New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – July 13, 2012 – ESPN.
So, things are looking up. Our other shortstop got injured, but on the other hand, he is literally a replacement-level player, which means by definition that we lose nothing by replacing him. We put Prado at shortstop, obviously, and though he went 0-5 he made a nice play up the middle and proved that our shortstop depth isn’t quite as bad as it looks when he can fill in there in a pinch.
Tim Hudson had an old-fashioned Episode. He was staked to a 5-0 lead in the first three innings, with most of the damage done by David Ross, who got 4 RBIs on a bases loaded walk and a three-run homer. Ross was in for Brian McCann, who took paternity leave as his wife gave birth to a healthy Colt Michael McCann. He may be back tomorrow.
But then the top of the fourth happened. Old nemesis David Wright led off, and Tim Hudson saw the following happen:
Double, groundout, walk, double, single, single, pop-out, single, groundout.
By the time the dust settled it was 5-4, and Wilson was out of the game, injuring his pinky on the second single of the inning, as he tried to dive to pick up a dribbler that went off Hudson’s glove.
The next inning wasn’t much better for Hudson, who gave up a single to Wright and then walked Ike Davis before Fredi rightfully decided he’d seen enough. Because it was the fifth inning, he turned to the Lisp. Four balls later, the bases were loaded and things weren’t looking good. Fortunately, that was the low point of the game. He struck out the next two guys and got Thole to fly out to Bourn, and was followed by two scoreless innings by Medlen.
In the sixth, the Braves got two badly-needed insurance runs, one from an expected source and one from the opposite. First, Chipper hit a solo shot, because it’s the Mets. Then, Freddie Freeman doubled, and Dan Uggla singled him home. Uggla was 1-3 with two walks. I’m not saying he’s fixed. I’m just saying that he had a good game. O’Flaherty gave up a run in a shaky 8th inning, but he got out of it, and then Kimbrel struck out the side, because that’s what he does.
As you probably know by now, Mac has a new iPad — the nicest iPad that Apple sells — with an Atlanta Braves cover and several months’ worth of prepaid Verizon service. Alex R. deserves all the credit for putting this whole idea together and for buying it and getting it to him. But your generosity is what made this possible. Thank you.
Yeah, hard to get too worked up about Wilson. It’s a little galling that now, when he can finally justify his presence on the roster, he’s injured. But as you say, it’s a hole that’s very fillable.
More worrisome is that the timetable on Simmons’ return seems to keep getting pushed back incrementally. We first heard it might be as little as three weeks, then it became four weeks at a bare minimum, now we’re hearing six weeks is likely. And Jim Powell was saying on the radio tonight that they’ll be continuing to do MRIs on the hand, and that there’s a chance that Simmons will have to have surgery.
Really depressing to see such an exciting young player lose so much time at the start of what might be a really special career. But then, Chipper lost a bunch of time right after reaching the Majors, and look at him now.
I’m firmly in the ‘Treat Simmons like a pitcher coming back from TJ surgery’ Camp. Don’t rush him, make sure he’s fully healed, and let’s watch a truly elite player continue to be truly elite for a long time.
Thank you, everybody. I really appreciate everything and only wish I had the words to express it.
Hope you’re enjoying your iPad, Mac. It’s especially great for traveling and working in the kitchen.
Wren said last night that Simmons would be in the cast for 4 weeks then a flexible splint for 2 weeks and probably 2 more weeks after that of rehab. He predicted we would not see Simmons again until after September 1st. Also, the way he talked about Greinke sounded like they were going to try to get him but they need to wait a bit longer.
The Rockies stopped trying Scutaro at shortstop because he couldn’t hack it. We’re going to end up with a Willie Bloomquist-type, which is fine, I guess.
If Simmons is going to be out that long, maybe a purely glove guy like Ryan isn’t a bad idea after all.
Wren indicated the current thinking was to get a glove guy at SS and not worry about the offensive output.
@6
That’s not why the Rockies moved Scutaro to 2nd. They did it because they had better defensive options there and no offensive minded player to play 2nd. What’s the purpose of sticking Scutaro at SS when you can put a guy like Herrera, a defense 1st player, at SS and move Scutaro to 2nd? The previous 2nd baseman, Chris Nelson, was equally as poor as Herrera on the offensive side? If there was a stud 2nd baseman, you can bet your ass Scutaro would still be playing SS. That’s a much different reason. By all accounts, he’s been slightly below average at SS this year and for his career.
@9, I don’t disagree with your reasoning. I said what I said because I read this: “Originally, the Rockies moved veteran second baseman Marco Scutaro to short, but the position was grinding on the 36-year-old.”
In my mind, “couldn’t hack it” sounds like he’s inable to play the position while “position was grinding on the 36 year old” sounds like he could use a rest every 4-5 games.
Enjoy your new toy, Mac; and keep us enthralled with your unique take on all things Braves. It’s good to see you posting again.
Mr. Wren, please pull a shortstop rabbit from your hat today. I sense Yunel might be available.
@12
[staggers]
I sense a strong disturbance in The Force…
Prado starting at SS. AWESOME!
Pastornicky recalled. Not awesome.
Rockies already had Tulo at SS.
Prado back at SS today. Holla.
Ugh, f*cking Pastornicky.
I’d play Prado in LF and just start Pastornicky. It would be different if you had any major league players on the bench to play LF. But you don’t. You have Hinske.
Prado and Pastornicky will both be below-average defensively at SS.
Hinske and Pastornicky are both automatic outs at the plate.
To me, the deciding factor is that Prado is a better LF than Hinske.
I guess this is one way to send a message to Pastornicky that he really, really needs to improve his play at SS.
Who won’t they send out there before they give him another shot?
Agree with your analysis, jjschiller/19. Starting Prado at short is a very weird call.
Especially when you factor in injury risks. Prado is much more likely to get hurt playing SS than LF.
Makes very, very little sense to me. The only way it makes sense is if they want to evaluate Prado as an option for the next 6 weeks, and instead make a move for a LF. If this is just a ‘until we land a SS’ move, it’s pretty stupid to me.
There’s an @BravesHaiku on Twitter.
That has to be someone here, right?
When asked about Pastornicky yesterday Wren said they see him more in a utility role similar to Infante so they have had him playing 2nd and might be playing him in CF (in the minors). I don’t think we will see him at SS unless it’s a late inning pinch-hit/double-switch kind of thing.