The Braves split the series with the Nationals, after taking the first to, and then had the eyes on the Mets. Mike Minor pitched terrific in his seven innings of work and gave the lead to O’Flaherty and Kimbrel for the win, right? No. O’Flaherty gave up a solo home run to Marlon Byrd in the 8th inning that tied the game up for the Mets. Evan Gattis (El Oso Blanco) connected for a solo home run of his own in the 9th. Craig Kimbrel came in to close the door on the Mets, except he made one mistake to David Wright, which sent the game into extra innings. Jordan Walden, Luis Avilan, and Cory Gearrin gave pitched the 10th inning and allowed the Mets to score two, and eventually win the game 7-5 in 10 innings.Don’t get used to that effort from the bullpen. They are the best in baseball and rarely give away opportunities like that to seal a game. I’m more concentrated on the offense.
In the bottom of the 9th inning, Ramiro Pena, in for Juan Francisco, doubled to start the Braves off. Reed Johnson sacrificed him to third and that brought up Jordan Schafer, who had four walks in four plate appearances on the night. I couldn’t help but think that the Braves would win it there. Unfortunately, » Continue reading “Braves Losing Streak Goes to Three, But It’s Not All Bad”
With the Braves second baseman under performing, how realistic is the trading of Dan Uggla?
Dan Uggla should have his bags packed and on standby because he’s going to get traded, right? Um, not exactly.
Let’s not get too hasty in trying to trade Dan Uggla right now.
Sure, Dan Uggla has not been the perennial .260/.350/.470 ball player that he was in Florida, but I’m going to make a case that he has still been a productive ball player in Atlanta.
The first reason is that he gets on base. Last year, Dan Uggla led all of baseball with 94 walks. That led to an OBP (on-base percentage) of .348, which was third best on the team behind Prado (2nd) and some guy named Larry (Chipper Jones). Sure, he hit .220 and didn’t have at least 27 home runs in a year in his MLB career, but is a guy not allowed to have a bad year (or two)? I remember in 2004 when Chipper Jones hit .248 and people were saying that he had lost it as quickly as Dale Murphy did. Dan Uggla is no Chipper Jones and will never be, but the point is that bad years happen to ball players. » Continue reading “So the Braves Should Trade Dan Uggla, right?”
Kevin Pate helps us look for Atlanta’s hide and seek offense.
The Braves just dropped three of four games to the Pittsburgh Pirates, owners of 21 consecutive losing seasons. In those four losses, they managed to score just four runs. Is it time to worry about the offense? Not quite.
The Braves, recently, have been the recipients of bad luck. The biggest receiver of this unfortunate luck has been Jason Heyward, who has a BABIP (batting average of balls in play) of .114. Considering that Heyward’s career BABIP is around .300, it’s safe to assume that you should expect Heyward to gain about .200 higher in average, and expect a few more of those flyouts to turn into homeruns.
Did you know that three of the five Braves starting pitchers have higher batting averages than Jason Heyward? Did you realize that Heyward is 4 for 39 for an .103 average, but he has seven walks and seven runs? Did you also realize that Heyward, B.J. Upton, and Dan Uggla have more strike outs than hits, and they are all batting under.175? » Continue reading “The Hits Keep Coming…For Some of the Braves”
I will admit I chalked up yesterday’s game versus the Phillies as another loss. Seriously, five runs in the first given up by Paul Maholm, and Cole Hamels dealing? I had about all I could take. I had no explanation other than the Braves look out of gas. Let’s not forget that Fredi Gonzalez choose to bench Brian McCann and Dan Uggla due to their lack of production. A move that Uggla had no problem voicing his displeasure about. Being strongly against leaving early, I decided to seek shelter from the heat and humidity in the 755 Club with friends old and new.
As we attempted to solve the Braves problems to no avail, the crowd got smaller and smaller. All the sudden there seemed to be a bright spot, Peter Moylan had made his way back to Turner Field. 11 months removed from shoulder surgery, many fans did not realize the Aussie had been called up. Seeing Moylan on the mound seemed to be our reward for having waited it out, but not so fast my friend!
Let’s fast forward to the bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, and Martin Prado up to bat. (Well, maybe I should mention Dan Uggla was to pinch hit, but was pulled when Jonathan Pappelbon entered the game in favor of Lyle Overbay. Overbay was called out on strikes, but I digress.) As he has done all year Prado delivered with a bases loaded double that set the table for none other the @RealCJ10 Chipper Jones to get the GW #mammo. For those of you who do not follow him on Twitter, Chipper hit a game winning three run homer.
There are very few times I am able to show emotion at the ballpark, but last night standing in left field in a spot honoring the achievement of the great Hank Aaron, I jumped up and down like a little kid. It was something I a cannot adequately describe, but it was one of those times that I just felt something special was about to happen, and it did. As @RealCJ10 put it, Shame on fans that left game-kudos to those that stayed! Never kno when somethin cool gonna happen, like GW #mammo!Yessir!
Marc Ryan. Leslie Koerdt, and the Opening Drive went on a Tour of Atlanta with Atlanta Journal Constitution Braves Beat David O’Brien about a six-man rotation and what happens after, Michael Bourn’s contract, and how a person could have a splinter in their hand for six years. Listen to DOB had to say.
I am really tired of being told “this time it counts” when obviously, the only thing that counts is page views on MLB’s website. If it really counted there would not be so many true All-Stars are left out of the game. No, I am not speaking of Bryce Harper’s so called snub. (I cannot look at the teenager as being snubbed when all three Braves outfielders Martin Prado, Jason Heyward, and Michael Bourn, and Chipper for that matter, have better numbers than he does.) I am speaking of the » Continue reading “MLB All-Star Game Or Homecoming Court?”
WEATHER FORECAST
105F 4:05; 106F HIGH *UPDATED TEMP 3:28PM, **HOTTEST BRAVES HOME GAME IN HISTORY
BRAVES LINEUP
1. Michael Bourn CF
2. Martin Prado LF
3. Jason Heyward RF
4. Freddie Freeman 1B
5. Dan Uggla 2B
6. Brian McCann C
7. Andrelton Simmons SS
8. Juan Francisco 3B
9. Mike Minor P
NATIONALS LINEUP
1. Danny Espinosa 2B
2. Bryce Harper CF
3. Ryan Zimmerman 3B
4. Michael Morse RF
5. Adam LaRoche 1B
6. Ian Desmond SS
7. Tyler Moore LF
8. Jesus Flores C
9. Stephen Strasburg P
Focus on the positive: Michael Bourn's lead off triple
You would think a lead off triple is a good way to put 20 scoreless innings away and move on to winning ways. You, like many others, would be wrong. You are probably on target when it all fell apart though. That’s right, the dreaded 5th inning is where it all blew up for Mike Minor giving up three runs. The Yankees did not stop there, scoring one run in each of their at bats to follow.
A team coming off the aforementioned 20 scoreless innings cannot afford to relinquish a lead. The Braves struggles at the plate are far to similar to that of 2011, excluding Dan Uggla, whose patience is shown through the number of walks he has this season. What is not similar is the amount of pitching at Atlanta’s disposal. The bullpen is not as reliable, most notably Johhny Venters. Eric O’Flaherty has been injured, Livan Hernadez designated for assignment, and Kris Medlen sent down to stretch out for a starting role. Needless to say, Medlen will not be filling that spot just yet.
Although, a starter spot has opened with news that could be devastating if the Braves stay on the recent course. Brandon Beachy, who left Saturday’s game versus Baltimore with an elbow injury, showed a partial tear of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament on an MRI performed today. Beachy will see the team doctor Tuesday and Dr. James Andrews Wednesday. Injuries of this nature often require Tommy John surgery and one year of rehab.
The Braves just dropped three of four games to the Pittsburgh Pirates, owners of 21 consecutive losing seasons. In those four losses, they managed to score just four runs. Is it time to worry about the offense? Not quite.
I will admit I chalked up yesterday’s game versus the Phillies as another loss. Seriously, five runs in the first given up by Paul Maholm, and Cole Hamels dealing? I had about all I could take. I had no explanation other than the Braves look out of gas. Let’s not forget that Fredi Gonzalez choose to bench Brian McCann and Dan Uggla due to their lack of production. A move that Uggla had no problem voicing his displeasure about. Being strongly against leaving early, I decided to seek shelter from the heat and humidity in the 755 Club with friends old and new.
