SB Nation - Buddy Carlyle

Braves Have 16 Minor League Free Agents

cbwilk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:03:31 -0000

After an outstanding 2008 for Myrtle Beach, Ernesto Mejia missed the majority of 2009.

The list of Six-Year Minor League Free Agents has been released and the Braves have 12 players on that list:

Pitchers: RH Bobby Brownlie, RH Jerome Gamble, LH Mariano Gomez, RH Moises Hernandez, RH Lance Niekro, LH Juan Perez

Catchers: Jose Camarena, Alvin Colina

Infielders: 2B/SS Chris Burke, SS/3B Kody Kirkland, 1B Ernesto Mejia, 3B Antonio Perez

In addition to these players, RHP Jorge Campillo, RHP Buddy Carlyle, RHP Vladimir Nunez, and OF Reid Gorecki were previously announced as Minor League free agents after being removed from the Braves' 40-man roster.

Brownlie was one of the top amateur talents when he was drafted in the first round by the Cubs in 2002 but his career has been sidetracked by a series of injuries. He joined Gwinnett in the middle of the season and had a fairly effective run as a swingman, going 5-2 with a 4.13 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 56.2 innings. If the Braves find they need more depth at the upper level he could be re-signed.

Like Brownlie, Gamble has missed large parts of him Minor League career to injuries, but he's been effective playing for Mississippi and Gwinnett the last two seasons. He spent the majority of 2009 with Mississippi, mostly as a reliever, going 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 44.1 innings. Gamble is a good influence on younger players, so it's possible he could return.

More analysis after the jump...

Gomez has the rare distinction of being the first player ever signed out of his native Honduras, inking with the Indians in 1999. 2009 was his first season with the Atlanta organization, the 10th of his career, and the best of his career, as the big lefty was great out of the bullpen for Gwinnett, going 8-4 with a 1.99 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 72.1 innings. The Braves like him and if they can beat out the competition he's very likely to return.

Hernandez was aquired from the Orioles in exchange for allowing Leo Mazzone to become their pitching coach. He missed the entire 2008 season to Tommy John surgery and only pitched 35 innings in 2009. He'll be 26 going into 2010 with only 10 games above A ball in his career, so he seems unlikley to return.

The son of former Brave Joe Niekro and nephew of Braves legend Phil Niekro, the former infielder Lance took his first fulltime try at pitching, employing the family knuckleball, in 2009. He remained in the low level GCL, working a 1-3 record and a 5.61 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP in 33.2 innings. If the Braves liked the progress he made, regarless of the results, they could bring him back and give him a chance to try the knuckler at a higher level.

Perez missed the second half of 2008 for Pittsburgh's AAA team and got a late start in 2009 for Gwinnett, but pitched well in 57 innings, compiling a 2-4 record, 3.47 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. He could be brought back to add AAA depth.

Camarena has been a backup for the majority of his career with Atlanta, playing just 32 games with Mississippi this year, ending with a woeful .424 OPS. But, with the Braves lack of upper level catching depth, he could find himself re-signed.

Colina lent a strong, veteran presence to Gwinnett, sharing time with Clint Sammons at catcher. in 256 plate appearances, he hit .262 with 8 home runs, 42 RBI, and a .766 OPS. Again, with the lack of upper level catching depth, but even more because of the intangibles he brings, he seems very likely to return in 2010.

After being picked up in June, Burke was a solid veteran presence for Gwinnett, playing SS, 2B, and LF for the team while hitting .285 with 3 HR, 32 RBI, 13 SB and a .752 OPS in 309 plate appearances. He showed that isn't washed up, so there could be several teams vying for his services this offseason.

Kirkland was signed to be a backup at Mississippi and despite poor hitting, a .201 average and .572 OPS, he excelled in this role, playing every position on the field except C and LF. He was actually very good in 44 plate appearances for Gwinnett, hitting .289 with a .807 OPS. If the Braves need a backup for the upper levels he could be brought back.

Mejia had one of the best seasons in the Braves' system in 2008, hitting .274 with 47 doubles, 21 home runs, 93 RBI and a .829 OPS. But, after tearing his ACL in Spring Training, he missed most of 2009, collecting just 139 plate appearances. Given his talent, the Braves will be very likely to re-sign him and, due to his recent injury, there probably won't be much competition for his services.

Perez, who was once traded for Lou Pinella, was signed as a backup and didn't show much with the bat in 147 plate appearances for Gwinnett, hitting .190 with a .553 OPS. He seems unlikely to return.

Top-5 Off-Season Questions for the Atlanta Braves: #5

gondeee — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:42:03 -0000

More photos » by Mark Avery - AP

Ryan Church and Kelly Johnson may not find themselves in the Atlanta Braves plans for 2010.

Browse more photos »

We conclude our look at the top-5 questions facing the Atlanta Braves this off-season.

Question Five: To Tender or Non-Tender

One of the repeated questions I was asked on blog-talk radio shows this season was how long Jeff Francoeur was going to be in a Braves uniform. My repeated answer, and one that I put in post after post on this blog, was that he would not be in a Braves uniform through the end of the season, but that the Braves were unlikely to just release him. The logic followed that the Braves had built this guy up too much to just "waive" him goodbye, they had to get a warm body for him. Enter the Ryan Church trade. Church gives the Braves a player that they can cut ties with without the big media frenzy and the fairweather fans screaming, "but not Francooerrr." By trading him during the season, at least there was the distraction of games to be played to misdirect attention.

So there you have it, the Braves will release Ryan Church this off-season. Church is a third-year arbitration case who made $2.8 million last year, and would likely get a raise to over $3 million next year regardless of his 2009 numbers. That's way too much for an oft-injured fourth outfielder.

The Braves will also release Kelly Johnson this off-seaosn.

Wow, I really said it. This is a very similar situation to the Marcus Giles situation several years ago (which actually was the impetus for moving Kelly to second base). Giles was coming off a poor season in which the Braves had a tight payroll and through arbitration he was due a big raise. The Braves tried and tried to trade him, but every other GM knew that the Braves couldn't afford him, and they didn't want to give up players and more money by trading for him. This is exactly the situation we find ourselves in with KJ. Yes, Cox came out and gave Kelly a vote of confidence, but I bet you can find a similar quote from Cox at the end of the 2006 season about Giles, and Marcus had a much better year that season than Kelly did this year.

As much as many Braves fans like Kelly, the fact is he just hasn't lived up to his promise, and the Braves can't pay him many millions just to see if he finally will next year. Yes, the Braves will try and trade him, and we'll hear plenty of rumors, but that ain't happening, and the Braves will release him.

Brooks Conrad will also be non-tendered. As good as he was for a few weeks during his mid-year call-up, he was only 1-for-18 as a pinch hitter -- that one hit was a three-run game-winning homerun in his first at bat as a Brave. The Braves may offer him a minor league contract and another invite to spring training, but not a major league contract or a guaranteed spot on the 40-man roster.

Brian Barton, gone. Greg Norton, mercifully gone. Buddy Carlyle will probably get released, but with an eye towards a minor league contract and an invite to spring training. Ditto for Jorge Campillo.

Eric O'Flaherty, he'll be back, as he was a pleasant surprise. I can't see the Braves parting ways with any other pitchers, other than the ones listed above and the annual parting of the ways with Vladimir Nunez. I get this feeling that there will be a lot of new faces added to our bullpen or potential bullpen mix this off-season. Bobby Cox needs more relievers he has confidence in, and I feel there will be a lot of auditions going on in spring training.

Matt Diaz will be offered a contract, and will get a hefty raise -- this is one of the reasons I think he'll be a prime trade candidate. He's good, but the Braves covet a power bat, and they may be able to match up with a team who would prefer the Diaz approach to hitting. I would rather keep him, but as I said in the first post today (question one), I don't see how he fits in the outfield with Heyward and a power bat that would presumably play left.

That's all for the top-5 questions, I hope you enjoyed them. I initially thought these five questions would be just one post, but they sort of spiraled out of control, so thanks for reading (if you've gotten this far).

Game 134 Recap: Braves 3, Marlins 8, Bobby Cox 0-good-moves

gondeee — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:50:16 -0000

To sum up this game I'm going to ask you to manage at home. Who would you have brought in to relieve Tommy Hanson in the sixth inning? Would it be the guy who hadn't worked in five days, Buddy Carlyle? No. Would it be the well-rested rookie closer who was just called up, Luis Valdez? No. Would it be a lefty reliever who hasn't been used in over a week, Boone Logan? No. The guy Bobby Cox chose to bring in is the same guy who gave up the lead yesterday. The same guy who would be working on his third consecutive day for the first time all year, Kris Medlen. And what did he do? He came in, walked the first guy, then got hit all over the field. Oh, and if you're managing at home, make sure you don't pull Medlen out of the game until he surrenders the lead in the second consecutive game.

Let's keep going with this, shall we. Who would you bring in to relieve Medlen? Any of the above, well rested guys? No. If you said the guy who would be working in his fourth consecutive game, then you're thinking like Bobby Cox. Throw in a couple errors, one each by Matt Diaz and Chipper Jones, and you've got yourself a game in which you had a two-run lead, to a game where you're down by four runs.

In what world is Bobby Cox thinking he can use and abuse these relievers day after day after day (and in Moylan's case, after day)? Maybe we need more bodies down there in the pen, or maybe we need to use the fresh arms when they're fresh. That sixth inning should have had Buddy Carlyle on the mound or Luis Valdez. You could tell that Joe and Boog were beating around the bush trying to criticize Bobby's decision to go with Medlen, without really coming out and openly criticizing him. Maybe Bobby was upset with himself as much as he was with the homeplate umpire when he got himself tossed in the 8th. If Bobby was so worried about the zone, why didn't he get himself run earlier in the game when it might have done some good?

Bad game. Really leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Final - 9.3.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta Braves	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	7	2
Florida Marlins	0	0	1	0	0	6	1	0	X	8	13	2
WP: Ricky Nolasco (10 - 8) LP: Kris Medlen (3 - 5)

Complete Coverage >

Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 8/12 (Cory Rasmus throws a No-Hitter)

yondaime4 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:31:15 -0000

Update: Totally didn't see that other Danville game when I was looking at the scoreboards. Now get off my freaking case.

Wow, so my trip was definitely 3 hours longer than it should have been. I love that.

Durham 4, Gwinnett 5

R. Gorecki 4-5 2B, HR(9)
B. Jones 1-5 HR(5), K
B. Carlyle 2IP 0H 0R 0BB 5K

Please bring up Buddy Carlyle now and send Acosta down. Brandon Jones now has 3 homers in his last 6 games after going 0fer April-May-June. He also mainted that .765 SLG he is putting up this month. Is this a fluke or is he making up for lost time? Or has he been hanging out with Manny and Big Papi? Also, Gwinnett now has sole lead of the division.

Mississippi @ Huntsville = RAIN

Salem 3, Myrtle Beach 2 - Game 1 - 7 Innings

C. Johnson 1-3 HR(27), 2K

There really wasn't anything else worth mentioning here. Cody really needs to start hitting bombs again.

Salem 10, Myrtle Beach 1

G. Rodriguez 1-3 2B
J. Sucre 1-3 2B, K

Man, Edgar Osuna got beat like a guy who is pitching poorly and gives up a lot of hits (bad analogy?). And for anyone paying attention to this boxscore, the opposing pitcher is not the Jose Capellan that pitched for the Braves. Gerry Rodriguez is still maintaining an .800+ OPS for the Pelicans and has hit much more consistently since he was promoted.

Rome @ Hagerstown - RAIN

Danville 10, Princeton 2 - Game 1 - 7 Innings

LV Ware 1-4 2B, K
D. Hale 2IP 4H 2R 1BB 1K

Another rough game for the Braves affiliates. David Hale hasn't been all that spectacular since he signed but surprisingly tonight's walk was his first of the season. He is a guy who has been tabbed as having control issues and I wouldn't be surprised if the Braves are keeping him in Danville to work out some kinks in his delivery and decide how he is going to be used in the long term.

Danville 13, Princeton 0 - Game 2 - 7 Innings

C. Harilchak 3-4 2B, 2 RBI, SB(13)
RSF 4-5 2 2B, 4 RBI
C. Rasmus 7IP 0H 0R 1BB 9K

Cory Rasmus, longtime possessor of one of the most electric arms in the system, finally showed us tonight what he is all about. As you see from the line above and my revised title, Cory Rasmus tossed a no hitter tonight (albeit in a shortened game) the only blemish was a 5th inning walk. I am glad to see Cory get some returns on his new arm. Hopefully he can build on this, because he is going to need to move quickly if he wants to make up for lost time. Also this might have the most wasted offensive night ever.

GCL Blue Jays 10, GCL Braves 7

M. Kramer 1-2 HR(4), K
L. Hiller 1-5 HR(7), 2K
A. Odreman 3-4 HR(7), K

The Braves bats were flashing their power on this night, but the pitchers made sure the Blue Jays were doing the same thing. Layton Hiller has shown some real power so far this season (21 XBH in 139 AB) but his plate discipline is some of the worst I have seen (2 walks vs 46K). This guy is 21 years old and playing in the GCL, so he obviously has some stuff to work on. But he remains intriguing to me, if still a longshot.

Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 8/8

yondaime4 — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:31:03 -0000

Alright guys, don't make me stop posting about Jason Heyward. Randall Delgado threw 7 no hit innings last night and it didn't generate ANY discussion. The guy is going to be a top 5 prospect for us. Get on the bandwagon. I will also try to get a hot list up in the next day or so. There are some guys who deserve some attention in the organization.

Gwinnet 9, Toledo 5

R. Gorecki 2-5 2 2B, RBI, K
B. Canizares 2-6 2B, 4 RBI, CS(1)
B. Jones 1-3 HR(4), 2 BB
B. Barton 3-4 2B, RBI, BB, K

James Parr and Buddy Carlyle both appeared in this game as they continue to move on the comeback trail. I really want to know what Brandon Jones has done with his swing. Granted it isn't great, per se, he has hit 4 homers in his last 90 or so ABs when he didn't hit any in his first 200. The problem is that his OPS has been pretty much the same every month this season. In just a few games this month he is putting up a .967 line. Let us see if he can continue this.

Mississippi 9, Huntsville 1

M. Young 3-4 3B, 2 BB, 2 SB(29)
J. Heyward 2-5 K
E. Campbell 2-4 2B, 2 RBI, BB

Kyle Cofield continues to do his thing in Mississippi, giving up only 3 hits in 6 innings and allowing the 1 run. Jason Heyward breaks the 100 AB barrier in AA with a line of:

102 AB .422 AVG 12 2B 2 3B 5 HR 22 RBI 17BB 12K .504 OBP .725 SLG

That's good for those who don't know stats too well. Matt Young remains one of my favorite players and I would still love to see him in Atlanta as a 4th OF at some point. He has no power, but he can do just about everything else for you.

Lynchburg 3, Myrtle Beach 2

D. Linares 3-4 2 2B
R. Sullivan 5.2IP 4H 3R 1BB 5K
C. Gearrin 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 1K

Cory Gearrin is another in what is a seemingly endless line of relief prospects in the Braves system. It stinks that he had to go back to Myrtle Beach due to organizational shuffling because he was holding his own quite well in Mississippi. Right now he is posting a .93 ERA for the Pelicans and he has only allowed 1 walk in 19+ innings. He and Kimbrel could make up a very solid back of the bullpen combination in the future for Atlanta.

Savannah 2, Rome 5

A. Milligan 1-4 2B, RBI, K
B. Schlehuber 2-4 2B, 2 RBI, SB(5)
D. Delgado 7IP 6H 1R 0BB 8K

The Delgado Brothers (not actually related) have been getting it done lately. I swear the guys mirror each other. I Keep waiting for Braeden Schlehuber to break out and keeps me holding my breath. This just isn't his season I guess. Adam Milligan now has 25 XBH in just under 160 professional ABs this season. I will take that.

Pulaski 3, Danville 2

M. Jones 2-4 RBI, SB(11)
C. Harrilchak 3-4 2B, RBI, K
T. Stovall 6IP 4H 3R 3BB 9K

Amazingly the three walks Stovall allowed in this game tied for his season low. In correlation the 3 runs he allowed were the second most he has given up and the 9 Ks were a season high. His arm is very intriguing but he obviously needs to get things under control. I don't know where I would put him on a list right now.

GCL Tigers 6, GCL Braves 2

C. Bethancourt 1-4 2B, RBI, K, SB(7)
D. Falcon 2-4 2 K
Z. Spruill 5IP 3H 1R 0BB 7K

The mystery of Zeke Spruill's demotion continues. See, my thinking is that if he is actually working on a new pitch then he should have walked some people in this game, unless he already has good command of it, in which case why is he in the GCL to begin with? I also don't buy that he is being disciplined. I don't ever remember the Braves sending someone down to discipline them. That doesn't even really make sense. Anyone have ideas?

Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 7/28

yondaime4 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:53:13 -0000

Rochester 7, Gwinnett 1

V. Pope 2-4 2B, K

Man, call this the rehab game. Jeff Bennett, Buddy Carlyle and James Parr all made appearances and only Carlyle pitched well tossing a scoreless inning. Alvin Colina was the only other Brave to collect more than 1 hit. We were up against Philip Humber for crying out loud.

West Tenn 1, Mississippi 4 - Game 1 7 Innings

J. Heyward 1-3 HR(3), 2 RBI
W. Cabrera 1-3 RBI
J. Ortegano 7IP 5H 1R 1BB 6K

Jose Ortegano comes out DEALING in his first AA start. You know, for a guy that probably never touches 90 on a radar gun the guy actually strikes out a decent amount of batters. Another thing to remember about him is that he doesn't turn 22 for another week. Not bad at all. Also Jason Heyward is good.

West Tenn 0, Mississippi 1 - Game 2 7 Innings

J. Heyward 3-3 RBI, BB
T. Gustafson 4IP 0H 0R 1BB 4K

Jason Heyward is now hitting .443 in AA.

Myrtle Beach 7, Potomac 6

D. Linares 2-5 2 RBI, K
C. Johnson 1-3 2 BB, 2K
CJ Lee 2-4 2 2B, 2 RBI, K
C. Kimbrel 2IP 1H 0R 0BB 5K

I didn't put it up there, but Cole Rohrbough had another bad outing in this game giving up 5 runs in 4 innings. He was doing fine until the 5th inning and then walked a guy, surrendered a double, a single and then a homer and then was pulled from the game. He just seems to lose confidence or fall apart when one thing doesn't go his way. I really don't know what to make of his season so far.

Rome 4, Kannapolis 1

A. Milligan 3-4 HR(6), 4 RBI, K, CS(3)
M. Kennelly 2-4
C. Culver 3-4 2 2B, K
D. Delgado 7IP 3H 1R 3BB 9K

I really wonder if the Delgado guys try to match each other every time out? Whatever it is they posted consecutive excellent starts. Adam Milligan is going to make me keep writing about him as he has now homered in 4 straight games and is batting a Heyward-like .500 in his last 10 games. I f he keeps this up he is probably going to catapult himself into our post season top 10 lists.

Danville 6, Burlington 4

M. Jones 2-5 HR(4), 2 K
C. Harrilchak 3-5 HR(1), 2 RBI, SB(10)
RSF 2-4 RBI, BB, K, CS(2)
T. Stovall 5.1IP 5H 3R 4BB 6K

Mycal Jones is keeping up his impressive run with a 9 games hitting streak that has seen him knock 11 XBH in that time. In 100 ABs in July he has a .942 OPS and is looking like a good pick up in the 4th round. The only issue I have with him is that he is already 22 years old and I think he needs to be pushed up to Rome, but I don't think there is room for him right now. Tyler Stovall kept up his erratc behavior in this one with lots of Ks and walks. On the season his line is 26.2IP/33BB/35K.

GCL Braves 3, GCL Tigers 7

J. Dalfonso 2-2 RBI
L. Hiller 1-4 HR(5), 2 RBI

Hooray Baseball!

Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 7/25 (Someone threw a No Hitter)

yondaime4 — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 02:57:59 -0000

Lehigh Valley 8, Gwinnett 5 - 10 Innings

C. Burke 1-4 2B, BB,
B. Canizares 2-5 2 RBI, K
B. Jones 1-2 3B, RBI, K
V. Pope 1-4 HR(3), 2 RBI

Both Jeff Bennett and Buddy Carlyle pitched in this game in rehabs assignments. Bennett gave up 2 runs in 1 inning of work and Carlyle tossed two scoreless innings. Maybe something is starting to click again with Brandon Jones as he has 4 of his 18 XBH in the last 10 games. The problem is he is hitting under .200 in that span. I really don't know where this guy's power disappeared to. The same can be said for Van Pope, though I don't think he was ever going to be a good hitter.

Mississippi 4, Tennessee 1

J. Heyward 2-4 2B, K
F. Freeman 2-4 RBI, K
E. Campbell 1-3 2B, 2 RBI, BB
K. Cofield 8IP 4H 1R 1BB 6K

I don't know how Kyle Cofield keeps getting things done. He does have a fairly low BABIP right now at .270 for the season so he is getting a little lucky on hits. A win is a win I guess. Jason Heyward stat of the day: 10 doubles vs 5 strike outs since his promotion to AA.

Myrtle Beach 2, Winston Salem 3

C. Johnson 2-4 HR(26), 2 RBI, K
C. Kimbrel 1.1IP 2H 1R 1BB 3K 2WP

Well it appears that Cody Johnson has found his power stroke again as he has hit 4 homers in his last 10 games and doubled his homer total from June. The one run that Craig Kimbrel allowed was unearned but through his own doing. In the 9th inning struck out the lead off hitter, then allowed a bunt single on which he threw the ball away allowing the runner to get to third and then promptly threw a wild pitch to the next batter allowing the walk off run to score. But he didn't get an earned run.

Rome 9, Hickory 10

S. Moody 3-4 RBI, BB
Y. Campusano 3-4 2B, HR(5), 2 RBI, BB
A. Milligan 3-4 2 HR(3), 3 RBI, BB

Yoel Campusano had already been one of the more consistent hitters on the Braves for most of this season but he has been crazy go nuts in July. He now has at least 2 hits in 8 straight games and in 10 of his last 11. He also has 10 of his 19 XBH for the season in July. Adam Milligan also appears to proving the Braves did the right thing picking him in the draft 3 times.

Bluefield 8, Danville 6

C. Harrilchak 2-4 2 RBI
D. Matra 1-4 2B, 2 RBI, K
C. Rasmus 3.1IP 4H 5R 4BB 3K

Cory Rasmus couldn't quite get his stuff under control but he has been pretty solid in his other appearances so far, so he gets a pass for this one. Also I realized I had almost forgotten about Daniel Elorriaga-Matra, another young and promising catcher the Braves have picked up along the line. Matra was a first round talent his JR year of high school but was injured (I think) before his SR year and fell off most peoples boards and the Braves smartly snapped him up in the 26th RD of the 2007 draft. He isn't hitting at all this year (he did hit .350 last year in the GCL), but he is still only 20 years old and has plenty of time to develop, especially with all the the other catchers in the system.

GCL Yankees 0, GCL Braves 4

C. Brewer 4IP 0H 0R 3BB 8K
E. Mora 4IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K
A. Wilson 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K

There is your No Hitter! I know it was at the lowest possible level and there were three people involved, but hey! Still a No-No. This Caleb Brewer kid has actually been pretty filthy so far this year with 29 Ks in 19.1 innings while only allowing 7 hits. As usual his walks are high at 16, but I can live with that effectively wild approach at this level.

Will the Braves make any more moves before the trade deadline

gondeee — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:28:08 -0000

Mark Bowman passes along this quote from Atlanta Braves General Manager Frank Wren:

"There's a certain chemistry and feeling that every team has and when you feel like you've reached that right balance, you are a little hesitant to make a change," Wren said. "I know the guys on this club feel good about this team right now and that's a positive. That doesn't stop you from inquiring and seeing if there are other things that you can do. But we've done quite a bit already."

I don't know that the Braves have a lot of flexibility -- both financially and prospect-wise -- to make any more moves without moving a significant piece of the current team. Besides, hitting is at such a premium around the league, and there are other teams that can afford to pay more than we can. That reality makes the Nate McLouth trade, and to a lesser extent the Ryan Church trade, great moves.

The one thing the Braves might need down the stretch is some additional bullpen help. I've been saying that bullpen help is what we would most likely trade for, but the more I think about it the more I think we don't need to. We've got several guys coming back from injury who should be able to spell some of the tired arms in the pen. The combustible amateur wall-boxer Jeff Bennett should be back within a month, and well rested could provide some good relief. Buddy Carlyle and Jorge Campillo should be back at some point this year, and of course Tim Hudson could certainly provide help in the pen if he is not needed in the rotation. Add to them other guys like Jo-Jo Reyes, the recently demoted Luis Valdez, and maybe a hot hand between Bueno, Nunez, and Gomez -- though we might be in more trouble if it came to those guys.

The story here is that we're probably okay to stand pat with the team we have right now. It also seems that the players are okay to head down the stretch with the current team, whereas in years past they would usually expect a move to be made before the deadline.

Game 45 Recap - Giants 4, Braves 0

bigjoe — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:33:48 -0000

More photos » by George Nikitin - AP

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I'm sure we all feel like Kris does over there right now. The Braves got owned by Tim Lincecum, plain and simple. There was nothing anyone could do to stop the Timmy Train. The Braves had a couple of opportunities to get some runs across, but 2 of those opportunities with RISP came with the pitcher's spot in the order up, and we know how that turned out due to the lack of Infante.

Kris Medlen pitched better last night. Not great, but better. His horrible second inning really doomed him, and he's pulling a Reyes in the fact that he seems to not be able to pitch effectifvely with runners on base. Heres a fun little stat: with men on, Medlen is allowing a OPS of 1.333, while with the bases empty, the number drops to .345. Very small sample size yes, but its telling. Jojo Reyes's splits aren't as telling, only a 140 point spike, but the numbers are horrible either way.

In news bound to please many people around here, the Braves placed Buddy Carlyle on the 15 day DL and brought Jorge Campillo off. Carlyle has been a disaster lately, and hopefully Campillo can help provide some long relief to the pen that has strugged with it lately.

Final - 5.26.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
San Francisco Giants	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	4	5	0
WP: Tim Lincecum (4 - 1) LP: Kris Medlen (0 - 2)

Complete Coverage >

Game 44 Recap: Giants 8, Braves 2

cbwilk — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:36:02 -0000

More photos » by Dino Vournas - AP

6 months ago: San Francisco Giants' Travis Ishikawa, left, is safe on a steal at second base as Atlanta Braves' Kelly Johnson complains to the umpire during the fifth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Monday, May 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Dino Vournas)

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The Atlanta offense went back to their fallow ways, as Brian McCann collected half of the team's 6 hits. Without standouts Yunel Escobar and Chipper Jones in the lineup again, the Braves were only able to collect 2 extra base hits, a Kelly Johnson triple and a Javy Vazquez double. Making matters worse, Jordan Schafer's struggles continue, as he collected the Golden Sombero, striking out in each of his 4 plate appearances.

Of course, not much went right on the pitching side of things either. The wheels fell off for Vazquez in the 5th and 6th innings, as he allowed all 5 of his runs between those two frames. And, after Jeff Bennett closed out the 6th, Buddy Carlyle came on and continued the Boyeresque streak he's been on. The time for Carlyle's exit from Atlanta has come; over his last 5 appearances, including today's game, he's allowed 12 earned runs in 7 innings.

And home plate umpire Jerry Meals deserves to get called out for his terrible performance today. He missed two interference calls when Juan Uribe obstructed Brian McCann, made a very questionable call when McCann seemed to tag out Fred Lewis at the plate, and generally had a strikezone that was wide and inconsistent.

Final - 5.25.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta Braves	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	6	0
San Francisco Giants	0	0	0	0	3	2	3	0	X	8	13	0
WP: Jonathan Sanchez (2 - 4) LP: Javier Vazquez (4 - 4)

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