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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
127 comments Add your comment
Brave New World
June 15th, 2012
6:08 pm
The last time Hernandez was a dominant pitcher was when Eric Gregg was the home plate “umpire.”
NickB
June 15th, 2012
6:10 pm
@ Whiskey River
I love how you can take a small sample size of a few games and juts come to the decision that he’s done and should be benched……. I guess yer a super scout huh?
Pardon me if I don’t pay much attention to your obviously uneducated and ignorant opinion about baseball players
DoninAcworth
June 15th, 2012
6:24 pm
Me thinkin Chipper should be used in certain spots and especially as a PH since his (lately) bad fielding has hurt us. Prado is fine at 3rd and he likes it better also. Love
Simmons at short! Go Braves!
Tip-your-hat
June 15th, 2012
6:37 pm
Wren is keeping Francisco ONLY because he doesn’t want to admit Hoover-Francisco deal was a xxxxxxx.
Matt
June 15th, 2012
6:39 pm
Back to the bullpen he goes, and they wasted the f*** out of those 2 weeks.
IlliniBrave
June 15th, 2012
6:57 pm
Yet another Frank Wren shopping trip to Big Lots (no pun intended) with the end result of throwing away some junk you bought but realized you really didn’t need. When will FW stop these stupid bargain-basement ventures? They are getting pretty embarassing.
See Scott Prcotor, Mark Redman, Takashi Saito, Scott Linebrink, Josh Anderson, Chris Woodward, Troy Glaus, Corky Miller, Greg Norton, Daryl Ward, Willie Harris, etc.
cowdogit
June 15th, 2012
7:03 pm
When is President John S coming to D O B’S blog and anwser questions about all of the dumb decision’s being made . When John was the GM he was always accessible .
Ralph
June 15th, 2012
7:05 pm
So who is our “mop up” pitcher now, Venters maybe, who is our set-up man, Venters maybe?
IlliniBrave
June 15th, 2012
7:05 pm
MD Brave: noticed your comment about local announcers up there ripping on Fredi. The talking heads at ESPN Baseball have been indirectly criticizing Braves management on their blogs since the season began. My favorite was Eric Karabell’s remark to AJ Mass last month, regarding ironically enough the Braves’ use of Kris Medlen, “you and I have been wondering what’s going on with Braves management for some time…”
The guy is just not a quality manager.
NickB
June 15th, 2012
7:06 pm
C’mon people. why do you get on FW when he isn’t the on setting the budget! Man has got to work with the amount of money that Liberty allows the team to have. Not to mention Livan was a great pen arm, if he had been used properly by our retard mgr. If he had been a low leverage middle relief guy , he would have been fine, Fredi seemed to think he was the 2nd coming of Craig Kimbrel.
I don’t think it was a bad pickup considering the budget restraints, I just think he wasn’t used properly
IlliniBrave
June 15th, 2012
7:15 pm
Nick B.: Gotta disagree. Livan = Redman = Proctor = Linebrink = Saito = Villareal = insert name of once-decent pitcher who has been cut by at least two other teams. All the same. I’d rather bring up a young arm and let him develop, a la Glavine, Smoltz, Millwood, Avery, etc. – guys who struggled early on but had long-term potential. And this approach would save money – if that is in fact the issue.
NickB
June 15th, 2012
7:20 pm
but you don’t want to bring up a young reliver and have him on low leverage spots all the time, it’s better if they are pitching in high leverage spots in AAA
NickB
June 15th, 2012
7:23 pm
Not to mention how difficult it is to try and develop multiple young players AND be contending for divisions, it rarely happens, usually teams developing are lik the Braves of 87-90 then they erupt like the Braves of 91 (and recently Tampa a few years back) as the players all start to “get it”. I expect the Royals to be a really good team by 2014 or so as they are following this formula. heck , the pirates as well, their pitching is doing well, they just need a bat or two and they will be a dangerous team.
BrandonLee49
June 15th, 2012
7:24 pm
Now that Livan is Levon, let’s see if we can get FG to take his seat beside him on the Bus to ANYWHERE… Give us Bucky Dent, Al Capone, Smokey an the Bandit, Punch n Jusy, anyone Qualifies…
IlliniBrave
June 15th, 2012
7:29 pm
Brandon: at this point I think Triumph the Insult Dog from Conan O’Brien would be a refreshing choice. Someone who would at least not “tip their cap” ten or more times in every press conference after a loss.
Hugh Jass
June 15th, 2012
8:48 pm
This move was moronic. Livan gave up some runs the past few games when he inherited runs in terrible situations. The problem was dumb management leaving pitchers in too long. Livan actually has gotten us out of some bad situations too. Send Venters down for the love of all that is holy.
FSUBrave
June 15th, 2012
9:02 pm
stupid..this team is run by a bunch of morons
Roja
June 15th, 2012
11:47 pm
Should have DFA’d Livan about 55 games ago!!!!!!
Roja
June 15th, 2012
11:50 pm
SPN would rag on God if she were managing the Atlanta Braves.
MikeY
June 16th, 2012
7:07 am
Medlen is a true professional. As is Prado. Those two are my two Braves co-MVPs.
Braves are looking better…and should be even better next year.
Go Braves!
N Ain
June 16th, 2012
8:21 am
What is up with Johnny Venters? Is he in the tank for the rest of the season, or is he going to come around soon?
Mark's for the Braves
June 16th, 2012
9:43 am
Why does Levan still want to pitch? Well it’s like Elton John sang, “Levon, Levon likes his money”.
No, all kidding aside, Levan actually did ok for April and May, I thought. We just don’t need relievers down the stretch in the second half of the season blowing big leads in the middle innings. Don’t think Medlen will do that in the long role.
Good luck to Levan. Wish him well.
CRMAC300
June 16th, 2012
11:04 am
NickB so right about how to use Livan. He should never be in any game that is not a blow out in either direction or as the last option in an extra inning game. Putting that softball pitcher in a winnable game is just poor managing. All that time that Medlen spent in the minors “stretching his arm” should have been spent in the bullpen pitching in those winnable games. Now he is back on the big team’s roster doing the same thing that he was doing before he went to the minors! Wonder how many games the Braves lost for lack of a decent middle reliever while Medlen was down. Nice team management, Fredi and Wren!!
Kev
June 16th, 2012
11:35 am
Good move Hernandez had to go never should have been on the roster in the first place that was Freds deal. Now we can get down to busness. the bullpen is set a move or two ie Wilson,Francisco,then we will be pretty good.Good luck Hernandez his place here was not for him another team could use him in another situation….
Alaska Braves Fan
June 16th, 2012
2:52 pm
Those people whose judgmental comments reveal unalloyed disrespect and enmity toward some players make me wonder what kinds of behavior they expect, and get, from those to whose authority they are subject. It also makes me wonder, as once was said of George on Seinfeld, “What did your parents DO to you?”
ABF
nashvillewill
June 16th, 2012
3:30 pm
Sentiment has a place in baseball, just not too big a place and not at the expense of a team’s chances. Braves appear to be playing the sentiment card to the hilt with Chipper, who is not producing since his return from the DL. That’s ok, but can’t afford to keep Livan who did produce in April, but lately has been a disaster. Wish him well, a good guy and good for morale.
Prado does not hit with men on base, and would do better down in the order; Simmons, however, looks like a classic two-hole hitter, puts ball in play and can bunt. I look for some intelligent move later in the season when Simmons is more seasoned. Unless McCann stays hot, Braves are in need of a three-hole hitter. How many winning teams can you say that about? A big problem. Virtually every player – Heyward, Prado, Uggla, Chipper, Freeman – are 6-8 hitters. Braves are very weak from 2-3-4-5. Would like to see stats on this stuff. But the result is too many RISP left on base. Bourn and Simmons cannot carry this team. Hope McCann stays hot; hope Freeman recovers, both his fingers and his stroke; hope Chipper returns to early season form; hope Uggla strikes out less; hope Heyward stays with his approach. Too much hope, not enough actuality.
BBQ MAN
June 16th, 2012
6:36 pm
The pitching issues can be easily remedied with a total paradigm shift. forget the roles of starter, mid,long-relief only! a pitcher’s job is the same no matter the inning(s) get outs and allow no runs. PERIOD! a Good Manager with a good pitching coach should be able to manage the pitching staff inning by inning, game by game. Doing this, you could feed the innings to those pitching the best at that time and not on their “potential” or “history”. The current system is ancient and needs to be changed