Do We Really Want This Xavier Nady Character?

“We need more power!”

Thanks, Scotty. We knew that. While we’d all like our offense to go to 11, I’m not sure I’m super thrilled with the options. Mark DeRosa is off the table, Matt Holliday is likely signing with the Cards soon, not many people are thrilled with the idea of Uggla coming in, and Xavier Nady is the other name that gets tossed around a lot. And yes, he’s good for 25 homers and 100 RBIs when he’s healthy.

But he’s had some issues and is just coming off not his first, but his SECOND Tommy John surgery. And yes, he’s just an outfielder – not a pitcher – and is being acquired more for his bat than anything. And yes, he’s probably cheaper than before his second TJ.

But he will still have to make throws. And when will he be back to 100%? How many runs will we give up because people will run on a weak-armed, twice-rebuilt robo elbow in left field?

Sure – we have doctors and if we sign him then I’m sure we think he’s a good deal and good upside and all that. I get that. But I’m just a little bit worried. Just sayin’. That’s TWO Tommy John surgeries, dudes and dudettes. Just not so sure about that.

“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology…”

Who should we go for instead? What about Johnny Damon or a one year deal for Vladimir Guerrero? Jermaine Dye?

Schafer To Have Surgery On Wrist

Jordan Schafer first injured his wrist in the Braves’ first home game of the season. He wasn’t the same afterwards – and was eventually demoted to AAA in favor of Gregor Blanco before the Braves traded for Nate McLouth

He’s worn a cast on it for the last month in hopes that it will heal without surgery, but that’s a no-go. He can hit off a tee now without pain but once the ball has any momentum behind it he feels a fairly decent amount of pain. To that end, Schafer will undergo surgery on his left wrist and sit the rest of the season out.

I’m glad to hear there’s an issue, because frankly Schafer’s performance this year was somewhat disappointing and this at least explains why he may have struggled. Wrist issues are going to mean it’s difficult to drive the ball – resulting in little power after the initial injury. He’s going to get a new look next year in spring training to win a spot in the Braves’ outfield and that’s OK by me. We’re going to need a youth movement going forward to be competitive offensively and we could certainly use some young speed and good defense that comes with the Schafer package.

Best of luck to Jordan – heal up soon.

McLouth to DL, Prado’s Status Unknown

It’s been a few games in the making, but the Braves finally put Nate McLouth on the 15-day disabled list today for a sore left hamstring.  He aggravated the hamstring against Los Angeles last week and, after missing three games, returned to the lineup on Friday against the Phillies.  Running out a double, it was apparent that he was far from 100% and was given a few more days of rest.  A treadmill session this morning indicated that there was still an issue.  Reid Gorecki has been called up from Gwinnett to take the spot on the roster.

In other injury news, Martin Prado was taken to Piedmont Hospital yesterday after experiencing a sharp pain in his head while swinging in the batting cages.  He first felt this during Saturday’s game, which he left prior to the completion.  CT scan results were negative and it’s currently unknown on a timeframe for his return to the lineup.

These are two particularly big injuries for the Braves as McLouth and Prado are a large portion of what has spurred recent success for the team.  Is this something to be concerned about in the coming weeks or can the Braves fill in the gaps?

Glavine Says He’s Ready

With five scoreless innings for AAA-Gwinnett last night, Tom Glavine notched his first minor league win since 1987.  Afterwards, he expressed his opinion that he was ready to start again in the Majors as soon as next Tuesday against the Cubs.  Bobby Cox, however, has said that Glavine will make one more minor league start for Class-A Rome on Tuesday before being considered to come back to Atlanta.

Glavine will likely fill the fifth spot in the rotation that has been a struggling point for the Braves since being filled by the combination of Jo-Jo Reyes and Kris Medlen.  Between the two, they have compilied an 0-4 record across 7 starts with a 7.64 ERA.

Though Glavine is still working a little rust out of his control since returning from elbow and shoulder surgery that ended his 2008 season, he is still likely a better candidate for the spot in the rotation.  Honestly, it can’t get much worse.  I think we’ll be seeing him back in Atlanta by mid-June definitely.  What’re everyone’s thoughts on Glavine?

Garret Anderson Is A Bitch

Yeah, you just read that. Garret Anderson is a bitch.

If you missed it, Garret Anderson turned down a minor league rehab assignment (as is his right) and I think we as fans have every right to be pissed off about it.

Before I rant, the official position is that Anderson has every right to turn down said assignment. He doesn’t feel he’s missed enough time to warrant a trip to the minors for a rehab stint. The Braves are believed to be surprised with the decision. Anderson is currently missing time nursing a calf injury after originally missing time with the same injury.

That said, the man pisses me off. Haven’t missed enough time to warrant a rehab stint? How about you look at it the other way, Garret? You haven’t played enough to warrant a stint in the big leagues. 25 at-bats. Seriously. And when you HAVE played, let’s be honest – you’ve only batted .231 with 3 runs scored. No homers. No RBIs. Those are minor league stats. And it’s not like we’d have shipped you off to Mississippi or anything – you’d have to drive 45 minutes north to Gwinnett to play with the Triple A ballclub.

Get a life, Anderson. You’re not the Braves’ star player. You’re not even a fan favorite working his way to stardom. You’re an injured veteran who needs to prove he can contribute to the team. You haven’t PLAYED the time necessary to demand time in the majors – when you have played, it’s been sub-par, and don’t even get me started on easy pop flies into foul territory. I didn’t even know you could be charged with errors on foul balls until you managed to figure out how to do so. Prove you care about the Braves – put that ego away, go to Gwinnett, play with Tommy Hanson and the boys, and stop whining.

Quit being a little bitch. Heal up fast, too. We didn’t pay you to sit on the bench – we’ve got plenty of talent to do that.

Sincerely,

Braves fans everywhere

Kawakami to Miss Start

Kenshin Kawakami’s scheduled start on Saturday against the Astros will be skipped after he complained of soreness in his right shoulder.  Kawakami missed one of his Spring Training starts with similar discomfort, but bounced back in his next start without experiencing any pain.  That pain was in a different location however than the current area around his right A/C joint.

Because of the off day yesterday, the Braves have the option of moving everyone up in the schedule by one game without making anyone pitch on short rest.  As a result, Jair Jurrjens will make the start on Saturday and Jo-Jo Reyes on Sunday.  Kawakami will now instead make his start on Tuesday against Johan Santana when the Mets come to Turner Field.

Hopefully this is just a result of the increased pitching demand on Kawakami’s arm and that he will adjust in time.  Before signing a three-year, $23 million contract with the Braves, Kenshin spent 13 years pitching as part of a six-man rotation.  Adjusting to a five-man rotation is giving his body a day less of rest than he has been accustomed to in his entire career.  It will be interesting to see how this pans out, but I’m hopeful for the best.  Do you think this is cause for concern or just early problems adjusting to the changes?

McCann Trying To Avoid Surgery

Since being placed on the 15-day disabled list in the series against Cincinnati, Brian McCann has returned to Atlanta to be re-evaluated by another eye specialist, Dr. Alan Kozarsky.  Once again, Mac tried a number of different contact lenses to try to correct the blurred vision in his left eye.  McCann and Kozarsky settled on contacts in both eyes to help resolve the issue.

While realizing that he still may have to undergo Lasik surgery once again to repair his vision in his left eye (he originally had the surgery in 2007), McCann will first give make two rehab starts in Class A Myrtle Beach.  With McCann on the disabled list and ineligible for reactivation for the next 10 days, this is the best option to test the new contact combination.  After his two-game stint, starting tonight, a decision will likely be made as to whether or not the surgery should be performed.

Personally, I think the Braves are just prolonging the inevitable with this decision.  Nothing has seemed to work for McCann so far and I just feel like every day that he doesn’t have the surgery is another day that he won’t be playing back in Atlanta.  Granted, the recovery time for Lasik isn’t that long, I think he should go ahead and get it done.  Thoughts?  Am I just completely offbase in thinking that?

McCann Headed to the DL

Clint Sammons has already made the trip to Cincinnati to take Brian McCann’s spot on the active roster.  McCann has been bothered by blurred vision in his left eye since Opening Day and has exhausted all options at this point.  He will be visiting an eye specialist in Atlanta in the next couple of days, presumably once the team returns from the road trip, and will likely undergo laser surgery again on the eye to correct his vision.

Bobby Cox is hesitant to put McCann on the disabled list until he makes it back to Atlanta to be evaluated, but at the same time, it’s hard for the team to play without a backup catcher.  While hoping for some overnight improvement, Cox has acknowledged that he doesn’t expect things to magically change.  McCann has already tried ointments, drops and single contact lenses in his left eye; none of which have really solved the issue.

McCann’s 1-for-20 from the plate in his last games played and he seems to have accepted that having surgery on the eye again in the best route for him to take.  Missing a couple of weeks now to get the problem corrected in full seems like a much better option than fighting with it throughout the season and never really getting it fully resolved.

So what’s the right thing to do?  Go ahead and send McCann to the DL and let him have the surgery so he’ll be good to go for the rest of the season?  Or do we keep trying little things here and there to try to get him through?

UPDATE: It’s official now.  McCann is headed for the 15-day disabled list.

Anderson to DL, Braves In Cincy

After a couple of days of nursing his reaggravated left quad, Garret Anderson is headed to the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 20th.  Brandon Jones has been called up from AAA Gwinnett to take his spot on the roster.  It’s unknown when Anderson will be ready to return as he has been nagged with this injury off and on since early March.  I’m sure we’ll have more updates over the next few days.

Today is Chipper Jones’ 37th birthday.  In his career on his birthday, Chipper has a .500 average (18 for 37) with 4 HR, 8 RBI and 10 R.  Let’s hope he can keep that up tonight.  Brian McCann was also a late scratch for the game with further eye issues.  David Ross will take his spot in the lineup.  Here’s to trying to get a win streak started tonight as the Braves kick off the last series of the road trip in Cincinnati.

Stay with us for in-game updates, looks like great weather in Cincinnati for baseball.  Javier Vazquez brings his solid season performance, averaging 12.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, to face off against Edison Volquez.  Volquez is 2-1 on the season, but showing a 6.46 ERA.  Hopefully the Braves offense can show up for the game tonight and help Javy out.

Campillo to DL, Injury Updates

The Braves have struggled in the past couple of seasons keeping people healthy and playing and the 2009 season looks like it’s not getting off to much different of a start.  There has been a good bit of injury-related news for the Braves in the last 24 hours so we figured a quick update was in store:

Jorge Campillo is the first of the Braves pitching staff (a pitching staff that is all too familiar with the DL, mind you) to make a trip to the disabled list since the start of the season.  After yesterday’s game against the Marlins, it was announced that Campillo will be placed on the DL with right shoulder fatigue.  He has complained of having a “dead arm” since pitching for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic and playing winter ball.  The outlook for Campillo is a little vague right now and he will be evaluated over the next couple of days.  James Parr will be called up from Gwinnett to replace Campillo on the roster.

Yunel Escobar came up lame in yesterday’s game while running out a grounder to first base.  The injury however, a strained abdominal muscle, happened while he was warming up in the on-deck circle.  Braves fans are accustomed to seeing Yunel jumping up and down in the on-deck circle before heading to the plate, which apparently was the cause of the injury.  I’m sure he won’t stop doing it however.  The Braves think it may be three or four games before Yunel is back in the lineup, despite Escobar’s confidence that he could play tonight against Pittsburgh.

Chipper Jones continues to battle the bruised left thumb that has kept him out of the last two games.  He reaggravated the injury while getting jammed against the Marlins on Tuesday.  He is expected to miss tonight’s game against the Pirates, but could be back in the lineup Saturday.  The thumb only bothers him on his left-handed swing.  His play on Sunday will be dependent on how he feels as the Pirates will be sending right-handed Zach Duke to the mound.

David Ross was activated from the disabled list before yesterday’s game and took the start in place of Brian McCann behind the plate.  Don’t worry though, Braves fans, it was just a regularly scheduled off-day for Mac.  Clint Sammons was optioned to AAA to make room on the roster for Ross.  He had been on the DL since straining a groin muscle in a March 31st preseason game.  Ross gives the Braves a little bit of power in the backup catcher role and he should be a good fill-in for the days when McCann needs to be rested.

So the left side of the infield is a little battered and bruised aready, with Chipper and Yunel both missing time, but the Braves aren’t expected to call up another infielder. Infante and Prado are quite capable and handling the load and we should see the starters back in the lineup soon.  Let’s just hope this is nothing serious for Campillo and that he recovers quickly.  I don’t want the pitching staff to start getting too familiar with being injured yet again.

Braves Fall To Fish, Glavine Considering Retirement

Javier Vazquez struck out 12 last night against the Marlins in six innings of work. He gave up three runs in those six innings and the Braves bullpen surrendured two in the eighth to spot the Marlins a 5 spot. Chris Volstad shut the Braves down and gave up only a solo homer to Kelly Johnson. Braves went down 5-1. Garret Anderson dropped not one but TWO foul balls and was charged with two errors. I’m a bit worried about Anderson – if he can’t catch routine fly balls maybe he needs a little more time to rest his leg. Diaz should play tonight, so that’ll be good for Anderson to take a seat for a game.

Glavine’s MRI came back to reveal an inflamed rotator cuff. And yes, it may be about time to stick a fork in him – he may be done. The Braves are reporting that Glavine is frustrated with the rehab process and is considering retirement. Frankly, if we’re paying him this year, I don’t want him to give up and retire in a couple weeks. I want him to fight back as long as he can. I’m torn on this – I really don’t WANT Glavine back in anything but fully effective as a starter (with his historic first inning woes, I don’t want him in a relief role).

I’m not really sure what I want to happen with Glavine – I don’t want him back unhealthy and I don’t want him stuck in rehab forever – I really wish we just hadn’t signed him when we did. Couldn’t we have spent that money towards Smoltzie? I’m just bitter about the whole thing. Why sign Glav when we don’t know he’ll pitch? I’m not just an armchair GM, I’m a bitter armchair GM. What are your thoughts on the situation?

Chipper Leaves Game With Strain

Chipper isn’t doing much in the World Baseball Classic, but yesterday he left the game with a strained right oblique – an injury he sustained when reaching to field a ground ball. If you know your Chipper history, you’ll know he missed time in 2006 with issues with his oblique – but at least that was his left oblique and this was his right.

Chipper doesn’t expect to miss any time and hopes to be playing again Wednesday, but he’s obviously going to be checked out today to make sure nothing more serious is going on before he’s cleared to play. The last thing the Braves need is the main muscle in their lineup injured before the start of the season. Chipper’s agent said that Chipper doesn’t plan on going home and intends to stay with Team USA.

While Chipper has had offensive struggles during the World Baseball Classic, Brian McCann did well in his first appearance. The Braves’ catcher went 1-2 (and walked once), but his two-run home run and sacrifice fly RBI helped Team USA to a victory over Canada on Saturday. It’s aboot time those Canadians see how talented the young Mr. McCann is, eh? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Team USA also won the contest that injured Chipper 15-6 last night to guarantee an advance to the second round of games.