Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
140 comments Add your comment
Bill James
October 28th, 2011
2:03 pm
Frenchy was a bust in relation to what expectations were. He demonstrated early on what he could do, but something happened along the way in Atlanta. Heyward may not get the time in Atlanta to prove himself. He’s still very young but may need some seasoning. He might be reading his old
press clippings.
Schafer was bad news from the beginning. He’ll be out of baseball by 2013
bobbymahlon
October 28th, 2011
3:38 pm
And don’t forget Francoeur won a gold glove award that is something a lot of players cannot say they have won. That strong accurate arm of his is something else.
dilly
October 28th, 2011
4:12 pm
I am absolutely amazed at the comments about McCann. All the baseball experts think he is an excellent catcher. Since when did all of you critics of Mac get smarter than the people who really have knowledge of the game. Freeman is marvelous at first – why would you move him? Heyward cannot even play right field well and you would put him at third!?! Until the oblique, Mac was having an all star year.
McFann O O o Get Well Soon, Nolie!!
October 28th, 2011
5:04 pm
dilly—
Amen…
Robert
October 28th, 2011
5:15 pm
“I am absolutely amazed at the comments about McCann. All the baseball experts think he is an excellent catcher”
He is a very good hitting catcher. As a defensive catcher and a game caller, he is at best average
kb
October 28th, 2011
5:25 pm
agree Robert.
McFann O O o Get Well Soon, Nolie!!
October 28th, 2011
5:49 pm
Guys, seriously—all our pitchers and David Ross think he is a dang fine game caller. Who are y’all to say he’s not?? Pitchers give up game-winning homers all the time—does that mean all those catchers are bad game callers?
Dear lord…
Dan Uggla
October 28th, 2011
6:00 pm
Fredi: A porn star? Honest, Fredi, I didn’t know she was a “porn” star. I thought my agent said she was a “pawn” star. Honest, believe me.
ColoradoBravesFan
October 28th, 2011
6:16 pm
Bill James online has an article that rates McCann way above average at blocking the ball. I believe 5th by percentage. Seems as though most baseball experts rate Mac in the top 10 on Defense and in the top 3 on offense. There are many many teams who would love to have that production.
And I bet if Hanson could learn to hold runners better Macs caught stealing would be at least league average. GO BRAVES….
Catchers Blocking the Ball in the Dirt
By John Dewan
July 22, 2011
In the fifth inning of last Friday’s game against the Blue Jays, Yankees broadcaster Ken Singleton asked aloud, “Does somebody keep track of how many times a catcher blocks a ball in the dirt to keep the runners from advancing?”
Commentator David Cone responded, “I’m sure someone does somewhere. Maybe Fangraphs will have it.”
Well, Ken and David, Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) has you covered. A legion of video scouts at BIS track this information as part of their system of tracking Good Fielding Plays and Defensive Misplays.
A Good Fielding Play is NOT necessarily a play on which the player looks good making the play—diving or spinning. It is a play that is made when, had the play not been made, no one would have faulted the fielder for not making it. And an out or a runner advancement is prevented. There are currently 28 different types of Good Fielding Plays.
One of the Good Fielding Play categories is called Catcher Blocks, which the video scouts record when a catcher blocks a ball in the dirt with runners on base. Here are the 2011 Catcher Block leaders, along with the number of Wild Pitches and Passed Balls each catcher has allowed. We also calculate a Catcher Block Percentage by adding dividing Catcher Blocks by the sum of Catcher Blocks, Wild Pitches and Passed Balls.
Catcher Block Leaders Through July 21, 2011
Catcher
Catcher
Blocks Wild
Pitches Passed
Balls Catcher
Block Pct
Yadier Molina, Stl 420 24 3 94%
Jonathan Lucroy, Mil 380 34 1 92%
Russell Martin, NYY 358 26 1 93%
J.P. Arencibia, Tor 319 28 8 90%
Chris Iannetta, Col 306 28 5 90%
Matt Wieters, Bal 297 16 0 95%
Brian McCann, Atl 297 28 3 91%
A.J. Pierzynski, CWS 293 33 2 89%
Kurt Suzuki, Oak 287 30 2 90%
Alex Avila, Det 285 32 3 89%
Yadier Molina has blocked a league-leading 420 pitches while, at the same time, allowing a relatively small number of wild pitches and passed balls. His 94% Catcher Block Percentage is second in baseball to Matt Wieters’ 95%. Russell Martin currently ranks third at 93%. If Molina can pass Wieters, it will be his third year in a row leading Major League Baseball in Catcher Block Percentage. He had a 95% Catcher Block percentage in 2010 and 94% in 2009.
Dan Uggla
October 28th, 2011
6:22 pm
See guys. I was going deep in the first half of the season—it just wasn’t in a MLB ballpark. She told me she was an actress. How was I suppose to know she ran around butt naked in movies?
Ex. S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford
October 28th, 2011
6:28 pm
Hey Dan. How about giving me a call?
ColoradoBravesFan
October 28th, 2011
6:43 pm
Here is another article for ranking catchers… McCann is 3rd on this list.
http://baseballevaluation.com/playergrades/fieldvalue2011_c.html.
ColoradoBravesFan
October 28th, 2011
6:45 pm
Should have included this also…
What is Field Value?
Field Value (FV) is the fielding rating for Stat Geek Baseball’s New Player Rating value. This rating is given to each player at each position they play during the season with over1 inning played per max games (162) at that position, as well as a total fielding rating given to a player for each season for players who played more than one position. A minimum grade is given per position to any player with under162 innings played.
Each position has different maximum, average, and minimum rating values per the difficulty and value of that position, which folds into the overall value of PEVA for that season.
FV Scale Maximums
Catcher – 2.10
Shortstop – 1.75
Outfield – 1.70
Third Base – 1.70
Second Base – 1.50
First Base – 1.40
Farnsworthy
October 28th, 2011
8:46 pm
Hey Frank Wren! It is getting ugly with Uggla. I can’t believe the news I heard today about Danny and Bibi (his girlfriend who makes dirty movies). Boy, what a couple.
How can you market to families when Dan Uggla, one of your star players, cavorts around with porn queens? That’s not a real wholesome image for the kiddies.
Frank, it just seems like every one of your signees goes sour.
McFann O O o Get Well Soon, Nolie!!
October 28th, 2011
9:02 pm
ColoradoBravesFan —
Excellent!
phil
October 28th, 2011
10:27 pm
so….
Uggly has been acting…uggly….
Pathetic behavior but hardly surprising.
As for McCann, he didn’t deserve that award. But he got it, so congrats. His hitting is normally quite good but i thought his defense this year was subpar….maybe he bounces back, maybe he doesn’t.
After the way this season ended, it’s going to take a lot to convince me we’re worth a crap. I’m not expecting much anymore to be honest. Wayward is such a disappointment too. FF is a positive but the there’s Prado.
Anyway, we still have Lowe! Wohoo!
McFann O O o Get Well Soon, Nolie!!
October 28th, 2011
10:47 pm
phil—
He will bounce back.
kb
October 28th, 2011
11:32 pm
Cards are World Champions…..Fredi gets full share…Damn!!!!!!!!!
Eye Know
October 28th, 2011
11:59 pm
Its obvious that players have to leave ATL to get a ring. Something has been wrong here since ‘91 and its the hitting philosophy of Cox and now Gonzalez. They won’t swing the F-ing bat. They think they can walk their way to a championship. The Braves watch pitch after pitch go by with the bat on their shoulder. I don’t know why they even take one to the plate? Hitting is all about momentum. You get none of that from watching pitches go by. Do the Cardinals or Rangers worry about “working” the the pitchers or walking? Hell no. They’re too busy hitting home runs. Imagine that…….
Get rid of Gonzalaz
October 29th, 2011
12:00 am
All I gotta say is good for Uggla and if you remember correctly BABE RUTH was a drinking, smoking, WOMANIZING hitting machine………..AND HE WAS MARKETED TO KIDS……….WHO CARES ABOUT WHO UGGLA CORVORTING WITH. I call a double standard here, remember Andrew Jones banging Gold Club strippers and I really dont rmember anyone mentioning that, and really it wasnt important.
reckingball
October 29th, 2011
1:05 am
Like I said yesterday, there are a lot of whining crybabies on this rag.
fire phil.
wjones
October 29th, 2011
8:21 am
“Eye Know
October 28th, 2011
11:59 pm
Its obvious that players have to leave ATL to get a ring. Something has been wrong here since ‘91 and its the hitting philosophy of Cox and now Gonzalez. They won’t swing the F-ing bat. They think they can walk their way to a championship. The Braves watch pitch after pitch go by with the bat on their shoulder. I don’t know why they even take one to the plate? Hitting is all about momentum. You get none of that from watching pitches go by. Do the Cardinals or Rangers worry about “working” the the pitchers or walking? Hell no. They’re too busy hitting home runs. Imagine that”…
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….
OK. Do you actually live on the same planet as they rest of us? So many things wrong with that post, but I’ll only pick out two things:
1. “Something has been wrong here since 1991…” Oh, you mean the year we went worst to first and started a string of 14 straight division titles? I’m thinking every team in the bigs would like to identify something as “wrong” as that.
2. You think the Braves were too patient? Seriously? The team that was at or near the bottom in OBP all year? That’s your solution? To quit working the count? Don’t you actually have to START working the count before you STOP?
Lee
October 29th, 2011
10:26 am
reckingball, he!! thats all you ever say..same old BS.
kb
October 29th, 2011
10:32 am
Texas first team to lose Series two straight years since the Atlanta Braves 91-92.
Texas pitchers walked 41 players in Series, 11 scored. So it wasn’t all homers.
vermont 39
October 29th, 2011
1:23 pm
Congrats CK and BMac…I bet Elvis Andrus looks even better now…
kb
October 29th, 2011
2:24 pm
Now let the Rumors, trades and free agent signing begin, will the braves do nothing? are will they fill a couple needs?
wjones
October 30th, 2011
1:35 am
“Lee
October 29th, 2011
10:26 am
reckingball, he!! thats all you ever say..same old BS.”
All reckingball is doing is replying to the same old BS. Everything he counters about is posted here repeatedly, to the point of madness.
Lobosolo
October 30th, 2011
10:16 pm
The poor, poor armchairs finally get a new post to whine and cry about, and they make the best of it… hey, phil, when are you gonna keep your word and get outta here? Come on whine-babies… season is over and y’all are still around? When are you geniuses gonna ever run out of tears? Haven’t your children been embarrassed enough? spending your life pretending that you know baseball while whining like a two-year old who dropped his binkie is no way to live, Cryboys… Go back to your corners and suck on your thumbs for awhile, until you grow a pair and perhaps learn a thing or two about the game… the Never-Ending sob-Story… a-wahhh, a-wahhhh, a-wahhhhhh,,,,
reckingball
October 31st, 2011
12:23 am
fire phil.
Tommy Hawk
October 31st, 2011
6:48 am
The Braves should get a part of the World Serie pie for their immense contribution to Cardinal success.
The Cardinals beat the Phillies, Brewers and Rangers. The Braves aren’t even remotely in the same league with St. Louis, or have a manager in the caliber of Tony LaRussa.
braveshoo
October 31st, 2011
7:47 am
I dont think the Braves need major changes, but a few moves would be very helpful. A.Gonzalez should be resigned for 1-2 years tops. Shortstops are difficult to find and his defense will save quite a few games. The outfield bench needs to be upgraded. I would not keep Diaz whose skills are eroding. Michael Cuddyer would be a great addition. Michael Bourn should be signed longterm-4-5 years at 10 million per year. Move Prado back to a super utility role, playing a lot for Chipper at 3rd., as well as LF, RF, and 2nd if necessary.
cornjolio
October 31st, 2011
9:35 am
braveshoo,
If Prado becomes super sub, who plays in LF?
How about the train wreck in RF?
Time to field offers for Jurrjens and Hanson for key improvements, not to mention unloading Lowe’s final year on somebosdy, at a loss.
Fredi's humidor
October 31st, 2011
10:01 am
If Gonzo stays at short another year, where’s the much needed offense supposed to come from?
Bourn hit. 256 as a Brave. He’s already developing bad habits he didn’t have in Houston.
Uggla hit below his career average.
Heyward can’t be counted on for anything.
Prado is playing out of position, which impacted his OBP.
When McCann & Chipper are out of the lineup the offensive impotency is glaring.
This team can’t compete with the trade-aggressive Phillies and an improving Nats team. Another equation is the Marlins with their new ballpark will likely open the checkbook to keep it filled.
The Braves and thier overrated pitching (not even top 5 in the National League) are second place at best.
McCann an Allstar??
October 31st, 2011
10:37 am
Unfortunately Brian turned into the next Brave player nicknamed McOut after Nate was put on the 60 day DL!
Peter Gammons
October 31st, 2011
10:40 am
Cardinals win a World Series with a team payroll comparable to the Braves, without the likes of Wainwright & Holliday. Congrats to Tony LaRussa and his THIRD World Series championship.
The Rangers once again reach the World Series with a payroll similar to the Braves.
When Frank Wren ties up $30 million in Lowe, Kawakami & McLouth, and another $14 million in a .230 hitting, solo HR hitting Uggla, is it any wonder the Braves can’t compete?
Instead of calling Liberty Media “cheap”, start analyzing the moves of Frank Wren. God only knows what he’ll do with the $15 million freed up by the loss of Kawakami & McLouth.
Look for Michael Bourn to have a stellar 2012 free agent season in Atlanta – his last as a Brave.
Ken Stallings
October 31st, 2011
11:09 am
Add this to next year’s cooler talk fodder …
Tony LaRussa just announced he is retiring and that opens up the Saint Louis Cardinal’s managerial position. A certain fellow named Terry Pendleton will be a prime candidate for that position.
Would not surprise me at all to see him offered the position either.
The negative talk here about Brian McCann is just stupidity on public display! The man was having the best season of his career before the oblique injury, which was suffered when he made a dazzling catch on a pitch near the dirt, and then tried to pull a superhuman move to throw a runner out at second. McCann is a old-style gammer of a player and it is ignorant for people to question his hustle.
Dan Uggla matched his career numbers in batting average and slightly exceeded his average home run tally for a season last year. He carried the team for a long stretch.
The only problems the Braves really had over the course of the year was a disappearance by Jason Heyward, Derreck Lowe hitting the skids, injuries twice to Jaire Jurgens and once to Tommy Hanson, and gross overuse of the bullpen because our offense didn’t score enough runs to let the bullpen rest enough.
Of those problems, the solutions are mostly easy:
1. Give Jason Heyward an ultimatum to stop swinging without plate discipline, go the other way on pitches outside, and put is serious work to plug the obvious gaping holes in his swing that pitchers exploited shamelessly on him because he refused to dedicate himself to plugging them. If he does not, ship him to AAA and let him enjoy the minor leagues until he wises up!
2. Derreck Lowe goes to the bullpen for long relief. Yes, his contract is horrible, but not as horrible as last year’s performance on the mound. In every game where the Braves needed him down the stretch, he surrendered several early runs and you could just hear the air being let out of the room each time! Sorry, Derreck, your biggest problem last season was not getting pulled over by an Atlanta cop on suspecion of DUI.
3. You can never have too much pitching and the killer injuries to two of the better starters last year proved the axiom true again! It happens, and there’s not much one can do about it. At least it gave starting experience to other deserving candidates to replace Derreck Lowe.
4. The Braves need to open the wallet and get a quality bat to plug into left field and then hope Heyward gets the message and develops a swing that can survive in the major leagues. Martin Prado is a utility player, likely the best in the game. But, he is not a star player in the every day lineup. With the way Freddie Gonzalez needs to give Chipper regular rest, Prado will get about 20 starts at third base. Rotating him in the outfield, and having him as a stop gap if Heyward’s funk lasts into next season, could get him 200 AB’s next year even as the outstanding utility player that all good teams covet. Getting that additional bat should solve a lot of the Braves’ run-scoring issues and allow the bullpen to avoid leading MLB in innings and appearances next season!
Peter Gammons
October 31st, 2011
1:06 pm
Ken Stallings,
And if Heyward doesn’t produce, what is plan B for right field?
And how many relievers get $15 million a season?
Prado made the AllStar team two seasons ago as a starting second baseman. He’d want a trade before being a backup player.
Uggla did not come close to his career batting average. Look it up ! He’s a one-dimensional hitter that would do well on a team with good hitters batting around him. That rules out the Braves’ Mickey Mouse lineup.
STATS MAN
October 31st, 2011
1:36 pm
Dan Uggla:
Career average: .258
2011 Braves: : .233
Career OnBasePercentage: .343
2011 Braves: .311
Dan Uggla = another brilliant Frank Wren acquisition that will be long regretted !
atlantamelo
October 31st, 2011
5:10 pm
I can’t believe I just wasted my time reading the garbage on what is supposed to be a Braves blog. I guess I must be as much of a loser as y’all. Too much time on my hands. The sad thing is that y’all probably live your entire lives with this kind of sad demeanor. It doesn’t hurt to get behind your team and you are not as smart as you think you are!
Ken Stallings
October 31st, 2011
10:50 pm
Frankly, I did not consider the OBA and BA to be significantly different. 25 points of BA isn’t that big a difference and neither is the 32 points of OBA.