Uggla hitting .170/.237/.308. Slugging percentage worse than on-base percentages of all regulars but AAG. Has fewer hits than McLouth, who has been out for a week and bunts all the time when he’s in there.
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From the last thread: “How much of the Braves recent draft strategy (staying within slot) has to do with Liberty and how much has to do with JS being part of the draft reform process?”
I think it’s the latter. I doubt Liberty is involved at all with the draft process. This season the team simply could not sign for over slot.
The Braves do invest in other ways too, incidentally. In recent years they have been active in the Latin American market–how else would they have acquired so many of those great pitching prospects? That’s actually one of Wren’s strengths. Also, while I was definitely puzzled by the 1st round draft pick, I think it’s a bit premature before we call the draft “pathetic” or a bust or anything like that. We just don’t know yet, and won’t know for a long time.
Would you trade JJ for Matt Kemp right now? Would it be enough?
I’d make that deal, I don’t know the Dodgers would.
We all know where Steely Dan got their name from, right?
@4,
Yep, but this is a family blog.
Yes.
Working on Uggla’s nickname. Rusty Dan? Plastic Dan?
What are those souvenir dinosaurs and dolphins made of? The ones you would pick up on trips to Florida. Molded, injected plastic?
Rubber Dan Man
Frozen Dan? Emulsified Dan?
Garbage Dan
Styrofoam Dan.
@2, I think it’s enough talent wise, but the Braves can’t afford to trade for FAs to be. Kemp is looking at 10M in arb next year, maybe more, and then he’s an FA and we’re back where we started after one season. Uggla/Jones/Lowe pretty much eat up any bigtime arb/FA money for next year.
Schafer 8 Gonzalez 6 Chipper 5 McCann 2 Freeman 3 Uggla 4 Hinske 7 Young 9 Lowe 1
Skipper Dan.
Nowhere Dan
Harri-Dan.
Prado must be banged up from that slide last night, or he drew the short straw out of Fredi’s hand.
The Wicker Dan
17- No, he’s just not in a deep enough slump.
18- The 2006 version. Dan should be punching women in a mascot suit.
Tell your friends they’ve got a good chance of seeing a perfect game tonight.
“O Danny Boy, the outs, the outs are calling…”
Damn Dan. Dumb Dan.
17-The sad thing is it’s not that far of a stretch to imagine Fredi using that tactic…after asking Chipper’s permission.
#4
Naked Lunch.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=14178
New Uggla article. I’d noticed the spray chart, but I hadn’t really looked at the count situations.
#22
You got it!
Dan the Straw Man?
Uggla’s about to hit new territory. By many standards, including my gut, Uggla’s been the worst regular in the NL. However, there are some advanced adjusted metrics that rate Tejada lower. When Sandoval comes off the DL, Uggla will become…
The Undisputed Worst Player In The League
Edit: Wow, my completely random thunder was just stolen…..
Out Stealing Dan
Is there a point where we officially name uggla Braves Journal Whipping Boy or when this happens does it mean that we’ve formally given up the hope of a productive season from him?
I never made an official announcement, but I think it’s pretty clear that Uggla’s the Whipping boy.
Continuing from the last thread, I also have major concerns about the draft philosophy these days. As kc and others pointed out, it’s almost a complete change in philosophy. JS being on the Draft Reform Committee certainly doesn’t seem to encourage going over slot for anybody, which drives me nuts. Seemingly adhering to slot by drafting so many college/low upside/signable/whatever you want to call them is a horrible draft philosophy for any team, especially a mid-range payroll team, so I’ve got to believe there are some budgetary restraints at play. If it’s not about money, then I’m even more baffled.
Heyward signed for a whopping 170K over slot in ’07. What if he would have wanted more money ? I know they went 242K over for Minor, I could be missing somebody.
Could they be saving money for future international signings ?
The Rangers drafted the paralyzed UGA outfielder. Nice gesture.
Nick Esasky’s batting average with the Braves was .171, or one point higher than Uggla’s.
@31
Who, by the way, is better than Uggla.
Asbestos Dan. Or perhaps Kudzu Dan. Anything that was brought in to help, but turned out to make things worse.
I like Kudzu Dan
I don’t know if you guys were aware of this or not, but Uggla has always been a slow starter.
#24
Yeah, they’re named after a mythical dildo. Funny guys, those smart-ass Steely Dans.
“STEAL-y (to the tune of $12.4 mil per year) Dan” Uggla?
Hello again. I’m here to interrupt regular commenting once again with another public service announcement for a Braves player most deserving of a starting spot on this year’s (or any of the past five’s) All Star team.
Nice to see some fans respond with a nearly 500k vote bump in one week to get Brian McCann on top of the pack at catcher where he belongs. But will it last, especially with the somewhat delusional Cardinals fan base wanting so bad to believe that they have the most valuable catcher in the league (and don’t even try to tell them otherwise) striving for a three-peat with Yadier Molina?
Even Molina himself has started his own “Vote for Me” campaign on his twitter account. Are you kidding me? All the more reason to keep voting and not leave it to chance. Help pay Brian back for all the good things he’s done for us Braves fans. Vote McCann at MLB.com as often as you can.
Thanks for listening. Now back to the best discussion of Braves baseball that can be found anywhere the net…really…
#36 – Maybe a two or three week slow starter, not a 2.5 month slow starter. He’s worse than he’s ever been.
Right now, Uggla’s our Jason Bay.
@31, The director of amateur scouting for the Rangers is named Kip Fagg. Maybe this is all a ploy to take attention away from his name.
Garret Anderson 4/5/09-6/7/09
.246/.278/.352/.631
Nate Mclouth 4/5/10-6/7/10
.175/.296/.283/.579
Dan Uggla 3/31/11-6/7/11
.170/.237/.308/.545
Hard to believe Loaf Fielder had the best start of that group. At this rate will pick up David Wright next year and watch him OPS .512.
@41 at least Garrett Anderson was at the end of his career. Uggla is in his prime. Right?
@38, that was my lame attempt at humor.
If Uggla hits .306 for the rest of the year and gets about 660 plate appearances then he’ll finish the season near .250, so we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.
Of course, he might be just as likely to go golfing with the Dalai Lama.
Bold prediction: this is the night that Uggla goes 0-3 again.
@45
I’m going 0-5, extra innings.
0-4, reaches on error, craps his pants on a double play.
How about Ugg Danla?
I really really want Dan Uggla to be Dan Uggla.
Dunggla makes too much sense…
0-7 in 13 innings. Proctor pitches two innings, O’Flaherty pitches two innings, Venters pitches two innings, Braves lose 5-3.
Marlins are evil.
0-3 with a BB, three groundouts, and two or three “screaming” foul balls that will be the focus of Chip’s inane babbling for ten minutes.
@42
pretty much
http://bravesjournal.us/?p=4010
It’s strange that McLouth and Uggla both suddenly fell off a cliff in consecutive years after being acquired by the Braves.
I sure wish Uggla were good enough to make 3 errors in the All-Star Game again.
The Rangers just fired their hitting coach. Can we hire him? Seriously, anything would be better than the Parrish era.
I’m coming around to the idea of bringing back steroids, since I don’t think I can watch 1-0 and 2-1 games all summer. How about letting each team have one or two designated juicers? Test everyone and give 2 free passes per club.
It seems like it’s somebody every year, all the way back to Giles… Every year, someone on this team will be in the running for worst regular in the league Giles one year, Andruw another, Jeff Francoeur (who was a bad player, but still, his 08 in particular) Kelly Johnson, Nate McLouth, Dan Uggla.
Then you can pepper in general under achievers like Garret Anderson, and the Langerhans and Schafers who shouldn’t have been playing to begin with…
@50- Dunggla is damn nice.
also, looks like the “does McLouth get his job back?” debate is put to bed.
Random question…. why do people say protection doesn’t matter in a batting lineup? Can somebody tell me why that is?
@59
Watch out, Iloveemmastone will show up and tell you it isn’t about how he has played, but more about how hot his sister is.
59 — There was a debate? I think it was just one guy, who now admits he was wrong about Schafer.
@50 “Dunggla” is a hoot.
I was wrong about Schafer… but seriously why doesn’t protection really exist in a baseball lineup
Holy crap what a play.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Weird seeing speed in a Braves jersey.
At the risk of being laughed out of the room, I think it’s worth keeping Schafer around as a defensive replacement and pinch-runner, and sending down one of our pinch-out-makers Mather or Conrad. I like the idea of having someone who can take an extra base to keep the other team honest.
Dan, just stay on the bench if you’re that eager to get it over with.
NL OBP down five points from 2010. Braves OBP down 41 points. Back-of-envelope calculation: They’re responsible for about half the drop in the entire league by themselves. Bring back TP!
Wait- the Braves are down “only” 30 points from last year’s OBP, from .339 to .309.
… and our pitchers are probably responsible for the other half.
If Heyward were playing, Chipper would have tagged Morrison.
New poll.
anybody ever read “The Extra 2 %” by Jonah Keri. Is it any good?
Ban the Dan.
Take one down, pass him around, One sixty eight, Danny, you’re such a clown!
I really think the Braves need to DL Uggla
“Uggla hitting .170…”
This seems wrong. That’s 17 hits per 100 at-bats; which feels way better than what Dan Uggla is doing.
Joe says Uggla is in a “rut”. Yeah, and Valles Marineris is a “rut”, too.
yesterday’s aflac trivia question was: who was 2nd (behind chipper) in career hits against the marlins? I guessed andrew but missed the answer. now I can’t figure out how to look it up online and it’s driving me crazy. Was I right? Can sombody help me out?
It was Jimmy Rollins.
Julio Lugo with another base hit for Gwinnett tonight… It’s about time to call him up
Thanks, mac.
Bring back TP? Terry Pendleton could probably come off the bench and hit better than Dan Uggla.
F***ing Success!
Hey, 2 runs in 1 game!
Wrigley Field use to host Bear games, but I guess they didn’t count that
I imagine it’s fun to be AAG right now- the rest of this offense makes him look good!
Nice to see that returning to Miami is helping at least one ex-Marlin get hot.
Seriously, Lugo needs to be called up now. He’s 2 for 14 at Gwinnett, I think, but he has been retired 7 times on diving catches
Nice running for that triple, and AAG brings him in.
@86: Hank Aaron could come off the bench and hit better than D’Uggla.
Lowe is very quietly pitching a gem.
Eddie Mathews could, and he died in 2001, or ten years before Uggla did.
Eddie Mathew could hit better right now than Uggla, and he has been dead for ten years
Good work Mac
Jinx.
How many times has Chip mentioned Lowe has a no-hitter?
Schafer’s lookin’ pretty good…
How will Uggla make an out here? Im going pop up to the catcher
I guess a K swinging.
Blind squirrel, meet acorn.
At this point, that single fills me with dismay; he’ll get two more weeks to prove that wasn’t a fluke.
Dammit Chip.
I think that is the most random jinx I have ever seen.
104- well done.
This is getting serious.
OK, this is officially interesting.
Nine more outs.
Yeah, but he doesn’t get to face Uggla.
And it’s over… and the tying run is at the plate… and on base. Get someone up in the pen now!
Why has Proctor passed Gearrin for the 7th inning double play specialist?
/Frediot
And Fredi gets the Proctologist up. We’re going to lose.
You know, Fredi Gonzalez really looks like Jabba the Hutt while he’s sitting on the bench, surrounded by his coaches. I propose that ‘Hutt’ and ‘Fredi the Hutt’ be added to the list of Fredi nicknames that are pending approval.
“Kujimaji Ho Bunto”
-Fredi the Hutt
Stanton is hitting 80 points higher against left handers than right handers. Chip finds that interesting.
EOF, nasty
Thank you, EOF. Maybe we won’t waste this one after all.
O’Flaherty made that wayyyyy too interesting. Whew.
Like 8 times out of 10, that pitch in that location in that count to that hitter results in a grand slam.
That was O’Scary.
When do the Braves need a 5th starter again, and have they said who it’ll be?
I have to say, all three Marlins fans have to be pretty frustrated right now.
When did they get the other two fans?
It will be Minor on the 11th.
I see Chip responded to Mac’s tweet about Hinske’s flyball.
126—Yeah, it cracked me up.
Chip is pissing me off by having a pretty likable online persona.
Alright, Freddie, make them pay for this disrespect.
great. can’t wait for another start by Mike “jo-jo Reyes” Minor
Boy, that was a horrible strike call.
Me too Stu. Go easy on emma’s Minor barb.
@129
That’s just stupid.
Sigh. Grab your glove, Dan. It’s not like you can do anything with your bat.
I was half asleep but I’m pretty sure Chip jinxed the no-no in about the 3rd or 4th inning (just so it wouldn’t be a big deal later on). Then his call on Hinske’s fly ball woke me up and I expected to see it land 30 rows deep.
Schafer is almost single-handedly responsible for our offensive explosion tonight. Credit where credit is due…
5 years, $62 million.
Ugh-luh
Has uggla always pulled off the outside pitch like he just did?
@137
That is his problem. He is pulling off bad. YOu would think it would be an easy fix…
Now it gets fun. Time for Jonny to Ventilate.
If you watch an Uggla at-bat: U’l gag.
http://www.adamwins.net seems like a respectable website.
Chip, you don’t say a hitting streak is over if the game hasn’t ended yet.
Boone Logan is trending on twitter right now…
Joe Mather’s magic is gone. Time for an OF makeover: Gartrell and Costanza replaces Young and Mather.
Free Diory!
Haha, the production crew just spliced together footage to make it look like Diory hit a pinch homer against the Mets. Great joke, guys.
Also, JS, Jr. is managing the GCL team? The Braves have to be the most nepotic organization since the high court of the great Nepot himself.
Didn’t JS Jr. have some ‘roving instructor’ job before going to the GCL? Good work if you can get it.
This bullpen needs Moylan and Medlen back.
Instead of the fire they show when Kimbrel hits 96+, they should just show wind.
Forget the curveball, Ricky! Give’m the heater!
Walk Stanton.
Dan Kimbrel.
The 3rd pitch to Stanton was a strike. BS.
G*ddamn, that was strike three. Sonofa….
*Falls down stairs comically*
Vomick
How do you not walk Stanton? Someone in the dugout should shake Fredi awake because he’s drooling on himself again.
*Trips over Downeaster at bottom of stairs*
You don’t intentionally walk the potential winning run. Frediot made the right call despite the result.
Damnit Lowe! We need pitchers who can win!
That’s why we drafted Gilmartin; he’s a winner!
I still blame Uggla for the blown lead just because of his overall suckage
Not a fan of the way McCann called that inning. Also, Morrison never should have walked; I wish umpires worried about the strike zone and not whether the pitcher misses his target.
Ugh.
You have to walk their best hitter in that situation. Winning run or not.
159- You do to get to a hitter who’s 1 for 14 when they have only their backup catcher left on the bench. And your pitcher throws 97. And your manager isn’t brain dead.
162 — Yeah, throwing 3 sliders in a row when it’s Kimbrel’s distant 2nd best pitch isn’t a good idea.
According to the fox track strike zone on the Marlins feed, it was actually just low.
@162
I was thinking the same thing about McCann. They should have wasted one with Stanton down in the count.
164 — I disagree. Not only does it put the potential winning run on base, but also you have to take into consideration Kimbrel’s control issues. With the bases loaded, that’s asking for it.
168- Even if he walks Martinez, we’re still ahead. And if you’re assuming Kimbrel will put two more guys on base, why is he out there?
Stanton got lucky and the ball somehow got past Freeman.
@168 – I think the odds of Stanton hitting a walk-off homer there are higher than the odds of the guy after him (whom I’ve never heard of and is struggling) even making contact against Kimbrel.
Uggla for the win?
Freddie!
Freeman!
Frederick!
169 — If the runner on third base was the winning run I would agree with you, since then Stanton’s potential run wouldn’t mean anything.
But Stanton isn’t guaranteed to get a hit there. You’re guaranteeing that there’s no chance to get an out if you walk him.
How do you not walk the bases loaded to pitch to Uggla?
Dr. Fred!
Pinch-hit Ross. Bring in Conrad. Have Hudson bat. Anyone but Dan!
Fantastic AB
Just tuned in. Anything interesting happen tonight?
So…bend over everyone, Proctologist coming in for the save!
Why pull the lefty? Uggla can’t hit them
Finally, a competent Fred.
He can’t hit righties either. It’s basically a win-win for the opposing manager.
Second time the Marlins are bringing in a righthander to face Struggla. Like he could hit whatever lefty is out there…
Freedom!
Im glad Uggla took that pitch
Might be time to bat the pitcher in front of Uggla
Honestly, Gameday needs a different graphic for Uggla. Maybe a baby holding a toothpick.
Uggla sucks out loud. Astronauts can hear his sucking from space.
One-for-five, and he actually improved his average.
One more would be nice
If you picked some random guy off this blog he couldn’t be worse at hitting than Uggla.
If Uggla went down to AAA, could he even hit there?
@194,
Oh, there are some on here that would
We really should DL Uggla. Really.
Proctor trying to protect a one-run lead. End well, this will not.
Last pitch to Mather was outside, surely. Unless I’m reversing the effect of the off-center field cam.
Kimbrel-Kolb watch:
Dan Kolb: 7 blown saves in all of 2005
Craig Kimbrel: 5 blown saves so far in 2011
What does it take to get it through Fredi’s thick skull that Gearrin and Martinez are MUCHHHHH better options for the 10th than Scott fucking Proctor?
197, you have to have a medical reason to DL someone, and slump is not one of them. uggla would never agree to it
197- Agreed. He’s got an aggravated suck muscle, a broken back from carrying his paycheck, and delusions of mediocrity.
@202
Oh, they could find a reason. Pulled groin. Teams do that all the time
Challenge trade- Uggla for Adam Dunn.
Or, a la Bob Uecker, they could have the trainer inject him with hepatitis.
202 — I guess you’re too young to remember when Mark Wohlers had “an inability to pitch.”
“Bruised ego” could be an injury.
The best thing about this save — assuming he gets it — is that it might sucker someone in my NL-only league to replace a pitcher of some value with Proctor.
They could DL him with depression
Here we go
I blame Chip for that.
See @142
Why isn’t Cory Gearrin in the game?
Chip, you don’t say a hitting streak is over if the game hasn’t ended yet.
Chip fails.
This save has already been blown. In Fredi’s mind. When he decided to bring in Proctor.
The team could have a blanket party. He’d be injured then.
Proctor doing his thing, I see.
Did Gearrin run over Fredi’s dog or something?
@210 Our depression or his depression?
Frediot would seriously rather put Linebrink in the game before Gearrin.
Born to lose and destined to fail.
Cheryl. We got this.
This is going well. I look forward to Chipper’s post-game comments.
I don’t feel good about this.
Cheryl replaces Proctor. It’s like replacing maggoty beef with pork infected with trichinosis.
Coming out of Spring training I never thought I would say it, but I am glad to see Sherrill coming into the game.
I believe Cheryl will get Dobbs and be left in to face Sanchez, who will drive in the winning runs.
223 – you mean when he blames the team’s woes on the bullpen?
He went to get him Stu
Proctor, Sherrill, and Linebrink in the same inning. Good lord.
Oh, Linestink. He’ll give up a 3-run homer, whereas Cheryl would’ve only given up a 2-run double.
228—Exactly.
Linebriiiiiink woooooo!
And now Linebrink. The three horsemen of the apocalypse.
Nope Linestink gets to cough it up
Proctor, Cheryl, and Linebrink. The Holy Triumvirate to be sure.
220- Don’t you hate being right?
235- Yep, the Triforce of Incompetence.
@233
Post of the day
“Did Gearrin run over Fredi’s dog or something?”
“I personally believe that Cory Gearrin is unable to do so because, uh, some . . . people out there on our team have more experience and, uh, I believe that our, uh, veterans like such as in Linebrink and, uh, George Sherrill, like such as, and, I believe that they should pitch in our games over here in the A.T.L. and should help the team, uh, or, uh, should help us win ballgames, so we will be able to build up our future, for our team.”
-Fredi Gonzalez
The Proctor-Sherrill-Linebrink trifecta is highly dangerous and has never been attempted (or even imagined) in blog history. Don’t try this at home kids, Freddie is a professional.
It’s good to see our September bullpen in action here in the 10th.
ESPN’s GameCast says the Braves have an 85 percent chance of winning. I think their computer has a virus.
Psssssh and you guys were worried.
Wow, that was a ball. Ill take it!
Good. Now let us never speak of this game again.
Heck of a pitch there, Stinky.
An even-up call? Thanks, blue.
That curve broke McCann’s ankles.
A win!
Did that just happen?
All if this proves the genius of Fredi. Genius!
Awful call there. I mean, awesomecallwheeegobraves!
LOLinebrink. That pitch was similar to the one they called Mather out on, but it had more break, so it was probably closer if anything.
Fredi pushes all the right buttons.
What was so bad about the call was that it didn’t even start out as a strike.
What’s the number on the Procterrillink jersey?
ESPN Gamecast says it hit the corner.
So relieved that this one didn’t turn into another 12-inning L.
@254 – 666
Yep
254—Threeve.
257-LOL
Not a strike, but exactly the same spot as the called strike in the top of the inning, so no basis for Marlin whining there.
Kimbrel with the well-deserved W
He’s a winner unlike Mike Minor or Kawakami.
Fredi played the match ups there, as he should. We are hard on him, but good call, it paid off.
If there were any Marlins fans, they would be very depressed right now.
Recapped.