Prado To Disabled List

Written by Jonathan on May 5, 2008 – 3:39 pm

Martin Prado was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier today with a sprained thumb suffered diving into first to obtain an infield single during yesterday’s game against the Reds.  Prado’s thumb is in a cast and the Braves are expecting him to be out a full 6 weeks as a result of this injury.

In other news, the Braves have moved Peter Moylan over to the 60-day disabled list.  Moylan will have season-ending Tommy John surgery later this week.  The surgery requires at least a year of recovery time and I’d like to see Moylan back as soon as possible.  Just more injuries to hamper the Braves.


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Posted in Injuries |

Jurrjens Impresses, Braves Win 10-2

Written by Colin on April 2, 2008 – 10:48 pm

It’s not often you hear Bobby Cox call someone “sensational” - especially a young pitcher after their first start.  But Bobby didn’t hesitate to pull it out when talking about the 22 year old starter Jair Jurrjens, who made his first big league start for the Braves tonight.  Jurrjens went 5.1 innings, struck out five, and gave up two earned runs on seven scattered hits and one walk.  He notched not only his, but the Braves’ first win this season.

I was really impressed by Jurrjens.  In the post-game interview, he kept beating himself up for the one walk.  He didn’t seem happy or self-absorbed with the win or the five strikeouts.  He didn’t mention the nasty changeup he throws without hesitation.  He was upset with himself for the one walk and kept saying how he needs to limit the walks this season.  Jurrjens didn’t even get in trouble until the sixth inning.  And his fastball was around 93-94 all night long.

The bats weren’t silent either.  Martin Prado started the evening at second in place of the injured Kelly Johnson (knee, day-to-day), and kicked the game off with a triple.  Chipper knocked him in.  Prado would go on to reach base 3 out of 5 times to the plate, scoring each of those times.  Matt Diaz added a homer in the fourth.

Going into the 8th, the Braves led 3-2, before the floodgates opened.  Both Yunel Escobar and Mark Teixeira broke out the long ball - Tex launching a two-run homer and Yunel going yard to put a three spot on the board.  Add a few singles here and there, and the Braves ended up putting seven runs on the board in the eighth.  Will Ohman came in and closed out the game in the ninth.

Great to see the Braves get their first win on the board - especially with the offense really clicking in the eighth.  Jurrjens is going to be something special.  He’s soft-spoken and modest, and has nasty stuff to back it up.  He is willing to learn from the older guys and will really benefit from that throughout the season.  Hopefully we’ll continue to have Teixeira break out the bat, as he had a slow spring.  Also good to see our bullpen pitch 3.2 innings of scoreless relief.  We’ll take that.

Braves are 1-2 and showing signs of life.  Hampton on the mound tomorrow for Atlanta.  Here’s praying he can stay alive through it.


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Posted in Game Analysis |

‘08 Roster Nearing Completion

Written by Colin on March 29, 2008 – 7:23 am

After last night’s loss to Cleveland, the Braves further thinned out their roster, getting ready for Sunday’s game against the Washington Nationals.  Of course the most notable moves involved the ongoing battles for the limited number of backup spots on the roster.

Brent Lillibridge, impressive as he was in the first half of the spring, got sent back to AAA Richmond, where he’ll get more playing time.  I think this is crucial, since either he or Escobar will likely be trade bait before too long.  He needs to be playing all the time.  Martin Prado gets to stay in Atlanta - his first time starting the season in the majors.  Joining Prado (who played a few innings last night at first, by the way) is new acquisition Ruben Gotay, a switch-hitting contact hitter who can play second, third, and short.

In the outfield, Gregor Blanco beat out Josh Anderson for the backup job.  Anderson got out-hit by Blanco this spring (.260 to .341) and despite his speed, Bobby couldn’t find a roster spot for him.  I like Anderson though - if we have an issue mid-season with Diaz or Kotsay I’m sure we’ll see him (maybe even before Schafer, whom they might want to groom all season long).

Behind the plate, Corky Miller seems to have the backup job.  Brayan Pena is still on the roster too, but he’s out of options and conventional wisdom says he’s traded by the end of the day.  If Pena sticks around, he can pitch in at first as well.

So that leaves the five bench spots going to Blanco (OF), Gotay (IF), Prado (IF), Pena (C/1B) and Miller (C).  I’m not sure what we’ll see happen if Pena is traded - maybe Anderson comes back up?

The Bullpen is finally solid, with slots going to Peter Moylan, Rafael Soriano, Manny Acosta, Will Ohman, Chris Resop, Royce Ring, and Blaine Boyer.  I like this year’s ‘pen.  Lots of arms who have the capacity to be good pitchers throughout the season.

Jeff Bennett and Buddy Carlyle are still fighting for the pitching slot left vacant by Smoltzie, who will start the season on the DL (it’ll be backdated and he’ll only miss one start).  I’d give the edge to Bennett in this one - he’s been impressive, but Carlyle hasn’t put together a bad spring himself.

More as we hear it - our ears are to the ground today as we wait for the final moves to be made.


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Posted in Roster Moves |

Mets Down Braves In Final Grapefruit Game

Written by Colin on March 27, 2008 – 6:48 pm

The Braves are on their way to Atlanta.

After dropping their final Grapefruit league game 9-4 to the division rival Mets Thursday afternoon, the Braves pack their bags and head north. They’ll play exhibition games Friday and Saturday at Turner Field before heading to Washington DC to help open the Nationals’ new stadium.

Cox let his relievers pitch the entire game, giving Peter Moylan the start. Moylan gave up three earned runs in his inning of work. Chris Resop and Royce Ring helped make their case for the big league roster by striking out two each in their scoreless innings. Charlie Morton (whom yes, we sent down to the minors once already) pitched three innings and allowed three earned runs. He walked four.

Mark Teixeira continued his good hitting as of late, knocking in two runs on one hit and a sacrifice fly.  Matt Diaz added a two-hit game, and Chipper and Kelly Johnson doubled.  In a continuation of the recent battle for the backup infield slot, both Brent Lillibridge and Martin Prado knocked in a run.

Next up, Jair Jurrjens starts for the Braves Friday against the Cleveland Indians.  Sunday, Tim Hudson gets the start against the Washington Nationals, and Monday we’ll see our good friend Tom Glavine start against the Pittsburgh Pirates.


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Posted in Game Analysis |

Braves’ Offense Rolling

Written by Akshay on March 27, 2008 – 7:23 am

Contrary to popular belief, and by popular belief I mean the all-time great former Mets’ GM Steve Phillips’ NL East preview on ESPN.com, the Braves are alive and well and clicking. The Braves, after losing to those Mets today, are sitting at fourth in the Grapefruit League in runs scored. Among teams in the NL East, the Braves finished ahead of all four rivals. Of course, this number doesn’t take into account the Phillies’ playground stadium. The Phillies’ spring training stadium-Bright House Field-does have a short fence, but on the right side of the field as opposed to the left at Citizens’ Bank Park.

Getting back to the team at hand though, the Braves should have little to worry about offensively from their starting nine. Yunel Escobar is hitting a cool .400 this spring after last year’s .326 (319 ABs); more importantly for Escobar, he slugged .557, second only to Chippers’ .658. Of course, this is spring training we’re talking about and stats don’t translate to the regular season, but Escobar’s work ethic and hitting discipline has never been questioned since he was drafted by the Braves.

Other surprises included included Martin Prado (.318 in 66 ABs, most on the team) and Gregor Blanco (.400 in 35 ABs), both of whom have a chance to make the team. Prado more than Blanco, but at this point I think Bobby’s seen enough from Anderson and Blanco offensively to make the decision based on defense and whether they will be proficient in all three outfield spots.

As far as the rest of the cast goes, Francoeur is projected to have a breakout year by many “experts” and fantasy gurus. McCann is healthy again and could potentially put up the numbers he put up in 2006. Teixeira hit just .188 but, again, this is Spring and isn’t really a preview of things to come. He’s been warming up as of late, anyways. Most of the players seem to be getting into form quickly, but to be successful this year, the Braves need to do better against left-handed starters. The team should have little problems manufacturing runs and may even be better with Tex in there from the get-go.


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Posted in General |

Braves Blast Nationals 10-2

Written by Colin on March 26, 2008 – 5:45 pm

Mark Teixeira blasted a 2 run home run to lead the Braves’ offense to a 10-2 win over the Nationals today.  Jeff Bennett got the start and pitched four scoreless innings, another encouragement of a bit of depth this year in the rotation.

The rest of the Braves’ infield got a piece of the action as well - Escobar and Timmons knocked in a run each, McCann got his RBI, Lillibridge knocked in two, and Prado added three.  Lillibridge and Prado are making the last bit of spring interesting as they battle for the backup infield slot.  If I had to guess, I’d say Prado has the upper hand because Lillibridge would benefit from playing full-time in Richmond.  Either he or Yunel is going to become trade bait before too long.

Will Ohman got the win, despite giving up the Nationals’ only two runs in his inning of work, in which he gave up three hits.  Soriano, Moylan, Acosta, and Ridgway all added a scoreless inning of their own on the mound, though they each walked one and struck out nobody.

Good to see the Braves’ offense moving heading into the season.  I’m glad Tex had a big day - he’s had a slow start and I for one want him to have the biggest contract year anyone’s ever had.  And then I want to re-sign him.


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Posted in Game Analysis |

Hampton Pitches Four, Doesn’t Break In Half

Written by Colin on March 17, 2008 – 9:38 pm

Mike Hampton had a very successful outing today, pitching 4-1/3 innings and giving up one run. He also gave up two hits, walked three, and struck out three. We should be encouraged - and Hampton has the right to feel encouraged as well.

The Braves lost 4-2 to the Cardinals - the only two runs were a product of the two backup infield candidates. Brent Lillibridge knocked in a run with his double, and Martin Prado went 2-3 and scored a run. Jordan Schafer also scored a run with one hit in four at-bats. Lillibridge may have the edge on Prado for the backup job, but that’s not a given yet.

Mike Hampton pitches vs. Cards on March 17, 2008. Photo: Kevin Hinton

Photo: Kevin Hinton

The good news is that Hampton could go through four innings without hurting anything. Not only did he pitch that long, he looked good. His pitches had movement and he reported feeling good after his outing. Bobby Cox was even more impressed. After a reporter mentioned that Hampton looked “solid,” Cox responded with the following quote:

“More than that, he had no-hit stuff today. His ball is really sinking. I don’t know if I’ve seen him that good since he’s been with us. Lot of strikes, ton of ground balls. I’m pleased, put it that way. More than pleased.”

If Cox is that pleased, we can at least take some hope in Hampton’s stuff. If he can stay healthy, he’s going to be pretty good this season. We can pretty much coin the new saying - “Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine, pray for old man Hampton.” Or something of the sort.

Next up for the Braves, Jo-Jo Reyes will try to not stink it up like he has recently. He’ll do it against the Astros on Wednesday. The Braves get tomorrow off.


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Posted in Game Analysis |

Braves Drop Split-Squad Pair

Written by Jonathan on March 9, 2008 – 11:04 am

The Braves fell in both games of their split-squad pair Saturday to the Astros and the Reds.  The Astros downed the Braves 7-4 while the Reds issued a 13-8 beating as well.  Here are quick recaps of both games that saw a few highlights and exposed a few issues for the Braves:

Game 1 - Braves 4, Astros 7
Jo-Jo Reyes tooks the mound in the first half of the split-squad pair, fighting to earn a spot in the Atlanta rotation.  At quick glance, his numbers on the day weren’t too bad.  Pitched 2 innings of no-hit ball and struck out 4 (striking out the side in the 2nd inning).  But Reyes also issued 5 walks and brought a run home on a bases-loaded balk that saw him tripping on the mound and, while falling, delivering the ball only about halfway to the plate.

Blain Boyer continued to impress, pitching scoreless 3rd and 4th innings, while giving up only 1 hit.  The Braves gave up an additional 3 runs in the top of the 9th, bringing the score to 7-2.  The 2 runs scored in the bottom of 9th, on a Brandon Hicks homerun, weren’t enough to overcome the deficit and the Braves fell 7-4.  In a highlight however, Yunel Escobar continued his amazing hitting of the preseason, going 2-3 with his 3rd double of the preseason.  He’s now batting .545 (12-22) with 15 total bases.  Chipper Jones also went 2-3 in his 4th preseason appearance, extending his preseason average to .600 (6-10).

Game 2 - Braves 8, Reds 13
The Reds continually beat up on the Braves in the second game of the split-squad pair, posting runs in 5 of the 8 innings in which they came to the plate.  Additionally, the Braves didn’t help themselves too much in this matchup, donating 5 unearned runs to the Reds.

Buddy Carlyle made the start for the Braves, still fighting at an outside shot of a starting rotation job though I think we’ll see him in a long reliever role instead.  The Reds jumped on Carlyle, who had previously retired all 12 batters he had faced in the preseason, early on, chalking 3 runs on the board in the 1st inning.  Carlyle also gave up a solo homerun to Brandon Phillips in the 3rd, ending his day pitching 3 innings, striking out 3 and giving up 6 hits and 4 runs.  With the help of a Diory Hernandez two-run homer in the top of the 4th, however, the Braves led 6-4 heading into the bottom of the 4th.

Jeff Bennett took over on the hill from Carlyle, giving up 5 runs on 3 hits over the next two innings, giving him the loss for the day.  Charlie Morton came on to give up 4 runs [on 1 hit] in the 6th before Phil Stockman and Vladimir Nunez each pitched a scoreless inning to finish off the game.  The Braves offense tried to keep up, with the help of 2 RBIs from both Jordan Schafer and Martin Prado, but it was not enough to make up for the 5 unearned runs and the Braves fell 13-8.

Next up, Tim Hudson kicks off a 4-game preseason homestand for the Braves, facing off against the Cardinals.  Look to see last season’s dominant setup man, Peter Moylan, make an appearance to test the soreness in his right elbow.


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Posted in Game Analysis |

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