(05-15-2013 11:31 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Just want to note that I correctly picked the Cardinals to win their division, so far so good.

Man, Braves have been stinking it up since their hot start.

Swoosh, BJ Upton has been terrible at the plate, as you predicted/indicated. Will he ever figure it out or do we have another Dan Uggla on our hands?

you have another dan uggla, except Upton won't walk as much. With his 0-2 (2 K's) so far today, his OPS has officially dropped under .500!! I'm sure he'll get hot at some point, but i'd be shocked if he hits over .220. Watching him against the Giants was a little depressing. With most guys who strike out, the key is to throw junk outside the zone and watch them chase. The scary thing about BJ? The best way to get him out is to throw it IN the strike zone. It seems crazy, but the numbers back me up. His Z-Contact% (percentage of swings at pitches inside the strike zone where contact is made) is an embarrassing 73.7%. To put that in perspective, the horrible Chris Carter who is on pace to strike out over 220 times, has a Z-Contact% of 76%. Upton's overall contact % is 68.8% and as of a few days ago his OPS+ was third worst in baseball behind Jeff Keppinger and Aaron Hicks. Put it simply, BJ has been beyond terrible. But hey, the defensive metrics say he's played a great CF, so you know, glass half full and all that.

A few other notes on what I saw from the Braves:
-Uggla is just absolutely flailing at the plate. he looks like a fish out of water and it's a little pathetic.
-Simmons is gonna be a very good player and will hold down that position for the next 10-12 years, but right now he swings at absolutely everything. His ability to make contact is awesome, which makes him tough to strike out, but it also means he will do everything he can to not walk. There's basically no reason to ever throw him a strike right now.
-Freeman and McCann are definitely the toughest ones to pitch to (although Justin is the best when he makes contact).
-I understand Heyward isn't around and he makes a huge difference
-That 3B platoon? Gimme a freakin break. Johnson and Francisco are hackers of the worst kind and are so easy to pitch to. Any good pitcher should be able to carve them up with little effort. They'll flounder in the playoffs

Overall I've never seen a lineup that made it so easy for observers to create a scouting report for. The holes for the Braves hitters are pretty clear and easy to find. And their penchant for K's makes it very difficult for them to sustain rallies and score runs without HR. I just don't see them as a WS team. Who do you give the ball to in Game 1?

(05-15-2013 11:31 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Man, Braves have been stinking it up since their hot start.

Braves are in 1st. They're good and are capable of great. Also, they haven't had the "ideal" roster yet. Injuries have removed 1 (mostly 2) starters from the lineup for every game.

(05-15-2013 04:20 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  Who do you give the ball to in Game 1?

Right now? Minor. Come the end of the year? I could see it being Beachy, Minor, or Medlen (if he gets it back to last season's form). Having three #2's is just as good as having a clear 1-2-3. (not saying those 3 mentioned will be the 3 post-season guys. Hudson is still pretty solid.)

how do you know what beachy will be able to give you?

(05-15-2013 10:04 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  how do you know what beachy will be able to give you?

I don't. He's just so dreamy.

(05-15-2013 10:45 PM)RaiderATO Wrote:  

(05-15-2013 10:04 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  how do you know what beachy will be able to give you?

I don't. He's just so dreamy.

ha ok sir

(05-15-2013 10:45 PM)RaiderATO Wrote:  

(05-15-2013 10:04 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  how do you know what beachy will be able to give you?

I don't. He's just so dreamy.

He is dreamy. I met him at a Veteran's thing a couple years ago.

Braves back on track with 3 come from behind wins to sweep the Dodgers!

I think we play the Twins, Mets and Nationals next. Hopefully will sweep the next two series for sure and then put up some good stuff against the Nats.

Be watching what happens out in LA with Mattingly. Rosenthal wrote a crappy article talking about how he might get fired. Aside from the baseless article, the situation seems fit for a firing before mid-season.

It's surprising with all the stars in the Dodger lineup that they are doing so poorly. Might not be in first, but last place? Mattingly is maybe not the guy to deal with all the highly-paid egos. He might be better suited to a team of youngsters like the Astros. Who are those guys?

Maybe the Yankee soap opera has moved out west. Of course, the Angels have their own issues also. Man, Puljols...St. Louis really dodged a bullet there by not sisgning him to a crazy long term deal. And they're in first to boot.

Is this the year the Pirates finally break .500? Inquiring minds want to know. Can't really start to believe them until September, if then, based on last 2 years collapses.

And the Cubs are showing very early small signs of life. It's a few years away, we'll see how the Draft goes if they get Grey or Appel. I'd personally stay away from Boras guys, but then I'm a Braves fan so I'm used to it.

And speaking of Braves...Man, two lefties gone in a week to Tommy John Surg: Venters and O'Flagherty. So tghe O'VentBrel bullpen is now just Kimbrel. And the only lefty in the Braves' pen left is a rookie.

And the Nats have hit a snag...short-term no doubt, but the Phillies see a glimmer of hope. Don't want to give them any.

And will the Indians really be there in September, or are they pulling a Pittsburgh? The Royals would like to know...it was supposed to be them.

"El Oso Blanco" aka Evan Gattis (the White Bear- they even have a special T-shirt for sale at the Braves website) just hit his first MLB Grand Slam in the 4th inning of today's afternoon game vs the Twins (HR for the third time this season in the fourth--noteworthy in the Atlanta area as a local tire franchise, Kauffman tire decided before the season to do a promotion where if the Braves hit a fourth inning HR then customers get $144 off a new set of 4 tires installed the next business day.

I just returned from getting my new set of 4 tires (thanks to Brian McCann's 4th-inning HR yesterday against Minn Twins) , where I asked the manager about the promotion. He said their corporate did an extensive study pre-season and decided there would probably only be 3 HR hit in the 4th innings, but there have been now 6 hit by the Braves already this season. He said they lost money putting the tires on my car (I got 4 cheaper ones for this older car) but that the promotion had been bringing in lots of business on game-after days. I just called back there and told the manager thanks, but he should put the game on in the waiting room because they did it again, and he said he'd have to order the truck to deliver more tires for tomorrow!)

Gattis hit a bottom of ninth- solo shot yesterday with 2 outs to extend the game into extra innings, where the Braves then won in the 10th. Gattis' pinch hit stats so far this season : 4 for 6 with 3 of those being Home Runs. Incredible! He's got 10HR, and 27 RBIs(2nd on Braves to JUpton's 28RBI) in part time work so far this year.

Gattis born in Dallas, Texas.

Braves have to find a place to play him everyday as McCann is healthy now and they have backup Gerald Laird (2 year deal) who they will want to keep for a backup next year when McCann gets to be a free agent (He's from nearby Athens, GA, but probably headed to an AL team next year is my guess.) question is, with BJ Upton hitting .156 after his 4th inning homer today, and Jason Heyward hitting .177 after going 2 for 2 so far today, should they put Gattis in RF (where he has filled in some during Heyward's appendix injury DL time) Justin Upton in LF (14 HRs leads the majors) and move Heyward to CF (o better yet put Jordan Schaffer in CF where he can hit lead=off (he's currently hitting .313 as of today's mid-game) and sit the $13 million a year BJ Upton?

Also, Brandon Beachy just was sent on his first rehab assignment recovering from Tommy John surgery last June, so we'll get him back in mid-late June to replace the weakest link in the rotation which right now is probably, Kris Medlin- last year's unbeatable starter (until the wild-card play-in game (thanks to Chipper's error more than the infield fly call)

And the Nats lost again late at SF where SF came back from down 2-1 and won it in the extras as well. Washington now looking at Braves up on Twins by 8-1, most likely heading to a second consecutive sweep (just swept the Dodgers) and being down by 5 full games and perhaps 5.5 if they lose to the Giants again today where they would be 1 game under .500 with the Phillies about to pass them up.

Who would've thought this at the start of the season where everyone had Wash as best team in baseball? I tell ya, I LOVE MLBaseball so much more than the other pro sports. You can always find many players of all backgrounds to relate to- short guys, guys who spent two years as a janitor (Gattis) or were traded for a bucket of baseballs (Former Braves closer Kerry Lightenberg) or Medlin-:too short for prototypical Ace pitcher, Greg Maddux- average looking guy and not real athletic- but in top 10 in strikeouts and top 20 in career wins), former Philly John Kruk (overweight), diminutive former Braves shortstop Rafael Belliard (Google the video for his second Home Run- after a record number of ABs between his first one), Former SP Rick Camp (who recently died this year at a relatively young age) who hit less than .100 but hit a historic July-5th fireworks HR in very extra innings back in 1985 (Google that one- the announcer jokingly called it before- I believe it was Yankees announcer John Sterling who started with the Braves back in the days of Skip, Pete and Ernie). I couldn't hope to be a pro player in any sport as I'm 5'10" and average- but pitching a baseball is something I could still somewhat realistically dream of actually doing in the pros. That's why I love baseball more than NFL, NBA and even NHL (can't ice skate backwards, alas). Thank you Major League Baseball and thank you guys like Evan Gattis, Kris Medlin, et. al. for giving us average folks plenty of sports icons (I'm sure you can name several on or that have played for your home teams also) to relate to! Go Braves!

Awesome post, Owl. While the last stretch on the road for the Braves was miserable this homestand has been a joy to watch. I think on June 5 I'm going to play hooky and catch the day game against the Pirates.

For the first time in Bucco history they won 15 or more games in April and May to post a 31-19 record and there are still games left to be played.

(05-26-2013 04:43 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  For the first time in Bucco history they won 15 or more games in April and May to post a 31-19 record and there are still games left to be played.

when it comes to the pirates i'll believe it when i see it. But i really hope they can keep it up, cuz it's really important for baseball.

Let it be said for the record. I hate the feefonking Blue Jays. I'm still not over 1993.

(05-28-2013 07:12 AM)BucFyre Wrote:  Let it be said for the record. I hate the feefonking Blue Jays. I'm still not over 1993.

i don't care for them either

(05-26-2013 10:18 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(05-26-2013 04:43 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  For the first time in Bucco history they won 15 or more games in April and May to post a 31-19 record and there are still games left to be played.

when it comes to the pirates i'll believe it when i see it. But i really hope they can keep it up, cuz it's really important for baseball.

I stand w/ you there brotha. We had our hearts ripped out the past 2 years. Pittsburghers just want to root for the Pirates. If the Pirates get out of August w/ a winning record, Pittsburgh is going to be rocking.

(05-28-2013 06:45 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  

(05-26-2013 10:18 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(05-26-2013 04:43 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  For the first time in Bucco history they won 15 or more games in April and May to post a 31-19 record and there are still games left to be played.

when it comes to the pirates i'll believe it when i see it. But i really hope they can keep it up, cuz it's really important for baseball.

I stand w/ you there brotha. We had our hearts ripped out the past 2 years. Pittsburghers just want to root for the Pirates. If the Pirates get out of August w/ a winning record, Pittsburgh is going to be rocking.

Pittsburgh is such a great sports town. it would be great to see PNC rocking in October