Lookin’ forward to Monday
Tryin’ to find the time, to watch the Braves.
Heavy rain fallin’.
Leave the broadcast to watch some news,
And Hill’s in shades.
It’s a rainy night in Georgia.
We’re waiting on a game in Georgia.
Lord, I feel that baseball’s all over the world.
Shelby Miller’s pitchin’.
Seems we got a good one there.
Fish score on a ground out
And the good guys are one behind.
Rainy 4th inning in Georgia.
Christian steals a run in Georgia.
So it stops rainin’ on the Braves World.
Eric Young a doublin’,
Callaspo and Cakes follow with hits,
Two runs score, and we take the lead.
Will three runs hold up a lead?
Shelby gives it to Cody Martin
And Cody shows he’s ready for the show.
Johnson and Grilli finish it.
So, the winning way continues,
And we’re all fine.
A rainy night in Georgia.
Such a rainy night in Georgia.
But it’s shinin on Braves world.
How about these Braves? I will not hope, I will not hope, I will not hope.
From previous thread. I remember Stan the Man Unusual. I think he shortened Weaver’s life by 10 years.
As much as I’m enjoying this, there’s a little voice in the back of my head insisting, “This is the best stretch of Braves baseball you’ll see this year.” I’m doing my best to ignore it.
How about Michael Morse? That guy has come through for us in more big situations this year than anyone!
The bullpen has looked solid, which is good, because the rotation hasn’t been great about throwing deep into games thus far. But its early. I imagine guys will be better at getting into the 6th and 7th and 8th once they’ve had a couple trips through the rotation.
Tough to complain about Miller’s inefficiency last night, with two rain delays. That he’d come back out after 39 minutes to pitch the 5th wasn’t a given. He probably burned 25 pitches in the tunnel.
Without the delays he probably gives us 6, which isn’t deep, but is more in line with expectations.
It really is odd how much fun winning can be when you don’t expect it.
#91Barves
I think Miller is going to be good.
Couldn’t watch the game last night, but I was glad to see Cody Martin go 2 innings in relief. Fredi doesn’t do that very much, but for Cody, going multiple innings shouldn’t be a problem, and he can probably be reasonably effective while doing it. It’s a great way to rest your bullpen.
Eager to see Cahill on the mound tonight.
Cody likely won’t ever be a successful everyday starter as his 4 pitch repertoire is good, but he doesn’t possess 1 plus-plus pitch. He’s in the mold of David Hale, and as a spot-starter/reliever, he should do just fine.
@4 – on the nose!
@5 i believe so as well…mainly because of Roger.
Martin and Johnson have been the pleasant surprises out of the pen. Johnson looks unhittable at the moment.
Did you guys see that dude for the Marlins last night that jumped off the mound and delivered the ball from damn near the edge of the grass? The jump is like twice as egregious as what Walden does. How can that be allowed?
Miller really just needed to get his curveball velocity back up, and he kind of did that at the end of last season. The Cardinals had a glaring need, and they paid a steep price to fill it.
@10, he was actually called in the minors for making an illegal pitch, and the Marlins have asked MLB for clarification.
According to Capps, MLB told him “to make sure I dragged my foot and not get too elevated in the air, and make sure it’s more on a lateral plane.”
I saw Sugar Ray Marimon pitch in spring and was not at all impressed. Stuff wasn’t that good and he didn’t seem to locate that well. But what do I know? He’s underwhelmed in his minors career as a starter, and his K/BB ratio was tepid, but maybe he can flourish as a reliever somehow. We’ve found diamonds in the rough before. At least he doesn’t walk almost one per inning like Jaime. It is kinda cool to have two players from Cartegena, Columbia on the same roster.
@12: It’s interesting that the MLB rule book doesn’t really cover this. the closest is Rule 8.01(a) The Windup Position. The pitcher shall stand facing the batter, his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher’s plate and the other foot free. From this position any natural movement associated with his delivery of the ball to the batter commits him to the pitch without interruption or alteration. He shall not raise either foot from the ground, except that in his actual delivery of the ball to the batter, he may take one step backward, and one step forward with his free foot.
Now he is only taking one step forward with his free foot, I guess, but by then his pivot foot is about two feet forward of the rubber, and it hits the ground before he pitches. If I lift my foot and put it back dow on the ground in a new place, how is that not a step? I suppose the argument is that it isn’t if it’s just following behind the rest of my body. But you can see whty it was called an illegal pitch in the minors based only on the rule.
Someone asked DOB about the Yanks scouting Peraza recently at Gwinnett, here is his response
@DOBrienAJC: Don’t know, but possible, given emergence of Peterson & #Braves need for OF offense. JWren knows a lot of scouts. https://t.co/CelIyACA5
@DOBrienAJC: Everyone, and I mean everyone, with Braves who’s been around Peterson past 8 wks will tell you HE is special. https://t.co/uQ7OrqN3mQ
I’ve not been following all the trades very closely. Was Peterson someone we drafted or traded for?
Came as part of Justin Upton trade.
@17 Was he a top prospect?
He also isn’t the only Peterson we got in that trade, as we got 3B/OF prospect Dustin Peterson in the same deal. They aren’t related, but Dustin is the younger brother of Mariners 3B prospect D.J. Peterson.
Do the Yankees have any outfield prospects?
Aaron Judge
@18, I would say that he was. He was drafted in the first round (supplemental) in 2011, so he clearly had a high profile.
In March, John Sickels gave him a B- (indicating that he’s likely a future regular but not a star) and rated him the #10 prospect in the Braves’ new-look system. He wrote, “His track record is solid, showing speed and intriguing on-base abilities with some gap power.”
Going into the 2014 season, Baseball America considered him the Padres’ #7 prospect, and said that of all the prospects in the system, he was the best hitter for average, had the best strike zone judgment, was the best athlete, and was the best hitter for discipline.
@22
Sounds pretty good. I’ve seen him turn some nice double plays with Simba but how’s the rest of his fielding looked so far?
Judge is 50 to Peraza’s 47 on Sickels list. He’s 6-7 though. Guys that big always scare me as prospects.
Yeah. Me too. ON the other hand, Christian Yelich…
@13 They are not only from the same town, Sugar Ray and Julio are second cousins and grew up seeing a lot of each other. I think that’s pretty cool.
Isn’t it extremely rare for prospect-for-prospect trades to occur? Hasn’t Peraza been trying out CF a bit? We all like Jace Peterson, but is anybody really ready to go all in with him since he hasn’t hit .200 yet during any stretch of big league action?
One week sample size is only enough to fire relievers. I think 2B will get at least 3 weeks. Unless they lose a game with an error or something. In which case they’ll be fired on the spot. Braves-Survivor 2015 is going to be fun to watch.
I like Jace Peterson. I’m not sold on him as the permanent solution. Then again, Peraza hasn’t played above A ball and has the same caveats as Peterson. I don’t think they should trade Peraza because Peterson has suddenly locked down 2B for the next 10 years or anything. But if they find a trade that improves the organization at other areas of need…? It’s a nice thing to be able to do, because you have two or three infield prospects now.
@28, I don’t know why I’m responding here (masochism?) but your comparison between Jace and Jaime is ridiculous, as others have stated. On the one hand, you have Jace Peterson, 24 years old, who has succeeded at every level but struggled in very limited MLB action, and who, despite his brief offensive struggles fields his position quite well. On the other hand, you have Juan Jaime, 27, who has struggled at every level to throw strikes, posting egregious walk rates for 7 years and did the very same in a brief MLB sample last year.
The fact is, we have lots of guys in the minors who can pitch relief as well as Jaime, and the only reason Jaime was kept around so long was velocity. Well velocity didn’t pan out in lots of chances. It’s time for someone else to try to fix his chronic location issues now that he is 27 years old.
Don’t get me wrong–I think cutting Jaime after one bad appearance looked awfully silly. And if the team was looking for more data this year from his performance this year, they shoulda stuck it out. I just don’t think he should’ve ever been on our roster. He’s terrible.
@29 – Agreed. If Peraza can get us a for real OF prospect then lets sell high. I like Peterson, and I think he can be at least a league average 2b and we do have other prospects on the farm as has been pointed out.
Peraza has been impressive in his short tenure at A and AA ball but if Aaron Judge hits with power then he fills a big organizational need for the Braves.
Just looked Judge up on BRef. Do the Braves need a left tackle? Dang.
@30 Not to speak for krussell but I think you need to turn your sarcasm detector on.
@31, but you are speaking for krussell. It’s true there is sarcasm there, but not in the way that it negates the point he/she is making. You should review the thread from yesterday where he/she said the same thing in a disagreement with ryan c (I think). It’s possible krussell has just beeen trolling with these absurd comparisons and predictions for the last few weeks and months, but I doubt it.
@29
Peraza played in both high-A and AA last year and is in AAA this year.
On Jace Peterson, I think Alex sold Jace a bit short when referring to what Sickels had to say about him. This was almost a year ago, but was his longest and best piece on Jace.
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014/4/28/5655876/prospect-of-the-day-jace-peterson-inf-san-diego-padres
If you don’t want to read the article, here’s the best part:
“Peterson doesn’t have a ton of home run power but he’s not punchless and can drive pitches to the gaps. He is an adept contact hitter with a good feel for the strike zone, posting virtually even BB/K ratios (175/183 in his career thus far). He can bunt and do the “little ball” things, and while his running speed is just a tick above average, he is a very good baserunner with an excellent career success percentage.
Given his lack of upper-level minor league experience, it would surprise no one if Peterson struggles initially in the majors. However, his tools are solid and his broad base of skills, particularly his combination of on-base ability and stolen base potential, makes him one of the more intriguing infield prospects around. He should wind up with considerable value for both a real team and a fantasy squad.”
I wouldn’t really call it trolling when they just jump in the boat…
You guys are no fun at all. Nobody finds it even a little amusing that we shit-canned a guy after 1/3 of an inning?
And that 1/3 of an inning was a sacrifice bunt!
@34, you don’t follow. You actually think you’re making a good analogy between Jace Peterson and Juan Jaime. You also legitimately think we are a decade out from contending. I do find your positions amusing, yes.
I’m pointing out how ridiculous it is that we DFA’d a guy that made the opening day roster after one outing. That’s as ridiculous as giving up on Jace Peterson. Or assuming that we’ll contend after one week. It’s all very ridiculous.
No, because we didn’t. We shit canned him after 7 years of lousy walk rates. We shit canned him after he walked 8 per 9 in a full season at AAA. We shit canned him after 18 ML appearances,with a walk rate of 8.6 per 9. You can’t even say that we shit canned him after 1/3 of an inning this year, unless you completely ignore that that was his SECOND appearance, which I assume you’re doing. He walked the leadoff man in that appearance, too.
And for the record, we DFA’d him because he’s out of options. If he were a young player, we’d have sent him down. But he’s not. He’s 27. That he’s out of options should tell you that they’ve given him plenty of time and chances.
Yet his lousy history was good enough to make the team? I find that pretty crazy.
39 — Or just that the Braves were scared until now to put him on waivers because they worked so hard to try and harness him. Trololololololooooo!
He made the team because he’s out of options. You find it impossible to believe that there was disagreement between the decision makers, regarding keeping him or letting him go before opening day? You can’t fathom a compromise that, “ok, he makes the club, but he’s on a short leash.” You presume that “making the club” is a binary, and all who do are on equal footing? Or that some decision maker came around after that outing and said “you were right, he’s wasting a spot.”
Or are you willfully misunderstanding the situation?
Braves are 6-1. Enjoy the moment.
@42
Yup!
All of the above, regarding his past performance and the conflict between decision makers would be enough, in my mind, to release him. But on top of that, in this case, Cody Martin had already taken his job. Martin was supposed to be the long man, and he’s already moved in to “early innings when we’re winning” role, which is what the team hoped Jaime would be. The guy who goes out when it’s too early for a setup man. So that leaves no one in Martin’s old mop up job. The bullpen was taxed, someone needed to go down for a fresh arm, Jaime had been passed, had been ineffective, was on a short leash, and was shown the door.
But if you’d rather use it as evidence the incompetence you’ve imagined the management to have, because they traded Jason Heyward, of whom you were unreasonably critical in the first place, then whatever.
I hope we win 80 so we can hold you to your promise to stop posting.
I like the 2015 hardcore-mode Braves. Give up a run and you are gone. We’re not messing around.
Are there any particularly good Braves-centric podcasts ya’ll suggest?
@46
I know of two, I’m not particularly fond of either one.
http://www.atlantabaseballtalk.com/
Jaime made the team because he was out of options. Period. He throws 95+ and was out of options. If they had not traded Kimbrel Brandon Cunniff would have been sent to AAA and the pen would have gone:
Kimbrel >> Grilli >> Johnson >> Avilan(LHP) >> Martin(RHP) >> Jaime(RPH) >> McKirahan(LHP)
Cunniff, the young, untested RHP with options would have been sent down out of camp.
When they traded Kimbrel, everyone moved up a notch and Cunniff made the team. (My assumption here is that they would have picked up the Rule 5 McKirahan regardless, as a second LHP.)
Having DFA’d Jaime, they’re calling up Marimon(RHP) to replace him as the “break in case of glass or massive pen usage in previous five games” fail safe. I assume they’ll use him based on handedness, unless/until McKirahan proves a case for simply being better than Sugar Ray.
@46, for what it’s worth, there’s also this: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/fan_forum/podcasts/index.jsp?c_id=atl
You might consider asking some of the Braves folks on Twitter if there is anything they recommend, people like David Lee (@david11lee), Joe Lucia (@joe_toc), Martin Gandy (@gondeee), and @rickymast.
http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2015/4/13/8403907/atlanta-braves-2015
Modestly, I think that that entire SB Nation post is pretty much exactly what I said here, about halfway down the page: http://offthebenchbaseball.com/2015/04/04/2015-atlanta-braves-season-preview/
Trading Peraza for a 275-pound 1B/DH that’s two years older and getting his first taste of AA would be frigging crazy.
Yeah, 6’7″, 275 lb… That’s not going to stick in the outfield. For what it’s worth, that’s what bbref has him listed at. Elsewhere he’s listed at 230.
But if the Braves are buying Jace ahead of him, and Albies behind him, then trading Peraza for a more pressing organizational need isn’t a bad idea.
I want to be the first one on the Trevor Cahill bandwagon. I’m excited about this particular reclamation project.
That bandwagon appears destined to be a lonely place.
1) it seems like when u run a sinker baller against dee gordon you’re doing him a favor. Infield hit waiting to happen
2) Cahill not fooling anyone yet. Yeesh.
3) probably 2 runs there that Maybin coulda saved
Hope our offense is in gear tonight
He’s not getting the ball down.
Cahill is not fooling anyone… Going to be a loooong night
Good old salty!
He doesn’t appear to be fixed yet. But I still think he’s a perfect match for Roger McDowell. Recently successful, still young, still has velocity, sinkerballer who’s lost his sinker.
Well, Trevor Cahill’s Braves debut could have gone better. But, in Roger I trust.
Meh, I’m expecting this to take a couple of months before we know what we’ve got. I just hope he’s really awesome or really terrible so we dont have a tough option decision.
It was never headed toward the gap, Chip, you idiot.
Fortunately, the Red Sox are killing Strasburg 5-1, so Cahill isn’t the only one who isn’t fooling anybody.
This game doesn’t matter. But if Cahill can remember how to pitch at some point in the next three months, the Braves will have turned Josh Elander into a valuable asset.
Trevor is aiming the ball.
That Michael Morse is handsome
Need a double play ball, badly.
Puzzling that McDowell never made a trip. Pierzinski never even went out to give him a breath.
Cahill blows
Ugly. Welp, here’s to next time big fella. Now I’m prepared to be utterly dazzled by Sugar Ray Marmolade.
I hope Sugar Ray becomes a thing.
@69
Sounds like they already know he’s going to be released.
Yet another game where the bullpen has to log innings.
Nice job Sugar Ray.
Woohoo shug!
Sugar Ray might become a thing!
Folty had a Folty start tonight: 4.2 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5K’s
Sugar Ray is dominating all facets of the game
Welcome to the Show, kid!
I love Simmons
Ho hum andrelton
Come on rain.
Why does Fredi insist on hitting AJP 5th when he starts? It’s like he’s trying to bat all the LHBs consecutively.
#MANUFAKTURED X 2!
I admire the effort, Freddie, but it should’ve been saved for another night.
AJ? Maybe this could be our night after all.
Screw your smallball, Joe.
Team isn’t good enough to recover from two killed rallies in the same inning
Gattis watch: 1-25 with 13 K
Good job by fredi here letting sugar ray hit. Need innings more than a baserunner here.
Perfection could never last forever, Ray.
Sugar Ray has now gotten more outs than Cahill.
Thank God that ball didn’t hit Morse in that handsome face of his
I just remembered McCann exists. One year away and you completely forget a guy.
Good sign: Dorn is laying off that slider 2 feet off the plate
Whomp, whomp.
Kelly Johnson has yet to do anything useful.
Way to eat innings sugar ray
Yeah. It was pure madness parting with Jaime to make room for a long man..
@mlbbowman: Given that Marimon would be unavailable the next few days, the #Braves might promote Williams Perez to fill that pen spot.
Let’s get something started, Jace.
Okay. Let’s keep the line moving, EY.
Let’s score so Joe and chip can say this team never quits
Umpire just changed the whole complexion of the inning.
Seriously does Fredi never double switch?
Dorn!!!
Chris Johnson, everybody.
Oh, Andrew McKirahan, we hardly knew ye… although ye didn’t do enough to really warrant further acquaintance.
I like mckirahan. He got babip’d
This game we’ve seen Simmons doing Simmons things, and Johnson doing Johnson things. Sounds about right.
So…can Peterson or peraza not play third? Just wondering why we’re talking like there’s a logjam on the infield when dorn and Callaspo cant play Passable defense over there.
Braves trade Trevor Cahill and Chris Johnson for Mike Trout
In my dreams
Braves believe Rio Ruiz will stick there and be the long term answer.
I have a feeling we will score exactly 2 runs some inordinate number of times this season
Who is Trevor Cahill? A cool tripping cat. Maybe he can figure it out for next time.
I don’t like tomorrow mornings matchup. Not gonna lie. Haren seems like that pitcher u should be able to hit but can’t.
I’d give Cahill 1-2 more starts to show something and then cut his ass if we’re still seeing the same. You’re probably going to bring Wisler up sometime this year anyway, and starting next week, the extra year of eligibility isn’t in play. Odds are, Wisler is a part of the future and Cahill won’t be. I’d just as soon start developing the former now instead of wasting time on the latter.
Is there a financial reason that the Braves dropped Quentin as they did or do they just hate him?
I find it peculiar that a team with OF issues would not let him take a few swings and see if he can provide something to the team.
From MLBTR
‘Quentin was, at one point, an All-Star and even an MVP candidate with the White Sox — he finished fifth in the 2008 voting when he belted 36 home runs — but injuries have long plagued him and reduced his ability to produce even when healthy. Quentin has appeared in just 218 games over the past three seasons, primarily due to knee problems. Those issues have caused his defense, which was never his strong suit in the first place, to deteriorate to the point where he’s best-suited for an American League club that can give him some at-bats as a designated hitter.’
Guess that makes some sense.
Thanks
I would give McDowell some time to try and fix Cahill.
I’m still puzzled that McDowell never even made a trip out last night, and that AJ never jogged out to give him a breather.
I still think Cahill is a primo McDowell fixer-upper candidate. A once-successful sinker baller who still has his velocity, but struggling due to mechanical issues. But McDowell’s hands-off approach last night makes me wonder.
By all accounts Wisler will be in Atlanta soon enough. We still need to find even more depth at the back of the rotation.
I don’t like noon games on days where I will have no Internet access while the game is going on, especially when they’re followed by off days.
Oh well, go Stults, surprise me when I get on to check out the box score after the game.
Shouldn’t it be the Stults today?
Edit: Ah, ‘Rissa, you’re too fast. But don’t think I didn’t see that “Julio” in there!
Bethancourt batting cleanup today??? Thoughts??
Recrapped.
@125 My edit wasn’t fast enough! As soon as I hit submit, I realized I knew Julio was pitching in Toronto and therefore couldn’t be pitching today. It’s strange Cahill pitched before Stults this go around, though.