Hudson Inching Towards Comeback

If all goes as planned, we could see Tim Hudson back in an Atlanta Braves jersey by mid-August.  Hudson has been sidelined for about a year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  Last night, he took the start in Gwinnett, throwing 4 scoreless innings of 4-hit baseball.  27 of his 41 pitches were thrown for strikes, while he struck out 4 batters and didn’t walk anyone.

If all goes well with his next starts in Triple-A, we should fully expect to see Hudson heading back to Turner Field.  This leaves the question, however, who is the odd-man-out in the rotation?  Lowe, Jurrjens, Vazquez, Hanson, Kawakami and then Hudson would all be looking at starting pitcher spots.  Lowe, Jurrjens and Vazquez all are undeniably safe in their starting jobs.  As far as I see it, Kawakami would be the 6th man when the situation arises, barring a complete breakdown by Tommy Hanson.

It’s not a bad situation to have, with 6 capable starters on a squad.  Any injuries to a starter will be a much less scary prospect if we are carrying an extra starter as a long reliever.  It’s not an easy situation for a lot of starters when it comes to switching to the bullpen, but the front office is going to have to make a choice.  What do you think should happen?  My vote is for Kawakami to head to the bullpen if all stays as it is right now.

Braves’ Pitching Abounds

The Braves starting pitching continues to excel this season – and while Frank Wren searches for some more offense to back up the staff, the Braves are not lacking in starting pitching depth.

Derek Lowe is 6-3 with a 3.49 ERA (8 quality starts), Jair Jurrjens is 5-2 with a beautiful 2.59 ERA (7 quality starts), and Javier Vazquez is doing ok – he has an even 4-4 record with a 3.58 ERA (7 quality starts). Behind that, Kenshin Kawakami appears to be struggling at 3-6 with a 4.73 ERA, but you’d be having trouble too if you only got an average of 1.7 runs scored per game when you were pitching. With such lousy run support, it’s a wonder Kawakami has three wins.

Glavine is ready to come to Atlanta and start. Whether or not he’ll be good, we’ll see. He’s ready though. Kris Medlen had two rough starts but was great in his last start as he struck out nine in six innings of work. He may just have a chance to stick around and prove he has the stuff he needs to excel in the majors. And of course we have Tommy Hanson honing his skills in Gwinnett, waiting to make the 45 minute drive south and show us his stuff. Oh, and Tim Hudson is on track for a return in August or September.

So what happens now? We’ve got Tommy ready to pitch, Medlen to give some playing time to, Hanson to fit in, and 2 pitchers that are doing alright.

I think the odd man out, interestingly enough, is Javier Vazquez. He has a high strikeout rate, but the Braves give him the most run support while he’s on the mound (5.5 runs per game) and yet he’s only 4-4 – and the Braves are only .455 when he gets the ball. To give you an idea of how bad that is, the Braves are .400 with Jo-Jo Reyes starting. Kawakami needs more run support, but with that run support he’ll likely be much better. He could end up being the odd man out too.

Who’s the odd man out? What does our rotation/bullpen look like at the end of the year?

Braves Have Added More Than You Think

There has been plenty of buzz this spring about the new faces the Braves have added by way of trade and free agency. And rightly so. Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami, Javier Vazquez, and Garrett Anderson, among others, signify a major upgrade to last year’s injury depleted squad. But if you think these four players represent the only substantial improvements to the Atlanta roster… think again.

Unable to help the Braves much, if at all, in 2007 (because of injury, underperformance, or having not yet arrived in the big leagues), there are several bats and arms in the Braves’ camp that could have a substantial impact on the ‘09 season.

EACH OF THE FOLLOWING PLAYERS COULD PROVE TO BE THE EQUIVALENT OF A SIGNIFICANT FREE AGENT SIGNING:

Rafael Soriano: Having spent the majority of last season on the disabled list with discomfort in his pitching elbow, Soriano now appears healthy and ready to help anchor the back end of the bullpen. Since moving to the ‘pen in his sophomore season with the Mariners, Soriano has a career ERA of about 2.50. When healthy, the hard-throwing righty is one of the top setup men in the game.

Peter Moylan: The submarine-tossing ‘Ausie’ posted the third best ERA (1.80) in baseball in 2007, over 90 innings pitched. After missing most of last season recovering from “Tommy John” surgery, Moylan’s rehabilitation is ahead of schedule, and he is expected to be ready on opening day. The return of Peter Moylan could give the Braves another dominant late-inning reliever to go with Soriano and closer, Mike Gonzalez.

Tom Glavine: The legendary lefty’s rehabilitation from off-season surgery (to repair his pitching arm) is on track, and Glavine is expected to make his first start, on schedule, in late April. In 2007, Glavine was fifth in the NL in quality starts with 23, and not coincidentally, he finished the season with 13 wins. If healthy enough to regain his ‘07 form, baseball’s only active 300-game winner could once again notch double-digit wins for the Braves.

Tommy Hanson: Considered by many to be the top overall pitching prospect in baseball, Hanson this spring has given the Braves all the more reason to believe he’s ready to record outs in the big leagues. With an already fully staffed starting rotation, it appears that an injury to a Braves starter would be the only immediate path to the Atlanta’s 25-man roster. However, while not particularly likely, it is conceivable that the Braves might consider trading one of their starting pitchers at some point during the season, creating a Major League job opening for Hanson in ‘09.

Tim Hudson: The Braves ace is currently ‘rehabbing’ from “Tommy John” surgery, and is believe to be on track for a late August or early September return. While the Braves certainly are not counting on Hudson in any way for the upcoming season, he could give this Braves team one more considerable weapon down the stretch.

Jeff Francoeur: After experiencing a season-long slump in ‘08 that saw him hit just .239 with only 11 homeruns, “Frenchy” is on a mission to (at least) regain his pre-2008 form. So far, so good. As of this writing, he is hitting .350 for the spring. He has just 1 strikeout in 40 at-bats, to go with 6 walks and 9 RBI. He is driving the ball to all fields and has shown nothing of his prior tendency (even in his better seasons) to swing at pitches well out of the strikezone. Replacing the ‘08 model of Jeff Francoeur with the ‘07 version – or better- would be tantamount to having inked a big free agent slugger over the winter.

Matt Diaz: Diaz lost much of his ‘08 season to a knee injury after getting off to a slow start as the Braves everyday left-fielder. But it should not be forgotten that he hit .333 in 655 combined at-bats in ‘06 and ‘07. While the addition of Garrett Anderson undoubtedly represents an upgrade to the Atlanta outfield, the return of a healthy and sharp Matt Diaz may prove every bit as valuable. Diaz is currently batting around .400 with 5 extra-base hits and 11 RBI in just over 40 at-bats this spring.

Jordan Schafer: One of the most heralded prospects in the Braves organization, Schafer appears ready to contribute at the Major League level. Despite frequent strikeouts, Schafer has hit nearly .400 so far this spring, and has demonstrated why he is considered a “5-tool” top-quality prospect. For a variety of reasons (NOT related to his spring performance), he may start the season at AAA, but don’t be surprised if Schafer makes a big league splash in 2009.

If the afore mentioned players are healthy and performing well (and so far this spring, all systems are “go”) the Braves will have essentially added the following for the 2009 season:

4 quality starting pitchers, including a #1 starter… 2 dominant late-inning relievers… 1 big middle-of-the-order bat, and at least 2 other quality hitters.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Braves expect better things from Mike Gonzalez (who is now entirely healthy/rested and back at “100%”), and Blaine Boyer, who won’t be overworked or prematurely thrust into late-inning duties, as he was last year. What’s more, Braves officials feel we haven’t seen the best of Yunnel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, or Casey Kotchman.

When you put it all together, we are looking at a Braves team that could surprise a great many people in 2009.  How do you feel about this team? What do you think about the pieces the Braves have added, both from without and within the organization?

Odds and Ends

Time for an odds n’ ends post – kind of a an overview of what’s going on in the Braves’ world.

Bobby Abreu appears to be near a deal with the Angels and the Braves are now rumored to be looking more seriously at either Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady. Yes, we’d need to trade for them, but the Braves need an outfielder, and that may be necessary. Swisher may be the leading candidate due to his longer contract, actually, as well as his ability to play first as well as all outfield positions. His contract is worth somewhere north of $22M over 3 seasons, though. Some players are reported to feel Nady is the better fit, though he’d be a one-year rental. This could go either way.

Jordan Schafer reported to spring training yesterday, according to our very own Rue Grant, who has been keeping in touch with Schafer recently. Jordan is eager to prove he belongs on the big league team and I think we’ll see a good show from Schafer – I wouldn’t be surprised to see him starting some this spring.

Tom Glavine and the Braves meet today and Glav hopes that the Braves increase their offer – said to be $1.5M +some incentives. I don’t think we’ll see that number change much, though it may change a little bit. Rumor has it that Glavine would like to make $5-6M after incentives, and I don’t see that happening, especially when our priority still seems to be a power bat in the outfield.

Tim Hudson is two months into a throwing program and all is going well. He hopes to return to the team in August. He’s cautious about pushing his limits, but he’s also optimistic about returning in August with no problems.

Obviously there’s more info on everything out there except Schafer going to camp, so go read up if you want to find out more. More to come as we hear it – here’s hoping we get a power bat in left field soon!

Camp Roger Underway

Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, and Mike Gonzalez headlined the first day of Camp Roger, the early pitching camp at Turner Field. The program got underway on Friday and is overseen by pitching coach Roger McDowell. If you’re a Braves fan, I won’t need to tell you that Camp Roger is a continuation of Camp Leo, a program begun under Leo Mazzone.

Hanson pitched Friday for the first time as Cox and crew looked on, and Cox was impressed. He sounded like he expects Hanson to join the team either out of spring training or midseason – and he’s anticipating success when it happens. “Good looking kid,” Cox mused. Hanson is ready for it; he knows that in the end, all he has to go out there and throw the ball and prove his value to the Braves.

Mike Gonzalez is rip roaring and ready to go – enjoying what he called his first “normal” offseason. He pointed out that he hasn’t had an opportunity to pitch at 100% in Atlanta and is looking forward to showing off an improved changeup this season.

Tim Hudson is hoping to make his first throws off a mound later this week. He’s 5 months into what will be 12 month of rehab after Tommy John surgery that cut short his 2008 season. He will hopefully be back in time for the end of the season this year. He also cleared up any talk about not wanting the Braves to pick up his 2010 option.  He’s hopeful that his pitching is impressive enough that the Braves will want to pick up the option and he looks forward to helping get the Braves back into the playoffs.

Also joining camp were Blaine Boyer, Stephen Marek, Anthony Lerew, and Eric O’Flaherty. Kenshin Kawakami is working out his visa and hopes to join before Friday, but the remaining three starting pitchers had not joined the voluntary camp yet. More updates as we hear them!

Huddy’s 2010 Club Option

We got a request to look at why Tim Hudson may be unhappy about the Braves’ club option for the 2010 season. Hudson will make $13 million this year and should be back in the rotation towards the end of the season. If he’s healthy, we’ll likely see him back in the rotation in 2010 – the club has an option they can exercise for that season. Huddy stands to make $12 million from the 2010 season if that option is exercised.

Why would Hudson be unhappy about the club option? The only reason I can think of is that Hudson believes he can make more on the open market and he’s not getting any younger. That said, he’s loved playing with the Braves and being close to home (he’s from Columbus, GA) as far as we know. I think that even if he is “unhappy” it’s more of a “wish I could sign a new contract” and not anything like a “don’t like the Braves anymore.”

Tim Hudson will probably be back with the Braves in 2010 – and I hope he is back and healthy. He’ll make $12 million, which is a decent amount of money. I think he’ll take the year to prove that he’s healthy and able to still pitch successfully – and get more money on the other side. I don’t think I’d be that unhappy with the club option for $12 million in 2010 – but that’s just me.

Colin

Can We Get Some Pitching Up In This Joint? Please?

The Braves couldn’t keep Tim Hudson healthy. They couldn’t trade for Jake Peavy because the Padres were being stupid about it. Now, they couldn’t sign A.J. Burnett because the Yankees play in a city closer to Maryland (Burnett’s wife doesn’t fly? Huh?), we can’t sign the best starter left on the market. Throw us a frickin’ bone here.

So what are we going to do? Let Vazquez be our ace? Thrust Jair Jurrjens into the spotlight as a sophomore in the bigs? Make Jorge Campillo draw a ridiculous amount out of his arm?

Who else is on the market? Derek Lowe. Oh, the Yankees already made a move on him? The way they’re spending this off-season, who wouldn’t sign with them? We could always revive talks for Peavy, but Frank Wren has made it clear that the Braves will no longer offer the same package they did last month when they were in talks with the Padres. Brent Lillibridge is gone (must find new minor leaguer to talk about incessantly to bug Jonathan) and the Braves no longer have interest in trading Yunel Escobar (which I think is good). The Padres have probably not gotten more reasonable about it, which means the best pitcher in the NL will spend next year pitching for a horrible team in San Diego.

Meanwhile, we’re still without an ace. We have a good #2 guy in Jurrjens and Vazquez will be a decent #3 starter to eat innings, but where do we stand? In a very uncertain place.

And I’m not all that certain it’s going to get much better. Which scares me.

What do you think will happen?

Two In A Row, Let’s Celebrate

The Braves have provided me a few opportunities to stand up and cheer, but not nearly as many in years past.  Between the seemingly endless strings of injuries and the inability to win a one-run game, or even a game in general at times, it’s been a downer kind of year.  But nevertheless, I will always consider myself a true fan that will support the team even in a 1-161 season (0-162 might just be too much for me to handle).  So today, I find reason to celebrate in the fact that the Braves have played well offensively in 4 straight games.

The only loss in the last four games was against Tim Lincecum and the Giants and even then, the Braves looked decent at fighting through at-bats against a great pitcher.  Outside of that, the team has done well producing runs at giving our pitchers a chance to get on the board with a win.  If nothing else, it’s reassuring to see that after we have struggled so much with it all season.

In team news, Tim Hudson had his Tommy John surgery yesterday and now sets off of the road to recovery that will keep him grounded for at least the next 12 months.  I just hope that they let him take his time and if the team’s not in contention late next season, to just let Tim sit out until 2o1o to make sure that recovery is full.  Rafael Soriano went to see Dr. Andrews with Hudson to have his own elbow checked out.  For the third time in 8 months, examinations of Soriano’s elbow came back inconclusive in what has been a frustrating season for Rafael.

Let’s just try to keep up the offense and getting some confidence back in the team.  If nothing else, it’s always nice to play the role of spoiler late in the season.  Two more against the Diamondbacks this weekend and then back to town to face the Cubs.

Braves Updates

Well we’ve seen a bunch of Braves news lately, so we’ll hit it real fast for ya:

• Morton pitched well yesterday – one hit through seven innings, but he gave up a home run to Prince Fielder, and the Braves fell 4-2.
• C.C. Sabathia showed us yesterday why we need to sign him in the offseason.  8 1/3 innings of four-hit ball.  He’s insane.
• Tim Hudson is going ahead with Tommy John surgery – Dr. James Andrews (the recognized expert in this area) will perform the surgery.  Hudson will have a 12 month rehab time before he is expected back with the team.
• Chipper is expecting to be back in the lineup Friday, the first day he’s eligible off the DL.  He says that “everything feels great” and he’s no longer having trouble with either his hamstring or his quad.
• Brian McCann should be expected back in the starting lineup Monday – he’s nearly done recovering from his concussion.  He may pinch hit today.
• Casey Kotchman is off to a slow start in the NL – only 2 for 16 – with 1 RBI.  Yes, it’s only been four games, but he’s not on fire.
• Royce Ring has been designated for assignment after a really ugly stretch where his ERA jumped 5 runs.  That’s not big league ball stuff.  Vladimir Nunez is expected to replace him.  Ring, according to the AJC, has the “distinction of the worst statistical season of any reliever in the history of the franchise since the 1870s, among those who appeared in as many games as he did.”  That didn’t work out well – he’s a specialist and shouldn’t be pitching as much as he did.

Well there ya have it – maybe we’ll see you at the Stadium today.  Ben Sheets is going against Jorge Campillo.  Go Braves!

Hudson Likely Needs Tommy John

After his visit to two doctors this week, it looks like Tim Hudson will be in need of Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his pitching elbow.  Hudson will likely make a decision in the next week or two as to whether or not to have the surgery procedure that would put him out for the rest of this season and likely half of next season.

Hudson has indicated that he wants to avoid having the surgery and will attempt to “tough it out”, but this is the same attitude taken by Peter Moylan earlier in the season and he ended up having the surgery a few weeks later.  As far as I’m concerned, if both doctors are of the opinion that the surgery needs to happen, he should go ahead and get it done so that we can at least try to get him back for the last few months of the 2009 season.  We’ll see what Dr. Andrews has to say in Hudson’s visit tomorrow.

What do you think?  Should Hudson go ahead and have the surgery?

Braves Trade Rumor Updates

All indications are pointing towards the Braves taking a passive approach to the non-waiver trade deadline. Here are the Braves related notes I have been hearing as of this morning:

• Mike Gonzalez - The Braves closer has received interest from the Texas Rangers organization. The Rangers, in desperate need of bullpen help would be willing to trade an outfielder for Gonzalez. Outfielders could include David Murphy, Frank Catalanotto, Brandon Boggs or Marlon Byrd. While the Braves need an outfielder, it would be unwise to sell Gonzalez at this low of a price. He has a top-5 closer ceiling, it would be painful to see that production in another organization. Murphy and a top prospect might get the trade done however. For those who do not know David Murphy yet — he is a hard-nosed player that pounds the gaps hard. He will not be an all-star but has some above-average years in him. The rest of that crew would not be an attractive solution to our problems with outfield power.
• Mark Teixeira – The Braves have apparently started to seriously consider moving Teixeira. CBS Sportsline has a report up stating that the Braves have made a list that includes Boston, Los Angeles (AL), Tampa Bay, and Arizona of potential trading partners. These are four organizations with deep minor league systems that could really turn into a bidding war if two or more organizations get involved in this deal. I don’t see how Tampa Bay is interested in this because they have a long term commitment to Carlos Pena who has power and plays great defense, much like Teixeira. Putting one of the two at DH would be a detriment to those two players. A new rumor that was floating around is Robb Quinlan and Brandon Wood of the Angels to the Braves for Teixeira. That is a terrible offer if that is indeed the truth. Quinlan is a career bench player and Wood’s star has burned a lot dimmer in recent years since hitting 43 home runs in 2005 at High-A Ranco Cucamonga. Also, where does Wood fit on this team? He is a third-baseman/shortstop. There isn’t a place for him this season. Los Angeles would be a lot closer offering Casey Kotchmann and Juan Rivera.
• Tim Hudson – His name has been mentioned once, but it is highly doubtful that the Braves would be interested in moving their ace.
• Mark Kotsay – He has just this year left on his contract but has played well despite some injuries.  I have doubts that they could get much for him – but you never know.
• Will Ohman – This is a name that may be mentioned more frequently over the next few days. While I have not heard of any specific deals in which Ohman might be involved in, he has put together a great season and is a lefty. I can’t imagine anything that might make him more attractive.
• Jeff Francoeur was mentioned by Braves.com today in trade rumors – though this may be shocking to some people, he’s not doing well at all.  The Royals may be interested – their GM was formerly in the Braves organization.

It may be 4:01 on July 31st when the baseball world finally knows what the Braves intentions were for this trade season.  Rumors will continue to flutter around and we may not know what’s going on until it happens.

- Dan & Colin

Discussing The All-Star Break

Back to the regular sized blog post.

So, we haven’t posted in a while, but this would be a good time to discuss the break and such. Chipper, McCann and trainer Jeff Porter are in New York as I write this enjoying the sites, including Yankee stadium, as well as enjoying their four days off. Chipper and McCann have been THE most consistent presences in this line-up, everyone knows that. While they do deserve these four days off, I doubt either would trade in a trip to Yankee stadium to play the final All-Star game their for those days off.

The Braves played San Diego and the Dodgers last week, coming away with their first .500 road trip of any length since WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY back last season when they went 1-2 against the Mets and 2-1 against the Nats from September 10-16, seriously. But going into the break with a road trip like that, even if it is against the worst team in the league in San Diego, is still something to build on.

Looking more into those six games, the Braves pitched out of their mind amazing, they gave up eight runs to LA in three games and eight runs to the Padres in three games. Against San Diego, only seven of those runs were earned and against LA only seven of those runs were earned as well, bringing the team ERA for those six games down to a ridiculous 2.33, yet we only went 3-3, sad.

The two teams we played, from before the season even started, were supposed to be slightly offensively challenged, yet the Braves looked like the team that needed a bat or three or four. In the first five games in the series, the Braves went 1-54 (0.019) in the first four innings, THEY HAD ONE HIT IN FIVE GAMES IN THE FIRST FOUR INNINGS! Throwing in the final game doesn’t make it that much better either, the Braves had three hits in the first four innings Sunday, bringing the grand total up to 4-67 (0.059). That’s just pathetic offensively.

With the Mets heating up and Florida not going away any time soon (they just got Josh Johnson back for the homestretch), this won’t be easy. Philly’s ball park isn’t miraculously going to get bigger and allow them to hit less home runs, and the Mets and Marlins aren’t going to stop hitting either. This team needs some sort of a wake up call and they need it fast, whether it is waving the white flag to trade guys away and tell them, “we’re not invincible,” or get a new guy in the clubhouse and infuse new energy. Heck Mike Hampton pitching might put enough energy into this team to give them some new life. Who knows?

Looking ahead to past the break, the Braves have a sweepable series against the Nats. The pitching matchups have already been set. Aces duel in the first game when Tim Hudson (9-7) takes on Tim Redding (7-3), Jair Jurrjens (9-4) gets the ball in game two against John Lannan (5-9) and Jojo Reyes (3-8) will face off against Odalis Perez (2-7) in the final game of the series.

Btw, was it just me or was taking Reyes out of his Friday start against the Padres after four innings because we had guys in scoring position a serious desparation move by the Braves? Buddy Carlyle came in and did a good job finishing it up, but seriously. For whatever reason, Reyes always seems to have a shorter leash than any of the other guys out there.

- Akshay