Official 2010 Atlanta Braves thread

[trublue 939]

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2010/06/02/freeman-mri-shows-no-structural-damage/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog

 

Atlanta Braves Freeman MRI shows no structural damage

6:20 pm June 2, 2010, by Carroll Rogers

 

An MRI on Freddie Freeman’s right knee revealed no structural damage, only a muscle strain, the Braves announced Wednesday. The Braves’ prize first base prospect in Triple-A Gwinnett is considered day-to-day.

 

Freeman injured his knee stretching to make a catch at first base on Friday night during Todd Redmond’s no-hitter against Louisville. Freeman had a MRI on Tuesday in Atlanta and met with team doctors on Wednesday.

 

The 6-foot-5 first baseman, considered the Braves’ second-best prospect by Baseball America, is hitting .261 with five homers and 24 RBIs for Gwinnett.

 

 

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2010/06/02/glaus-heyward-honored-as-top-players-in-may/

 

excerpt:

 

Major League Baseball honored Troy Glaus and Jason Heyward on Wednesday, even as the two Braves chose to focus on the team’s rise to first place in the National League East.

 

Glaus was named NL Player of the Month and Heyward won the NL Rookie of the Month for their play in May. It was Heyward’s second straight top rookie honor.

Edited June 3, 2010 by trublue

[hokie07 11]

Up next: A 4-game series against a hot Dodgers team and an 11-game road trip. Can the Braves keep it up?

[the watcher 10]

Record 32-22 96 win pace.

 

Hitting

Heyward has been everything and then some for a rookie, on pace for 30-114

Glaus has been superb, on pace for 30-126

Hinske has been extremely productive, on pace for 12-66 in only half as many at bats as most of the Braves players.

The doubters of Prado are starting to leave - he is on pace for 232 hits.

Jones may not get much better , on pace for 9-63

Escobar has not been productive so far , but I believe he is starting to come on.

Cabrera has not been productive so far , but he is showing signs and he is a warm weather hitter , a slow starter.

McClouth has not come out of his funk - I do not know what to expect from him.

McCann has not hit like McCann - is this attributable to his eye problem?

 

Summary: I think the Braves could possible get better,because at least 2 or 3 of the bottom five will be much better the second third.

 

Starting pitching

 

Lowe , Hudson , Hanson , and Medlen have been great. Kawakami has not been great but has not got much support.Jurrjens has high hopes after injury.

 

Summary: Probably about what we expected. Could possibly get better.

 

Relief pitching

 

The depth of pitching is the best I have seen in a long while in the braves bullpen. The Braves do not have Soriano , who is having a wonderful year with the Rays with 15 saves so far. But Wagner , Saito , O' Flaherty , Venters , and Moylan have been great.

 

Seaon so far and looking forward . Great so far and the recent win streak has been a product of increased productivity out of Glaus and some other hitters starting to show some pop , such as Escobar and Cabrera. I am really hoping McCann gets hot. Man, would that help!Should we even think playoffs? Probably not , but we can think ahead and what I see as in previous years is there will be early and late sellers. Could the Braves possibly pick up a player for the stretch run? What about somebody like Zack Greinke or possibly another big bat? The Brewers have several power hitters,but not much pitching!

[trublue 939]

Not the same as hearing it at the stadium......but, it's a classic :D

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTl-NnuLjaE&feature=related

 

I hope Saito's injury is not serious...he's been lights out as the "set-up" guy...with Wags having a great year as closer.

[vthokies4life 10]

This optimism is a drastic contrast to our thoughts and feelings about a month ago. I hope we can continue this run of good play.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

They're playing up to the preseason hype. I'm not sure they can stay in front of Philly the entire season, but as long as they play close to their potential I'll be happy.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

They're playing up to the preseason hype. I'm not sure they can stay in front of Philly the entire season, but as long as they play close to their potential I'll be happy.

 

I'm definitely liking what I'm seeing from this bunch. I'll be happy with the Wild Card. Winning the division? A plus!

[trublue 939]

Uh oh, Saito put on DL......:(

 

Saw Kimbrel pitch other night at Gwinnett

 

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2010/06/04/5637/

 

 

Saito lands on DL, Kimbrel recalled from Triple-A

8:53 pm June 4, 2010, by David O'Brien

 

LOS ANGELES – The surging Braves will have to make do without top setup reliever Takashi Saito for at least 15 days after putting him on the disabled list Friday with a pulled hamstring.

 

Rookie Craig Kimbrel was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to replace Saito, who injured his left hamstring in the ninth inning of Thursday’s 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Braves’ ninth consecutive win.

 

Saito, 40, said he didn’t want to delay a decision and leave the Braves short-handed in the interim.

[hokie07 11]

Anyone still mad that Troy Glaus is a Brave?

[bluefieldRocks 14]

We had a reason to be earlier in the season. Dude played like garbage until a few weeks ago.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

we had a reason to be earlier in the season. Dude played like garbage until a few weeks ago.

 

qft.

[BigD4VT 11]

We had a reason to be earlier in the season. Dude played like garbage until a few weeks ago.

Of course there were a few of us who said he would be the "Big Bat" the Braves needed, and attributed his slow start to shaking off the rust (after missing last season) and learning a new position. Seriously, if you look at his career stats there was no reason to think otherwise. The only risk was that he wouldn't be fully recovered from the injury... and for what the Braves are paying him that wasn't a risk at all.

[bluefieldRocks 14]

I can agree with most of that. first-basemen for the most part are known as power hitters. I was looking at a stat online a week or so ago that said 1st basemen have the most HR's in the history of the league, it was by a pretty big margin too. It's sad how many games we've lost the past few years by the score of 1-0 or 2-0. While every team has those, it seemed like Atlanta has had more. Hudson,Jurrjens,Hanson can pitch lights out and we still lose a game because we can't even get a single run. I'm glad he's finally coming around, but him, like most of our lineup minus a select few (Prado,Heyward) have been less than impressive so far this season. I don't expect every player to have 20 HR's every year. But some consistency would be nice.

[trublue 939]

http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2010/06/14/troy-glaus-the-new-chipper-jones-or-a-one-year-wonder/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog

 

excerpt:

 

Troy Glaus was supposed to be the one-year bridge to Freddie Freeman, but he has been much more. He leads the National League in RBIs. He has 13 homers. He’s hitting .290 for the season, which is astonishing given that he was at .194 on May 1. Over the past six weeks, he has been the dominant player on baseball’s hottest team.

 

And now for the bad news: His contract expires at season’s end.

 

I know, I know. I’m the guy who thought a one-year deal for Glaus was one year too many. (What can I say? I’m an idiot.) But now Glaus is hitting his way out of the Braves’ financial ballpark: They signed him for a base salary of $1.75 million, and at his current rate he might command 10 times that come November.

[trublue 939]

Could it be......Jones will speak to the media after the mtg.

 

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2010/06/15/jones-to-announce-hes-likely-leaning-to-retirement-after-2010/

 

excerpt:

 

Chipper Jones is meeting today with Braves manager Bobby Cox and general manager Frank Wren to discuss his future with the organization and plans to address the media afterward, likely to announce his retirement at the end of the 2010 season, a source close to Jones said Tuesday morning.

 

UPDATE

 

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2010/06/15/chipper-decision-to-the-backburner-rays-to-the-front/

 

excerpt:

 

First I was told Chipper was going to meet with Frank Wren and Bobby Cox today to discuss his future and then talk to the media afterward, in all likelihood to say he’s leaning toward retiring at the end of the season.

 

Just a few minutes ago, after all this kicked up today, I was told Chipper thinks the retirement speculation is premature and doesn’t plan to talk to the media about it today.

 

Maybe the Braves don’t see the value in bringing it all out in the open at the start of a key series. Maybe it’s Chipper realizing after a couple of days of banging this around in his head, and seeing the reaction, he’s not ready to say one way or another.

Edited June 15, 2010 by trublue

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

Another outstanding outing from Kawakami tonight; five runs given up through the first two innings. I could pitch for Atlanta and be 0-8, but I'd do it for half the money Kawakami is making...

[bluefieldRocks 14]

Yeah, I don't know what we're going to do with him Rules.

 

He gets crushed every time he pitches.

[Lance 228]

they need to trade him for a bat or something.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

they need to trade him for a bat or something.

 

A bat is about all they could get him for at this point...

[hokie07 11]

Yeah, I don't know what we're going to do with him Rules.

 

He gets crushed every time he pitches.

 

Hopefully, when Jurrjens returns from the DL later this summer then they will keep Kris Medlen in the starting rotation and move Kawakami to the bullpen (or AAA or anywhere but Atlanta).

[Deleted Account 5,203]

Atlanta now has the best record of anyone not in the AL East.

[blueinbama 259]

Hopefully, when Jurrjens returns from the DL later this summer then they will keep Kris Medlen in the starting rotation and move Kawakami to the bullpen (or AAA or anywhere but Atlanta).

 

That would be great. Kawakami is just not getting the job done.

[trublue 939]

Following article is a great story on Wagner......also, talks about his Tazewell Co. roots....

 

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/wagner-closes-in-on-554280.html

 

excerpt:

 

“If I leave a year too early or two years too early, so be it,†Wagner said. “I could probably go out and pitch next year. But after a game I’ve got four or five ice bags on, and I’m sitting there going, ‘How in the world am I going to get out there tomorrow?’ There’s something always bothering me. You get to the point where it’s like, ‘Is it worth it?’â€

[Deleted Account 5,203]

Following article is a great story on Wagner......also, talks about his Tazewell Co. roots....

 

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/wagner-closes-in-on-554280.html

 

excerpt:

 

“If I leave a year too early or two years too early, so be it,†Wagner said. “I could probably go out and pitch next year. But after a game I’ve got four or five ice bags on, and I’m sitting there going, ‘How in the world am I going to get out there tomorrow?’ There’s something always bothering me. You get to the point where it’s like, ‘Is it worth it?’â€

 

Great article, indeed.

[BigD4VT 11]

Just saw on the MLB TV ticker that Fredi Gonzalez was fired by the Marlins. I would say that pretty much seals the deal that he will become the next manager of the Braves.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5318111