That was the most interesting game of the Braves rebuild, one would think. After the Braves gave the Blue Jays a drubbing for two games in Toronto, they came down to Atlanta to finish the job. The Braves jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead mostly because the Jays’ starter couldn’t throw a strike, but also because Nick Markakis hit a 2-run double, and Kurt Suzuki hit a 3-run homer. But some issues had been developing over the previous two games, and this is how things developed:
-The Braves had been beating the Jays like a drum for 2+ games.
-The Braves had been hit a total of 7 times in 3 games. None of them appeared intentional, but it was getting out of hand.
–Freddie Freeman got nailed with an errant pitch on his left wrist. He immediately left the game, and as of the morning on Thursday, X-Rays have been inconclusive.
–Kevin Pillar felt like Jason Motte quick-pitched him, and yelled something at him that caused the benches to clear. Some are speculated it was a homophobic slur.
–Eric O’Flaherty gave up a home run to Jose Bautista, who bat flipped and slowly rounded the bases. Jace Peterson said something to him rounding first, Joey Bats hitched his step a little bit, and then was met at home plate by an angry Kurt Suzuki. Benches cleared again, and temperatures had certainly been risen to a point we hadn’t seen by the Braves since their encounter with the late Jose Fernandez in 2013.
There’s been lots of news articles, mostly stemming from a scoop by Peter Gammons, that the Braves are very frustrated, want to brawl, and even Eric O’Flaherty had a humorous quote about Joey Bats wanting to avoid what happened to him last year.
Let’s see if our prized possession Freddie isn’t significantly injured, and let’s see if the Braves decide to hold the Jays accountable to their inability to put the ball over the plate.
If Freddie missed significant time, then I hope we can somehow turn it into a positive by having someone spend time at first (or another position by moving players around) that can let us see if a prospect has something (Ruiz) or an older minor leaguer is a late bloomer (Lane Adams). Picking someone off the waiver wire would be a “win now” move, and I don’t think we need to be concerned with that.
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that a big part of the enjoyment of this season hinges on how the results come back. I’ve started to embrace Freddie as a Chipper Jones player for our franchise.
Replying to @53 in the previous game thread:
“Things were tense” but they weren’t yet “uncomfortable”? That’s lousy analysis. I think things got “uncomfortable” the sick-making moment Freddie was hit in the hand and taken from the game. I think that was the “uncomfortable” moment when you realized this wasn’t going to be just any other game. And it happened before Motte had the audacity to make a pitch when it was perfectly legal to do so.
And let’s be honest, the theme of the article turns on the quality of the words that came out of Pillar’s mouth. I really don’t think it matters whether Pillar called Motte a “jerk” or something worse, ultimately who really cares? I doubt if he’d called Motte’s mother something nasty there’d be a breathless headline about it.
Yahoo manufactures news. They’re not alone but that’s what they did about last night’s game. The stuff about Freddie getting hit and the other HBPs and Joey Bats’ bat flip were buried in the text of the article. And to add leverage to the writer’s sensationalist narrative, he linked to an obscure Twitter guy with no followers and whose suggestions of MLB homophobia and call to action for MLB to “do something about it” got 1 like total. One has to wonder if it’s not the “journalist” himself creating a fake account upon which to base his peerless reporting.
Anyway, it kind of blew my mind to see anything about last night’s game as the primary news story on Yahoo’s home page. Surely you agree that whatever Pillar said isn’t remotely the most newsworthy or interesting facet of last night’s game.
@2, Yeah…Freddie has really taken it up a notch this season. It has been a joy to watch him hit. I remarked a few game threads ago about Freddie beating the shift like a red-headed stepchild. He’s acting like a man on a mission. It’s been a wonderful thing to see.
I was not aware that a quick pitch was a bush league move. I thought that if the pitcher was willing to disrupt his own timing of how he comes set, the hitter should then be prepared for it. I had not thought that it was cause for frustration from the opposing hitter.
The reality is that the Braves have done nothing wrong but beat these clowns up for 3 games. We tolerated 7 HBPs in 3 games, INCLUDING one where our star player was potentially significantly injured. We didn’t do anything. Pillar acts like a child, Joey Bats grandstands during a third straight blow out, and then continues to be a punk about it. I don’t care who could get injured; I think Julio Teheran needs to put a fastball on someone’s rump, and if it unfortunately hits a knee or a back, then so be it. John Gibbons is a complete joke, has been a complete joke his entire managerial career, and he should have done something about this before it came to all of this. And frankly, had we retaliated earlier, maybe we’d still have one of the best players in baseball (potentially).
Latest BA Mock:
Atlanta covets Wright, but he’s not getting to them. That leaves the prep pitcher class, and the Braves are among the teams impressed by the significant spring performance of Texas prep righty Shane Baz, who has improved his stock as much as any pitcher in the class other than Gore.
Pick: Shane Baz, rhp, Concordia Lutheran HS, Tomball, Texas
There are also comes a point where there’s a common denominator. The Jays are a joke, they make bad personnel decisions all the time, their star player is a joke, and their manager is a .500 manager in almost 6 seasons. They all deserve each other, and they find themselves in these ridiculous situations because no one in that FO has the ability to get the right people in place.
If you’re in the box, then you need to be ready to hit. Otherwise, step out.
MLB Tonight on Quick Pitching:
http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/49502912/v1400651983/reynolds-and-wilson-demonstrate-quick-pitching
Sorry, guys. It’s Preston Wilson. With sunglasses.
https://www.numberfire.com/mlb/player-news/42454/braves-could-be-without-freddie-freeman-8-10-weeks-wrist?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
@8, “If you’re in the box, then you need to be ready to hit. Otherwise, step out.”
Right on. So simple even a meathead like Pillar should be able to observe it.
PS: Apparently I’m in the minority, but I like Preston Wilson.
@9, The article says “8 to 10 weeks IF his wrist is fractured”. We still don’t know yet if it’s fractured. Non-fractured fingers crossed it is not.
My main concern isn’t that we’ll miss him for several weeks. It’s longterm. I know Bob Horner was dogged by a broken wrist his whole career.
I’m not sure that the Suzuki/Bautista exchange was heated. It looked pretty amicable actually. Bautista patted him on the chest/shoulder and Suzuki patted him back on the hip and waved the rest of the charging infield away. Cannot know what was being said because he had his mask on, but probably would have been better for all to just say nothing.
@5 a quick pitch is not so much bush league as dangerous. If the batter isn’t ready for the pitch, he is unable to protect himself. Motte did not quick pitch.
I’m with Rob on this.
@3, I think it certainly does matter what Pillar called Motte. It should matter to MLB the same as it mattered when Yunel had a homophobic slur written on his eye black (when he was with the Jays, too). That’s something the league should take seriously, and it looks like they agree: https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/05/18/blue-jays-kevin-pillar-atlanta-braves-slur-probe#
@5 I hope Julio doesn’t head-hunt any of the Toronto hitters – I don’t want to see him ejected early or any other Braves players injured. However, I would *dearly* love to see JT start off Jose Bautista with a slider down and away, and follow it up with an up-and-in fastball to sit his butt on the dirt. After that – smile, shrug and give the “whoopsies!” pose – then strike him out. The best revenge is winning.
May be time to bring Mauricio Cabrera back up and have him start tonight. Have Julio warming up in the pen to relieve him if he can’t make it past 2 batters!
@14, My point was it didn’t matter in the game. I seriously doubt Motte was motivated one bit because he was called a a bad word. What mattered is Pillar was making a horse’s ass out of himself.
“a specimen of “reporting” that tries to create something out of nothing” and “Yahoo manufactures news”
Your posts as written seem to be about media criticism – yahoo making too big a deal of Pillar’s homophobic slur. But it’s newsworthy and they, like other outlets, wrote about it. They also wrote other stories about the game, because there were other newsworthy aspects. To say they shouldn’t cover this story is just wrong, IMO.
@18, Okay, how about instead of “manufacturing news” I amend it to “hyping news” or even better “overhyping news”. In baseball terms, the words that came out of Pillar’s mouth matter next to nothing compared to the other elements of the game that do. If their “baseball guy” writing their “baseball column” ignores the latter but emphasizes the former, yeah…I think that’s lame and contributes little to the world around us.
If you think it merited the treatment Yahoo gave it as their #1 main page banner image news item, then we just disagree about how to view the world as consumers of information relevant to our lives. As a Braves fan, I’m interested in Freddie Freeman’s injury, as a baseball fan I’m interested in why the Braves and Blue Jays are at each other’s throats. Micromanaging speech in the heat of the moment pales next to those things. If MLB wants to mount a “probe” over this, fine. If you want to follow the ongoing story of said probe, fine. I’ll be over here waiting for the announcement on Freddie’s fate and getting ready for game time to see what happens next between these two teams.
Rosenthal has sources saying it’s a wrist fracture. Eight weeks minimum.
Everything sucks.
Horrible. Just horrible.
Bowman says that Ruiz may be promoted to play first.
You know Coppy’s itching to trade rentals for minor league pitchers right now.
Has anyone noted that Mike Minor is back? And good? As a RP.
Rio comin’.
Too bad Dustin Peterson is hurt. Move Kemp to first and Peterson to left.
Great !! WE suck now … for 8 weeks ,, well wait a min … we suck anyway .. glad I dont have any trips the Hotlanta to watch the now hitless Bravos .. somebody should pay tonight for that .. throwing 94 inside to a star … someboday gott pay for Toronto
No surgery, however. No pins, etc.
I thought he wrist at the time but hoped it wasn’t so for the next 24 hrs. We can’t have nice things.
Just awful. But a chance for a young guy to step up. Maybe we can keep the boat from taking on too much water over the summer. Weird stuff happens in baseball all the time. I was starting to kinda like watching this bunch.
The official release from the Braves says 10 weeks.
go find blocked young OF and start moving some other pitchers for him.
Kemo/Neck at 1B.
Hopefully Ruiz can do it but I am not sold on him at all.
Well sh*t. Maybe these guys will pull together, but right now my reaction is to hope we get a good haul for our rentals.
In other news I can’t English
This sucks
Ruiz starting at third. Jace at first.
Blue Jays have not released their lineup yet. Guys probably asking for an off day.
Gut punch.
Was in the car enough to catch 4 different shows on MLB Network Radio today. Surprised to hear how many radio guys wanted the Braves to bean someone. May it be so!
I will consider this season a resounding success if Jace clocks someone in the face. Isn’t that why he’s here?!
The Franco guy at AA might be worth a look too. We made it through the Casey Kotchman era…we can do this.
Yesterday, Ruiz was not good enough to beat out Jace Peterson. Today he’s replacing Freddie. I have a feeling that our most Major League ready hitter is – Acuna. (This is not meant to imply that Acuna is Major League ready.) Too bad Dustin Peterson is not available, as was mentioned by somebody.
Pulling for Rio though, don’t doubt that.
Blue Jays suspend Pillar for two games.
James Loney is a Brave.
LOL.
Sign KJ, call up adams. Cut Bonifacio and Santana
Olney says the Braves are closing in on a deal with Loney.
We were not going to contend this season anyway, so Freddie being gone shouldn’t affect anything on a macro level. But man, this lineup is depressing without him. I hope Julio sticks Bautista in the ribs. Give us something to be excited about.
Annnnd…. Loney signs. Things I did not expecting to be reading this week…
Loney is a good, inexpensive solution to a temporary problem. Decent glove, so-so bat. You don’t give too much away to get him. Smart move.
I had an unspoken desire to see Freddie win MVP this year in Bryce Harper’s face. Certainly lots of season left to go but it really looked like he was putting up something special.
Let it be marked that on the day we lost Freddie for an unforeseen time, we had sole possession of second place in the NL East.
Loney sucks
I’ve always had a weird hatred for James Loney. It’s like Casey Kotchman warmed over.
Look, our last hope of 2nd wild card (which was theoretically still alive) died when Freddie took a fastball to his wrist. Loney, adds no value whatsoever. We need to let Ruiz play and take our lumps and get one more top-5 pick.
Rosenthal reporting that Loney signed a minor-league contract with Atlanta. Won’t join the big club immediately, so perhaps the Braves are willing to give Ruiz and Peterson some playing time on the corners.
Loney is fine. At least it isn’t Ryan Howard!
I’m up for Ruiz getting a regular slot in the lineup. On the positive side, he’s been pretty hot the last couple weeks. Somewhere between absolutely terrible and Freddie Freeman-level performance is Ruiz performing in a way that builds up his trade stock. Here’s hoping.
One guy can’t replace Freeman. Hopefully Dansby, Ruiz and Jace can match him
No warnings to either team to start the game. Interesting.
Annnnnd there’s the warning.
I’ll take it
James Loney is the epitome of meh. Casey Kotchman warmed over is about right. OTOH, it doesn’t really matter.
I checked baseball reference for most similar batters to Loney. Not a strong list, but Kotchman is not on it. Three who were, however, evoked good memories and brought a smile to my face. Tony Gonzalez,Tito Francona the Elder, and Chris Chambliss are on the list. The first two contributed to the Atlanta Braves first division winning team in 1969 and of course Chambliss was at the center of the next in 1982.
I didn’t realize Motte is actually gay. Thought they were just making a big deal out of careless words by Pillar.
EDIT: Nevermind, I got trolled. Googled it. I feel stupid.
Chip Caray is so awful. He inexplicably stepped all over the organist’s joke when Marcus Stroman (pronounced Stroh-Man) stepped up to “Frosty the Snowman.”
JOE: Up next is Marcus Stroman.
CHIP: Did you hear what the organist played when he stepped up to the plate?
JOE: What was that?
CHIP: He played “Frosty the Strawman.”
JOE: (Weak, indecisive laugh.)
He either accidentally mispronounced Stroman’s name or was riffing on the joke in some obtuse way. Either way, Braves fans deserve much better.
PS: You can tell Jace doesn’t speak 1B as a first language, but that was a fun play he made just now.
@63 I (probably charitably) heard Chip to say “Fosty the Stroman” – an intentional spoonerism, if you will.
@64, Unfortunately he pronounced it Straw-Man. WTH??
Oh, hey…a heavy downpour. And now the game is delayed. Let’s hope we get a postponement!
For Ceciliani, the organist played “Tarantella”, better known as “Pass the Pasta”. After a foul ball made the count 0-1, he played the intro to “Funiculi, Funicula”
Julio sucks at STF
I appreciate Buster Olney’s work, but he went on a moral crusade about the Braves actions on Twitter:
There wasn’t supposed to be some grandiose display and earth-shattering impact. He drilled him on the butt. End of story. What happened next is not only irrelevant, but not surprising at all when you contextualize JT’s struggles at STP. I’m perfectly happy with the way things went down, and the outcome of the game is independent of that.
Yeah what if the downside of STF is no more Jome Julio?
Organist played “Big Shot” for Bautista
He’s also played “Black Hole Sun” a few times as a tribute to Chris Cornell
The Braves may have lost in embarrassing fashion, but at least Jose Bautista has to deal with a moderately-uncomfortable thigh bruise for the next couple of days.
Julio blows.
That was one of the worst games I’ve ever seen in person. Seriously. Very very bad. Try harder Barves.
Julio needs to get a haircut.
Stellar stats on the road and lousy stats at home ought to enhance Julio’s trade value to the Rockies.
No FF in the lineup really seriously is going to suck the next two-plus months.
What’s the deal with Carlos Franco at Mississippi – .293/.358/.560? Worth giving him a shot at 1B or is this a roster issue?
The team is unwatchable without Freeman. I like Ender and Swanson but don’t really care about them, they could go tomorrow and so what. FF was just fun to watch because he just loves the game so much and is a superstar on top of that.
Gonna be a long 2 + months.
And Julio is making me nervous, did the early beanball throw him off his game?
I say we put Ryan Howard on the Matt Kemp diet and work out program and give him another shot in about 4 weeks. (-:
After looking at Loney’s numbers, he is worse than I thought. He’s had very few average years, especially for a 1st baseman. His last several years have been atrocious.
Loney is useless. I am sure his stint in the minors will prove it.
Atrocious for the last few years was pretty strong. He just seems to have lost his power.
The organist is definitely the main attraction at WFF with Freddie out. He played about 2 minutes of Put On A Happy Face during the second fracas on Wednesday night. Adequate beer, clear skies, and an organ serenade can make you forget just about any amount of baseball misery, it seems.
With the current Braves season taking a dark turn (even relative to our tempered expectations) how about indulging in a little nostalgia towards the salad days of Braves fandom?
FiveThirtyEight.com ran an article on the overachieving Orioles… and while Buck Showalter has definitely presided over a long string of O’s success, the 2nd chart in the article listing all managers by total team wins above preseason projection is dominated by a familiar name – Bobby Cox.
This is probably a good time to reflect on the fact that the Braves’ amazing 1991 – 2005 run was a confluence of a lot of incredibly talented players making their way to Atlanta in a short stretch of time, combined with astute management. All of us Braves fans old enough to be around back then were privileged to be a part of it. Fingers crossed these next waves of Braves talent will bring echoes of that old dominance.
The Jays drama and Teheran struggling at home is distracting from the observation that this roster is not constructed for Sun Trust Park. Wouldn’t we assume at this point that this is a power hitter’s park? With the altitude and dimensions, the ball is flying out. But 6 of our 8 position players under team control for the next couple years have suboptimal power, even for their positions in some cases. If we’re riding with Swanson, Albies, Inciarte, Markakis, Flowers, and Adonis, then this is just not enough power for this ballpark. I know we’re just now realizing it, but you can’t have your RF having 1 HR this deep into the season. Even though our runs per game is 19th in baseball now, we’re 27th in home runs. If we start to sell, I think they will have to trade some low power position player prospects and Markakis, and tweak the roster to be better constructed for this park.
Rob, you are right on and we don’t have any power prospects on the near horizon.
I want us to make a move in the very near future for a 3B. Couple him with FF when he returns and Kemp and we have something to make other teams worry.
We do have some power prospects, but they are multiple years away. I’m probably the only one here that doesn’t like Inciarte…maybe Acuna will be fast-tracked and provide some help.
If Acuna were 22-23, then I think there’d be a lot of conversations about calling him up after his success at AA. I’m not sure why his age completely shuts out calling him up. It’s not like he’s a pitcher and needs an innings limit. But other than that, you’re right that Riley and Jackson are far away. If Travis Demeritte put together a couple more months of a balanced approach at AA, he could get called up. We have two really good position player prospects that deserve a spot in the short-term (Dansby and Ozzie), so it’s perfectly fine that there isn’t one on the way. But that means they need to do something else to round out the roster with the right players.
That OF bat that I want is going to have to come from outside our system. Probably next year at the earliest. Although, if the right trade presents itself, they’ll have to look at taking it now, even if our window isn’t open yet.
The Braves position players to this point can be divided into 3 categories, from largest to smallest:
1) Old and dire
2) Old or dire
3) Freddie
There could be nothing more perfectly symbolic of the state of the franchise than signing James Loney.
Rob brings up a good point about our lack of power for our home park. I’m sure it’s dawning on the front office that adjustments will need to be made. Until then, I hope Markakis keeps on Cakesing so we can trade him for someone who is a better fit for our park. As for Inciarte, I like him. Guy’s a ballplayer. And absolutely the kind of player you want holding down the fort next to Kemp in the OF.
Coppolella’s answering questions on Twitter at the hashtag #AskCoppy. He answered mine:
@89 – To be fair, my generalization above should prove to be too harsh on Ender (and hopefully Dansby.)
I love this site. Thanks.
Who will be the Braves mandated all star rep with Freeman unavailable? Certainly not a pitcher, so I’m guessing it could be … Tyler Flowers?
Coppy tweeted that he regretted the Hector Olivera trade.
@85 I don’t dislike Inciarte, but I don’t really care about OF defense so 8 HR a year doesn’t do much for me.
Defense is overrated just like pitching is overrated. Honestly, if you score enough runs, you don’t have to worry how many the other team scores.
Best slide in history by Ender. He sucks ass though bc what good is 8 hr when you could have a Ludwick in center hitting .270 with 20 HR and giving away 40 runs on defense?
My goodness, Dansby, WTF are you thinking trying to bare-hand that? This is why I’m much more worried about his defense than I was — and ever will be — about his bat. He’s playing shortstop like Christian Bethancourt handled things behind the plate.
Great to see Dansby’s homer and it looks like his bat really is coming around. But he does not look great at short. Biffed it trying to barehand with a runner on second, cost us a run. Among the league leaders in errors as well.
Guys, defense doesn’t matter. It’s like you haven’t been paying attention.
A few games ago, Dansby made a one-handed glove play that resulted in an error. I hope he’s not following the trend of using only one hand when fielding ground balls. Bad idea.
MLB Network on One-Handed Plays by Infielders
http://tinyurl.com/n7qrhxr
Dansby will be moved to 2B eventually.
Nice shot in the dugout of Ron Washington talking to Jace Peterson about playing first base. I hope he told him it’s incredibly hard.
Ugh, what an awful half-inning by the Braves. I’m pissed at Dansby for his poor decision-making (and execution) at shortstop; on the other hand, Jace’s error was just the sad and possibly inevitable result of him getting a tough play at a defensive position he is new at.
Dansby was rock-solid on defense last year. I really wonder what’s gotten into him this season – he’s really uneven. I guess even Mr. Franchise is prone to the ups and downs characteristic of young ballplayers.
JohnWDB, what are your thoughts on Nocahoma’s player evaluations?
Peterson, Jayce
does not move laterally with grace
nor speed, nor finesse
thus his cumbersome largesse.
@102 – Looks like Bowman beat me to it. https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/status/865727647166476288
@104
What’s wrong with his defense? Sliders. I think the game is much more difficult all around for him right now with the pressure the team has put on him, and a scouting report that is resulting in him getting buried in sliders. I think it’s purely mental.
Swanson is a better defender than he’s shown the past few weeks. Players can slump on defense as well as on offense. With small sample sizes, a few bad plays (including poor decisions) can really skew the results.
He will never be Andrelton, but nobody is.
Carlos Franco
said Bond, Banco
at 1st in our heart
for a Wednesday start.
I think Dansby’s jealous that Phillips makes so many barehanded plays look effortless. He wants some of that action.
Organist played the Peanuts theme for Jayson Werth.
Dustin Peterson is back in the lineup at Gwinnett, FYI. Got a double so far.
I love Inciarte. His defense is the next best thing to Andruw (who was the best I’ve ever seen–and I remember Willie Mays), and his baserunning is also excellent. He is a very valuable player and the Braves are fortunate to have him.
But offensively he is not quite what we’d hope. Not because of the lack of power. His career OBP of .335 is not elite for a lead off guy. Ideally he could get on base closer to .360 to .370. He may yet. His second half last year was at that level.
Did Chip just say that Dusty Baker was the guy who gave protection to Hank Aaron in the Braves lineup? I guess if someone lesser than Dusty had been on deck Aaron may never have hit 715.
@110, organist played Peanuts for Jayson Werth. Is if a Pigpen joke?
Organist also played “What Child is This”–is it a Jesus joke? Or was it “Greensleeves”?
Dickey’s 33 pitches in the 5th were a fine example of intestinal fortitude.
@114
If it’s a Jesus joke, his next AB should feature “Jesus Is Just Alright” or “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Sounds to me like he went with “I’m a Lumberjack.”
Bonifacio is making a million bucks to fail at the rudiments of the game. Where do I sign up?
I’m generally supportive of Coppy, or at least willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But the fact that Bonifacio is still the first bat off the bench makes me question everything.
Swanson hitting .320 in last week – over .200 for season. Looking up.
@113 Dusty was a pretty good hitter. The Braves however had some real bombers in the early 70’s. In 1973 we had Evans and Johnson who hit 40 around Hank. Even guys like Mike Lum could go yard.
Kemp now has his OPS at 1.000. In Freddie’s absence, it would be great for him to keep this up.
Right now, he’s their rep at all star game.
Peterson, Jace
He tried to save face
Freddie on the schnied
The grounders thereafter just a tad wide
The Braves bullpen overall this year has been problematic (Krol, EOF, Collmenter), but there is nothing wrong with Ramirez and Vizcaino.
You guys will never ever convince me that defense at any other position than SS and maybe catcher matters very much. No player that hits 30 HRs and knocks in 100 RBI will ever be so poor at defense that they would be an upgrade/benefit to their team.
You’re wrong about defense. It does not matter much. And frankly, neither does baserunning.
And if you really really want to compare player evaluations, I’ve been DEAD on with the Braves pitching talent. I said early on that Wisler and Blair would never amount to squat while some of you had Wisler a borderline All-Star and Mallex Smith in the HOF, so some of you can stuff it.
Markakis is Greek for “increasing trade value.”
FWIW Suzuki is not a bad player.
@125 I should say that defense only matters at the farthest two extremes. If it is legendarily great or catastrophically bad. Most players, 95% fall no where near either of those two categories.
Defense is the guy on the mound. Coppy is trying to get that part right…which is nice.
So raise your hand if you predicted we would have the best hitting catching duo in the league.
Power pitching, getting on base and power hitting are the three most important aspects of modern baseball and IMO not much else matters very much.
K/9
K/BB
OPS
Alex Wood did another Lil’ Kershaw routine on the mound for the Dodgers tonight. His arm was supposed to have fallen off by now, I guess that was the thinking that devalued him as a trade asset.
Sims got hit hard tonight for the first time in awhile.
Wentz got pulled in the 2nd inning of his start when he hadn’t given up any runs.
Chief, if we got down to specifics we’d mostly agree. Most people don’t like your blanket statements. Defense matters at every position. It matters less at some. A stellar hitter who’s a defensive liability is likely to be more valuable than a stellar fielder with no stick at most positions.
Here’s a thought experiment for you. Matt Kemp is a good hitter. Let’s play him in center because it’s easier to find another LF. Why not? Or does CF defense matter somewhat? And if it matters even a little, then how much?
Coppy on Medlen:
“Kris is doing great — he threw six shutout innings in his last start in Extended ST. Look for him to join an affiliate in short order. “
Time to acknowledge that was the best performance by an Atlanta starter this season. And it immediately followed the worst which was a huge pick-me-up for the faint of heart like me who just couldn’t see how he could live with baseball’s slugging champs and with no Freddie to prop us up.
I haven’t looked at his full line yet but you don’t need to. We gave up 4 runs on the scoreboard only one of which was his, the Murphy homer. The other 3 we threw/bobbled away for him. The fifth inning has already been eulogized.
So the old fart who celebrated his Cy Young by climbing Kilimanjaro can stick around as long as he likes as far as i’m concerned. 117 pitches over three hours. Guts not glory. Thank him. For pulling us out of a hole.
,
RAD
at this moment you mean so much to me
i am likely besotted
the way you told Harper to go and get knotted.
We mustn’t forget the bullpen in all this, they were perfect last night. Again, so important to set the tone for ‘the rest of the season’.
What a contrast to their pathetic crew. How can you construct a roster where your line up is so strong you can hit Taylor at 8 (as a replacement for the injured Eaton!) and at the same time wheel out those guys to consummate your victory. Except they don’t. Romero was starting to look ok until our Sushi King took him deep. Lovely.
@135
On the plains of Serengeti
you’ll not likely meet a Yeti
but you’ll learn to be a brawler
from an aging knuckleballer.
Late to the discussion but, I was a big Dusty Baker fan when I was a kid. Mostly that is because when I was playing little league my team had an outing to a Braves game one night and it turned out to be bat night. Now back then we got actual real bats, not those miniature bats they give out now. The bats had the “autograph” of random Braves players engraved in the bat. Mine was a “Dusty Baker” bat. I still have that bat although it is a bit worn because I used it playing little league for about 3 years after I got it. Much later in life I was in Arizona on business one Spring and it was the first year of the Diamond Backs. I went to a spring training game to watch the D-backs play the Giants and Dusty was there managing the Giants. I actually got to talk to him for just a second and I told him about my bat. He actually said if I had brought it with me he would have signed it. Thus Dusty boosted his position on my internal favorite list that day a little bit more. Nice guy IMHO.
Jace Peterson
we do not wish to imply auf wiedersehen
but your lateral defense you must now tackle
else be at risk to mighty Carlos the Jackal.
Cakes is becoming one of my favorite Braves
Recapped.
@141
agreed..