SB Nation User Blog: VivaLosBravos

Erik Manning on Braves Rotation

VivaLosBravos — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:51:37 -0000

Erik Manning on Braves Rotation

something most of us have thought through already. Nice to get the attention, though.

At least he didn't hit a Home Run, that would have really killed the rally

VivaLosBravos — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:00:26 -0000

At least he didn't hit a Home Run, that would have really killed the rally

Braves Rhymes

VivaLosBravos — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:45:01 -0000

I've been hanging around Talking Chop a lot lately, and some sort of creative contribution seems like ~~the only way to justify the amount of time I spend here~~ a good way to give back to the community, even if cheesy limericks were the best I could do.

Catcher, Brian McCann

via nationalsreview.files.wordpress.com

All Star selections abound,
For McCann, 60 feet from the mound,
He had problems with vision,
But throws with precision,
And his hitting simply astounds.

First Base, Adam LaRoche

via www.pghsports.com

Is LaRoche our lineup’s cure?
Is his home run power pure?
Will chicks dig his long ball?
Is he here for the long haul?
Only Frank Wren knows for sure.

Second Base, Martin Prado

via moneyball.mlblogs.com

Martin plays second base,
Albeit without much grace,
Pine tar on his right shoulder,
A Freeman placeholder?
First seems to be a better place.

Shortstop, Yunel Escobar

via cdn3.sbnation.com

Escobar plays shortstop with flair,
And though his miscues are far from rare,
He relishes the limelight,
Creating highlight after highlight,
In the field as well as his hair.

Third Base, Chipper Jones

via www3.allaroundphilly.com

The game ain’t over! hold the phones!
Up to bat comes Larry Wayne Jones,
Homers are quotidian,
For this native Floridian,
Whose stare turned Medusa to stone.

Left Field, Garret Anderson

via cdn0.sbnation.com

Garret Anderson missed spring training,
But has taken to pitcher-maiming,
He’s old but not bitter (see above),
A professional hitter,
Who rakes like he’s video gaming.

Center Field, Nate McLouth

via www2.pictures.zimbio.com

Pittsburgh’s epic firesale started,
When they sent us Nate the lion hearted,
He’s hit leadoff quite well,
Charlie Morton can go to hell,
And who cares that Gork and Locke have departed?

Right Field, Matt Diaz, Ryan Church, Jeff Francoeur

via citifield.files.wordpress.com

The Frenchy trade had us all floored,
Across the fanbase, champagne was poured,
Diaz and Church,
Sure haven’t done worse,
And make us proud to put OBP on the ‘board.

Rotation: Javer Vazquez, Kenshin Kawakami, Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens

via cdn3.sbnation.com

Our rotation is better than fair,
With an ace like Javier,
Though his persona is meekish,
His K/9 is Lincecum freakish,
And he’d have owned the AL had he been there (STL).

via sportsscribes.net

A foray into the international market,
Landed us a top tier target,
Kenshin’s slow breaking ball,
Makes hitters feel small,
They return to the bench, and park it.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

His fastball has natural sink,
And his face gets rather pink,
Though his contract’s an onus,
Lowe's stuff can be a bonus,
And perspiration, not performance, makes him stink.

via classic17.files.wordpress.com

His Gwinnett days were sheer domination,
As the FO delayed his arbitration,
But his 12 to 6 curve,
Made hitters unnerved,
And advanced him to the heart of Braves Nation.

via www4.pictures.zimbio.com

Haters doubted a repeat from Jair Jurrjens,
His response: some statistical surgin’
Another Curacao-er,
With Andrew’s star power,
Has the NL East funeral dirgin’

Closer, Rafael Soriano

via assets.espn.go.com

Behold Rafael Soriano,
Who takes hitters on mano a mano,
Opponents’ fans dread high leverage,
And turn to alcoholic beverage,
To escape Raffy’s deadly bravado.

Ruben Amaro just cleaned Mark Shapiro's clock on this trade.

VivaLosBravos — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:59:22 -0000

Ruben Amaro just cleaned Mark Shapiro's clock on this trade.

Dave Cameron

Phillie Phleecing on BtB

VivaLosBravos — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:17:04 -0000

Phillie Phleecing on BtB

Still not sure how I feel about this.

Ricciardi's offer to Philly

VivaLosBravos — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:51:38 -0000

Ricciardi's offer to Philly

Apparently the Jays GM wants three of the Phillies best young talents in exchange for Roy Halladay in J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek, and Dominic Brown. A couple of things jump out at me.

The first is that most had assumed this deal would include either Drabek or Happ (rather than both) and two or three hitters.

Secondly, it's incredible to think that Philadelphia could send three excellent prospects to Toronto and still have one of the top farm systems in baseball.

Prado Producing in Atlanta

VivaLosBravos — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:34:42 -0000

Prado Producing in Atlanta

This article predicts a regression from Prado, but a rather mild one. Not too surprising since his high BA is somewhat validated by a very low K rate and, apparently, great contact numbers.

The Dugout: The Most Even Trade Ever

VivaLosBravos — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:51:51 -0000

The Dugout: The Most Even Trade Ever

I disagree with value assessment here, but the humor hits home regardless.

Vazquez's All Star snub statistically foolish

VivaLosBravos — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:25:08 -0000

Although a 5-7 record rarely merits all star consideration, the omission of Javier Vazquez from the Midsummer Classic is still a little puzzling.

As impressed as I have been with Javy this year, I did a little digging and discovered that Vazquez has a lower FIP and more strikeouts this year than every starting pitcher on the National League squad with the exception of Tim Lincecum, who will likely start the game for the Senior Circuit.

Here's a look at what Javy's done compared to the 8 SPs who were fortunate enough to make the roster:

Javier Vazquez, ATL, 2.55/ 130

Johan Santana, NYM, 3.71/ 104
Jason Marquis, COL, 4.19/ 51
Ted Lilly, CHC, 4.00/ 88
Josh Johnson, FLA, 2.92/ 97
Dan Haren, ARI, 2.76/ 113
Matt Cain, SFG, 3.95/ 88
Chad Billingsley, LAD, 3.27/ 110
Tim Lincecum, SFG, 1.96/ 141

Clearly Timmy is head and shoulders above the rest of this group, but Javy comfortably ranks second in both of these categories, which I consider two of the most important in evaluating a pitcher's performance. I understand guys like Lilly and Marquis are the only representative from their respective teams, but it's hard to understand how those concerned could shut out a pitcher that has had as dominant a first half as Mr. Vazquez.