Braves Game Day: April 17, 2013 12:10 PM
Royals (7-6) vs. Braves (12-1)
This is an early one today as I'll be spending my afternoon listening to this game at work. Mike Minor (2-0, 0.69 ERA) takes the mound for the Braves today with Wade Davis (1-0, 4.00 ERA) pitching for the Royals. This is the second and final game of the 2 game interleague series before the Braves travel to Pittsburgh to play 4 games against the Pirates.
Today's Lineup:
BJ Upton CF (.152, 1 HR, 2 RBI)
Heyward RF (.116, 2 HR, 5 RBI)
J Upton LF (.340, 8 HR, 12 RBI)
Gattis C (.289, 4 HR, 10 RBI)
Uggla 2B (.178, 3 HR, 4 RBI)
Francisco 3B (.306, 3 HR, 7 RBI)
C Johnson 1B (.415, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
Simmons SS (.214, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
Minor P (0-5)
In other news:
Luis Avilan was seen noticeably limping in the clubhouse this morning but says his leg feels better.
One of the reasons the Braves are being precautionary with Brian McCann is he was in Atlanta earlier this week to have his right wrist examined after he complained of tenderness.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Braves Recap: April 16, 2013
These Braves are never out of a game, after only having two hits in the first six innings of today's contest, the Braves bats came to life in the final innings of today's contest. Like game 2 against the Cubs and the first game against the Nationals, the Braves were on the ropes and looked like a loss was inevitable but clutch late inning rallies against the other teams bullpens fueled this high powered Braves offense to wins. Tonight the power shined through with 5 solo homers including 3 in the bottom of the 8th to lead the Braves to a 6-3 victory.
Juan Francisco hit a rope to the RF bleachers to score the Braves first run in the bottom of the second. Chris Getz answered back with his own solo shot to RF in the top of the third. In the top of the 4th, the Royals jumped to a lead after a Juan Francisco throwing error allowed Salvador Perez to reach base and a few batters later former Brave, Jeff Francouer drove him in with a single to right. However, the Roadrunner smashed another solo shot to straight away center to tie up the game in the bottom of the 7th off of Guthrie. Jason Heyward cracked an opposite field home run off Royals reliever Kevin Herrera to allow the Braves to go up 3-2 in the bottom of the 8th, followed by a LOOOOOOONG bomb by Justin Upton (his 8th) to go back-to-back. Uggla smashed another ball into the LF chairs for the Braves fifth solo blast of the game. Francisco walked to end Herrera's night and Chris Johnson hit another opposite field single to knock in pinch runner Jordan Schafer from 2B which he stole two pitches earlier. The Royals battled in the ninth scoring their third run on an Alex Gordon single to RF off of Kimbrel to drive in Chris Getz (run charged to Avilan).
Coming into the spring, the Braves were planning on having a competition for the 3B spot between Chris Johnson and Juan Francisco. Both players put up great numbers in Spring Training, so Fredi Gonzalez went into the season with a platoon, both continued their success. When Freddie Freeman landed on the DL, this allowed the Braves to get an extended look at both, with Chris Johnson filling in at 1B. Both have continued their success offensively with Francisco hitting his second and third homers of the season in this game, while hitting .306 and Chris Johnson has been a hitting machine quietly hitting .415 so far this season. The Braves pitching gave another great performance as Kris Medlen only allowed 1 earned run in 7 innings, to lower his ERA to 1.42 for the year. O'Flaherty pitched a one-hit 8th to earn the win. However, bad news struck up and coming reliever Luis Avilan in the 9th as he was coming home with a pitch, he collapsed to the ground holding his left leg. Not a good site to see considering how valuable he's been to this bullpen, especially with Jonny Venters out for the foreseeable future.
After being the top defense in the National League last season, with another 3 errors in today's contest, the Braves are no where near being that good this season, especially Dan Uggla (4 errors) and Juan Francisco (3 errors). This can only improve when Freddie Freeman's vacuum-like glove comes back from the DL, although even he couldn't have come down with Francisco's airmail. The other error was the ever rare catcher's interference by Evan Gattis after Royals' pitcher Jeremy Guthrie literally knocked the glove off his hand. However, a great leaping catch by Jason Heyward to rob extra bases as well as a great play by Dan Uggla to go up the middle and make a great turnaround throw to first to make the final out of the game show why this Braves defense has potential to turn it around.
Juan Francisco hit a rope to the RF bleachers to score the Braves first run in the bottom of the second. Chris Getz answered back with his own solo shot to RF in the top of the third. In the top of the 4th, the Royals jumped to a lead after a Juan Francisco throwing error allowed Salvador Perez to reach base and a few batters later former Brave, Jeff Francouer drove him in with a single to right. However, the Roadrunner smashed another solo shot to straight away center to tie up the game in the bottom of the 7th off of Guthrie. Jason Heyward cracked an opposite field home run off Royals reliever Kevin Herrera to allow the Braves to go up 3-2 in the bottom of the 8th, followed by a LOOOOOOONG bomb by Justin Upton (his 8th) to go back-to-back. Uggla smashed another ball into the LF chairs for the Braves fifth solo blast of the game. Francisco walked to end Herrera's night and Chris Johnson hit another opposite field single to knock in pinch runner Jordan Schafer from 2B which he stole two pitches earlier. The Royals battled in the ninth scoring their third run on an Alex Gordon single to RF off of Kimbrel to drive in Chris Getz (run charged to Avilan).
Coming into the spring, the Braves were planning on having a competition for the 3B spot between Chris Johnson and Juan Francisco. Both players put up great numbers in Spring Training, so Fredi Gonzalez went into the season with a platoon, both continued their success. When Freddie Freeman landed on the DL, this allowed the Braves to get an extended look at both, with Chris Johnson filling in at 1B. Both have continued their success offensively with Francisco hitting his second and third homers of the season in this game, while hitting .306 and Chris Johnson has been a hitting machine quietly hitting .415 so far this season. The Braves pitching gave another great performance as Kris Medlen only allowed 1 earned run in 7 innings, to lower his ERA to 1.42 for the year. O'Flaherty pitched a one-hit 8th to earn the win. However, bad news struck up and coming reliever Luis Avilan in the 9th as he was coming home with a pitch, he collapsed to the ground holding his left leg. Not a good site to see considering how valuable he's been to this bullpen, especially with Jonny Venters out for the foreseeable future.
After being the top defense in the National League last season, with another 3 errors in today's contest, the Braves are no where near being that good this season, especially Dan Uggla (4 errors) and Juan Francisco (3 errors). This can only improve when Freddie Freeman's vacuum-like glove comes back from the DL, although even he couldn't have come down with Francisco's airmail. The other error was the ever rare catcher's interference by Evan Gattis after Royals' pitcher Jeremy Guthrie literally knocked the glove off his hand. However, a great leaping catch by Jason Heyward to rob extra bases as well as a great play by Dan Uggla to go up the middle and make a great turnaround throw to first to make the final out of the game show why this Braves defense has potential to turn it around.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Game Day: March 27, 2013
The Atlanta Braves head into Space Coast (or as I call it Space Ghost: Coast to Coast) Stadium today to face division rival Washington Nationals. In order to get the pitching rotation lined up for Opening Day, the Braves will have have a bullpen day today with Eric O'Flaherty (4.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 K) getting the start. Toeing the rubber for the Nationals is Ross Detwiler (8.2 IP, 4.15 ERA, 7 K), who missed some of this spring due to being on the USA team in the World Baseball Classic. This game will not be aired on television.
The Braves starting line-up for today's game is going to be:
Simmons SS
R. Johnson CF
C. Johnson 1B
Francisco 3B
Gattis LF
Laird C
Pena 2B
Schafer RF
O'Flaherty P
In other Braves news, Brian McCann has begun playing in minor league spring training games as a Designated Hitter. He's allowed to hit, but not to run the bases or play catcher. The Braves are following doctor's orders and not allowing him to catch until 6 months from the surgery date, which is April 16. McCann recorded a sacrifice fly and flew out in his first rehab game.
It was announced this morning that Evan "El Oso Blanco" Gattis has made the Opening Day roster as the back-up catcher but he could get more than average playing time and split starts with Laird in the early going. He's made quite the impression on the Braves this Winter after hitting 16 dingers in Venezuelan Winter League and was considered for a LF/3B platoon with Martin Prado and Juan Francisco before acquiring Justin Upton this off-season. The Braves assigned Matt Pagnozzi to Triple-A.
The Braves starting line-up for today's game is going to be:
Simmons SS
R. Johnson CF
C. Johnson 1B
Francisco 3B
Gattis LF
Laird C
Pena 2B
Schafer RF
O'Flaherty P
In other Braves news, Brian McCann has begun playing in minor league spring training games as a Designated Hitter. He's allowed to hit, but not to run the bases or play catcher. The Braves are following doctor's orders and not allowing him to catch until 6 months from the surgery date, which is April 16. McCann recorded a sacrifice fly and flew out in his first rehab game.
It was announced this morning that Evan "El Oso Blanco" Gattis has made the Opening Day roster as the back-up catcher but he could get more than average playing time and split starts with Laird in the early going. He's made quite the impression on the Braves this Winter after hitting 16 dingers in Venezuelan Winter League and was considered for a LF/3B platoon with Martin Prado and Juan Francisco before acquiring Justin Upton this off-season. The Braves assigned Matt Pagnozzi to Triple-A.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
March 26, 2013 Game Recap
In my prediction for the 2013 World Series, the Braves faced off against the Detroit Tigers today in Spring Training with the Braves coming out victorious 6-5 to move their NL best Spring Training record to 19-14. This was a game that had some definite good news come out of it but also some bad.
Ramiro Pena, who officially locked up the utility infield spot to start off the season hit a 3-run homer to allow the Braves to take the lead in the Top of the 7th in this game. The Tigers came back to tie it in the Bottom of the 8th off of Cory Gearrin (run charged to Ryan Buchter) , but Juan Francisco, who keeps earning time at 3B, went yicketty for the 6th time this spring in the 9th to win the game for the Braves. It was also nice to see Gerald Laird on the field for the first time since March 17 as he also got an RBI to fuel the Braves to victory today. Tim Hudson also pitched well in his last game of this spring pitching 4 innings with 4 hits and 1 earned run.
As for the bad, Jonny Venters did not look good pitching only .1 inning allowing 2 hits (including a home run) and walking 2 and got pulled from the game with what is being described as a left elbow sprain, which is not good news. Further diagnosis will come tomorrow, but you can at least expect Venters to start the season off on the DL. The obvious worry with an elbow sprain is a trip to Dr. Andrews and Tommy John surgery, but let's think positive for now.
If there is one benefit to the Venters injury, it's that the battle between Anthony Varvaro and Cristhian Martinez for the final bullpen spot might allow both players to make the team. Since both are out of options, the one that didn't make the team would either need to be traded or pass through waivers before being able to be optioned to the minors, which they likely would not do. This for the very least gives the Braves an extra 15 days to look at which player they would like to keep or explore trade possibilities. Although the Braves are rightfully high on on Wirfin Obispo who after another great game today (1 IP, 2 K) has pitched 5 scoreless innings, only allowing 2 hits with 8 strikeouts. There's some talk that he's still in the mix for the final reliever spot but because of options, is likely to start the season in the minors. If he keeps this up Obispo will be in Atlanta very soon.
Ramiro Pena, who officially locked up the utility infield spot to start off the season hit a 3-run homer to allow the Braves to take the lead in the Top of the 7th in this game. The Tigers came back to tie it in the Bottom of the 8th off of Cory Gearrin (run charged to Ryan Buchter) , but Juan Francisco, who keeps earning time at 3B, went yicketty for the 6th time this spring in the 9th to win the game for the Braves. It was also nice to see Gerald Laird on the field for the first time since March 17 as he also got an RBI to fuel the Braves to victory today. Tim Hudson also pitched well in his last game of this spring pitching 4 innings with 4 hits and 1 earned run.
As for the bad, Jonny Venters did not look good pitching only .1 inning allowing 2 hits (including a home run) and walking 2 and got pulled from the game with what is being described as a left elbow sprain, which is not good news. Further diagnosis will come tomorrow, but you can at least expect Venters to start the season off on the DL. The obvious worry with an elbow sprain is a trip to Dr. Andrews and Tommy John surgery, but let's think positive for now.
If there is one benefit to the Venters injury, it's that the battle between Anthony Varvaro and Cristhian Martinez for the final bullpen spot might allow both players to make the team. Since both are out of options, the one that didn't make the team would either need to be traded or pass through waivers before being able to be optioned to the minors, which they likely would not do. This for the very least gives the Braves an extra 15 days to look at which player they would like to keep or explore trade possibilities. Although the Braves are rightfully high on on Wirfin Obispo who after another great game today (1 IP, 2 K) has pitched 5 scoreless innings, only allowing 2 hits with 8 strikeouts. There's some talk that he's still in the mix for the final reliever spot but because of options, is likely to start the season in the minors. If he keeps this up Obispo will be in Atlanta very soon.
Braves Game Day: March 26, 2013 (More Roster Cuts)
The Braves are squaring off against the Detroit Tigers in what feels like the 100th week of Spring Training today at 1:05 ET/12:05 CT in Joker Marchant Stadium. The Braves will be starting their Opening Day starter Tim Hudson today who's 2-1 in 6 starts this spring with 4.15 ERA against Shawn Hill of the Tigers who is 1-1 in two starts this spring with a 5.00 ERA.
The Braves line-up today will feature the DH since they are playing in an American League park and it shakes out like this.
Simmons SS
Heyward DH
J Upton LF
Freeman 1B
BJ Upton CF
Uggla 2B
Francisco 3B
R Johnson RF
Laird C
The Braves also made a few roster cuts sending Tyler Pastornicky, Jose Constanza, and David Carpenter down to Triple-A. Constanza didn't stand much of a shot of making the team after missing the first month of Spring Training with Visa issues. Tyler Pastornicky really impressed with the bat but his defense still needed improvement as he made several errors working the middle of the infield. Pastornicky is still a valuable piece according to Fredi Gonzalez and will play 2B, SS, and a little OF for Gwinnett. Carpenter, who was claimed off of waivers from Toronto this winter, pitched in 8 games this spring but had an ERA of 13.50 in 9.1 innings pitched.
These cuts virtually ensure that unless the Braves decide to roll with 3 catchers on the roster (unlikely), with Gerald Laird, Matt Pagnozzi, and Evan Gattis, that Jordan Schafer is going to be the Braves 5th outfielder and have value as a left-handed bat off the bench and a pinch-runner. It's nice to see the Jordan Schafer story continue with him making the Opening Day roster, however depending upon Evan Gattis' production, could face a cut after Brian McCann comes back from the DL towards the end of April. Right now the Braves Opening Day bench appears to be Reed Johnson, Chris Johnson, Ramiro Pena, Jordan Schafer, and Evan Gattis. Paul Janish is still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery and may take Ramiro Pena's spot on the roster at some point.
The Braves line-up today will feature the DH since they are playing in an American League park and it shakes out like this.
Simmons SS
Heyward DH
J Upton LF
Freeman 1B
BJ Upton CF
Uggla 2B
Francisco 3B
R Johnson RF
Laird C
The Braves also made a few roster cuts sending Tyler Pastornicky, Jose Constanza, and David Carpenter down to Triple-A. Constanza didn't stand much of a shot of making the team after missing the first month of Spring Training with Visa issues. Tyler Pastornicky really impressed with the bat but his defense still needed improvement as he made several errors working the middle of the infield. Pastornicky is still a valuable piece according to Fredi Gonzalez and will play 2B, SS, and a little OF for Gwinnett. Carpenter, who was claimed off of waivers from Toronto this winter, pitched in 8 games this spring but had an ERA of 13.50 in 9.1 innings pitched.
These cuts virtually ensure that unless the Braves decide to roll with 3 catchers on the roster (unlikely), with Gerald Laird, Matt Pagnozzi, and Evan Gattis, that Jordan Schafer is going to be the Braves 5th outfielder and have value as a left-handed bat off the bench and a pinch-runner. It's nice to see the Jordan Schafer story continue with him making the Opening Day roster, however depending upon Evan Gattis' production, could face a cut after Brian McCann comes back from the DL towards the end of April. Right now the Braves Opening Day bench appears to be Reed Johnson, Chris Johnson, Ramiro Pena, Jordan Schafer, and Evan Gattis. Paul Janish is still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery and may take Ramiro Pena's spot on the roster at some point.
Opening Day (For Me, 6 Days for the Braves)
I wanted to play around with a few things in this Braves new venture(1) for myself. The first of which is writing about sports, which is kind of unbelievable since I've loved sports all my life, but for some reason never even dabbled in writing about them. The second is playing around with the Blogger account and seeing how the finished product looks on here. And lastly is focusing on the Atlanta Braves, a team that I've loved most of my life. I figured a small scale blog would be a good start to this. It would be a good way to gain a little bit of experience and not tying myself to any sort of commitment, which I've had a terrible time keeping in the past.
So Braves baseball is just around the corner and I couldn't be more excited and my wife is already bored of me ignoring her while watching the Braves game on the laptop while we watch something on TV. Due to my circumstances I can't enjoy the awesome broadcasters the Braves employ. I absolutely love and prefer listening to former Brewers announcer Jim Powell and Don Sutton do the radio broadcast which thanks the awesomeness of MLB.TV is very easy to play as the audio while watching the Braves telecast on the laptop. Meanwhile, the TV crew of Chip Carey and Joe Simpson also do a really good job and I love Joe's take on the game and Chip honoring the Carey legacy. The announcing has been a big part of my Braves fandom, much the way it is for Brewers fans with Bob Uecker and Dodgers fans with Vin Scully, as I would watch the games on TBS growing up and learn so much about the game from Skip Carey, Pete Van Wieren, Ernie Johnson, and the previously mentioned Don Sutton and Joe Simpson. I enjoyed all of their takes on the game of baseball and respect them so much. One of my favorite moments on the Turner Field tour I did two years ago was visiting the Skip Carey TV Booth and the Pete Van Wieren Radio Booth. It was awesome looking out the window and seeing the way these men watched 162 games a year.
We are a mere 6 days away from Braves Opening Day. It's very cool that the Braves start the season at home for a change, seems like they are always on the road, and even more cool that the game against the Phillies is going to be shown on ESPN at night. As much as I like listening to Jim and Don call a game on the radio, with my job structured how it was, I wouldn't be able to enjoy an afternoon game on April 1 much so being able to watch a night game on television is a much better way to go, even if I'll probably still be mandated to watch it on my laptop by my wife.
I plan on writing more in the upcoming days, giving more details and analysis but am concluding for the time being. In the meantime, I'm very excited for the post-Chipper Jones era. Getting the Uptons has made this team young, fast, and fun. Andrelton Simmons is emerging into a special player faster than most would even guess. Freddie Freeman is proving to be a mainstay in the middle of a line-up. Meanwhile, guys like Evan Gattis have a tremendous story and it's nice to see a player like that succeed and possibly earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. There's a lot to look forward to not only this season but for the foreseeable future in Atlanta and hopefully this blog or a version of it will be along for the ride.
(1) That was a terrible pun and I'm pretty proud of it.
So Braves baseball is just around the corner and I couldn't be more excited and my wife is already bored of me ignoring her while watching the Braves game on the laptop while we watch something on TV. Due to my circumstances I can't enjoy the awesome broadcasters the Braves employ. I absolutely love and prefer listening to former Brewers announcer Jim Powell and Don Sutton do the radio broadcast which thanks the awesomeness of MLB.TV is very easy to play as the audio while watching the Braves telecast on the laptop. Meanwhile, the TV crew of Chip Carey and Joe Simpson also do a really good job and I love Joe's take on the game and Chip honoring the Carey legacy. The announcing has been a big part of my Braves fandom, much the way it is for Brewers fans with Bob Uecker and Dodgers fans with Vin Scully, as I would watch the games on TBS growing up and learn so much about the game from Skip Carey, Pete Van Wieren, Ernie Johnson, and the previously mentioned Don Sutton and Joe Simpson. I enjoyed all of their takes on the game of baseball and respect them so much. One of my favorite moments on the Turner Field tour I did two years ago was visiting the Skip Carey TV Booth and the Pete Van Wieren Radio Booth. It was awesome looking out the window and seeing the way these men watched 162 games a year.
We are a mere 6 days away from Braves Opening Day. It's very cool that the Braves start the season at home for a change, seems like they are always on the road, and even more cool that the game against the Phillies is going to be shown on ESPN at night. As much as I like listening to Jim and Don call a game on the radio, with my job structured how it was, I wouldn't be able to enjoy an afternoon game on April 1 much so being able to watch a night game on television is a much better way to go, even if I'll probably still be mandated to watch it on my laptop by my wife.
I plan on writing more in the upcoming days, giving more details and analysis but am concluding for the time being. In the meantime, I'm very excited for the post-Chipper Jones era. Getting the Uptons has made this team young, fast, and fun. Andrelton Simmons is emerging into a special player faster than most would even guess. Freddie Freeman is proving to be a mainstay in the middle of a line-up. Meanwhile, guys like Evan Gattis have a tremendous story and it's nice to see a player like that succeed and possibly earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. There's a lot to look forward to not only this season but for the foreseeable future in Atlanta and hopefully this blog or a version of it will be along for the ride.
(1) That was a terrible pun and I'm pretty proud of it.
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