The Chicago Cubs could not catch or throw the ball, but they played the Atlanta Braves. The Cubs won 13-2.
Do you remember 1991? Cherish the memory. The Braves may again rise to such heights, but not this year. This year is a lesson in humility. We ain’t so great.
But wait ’til next year. We’ll give ’em heck next year.
Joey Meneses is 7 for his last 10 and hitting .330 for Carolina. Time to move him up, since he is a man who can hit the baseball, and our system is devoid of those.
Oorah.
If you didn’t watch today then you missed Aybar striking out on a pitch that hit him in the nuts.
@3
Please tell me there’s a GIF or a video.
I was at the game. Liberty Media is selling baseballs thrown by Kerahaw and Arietta for $100.
Meanwhile, Uribe gets tagged by a 106 mph ground ball hit by Mike Trout.
http://tinyurl.com/znsa5zt
I’m really starting to think we’re not going to sweep the Cubs.
I will watch Erick Aybar get hit in the nuts with a very fast baseball.
I will NOT watch Juan Uribe get hit in the nuts with a very fast baseball.
So, anyway, I second @4. Anyone got the goods?
I really like the idea of a Pitcher’s Home Run Derby. The NBA has the dunk and three point contests, plus all of the festivities. A second Home Run Derby would be fun to try for a few years.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=16155434
@10, Thank you. I am spreading that link far and wide.
#10
Easy metaphor for the 2016 Braves.
#10 – Thanks for that.
#12 – Agreed. I know that hurt like a mother but I couldn’t help laughing.
OK, now who’s good at making gifs?
In this lost season, what’s left to anticipate but July 2, trading our few capable players and the delendazation of Aybar’s testicles?
So, circling back a bit to that deal with the Orioles, the Braves ended up spending $2,743,605 and losing their 16th-round picks in 2014 (Barker) and 2015 (Belicek) in order to get Brett Cumberland and $838,900 in slot dollars.
Considering that Cumberland is immediately one of the two or three best power bats in the system, that looks like a pretty good trade.
Also, I stumbled upon this interesting article over the weekend. It includes a scouting report from Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs (then with ESPN) on the Braves’ 28th-round pick, son of former MLBer Terry Shumpert — and it sure sounds like he’s a bit more promising than most 28th-rounders from JuCos tend to be. The whole article is behind the Insider paywall, but here’s the part on Shumpert:
@17, I tried to read that scouting report looking for the positives…help? Lol.
I’m with you Krussell. He sounds like an aging Dan Uggla!
I like pedigree picks. Should’ve drafted Mike Yastrzemski in 2013, too.
@18, it’s a glowing scouting report for a 28th rounder
Bridges tweet on guys picked after the 10th round
I’d imagine the positives from scouting reports on 28th-round picks center around their ability to tie their shoes properly.
20—Yeah, exactly. It’s all about context. In the 28th round (pick #829), they got “a potential middle infielder with plus raw power and major league bloodlines and explosiveness” who was being projected as a potential 3rd-rounder, and who was taken in the 6th round just last year. That’s a little interesting.
And regarding Yaz…yeah. He’s already knocking on the door, at AAA with the Orioles.
Keith Law, also behind the Insider paywall, has a good rundown of the Braves draft. I won’t paste what he wrote about the first four picks on Thursday — Anderson, Wentz, Muller, Cumberland — because we’ve kind of talked about those, but the Friday/Saturday material is worth reading:
A Cuban infielder named Yulieski Gurriel has been declared a free agent. Since we have done so well with Cuban infielders, we should definitely sign him.
Only if he waits until July 2nd or later to sign.
He’s older than Olivera, and has had similar stats in Cuba. I’m interested to see how this plays out. It’s easy to nail the Braves to the wall for valuing Olivera so highly, but let’s see what other teams do with a similar player.
49 days until Olivera returns! Mark your calendars, people!
The Dodgers will just throw a bunch of money at him so that they can later trade him for younger players.
@28 that’s funny. LOL.
Gourriel is a Cuban legend. He’ll draw a lot of interest. Considering that he’s a bat who costs only money, not prospects, we could certainly use him. But I doubt we’ll be willing to pay as much as one of the other big-dollar teams.
@30
Yes, but the alternative is prospects, whom we’ve been paying money to acquire. As Stu alluded to, if you buy this player and then flip him for prospects, then why wouldn’t a team like Atlanta avoid the risk of a poor trade by just paying the monetary difference? Looking back, do we want Alex Wood and Jose Peraza or do we want $30M (what we saved on Olivera’s deal)? Of course, it was a complicated trade so hard to parse, but why not just acquire the player directly? I’m not saying that we should go after this guy, but wouldn’t we learn from our mistake of getting out-bid for Olivera only to turn around and trade for him?
Isn’t he expected to sign in the next few weeks, before July 2nd? If so, the Braves will certainly not be in the bidding. If he’s signing afterward, I have no idea what they’ll do.
Well, it all depends on how much money the suits are willing to spend. But our failure with Olivera was scouting, not the decision to go after him via trade rather than via free agency.
There were numerous red flags raised about him, since he had physical ailments and really hadn’t played regularly in four years. And Fredi Gonzalez also did a questionable job of scouting his makeup and personality.
The exchange rate between money and prospects is sort of fungible, since money is expensive but good prospects are rare. But if we misvalue our trade acquisitions, overly expensive at any price.
Stu et al, isn’t Gourriel old enough to be exempt from the signing restriction?
Oh, right — I totally forgot about the age component. Olivera was exempt, too, wasn’t he? My bad!
Braves v Reds tonight. I finally get to watch the Braves on TV. Or should I just watch Netflix with my wife?
Aaron Blair and chill.
Joey Meneses needs to change his name. Like soon.
Just binge on House of Barves.
I’d recommend Fear the Walking Barves.
Shae Simmons has been shut down.
Blech.
sdp,
Like, forever?
I shouldn’t have made that Walking Dead joke.
I would take Zombie Chipper back in a heartbeat, and I’m sure I’m not alone there.
@36 if you opt for Netflix, Bloodline is a pretty good alternative.
@38 Bloodline also a good alternative.
@46, well played. Hat tip in your direction.
@38, it does have a certain flow to it.
@43
Yep. They took him out back and shot him. In all seriousness, he’s been re-evaluated after arm soreness.
Do we have another streak working? I haven’t been paying a lot of attention.
Man…Markakis has no range at all
Sigh.
So this is what i’ve been missing?
But Bruce got lucky on a high outside pitch.
Bloodline, huh?
Good play, Freddie. Get a couple back, please.
Now would not be a good time to evaluate the Shelby Miller trade.
I should have asked for three or more.
Damn Nick.
So, I checked ESPN’s play-by-play and I swear to Og, this is what they had printed:
Aybar doubled to deep right, Peterson scored, Aybar out stretching at third.
That HBPK must really be bothering him.
Blair sucks.
A 1.878 WHIP means you just might not be ready for big-league ball, son.
All 30 people at Turner get to see a Yeti or whatever is more rare than a Braves HR.
Why do we keep bringing Weber up?
Why indeed. He sucks.
At least it wasnt in the nuts.
So, the Braves saved $281,600 by signing 6th-rounder Matt Gonzalez ($306,600 slot) for $25K. They spent that and a bit more ($300K total) by signing 11th-rounder Matt Rowland for $400K.
Well that’s fun.
It was entertaining.
I’m kinda sick of Nick Markakis. I know that dude isn’t max effort. Do you blame him?
We just ain’t smart enough to win a game .. Mallix Smith is talented .. but no baseball IQ … in the 8th inning .. Reds pitcher is wild .. hard time throwing strikes .. 2-0 count and Mallix should be taking and he swings at ball 3 .. just ain’t using his brain .. Reds hitters realize that Vizcaino is wild and takes pitches .. difference in winning and loosing .. and yes not a good time to evaluate the Shelby Miller trade .. Blair and Infaster struggling and Dansby average has dropped 60 points ..
The Angels just DFAed Kyle Kubitza. We should maybe get him back.
My first look at the Braves this season. Wow, do we suck.
@68
And we get to keep Ricardo Sanchez! Suckers!
David Ross’ All-Star Game commercial is hilarious. I love that guy. Hope he’s analyst after he’s done.
TAD’S BACK!
Is Tad supposed to be a parody of an AJC commenter?
@72 – sorry Got Bored .. couldnt keep my mouth shut after watching Mallix Smith swing at a 2-0 pitch with bases loaded … especially when their pitcher is wild .. and to beat all the pitch was low and count would have went to 3-0 … oh well .. Mallix hasnt displayed the best baseball IQ so far huh !!!!!
Joey Menses is hemorrhaging XBH. After going 4-5 with 2 doubles and a homer he is 11-15 with 6 XBH in his last 3 games. And oh yeah, he has four 3-hit games in his last 5. He needs to be moving on up.
it just occurred to me that if one of those doubles had been a triple, they headline would read:
Red Hot Meneses Completes Cycle
@67 and @74: Tad, his name is spelled “Mallex,” not “Mallix.” I’m not sure if I’m feeding a troll or not at this point.
Recapped.
@77 – who the crap cares how its spelled .. the guy has NO baseball IQ .. period …..
Periods.