Braves quotes after Wednesday’s loss to Marlins
FREDI GONZALEZ
On Bourn, McCann what you want to try to rally in ninth
“Usually at home we want to be shaking hands in the ninth but yeah you had those two guys up. You had Bourny getting on base and you had Mac and the top of the order. They escaped another one. I think we left what 10 runners on base. We weren’t very good with runners on base even though we hit the ball hard, we hit it right at them. I thought Freeman’s ball in the previous inning was going to split the gap. He was right there. I thought Sheets did a terrific job. Longest outing of the year. Pushed him out there in the seventh inning and he did a nice job. Gave us a good opportunity to win the ballgame. Gave up three earned runs and did a fantastic job for us to try to win that ballgame. Our bullpen did another nice job keeping the game right there. Avilan came on with first and second to get Dobbs, it was a big inning. That inning could have gotten out of hand and we kept it there in check and they turned two double-plays, one in the eighth and one in the ninth to get out of jams so. Go on to tomorrow, try to win the series.”
On Sheets’ tough fourth inning
“I thought the first inning was the tough one. We gave up five hits in the first, couple balls, the one Carlos Lee hit, it was a grenade behind first base, we can’t really defend it anywhere. That was an RBI and a couple balls got through the infield there but other than that I thought he did a nice job. He gave up a run on the ball that LeBlanc hit down the line. He got aggressive on it and scored a run. Other than that I thought he did a terrific job keeping us in the ballgame.”
On good debut for Johnson
“That’s the way he is. He’s a hard-nosed blue collar guy. bunt single and a great at-bat against Bell to get a base hit and did a nice job in the outfield. So that’s what he does. He gives us those type of at-bats and those type of games day in and day out.”
On Janish’s two hits
“And bases loaded, I thought that ball had a chance to split the gap. And he made a couple nice plays defensively on that flyball down the line there in foul territory. Can’t complain about anything he’s done. He’s been terrific.”
On pinch-hitting Pastornicky for him in 8th inning
“Pastornicky is more of an offensive-type player. And you’ve got a chance there to try to do something late in the game and take a shot at it.”
Sheets’ 104 pitches and seventh-inning seen as progress
“For him going out there in the seventh was a big plus. I think going out sitting down (and getting up) for seven innings and getting over that 100-pitch mark was a good step forward.”
**BEN SHEETS
On giving up some seeing-eye singles, bloops
“It’s a base hit. I’m not going to say they hit bloopers. They got hits.”
On how he felt going season-high 6-2/3 innings and 104 pitches
“I felt good. I needed to find a way to nip that first inning in the bud. I think if I just fielded my position I may have had a shot. That ball’s a liner back to me, I think Dobbs hit it. I feel like that ball’s very catchable and I should have probably caught it. I just kind of froze up. I couldn’t really move.
“It stinks when you’re riding a long winning streak and the first inning I gave them the momentum right out the gate, the momentum that we earned over seven games.”
But to hold them to one run after 1st, are you happy with that?
“I try to keep them to none. I just couldn’t get out of the inning. I’d get two quick outs in some innings and they’d find a way to get a runner on. They did a fine job of hitting and just keeping pressure on me.”
On Marlins’ two-out hits in fourth inning, infield hit and pitcher’s double down line
“I went 0-2 and felt like I made a pretty good 1-2 pitch on [Cousins]. Stats say he’s a pretty aggressive hitter, and he really didn’t budge. The next pitch he puts it in play. We knock it down [Freeman at first base], we can’t make a play. I don’t know where the pitch was to the pitcher. He finds the line. The run scored, but regardless whether the run wouldn’t have scored, it was just that kind of night — you go from one pitch a way to having to throw seven or eight more pitches. I think it happened two or three innings.”
On pitching into seventh inning (lasted six innings in each of previous three starts)
“I got to the seventh, I’m going to take some positives out of it. It stinks [that] the first inning was the game. After that I threw the ball well. I thought I was throwing OK early, but just didn’t make enough pitches.”
**MARTIN PRADO
On loss, missed opportunities
“I don’t know what happened today, man. I don’t know what to say. I guess we had opportunities to score a couple of runs, but we didn’t take advantage of a couple of pitches that we probably could have hit hard somewhere. It didn’t happen.
“Ben Sheets threw the ball well. He kept us in the game. We just didn’t score. We didn’t score enough runs to come back. We had a chance to tie the game and we didn’t.”
On his error in left field and other missed plays
“We didn’t execute some routine plays. Like, I missed that ball in the outfield and they scored a run. The main thing is, we didn’t take advantage of opportunities to score. When you don’t tie the game, you feel pressure at the end of the game, looking for a homer in that situation. It’s hard.
“We’re just going to come back tomorrow and come back at it, start a winning streak again.”
– Staff writer Carroll Rogers contributed to this report
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74 comments Add your comment
Justin
August 1st, 2012
11:28 pm
First!!!
JC Boscan III
August 1st, 2012
11:47 pm
….and almost the only…..
NorCal Brave
August 1st, 2012
11:47 pm
Still like the makeup of this team now. Johnson affords us the chance to rest guys at lots of positions. Bullpen is looking stronger. Let’s go get ‘em tomorrow.
Darryl Blackberry
August 1st, 2012
11:51 pm
Loved the work put in by Gearrin and Avilan. Just sucks that Freddy hit a ball right at ‘em that would’ve tied up the game.
I really hate playing this Marlins team. They’re always monkeying around, despite having a losing record. I guess if the Braves players were getting paid that kind of cash, they’d cavort around in the dugout and tell the umpires what’s to call too…
HIVPositive
August 2nd, 2012
12:27 am
I don’t understand some Braves fans. You boo Venters this season, when he was lights out for us last year, and has been struggling with a shoulder injury this year (no thanks to Gonzalez). He doesn’t make the big bucks like some of the other players do. Yet, you still cheer for Dan Struggla, who hasn’t done crap for us since he’s been here. Oh wait, I’m sorry, he had that little streak last season that didn’t do crap for us. Every time he comes up to bat, and pops one up, or strikes out……no boos. You do realize he is batting .209 and makes around thirteen million a year? Braves fans are something else
JC Boscan III
August 2nd, 2012
1:00 am
GOOD Braves fans don’t boo our own players (as long as the player is giving a full effort). Booing Uggla’s not going to lift him out of his slump. Booing JJ or Venters doesn’t make them pitch better. The Braves don’t need those kind of fans, anyway. Those “fans” should move to Philly or NY and boo their players there!
Oscar
August 2nd, 2012
1:43 am
Fredi Logic = Giving McCann, Chipper, and Bourn a day off on the same day
Brentaford
August 2nd, 2012
1:44 am
After reading the quotes from Ben Sheets, I am in love with the guy. No excuses and no bull. He tells it like it is and doesn’t try to say otherwise. I hope he stays with us for as long as he is able to pitch.
BusterBrave
August 2nd, 2012
2:52 am
Just got to tip yo’ Hat…………:-))
clay
August 2nd, 2012
3:32 am
Kind of sucks we could have gained another game on Washington, but at least we are still only 2-1/2 out. The streak was going to end at some point. Let’s just go out and win the series tomorrow and sweep Houston for a 9-1 home stand.
HIVPositive
August 2nd, 2012
4:05 am
Fans shouldn’t boo Venters who isn’t making the big bucks. Fans should boo Dan Struggla for having .209 ba and makes 13 million a year. I’m tired of the excues. “he’s a slow starter”. Well we are in the month of August. No more excues! Boo the man, or this franchise will still be the joke that it is. A mediocre organization.
Nick
August 2nd, 2012
4:41 am
Lowe DFA’d…… hahaha
OTP
August 2nd, 2012
6:52 am
Prado needs a rest.
bob horner
August 2nd, 2012
7:21 am
I think the Braves would be national league champs last year, and would win , hands down, if they would have dumped Ugly last year, but ho0w do you get rid of that huge salary? I think he is the missing part of the teams success, and we should have tried to trade him. A good fielding average hitting second baseman is what we need.
jt
August 2nd, 2012
7:49 am
I just love the way Prado, says “we” didn’t score enough runs, and “we” didn’t execute plays? How about YOU didn’t score and YOU didn’t make the plays or execute when you should???
What the crap is this “WE” Stuff???????
jt
August 2nd, 2012
7:50 am
One more thing Prado, I don’t think Yanish would agree with you on that “WE” crap!!!!
jt
August 2nd, 2012
7:53 am
Hey Oscar, don’t look now, but Chipper played, although you would never know it by the stats of this game.
Be A Grinderer
August 2nd, 2012
8:00 am
Bad game for Prado. Hit into 2 double llays and made an error allowing a run to score. Defense was bad period.
Be A Grinderer
August 2nd, 2012
8:01 am
No Uggla quotes DOB ? Normalcy.
jeremy
August 2nd, 2012
8:13 am
jt………Martin Prado is the defintion of team player not what sure what yo uare getting at it.
Lobosolo
August 2nd, 2012
8:45 am
Not sure, either, jeremy… wait, what am I saying…. jt is saying, “I’m a crappy fan, and I’m not cognizant that a bad game comes along every once in awhile for everybody that plays this game, and because I’m too stupid to know that I’d just like to excercise my right to CRY ABOUT SOMETHING, even though there is no crying in baseball.” THAT is what jt is whining….
Now it’s time for the Legend that is Larry to come on and rail about Fredi allowing Sheets to give up all of those hits in the first inning… All hail, Lah-reeeeee….
Lobosolo
August 2nd, 2012
8:47 am
Ad jt, what is even funnier is all of you armchairs on here referring to the Braves as “we”…. now THAT is crappola’d hilarious….
Don
August 2nd, 2012
9:05 am
Why did the AJC print the information about Hanson being injured?
A Braes Pitcher being injured can no longer be classifed as NEWS.
Tumbledown
August 2nd, 2012
9:11 am
I am sure the real reason Dempster did not come to Atlanta is because he knew he would be injured under McDowell’s tutelage. I am sure Maholm is quaking in his shoes and has upped his insurance.
BayAreaBravesFan
August 2nd, 2012
9:12 am
Sheets – the competitive makeup of that guy is second to none. I love his no-nonsense attitude about the game and his performance every time he pitches. Huge addition. Dig it.
Tumbledown
August 2nd, 2012
9:13 am
Fredi clearly is responsible for yesterday’s defeat.
BayAreaBravesFan
August 2nd, 2012
9:18 am
Don’t get the strategy of putting Jason in center and Johnson in right though – Jason going so well right now nothing should change for him and Johnson plays a mean center. Clearly Prado and Bourn need multiple off days to get their legs back – now is the time to get that done BUT Wednesday we should have stacked out decks to win the series and used Thursday as a platoon day. Now we’re just trying to win the series…love sitting in my recliner with my red jersey folks…NO HITTING the armchair quarterback!!!
Bench Uggla
August 2nd, 2012
9:25 am
Last I checked baseball is a team sport, and they didn’t execute as a team or “we” last night. I wish Uggla would get the flu for a few days so he has to sit and rest. Then when he gets back he will still be weak and then maybe he will quit trying to jack everything. I would always pitch around who ever is in front of him to get a sure out.
Johnny Logan
August 2nd, 2012
9:46 am
Maybe Uggal can take a few tips from Janish on fielding and HITTING. Greg Walker’s work is paying off, we can release Wilson when Simmons gets back.
Felix Mantilla
August 2nd, 2012
9:47 am
Is Nate McLouth french for the forgotten man?
Where is Livan?
Doctorpl
August 2nd, 2012
9:52 am
Seems like Cleveland just figured out what the Braves already knew about Derek Lowe. Looks like they are the final stop in his career.
Can’t figure out why everybody keeps saying Uggla is in a slump. When you have almost a thousand at bats in a Brave uniform with a BA of .224 it is not a slump. The bad thing is he’s under contract for four more years at $13M per.
PaulG
August 2nd, 2012
9:55 am
Tumbledown….is fredi responsible for any of the braves wins?…..just defeats?…..how about all the other managers in baseball or by some illusory correlation in your thinking it’s only a braves problem?
Tumbledown
August 2nd, 2012
10:05 am
I guess my sarcasm was not readily apparent. I was involved yesterday in a discussion with someone who blamed cox solely for the braves’ playoff failures. I disagreed, just as I disagreed with the idea of placing too much blame on fredi.
Tumbledown
August 2nd, 2012
10:10 am
I will admit that I am often guilty of illusory correlation in my thinking!
henry tn
August 2nd, 2012
10:11 am
i don’t see how the braves won 7 games in a row with prado, bourn and uggla slumping in the month of july uggla june and july then two hayward did not play as well in july as he did in june he has went back to trying to pull every thing….
Ken Stallings
August 2nd, 2012
10:13 am
Can’t win ‘em all! The Marlins hit five consecutive hits to score three in the first and most of those hits were bleeders. Sheets pitched well and got little to show for it in that inning, but shut them down the rest of the way. The reason even the best teams lose in baseball is because of the unpredictable nature of the game. Good pitches get hit sometimes and bad pitches get missed. Bleeders get through and line drives get caught.
Last night the Marlins got the breaks and the Braves did not. Get ‘em tonight!
Tumbledown
August 2nd, 2012
10:21 am
Ken – Why analyze the reasons for the loss so closely when we can quickly point our fingers at Fredi and McDowell.
Curt
August 2nd, 2012
10:36 am
The Braves get the lead off man on down 2 runs and up comes Dan Uggla who has been their worst hitter this year and instead of bunting or maybe even pinch hitting for him, they let him swing away away. And of course Uggla does what he seems to normally do these days and pops up to the infield. There are such things as productive outs and it appears that FG has forgotten that winning is more important than Dan Uggla’s ego.
I agree with those who say that Uggla should sit for a while and a while means more than one game. Play Pastornicky at 2nd for a few games.
Nevada Roy
August 2nd, 2012
10:47 am
For 2013 let’s keep Ross-Yanish-Johnson for the bench. Let Diaz go and likely Hinske.
Quack Quack
August 2nd, 2012
10:52 am
I hope Wednesday isn’t going to be our new Monday. Leaving 10 men on base sucks any day.
Lets start our new streak today, and get the Gnats. The Philthys really tried to help us last night, and we blew it. Pretty bad that Janish is out hitting our “slugger”.
GO BRAVES!!!
Brandon
August 2nd, 2012
10:59 am
Curt – uggla also got an RBI double. Did you forget that?
George
August 2nd, 2012
11:15 am
jt it is a TEAM EfORT.
Morris Code
August 2nd, 2012
11:20 am
@Brandon
Even a broke clock is right twice a day.
Dave
August 2nd, 2012
11:28 am
My big question is where are the Fredi supporters when we win games such as the past SEVEN games??? Seems like people are so gung-ho about “blaming” our manager even though he has 150 wins the past two years. We sat Bourn b/c he’s played every game since last year and Ross vs. the lefty. We should have won but FG did not leave 10 runners on base, so either go to the games and support or shut up but the negativity surrounding every loss like the world is over is ridiculous. Sorry for the rant but im sick of ignorant braves fans.
Amber Girl
August 2nd, 2012
11:33 am
Good morning Mr Morris Code UPDATE:WHiskey admitted to hospital at 2:00AM.
jim
August 2nd, 2012
11:36 am
Don seems to have started a party line about MacDowell — MacDowell = injury.
It is convenient to forget that there was a long list of pitching injuries during Leo’s tenure as well — Stanton, Berrenguer, Avery, Borbon, Smoltz, Wohlers, and Hampton are a partial list. Injuries to pitchers happen. Strasburg, Zimmerman, and Burnett have had an injury history on the Nats staff. Carpenter and Wainwright were among the Cardinal pitchers who have been injured. One can go through every staff and list the injuries. Whatever effect one wants to attribute to MacDowell on arm injuries, it is a real reach to claim he is responsible for injuries to backs and knees. If MacDowell is to be blamed for all the ills of the Braves pitching staff, does he get credit for the turn around by Durbin? for the improved performance of the staff since the end of June? For the vastly better control of Kimbrel this year? Do any of the MacDowell bashers have any real idea of what he does or does not contribute as a pitching coach, or what a pitching coach actually spends most of his time doing?
No longer dreading the trade deadline
August 2nd, 2012
11:54 am
Man oh man. Sheets has earned an awful lot of respect from me with his comments and his performance.
jim
August 2nd, 2012
11:58 am
Fredi did not cause the loss last night, he also did not make aggressive moves to score more runs. The suggestion by someone that he have Uggla bunt or hit for him in a situation where Freeman was on 2nd with 1 out is riddiculous. moving Freeman to third with two outs and Janish and Sheets coming up next is not a recipe for a high probabiolity of success, and if he didn’t want Uggla hitting in that spot, he wouldn’t have put him in the starting lineup in the first place. Uggla is not in the lineup for his defense. (As Curt pointed out, Uggla did have an RBI double last night.)
Where Fredi comes up short is his lack of aggressiveness with the running game. Bourn and Prado would seem to make an ideal hit-and-run combo, but Fredi never uses it. The lead off hit/walk followed by a DP grounder from Prado has occurred all too often. Last night an aggressive move like a hit and run after the bunt hit could have swung momentum back toward the Braves, instead it was killed by the DP. Once Bourn reached in the 9th, Fredi had to put a play on to get him on the move. He should have let Johnson bat and try a hit and run or straight steal, then hit Mac for Prado (who has been slumping) and have 4 lefties in a row to try to tie or win the game. Mac and Prado are both prime DP candidates, and that’s what happened. The odds on a successful SB or successful execution of the hit and run were a lot higher than Mac hitting a home run.
Automatic Out Uggla
August 2nd, 2012
11:59 am
Hitting results from the $13 million man for the month of July: 1 HR with 6 RBI’s. These are pathetic stats for the highest paid 2nd baseman in MLB.
jharber
August 2nd, 2012
12:02 pm
Amber tell Whiskey to hang in there. Lots of people would like future updates, Keep the faith and root for the Braves.
Amber Girl
August 2nd, 2012
12:11 pm
Good morning Mr jharber Admitted because he was having trouble breathing and very weak. Holding faith but very hard. Rooting very very hard for the Braves. So far so good. Go Braves!!!
Tumbledown
August 2nd, 2012
12:15 pm
The Uggla deal is the position player equivalent of the Derrick Lowe deal. You know it is bad deal when you have to pay out $10 million for player to play on another team and that team designates said player for assignment. Wren has made some good moves, but hopefully he can avoid deals like Lowe, Uggla, and Kawakami in the future.
Curt
August 2nd, 2012
12:22 pm
Yes Uggla had an RBI double last night but since the Allstar break, he is hitting a cool .145. since he already had a hit for the day, statistics would suggest that he would not get another. So, as manager, your team is behind and you need 2 runs to tie. Yes sacrificing puts you one out in the hole when you need all the outs you can get but, you cant score two runs before you score one so doing anything you can to get the first run is the right thing to do.
Given Uggla’s lack of production, I would replace him with someone who might have a better chance of getting a hit or at the very least, move the runner over. At the time there were players on the bench who could play 2B or OF and move Prado to 2B and you had hitters who would have a better chance of moving the runner than Uggla who proved the statistics right by popping out to 1B on a ball very low and away.
Strategy is always subjective but letting a weak hitter, going against the law of averages hit because you either are too dumb to make a call or want dont want to hurt that player’s ego just is not good baseball. I want to see the Braves manager play just as hard as the players do.
jim
August 2nd, 2012
12:23 pm
Why is someone so eager to get post-game quotes from Uggla? Uggla doesn’t strike me as a captivating conversationalist, and he won’t say anything more than what he has said already about working hard to correct flaws in his swing. DOB might better ask Walker about what specific steps they are taking with Uggla to get him out of the slump — he might give a better analysis of Uggla’s problems. Of course, Uggla may not really be in a slump — this could be the new normal.
bobby brown
August 2nd, 2012
12:25 pm
i for one am through pulling for the braves. i have been a supporter since 1969. when a manager does not have the moxie to play his best nine players , good luck to us all including the players who are giving their best.
bitman
August 2nd, 2012
12:36 pm
@jim: Yeah, that’s the scary part. What we see today might just be the new normal – how long was that contract?
raffy
August 2nd, 2012
12:36 pm
uggla has rbi doubles in 3 of 4 last games- so he may be warming up
BravesfaninWis
August 2nd, 2012
12:52 pm
Hard to be down after a 7 game winning streak. At least if we lost, so did the Nats. Now go out and fry some fish tonight and hopefully the Phillies will take care of the Nats. These next few series, the Braves should be able to catch the Nats, if not, they have themselves to blame.
Tumbledown
August 2nd, 2012
12:53 pm
bobby brown – You started supporting the braves forty-three years ago and you pick TODAY to pull your support. Huh!
jim
August 2nd, 2012
12:57 pm
I agree that the lineup would be a lot stronger without Uggla in it. I hope we see more of Johnson in left and Prado at 2B the rest of the year. (I expect tonight it will be Johnson in left and Uggla at 2B with Prado getting a night off.) Uggla came up 3 times last night with runners on base. I was thinking of one of the earlier occasions when he hit with a runner on 2B. In the 8th inning the Marlins had Dunn on the mound and the Braves had Ross on first with none out. The only rignt hand bat on the bench was the Rev. McCann, Bourn, and Hinske were also available. Janish and the pitcher’s spot were due up next. Hitting Hinske for Uggla would be like trading in a 1990 Ford for a 1990 Chevy even before considering the lefty-righty matchup. So Fredi’s choices were between Uggla, the Rev, Bourn, and Mac while realizing that two more pinch hitters at least would be needed — not even considering an eventuality of extra innings. I doubt if Uggla is any better a bunter than a hitter, so FG could send up the Rev to bunt, and then hit Bourn and Mac (but Rev has not shwon any great bunting ability either), use Bourn in that spot, use Mac in that spot — where a DP and a HR have about the same probability, hit Uggla an assume the double indicates he is the best chance at a HR given the lefty-righty matchup. If the pitcher were right handed, I would agree with those wanting to hit for Uggla there, but with a lefty on the mound, I would go with Uggla and hope for the best too.
(My earlier post referred to a mid inning situation — the post I was responding to was a bit led me to believe that was the time in question.) I fault Fredi’s lack of use of the running game, not his choice to stick with Uggla there.
Amber Girl
August 2nd, 2012
12:58 pm
sounds like bobby brown is not loyal Brave fan
David O'Brien
August 2nd, 2012
12:58 pm
Why is someone so eager to get post-game quotes from Uggla? …he won’t say anything more than what he has said already about working hard to correct flaws in his swing. – Jim
Thought the same thing when I saw that comment. Why Uggla last night? Prado goes 0-for-5 and grounds into two double plays, makes an error. But this guy — screen name “Be A Grinderer” — would rather have comments from Uggla, who had an RBI double and a walk in the loss?
Sometimes I wonder if some of our commenters even watch the games or care about the team. Seriously.
By the way, we get who’s available in the 10-15 minutes we have to get interviews after game, before we need to get back upstairs to write. Fortunately, that almost always includes the starting pitcher and a person who had a big impact on the game.
jim
August 2nd, 2012
1:11 pm
Best case scenario — Uggla hits at a 240-260 pace the rest of the way and reaches 20 in HRs. Since he IS going to play no matter what the fans here think, that would give the offense a lift and boost the chances that some team might take a flyer on him if the Braves eat half of his contract. Eating half the contract is as tasteful as swallowing Castor Oil, but the alternative of paying the whole amount for 3 more years is as constipating as what would happen if the bitter medecine were not taken now. So please — go Uggla, have a good 2 months and please Braves sell medium.
jim
August 2nd, 2012
1:17 pm
Thanks DOB. appreciate the work and it’s good to point out that the people interviewed are the team’s choice not necessarily yours.
Tumbledown
August 2nd, 2012
1:21 pm
I enjoy reading your analysis jim. I agree about your best case scenario regarding Uggla and hope some team next year will take on some or most of his contract. Otherwise, It would be great to see this line up play some key games in September and hopefully the post season: Bourn, Prado, Heyward, Jones, Freeman, McCann, Johnson, and Simmons.
Ken Stallings
August 2nd, 2012
1:21 pm
David,
I think you’re being polite in your last comments. I think what you wanted to write was something along the lines of:
“It is pathetic how many posters we have here who come here merely to troll constantly on the same worn out theme!”
You just took the moral high ground in the way you phrased it.
billy bob baseball
August 2nd, 2012
1:30 pm
Jim @ 111:Best case scenario — Uggla hits at a 240-260 pace the rest of the way and reaches 20 in HRs.
Are you joe simpson, using ‘jim’ as a screen name. That crap about uggla hitting anything over 200 or hitting HR’s with any consistency is just home town announcer babble. uggla aint struggling, he aint in a slump, he just aint a major league hitter, and the millions being paid him are already wasted. No sense wasting this year’s hope of a championship along with the millions. I cannot believe Chipper Jones, hungry for another championship in his final season, is going to remain quiet as he sees automatic out uggla ruin his chances for it. If you want to argue that uggla is a major league caliber hitter, who has proven it in the past, then one can only conclude that, if he is, he is not doing the hard work to overcome his difficulties. Team players spend extra time with the coach, extra time watching film, consulting experts/teammates/former coaches. Either he is doing these things and it is not helping, thus showing the futility of hoping for a comeback, or he is refusing to do them, and is happy to collect millions of dollars for a hundred dollar performance. He needs to go.
Tumbledown
August 2nd, 2012
1:43 pm
“That crap about uggla hitting anything over 200 . . .”
But Uggla is currently hitting 209. I construe his whole season so far as hitting “anything over 200.” Uggla was hitting at a lower clip last year when he reeled off a long hitting streak and hit well over 300 during the hitting streak. Thus, I believe the best case scenario of hiting 240-260 for the rest of this season is not out of the question.
Of course, it is reasonable to debate whether the Braves should reduce Uggla’s role now as opposed to hoping for an increase in production from him along the lines discussed above.
Doyle from Charleston, SC
August 2nd, 2012
1:56 pm
All Braves news and commentary from a fan… http://www.bravesbanter.com
jim
August 2nd, 2012
2:01 pm
billy bob,
I don’t expect Ugla to go on a 2011-like 2nd half streak. I don’t expect this “best case scenario” to actually occur. I think the lineup without Uggla is stronger than the one with him, but still expect Uggla to start more than half (probably much more) the remaining games. The upside of benching Uggla, is a better all around lineup. The downside is that whatever interest another team might have in acquiring him at a lower cost is gone — we are stuck with him for 3 more years. All I am saying is that since he WILL play, the best we can hope for is for him to put up some semblance of his marlin numbers and then try to dump at least part of that contract in the winter. He will not “go” unless he does something to make him tradeable.
BrandonLee49
August 2nd, 2012
2:18 pm
The Real Dileema of the Braves Evidenced again Lsat night, and apparently FG can Recognize it, but the Question remains: Does he have a Solution Other than Live or Die by Wishing for a HR… Getting 9 hits and producing only 2 Runs is Pathetic Field Mgmt. The Orioles Same Problem, 13 hits and 3 runs scored… MGRS Get PAID to Produce Runs, Getting Tht many Hits and so Few Production Kills your Pitching Staff… FG or Somebody has Got to come up with Some Agreesive Strategy to Move Runners instead of Leaving a Dozen on Base.
Phils fan
August 2nd, 2012
2:45 pm
elec. out for an hr. L. night. circtd. my keybd.. dont mind my ebonic code. brave fan are right. atl one bag at a time mlb in large part= the diff beteen atl/phi in end of yr head-to-head meeting from 2007-2011. type of mlb that hurt phi in oct over and over again. 2009 fall claic. game 2. i’m a diehard mlb fan. even though phi have died, i’m gonna keep track of the pnn race in n.l.e. and mlb.
-i like the atl deadline trade. not blockbuter type, but intelligent and potentially very impactful. a lot of club have prob during the rookie call-up/dog day part of the yr. yankee/phi etc included.
-Good luck trying to have chipper jone go out on top.
Doyle from Charleston, SC
August 2nd, 2012
5:21 pm
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icons pack
November 4th, 2012
11:11 am
What matchless topic