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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2,256 comments Add your comment
Bat Masterson
April 28th, 2010
3:35 pm
Chipper is stil the right guy for number three but he belongs at first base not third. -Travis
The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that idea is some sort of devious plot, to get Chipper off the field and into traction.
Shaun
April 28th, 2010
3:36 pm
Jeff R, he hasn’t fully learned the major league game and he’s still producing noticeably better than the average NL hitter so far. The thing is, he’s delivered plenty overnight but many haven’t noticed because they are obsessed with strikeouts and batting average more than the things they should be obsessed with.
RHR
April 28th, 2010
3:41 pm
People who suggest Chipper move to 3rd are apparently very new at this baseball thing.
Nick
April 28th, 2010
3:42 pm
Hard to believe that only the Orioles have a worse record than the Braves.
McFann Ô
April 28th, 2010
3:42 pm
Soph Was he snooty about it?
That, I don’t know…I read it in an article on the Braves website the day the game ended. He probably wasn’t, but I don’t know…Clint Hurdle prob’ly told him he was gonna be second in line, and Martin was just telling McCann.
Here’s the article: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080715&content_id=3138099&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
I just like that name…McMaulina.
That is pretty clever, I have to say.
I have to find a way to incorporate Russell Martin into that name though.
Well, you don’t hafta ruin it.
NY-CITI
April 28th, 2010
3:43 pm
Three outs away from heading into philly in 1st place!!! LETS GO METS!!!!!
Efrim
April 28th, 2010
3:44 pm
Shaun, I think most people are concerned with the strikeouts. I think a lot of people are forgetting that he is 20 years old too. Batting average isn’t as important as say, on base percentage, but it’d be nice if Heyward didn’t K 160+ times a year so that he could post high batting averages.
But I’m in agreement with you. He is 20 and producing well in the OBP/SLG departments for a 20 year old. That is the most important thing.
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
3:44 pm
This team needs to start jettisoning the excess cargo – McLouth, Cabrera, Glaus, C. Jones, Lowe – and start getting some prospects. Man, I scour the G-Braves’ roster and things look pretty lame.
A veritable pig-in-a-poke.
cricket
April 28th, 2010
3:44 pm
Shaun, BA is being used long time and is easier statto follow. But OBP and OPS are catching up pretty fast, they are just not mentioned readily in scorecards or game stories, BA is the 1st one and hence are not very easily available for common fans. But it is changing. I noticed last 2 games watching Cards feed on Extra Innings, their color guy, who sounds like typical former player, bringing up OBP and slugging for few hitters after starting some comments in traditional ways, like – “this guy is hitting so-and-so (BA)”.
unbelievable
April 28th, 2010
3:45 pm
how many xbase hits have we had in this 7 game losing streak? and how many has Prado had out of those
Jimmy Joe
April 28th, 2010
3:45 pm
I am not a Met fan. I just am impressed with a team that was picked to finish in 4th or 5th place by many and have exceeded expectations 22 games into the season. Pelfrey and Niese have been better than expected and their pen is good. Thas all. No need to call me a “chump”.
Stats Prove That....
April 28th, 2010
3:47 pm
NY-CITI
April 28th, 2010
3:43 pm
Three outs away from heading into philly in 1st place!!! LETS GO METS!!!!!
And this fact alone should be enough to keep any Brave fan away from sharp objects or prescription pills!
ugaaccountant
April 28th, 2010
3:47 pm
I think many people still think of striking out like they did when they were 10 playing little league and their friends would make fun of them. Or maybe it’s from adult softball where you start with a 1-1 count and rarely ever use more than 1 pitch an at-bat due to time limited games.
If a player strikes out a fair bit due to being selective, and hits for lots of power and gets on base a ton, that’s a productive player. Examples of one or both include Ryan Howard, Mark Reynolds, Adam Dunn. These are very good players. Heyward is sort of in that boat right now, but all signs point to him moving to the even better crew like Joe Mauer or Albert Pujols.
ncscoots
April 28th, 2010
3:49 pm
because they are obsessed with strikeouts and batting average more than the things they should be obsessed with.
Geez, can you just let…it…go with your campaign against the three stats? My God, man, the only “obsession” here is yours with denigrating batting average, LOL.
(I know better than to even think about doing this, but, Holy Cornelia…)
I mean, the discussion on Heyward hasn’t been anywhere close to busting on the kid or ranting about his BA or discounting his OPS or any other damn thing close to what you’ve tried to make it out to be. I love ya, Shaun, but Christ-a-mighty, you’re a high-maintenance sumbee.
Stats Prove That....
April 28th, 2010
3:49 pm
Mets are playing like the Braves were SUPPOSED to play. And quite honestly the Braves are playing like, a little league team is supposed to play.
ugaaccountant
April 28th, 2010
3:50 pm
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
3:44 pm
This team needs to start jettisoning the excess cargo – McLouth, Cabrera, Glaus, C. Jones, Lowe – and start getting some prospects.
Let’s play that game:
Mclouth – due to his contract we’d have to pay to give his contract away
Cabrera – Nobody would give us a prospect for him
Glaus – Nobody would give us a prospect for him
Chipper – As good as he still is, due to his contract we’d have to pay to give his contract away
Lowe – due to his contract we’d have to pay to give his contract away
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
3:51 pm
Jimmy Joe, I agree. How Jerry Manuel has led his team speaks to his managerial abilities. I am sure Omar Minaya is praying at Manuel’s altar every day. Their pitching, as you stated, shocks me by how well they have performed.
cricket
April 28th, 2010
3:51 pm
Once again, I think Heyward’s Ks are bit different than most lesser hitters’. His excellent eye and greater patience is driving him in deep counts, increasing probability of both Ks and walks. He’ll be fine as he learns when to be aggressive. These are not Ks like Frenchy was producing when he was struggling mightily, it would be interesting to see his number of pitches/AB compared to the same for Heywards. I think Heyward’s hitting approach is similar to that of Bobby Abreu.
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
3:52 pm
uga: “as good as he still is”? Wow, you are truly a fan, bless your heart.
ncscoots
April 28th, 2010
3:52 pm
Their pitching, as you stated, shocks me by how well they have performed.
As well it should. Call me when they can do it longer than three weeks.
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
3:54 pm
uga, as for the rest, there’s a MLB sucker out there born every minute of the season. Even if it means we have to eat some millions; better than eating all the millions of those inept contracts. Even you know that.
Jeff R
April 28th, 2010
3:55 pm
Shaun… I’m in full agreement with your 3:36 pm post. And good to have you back on the blog.
NEW CARS
April 28th, 2010
3:55 pm
Heyward swinging or not swinging isn’t what’s killing this team. It’s the lack of hits when we get in hitter’s counts…This team has been more patient than past Braves team. They just aren’t getting good swings on 2-0, 3-0 and 3-1 counts..I believe that will come in the case of Heyward, McCann, Chipper and Escobar. Not as sure about Glaus and M&M…After we complained about Frenchie swinging at warmup pitches and ball 2 feet outside the zone, I hope to be the last one to complain about a 20-year old being patient. I may be a conspiracy theory guy, but it seems to me that the umpires have spread the zone on Heyward a little bit. I believe he’s a smart enough guy to adjust and start hammering some of those pitches. I just know that 2 or 3 times that I’ve seen him strike out in the last week were on pitches that haven’t been called strikes the last few years. Not since MAddux and Glavine were in their prime.
We just need someone to step up in the clutch, more than once.
ugaaccountant
April 28th, 2010
3:55 pm
“MiaBchBravesFan
uga: “as good as he still is”? Wow, you are truly a fan, bless your heart.”
He’s still our 2nd most productive batter as of now. Look at the stats. Especially OBP which of course is the goal of an at bat. Not getting out.
Plus, everyone probably thinks McCann is our best player right? Has anyone noticed his defense has been eqully as bad as Chipper’s? He’s sailing pick off attempts into center field and I haven’t liked the way he set up on a few plays at the plate.
Frankie Knuckles
April 28th, 2010
4:00 pm
Yep. call me too.. It will not last. On another note. I shouldn’t be name calling . My apologizes. Just seems like alot of other fans get on the best board in baseball and use an alias to get their rocks off.
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
4:00 pm
ncscoots: I hate the Mets too. . .
(Hell, I hate any team that isn’t wearing the red, white, and blue of Atlanta. Hell, I spend my days telling Marlins’ fans to stick their two WS rings right up their poop-shoot.)
. . . but their pitching looks like it’ll last more than three weeks.
Thrillhouse44
April 28th, 2010
4:00 pm
For what it’s worth, the Braves have only lost these 7 games by a total of 15 runs. They’re not getting blown out, and several games could have been won if one or two plays had simply gone their way. Once a few of these breaks start going their way, with the pitching they have, the Braves are going to be fine. If you don’t have patience, you picked the wrong sport.
Jeff R
April 28th, 2010
4:01 pm
The Braves are having a team problem. Sure, individuals comprise the team, but its a group of players who aren’t performing well.
chipperchop
April 28th, 2010
4:01 pm
The Mets are doing well because they have played 3 straight series with Last place teams. I’m interested to see how they do against teams that are over 500 like the Phillies, Cardinals, Giants teams like that before they crown themselves division winners in April.
NY-CITI
April 28th, 2010
4:01 pm
Stats Prove That…. —– I know it’s early but the Mets headed into the homestand in last place and now find themselves in first. Big test this coming weekend…….LETS GO METS!!!
RHR
April 28th, 2010
4:02 pm
The sudden surge for the Mets only means one thing to me….I’ll just enjoy the inevitable collapse that much more.
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
4:04 pm
uga: his defense stinks and has cost the team precious runs, along with McCann. That said, if pressed for a choice, who would you rather keep right now? I thought so.
In the absence of any meaningful hitting, the two best players are Escobar and Prado because at least Esco is making plays and Prado is still hitting and playing solid D.
Your hero is a zero. His time is up.
ugaaccountant
April 28th, 2010
4:05 pm
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
3:54 pm
uga, as for the rest, there’s a MLB sucker out there born every minute of the season. Even if it means we have to eat some millions; better than eating all the millions of those inept contracts. Even you know that.
Yes, as an accountant, i’m very familiar with the sunk cost theory. We have certain obligations to pay these guys whether they help us or not. Our options are to play them or cut them. All are veterans so we can’t option them down. And yes, all of them are untradeable at this second, but that would change with improved play.
As to sunk cost and how it would factor in to those 5 players:
McClouth – The Braves have already internally decided they are unlikely to excercise his 2012 option. So they’ve budgeted for the sunk cost of the buyout for that year. As to cutting him today, no way. He’s better than that.
Chipper – As I just said, as disapointing as this thought is, he’s been our most productive player so far this year. No reason to cut him when he’s the best we’ve got, or anywhere close to it. Only reason to cut him would be if he’s our worst player, and his pride would have him retire well before that point. No trading 10/5 player, he’s not going to trade.
Glaus – I believe the intention of the Braves has always been to cut him if 2 things happen 1. he’s bad 2 Freeman is ready
Melky – Obvious non-tender candidate at the end of the year. If Schaefer is ready in a few months and Melky is playing a bit better we could likely move him to another team for no significant player in return.
Lowe – We already priced this out. To get rid of him we could eat about half his contract and another team would want him at that point. Trouble with this is he actually is a decent player and why would we want him gone in that situation? We don’t hate his play, it’s his salary. He’s an acceptable big league pitching option, no reason to throw that away.
All Seeing Eye
April 28th, 2010
4:06 pm
McCann isn’t a very good defensive catcher at all. And his inability to throw many base runners out isn’t going to get any better.
NY-CITI
April 28th, 2010
4:07 pm
Chipperchop —- Many on this blog claimed the Mets were no good and among those last place teams. Furthermore, the braves were not in last place when the arrived in NY. I don’t think the cubs were either.
Bay Area Steve
April 28th, 2010
4:10 pm
RHR (and this goes for anybody with at least half a coherent thought),
Ya gotta stop posting on the other blogs. I’m too lazy to check ‘em all. Read there, post here. I almost missed your gem on the Heyward note this morning. Makes me wonder how many others we’re missing.
ugaaccountant
April 28th, 2010
4:12 pm
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
4:04 pm
uga: his defense stinks and has cost the team precious runs, along with McCann. That said, if pressed for a choice, who would you rather keep right now? I thought so.
In the absence of any meaningful hitting, the two best players are Escobar and Prado because at least Esco is making plays and Prado is still hitting and playing solid D.
Your hero is a zero. His time is up.
Sorry, yes Prado clearly has been our most productive field player.
Then you’ve got 4 options for 2nd through 5th:
Ranked by offense
Chipper
McCann
Heyward
Yunel – incredibly far back right now. The other 3 are 800+ OPS, he’s in the 500’s.
Ranked by Defense
Yunel
Heyward
Chipper – yes as just explained
McCann
So no, Chipper’s not a zero. He’s our 2nd best overall field player right now by my calculation. Will he likely finish above 5th this season? No probably not. But the point is, we surely shouldn’t be complaining about Chipper right now while he’s near the top of the team.
RC
April 28th, 2010
4:13 pm
McCann isn’t a very good defensive catcher at all. And his inability to throw many base runners out isn’t going to get any better.
That may be true, but throwin out baserunners is at least as attributable to the pitcher than the catcher. If you look at his career Greg Maddux’s catchers were always terrible at throwing out baserunners. It’s not because they couldn’t….it’s because Mad Dog didn’t care about the runners and did nothing to keep them close to the base or slide step to get the ball to the plate faster. Hanson is one of the easiest pitchers in MLB to steal on, and if you watched the game a couple of nights ago when Molina stole, you’d know that way WAY more Moylan’s fault than McCann’s. McCann probably isn’t a very good defensive catcher, but he’s average at least, and his hitting makes him an elite overall catcher.
ugaaccountant
April 28th, 2010
4:15 pm
NY-CITI – Most of us thought Reyes wouldn’t be around for months. That is a great break for you guys that he’s back and doing well. It’s very significant to the success of your team, in addition to the SP’s being incredibly hot right now.
RHR
April 28th, 2010
4:17 pm
Hey BAS – I haven’t posted much anywhere and that Heyward/Bobby thing was just so WTF I couldn’t resist. But you haven’t missed anything from me. My electricity has been out since Saturday night when a tornado came thru and the first game I’ve even paid any attention to was last night when we listened to it on the radio from about the 5th inning on. This is one time I actually like DOB’s 98 new blogs a day, that way I can just get the highlights (or lowlights, as it is) and skip all the other since my only internet time is at work these days.
chucktown brave
April 28th, 2010
4:19 pm
I picked up St Louis SP Jaime Garcia in my fantasy baseball league just for tonight knowing he would be facing our hapless braves. Looking forward to 7 IP, 8 K, 0.00 ERA
monty
April 28th, 2010
4:19 pm
I never realized Mclouth was so pull happy. I was thinking I don’t remember him ever hitting a ball to the left of 2nd base ever. Maybe part of his ongoing problems, he doesn’t keep his hands “inside the baseball” as they say. Be nice to see him stay on some balls and drive them the other way.
monty
April 28th, 2010
4:23 pm
Another runner for St.Louis(Albert?) just took off before our pitcher even made his move to home. Very embarrassing, 2 games in a row. What chance does Brian have when we can’t even keep runners from running before we even start our motion to the plate?
All Seeing Eye
April 28th, 2010
4:25 pm
McCann probably isn’t a very good defensive catcher, but he’s average at least, and his hitting makes him an elite overall catcher.
No, his hitting makes him a good option for an American League DH. You can’t expect to win in the playoffs or world series with a catcher that is a liability behind the plate. Oh wait. I don’t guess we have to worry about that happening any time soon.
On a side note: I think the whole Bobby Cox saying Heyward doesn’t swing enough is not a very smart thing to spew towards the press. For instance, if in fact its true — why not talk to him privately?
MiaBchBravesFan
April 28th, 2010
4:25 pm
uga: as always, your calculations make sense. However, I rail at the senselessness of trading for/signing half-baked hitters for $2-$4-$6 million and having them provide nothing – like we have for the last ten years. If nothing else, the Rays and the Marlins have proven that in the absence of money, you develop and make wise evaluations.
The Marlins, drat them, have always lived the charmed life when it comes to growing talent. Under new management, the Rays have lately reaped the benefits of past poor records and (finally!) dividends paying off on good talent picks.
To play in October, either you have big money or a bevy of young, stellar, homegrown talent – a big trend in the Wild Card era. Half-assers who don’t grow their own and try to do it on the cheap need not apply.
monty
April 28th, 2010
4:25 pm
WOW! Where’d everybody go? NEW BLOGGAGE??
ric
April 28th, 2010
4:27 pm
Problem is simple – TERRY PENDLETON!!!! Every player who leaves and goes to another team is batting very very well! Look @ Kelly Johnson, Jeff Francouer, Andrew Jones, Adam LaRoche. Let’s try somebody else at hitting coach, Let’s bring back Don Baylor!!
brian
April 28th, 2010
4:27 pm
thanks richbrave for all the info. Looking forward to seeing the Braves play this weekend even if it is just the Rome Braves.
RC – I did not get to see Braves last night so I obviously missed that at bat. I was at a dinner where Clark Kellog was the speaker – he was really good
David O'Brien
April 28th, 2010
4:31 pm
NEW BLOGGAGE
Glen W
April 28th, 2010
4:33 pm
NY-CITI,
I’ll sya it again. The mets have had a serious advanatage in that they have done little traveling. They have played 6 whole games on the road, and they were back-to-back series in STL and COL. To compare, the Phillies will play their 15th road game tonight.
CITI field neutralizes the power that other teams have and makes the Mets, without much power a more competitive team. Its great when you can make your ballpark work in your favor. But, gee, I wonder what’s going to happen when the Mets take that pitching staff on the road and when the Phillies take their lineup back to their bandbox of a stadium.
Don’t get too excited. The Mets are playing their 11th game in a row at home today… a huge advantage especially early in the season.
FYI, the Mets have allowed 4.5 runs per game on the road compared to 2.8 runs per game at home.
TnBrian
April 28th, 2010
4:34 pm
Geez, what’s up with all the negative talk? LOL
chucktown brave, you’re wrong. The Braves will make the Cardinal pitcher work and he’ll be out by 6. Problem is that they’ll have 1 or no runs to show for all their patience at the plate and their pen will finish the job on our offense in fine fashion.
Have you learned anything watching this team in 2010?
McFann Ô
April 28th, 2010
4:36 pm
DOB NEW BLOGGAGE
Saved by the bell…
Lew
April 28th, 2010
4:39 pm
Brian from SC – I don’t think we’re depending on Heyward. I think what the situation shows is just how important even one more hit with RISP is in most of the games we’ve played. We’ve had tons of base runners – wish I had $$$$ for every time they’ve left the bases loaded – just a matter of one more hit at that point, whether by Heyward or one of the others. Four of our losses are by a single run. That hit at the right time could have made all the difference. There have been damned few games where we’ve been blown out.
RC
April 28th, 2010
4:40 pm
All Seeing Eye,
The Yankees won the World Series with Jorge Posada as their catcher. McCann is MUCH better defensively than Posada.
DAP
April 28th, 2010
4:44 pm
shaun DAP, he’s 20. How could anyone not expect him to strikeout at least more than he did in the minors?
not saying its right. just that alot of people expected him to be the best player they have ever seen right out of the gate.
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