SB Nation - Greg Norton

Four Atlanta Braves file for Free Agency

gondeee — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:35:24 -0000

The Atlanta Braves had four of five eligible players file for free agency yesterday. First baseman Adam LaRoche, outfielder Garret Anderson, pinch hitter Greg Norton, and reliever Mike Gonzalez all filed for free agency, leaving only reliever Rafael Soriano yet to file.

The two relievers, Gonzalez and Soriano, are both type-A free agents, meaning the Braves would receive two first round draft picks (1 and 1S) is they offered either arbitration and they signed elsewhere. Because they are expected to draw interest from several teams, the Braves will likely offer arbitration to both players, though they may only seek to actually try and re-sign Gonzalez, seeing him as the less costly of the two.

LaRoche and Anderson are both type-B free agents, and Atlanta would receive only one first round (supplemental) draft pick as compensation were they to be offered arbitration and sign elsewhere. It depends on how the Braves plan to approach this off-season and the stated goal of adding right-handed power bat as to whether they will offer LaRoche arbitration.

For the record, I'd like to see the Braves offer Gonzo, Soriano, and LaRoche all arbitration. If they did sign elsewhere with teams that had one of the 15-best records in baseball last year then the Braves could find themselves with 3 first round draft picks and 3 supplemental first round picks -- possibly 6 of the first 50 selections in the draft. By having extra picks, the Braves may also be less fearful about going after other type-A free agents and losing their own first round pick.

Poll

Which free agent would you most like to see the Braves retain?

Garret Anderson

25 votes

Mike Gonzalez

293 votes

Adam LaRoche

1061 votes

Greg Norton

21 votes

Rafael Soriano

308 votes

1708 votes | Poll has closed

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:40:29 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

Former Brewers manager Ned Yost looks great with someone else's logo behind him.

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Some things to read while keeping your pimp hand fuzzy.

The search for a new pitching coach might be about to get much more interesting: Rick Peterson, considered by most the odds on favorite to get the job, is also interested in the vacancy in Florida. If Peterson turns out to be unavailable, the search may start from scratch.

Meanwhile, yesterday was interview day for Ned Yost in Houston. Inexplicably, Yost still doesn't seem to understand why he was let go in Milwaukee, and said this when asked about it:

"Don't lose 10 out of 13 games is the best thing I can figure," Yost told reporters in Houston, "and hope your offense stays on track so you don't struggle to score runs."

Alyson Footer also quoted him as saying the Astros are "one starter away from having a really good staff." If the Astros hire Yost, fans in Houston can look forward to a 2010 season full of "really battling" and "being one pitch away from getting out of it."

In yesterday's Mug, I noted that Mike Burns had been outrighted to AAA, but neglected to mention that he's injured: He presumably still has the labrum pathology that he was diagnosed with at the end of the season. It's a bit more challenging to demote an injured player, but TheJay has a look at the CBA's rules regarding such transactions.

I also mentioned Jon Heyman's decision to leave Prince Fielder off his MVP ballot. Thankfully, we're not the only ones upset about it: James Bailey of Hardball Cooperative has an in-depth look at Heyman's ballot, and the reasons Fielder should be on it.

Plunk Everyone has compiled a list of difficulty rankings for several stats around baseball: Follow the link to see where Jason Kendall, Ryan Braun, Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan, Prince Fielder, Braden Looper, Mike Cameron, Yovani Gallardo and Felipe Lopez rank among the best in baseball at the things they do.

If we learned one thing about Jody Gerut this season, it's this: he's miscast as a bench player. Among the 20 most frequently used pinch hitters in baseball this season, Gerut ranked 17th in OPS off the bench, ahead of only Mark Loretta, Greg Norton and Greg Dobbs. I have a feeling we'll have "Who is the real Jody Gerut?" conversations on more than one occasion this winter.

Further proof that it'd be really, really difficult to get fair value back in a deal involving Ryan Braun: Rowland's Office has a hypothetical deal sending Braun to the Braves for Jair Jurrjens, one of the game's top young pitchers. Even if you assume their expected values were exactly the same, Jurrjens has a few days over 2 years of service time, meaning he's under team control for four more seasons (through 2013), and will be arbitration eligible after next season. Braun, meanwhile, is under contract and cost controlled for two extra seasons (through 2015), and his salary never exceeds $12 million.

(I use Cot's Contracts all the time for info like that, and frequently forget to cite them. If you need contract info, Cot's is the place for it.)

In the AFL and on the farm:

Project Prospect's Friday topic of conversation is Lorenzo Cain, who's off to a pretty good start in the AFL and is expected to play roughly 4 times a week in an effort to bounce back from a rough 2009 season. They've also got a nice primer on what to expect from the AFL and they're looking for a scouting report on the speed of Taylor Green.
Wisconsin Sports Tap has a look at the season that was for the Huntsville Stars. It's kinda bleak down there, but Jonathan Lucroy is a nice bright spot.
Actually, statistics would suggest it was pretty bleak all over the Brewer minor leagues this season. Baseball America has the final batting leaderboards for 2009, and the only Brewer appearances are among the leaders in stolen bases (Eric Farris had 70) and strikeouts (Brock Kjeldgaard, Joe Koshansky and Brendan Katin all made the list).
As noted in BA's Minor League Transactions, the Brewers released 12 minor leaguers yesterday (FanShot). The most notable name on the list was 2004 third round pick Josh Wahpehpah.
Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel and Angel Salome all made Baseball America's list of the top 20 prospects in the Pacific Coast League. Tom Haudricourt had mentioned this previously, but that link will take you to the team's press release.
John Sickels of Minor League Ball has a look back at his top 50 pitching prospects entering 2009, including a pre-suspension Jeremy Jeffress.

The Hendies tournament continues over at Brew City Sports: Follow the link to cast your vote in the Excrement Eight.

If you like your roundups of Brewer news, but wish there was less reading involved and maybe a bit more rambling, then you may be the perfect candidate to try out View From Bernie's Chalet's new video blog.

Or, if you like Brewer related fan fiction, you may want to try out Witrado's Quest and Doug Melvin's Hunt for October.

I'm sure this is exactly what Major League Baseball had in mind for the postseason: After a long delay between rounds, baseball is back and the main topics of conversation are weather and divorce. Jon Heyman thinks the Yankees and Angels will get the game in tonight, but could have a hard time tomorrow. Diamond Leung has the scoop on each side's attorney in the McCourt fiasco.

It could be worse, though: Fans in Texas aren't getting playoff baseball, and they're also not getting their playoff ticket money back until sometime in November. (h/t 6-4-2) The money is reportedly "tied up with MLB," and may already have been used to pay off some of the cash the Rangers reportedly had to borrow to make payroll this season.

If you ever doubted the usefulness of Twitter, doubt no longer: In amidst conversation about last night's NLCS opener, Jason of IIATMS presented me with a Nickname of the Year contender: Ronnie "Staypuft" Belliard.

On this day in 1982, the Brewers scored six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 7-5 victory over the Cardinals, evening the World Series at two games apiece.

Happy birthday today to Freddy Parejo, who spent the 2009 season patrolling the outfields in Huntsville and Nashville and turns 25 today. Birthday wishes also go out to Brian Harper, who spent the 1994 season as a Brewer and turns 50.

That's all I have for you today, unless you wanted to read about the rebound of Krispy Kreme or the rising price of chicken wings. I found both of those links via C. Trent Rosecrans.

Drink up.

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.

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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).

Washington Nationals Win Season Finale In 15 Innings, Sweep Atlanta Braves To Finish 2009 59-103.

Ed Chigliak — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:23:55 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

2 months ago: Washington Nationals' Elijah Dukes takes his base with a smile after being walked by Atlanta Braves' Boone Logan during the 15th inning of their baseball game Sunday Oct. 4, 2009, in Atlanta. Dukes later scored on a hit by Alberto Gonzalez to win 2-1. (AP Photo/John Amis)

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SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPP!!!!!!!

Game 162 of 2009 took 4 hours, 18 minutes and 15 innings to finish and when it was over the Washington Nationals had completed a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves for their seventh-straight win (and second-straight sweep) to end a 2009 season they started 0-7 before recording their first win...And, yes, that is the first time that's ever happened...DC starter J.D. Martin allows just one-run on 6 hits in 6.0 IP, giving up Nate McLouth's solo HR to leadoff the sixth and put Atlanta ahead 1-0. Braves' righty Tim Hudson gives up just 4 hits through 6.0 IP, but three-straight singles from Alberto Gonzalez, Jorge Padilla and pinch hitter Adam Dunn bring in the tying run in the seventh and it remains tied through fourteen before Elijah Dukes takes a one-out walk and Wil Nieves and Alberto Gonzalez hit back to back two-out singles to score Dukes for the winning run...

Nationals win, 2-1 final.

Miss The Game?

• The DC Faithful Were Watching!!! (634 comments) vs The Talking Chop Open Thread (718 comments)

• "Game 162: Finally, some history we can call our own!" - Doghouse.

• BACKPAGE: Dunn Doesn't Reach 40 - J.D. Martin Finishes Strong - Strasburg To Pitch Tomorrow.

• For The Completist, Full (and I mean FULL) Game Report After The JUMP...

Nationals finish 2009 59-103.

BACKPAGE:

• Dunn Doesn't Reach 40...Adam Dunn hit his 38th HR of 2009 on September 22nd against Los Angeles, leaving the Nationals' big left-handed hitting slugger with 10 games to hit the 39th and 40th HR's of 2009. Had he reached 40 HR's for the sixth-straight season, Dunn would've been one of only four players in MLB history (along with Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa and Babe Ruth) to hit 40+ HR's in six-straight seasons, leaving him just one behind Ruth's industry standard of seven-straight 40 HR seasons. Dunn, however, managed just 3 hits in his next 36 at bats (2 of them doubles, but no HR's) heading into today's game, and when he wasn't in the starting lineup, the DC Faithful knew it was over. Having failed to reach 40 HR's for the first time in six seasons didn't seem to upset Dunn too much. The Big Walky, Big Opposite Field, The Big First Baseman, singled in one of Washington's two runs in a pinch hit appearance this afternoon to finish the season with a .267 AVG, 29 doubles, 38 HR's and 105 RBI's.

• J.D. Martin Finishes Strong...With no-decisions in his last 4 starts, J.D. Martin finishes the 2009 campaign (5-4) with a 4.44 ERA, one of only two Nationals' pitchers to finish the season with a record above .500. (Shairon Martis finished (5-3), though he was sent down in mid-June and didn't return). In his final start of 2009, Martin throws 73 pitches, 50 for strikes in 6.0 IP, allowing just 6 hits and 1 ER. The Nationals' 26-year-old right-hander, who was (8-3) with a 2.66 ERA in 15 starts, 1 relief appearance and 88.0 IP with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs before making his MLB debut on July 20th, 2009, might just have pitched his way onto the 20-10 roster.

• Strasburg To Pitch Tomorrow...I know it's a cliche to say that the 2010 season starts the second the final out of 2009 is recorded, but with MLB.com's Bill Ladson writing this afternoon that '09 #1 overall pick, Stephen Strasburg would be making his first appearance as a National tomorrow afternoon in an instructional league game against Detroit, it is actually accurate. Instructional League, The Arizona Fall League, the Dominican Winter League, baseball never really stops, and neither do we...see you...tomorrow.

GAME REPORT:

Washington Nationals At Atlanta Braves. Game 162 Of 162.

Justin Maxwell vs Tim Hudson to start the last game of the season, and a brutal two-strike bender gets J-Max swinging for the first out of the day. Ian Desmond takes a 2-2 fastball on the low outside corner for a called strike three. Pete Orr smokes a single through second for a two-out hit in front of Elijah Dukes. Dukes rolls the third out to first to end the opening frame...Jorge Padilla bounces off the wall as he closes the glove on a fly ball out from Nate McLouth. Pete Orr dives toward the third base line but can’t get to Omar Infante’s line drive double. Martin Prado pops out to second. Garrett Anderson grounds out to first, inning over.

Mike Morse grounds weakly to third to start the second. Josh Bard likes the first pitch he sees and he grounds out to second. Alberto Gonzalez flies to right to end the Nationals’ half...Adam LaRoche flies out to right field. Yunel Escobar gives Dukes more work. Kelly Johnson grounds to Morse at first to end the second.

Jorge Padilla swings wildly over a full-count sinker. J.D. Martin stares strike three all the way in. Justin Maxwell walks with two down. Ian Desmond hits a high chopper that dies in the grass halfway to third, refusing to go foul. Pete Orr grounds to LaRoche at first and it’s 0-0 in the third...Clint Sammons skies one to right for Elijah Dukes to get under. Tim Hudson lines a one-out single to center and the oh-oh-oh-ing starts in Atlanta. Nate McLouth takes a 2-2 slider on the outside edge. Omar Infante flies out to left.

Elijah Dukes takes a low full-count slider but Tim Hudson gets the call. Mike Morse flies out to right. Josh Bard slips a hard-hit grounder by first and hustles his way to second. Alberto Gonzalez grounds out to end the Nationals’ fourth...Martin Prado flies out to Elijah Dukes in right. Garrett Anderson pops out over short, and J.D. Martin gets a fly ball from Adam LaRoche to end the fourth scoreless.

Jorge Padilla hits a fly ball out to Nate McLouth in center field for Atlanta. J.D. Martin can’t handle what Hudson’s throwing, but Justin Maxwell just takes and takes and walks, then tries to take more but gets caught trying to steal second, no score after four and a half...Yunel Escobar takes strike three and has few choice bi-lingual words for the Ump. Kelly Johnson singles through second with one down. Clint Sammons flies out to Justin Maxwell in center.

Ian Desmond grounds out to third. Pete Orr pops out to third. Elijah Dukes hits a two-out single to left field, but Mike Morse’s infield pop ends the top of the sixth...J.D. Martin gives up a long fly ball to right on an 0-1 change to Nate McLouth, who puts it over the wall for a 1-0 lead. Jorge Padilla sprints to the corner to catch the first out off of Omar Infante’s bat. Martin Prado drives a single by a lunging Ian Desmond at second. Garrett Anderson lines out to Jorge Padilla in left for out No. 2. Adam LaRoche lines to left field, Jorge Padilla comes up throwing and nails Prado trying for third.

Josh Bard leads off the seventh against Tim Hudson. Bard grounds out to second. Alberto Gonzalez singles to center and Jorge Padilla follows with a second-straight single and Adam Dunn gets a PH chance. Dunn lines a hanging bender to right to score Gonzalez from second for a 1-1 tie!!! Justin Maxwell K’s/fails swinging through an 0-2 fastball upstairs and inside. Ian Desmond grounds out to first to strand two. 1-1 in the seventh...Yunel Escobar sends the first pitch from Tyler Clippard soaring into center field for Justin Maxwell. Kelly Johnson K’s swinging through a two-strike change. Clint Sammons K’s looking at a fastball inside.

Pete Orr grounds out to second to start the Nationals’ eighth. Braves’ reliever Peter Moylan walks Elijah Dukes with one down. Mike Morse grounds to Yunel Escobar to Kelly Johnson to Adam LaRoche at first, double play...Chipper Jones guides a high outside heater through short for a single. Nate McLouth gets a sac bunt down and gets tagged out by Clippard as Chipper moves up. Pete Orr looks Chipper back to second and throws out Omar Infante on a weak grounder. Martin Prado flies to deep center, but Justin Maxwell gets there, no problem.

Josh Bard pops up a 2-1 pitch from Rafael Soriano. Alberto Gonzalez takes a one-out walk in front of pinch hitter Josh Willingham. The Hammer K’s swinging through a high heater. Cristian Guzman grounds out to end the Nationals’ ninth...Ron Villone gets a groundout to third from Garrett Anderson. Adam LaRoche K’s swinging through a 2-2 bender upstairs. Yunel Escobar keeps hope alive for Atlanta with a two-out single through second. Kelly Johnson hits a broken bat blooper to second and the last game will take more than nine innings to decide.

Kris Medlen gets Justin Maxwell swinging to start the tenth. Ian Desmond rrrrips a grounder by third base and into the corner for a one-out double to left. Pete Orr pops out to short center. Elijah Dukes grounds out to second to end the top of the tenth...Ron Villone’s back in the tenth against Clint Sammons, who flies out to left. Pinch hitter Greg Norton takes a one-out walk. Nate McLouth K’s swinging through a looping bender over the middle. Jason Bergmann on for Villone against Omar Infante. Infante battles, but K’s swinging through a full-count slider!!

Kenshin Kawakami vs Mike Morse in the eleventh. Morse sends a dribbler by Adam LaRoche at first and Omar Infante misplays it to give Morse second. Wil Nieves tries the sac bunt and hits it too hard, Morse cut down at third. Alberto Gonzalez grounds to Yunel Escobar to Kelly Johnson to Adam LaRoche, double play...Saul "Sa-ool" Rivera pops up Martin Prado. Reid Garecki K’s swinging through a high fastball. Adam LaRoche grounds to first to end the eleventh.

Josh Willingham singles to left and takes second on a sac bunt from Saul Rivera. Justin Maxwell vs Kenshin Kawakami. Maxwell can’t hold up and he K’s swinging at a low fastball for the second out. Ian Desmond up when a wild pitch from Kawakami gets by Clint Sammons. Hammer to third. Ian Desmond lines to left and it’s...caught, Omar Infante makes a shoestring catch to rob Desmond...Saul Rivera gets a weak grounder from Yunel Escobar for the first out. Kelly Johnson rips one to first, Mike Morse knocks it down and tosses to Rivera covering. Clint Sammons shatters his bat but singles with two down. Pinch hitter Brian McCann grounds back to the mound and it’s on to the thirteenth.

Eric O’Flaherty takes over on the mound for Atlanta in the thirteenth. Pete Orr grounds out to second. Elijah Dukes flies out to center. Mike Morse K’s swinging...Nate McLouth flies out to the track in center field for Justin Maxwell. Omar Infante lines a double on one hop and over the wall in center with one down. Saul Rivera walks Martin Prado in front of Brooks Conrad, who flies out harmlessly to center. Adam LaRoche grounds out to first, and it’s on to the fourteenth...

Manny Acosta takes over against Wil Nieves, who walks to start the frame. Alberto Gonzalez flies out unproductively to center field. Josh Willingham can’t hold up on a low two-strike heater. Pinch hitter Ryan Zimmerman drives a double to center, McLouth cuts it off and Nieves stops at second. Justin Maxwell walks to load the bases for Ian Desmond...Logan Kensing’s on for DC. Yunel Escobar starts the Braves’ half with a line drive single to left. Kelly Johnson grounds to second, Alberto Gonzalez to Ian Desmond to Mike Morse, double play. Clint Sammons grounds back to the mound.

Pete Orr K’s looking to start the fifteenth. Boone Logan, the Braves’ right-hander, walks Elijah Dukes with one down. Mike Morse flies out unproductively to left. Wil Nieves singles to short right to move Dukes up. Alberto Gonzalez lines an RBI single to the left-center gap!! Dukes scores, 2-1 Nationals!!! Josh Willingham K’s looking to end the top of the frame...Logan Kensing vs Javier Vazquez. Vazquez grounds one off Logan Kensing’s pitching hand, Ian Desmond picks it up and throws out the pinch hitting pitcher. Nate McLouth K’s swinging over a sinker. Omar Infante singles up the middle with two down. Martin Prado drills an 0-2 pitch to left center, second and third with two down. Brooks Conrad K’s trying to check his swing and it’s over. Nationals win, 2-1 final.

Nationals finish season 59-103.

Game 133 Recap: Braves 7, Marlins 8

gondeee — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:49:20 -0000

More photos » by Alan Diaz - AP

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Ugh! That was a heart breaker. First we go ahead in the first, and Javier Vazquez escapes a bases loaded jam of his own in the first. Then the Marlins tie it on a homer in the third, then we take the lead in the fifth. Then the bottom drops out of the game in the sixth when the Marlins score 5 runs -- I don't think I was watching the same game Bobby Cox was trying to manage at that point. Why not use Peter Moylan to get out of a bases loaded one-out jam like you did last night? Why use Kris Medlen in that situation.

It looked like all hope was lost, then in the seventh, Chipper Jones laced a pinch-hit 3-run double to bring the Braves within one run. Then with a chance to tie the game with a runner on third and only one out, the absolute waste of space pinch hitter Greg Norton strikes out -- useless.

But a ray of hope. With the first pitch in the ninth inning Yunel Escobar hit a game-tying homerun. Then we came back to earth, and Wes Helms took a Mike Gonzalez 2-2 pitch over the teal monster for the walk-off win. Shame. We had a lot of other opportunities in this game, but we couldn't make 'em stick.

Oh well. We played them hard, and they did the same. We still have a chance to win the series on Thursday.

Final - 9.2.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta Braves	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	1	7	10	1
Florida Marlins	0	0	2	0	0	5	0	0	1	8	13	3
WP: Leo Nunez (4 - 4) LP: Mike Gonzalez (3 - 4)

Complete Coverage >

Game 131 Recap: Braves 5, Marlins 1

gondeee — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:57:16 -0000

More photos » by Alan Diaz - AP

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That's about how I expected this game to go. The Braves get no-hit through 5 and two-thirds, then we come back and get 3 two-out RBIs and take the lead for good. Pretty much a typical Braves win this year -- we look completely over matched offensively and then somehow wake up and play some baseball.

Marlins starter Josh Johnson had complete command of the game through 6 innings. Matt Diaz broke up the no-hitter with two-out in the fifth, but the real damage came in the seventh. With 2-outs and runners on first and third, Omar Infante laced a 2-run triple into the cavernous outfield at whatever the name of the Marlins stadium is now. Then David Ross hit a seeing-eye single back up the middle to score Infante. Omar's triple was the only extra-base hit for Atlanta on the evening.

Back to back singles by Adam LaRoche and Yunel Escobar in the eighth plated two more runs for Atlanta.

Kenshin Kawakami had a good outing and probably could have gone deeper into the game. Through 6 innings of 6-hit, no-walk, 1-run ball, Kawakami threw only 75 pitches (51 strikes) while striking out 5. They pinch-hit for him in the top of the seventh attempting to get more runs, but they called Greg Norton's number, and he, well, he struck out -- to no one's surprise. It will be interesting to see what the Braves do with the rotation, after a great start from Kawakami, and Tim Hudson returning to the mound tomorrow.

Final - 8.31.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	5	8	0
Florida Marlins	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	8	0
WP: Kenshin Kawakami (7 - 10) LP: Josh Johnson (13 - 4)

Complete Coverage >

Why Is Eric Bruntlett a Phillie?

David S. Cohen — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:19:21 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

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Eric Bruntlett has a really thick beard. . . . and that's about all I can say that isn't entirely negative about Eric Bruntlett this year.

It's hard to overstate how utterly worthless Bruntlett has been for the Phillies this year. Three numbers really put things in perspective:

425, 4, and -10.4

425: This is Bruntlett's rank in BA, OBP, and OPS out of 425 MLB hitters with 75 or more plate appearances. His batting average is .129. His OBP is .198. His OPS is .398. No, those aren't typos. To put .398 in perspective, ten current members of the Phillies have an individual component of OPS (SLG or OBP) higher than Brutnlett's OPS. In terms of rankings, Bruntlett is just slightly better than 420th in SLG. His .200 SLG is good for 423rd, beating out Brent Lillibridge and Greg Norton.

4: This is Bruntlett's OPS+. He's never been a stellar hitter, of course, but his OPS+ was 55 last year, which is incredible in comparison. 4? Did you know the stat could go that low for someone who earns a paycheck from a major league team?

-10.4: This is Bruntlett's VORP. This is actually good for 416th our of 425 players with 75 or more plate appearances. But, what makes Bruntlett's VORP particularly atrocious is that he posted this -10.4 VORP in only 98 plate appearances. Everyone in the majors who has posted a worse VORP has done so with many more plate appearances. Basically, Bruntlett doesn't play much, but when he does he really makes the Phillies worse. To put Bruntlett's VORP in perspective, Brad Lidge has a -11.0 VORP and we all know what he's done to hurt this team.

So why is Bruntlett a Phillie? Because he plays middle infield, so he's the only player on their active roster who can sub for Jimmy Rollins or Chase Utley. But there is no possible way that ~~Pablo Ozuna or~~ Miguel Cairo would be any worse than Bruntlett in that role. They're both righties just like Bruntlett, but they're both hitting to the tune of a .730+ OPS for the IronPigs. Neither is going to do anything special at the plate for the Phillies, but both are more worthy of filling the 25th roster spot than Bruntlett currently is. And I can't imagine there isn't someone who has cleared waivers in the past few weeks who wouldn't help this team.

I know that who gets an additional 30 plate appearances for the Phillies between now and the end of the season is not the most pressing issue of the day for the Phillies. But, right now Charlie Manuel is working with a 24 man team. Shouldn't he have 25 players at his disposal like every other manager?

Game 115 Recap: Phillies 3, Braves 2

royhobbs — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:22:35 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

4 months ago: Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino goes to the wall to retire Atlanta Braves' Brian McCann and end the fifth inning of a baseball game in Atlanta, Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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To me, these are the types of losses that hurt the most. There are no real excuses, or reasons to point at why the Braves failed to win this baseball game. You can't be mad at the umps, you can't be mad at any particular player, you can't be mad at Greg Norton; he nursed out a walk. You can't really be mad at Bobby Cox, who showed he was serious by going with his 1-2 bullpen options in the 8th and 9th. Both teams played good, hard baseball tonight, and the Phillies just got the better end of it.

Jair Jurrjens did his job, by contributing seven innings, with the exception of the fourth inning, were all solid, and economical, with him throwing first-pitch strikes to something like 21 of the first batters he faced, and 74 of his 103 total pitches all thrown for strikes. His only true mistake was the first pitch strike to Chase Utley in the top of the 4th, who blasted it out to deep right field. And despite the Braves showing some good fortitude by making up for the brief defecit immediately in the following bottom half of the inning with a Ryan Church double, scoring Yunel Escobar, they could provide no further offense the remainder of the game.

Unfortunately his counterpart in Joe Blanton, despite allowing baserunners in every inning, spread them out well, and got out of the messes for minimal damage in seven effective innings.

The Braves stranded eight men on base, but this isn't one of those games where we could look back and simply blame Jeff Francoeur or Jordan Schafer for untimely strikeouts and/or GIDPs. The Philadelphia outfield was absolutely everywhere this particular evening, hauling in every flyball or warning track shot, with a little bit of an assist to Mother Nature who was blowing inward from right field most of the evening. Despite the 1-for-12 performance from our 4-5-6 hitters, they put the balls in play, but between Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth, they managed to catch nearly everything hit up in the air. As a team, the Braves struck out a paltry three times, which is positive.

There were two key plays in this game, I would have to say - in the 5th inning, with Nate McLouth on third, Brian McCann demolishes a pitch to straightaway-center. All the people around me began to stand, and the collective gasp of 36,000 people awaiting to see the beauty of runs, and then Shane Victorino plasters himself against the outfield wall, and peels himself off, with a baseball in his glove. Ensue 36,000 people groaning. Had the highlight catch not occurred, it was a guaranteed off-the-wall go-ahead RBI double.

And then we have in the top of the 9th, Rafael Soriano hanging a slider, which Ryan Howard blasts into left-center seats, to take the lead, and despite the mediocrity of 2009 Brad Lidge, combined with the Braves' capability to frustrate and not make life easy for Lidge, the end result is still the same, with Lidge recording the cumbersome save, for the Phillies win.

As for Soriano, some are already wondering what the deal is - is something wrong with him, or is it just the law of averages reeling him back in from his previous four months of more-or-less sheer dominance? Honestly, this is the only part where I scratch my head, and wish Bobby were still using the Soriano/Mike Gonzalez tandem based on match-ups versus roles.

Tomorrow's another day, and let's hope the Braves can turn the tables and keep this streak of winning series up. And goody for us, FOX is picking up the game for wide-spread regional action, which also means funky start time at 4:05 p.m. EST. Kenshin Kawakami takes the hill against Cole Hamels.

Final - 8.14.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia Phillies	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	6	1
Atlanta Braves	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	0
WP: Ryan Madson (4 - 4) SV: Brad Lidge (22) LP: Rafael Soriano (1 - 4)

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Billingsley Short But Sweet As Dodgers Rip Braves, 9-1

Eric Stephen — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:55:32 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

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Chad Billingsley was wonderful for five innings tonight, just as he was Tuesday in St. Louis. However, his night was cut short again, although this time as a precaution as Billingsley felt uncomfortable after a pitch in the bottom of the fifth. He did stay in the game, long enough to strike out Greg Norton to end the inning, but the ESPN replays seemed to show a potential hyper-extension of his left knee. However, Charley Steiner on the radio broadcast later reported that Billingsley's malady was just a cramp, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

While he was in there, Billingsley allowed only a pair of doubles and a walk, while striking out nine Braves. Matt Kemp provided all the support the Dodgers would need, with a towering three-run home run to dead center in the fifth inning. Kemp had five RBI, and was one of three Dodgers with three hits (with Andre Ethier and James Loney).

The Dodger offense finally broke out, on the final game of the road trip, pounding out 19 hits on their way to nine runs. Mark Loretta, in a three for 32 slump coming in, and starting at third base in place of the injured Casey Blake, collected two hits himself, including an RBI single in the fourth inning. Every Dodger offensive starter got on base at least twice tonight.

Even Jason Schmidt joined the offensive attack, getting a single in the sixth inning after being sent up as a pinch hitter; the byproduct of an injury with an already short bench. Schmidt ended up scoring, too. Tonight was the first hit and run for Schmidt since he homered in the home opener in 2007.

Manny Ramirez did have a single and a walk tonight, but he is in the midst of a slump in which he has no RBI in his last 43 plate appearances, since the Bobbleslam.

After Billingsley's precautionary early exit, Scott Elbert played the role of long man tonight, pitching two perfect innings before giving up a run in the eighth, his third inning of work.

The Dodgers return home overnight tonight, and will face Milwaukee to start a seven-game homestand tomorrow night. Clayton Kershaw will oppose Manny Parra in game one.

WP - Chad Billingsley (11-6): 5 IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts

LP - Jair Jurrjens (9-8): 5 IP, 10 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

Box Score

Dodgers Let One Slip Out Of Their Grasp

Eric Stephen — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:38:50 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

It was too little, too late for Russell Martin and the Dodgers today in Atlanta.

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Missed opportunities were the theme of the day in Atlanta, as the Dodgers and Randy Wolf lost to Old Friend Derek Lowe and the Braves, 4-3.

The bottom of the sixth inning was one Russell Martin would sure like to have back. Leading 3-2, with two outs and Adam LaRoche on first base, Martin threw an attempted pickoff play down the right field line, allowing LaRoche to move into scoring position. LaRoche isn't exactly a speedster, and is four for 12 in career stolen base attempts. I'm willing to entertain the idea that a pickoff throw was to keep LaRoche from straying too far off the bag at first, but is it worth it trying to pickoff someone so slow?

The next batter, Diory Hernandez -- he of the .145/.198/.224 line entering today -- lofted a single to right field. Andre Ethier uncorked a strong throw home that was in plenty of time to nail LaRoche at the plate, but Martin dropped the throw. Wolf then allowed another single, this time to Greg Norton -- hitting .135/.286/.173 coming in -- which scored Hernandez for the go-ahead run.

The Dodgers could have built a bigger lead by scoring earlier in the game. The Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out, and cashed in two runs, but also had runners on first and third with one out, but a Matt Kemp strikeout and Russell Martin lineout ended the rally.

In the top of the seventh, Orlando Hudson doubled to deep center with one out, but was doubled off second base when he ran on contact on Juan Pierre's line drive to center field, which was caught on a diving play by Nate McLouth.

Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano retired the Dodgers in order over the last two innings to close out the game.

Among the positives for the Dodgers was that Hong-Chih Kuo continued his comeback, pitching for the third time in four days. Kuo retired the side in the seventh, striking out Garret Anderson to end the inning. Since being activated off the disabled list Monday, Kuo has retired all 11 batters he has faced (that he didn't intentionally walk).

With Kuo's returned health, and the anticipated return of Ronald Belisario, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, the Dodger bullpen looks as solid as it has ever been.

Ethier homered for the second straight game, and is hitting .412/.500/.784 over his last 12 games.

Wolf pitched six innings for the seventh straight start, and for the 19th time in 23 starts this season.

Doug Mientkiewicz, who played in four rehabilitation games in Albuquerque, returned to Los Angeles today, where he will be reevaluated by the training staff while continuing to train at Dodger Stadium.

Chad Billingsley faces off against Jair Jurrjens tomorrow night on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, as the Dodgers try to win the series.

WP - Derek Lowe (11-7): 6 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts

LP - Randy Wolf (5-6): 6 IP, 9 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 2 walks, 7 strikeouts

Sv - Rafael Soriano (16): 1 IP, 1 strikeout

Box Score