SB Nation User Blog: Bravesin07

True or False

Bravesin07 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:44:34 -0000

I kinda want to have a discussion similar to John's on some prospects or former top prospects.

True or False:

Matt Wieters will put up better rookie numbers than Soto or Longoria?

Jason Heyward will reach AAA next year and will be minor league player of the year?

Austin Jackson will be Yankees starting centerfielder by the AS Break?

Will Madison Bumgarner continue to improve or crash and burn in a higher level?

Will Rick Porcello K numbers increase and get to the Majors in 2009?

Jay Bruce will crack .280 with 30 HR's?

Justin Upton will have numbers like April 2008 all of next year?

Can Evan Longoria hit .300 with 40 HR's next year?

Weathers is getting TJ

Bravesin07 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:46:21 -0000

and this is why you don't draft college closers in the 1st round. They have a bad history when drafted in the first round. Ryan Wagner, Bust. Cordero, blown out shoulder, Moskas, looking bad right now, and others in the past. I wouldn't draft a closer until the 3rd or 5th round. I would just make a starter in the minors who is lacking a changeup a closers if they have 2 plus pitches.

Is Lou Pinella the most overrated manager of all time

Bravesin07 — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:16:18 -0000

I would think he is. I know some people will say Bobby Cox won all those divisions and only won one world series. However, the Braves did play in a game 7 of a world series and two 6 game series. Lou Pinella other that the 1990 playoffs has done very little, granted he did help save baseball in Seattle. Lou had the team that won 116 games get dominanted by a good but not great yankees team in 2001 and now is on the verge of getting swept by a 84 win team. I think Torre is a much much better manager than he is, and is showing the Yankees that he is a big part of the reason they won those 4 WS under him.

Phil Hughes pitching report from Syracuse, NY

Bravesin07 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:42:44 -0000

Phil Hughes Pitching Report from Syracuse, NY

Here is my take on Phil Hughes today on the mound against the Chiefs.

1st inning: 1st pitch of the game was a 91 MPH fastball that was hit hard to the SS for an out. The next batter he threw fastballs between 92-93 MPH, threw a 73 MPH curveball, and then threw a cutter at 86 MPH that resulted in an error. The next batter he threw a 92 MPH fastball, 85 MPH cutter, and then threw a 93 MPH fastball for a K, but allowed a SB. The next batter grounded out after Hughes threw fastballs between 91-92 MPH and a 80 MPH changeup.

2nd inning: Hughes got a flyout on a 91 MPH fastball, he then walked a batter after throwing fastballs between 91-92, two 72-73 MPH curveballs, and one 83 MPH changeup. The next batter K'd on a 90 MPH fastball on 0-2 after a 92 MPH fastball and a 81 MPH changeup. The following batter struckout on a 74 MPH curveball.

3rd inning: This is where Hughes threw his hardest pitch of the day, hitting 94 I think. 1st batter K'd on a 75 MPH curveball and he threw an 87 MPH cutter against this batter. The next batter K'd on a 73 MPH curveball and threw a couple of changeup that were balls. The next batter battled against Hughes and got a bloop double on a 72 MPH curveball. The next batter hit a first pitch curveball for a hit that allowed the runner to score from 2nd. The last batter of the inning grounded out on a 92 MPH fastball.

4th inning: Hughes really didn't do much this inning other than walk a guy on a changeup. He did throw more cutters this inning and only used his curveball once, though he should have been more economical with his pitches as he retired the first two batter in the inning on 3 pitches, he threw 12 pitches after that, though he wasn't helped by an error.

5th inning: Hughes was sitting with fastball still in the 91-92 range and didn't really throw anything but his fastball. Hughes got the first batter to groundout. The 2nd batter of the inning walked on a 91 MPH fastball. The next hitter struckout on three fastballs. The last batter of the inning K'd on a 72 MPH curveball.

6th inning: 1st batter Hughes threw a 91 MPH fastball, 88 MPH(might of been a cutter or 2 seamer), and got the strikeout on a 72 MPH curveball in the dirt. Hughes then walked the next batter on a 84 MPH changeup I think(could of been a slow cutter bad angle for me on the 1st baseline). Hughes got the next batter to flyout, but the next batter Hughes allowed a hit on a 72 MPH curveball ending his day.

My notes were that Hughes has an average fastball at best that sat at 91-92 that hit 93 a few times and 94 once. He had average at best command of his changeup, despite what they said on the blog, he walked a guy on a changeup I think. His cutter was okay, he did get a few strikes with it. His curveball was very good, and was a legit out pitch today as hitter had no chance with it with two strikes. Hughes is poor at holding runners as he allowed 2 steals, and is slow in the stretch. To me, Hughes ceiling is a #3 starter who can eat innings but will never be at a top of the rotation. His best upside comp to me is Scott Baker who is a good #3 starter with the twins who can be dominant at times but very poor at times. Hughes downside is the current day Boof Bonser who is now a swingman for the Twins.

Could Joba, Hughes, and Kennedy be the next Generation K

Bravesin07 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:21:07 -0000

These three remind me of those three over a decade ago. Joba is hurt possibly as he grabbed his shoulder tonight. Hughes has been injured the last two years with a serious leg injury and rib injury. Kennedy has already been shut down once for shoulder trouble and while he's pitched good in the minors he has been bombed in the majors. Joba reminds me a lot of isringhausen as he could become a dominant closer. Hughes reminds me of Wilson who was a #1 overall prospect but never stayed heathy. Kennedy, while he hasn't blown out an elbow like Pulcipher did but he could be a AAAA pitcher. What do you guys think of this. I know i'll get ripped by some but I make a very interesting point as these three were suppost to lead the yankees into the next generation.

Jordan Schafer: A one year wonder

Bravesin07 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:28:49 -0000

What do you guys think about this. Last year at this time, Schafer was tearing up A+ ball and hitting a ton of double and playing gold glove defense. Fast forward to this year. Gets caught either with roids or knew about roids. He serves his 50 game suspension and people say, give him another chance. Well he's been back for a month in a half. Granted he hit okay in June .274 .405 .484 but he's fallen off a cliff this month .135 .297 .231 with 19 K's in 52 AB's. Overall for the year he's hitting .215 .358 .380, granted his walk pace has went up but his K's have went up too quite a bit. He also only has 15 XBH's in 158 AB's. I'm not sold on him at all and he's back to where he was hitting before last year and that was a .220-.240 hitter. I'm convinced he will never be a starting outfielder for any team.

Another trip to Binghamton with a much better report

Bravesin07 — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:37:51 -0000

Okay i'll start with Jon Neise. 1st 2 innings he was sitting at 89-91 MPH and touched 92 once. He showed a plus curve at times fooling hitters. He also threw a solidly average change up that got one swing a miss for a strikeout but he had some control issues with that pitch. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings he was sitting at 88-89 and touched 90 once but he got into trouble because he left the ball over the plate too much and he allowed some hits a few runs. The 6th inning he did allow any hits but his velocity was down to 86-87 this inning. However, in the 7th he came back throwing a bit harder sitting at 88-89 but his command was off as he walked a guy and allowed a game tying double. He did strikeout two batters in the inning, but was taken out with 2 outs in the inning. Niese final line 6.2 IP 8 H 4 ER 3 BB 7 K's 1 HBP. The wind blowing in absolutly saved him in the game though. Three balls hit off of Niese should have been homeruns but the wind knocked them down into deep flyballs. To me, Niese is no better as a 4th at best and is more likely to be like Scott Schenweis in the bullpen because he can hit the low 90's early in games.

Dan Murphy: He can hit, I left the game after the 7th because I wouldn't have gotten home until 2 AM which is not good for me so I missed his homerun. He has a sound swing that has 20 HR power in it I beleive. He got fooled though by good changeups so he needs work there. He hit an opposite field double, and just missed a homer because the wind held it up and went off the wall. Murphy thought it was gone at first and he got thrown out at 2nd. Murphy has average speed at best and he runs like a duck, not very pretty. He didn't have many opportunities at 2nd but he did make the play on his only chance he had. To me he could be a poor man's Chase Utley if he can stay at 2nd.

Fernando Martinez: The good and the bad. Great swing and he got a triple in the 1st inning, it should have been a double but the RF was terrible in the game. He just missed a homer dead center because the wind was blowing about 10 MPH in held it up to the warning track. Anywhere else in the stadium it's a homerun. However, there was plenty of bad I seen with Martinez in this game and before the game. He halfassed warming up for the game, as he didn't even really try to get ready, often finishing last out of 5 guys in a line. He has a horrible inaccurate throwing arm as he threw low and wild at times, which makes me think he's a left fielder or even a 1st baseman. There is no way i'd put him in Right with that arm, though it did have some strength in it. He got fooled pretty good by offspeed stuff which is why he grounded out the rest of the game in his remaining AB's. To me, if his offense develops, he is probably another Garrett Anderson or Carlos Lee if he can learn to take some walks.

Sabathia traded to Brewers pending physicals

Bravesin07 — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:53:31 -0000

Brewers, Indians agree on Sabathia

By Tom Haudricourt Sunday, Jul 6 2008, 05:46 PM

I just was told by a reliable club source that the Brewers have a deal in place with Cleveland for left-hander C.C. Sabathia, contingent on the paperwork being done and medical records exchanged.

But believe me, folks, that's a deal. All that other stuff is formality.

All I know so far is that top prospect Matt LaPorta is in the deal. I was told two lower-level minor leaguers also are included. The Brewers refused to include another top prospect such as Alcides Escobar or Mat Gamel.

Look for Sabathia to make his debut for the Brewers Tuesday night at Miller Park against Colorado.

I'll post more details as I get them.

http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2008/07/06/brewers-indians-agree-on-sabathia.aspx

Jeff Francoeur sent down to AA

Bravesin07 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:27:50 -0000

Quite shocking isn't it, not really to me it isn't. He sure needs a lot of work on his swing. Apparently going by the numbers(metrics) he was considered to be the worst player in baseball. If he can't get his swing back in AA, I fear we may have another Kevin Maas or Phil Plantier on our hands. What do you guys think here, can Francoeur rediscover his swing or his days of being on SI are over for good. I always like McCann better than Francoeur and though Francoeur was the most overrated player in a long time.

Fernando Martinez at the plate

Bravesin07 — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:15:32 -0000

Fernando Martinez at the plate