Despite some amazing news for the Braves my week has been horrible. First gradschool classes have just resumed, eating much of my free time, and second my main computer committed suicide taking with it 2 weeks worth of work. Joy. So let me catch up a bit.
First off, Braves starters have been very good lately. Behind Smoltz and Hudson, James and Buddy have been all you can ask for. The only knock on the pair is James' inability to pitch over 100 pitches. He seems to hit a wall at 92 pitches. Looking at his delivery it's understandable that he gets tired, you try throwing in the 90's with only your arm. However, 90 pitches a 3rd starter does not make.
Second, the pen has been overused. Add together too many extra inning games with too many short outings by starters and you get a recipe for disaster. Add to that the struggles of Soriano, the inconsistencies of Dotel, and the omnipresent threat of Wickman's forthcoming meltdown and you get one pen that opponents love to face. But hey, Bobby has a formula for who pitches when, past cruddy performance be dammed.
Third, it's no surprise that the Braves are in more late inning games since acquiring Tex. Think about it this way. If you trot out Franco every day (who was the best hitting 1B we had before Tex) you essentially have 2 spots in the order not producing (including the pitcher's spot) and thus you loose about 25% of your production opposed to about 12%. That extra 1/2 to one run has been the difference for the braves all year. There have been a lot of one run losses that now turn into tie games.
Fourth, has anyone seen who shot Andruw in the foot? oh, wait, it's self inflicted. Remember back in April and May when he couldn't get a hit to ave his life? 7th in the order isn't quite right when the guy hitting 8th is batting over .300. I'm just saying.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
Jo-Jo sent down
The Braves optioned him to AAA Richmond and called up Lance Cormier. Because the entire pen was used last night he will be available out of the pen tonight if needed but is scheduled to start in Jo-Jo's spot on Tuesday.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
5 hours of insanity!
Rather than write a long winded post i'm just going to bullet point this.
-Boomstick hits another dinger
-Rent goes down with a twisted ankle
-Chipper plays SS
-Harris plays 3B and has 3 good plays... and bangs into the wall twice
-Diaz connects for the rare homer
-Andruw hurts himself on a swing
-Chipper stings his hand on a ground out
-Soriano gives up the lead and a slam
-Frenchy gets hit by a pitch similar to the one that took out Utley
-EVERY pitcher and position player was used except Smoltz, Hudson, and Buddy
-The braves have now scored 11 or more runs in 4 straight
-21 hits tonight, but three errors. (McCann, Harris, and Rent)
-Wickman makes a great play on a little pop behind the mound, and sets of car allarms arround the block when he falls over afterward
-McCann caught all 14 innings. I'll bet Corky will start Friday.
-Jo-Jo looked awful and is quickly earning himself a demotion. Oscar or Moylan will likely take his spot in the rotation.
-Mahay went 3 innings giving up only 1 earned run.
-Friday's lineup MUST look like this:
1) Escobar (SS)
2) KJ (2B)
3) Diaz (LF)
4) Boomstick (1B)
5) AJ (CF)
6) Frency (RF)
7) Woodward (3B)
8) Corky (C)
9) Smoltz (P)
If AJ or Frenchy is hurt badly we're screwed because it looks like Harris, Rent and Chipper can't play much.
-Boomstick hits another dinger
-Rent goes down with a twisted ankle
-Chipper plays SS
-Harris plays 3B and has 3 good plays... and bangs into the wall twice
-Diaz connects for the rare homer
-Andruw hurts himself on a swing
-Chipper stings his hand on a ground out
-Soriano gives up the lead and a slam
-Frenchy gets hit by a pitch similar to the one that took out Utley
-EVERY pitcher and position player was used except Smoltz, Hudson, and Buddy
-The braves have now scored 11 or more runs in 4 straight
-21 hits tonight, but three errors. (McCann, Harris, and Rent)
-Wickman makes a great play on a little pop behind the mound, and sets of car allarms arround the block when he falls over afterward
-McCann caught all 14 innings. I'll bet Corky will start Friday.
-Jo-Jo looked awful and is quickly earning himself a demotion. Oscar or Moylan will likely take his spot in the rotation.
-Mahay went 3 innings giving up only 1 earned run.
-Friday's lineup MUST look like this:
1) Escobar (SS)
2) KJ (2B)
3) Diaz (LF)
4) Boomstick (1B)
5) AJ (CF)
6) Frency (RF)
7) Woodward (3B)
8) Corky (C)
9) Smoltz (P)
If AJ or Frenchy is hurt badly we're screwed because it looks like Harris, Rent and Chipper can't play much.
Who is this Dotel person anyway?
Octavio Dotel is a great pitcher. He holds a 1.2 K/IP and a 2.7 W/K ratio for his career. That's up there with some of the better closers of our era. By comparison, the other closer moved at the deadline, Eric Gagne, has a 1.1 K/IP and a 3.4 W/K. The obvious difference is in his control but it doesn't equate to much. Gagne has a 1.11 WHIP and Dotel has a 1.24 for their carers. I'd take that for 1/2 the price (with incentives it's less than 1/3). NB: Dotel also has a rider in his contract for performance bonuses. From Cot's:
"I've always wanted to play for [the Braves]. I like all the good players they have here and all their years of winning."
If that isn't a plea for an extension I don't know what is. We all know that Wickman is walking after this year (if not before) and that leaves the closer spot open. There's a chance the Braves will pickup his option ($5.5 mil) but i'd bet they'd try to sign him for longer at less. $3-4m/year for 2-3 years sounds right. However, in today's market it's likely it'll take $6-7m/year if he decides to become a FA. He's still fairly young (33) and has been reasonably effective. I think it'll get done and we can count on 1/2 the pen being closer material. Gonzo, Soriano, and Dotel is even scarier than what we had going into this year...
- $0.2M each for 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 GF
- $0.25M for 65 GF
"I've always wanted to play for [the Braves]. I like all the good players they have here and all their years of winning."
If that isn't a plea for an extension I don't know what is. We all know that Wickman is walking after this year (if not before) and that leaves the closer spot open. There's a chance the Braves will pickup his option ($5.5 mil) but i'd bet they'd try to sign him for longer at less. $3-4m/year for 2-3 years sounds right. However, in today's market it's likely it'll take $6-7m/year if he decides to become a FA. He's still fairly young (33) and has been reasonably effective. I think it'll get done and we can count on 1/2 the pen being closer material. Gonzo, Soriano, and Dotel is even scarier than what we had going into this year...
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Boomstick's Wife
We can officially add her to the "hot baseball player wives" list. More to come as I find more pictures...
Game Notes
Tonight was a big night for the Bravos. Not only did they win they posted their third straight game of 12+runs. That's a big offensive outburst from a team that looked like it has resigned itself to missing the playoffs a few games back. Seriously, who gets swept by the Reds?
You might also note that Boomstick had a 3run HR and a walk for an RBI. He also struck out twice. Reminds me of another 1B I know... JK. The man is fierce and deserves his new nickname.
The two new arms also got some work with Mahay looking good, but giving up a walk, and Dotel looking sharp. In fact Dotel needed only 7 pitches to get a strike out, ground out, and line out.
And the bad news. Buddy went down during his warm up in the sixth. DOB reports a hyper extended elbow. Now, depending on his makeup this might be nothing more than a twinge. I personally do this 2-3 time a week playing tennis and have had no problems... yet. What i do know is that it feels funky when it happens (like hitting your funny bone) but subsides quickly. The only lingering result is usually a little tenderness that goes away in a few days. However, buddy is scheduled to start on Sunday. I'm not sure if he'll make that. I'd expect Villarreal to make the spot start (no one has options that can get us a starter right now) if Buddy can't go.
Also of note, I'll be at Sunday's game in the $25 "All You Can Eat" seats. I hope to have good pics and even a TBS appearance to show for it (not to mention all the hotdogs I can eat).
You might also note that Boomstick had a 3run HR and a walk for an RBI. He also struck out twice. Reminds me of another 1B I know... JK. The man is fierce and deserves his new nickname.
The two new arms also got some work with Mahay looking good, but giving up a walk, and Dotel looking sharp. In fact Dotel needed only 7 pitches to get a strike out, ground out, and line out.
And the bad news. Buddy went down during his warm up in the sixth. DOB reports a hyper extended elbow. Now, depending on his makeup this might be nothing more than a twinge. I personally do this 2-3 time a week playing tennis and have had no problems... yet. What i do know is that it feels funky when it happens (like hitting your funny bone) but subsides quickly. The only lingering result is usually a little tenderness that goes away in a few days. However, buddy is scheduled to start on Sunday. I'm not sure if he'll make that. I'd expect Villarreal to make the spot start (no one has options that can get us a starter right now) if Buddy can't go.
Also of note, I'll be at Sunday's game in the $25 "All You Can Eat" seats. I hope to have good pics and even a TBS appearance to show for it (not to mention all the hotdogs I can eat).
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