Arena The Atlanta Braves Thread

Only a half-game up now. Let's hope the Braves turn it around this week.

 

Badly need to turn it around... and could use some help from the teams playing the Phillies, to boot.

 

You certainly do need to right the ship after you loose to the Pirates, and only score one run against them.

 

Well my fellow Braves fan this is a strange post for me. But this is the way it is. I got to be all worried about today's game and etc. It was then that I got all anxious and worried when I read 2 Cor.10:5 that convicted me. So I'm "turning my back on sports". I'd really like the Braves to win this year. Still do. But you know the Lord has shown me today that I've been consumed with sports. After service all I can think of is going to watch the game. Last sat at your house I got on the comp late at night to check the game scores. 2 Cor. 10:5- cast down vain imaginations and EVERY HIGH thing...thats what the Lord has shown me.

I've made sports an obession. Each day I get up checking the sports pages. To the point to thats all I can think about. And its not right. So I am no longer going to be the sports fan I was. I'll watch to see the Braves when they're in the playoffs. I'll watch games now and then, play baseball, and go to a few games. But I can no longer be consumed by it anymore. The Lord showed me something: that even though the Braves winning the year would be awesome, the Lord is greater that a team winning anything and then have to go back again the next year to play. The Lord's glory is everylasting, always eternal. A sport's teams win is only tempermental. I choose the Lord.

So since I have chosen Him, I will not be involved with the sports casts really anymore. I can't risk haveing an idol in my life. I type this not to convict you, but to tell you my decision. I hope the Braves can win, and any team I go for in the future to do well in the sport they do well in. But the Lord has greater things for me, and being obessed with sports can not be one of them.

So good bye my fellow sports fans, and good luck.

 

Well said, Arlon. It's inspiring to see someone with such dedication. Thanks for reminding me where my priorities should be.

 

just came by to say congradts to Matt Diaz. watch here.

Shalom

 

That was hilariously awesome with Diaz tripping the idiot up last night. The rest of the game, however, was not so awesome.

Now 4 games back of the Phillies, with two more in Philly today and tomorrow.... and tonight especially is going to be tough, Mike Minor vs Roy Halladay.

Brandon Beachy actually looked pretty good in his debut last night, a tough luck loss on unearned runs... but when Cole Hamels is pitching like that, there's not a whole lot you can do. Gotta score some runs tonight against Halladay, another tough task.

 

Well, the division race is over, and Philly has clinched... but Atlanta is still very much alive in the Wild Card race, leading the Padres by 1.5 games after a couple wins over Florida. Derek Lowe (on short rest) against Andrew Miller tonight, Braves need to get another win before the series against Philly starts.

 

I think the Braves will sew this up. The Padres are fading away like many thought they would ages ago. And once the playoffs start anything is possible in Cox's final year.

 

Braves now 2 games up on the Padres after completing the sweep of the Marlins this afternoon. Padres and Giants play (not against each other) tonight, then again tomorrow before they start their series against each other Friday.

If the Braves can win two out of three against Philly, I think that'll seal the deal. Beachy's starting Friday, and hopefully he can build on his last start

 

So... let's see:

Bobby Cox has retired, replaced by (no surprise whatsoever) Fredi Gonzalez. Several of the coaches will remain, including Roger McDowell as pitching coach, Brian Snitker as third base coach, and Eddie Perez as bullpen coach. Terry Pendleton will remain with the team as the new first base coach.

Team wise, they've released Melky Cabrera (who had a very poor year) and Takashi Saito (likely to retire), picked up Joe Mather off waivers from the Cardinals, sent Kawakami to the minors (still trying to trade him), and in the biggest move so far by a lot, traded Omar Infante and Mike Dunn for Dan Uggla.

Kinda sad to see Infante go, but I definitely think the Braves got the better of that trade. They will need a new utility player for the bench, but Uggla should fill a big hole in the lineup, power-wise. This also makes Martin Prado the heir apparent to Chipper at third, whether that be this year or next year. If Chipper's good to go this year, Prado may see some action in left field, apparently.

 

Braves definitely got the better end of that deal. Uggla was there when Gonzalez was the Marlins manager, correct?

 

Yep, this will reunite the two of them. And Uggla didn't have a personality conflict with Gonzalez like a certain other Marlins middle infielder did

Also, Uggla's numbers at Turner Field have been really good, so hopefully that'll be a good sign.

 

The Marlins are a very dysfunctional and strange team at times.

 

How to run the Marlins:

1. Get a bunch of young prospects to whom you can pay the major league minimum.
2. Win WS.
3. Get rid of everybody.
4. Repeat (3 and 1 go together).

Oh, and if you have a good manager, fire him so he can go win the WS elsewhere.

 

Getting to be time for another spring training! First one in quite a while for the Braves that doesn't include Bobby Cox in the manager's role... though he is there, apparently.

Projected starting rotation:

RHP Tim Hudson
RHP Derek Lowe
RHP Tommy Hanson
RHP Jair Jurrjens
LHP Mike Minor/RHP Brandon Beachy

The first four are pretty much set, though the order is somewhat of a toss up. The fifth spot will likely be one of those two youngsters... Minor probably has the slight edge going into spring training, but it could be either. Really not worried about the rotation, they'll do their job just fine. Also of note: Kris Medlen is recovering from Tommy John surgery and could be ready in August or so. If the rest of the rotation is healthy and performing well, he'll probably join the bullpen then, but given his performance last year he could easily join the rotation at that point, especially if there are other injuries (let's hope not!).

Bullpen:

RHP Craig Kimbrel (closer)
LHP Jonny Venters (setup)
RHP Peter Moylan (setup)
LHP Eric O'Flaherty
RHP Scott Linebrink
LHP George Sherrill
(one more spot up for grabs)

Kimbrel is the most likely candidate to serve as closer, though Venters may get some chances there as well. Both of them were extremely impressive debuting last year, though I believe Kimbrel is still considered a rookie this season. Moylan and O'Flaherty have been pretty good as well. The question marks here for me are the veteran acquisitions Linebrink and Sherrill, who have had solid careers, but struggled a bit lately. Hopefully they can return to their earlier success, but the primary motivation behind their acquisitions looks to be as veteran mentoring for the young Kimbrel and Venters. Last year Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito were the veteran presence, but both of them are gone. The production of Wagner and Saito will be hard to replace, though. For the last spot... there are several potential candidates there. Proctor, Abreu, Martinez... probably a couple others in the mix there as well. Its also possible that if Minor is the fifth starter, Beachy could take the last bullpen spot, though the reverse is not as likely - if Beachy starts in Atlanta's rotation, Minor will probably go back to AAA to get regular work.

Lineup:

C Brian McCann
1B Freddie Freeman
2B Dan Uggla
3B Chipper Jones
SS Alex Gonzalez
LF Martin Prado
CF Nate McClouth
RF Jason Heyward

Not worried about McCann behind the plate, or with Heyward in right. Uggla's defense is suspect (as if Atlanta didn't have enough fielding troubles to end last season) but his offense should be a huge boost to this lineup. Freeman looks poised to have a great rookie season, so hopefully he lives up to the hype. He struggled a bit in very limited opportunities in September... but that doesn't necessarily mean much. Chipper is trying to come back from surgery, and apparently has seen good progress, but he's had so many injuries in the last several seasons I have to treat this like a question mark. He's got the ability if he's healthy - he showed that before getting hurt last year - but can he get and stay healthy? Much more of a question. If Chipper can't go, Prado probably moves in to the position at third. Prado showed he can hit, but he will be adjusting to a new position in left, having moved to make room for Uggla. Left doesn't usually see too many defensive difficulties, though, so I think he'll be fine. Gonzalez is a bright spot defensively on the infield, something badly needed... but his bat is suspect at best. Shows some occasional pop, but inconsistent, and not a good average. Which leaves... center field. The biggest question mark here by far. A year or two ago it would look quite good... but McClouth had an incredibly bad season last year, and while the hope is that he can put it behind him and get back to his previous level of production... that remains to be seen.

Bench:

SS Diory Hernandez
IF Brooks Conrad
UTIL Joe Mather
C David Ross
LF/1B Eric Hinske

Hernandez is good defensively, and likely will make the team t

 

If McClouth can't you'll see Schafer. If not him, then Hinske.

 

Most of what I've heard suggests Schafer's still not really ready yet. But hopefully that doesn't prove to be the case.

Hinske's never played CF, and I'd be seriously worried about him out there defensively in that position. Left or first, fine. Center, though... not so much. Though if it came to that, Heyward would probably slide over to center and put Hinske in right.

 

Some good news for the Braves on the Spring Training front: Chipper looks to be healthy (though the obvious question is can he stay healthy?) and McClouth has looked much better than last year. Craig Kimbrel got off to a very rocky start but has allowed only 1 hit and no runs in his last 6.1 IP; Venters has given up 2 hits and no runs in his 8 innings of spring ball. Beachy and Minor have both been pitching excellently, so its hard to say at this point who will be the 5th starter. But choosing between them with the way they've looked is a pretty nice situation to be in. Naturally, you have to take the numbers with a handful of salt given that its spring training, but still.

 

Heyward with a home run in his first at-bat of the season... again. Pitching was great, too.

 

Is the game over yet? ESPN.com's still showing top of the 9th. Don't know how much of a delay it has, though.

But yes, pitching has been excellent.

EDIT: there we go, final after Kimbrel records the save. 2-0 shutout, excellent pitching all around.

Also, the Braves currently have more wins than everyone else combined... for a few more minutes at least.

 

As Trika has noted the "women's basketball" thread was started and last posted in by me. That needs to go on the record

Also, more on topic: What's with the silly off-day in the middle of a series? It seems to be common recently at the start of a season, but its still weird.

 

I'm decidedly not a fan of those. Give 'em a break in between series, during them.

 

Seriously. Make the off day between the @Washington and @Milwaukee series... or something that makes sense.