we better and worse going forward than what we have been, looking back.
Hard to get the stench of that game out of my nostrils. McLouth’s inability to get the runner in set the tone. (Gregor would have found a way to have driven him in.)
Today is truly a must-win game.
—————-
I’m probably wishful-thinkin’ again, but it seems that the college zebras are not calling so many celebration penalties everytime someone smiles.
@75, A; no one said he was, and B: we didn’t get the UZR he put up while hitting those dingers we also don’t get in Toronto. The problem is that none of the guys we picked up mid season have contributed offensively past a pedestrian level, or worse. Coupled with the loss of Chipper, we need someone else besides 1-4 to hit, and ANYONE to hit LH pitching. LF, CF and 1B are not getting it, and SS is as I said, just pedestrian at the moment.
Where our pre September team was better.
Fielding at Shortstop. I think it is offset by the upgrade in actual offense, but not sure. AAG has failed to make a lot of routine plays that have always seemed to play into things.
Ability to use Medlen as a reliever (early) and starter (later) and a slight period without him at all. The average value of “having Medlen” through end of August for his starting is probably a pretty strong minus. As compared to any other apparent option, he would clearly be worth a couple of games in September. But to compare “periods”, you can only assume Medlen as a starter about 1/3 of the time. I think the September callups (we have both Dunn and Kimbrel the rest of the way and why don’t we have Marek?) offset Medlen’s bullpen value (and add more bullpen value than our competitors may have added).
Chipper’s offense v. Infante. IF infante stays on the tear, then really the “actual 2010 Chipper” is exceeded by the “actual 2010 Infante”. However, the patience and reputation of Chipper are worth something and Infante has shown signs of returning to earth. But, the Prado 3B, Infante 2B is a significant defensive improvement.
Otherwise, we don’t have anything else that says we had something early that is better than now.
77—I dunno about the celebration penalties, but they’re certainly clueless with respect to personal fouls.
Where our September team is better than the pre September team.
Heyward. His injury zapped him. He is rounding into form. He will probably ops arond 900 this month (which vastly exceeds his average for the first part).
Bullpen. The sheer weight of young arms is going to help (unless Cox can’t maange his way out of the fog). We should be able to get a rest day after every appearance by Moylan, Saito, Wagner, Venters. And, we have added back O’Flaherty.
Jair coming back. More than 1/2 of the pre-August time we had no Jair. Adding him probably offsets most of the downgrade of losing Medlen.
Diaz’ thumb fix gives us one decent fielding decent hitting outfielder to go with Heyward.
Everywhere else, we are at least around even. Ankiel doesn’t overcome nor add to the Melky / McLouth drek, the combo of D. Lee plus Glaus and Freeman won’t be any worse than 1B was overall, D. Lowe has been iffy and will continue to be so, Hudson and Hanson have been good, and will continue to be so. McCann / Ross combo has been great, and will continue to be so. Minor will be almost as good as Medlen and better than either Lowe or Kawakami.
If this team wasn’t “lucky” to build the run diffential that it has built, then the only thing that might keep it from being the best team is the late additions to the Phillies from other teams and from the D/L. This team is fundamentally better than any Central or West team and fundamentally better than everybody else other than the Phillies.
I predict the Braves finish 14 – 10 (93 wins) and I also predict that will be enough to win the division.
#78 – Im in agreement with you. We’ve got about 5-6 guys that could be cut from this team and it wouldnt hurt us at all. Most of them are our OF’rs
I like Colby’s voice and thought she did a good job with the National Anthem, but I’m not sure how she helps us in CF …
FWIW, FanGraphs’ WAR has AAG as the fifth most valuable SS – behind Hanley, Tulo, Furcal and Drew.
@85
its not necessarily fair to aag’s stats to only include his nl numbers. for the full year and comparing aag to all other major league shortstops, he is 3rd overall in WAR, 7th in fielding, and 3rd in batting.
He’s had quite the fluky year to be sure. All those home runs in April have skewed his numbers for the year (the two SS have the same number of HR since switching places). But even with us it’s been a little strange. He’s drawn just 10 unintentional walks in 196 PAs which is dreadful (but typical for him). But he’s been granted a few IBB and somehow had six HBP with us so that’s propped his OBP up.
It’s basically been my worst nightmare in that he’s not been good (throw in the spotty defense) but probably been just good enough to fool the team into bringing him back next year.
Robert,
I didn’t like the trade either. But the only realistic alternative is Omar in SS. Do you think that would work for 2011?
Bmac / Martin / Omar / Rasmus up the middle.
Freeman / Jason on the right side.
Chipper / LF platoon on the left side.
That is a championship team.
A fan can dream…
88 – if a healthy, in-shape, chip-on-the-shoulder Chipper Jones returns, I agree with you.
The good news is, it’s possible. Need to fix CF, though. (Think Ricky’s got another year in him?)
Is there anything we could offer the Pirates for McCutchen that they’d consider? I absolutely love that kid.
@87 – AAG is a decent player – not great, by any means, but he can competently fill out the shortstop spot if you don’t have anyone better in the system. He has a cheap option for next year which is good value, and I’m guessing the Braves will end up exercising the option. In a perfect world the Braves would package him in a trade in the offseason and get some value in return, but I don’t think we have any MLB-ready shortstops in our minor league system.
EDIT: I guess we could go with Infante full-time at SS, but it seems like if the Braves saw that as a viable option they would’ve already made that move, instead of acquiring AAG.
AAG’s been a very valuable SS to have, but that’s because he’s hit 20 HRs, and not that many have come for the Braves.
McCutchen isn’t going anywhere, while the Cards are shopping Rasmus. And they were interested in AAG when the Jays were shopping him.
what player would need to be included with AAG to get Rasmus?
I’m no sabermetric expert but, as Cliff notes, it seems that the lack of home runs would depress the team’s run scoring regardless of their other components. It’s easier to score three runs if one of the hits is a home run rather than having to get two or three hits. I think that lack of power and mediocre defense are the team’s primary shortcomings.
Interestingly, the Phillies have the best record in the NL in one-run games. But the other teams with the top one-run records are bad teams, which suggests that winning one run games is more a matter of luck than skill. In the Phillies case, they have won a number of 1-0 games, which is, in part,a testament to their starting pitching but may also be luck as someone suggested.
I love McCutchen also. But the Pirates would be crazy to trade him. They have a young nucleus and McCutchen is the center piece. On the other hand, they absolutely need some young piching for that unit to work.
Pick up Ross / Crisp in the off-season Vs. trading a lot of value for Rasmus… It is an interesting decision for Wren.
Rick must go… NO reason to have him back. I don’t care how much Bobby loves his arm.
Edit: Peter has a piece in his blog that deal with the Rasmus deal. http://tinyurl.com/27aby96
AAG + What gets Rasmus?
Of course, just looking at the numbers you’d expect that it would have to be AAG + someone like Delgado, Vizcaino, or even Terehan or Minor.
But there’s also the human factor in that Rasmus isn’t in TLR’s “in crowd” (shades of Bobby Cox?) and that apparently Zeus-come-to-Earth-to-play-baseball Pujols doesn’t like having him around either. How much does that decrease the amount we’d have to give up for him, if at all?
Rasmus would be a great fit for the Braves – it’s too bad he’s a lefty, but he’s made great strides in hitting LH pitching during this season (raised his OPS against from .494 in 2009 to .729 in 2010).
Would it be worthwhile to trade Jurrjens and AAG for Rasmus + a B prospect? Jurrjens will be heading to arbitration for the first time after this season, while Rasmus has another year of league-minimum salary before he goes to arbitration. On the other hand, Jurrjens was worth 3.8, 3.9 and 1.7 WAR in ’08 – ’10 while Rasmus has been worth 2.3 and 2.7 WAR in ’09 – ’10.
Jurrjens is a very solid pitcher and a valuable commodity, but the Braves would be dealing from a position of strength in order to get the middle-of-the-order bat which the Braves desperately need.
I haven’t been paying attention to the Rasmus situation at all. Whats the reason that he wasn’t started for such a long stretch?
Jeremy Hellickson named minor league player of the year.
#98 – because Pujols and Larussa dont like him
La Russa has a big ego, and because he doesn’t like one of his best players he decided to bench him.
#97 – trading Jurrjens might have been an option before Medlen went down, I dont think it would be at all now
2010 rotation?
Hudson/Hanson/Lowe/Minor/KK…doesnt look good without JJ in there
96—I doubt you’d get him cheaply. Even if the Cards are anxious to deal him, I would think that suitors would be beating down their door. The Braves would have to beat the next-best offer among several teams.
I would trade JJ, Delgado, and, say, JJ Hoover for Colby Rasmus.
Rasmus strikes out 1 out of every 3 ABs and doesnt walk much. No way I would trade JJ for him.
@102
We would only be stuck with that rotation for one season, and it isn’t THAT bad. Lowe is like the Kelly Johnson of pitchers. He has bad stretches where he give up 5 runs in 3 innings, but he also has good stretches where he allows 3 runs in 6 innings. Can you really ask for more out of a #4? Even aces have bad games here or there. I mean I know this is the Braves and we’re supposed to have a rotation of 1/1/1/2/2 guys, but that’s not really realistic, imo. The main problem with Lowe is that he’s paid like a #1 but pitches like a #4. That doesn’t mean he’s a #1 pitcher pitching like a #4. He’s (or will be) a #4 pitcher pitching like a #4 pitcher.
After next season though, we’ll have Medlen back, KK gone, and a good chance of at least one of Beachy/Delgado/Vizcaino/Teheran competing for the last spot (or two, if we somehow move Lowe).
That would make our 2012 rotation:
Hudson/Hanson/Minor/Lowe/ and Beachy/Delgado/Vizcaino/Teheran. Plus Rasmus and Heyward in the OF.
Putting up with one year of Hudson/Hanson/Minor/Lowe/KK is worth 4 years of Rasmus under team control, imo. Especially when the following year looks to have plenty of top-middle rotation talent competing for bottom of the rotation spots. Maybe if they’re good enough, two of those guys make the rotation and Lowe goes to the bullpen for long-relief/spot starting duty. I have a feeling that Lowe, for whatever he shows on as a starter, could be a pretty dominant reliever.
And then there’s always Lipka who could pull a Minor and fast-track his way up by 2012. If he could come up and be a speedy leadoff guy with Heyward/Rasmus/McCann hitting behind him, that could be a pretty potent (and long term) lineup that I would gladly sacrifice one season of Scott Boras client JJ for.
@105
Rasmus has a .352 OBP this season, which is in line with his MiLB numbers and probably better than 4-5 people in our current lineup. It’s definitely much better than any of our 10 CF players.
JJ has one more arb season and then is off to free agent land with Scott Boras has his agent. Is one year of JJ worth more than 4 years of Rasmus?
Lipka’s extremely unlikely to “pull a Minor,” IMO. Minor was a very refined college pitcher — that’s not what Lipka is.
That said, I agree that one year of that rotation is worth getting Rasmus.
I say we spend our resources trying to get a replacement for Infante’s utility spot and a top rate left fielder. The only way we keep Infante around is to give him a starting job – this should be in CF. His spot definitely won’t be at SS, and if Chipper comes back at 3rd, that would relegate him to either a platoon or another position. If Chipper can’t come back, move Heyward to CF, Infante to 2nd or 3rd and get a right fielder. That may not be ideal, but given Chipper’s salary, if he comes back, we’re not going to play him as a reserve.
@105, try using PA instead of AB when computing SO pct. You’ll get a much better number, and one you can use to compare against other players, too.
His K-rate his high, but his BB-rate his also high. Plus, he hits the ball with serious power. JJ is a decent pitcher with a 2:1 K:BB rate. Rasmus is cost-controlled for 2 more years. I’d definitely trade JJ for him.
22-year-old starting pitcher with a good ERA we could trade for Colby Rasmus.
Braves lineup: 1. Infante 2B, 2. Heyward RF, 3. Prado 3B, 4. McCann C, 5. Lee 1B, 6. Cabrera LF, 7. Gonzalez SS, 8. Ankiel CF, 9. Hudson P
I wish Bobby would start Hinske over Melky. At least Hinske is a threat to knock the ball out of the park.
I agree. Melky and Ankiel should never start the same game unless the team locks up the division early.
Game thread.
I would trade JJ, Delgado, and, say, JJ Hoover for Colby Rasmus.
No thanks. Rasmus is good–.848 ops–but not good enough to deal JJ plus two good pitching prospects.
I wouldn’t mind trading AAG to St Louis with one of our minor league arms for Rasmus. Omar could probably handle SS for the year.