Obviously, the name “Larry” has worked pretty well for the Braves but Larry Parrish, who is worse at his job than anyone ever, is ruining it.
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Obviously, the name “Larry” has worked pretty well for the Braves but Larry Parrish, who is worse at his job than anyone ever, is ruining it.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
Kimbrel (who needs a changeup) seems to pay dearly for every little mistake. Venters, on the other hand, seems to thrive when the ice is thin.
As such, I think I’d switch their roles.
Unless, the eighth is indeed the more important inning. (I’d love to see more discussion of that.)
Oh, and I think Schaefer stays awhile. He brings an element we haven’t had recently. I’d like to see if it pans out
—————–
Kelly Johnson has five more homers than our second-baseman.
I believe I said in the 8th inning of the first game of the season that Fredi had shown his hand in close games and would likely use Venters in the 8th and Kimbrel in the 9th for the foreseeable future. I think it will stick that way. I personally don’t mind it. I also feel more comfortable with Venters coming in, say, with a man on and two outs in the 7th. Kimbrel can get a little wild and walk a guy, so planning to have him come in the top of the 9th is fine by me.
Sam, stop talking about “groupthink.” Not all of us share the same opinion. If you disagree with someone, respond to them. Don’t treat us like straw men.
That’s a fair point, but generally speaking if you’re not partaking in the woeful chorus of “Fredi did something! OH NOES!” then you might assume I’m not talking about you.
Answers to the great and terrible mortal questions of last night:
Q: WHY DID FREDI USE EOF AND VENTERS FOR JUST FOUR OUTS!??!
A: Because he had a 2 run lead with 7 outs remaining in the game, and deployed his best bullpen options to secure those 7 outs and the win. It worked perfectly until Craig Kimbrel* imploded with one strike remaining.
Q: WHY DID FREDI GO TO SCOTT PROCTOR IN THE TENTH!??!?!!?
A: Because the difference between Proctor, Linebrink, Sherrill and Gearrin on any given night is negligible, he had already used his top arms two nights in a row and was probably hoping Proctor could close it out and save the rest of the pen for tonight. Martinez was held in reserve because he is the only guy in the pen who can reasonably go two or three innings, in case the game was re-tied and sent to the 11th.
*No one shall make mention of said implosion by Kimbrel as being the real culprit in last night’s game, because all the fanboys totally *heartsparkdollarsign* Craig Kimbrel and his dreamy strikeout totals.
I think nitpicking about the bullpen last night is a little silly at this point. Time to move on.
Sam, if you’re not talking about me, then maybe you might stop implying that everyone stupidly disagrees with you.
I make the claim that no one who posts here thinks Kimbrel is better than the third best reliever on the team.
Also, Proctor is far worse than any of those other pitchers, especially Sherrill, who’s pretty good.
Nah. I like hyperbole. It fits in well with the general tenor of the group at large.
Also, Proctor is far worse than any of those other pitchers, especially Sherrill, who’s pretty good.
Evidence for this assertion?
I HATE HYPERBOLE!!
This year, he has more walks than strikeouts. The only thing saving him this year is the lack of home runs, which he has not been able to maintain historically. His FIP last year was 5.37, and it’s 4.50 this year with the magical homerun prevention.
I really just say he’s worse because it looks like he throws garbage, but the numbers back it up.
I really just say he’s worse because it looks like he throws garbage, but the numbers back it up.
This indicates that Scott Proctor is, at best, a mop up fourth or fifth guy out of the bullpen. It does not indicate that he is better or worse than George Sherrill.
Oh, and he lets tons of inherited runners score, if you think he has special powers that let him prevent runs on the field.
I do not believe Scott Proctor has any notable special powers, though once he may have shot plasma bolts out of his eyes.
No, wait. That was Scott Summers. Nevermind.
Sherrill: 11.74 K/9, 2.93 BB/9, and he’s not giving up a lot of bombs. That’s a great profile. He does it against RH and LH, too.
Well, when I said special powers, I meant pitchability. (I think the X-Man “Balk” has that power.)
I just wish we had someone in the bullpen who had huge shit.
How does Sherrill’s current production line up against his career numbers?
Career?
Proctor – 7.7 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.4 HR/9
Sherrill – 9.0 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 0.7 HR/9
So Sherrill is outpitching his career line? Why should we assume his small sample from 2011 is a better indicator of his talent than this large sample career?
You shouldn’t. Even comparing careers, Sherrill is better than Proctor. Proctor’s been particularly bad since his injuries and surgery.
There is really no reason to use Proctor to defend a one run lead when Sherrill is available.
Would you rather use Sherrill last night and not have either of he, Venters, Kimbrel or EOF available tonight?
Yes, even if that were the case, which it wasn’t. Why would none of them be available tonight?
EOF has had a balky back lately — maybe he’s okay to warm up and come in, but can’t then sit in the dugout and come back in, thus explaining his brief appearance. I don’t know. We don’t know.
Maybe Fredi had a visit from Future Fredi who told him exactly how to manage the game such that it resulted in victory.
Or maybe we missed the ceremony, and Fredi really is married to the idea of having Venters pitch every eighth inning lead.
Well, just as long as we don’t have to have Balki back.
Not going to get on Freddie about the pen last night – he went with the formula that for the most part has been working great, and Kimbrel gave up two runs. Shit happens. Our trio of derision pitched a scoreless 10th so I can’t complain.
What I can complain about is that Fredi should have walked Stanton in the 9th. Kimbrel blew the next guy away. Stanton was a legit threat to win the game with one swing. Also will complain about McCann calling for sliders in that at bat.
OK enough complaining. We won anyways. Again.
When was the last time Kimbrel pitched a 1-2-3 inning?
@16 – Given Sherril’s girth, wouldn’t it be fair to assume that he has pretty big shits? Great input generally leads to great output.
“Q: WHY DID FREDI USE EOF AND VENTERS FOR JUST FOUR OUTS!??!
A: Because he had a 2 run lead with 7 outs remaining in the game, and deployed his best bullpen options to secure those 7 outs and the win. It worked perfectly until Craig Kimbrel* imploded with one strike remaining.”
Leaving aside the fact that you didn’t answer the question, the question itself is a mischaracterization of what I originally said (as I was the one who said it). I never asked why Fredi chose to do it, and I wasn’t lamenting the use of Proctor/Sherrill/Linebrink. In fact, I began the entire assertion with: “I didn’t think the Proctor thing was that big of a deal.” Having said that, I then added: “I also think, when we bring in O’Flaherty with two outs in the 7th, that he could pitch the 8th too.”
I wasn’t complaining: like most here, I have no real problem with the bullpen usage from last night. I was merely saying that if I had to pick a nit, it might be with the roles being so regimented that a guy like O’Flaherty, who has been really really good, gets used on a single batter. But please, keep hitting the strawman. It seems to give you pleasure, however intellectually disingenuous it may be.
@27
5/25/11 at Pittsburgh
http://braves.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=518886
Also, I’d add that the Braves have more than 2.5 reliable relievers. O’Flaherty has been excellent this season against both lefties and righties. Sherrill is a legitimate LOOGY. And Martinez, Gearrin, and even Linebrink have been decent-to-good for back end of the bullpen guys.
So far, the Braves have the best bullpen in baseball, and it’s not even that close. That takes more than 2 or even 3 guys. Their problem remains the offense.
No Prado, no Uggla. Chipper and McCann flipped
1. Schafer CF, 2. Gonzalez SS, 3. McCann C, 4. Jones 3B, 5. Freeman 1B, 6. Hinske LF, 7. Conrad 2B, 8. Young RF, 9. Jurrjens
Man, that’s one ugly lineup. Jurrjens needs to be batting about sixth.
Every possible lineup seems ugly this year. This one is especially random though. I guess you gotta keep Matt Young fresh because, well…because?
Hopefully Uggla is using the off-day to select the mother of all slump-busters.
Mac, Steely Dan (especially on vinyl)rock!Listening now.
@34 “Mother of all slump-busters”, LOL, Made me fall out of my hammock and bump my head!
Made me think, how would we measure the “mother-mostest slump”? With all the guys on here who research so well (JoeyT, Smitty, Mac and others), would we measure greatest year to year regression, career to year, all categories, BA, OBA, OPS, etc.? Is he the “Greatest Slump Mother of all time” thus far?
Lastly, (still not seeing clearly from fall), who the hell is Hyper Boley, a new reliever? If Alex doesn’t like him, I don’t either! (Back to hammock.)
@30
Thanks, Smitty. Somehow, it seemed longer than that.
Obviously the Braves are going to have to cut out of lot of Uggla’s at-bats by sitting him more until he starts hitting.
The unfortunate thing is Brooks isnt hitting either, maybe give Diory a few more AB’s at 2B. Never thought Id say that either.
This line-up is appalling. You know you’re in bad shape when the guy who was considering retirement last year is batting clean-up.
Anyone remember the game Greg Norton batted clean-up? That was one of the more embarrassing Braves line-ups of recent years…
35- Hyper Boley’s so good he’s unbelievable. Kinda the anti-Dan.
38- Diory hit .319 at Gwinnett in 2009 and 2010. He’s demonstrated that he can hit enough to be useful. We just have to keep him away from Parrish. (Sadly, the quote on his B-R page claiming that ‘The Braves are undefeated in games that Diory Hernandez homers in’ is no longer true.)
The Marlins’ announcers just praised John Dewan and the Fielding Bible Awards. Even crappy announcers say more interesting things than Chip.
Looks like another exciting Deadball Era game is in store.
The sad thing is that in those games where he batted cleanup, Norton wasn’t so bad- he went 2-4 with a walk on July 29, 2008, and 2-5 the next day. But yeah, he was a bit of a drop from Teixeira.
Is Volstad an 89 year old man, Chip? How is jogging to first and standing there for a couple minutes going to hinder his pitching?
Apparently Volstad’s aggressive standing over at first wasn’t quite enough physical exertion for him to give up a hit to our bunch. Shocker.
Following this on gameday, and if it was possible, Volstad might lower his era a full two points with the Sally’s that Fredi put out there today. No offense meant to any Sallys out there.
And then Chipper resorts to his new MO, the backwards K. WTF?
46- Maybe players are overreacting to the stupid aggression Parrish promotes by being too passive.
Got a 5.5 ERA? We’ve got your solution–the 2011 Atlanta Braves.
I don’t know. Referencing Crockett and Tubbs to open the telecast was pretty edgy and hilarious.
uhhh, just checked in…. the Braves don’t have a hit yet??!!
This surprises you?
To be fair to Volstad, he’s hitting his spot on that comebacker up and in. Nice pitch.
to be fair, this umpire’s strike zone is horrible
Man, Brooks looks just like Uggla out there. Except he isnt swinging.
Well, at least he makes Volstad have to throw at least three pitches.
@53- Hey, back corner of the plate is still a strike.
Edit: Wow, what a break there!
OOOOHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was the silliest hit I’ve ever seen.
If that’s the only hit, Volstad’s going to be pissed.
lol
And it’s Matt Young with the first hit, on a swinging bunt. Hurrah. Time to vomit in celebration.
That was like Willie Mays Hayes. “Oops!”
Two more rockets and we’ll have a run.
Unfortunately, the Indians’ ex-Mud Hens manager worked out a hell of a lot better than the Braves’.
I like how there’s a giant tractor tire in the Marlins dug out.
Lol Marlins.
Hell of an at bat there by Schafer.
Shame it ended with him staring like a goof at a slider over the plate.
AAG!
Ballgame. Go Braves.
AAG! There’s your run, JJ.
Oh yeah, thought that one was out.
67 – I was being sarcastic.
Nice job there AAG.
If AAG ends the year as the team’s best hitter, I don’t know what I will do.
RBI this series: Gonzalez 3, everyone else 2.
72- Sorry. But he did go seven pitches, which is longer than most of our hitters. By our standards, that actually was an above-average at bat.
75 – It’s a telling exchange.
Flight delayed 3 hours at JFK. Had 3 pints before we got 1 hit.
And now that we have the potentially winning run, I can return to the necessary business of killing time
Go Braves
6 innings. 70 pitches. JJ could go the distance, which is good, considering how much the pen has worked recently.
Maybe that can be this team’s niche. The Atlanta Braves: We Play Baseball To Get Drunk By.
I know it’s a revolutionary thought, but… let’s get an insurance run!
heh
Frediball!
ARGH. Have we had a successful hit and run this year?
joe’s killing freeman, like he’s the one who called a hit & run with a 40 year old on 1st
Well, we’d have 1st and 3rd if our damn manager didn’t start “managing.”
Honestly, does Fredi just not pay attention to the game at all?
So whats gotten into Brandon Hicks? He now has 8 HR’s at Gwinnett and is SLG’ing .528
I don’t mind the hit and run. Freeman has been hitting well, sometimes it doesn’t work. It is okay to be aggressive sometimes.
#86 – failed hit and run
It wasn’t really a steal. It was a hit and run, and Freeman whiffed.
So I noticed, but… Fredi has no idea that we’re last in the world in stolen bases? Can he name the players on this offense? He certainly doesn’t know their skill sets, none of whom (except Schafer) involve running fast.
Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of hit and runs when there’s only one ball and the pitcher’s over 90 throws on the night. There’s a solid chance you’ll get something unhittable.
I’d usually be happy that the opposing starter was about finished, and that we’re about to get into the bullpen. But Volstad is probably the worst pitcher on their staff, so, yeah.
Why is Freeman trying to get picked off here?
He’s a young guy figuring out his limits?
Of course. Dumbass baserunning bites us in the ass again.
Sherrill up throwing? Are you kidding me? Jurrjens has thrown like 12 pitches, and the pen is shot.
He’s gonna pinch hit if Young gets on. I’d just walk Young if I was the Marlins to get Jurrjens out of the game…
97- Really? Fredi evidently knows someone with several G’s bet on the Marlins.
Hilarious.
Fredi: I am the best manager ever.
This Marlins series has been really entertaining. Everything’s so crazy.
JJ is going to hit regardless, Fredi made that quite clear.
Marlins’ announcers are indredulous–they think Sherrill is a decoy.
They were right.
@104 They’re right
If the run hadn’t scored, I don’t trust that Fredi would have let him hit.
My head just exploded.
This game is hilarious. This whole series is hilarious.
Jair, can you play second?
Joe…”A little Ric Flair over 2nd.” I hate that line more than most.
I can hear Fredi’s head swelling, and I can smell the excited sweat of DOB as he writes up a buddy piece about his brilliant tactics.
Okay, it’s official, the pitchers are better hitters than Uggla.
JJ is a better hitter than half the lineup anyway.
@110 I don’t mind that compared to Chip’s “little FLAIR” …they always seem to excite him so.
If the Marlins had any fans, they would be in the bargaining stage.
I’m still tickled by the “falls down the stairs comically” comment the other night. That just came to mind after that improbable hit.
I don’t mind Joe so much, and the Ric Flair thing is something I actually miss while listening to the radio feed.
However, Powell over Chip trumps pretty much anything else. It’s like going from a scrub to an all-star.
OK, flight delayed 2 more hours & we score 2 more runs.
A pattern? Hmmm…
I may end up shitfaced, but, y’know, victorious.
@83
Yes. In fact, I’d say we’ve been pretty successful on hit-and-runs this year. We had two successful ones on consecutive batters a week or two ago.
@119, I seem to catch the botched ones. I don’t think I saw that.
Uggla as defensive replacement. I actually agree with this move.
Well, if you have a 40-year-old on first, there’s only one ball, and the pitch count is over 90 on the guy throwing, it’s a lot more likely you’ll see something botched.
@ 77 and 118, ububba you are “priceless”! You are one of the reasons I love this blog!
If it’s still 3-0 going into the bottom of the 8th, Jurrjens is staying in, right? Fredi’s not married to Venters/8 Kimbrel/9 no matter what, right?
Well, that was his first mistake.
And that was his second.
Maybe Chip can shut the hell up and get a little less excited about Stanton’s HR?
JJ picked a lousy time to run out of gas. Helms should be his last hitter, either way.
Jurrjens is not out of gas. He should be able to go another inning.
man, we couldn’t give venters/kimbrel a game off could we
Kimbrel threw 28 pitches last night and this would be his 3rd day in a row so he may not be available. O’Flaherty probably isn’t available either.
So, Cheryl and… the Lisp? Venters?
With the way the Marlins were swinging that inning, I wouldn’t let Jurrjens go back out there for the fourth time through the order.
Proctor, Cheryl, and Linebrink, in that order. Why mess with success?
How about Jurrjens, Jurrjens, and Jurrjens in that order?
134 – their nickname: The Other Guys.
So Schafer’s the only starter to not get on base, pitcher included. Nice.
A rain delay would knock Jurrjens out of the game.
Walk Hinske to get to Uggla now? Or Mather?
Mather is the hitter.
Joe Mather’s hitting and you play the Andy Griffith theme song? Florida, WTF?
Relievers are being trotted out there like it’s Tony LaRussa Tribute Night.
Oh, good. Uggla gets to stay in the game even though he was only on deck.
Dammit. He was struck out on the pitch before.
Wow, great job ump.
What if he had died? That life would have been on your hands, ump.
Terrible call.
Nice play McCann and Freeman!
Love Freddie’s pick there!
This means a Venters ninth?
Peanut says it’s Venters, yes.
EOF might need a day off once in a while. He seemed a smidgen wild there.
If Dobbs grabs his hand there, I’m pretty confident he would have been awarded first.
Four-point-six-one years more of this, folks!
And that called third strike to Uggla wasn’t close. Awful umpiring.
That ball never had the plate.
It hit him, but he swung and it landed in play. I think it was the right outcome.
Uggla sucks, but so does the ump.
That wasnt a strike, thanks ump.
Ugglay.
“Four-point-six-one years more of this, folks!”
It could be worse: the Braves could have signed former BravesJournal heartthrob Carl Crawford.
Has Matt Young ever tried to bunt?
@156, Didn’t look like he went around though.
Chip: Uggla has hit everywhere in the lineup except over half of it.
Chip Caray just makes stuff up as he goes along, doesn’t he?
Fix is on. Come on, dumbpires.
Three more hitters get… Ventilated.
Venters = stud.
Ooh…”ventilated.” I like that.
7 runs in 3 games and somehow its a sweep, I’ll take it! Good grief, the Braves pitching is unreal.
Win, win, win…
Well, that ain’t gonna do anything to quiet anybody down
As a general rule, nothing good happens when the Braves play in Florida. I’m scared.
Can we call Venters the Terminator?
I’ll take it too–and keep hoping that Uggla figures it out tomorrow.
Jonny Venters is stupid good.
No, he is the Ventilator. (HT Brian J.)
BTW, our starters this series…
19 2/3IP 10H 2R 13K
I like the Ventilator. Tom Henke was the Terminator.
Florida, can we leave Dan with you? Don’t worry, you can still keep Omar and Mike Dunn.
Thanks. He’ll be a heck of a pitcher unless Fredi rips his arm off, and might make another of our relievers expendable (Gearrin, or Kimbrel if someone makes a huge offer).
Venters should honestly be the closer.
Venters should be in charge of the economy. Recapped.