The Braves inked Peter Moylan to a deal this morning. It’s not known if it’s a minor or major league deal, but if he’s healthy and pitches well in Spring Training, he’ll most likely make the roster or force a trade.
You may remember Moylan from appearing in just about every other game in 2007 and 2009-2010. He appeared in 80, 87, and 85 games respectively, but injuries really took a toll on him, and he appeared in only 57 total games from 2011 to 2015. 22 of those games were when he re-united with Atlanta in 2015. He went to Kansas City where he continued strong work as a ROOGY, pitching in 104 total innings in 129 appearances across the last two seasons. He’s had a strong ERA and exactly a 4.00 FIP in that span, and as long as he’s healthy, his third stint with Atlanta should see him be one of the more effective ROOGY’s we’ve had since… he was last here.
You have to wonder if Snitker will use him correctly. With a 8-man pen, there’s plenty of room for a weapon against righties. The sidearmer has limited righties to a .567 OPS in his career. With that said, he’s never figured out lefties, and they’ve got a .845 OPS against him for his career. The Braves have a lot of options for LOOGY’s, but not many options for the other side, so Moylan could settle in to a spot in the bullpen as long as he’s needed.
He’s a colorful Australian, and you may enjoy his Twitter account if you’re on there.
In response to Nick- 41 on last thread.
Give me a break. The free agent market is limited this year, we have limited money (like most teams), and we don’t want to sacrifice our future for a 1 year gamble. Our pitchers are at least 1 year away, but if they mature more quickly than expected, we could make a wild card run. It has nothing to do with not wanting to compete, just reality.
We’re not losing any on-field brawls this season, guys.
I want to share the write-up of Kyle Wright from the Fangraphs top 100 post:
Wright was a tough sign out of an Alabama high school in 2014 due to a Vanderbilt commitment and the Braves made a significant offer that came up just short, but they got their man with the fifth overall pick in 2017 after a dominating three-year career in Nashville. Wright had a rocky start in 2017, only finding a more natural arm slot weeks before the draft by taking grounders at shortstop. He pitched 95-99 mph for the first half of a start against Arkansas a few weeks later and hasn’t looked back since; he likely won’t spend long in the minor leagues and should join the Braves’ young pitching in the majors at some point in 2018.
If that last sentence holds true…
I agree on fantasy that daily changes are a must. I’d actually prefer it not to be head to head weekly matchups but the standard yearly league where all teams compete against each other in all categories. It’s no fun when you have matchups late in the season against teams mailing it in.
Not the end of the world, I just haven’t enjoyed the H2H leagues I’ve been in as much.
You’d have to think Wright will get some relief innings this year similar to how Gohara was able to get some starts. It’s crazy that he could get through the system that quickly, but Gohara started the year in A+ and he was a lot younger. But, if Wright could force a way onto the roster, how does Soroka and Allard not?
It’s looking more like Allard is going to have to get by with smarts and command. Maybe he can, or maybe he recovers the lost velocity. More encouraging at this point is Soroka, who appears to have young Derek Lowe’s repertoire and old John Lackey’s demeanor. Delightful. But as you mention, Wright is two years older. He is more polished, and his ceiling is just plain higher. Like Gohara, 95-99! That’ll leapfrog you over many a prospect.
MLB announced today that they are limiting mound visits to 6 per team, with one additional visit added for extra innings. No pitch clock.
No clock
a pleasant shock
trips to the mound
charge by the pound.
@2…If taking grounders at shortstop helps a pitcher find a more natural arm slot let’s have Dansby practice casting fly fishing where you must wait at the top for your line to gather before you hurl it forward, thus staying inside.
Think of your favorite Brave, identify his primary weakness, come up with a compensatory exercise, share it.
Markakis is not my favorite Brave, but to strengthen his neck and improve his SLG, I’d put him on a strict regiment of rocking out.
Someone wrote today that Newcomb, he who cost us so dear, must halve his walks per nine from about 4 to 2, then he’ll be off and running. The only thing that’s holding him back but then again it always has. Old news.
Which brought to mind a dialog between us that grew throughout one of his later starts – with four walks almost in view it transpired that more than one of us had noticed so many of his balls were to RH hitters and located 6 to 9 inches off the plate. One day someone counted just how many -16% of all pitches thrown. The hitters just waited for them to add up.I can’t recall a pitcher with similar control issues throwing so many balls that were essentially identical.
@3.
In a league with some ‘new’ folks to the game, I’m afraid that traditional rotisserie would fail to hold their interest. That can become a boat race and people tune out.
@9…perfect.
JD Martinez to the Sox for 5 years. Now just Arrieta.
To add from on the 40-man, Mauricio Cabrera was designated for assignment. Apparently velocity isn’t everything.
When do we announce the Kelly Johnson signing?
@15
3 days before we announce the Kelly Johnson trade to the Mets.
Interesting that they didn’t DFA Jason Hursh instead of MoCab. Either they think MoCab will pass through waivers or he’s hopeless. Either way, someone thinks he’s hopeless.
He was certainly pitching like a man in need of elbow surgery last august
They can easily clear 5 spots on the 40-man if they need to. Seems like they just gave up on Cabrera. I’ll admit I haven’t been paying much attention this offseason, but why are these fellows on the 40-man?
Jesse Biddle
Shane Carle
Anyelo Gomez
Jacob Lindgren
Adam McCreery
Josh Ravin
Dan Winkler
Chase Whitley
I know Biddle and Winkler are injury reclamation projects. The others? Are they all relievers?
Gomez was a reliever picked up in the Rule 5 draft from the Yankees. I’ve seen him listed on some Top 20 team prospect lists. Ravin was picked up off waivers from the Dodgers, I guess he’s a live arm who AA is familiar with. Lindgren is also an injury reclamation project. McCreery was the lottery ticket we got for Jhoulys Chacin. Carle is just some random Triple A reliever we picked up from the Pirates this offseason and is probably the worst pitcher on the list.
What’s the deal with Allard’s velocity? Injury? Or was he just fatigued at the end of last season?
Chipper on Acuna:
http://www.foxsports.com/south/story/atlanta-braves-chipper-jones-ronald-acuna-021918
New thread.
one suspects the DFA order goes Carle, Hursh, Gomez, Ravin and then hard decisions need to be made.