Who’s Ready For Baseball?

Written by Jonathan on March 2, 2010 – 10:13 am

It seems hardly fitting that today is the first Spring Training game for the Braves.  I’m sitting here staring out the window in Atlanta to a very gray day outside and watching my car slowly get covered in snow.  I’ve lived in Atlanta for 9 years and it has snowed maybe 3 times since I’ve been here, but I’m pretty sure this is the 5th significant snow this winter.  That’s all irrelevant for the most part however.

In a couple of hours, the Braves are scheduled to take the field for their opening Grapefruit League game against the Mets.  It’s mid-60s there, slight chance of rain, but nevertheless, it’s time for baseball.

So here’s where we are and what we’ve learned thus far in Spring Training:

Jason Heyward hits bombs. We’ve heard it plenty from every news source covering the Braves (and a number that really aren’t).  Parking lots.  New nets to protect cars.  We get it.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m pumped to see this kid play, but I’m just ready to see how he handles live pitching.  Batting practice is one thing, but I have no doubts that he can bring it at a big league level.

Jair Jurrjens is okay. It’ll be a few days before his pitch counts start to increase again, but all indications are that Jurrjens will be okay in the long run.  I’d much rather the training staff takes their time with him and keeps him healthy down the stretch this season.

Derek Lowe is the opening day starter.  I’m not terribly sure I agree with this, but it’s a showing of confidence from Bobby Cox so I can accept it.  Any situation where Tim Hudson is your number four starter…..I’m okay with it.  I’ve heard a little distaste about that fact, but seriously, step back and look at it.  If this rotation is healthy, it’s stacked.

The games don’t matter. So maybe we haven’t really learned this one in Spring Training, but it’s just a reminder to everyone that the outcome of Spring Training games isn’t the real thing we should be looking at during this time of year.  Keep your eye on individual performances, watch the young guys get the chance to show off a little, and get pumped up for baseball to get started back up at the Ted.

So that’s that, Braves vs. Mets at 1pm today.  Tommy Hanson will throw a couple of innings and I’m looking for another big season out of him.  What are you looking at in Spring Training?  Young guys?  Old guys trying to regain form?  Either way, it’s time for baseball.


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Finally The First Spring Training Game

Written by Jonathan on February 25, 2009 – 10:29 am

Today, Jair Jurrjens will step to the mound for the Braves to kick off the Grapefruit League season against his former team at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, FL.  Jurrjens is looking forward to facing off against the Tigers, who traded him to Atlanta in October 2007.  Detroit will be sending Justin Verlander to the mound to start the game.

Also slated to appear for the Braves are Jo-Jo Reyes, Manny Acosta, Stephen Marek and Eric O’Flaherty.  Blaine Boyer was slated to throw an inning today but was scratched after cutting his hand on an apple slicer yesterday.  He is expected to make his next appearance.

Aside from Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson, all of the projected Opening Day starters are making the short trip to the game today.  Those two will likely make their first appearance in the televised game tomorrow afternoon versus the Astros.

The game starts at 1:05 EST and we’ll be doing our best to run a game thread here for the game.  It’s the first one of the season so it’s time to start kicking the rust off and getting back into the swing of things.  What’s everyone looking for in this first game today?  I’ll be happy to see Jurrjens have a solid two innings and no other pitchers get injured in the process; a couple of nice plate appearances from Francoeur would be encouraging as well.


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Morton Injured, Preseason Pitchers Announced

Written by Jonathan on February 24, 2009 – 12:20 pm

Chalk Charlie Morton up as the first pitching casuality of the season for the Braves, something that became all to familiar throughout the 2008 season.  Morton was not likely to have a spot in Atlanta come Opening Day, but this is still a setback for the Braves’ pitchers.  Morton had just completed a bullpen session yesterday that impressed Bobby Cox, but strained a muscle in his side during on of his first few pitches of throwing batting practice.  The severity of the injury has not yet been determined.

Kenshin Kawakami continues to impress in Spring Training, throwing his second batting-practice session yesterday.  After throw mostly fastballs in his first session, Kawakami brought a little more to the table this time around, working in the curveball and cutter.  The amount of solid hitting against him saw a significant drop the second time around and Kawakami’s working to make it clear why he was a star in Japan.  We’ll see him in action for the first time this preseason with his Friday start against the Pirates.

Along that line, Bobby Cox has laid out some of the projected starters for the upcoming Spring Training games.  Here are the starters that have been announced so far:

2/25 – vs. Tigers – Jair Jurrjens
2/26 – vs. Astros – Jorge Campillo, Tommy Hanson
2/27 – vs. Pirates – Kenshin Kawakami
2/28 – vs. Blue Jays – Derek Lowe
3/01 – vs. Phillies – Charlie Morton (Questionable)
3/02 – Intrasquad – Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens
3/03 – vs. Panama – Tommy Hanson 
3/04 – vs. Yankees – Kenshin Kawakami

So things are starting to shape up for the pitchers in Florida and we’re already through our first injury of the preseason.  Let’s hope they are limited.  Who are you excited to get a first look at for the season?  I personally can’t wait to get a look at Tommy Hanson on the ESPN broadcast of the game on Thursday. 


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Early Spring Training Review

Written by Jonathan on February 21, 2009 – 10:57 am

Pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training last Saturday with the rest of the squad close behind.  The non-roster invitees are getting the chance to meet some of the big leaguers and the young guys have the annual chance to prove that they deserve a spot on the team, either at the start of the season, or down the road when injuries take their toll.  We wanted to take a quick look at what’s going on down at Wide World of Sports since most of this week has been taken up with discussing the last few contract issues the Braves have been working out.

Jair Jurrjens has turned down the opportunity to pitch for his native Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic in the interest of preparing for the 2009 season with the Braves.  With The Netherlands not expected to advance from the first round of competition and the Braves wishing for him to return after his first start, the decision was a little easier for Jurrjens.  Coming off of a surprise season last year that left him as the Braves most productive starter, everyone has high hopes for him in 2009.  This leaves Javier Vazquez as the only Braves pitcher in the Classic, pitching for Puerto Rico.

Chipper Jones and Brian McCann are the only two position players that will be participating in the World Baseball Classic.  Chipper received permission to report to Spring Training early with the pitchers and catchers as he will miss a portion of the preseason.  McCann has the toughest of all though.  With at least three, and potentially four, new pitchers in the Braves’ starting rotation this season, he has a lot to learn to prepare for the season.  With his participation in the Classic, he will miss up to three weeks of Spring Training, but he and the Braves are confident he’ll be ready to go by Opening Day.

Kenshin Kawakami will be the first Japanese player to play for the Braves at a Major League level and he has been soaking in everything that Spring Training brings.  He’s been excited to see his fellow rotation members pitch and eager to show what he’s got as well.  His first couple of sessions throughout the week were mostly to get used to the change in setting and get loosened up and he’s expecting to begin his harder sessions and workouts this week.

Peter Moylan is apparently looking great in camp.  It’s still unknown if he will be ready to go on Opening Day, but he is throwing beyond everyone’s expectations right now, including throwing live batting practice to hitters in Spring Training.  Moylan is recovering from Tommy John surgery on May 8th of last year, a surgery that usually requires a full 12 months for recovery.  My biggest concern is that he takes the time to come back correctly and to not rush anything that might hurt his chance of a full return this season.  Moylan will be a huge asset to the bullpen this year if healthy.

Tommy Hanson has been impressing everyone at camp with his slider.  Hanson is consider one of the top minor league prospects in all of baseball and Bobby Cox continually likens the slider that he throws to that of John Smoltz.  It’s doubtful that we’ll be seeing him in Atlanta at the start of the season, but I have the feeling he will make a few appearances in and out of Atlanta throughout the season.  I expect big things out of this kid down the road.

Jason Heyward is excited to impress as many people as he can this Spring Training.  While likely that he’ll start the season in Rome and probably have the chance to make it up to Mississippi, Heyward is not just another prospect.  At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Heyward is the Braves’ power-hitting outfielder of the future and plays defense to back it up.  At 19 years old, he still has some development to go through, but as MiLB.com’s 3rd-rated prospect in the game, look for him to be making a name for himself in the upcoming seasons.

Those are the main things that have happened as far as Spring Training has gone so far and we’re expecting a lot more news to come from this week when preseason games get started on Wednesday against the Tigers.  Don’t miss your first chance to catch the Braves on TV this season on Thursday when the Braves take on the Astros at 1:05pm on ESPN.  This week will likely start the competition between Josh Anderson, Gregor Blanco, Jordan Schafer and Brandon Jones to tie up the loose ends for outfield positions this season; I’m sure we’ll have lots of news on that this week.

So what’re the things to watch for this week in Spring Training?  Who do you expect to impress?  Who’s not going to meet expectations?  There’s a lot to be excited about.  It’s Spring Training and it’s time for another baseball season to get underway.


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Top 10: Looking Forward to Spring Training

Written by Colin on February 5, 2009 – 10:16 am

It’s time for a top 10 list. Why?

Because spring training is just 10 days away. Since it’s 10 days away, let’s rock and roll our way through our top 10 reasons we’re looking forward to spring training! I’m not going to bother ranking these – add your own and rank ‘em if ya want.

  • It’ll be Baseball Season!
  • Getting a first look at Lowe / Kawakami / Vazquez
  • Seeing the (hopefully) new and improved Jeff Francoeur
  • Getting a glimpse of Tommy Hanson
  • Watching Jason Heyward and Jordan Schafer as the future of our outfield develops.
  • Watching Casey Kotchman begin his first full year with the Braves.
  • Watching Bobby & Terry in the dugout get back to the grind
  • Watching Blanco, Anderson, Diaz, and Brandon Jones fight it out (throw Schafer in there) for two or three outfield roster slots.
  • A BravesBlast staff trip to Florida for sun and baseball.
  • Knowing that games at the Ted are just around the corner.

So with pitchers and catchers reporting in 10 days and the first games of Spring Training only a few weeks away, there is still a lot up in the air and at stake for the Braves.  There are question marks about the aribtration status of KJ and Frenchy.  We still don’t know the fate of Will Ohman for the season.  And we’re far from being sure what the Braves outfield will look like this year.  But Spring Training lets us know that answers to these questions are coming down the pipe.

What are you excited about for Spring Training, Braves fans?  This is the time of the year when every club is hopeful and looking forward to improving what didn’t go quite right in the previous seasons.  Before we know it, once again we’ll be at the Ted and kicking off the 2009 season.


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Spring Training Weekend!

Written by Colin on March 21, 2008 – 12:30 pm

Florida, get ready, because here we come.  Four of the BravesBlast crew are heading down to Florida this afternoon after we get off work.  Are you in or going to Florida this weekend?  Let’s meet up for some baseball talk and beach weather.

We’ll be heading to the Nationals vs. Braves game tomorrow at Space Coast Stadium in Viera and then driving to Orlando Sunday morning for some baseball there.  During our off hours, we plan on soaking up some of the sunlight and enjoying the beautiful weather (we’re a bit tired of storm-strewn Atlanta).

We want to meet up with you!  Email mailbag@bravesblast.com (it’s linked to a BlackBerry) and we’ll get back with you as soon as possible – let us know who you are, where you are, and if you’re going to either game.  Be on the lookout (that means “check back often over the weekend”) for some great content, including our roster predictions, some great pictures from the Spring Training scene, game coverage, and more.

Email us – mailbag@bravesblast.com – let’s meet up.  Don’t forget to enter to win Braves tickets by subscribing to the BravesBlast Insider (on your right).  It’s the easiest way to get free Braves tickets!


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Notes from Spring Training

Written by Colin on February 19, 2008 – 10:21 am

Since we’re not on-site yet (full time jobs and classes are regrettably taking up most of our time), we have to report everything second-hand for now, but here’s a bit of a digest of the goings-on at Disney’s Wide World of Sports from major news outlets.

  • Tom Glavine is fitting in – and everyone loves having him back.  His wife and kids are down in Florida with him, and today even USA Today ran an article on him being back. I appreciate even guys who haven’t played with him like Hudson giving him the respect he deserves.  That said, I have spoken to a few fans who don’t want to see him in a Braves uniform since he dirtied himself by playing with the Mets.  But that opinion is only shared by a small minority.

    • Read more »


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