Any day that starts off with saying hello to Mr. Henry Aaron is a good day. Hammerin' Hank was hanging around the minor leaguers all day today, which basically lead to me staring at him in awe for the first hour or so. They gathered all the minor league guys onto one field and they took a knee and simply listened to Mr. Aaron for about five or ten minutes, which was way cool. They were all extremely polite and respectful, and it was obvious to see they wanted to listen to him and learn for the home run champ (yes I went there). After that, the boys started playing some ball...

We heard that there was going to be a simulated game on the back fields, with Julio Teheran and Randall  Delgado throwing, so we were obviously pretty excited. We just hung out all day, talking to fans and even a couple scouts, and watching the drills and taking it all in. 

Here are some quick reactions of what I saw

-Edward Salcedo looked good. He looked very relaxed and comfortable, which was great to see. I think he is going to have a solid year this year. He was driving balls right back up the middle, and showing power the other way. 

-Christian Bethancourt can't hit. He did not impress me at all at the dish. I want to think he will be able to hit enough to be a big league catcher, because defensively he is a monster. A scout from the Rays told us that Bethancourt had the best arm of any guy on the 18 teams he scouted last year, and it was not even close. 

- I really like Dave Tremblay. He seemed very in control and organized, and it was easy to tell the players respected him and were comfortable around him. 

- 2011 will be the year of Carlos Perez. He threw in the simulated game too, and he was very impressive. His change up was crazy, diving away from bats all day. I needed to remind myself that the guy is six months younger than me more than a few times. 

That's all I've got for now. I got to see a ton of guys, so just ask if you want to hear about anyone else. It was a blast and I will be bouncing back and forth between minor league camp and the big boys all week. Go Braves!

Disclaimer: I did not do this research. I simply stumbled upon this and found it very interesting.

Where is Kris Medlen? He was a 2006 draftee.

( Below is from http://gameofinches.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-kris-medlen.html )

With the trade of vasquez and extention of hudson, this sets the 2010 Braves rotation with Hudson-Hanson-Lowe-Jurrjens-Kawakami. Not bad, but it could be better. Why? Lost in this mix is a hidden gem: Kris Medlen.

Kris Medlen, who dominated the minors in 2009 (1.66 FIP, 10.51 K/9, 2.39 BB/9 in AAA last season), was called up a few weeks prior to super prospect Tommy Hanson. In 4 MLB starts, Medlen posted an ugly 6.38 ERA, but the underlying numbers show something better. Despite his struggles with command when promoted (5.40 BB/9 in his 4 starts), Medlen still managed to fool his share of hitters (9.33 K/9, 77.8% contact rate (80.5% MLB average)) and keep the ball in the yard at a respectable rate (0.98 HR/9, 1.05 MLB average). Beneath the ugly ERA was a much less ugly 4.57 FIP/xFIP. After being moved to the bullpen, Medlen’s contact rate fell to 75.3%, his strikeout rate rose to 9.67 per nine and the walk rate, which only once (AA, 2007) eclipsed 2.63 per nine in the minors, fell to an MLB-average 3.47 per nine.

The result? A stellar 2.89 FIP/3.38 xFIP in 49.1 IP from the pen. Medlen posted the 19th best FIP and 25th best xFIP of all MLB relievers who tossed 40+ innings last season (out of 176 RPs). By comparison, super closer Joe Nathan posted a 2.88 FIP last season. Yeah, Medlen is just that good. As the season progressed, Medlen just got better.

Medlen sports three pitches: a devastating change up, a quality fastball and a league-average curveball. His arsenal is so effective not just because of the quality of his stuff, but also the effectively deceptive nature of his release point (check his pitch FX data clustering)

The moral of the story here? Kris Medlen is very good. He is much better than Jair Jurrjens and Kenshin Kawakami and probably even Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson, despite the ERA disparities. The Braves are wasting a golden arm.

So... What should the Braves do with Medlen next year? Should we move Kawakami to the 'pen as a long reliever and move Medlen into the rotation? I personally like KK too much for that, but I can't decide what to do.