Watching the home team while travelling is a lot easier these days due to MLB.TV, but it’s still confusing to me. First off, I’m in New Orleans, and they apparently have some sort of different time zone thingy here, so exiting the meet and greet conference at 7:00 to catch the 7:10 start time will get you a big old bag of fourth inning. Stupid clocks. And then someone called and said one of our prospects needed to see the French Quarter, and that was that.
This recap is brought to you by video highlights and play by play tracking on the internets, I’m afraid.
The Braves wasted little time getting started. Andrelton Simmons singled in the first, and Evan Gattis, hitting cleanup while Freddie Freeman is on the DL, drove him in with a 2 out, 2 run moon shot.
They gave one of them back in the second on a two base error by Melvin in CF, but then Kris Medlen settled in and shut the Marlins down through seven. The Braves tacked on a necessary insurance run, because EOF decided to not be a shutdown reliever in the eighth. Kimbrel didn’t have any problems in the ninth.
The story lines out of this game were Medlen’s effective start and Gattis in the 4-hole. It was good to see he of the flat-brim hat get back on track and dominate hitters for seven innings, but that comes with the caveat that he was dominating the Marlins. Who suck. The White Bear continues to rake in his starts, and with Freeman hurt and the rest of the non-Justin Upton spots in the lineup creaking a bit, it’s hard to justify not having his stick in the lineup. Which is why Fredi announced after the game that until Freeman comes back, he’s going to go with Gattis as the primary catcher, rather than the 50/50 split he was working between Gattis and Gerald Laird previously.
My apologies for the late recap and lack of detail. I’ll do better next time when I’m not stuck in Louisiana…
Writing anything while in NOLA is a waste of good drinking time. Writing anything while sober in NOLA is, to my way of thinking, impossible. You have therefore performed at an outstanding level…. or you’re sober, in which case I’m less impressed…. Not with your writing, but with your judgment.
I’m off to Pittsburgh to see the “Atlanta Braves of College Hockey” tomorrow. It’s no NOLA, but I’m going to do my best to pretend.
Reed Johnson since we got him – .259/.298/.315/.613. Not really sure why his career stats matter at this point, he hasn’t been very good for a while, and there is really no reason to expect some “regression to the mean” from a 36yo.
Gattis hasn’t just had “20 good PAs”. He’s hit non-stop for 2+ years. At some point, like with Prado, you have to just concede that it’s real. And then you have to find a place for that bat.
I don’t much care who wins the Schafer/Johnson battle, as they both suck, but getting rid of the guy who sucks that I owe more money to suits me, and maybe either getting a lotto ticket back or someone else taking his salary. I’d be happiest if we sent them both down the road and got either a real defensive specialist, or a faker with some hitting ability, and kept Laird as the “backup C who never plays, but allows Fredi to PH Gattis”.
@2 – Why reduce your sample size? Last season, combined, he was right at his career numbers. “Since being traded,” sounds like a pretty arbitrary time frame.
He hit almost exactly his career averages at 35. He’s been below average for his last 60 or so plate appearances. It may indicate he’s done, but it certainly doesn’t prove it.
I am excited for the inevitable “Gattis isn’t an All-Star?!?!?!” painc/reaction.
Yeah again I’m with JJ. Reed has been with the Braves all of 114 PAs, you’ll forgive me if I trust his previous 3526 PAs more than his most recent sample. His most recent output is not irrelevant but we have much more information available to us.
. It may indicate he’s done, but it certainly doesn’t prove it.
It doesn’t make me particularly interested in finding out. As I said, I don’t care who has the last guy on the bench role, as long as they stay there almost all the time. If the team wants to pay him for that, fine, but I’ll shed no tears if they go with the cheaper shitty option or better yet, find another option.
Gattis reminds me of the late Earl Williams.
@7 Not Ted Williams? Ask Bethany
I don’t think you should ever have good players on the bench. You should spend that money on the guys that actually play.
Box score
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=330409128&teams=atlanta-braves-vs-miami-marlins
@9, I can’t remember the author, but I love the dictum “I want my bench full of hitters who can’t field, not fielders who can’t hit”.
Braves get a bullpen arm for the Durbin role.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/04/braves-acquire-luis-ayala.html
So who is going down? Poor Gearrin.
#11
Usually, you want the Brooks Conrad type. Usually…
@8
Post of the day!
Ayala’s good, but who do you cut?
Kimbrel, Walden, EoF, Avilan – no
Varvaro – would probably lose during waivers
Gearrin – doesn’t deserve to be sent down and I’m not convinced Ayala is better anyway
Lisp – could make the case, but I think you’d like a guy who could go multiple innings in case someone gets hurt mid-start/shelled.
I guess the lisp is the guy you could best afford to lose, but it still doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe someone is hurt…
Luis Ayala for a something called “Chris Jones” who is most likely a mob informant in the Witness Protection Program.
That gets a big old warm bucket of ‘Meh’ from me.
Someones hurt, or the org is unhappy with the Lisp. After Fredi said his job wasn’t safe in ST, I’ve wondered if he’d done something, because he was a pretty damn good long man two years running.
Might be why Varvaro was getting multiple inning gigs on consecutive nights. Looking to see if he could hold the job down.
Lisp might have some trade value, too.
I figure it has to be a trade, right? There’s been absolutely no problem with the bullpen and it’s one of our best assets. Why shake it up?
The real question is:
“How does this move help/hurt Gattis and his chance at the All Star Game?”
@20 Where can we get the all star ballots? Vote early, vote often.
I wonder if this means Venters is hurt worse than they thought
@22 Personally I’d be very surprised if Venters’ arm can really be fixed with rest alone, and from posts on Bravesjournal, it appears many others on here are of the same opinion.
Lineup for tonight’s game courtesy of DOB: Simmons ss, Heyward rf, JUpton LF, Gattis c, Uggla 2b, Francisco 3b, CJohnson 1b, Schafer cf, Minor p
I have to wonder if removing BJ from the lineup is more 1) checking on Schafer to see if they should try to keep him on the team when McCann returns or 2) just benching BJ after his awful game last night.
Fredi likes to get his regulars regular rest. Starting Schafer is almost certainly just a regular day off for Melvin. They’re not punishing their brand new, five year, 15 mil per CF for a rough game in the second week of the season.
Venters is unlikely to be back this year, IMHO.
The Ayala deal may be more about doing Baltimore a solid and helping out with their roster crunch than our pen, per se. GMs have to maintain relationships like that sometimes.
I’m sorry this move makes zero sense to me, Peanut just tweeted that Varvaro or the Lisp will be optioned. Venters should have no real bearing as Ayala’s a righty. What is with Wren and crappy veteran relievers?
I kinda expected this. Schafer has gotten no burn this season, so it makes sense to get him a start vs a RHP during the second week of the season. That BUpton’s been struggling a bit makes the timing good, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if JUpton gets a day off at some point, too, though given how hot he’s been, there’ll be less of a push for that. 🙂
I know it’s just a regular day off, but in my head I’m gonna pretend it’s BJ being benched for excessive shittiness.
@25
In Wren I Trust
Well, that was a pretty awful error last night from the Jr. Bossman.
Saw it at lunch – agreed.
Re: Wren acquiring Ayala
Sometimes you have a taste for a Samuel Smith India Ale (Justin Upton) and sometimes you just want a six-pack of Big Flats from Walgreens (Luis Ayala). The two balance each other.
If Wren just waited another two weeks or so, maybe he could have gotten Durbin back for nothing, after the Phillies dump him.
Ayala has been a quality reliever for the last two seasons (2.40ERA/177ERA+ in 131ip)and makes 1M,with good control and a decent K rate. I’m not sure why we got him either, really, but he’s definitely worth more than what we paid.
Ayala might have good umpire rapport as well.
Odd that the Orioles would give him up cheaply. Wonder if he’s to some degree “damaged goods.”
Yeah I’m with spike on this one. I don’t see what the derision of Ayala is about. 3:1 k:bb ratio last season. I guess maybe its depth due to Venters injury. Our best minor league options from years past are with the big club, now. This puts Gearrin back in a depth role.
Yeah, Ayala is no Durbin.
I just like Gearrin, but they must be worried about depth with Venters being out.
The only way this lineup could be better is if Minor was batting 8th. Success!
Everyone knows Schafer sucks at playing CF, right? Because the argument over him v. R Johnson didn’t always give me that impression. He can’t hit, he can’t field. We know the former, but we should also be engaging the latter.
Hard to believe Jason’s only got two hits on the year. Well, make that three.
Or will that be an error?
Yep. An error. Hard to believe Jason’s only got two hits on the year.
At first that looked like some bad luck for Jason but he turned it into something good.
Noooooo, bad move Gattis, bad move.
Awww… Gattis’ first major league GIDP. Ain’t it adorable!
Does a white bear 6-4-3?
Success with the base hit!
Gattis is fine behind the plate. I just hope he continues to hit.
Heyward is at .077
Oh Dan.
Good pitching, Mikey, even against the Marlins.
Way to go Juan!
Annnd.. ugh.
reed….sigh
SUCCESSSSSSSS!!!!!
That was a damn near perfect bunt by success.
SUCCESS AND SIMMONS!
Well, success it is then
Marlins TV just showed a side-by-side of Simmons and Chipper’s swing. Apparently he’s been copying Chipper’s approach and doing a good job of it. The split they showered appeared almost identical.
Simmons had that easy.
Alright Justin, time to do your thing.
Gattis is due for another HR
WHO DOUBTS THE WHITE BEAR?!
Cue that hype.
WHOO!!!!
OH BOY!!!
THE WHITE BEAR HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!!!!
nice swing
This Gattis guy, he good!
Blammo!
Oh, my God. He simply destroyed that thing.
I don’t understand all this hype surrounding Gattis ;).
White Bear !!! Running to pick him up in my fantasy leagues . Paul Bunyan wow.
They better not put Gattis on the cover of SI.
The scout(s) that recommended taking a flyer on Gattis in the 23rd round must have a nice fuzzy feeling about this start to the season.
FATJUAN!!!!!
JUAN GONE
El Nino Destructor!!!
But seriously, Gattis has to play every game of the Nats series, doesn’t he? We should probably skip Teheran this time through and go Hudson, Maholm and Medlen.
JUAN!!
Oh my, Fatjuan!
I feel a lot better about this game now.
Meep. Meep.
Juan more time!!!
Good grief, Francisco has some power. I just hope he’s not admiring his shots anymore.
JUAN! Who says this is a pitcher’s park?
Chris Johnson trying to play like the big boys.
But coming up about fifty feet short.
Marlins announcers claiming Francisco’s homer was the longest they’ve seen at the park.
Those two balls were absolutely crushed.
And neither guy did anything except put his head down and move on around the bases. Act like you’ve done this before and are going to do it again soon.
It’s not hard to be optimistic when your team is 7-1 and leading 6-0. Nice inning, boys.
SUCCESS!!!
Success heard Stu raving about him and he’s trying to prove him right.
Schaffer’s making a bid for more playing time.
#84: Yeah, they were estimating it to be 490+ feet. It bounced off the front facing of the upper deck.
Andrelton just hit a sac fly to score Success, but that sucker was a line drive to the center fielder. Man, he’s tagging the ball lately.
Gattis is fine behind the plate. I can’t believe I’m OK with McCann leaving at season’s end. Wow.
Simmons is getting it done.
Schafer silencing his critics–we’ll, not me–but I certainly appreciate the three hit night. Hopefully BJ responds.
@86 – On the other hand, I’m really glad I’m not a Marlins fan- to say the least. 1-7 and down 6-0. Very little so far this season has given anyone cause for optimism about the Fish.
Heyward, BJ and Uggla are the only guys left not getting it done. I’d take one out of three getting it together against the Nats.
I wonder how low Heyward’s avg will go. Not a happy start. The Braves will need him to do something once they start playing real teams.
Simmons will do.
“You can’t win the division in April, but you sure can lose it.” Well, I would like to see them shoot for a 20-win month. Sure as hell can’t hurt in the quest to win it.
Just saw the videos on mlb.com.
You could tell Juan’s was a monster shot off the bat, yet right before it bounces off of the upper deck Chip yells “it’s got a chance!”
sheesh.
Both those balls went out quick
#99: Let’s just say I’m enjoying the Marlins broadcast.
After being blessed with Skip, Pete, Ernie and Don for decades, it’s a shame I don’t look forward to Braves broadcasts anymore.
Nepotism is never a good policy.
I like the radio team.
Francisco destroyed that baseball.
Bethany
If Gattis murdered 100s of people on TV and you were on the jurry, does he walk?
Nice patient at-bat by Fatjuan.
103 — Me too. I didn’t get mlb.tv this year, but I like their radio overlay function.
MLB talking head was talking about Braves being an American League team. American league plays in small stadia
while Braves, Fish and Nats play in major league ball parks
@105 you know the answer to that.
Cory Gearrin is a very handsome man. “Handsome” is not something one usually associates with sidearmers.
Check out Gattis’s ID from when he was a janitor. Classic!
@108 There are a few notable AL home run parks, but actually,
the best parks for HRs last season were MIL, CIN and COL. As usual, Turner Field slightly depressed HRs last year relative to league average.
Gattis swings a handsome bat.
Success has a four-hit night.
Reed proves Stu right.
If only Schafer could hit against the Marlins all 162 games in a season.
#103: Yeah, I should have clarified. I was speaking specifically of the Chip Caray-leaden TV team. Heck, I listen to Braves Radio all year long and they’re great. Don and Jim Powell make a great team, and Ben Ingram is an excellent sub.
Success’s hyperactivity gets the best of him. Come on, kid, we’re up 7-0.
Wow, found a way to ruin Heyward’s sad little dribbler hit.
Maybe Schafer found his calling as a bench player.
Justin Cares!
Cory Gearrin has about the most neutral expression I’ve seen on a baseball field.
Nice grab by the tarp.
Maybe we could trade Schafer to the Marlins.
@122 Trade bait?
Who is going to backup Gattis at the all-star game?
“He Was Out” Posey had a good game.
Paul Janish? Ick. Who would he replace?
What a sad, sad park
@126
Gattis will back himself up, duh
@126, Yadi!
If Staton gets hurt, the Marlins will have a chance to catch the Astros for the number one pick.
Everyone is improving their BAs tonight.
Just as well; a five-hit game from Schafer might have broken the laws of time and space.
@132 – BJ isn’t.
Marlins announcers said that Schafer had a 5 hit game against the Mets. Einstein might be able to explain it, but I’d say IWOTM.
131 — I think they have a good chance with him in the line-up. He’ll be getting nothing to hit all season.
@134 Poor BJ.
Marlins broadcasters said he had a 5 hit game against the Mets in 2010?
They had C-Mart warming up in the bullpen, but Varvarro is out pitching the 9th. Hmmm….
Remember when that Coghlan guy beat out Hanson for ROY?
Win, win, win.
That was easy. Bring on the Natspos!
Good win, of course IWOTM.
At least BJ’s avg isn’t getting worse. Looking forward to seeing our pitchers against the Nats, hoping that they look nearly as good as the first 9 games.
@138 He was warming up in case pinch hitter was used.
We’re 8-1 because we’ve beating up on crappy teams. And I am absolutely fine by that. One of our problems in the past has been beating up on the crappy teams. Another problem has been running up the score. Neither of those has been an issue starting the season despite certain hitters underperforming and that’s a very good sign. Now let’s take two out of three or better from the Nationals and we’ll really be looking good.
Just saw FatJuan’s bomb. I don’t know how they are measuring home run distances, but nearly dead center field off the facing of the upper deck is damn sure farther than 430 feet. I demand a recount.
After years of watching him, I must ask: how in the hell does Brian Jordan have a job that involves public speaking? He’s a total fumblemouth.
Recapped.
There was another calculation that said 459 feet which seems more plausible.
@145 I thought about that the other day. 8-1 doesn’t mean that much, considering who they’ve played. On the other hand, if you can beat up on the bad teams like this, you’re in great shape overall.
8-1 means 8 wins in the bigs and a 1.5 early lead in the division. Wins against the Marlins count in the standings.