The Dodgers are coming to town tonight, but that’s not the most important thing that happened today. Today is Jayne Mansfield’s 83rd birthday!
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The Dodgers are coming to town tonight, but that’s not the most important thing that happened today. Today is Jayne Mansfield’s 83rd birthday!
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
Also, here’s some good news about Max Fried: http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/frieds-off-to-good-start-in-comeback-from-tommy-jo/nq7GC/
Might as well leave Mallex up and shift him to left field when Inciarte returns. I don’t see Olivera returning. Best case scenario for Olivera is an extended stay in Gwinnett
@1
Alex…is it Freed or Fried? – the rhyme, you know…thanks
for the masses aching for more verse there are three new Clerihews posted this morning at the tail end of the previous thread…cheers
Don’t know if I’ve heard it said aloud, but I’ve always assumed it was pronounced like “Freed.”
Rio Ruiz is looking good on the young season at AAA. 4.8 years younger than the league, and he’s but up an .850 OPS so far.
Somehow he’s become the pivot player in my mind, so I’m excited to see him do well. I feel there’s going to be pitching soon, and I’m buying Swanson and Albies. If Ruiz can be a big infield stick, to go with Freeman, we’ve got a real chance at having an offense in 17 or 18.
If Swanson and/or Albies are 1/2 hitters, we won’t need much from CF. We can spend money for hitters in the corner OF slots. Getting a legit 5/6 hitter at 3B for league minimum makes the plan for me.
Your lips to God’s ears, jj.
I really want to see a good catcher on the field.
It all hinges on the pitching. Still gonna take a while to know what we’ve got.
It seems there’s never been a question of talent for Fried. It’s just durability. If he stays healthy, he should be the third major leaguer out of the JUpton trade.
KJ has produced one major leaguer: Gant.
Gattis: Foltyniewicz
Kimbrel/BUpton: Wisler, Maybin (then Ian Krol, who sucks)
Simmons: Aybar
Heyward: Miller, then Inciarte
Callaspo (I guess): Withrow
Then we have Newcomb, Jenkins, Swanson, and Blair who should make their appearances by the end of the year. Then next year, Fried, Ruiz, and Rodriguez, then maybe Byrd, Ellis, and Whalen. People better get good.
Is Adonis not a legit 5/6 hitter at league minimum?
I don’t think Adonis is a 5/6 hitter on a championship caliber team, no. And by the time we expect to field a championship caliber team, Adonis will be approaching arbitration.
I think if Ruiz topped out at the same level Adonis tops out at, we’ll either be disappointed by Ruiz or friggin AMAZED by Adonis.
@10
I’d say Adonis is average to above as a hitter. And that makes him a valuable piece at his current salary level.
I’m still interested to see if Toscano amounts to anything. So far he is 3 for 15 at Mississippi – not good, but it’s very early. Dustin Peterson has gotten off to a decent start in Mississippi this year. He’s still only 21 but could help us out by 2018 if he makes significant progress.
SSS alert, but Ruiz is BABIPing .414 and striking out at a 26% rate. True, he is young…let’s see what happens over the next few months with him.
If Ruiz can keep hitting, Adonis becomes trade bait.
Ruiz is 21. Don’t expect to see him anytime this season
Adonis hit well last year, in winter ball, and is off to a good start this year. I think he’s got a better bat than people give him credit for
Interesting tidbit from Bowman’s inbox:
“As the Braves started the season 0-9, the front office told Gonzalez to essentially treat every game as if it was a do-or-die postseason situation. Gonzalez did just that and also protected Arodys Vizcaino’s future when he summoned Tuesday’s scheduled starter, Wisler, out of the bullpen to work a perfect 10th inning to conclude Sunday’s 6-5 win over the Marlins.”
@17
It really felt that way with bringing Wisler again. We have plenty of currently mediocre pitchers to shuttle from AAA to Atlanta. Get the dadgum win when you’ve got it.
“As the Braves started the season 0-9, the front office told Gonzalez to essentially treat every game as if it was a do-or-die postseason situation.”
If they really told him that, it was incredibly stupid. That’s just not how you manage in the regular season, especially not with a team that’s not going to remotely contend anyway
Adonis is being crucified for his defense in bWAR.
It would’ve been nice if Gonzalez had managed his few *actual postseason* games in that same fashion.
I think Adonis can hit in the big leagues. That doesn’t make him a middle of the order bat on a contender. That’s not an insult.
It’s also not an insult to our 30 year old found-money third baseman that we root for our 21 year-old sometime-stud in AAA to turn in to an actual stud.
RE: do-or-die tactics.
I imagine Bowman was turning a phrase. Even so, using a guy on his throw day when your bullpen is taxed isn’t exactly a do-or-die playoff mentality. In a win-or-go-home playoff game, you pull a struggling starter on the 3rd and put in tomorrow’s starter. I doubt we’ll see anything like that.
If they really told him that, it was incredibly stupid. That’s just not how you manage in the regular season, especially not with a team that’s not going to remotely contend anyway.
They’re not willing to take the financial hit if no one wants to watch this team, is what it means. I’m sure Fredi knows what win threshold he’s shooting for and the underlying importance thereof. Assuming whatever budgetary constraints you do or don’t feel like railing against, it’s not a terrible idea to ensure a floor in the earlygoing.
Should have said do-or-die job situation for Fredi
@26 MLB.com projects Kyle Lewis as the #8 pick in the 2016 draft. Overall, it doesn’t appear that the 2016 draft class has any clear top picks – MLB.com’s top 4 guys are all tall pitchers (6’4″, 6’7″, 6’7″, 6’8″), great arms but none appear finished products at this point. The Braves have a bunch of those guys in the system already.
Lewis has put up a magnificent 2016 stat line so far – .437/.568/.852. The most apparent worries I’d have are his K rate (20%+) and adjusting for quality of competition – Mercer doesn’t exactly play the toughest schedule in college baseball.
Along the lines of dominant hitting, check out Wake Forest’s Will Craig, who’s slashing .442/.556/.863 against ACC competition. He’s not nearly the all-around athlete that Lewis is, which is why Craig is projected as maybe a 2nd rounder at best.
Sadly, Braves will not be able to draft the guy who’s likely the best bat in college baseball – Clemson’s Seth Beer. This is because he’s currently a freshman and not draft-eligible for two more years.
@24, Bingo.
So, Mike Minor touched 96MPH and sat at 93MPH in a bullpen session last week. He signed a 2YR, $7.24M contract, and the Royals expect him to be ready in June.
$3.62M per for Minor, and we couldn’t fit it in the budget. I guess the porn cable boxes have to be refurbished or something…
Also, I think Mallex is doomed to become another fan favorite that is simply not that good, a la Jeff Francoeur. I fear people will love Mallex’s personality and speed a lot like how people liked Jeffy’s personality and power, but forget the gaping weaknesses in their game like Mallex’s lack of power and arm and Jeffy’s lack of plate discipline and cognitive capacity.
Williams Perez vs Alex Wood tonight.
Re: Do-or-die. I don’t interpret it quite the way you guys do, either as a statement of permanent tactics or as a Fredi referendum. I think the point is that 0-9 is worthy of comment, and this team, *especially* since it isn’t going to contend, doesn’t want to be worthy of comment. So that means putting a little extra effort into getting that first win, even if it’s a move you wouldn’t have made if the team were 4-5.
I happened to be listening to a radio program Saturday morning in the car (which was recorded on Friday when they were still 0-9) in which some NPR types were sampling desperation tweets from the early season — they came from Mets fans, Red Sox fans and a Braves fan who tweeted that this was the worst team ever. Tim Kurkjian was asked to comment and he said something like — “Not even close. I was the beat reporter for the 1988 Baltimore Orioles when they lost their first 21 in a row. The Braves may not be a good team this season, but I resent the fact that fans are even daring to compare this start with that one.”
3-9 is just a garden variety slow start — the powers are comfortable there.
I’m not sure this is what I’d roll with if I was in do-or-die mode…
Markakis
Castro
Freeman
Garcia
Francouer
Flowers
Aybar
Mallex
Perez
Tickets for this should be free.
#30
Of course, the ’88 Braves opened 0-10 & lost 106 games, just one less than those Orioles. (The ’88 Braves had a .298 team OBP — ouch.)
This team could still give that Braves club a run for Atlanta-franchise futility. Dunno if they’re 106-loss bad, but it’s still hard not to imagine them losing 100.
(Only 2 ATL clubs have lost 100, BTW.)
Going to be sad leaving all those division flags up and walking out of this stadium with 100+ losses
@32: I don’t disagree. As you and I both know, because we live up here, the Mets 6-6 start will generate WAY more ink than anything the Braves press could muster. I gather they just want the Braves to get through this season.. losing 90 is fine. Losing 100 is bad, but y’know, with a break here and there…
#34
I’m down for avoiding 100, but it doesn’t keep me up nights either. I’ll take 90, but 90 losses or 99… what’s the difference?
That said, this early-season Met-fan freakout is just like last year’s mid-season Met-fan freakout. Typical & predictable.
Still, hate to say it, but if they score any runs at all & their bullpen doesn’t turn into a sieve, they’ll be fine.
I’ll take a Mets WC game loss to, like, Pittsburgh, who then knocks out the Nats. Then the season can end relatively well…
I still say the key to whether we lose 100 or more lies with our bullpen and the early season has born this out. Over the last 3 games our bullpen has managed to keep the lead and this has made all the difference. From what I’ve seen I think our bullpen will be better than last year (not saying much at all), but it could be significantly better if Cervenka is decent and O’Flaherty finds some level of aptitude between one of the best years ever for a reliever when he was in Atlanta in 2011 and a 6+ ERA last year between Oakland and the Mets. My guess is still about 70 to 75 wins.
Francoeur with the sac fly. No doubt this will “silence his critics.”
As for the team, this can be a 70-win team if a couple of the pitchers step up, like Wisler or Williams or Perez. A few wins better with more good pitching, a few worse if it looks like what we got in the first nine games.
2 runs, plus we cleared the Aybar.
How dare they throw at Markakis!
OBP machine
So, Alex Wood is just hitting all of our guys now.
What the heck? Up 4-0, top 4, two runners on, and the Bills get pulled? Am I missing something? Is our bullpen not taxed enough?
Excellent move by Fredi to pull Perez. He has been living on the edge all night. It was just a matter of time until he got shelled.
If Perez isn’t hurt, it’s kind of annoying that he hit for himself last inning.
@43
I gotcha, and admittedly, I do like the aggressive managing. A part of me would love to see 7-9 pitchers on the roster that can chew multiple innings so that when a Bills or a Folty or whomever doesn’t have it, we can cut the cord quickly and have a couple options to chew innings
Nice job Weber!
I bet it’ll be a long time before we see another 4 out save attempt.
@47- Wouldn’t be surprised by a six-out attempt, though.
Jeff Francoeur… is 2-2 with two RBIs. Your guess is as good as mine.
Francoeur now has a two-RBI game. I’m sure the columns claiming that the “Frenchy of old” is back are already being submitted.
My beautiful bride and Ryan Weber, who grew up in our city St. Pete, have 6 mutual friends and she added him on Facebook. He has a lot more money than me. I should probably be worried.
Ryan Weber has been in 3 games in Gwinnett, none of them starts, and he’s thrown 8.1 innings, so almost three innings per appearance. I think he was called up on the off-day just to piggy-back Perez.
Which is to say, I think Fredi is following a predetermined plan, not panicking about this specific Perez start.
I’m going to guess Folty takes Perez’s next start, and it’s even money as to which of Weber or Perez moves to long relief.
Just steal his money, Rob.
BTW, Aaron Blair threw seven no-hit innings for Gwinnett tonight, striking out 10.
I like mallex as much or more than the next guy, but id probably go to Stubbs here.
Edit: shows what I know.
@51..
lovely…
Aybar looks done. Play Castro and Jace up the middle
Win, win, win.
Strange how no one was lamenting tonight how much they missed Gumby.
73-9 is still in play.
@58
We did have a perfectly good left handed pitcher…
It’s dumb to pretend that Wood’s still a 2nd or 3rd starter. He’s going to the ‘pen when and if the Dodgers’ staff gets healthier. That they still won the trade says something, though.
JonathanF seems to be predicting a strike this season 🙂
Recapped.
Gotta wonder when Blair gets the call. 3-0, 19 IP, 1.42 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 22/5 K:BB. He’s dealing.