Braves have to move on from tough loss to Nats
(Staff writer Carroll Rogers is filling in for David O’Brien this series.)
Washington – So….where do the Braves go from here?
Last we saw them, a few short hours ago, they had given up three infield hits (one ruled generously) in an unlucky 13th inning that ended with a ball stuck in Dan Uggla’s glove and Danny Espinosa scoring from third. And the Braves had lost 5-4 in their longest game of the year, and in some ways the most excruciating.
To fight that hard and that long only to have the game come down to something so fluky, and in the situation the Braves were in last night – against the team they’re chasing, with the clock ticking louder and louder. The clubhouse was as subdued after the game as I’ve been around this season.
But simply put, the Braves are going to have to find a way to drop it and move on. They’re going to have to do exactly what the Nationals did the last time the Braves were in town. Remember that Braves comeback win from nine runs down against Strasburg? The Braves were dishing out the demoralizing that night in an 11-10 win in 11 innings and followed it up with six shutout innings from Ben Sheets in a 4-0 win the next morning (well it felt like it), in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the second game and could almost taste being within a half game of the Nationals in the NL East. But Randall Delgado gave up a run on a wild pitch, and the Nationals turned the game around. They came back to win the second game of the doubleheader 5-2 and split the series by jumping all over Jair Jurrjens.
The Nats had short memories in that series. The Braves, now six games back in the NL East, have got to do the same or they’re going to be facing their largest deficit of the season, with only 39 games left to play.
“We fought the whole game, didn’t have enough right there in the end,” Tim Hudson said last night, after giving up four runs in the first and none over the next five. “They had some crazy plays that got them in position to score and there’s really nothing you can say. They beat us. We’ve got to put it behind us and come out tomorrow and try to win tomorrow’s game.”
Strasburg vs. Maholm
So there’s the furor about Stephen Strasburg and when he’ll be shut down and yadda yadda. But frankly, it’s starting to look like it’ll be the last two weeks or so of the regular season and by then the Nationals could be about to wrap this division up. Yes, it matters for the Nationals from there, and the possibility of heading into the postseason without their ace. But from the Braves point of view, at least on a day like today, it’s not a big factor. What matters for the Braves is how they fare against Strasburg tonight.
If the Braves don’t win these next two games, those Sept. 14-16 games might not be as big of a deal as we think. (By my math, Strasburg, who is at 139 1/3 innings now, could go six innings in five more starts and be shut down at about 170 innings right before that Braves series in Atlanta. But just a total guess because Mike Rizzo could shut him down anywhere from 160 to 180 innings, I’m told.)
And consider the rest of the Nationals rotation. Not too shabby either. Since May 15, two of Strasburg’s teammates in the rotation actually have better ERAs: Jordan Zimmermann 2.71, Ross Detwiler 3.48, Strasburg 3.49, Edwin Jackson 3.68, and Gio Gonzalez 3.71. They all throw 95 mph plus too, something the Braves might see from an entire rotation only one other time – later this trip against the Giants.
“They have very good arms,” Jason Heyward said of the Nats’ rotation. “If you look at a couple years ago, Zimmermann was the ace of this team. Now he’s their No. 3. And you’ve got Gio Gonzalez who’s another ace, and you’ve got Strasburg, and Edwin Jackson who’s thrown a no-hitter and Detwiler is very good as well.”
Tonight’s matchup
The Braves are 4-9 against the Nationals this season, and two of the wins have come in games started by Strasburg, including that nine-run comeback mentioned earlier. Strasburg gave up four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings that night on July 20, which is about what he did in his first start against Atlanta on May 26 (four earned runs in five innings).
The other two starts against the Braves, Strasburg was really, really good – seven shutout innings on four hits June 2, and really, really hot – he came out after allowing three runs in three innings with dizziness and heat-related problems on a 100-degree day in Atlanta June 30.
If there’s anybody who needs something good to happen tonight, it’s Uggla and he’s got a history of doing it against Strasburg. Uggla is hitting .533 (8-for-15) with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs in his career against Strasburg.
That Braves are putting a lot on Paul Maholm tonight, and would love to see him continue to do the good work since joining the Braves at the trade deadline. He has gone 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA in three starts, including a complete game shutout two starts ago against the Mets.
Maholm is he’s 1-5 with a 5.56 ERA in nine starts against the Nationals for his career, but has not faced them this season. (I gave you some phantom stats on him for this season yesterday. Honest to goodness have no idea where I got those numbers. Taking mental overdrive to another level.)
But the Braves could also use another deep outing from Maholm tonight and Kris Medlen tomorrow , considering they’re already a man short in the bullpen while going to this six-man rotation and just covered seven innings from the bullpen last night.
Long night last night for both Chipper Jones (and his 40-year-old knees) and Brian McCann (catching 13 innings). Jones is out of the lineup tonight but McCann is back in. Fredi Gonzalez said last night he might send both Sheets and Tommy Hanson down to the bullpen to be available in emergency duty. There are two guys who have a combined zero relief appearances between them in 348 major league games.
Braves lineup
1. Bourn CF
2. Prado LF
3. Heyward Rf
4. Freeman 1B
5. Uggla 2B
6. McCann C
7. Francisco 3B
8. Janish SS
9. Maholm P
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1,804 comments Add your comment
Venice Jim
August 21st, 2012
2:46 pm
Thanks, Carroll!
Animus
August 21st, 2012
2:47 pm
The clubhouse was subdued? Yeah, I believe that, I hope it means they’re angry – and the offense is more focused tonight. Be nice to have a chance to take the series in the finale tomorrow.
Good write-up Carroll, but don’t you like music?
Arkansas Transplant
August 21st, 2012
2:48 pm
TheOnlyBravesFan, take his work visa away and deport him.. pretty much a life time ban.
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
2:48 pm
you just listed 10 relievers who have numbers all over the place the last 4 seasons. if you want to talk about who is a top 20 reliever this year, thats a different conversation. if you take the time EOF has been with atlanta, you have to take all of it.
You’ve yet to provide any data to support your opinion. You just keep getting mad because of the names I listed – which didn’t even include all of the relievers in the sport I’d rank ahead of EOF, barely any of those guys were closers.
if you want to talk about who is a top 20 reliever this year, thats a different conversation
That “different conversation” would be the SAME conversation for 2009 and 2010 as his numbers were very similar. What stats are you looking at? You’ve yet to explain how you’re quantifying Top 5% or even Top 10%. If it’s just ERA, then I think we’re looking at two different statistics which would explain why there is such a difference.
flange1
August 21st, 2012
2:49 pm
Thanks for the new blog CR!
Trey
August 21st, 2012
2:52 pm
Thank you for the new blog, CR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pippa's hiney
August 21st, 2012
2:53 pm
Next 2 are huge beyond the math.
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
2:54 pm
Let’s beat up Strasburg tonight! Go Braves!
JoshTown
August 21st, 2012
2:55 pm
Thanks Carroll! Gotta come out strong tonight. Last night sucked, but we had base runners all night, we worked counts, and lost on an awful play at the end. Hope this doesn’t take the wind out of our sails…
MiaBchBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
2:57 pm
Disgusting. Revolting.
Last night’s loss portends what is to come in September. A train wreck at 2B, a veritable cripple at 3B, & a one-armed man at catcher are the supposed lynchpins of this supposed playoff wagon – whose wheels are just about to fly off.
Saturday, Sunday, and from the sixth inning last night to the fateful 12th, the Braves are showing what their true colors are. From 1 to 8 and the bench, there is not a single player on this lineup that strikes fear in the heart of any pitcher in either league.
The starting pitching and bullpen are absolutely playoff quality. However, this haphazzard bird’s nest of talentless knuckleheads are an embarrassment to Chipper Jones and every pitcher on this squad.
For seven innings, these twits were facing a bullpen that, to put it charitably, sux. They folded like a pretty doily while our bullpen toiled like champions.
Franke Wren, for all of his wasteful squandering of nearly $100 million in the past four years, has been relegated to making fans swallow this hodge-podge of late-season ineptitude and…
Yellow-striped cowardly-ness.
You can just imagine in that clubhouse what is going through each and every positional player’s thoughts: WHO will carry us in September. Chipper Jones, who has played in more games this season than even he imagined, is staring at his ravaged knees and begging Providence that the pain will subside for just one month or so, because at 40, he is the ONLY player remotely capable of carrying this team. I truly feel for Chipper that he has to be forced into such a role; his body, as shown by his all-arms pop-up in extras last night, is not prepared for such a last stand.
The rest of the positional team? Revolting. Disgusting.
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
2:59 pm
Thanks CR!
TheOnlyBravesFan, take his work visa away and deport him.. pretty much a life time ban.
Nice… I like that.
On the EOF topic, he’s a good RP, but I don’t know if he’s elite… he’s not all that great against RHB…
Art Vandelay
August 21st, 2012
2:59 pm
You had to know the tide was going to turn when they blew chance after chance last night.
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:00 pm
I’d love a beatdown of Strasburg tonight. We NEED these next 2 games.
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:01 pm
so there are 5 of your 10 that o’flarety at least compares favorably to, not even counting his ERA. im not gonna say he is definitely better than those 5, but at least i dont think its a slam dunk.
I’m sorry – I’m not going to look at ERA+. It’s not a great stat for a reliever, just isn’t. WHIP is a nice one, K/9 is too as your relievers should be able to limit the ball in play and I think most all baseball people would say strikeouts in high leverage situations are preferred. Also, total IP over the course of the season is solid. Funny you mentioned WAR – EOF with a 3.2 in his insane year last year and .8 each for 2009, 2010, and 2012 – like I said, 2011 is skewing the numbers grossly and 3 out of 4 years he was a good middle reliever, not great. I also thought it was ridiculous to exclude relievers like Marshall and Pestano as they were missing one year of relief. I’d take both guys over O’Flaherty, especially Marshall.
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:03 pm
im not gonna say he is definitely better than those 5, but at least i dont think its a slam dunk.
And again, haven’t named many closers this entire time. Each team has one and there are 30 teams in the league. Gets pretty tough to fit EOF as a Top 20 reliever when looking at the whole picture. But I’d agree that he’s a top 20 LH reliever in the sport.
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:07 pm
Heyward is 5 for 9, Uggla is 8 for 15, McCann is 5 for 13 and Freeman is 3 for 9 vs. Strasburg.
flange1
August 21st, 2012
3:09 pm
Oh my, more sad pathetic fans…….
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:09 pm
Gonna need big nights from those 4 tonight…. put the game out of reach early, get Ma-Homie to go 8, and use Kimmeh in the 9th. Kimbrel gets some work, and the pen stays rested.
Brave New World
August 21st, 2012
3:10 pm
I think the Mayan calendar predicted the 13 inning loss. Take shelter my friends!
Arkansas Transplant
August 21st, 2012
3:10 pm
I really don’t see the need spend heavily to keep EOF if we were able to get a nice package back.
Jimmy
August 21st, 2012
3:10 pm
“Junior Seau’s autopsy reveals no sign of brain damage or chronic drug use”
I guess the key word in there is “chronic”.
The Braves will take care of business tonight.
raleighbravefan
August 21st, 2012
3:11 pm
MiaBch – Yep…we are totally Revolting and Disgusting…so much so, that if I were you, I’d go root for the Nats, or some other team that’s not so Revolting and Discusting, with an incompetent GM, and pitiful players. I mean, ONLY AN IDIOT would stick around and follow such a Revolting and Disgusting team. You’re not an IDIOT, are you? Bye, Bye.
MFin04
August 21st, 2012
3:12 pm
Braves usually hit Strasburg well…here’s to hoping…
But realistically anything but winning the next two is pretty much useless.
MVPrado14
August 21st, 2012
3:12 pm
When was the last time the Braves won a series against Washington? 2008?
DAP
August 21st, 2012
3:12 pm
efrim And again, haven’t named many closers this entire time
you named a couple of closers. motte, bentantcourt, clippard. obviously, we dont even agree on the parameters of the discussion, like what stat to use and what length of time/size of sample to measure it from.
You just keep getting mad because of the names I listed
??? im not mad, dude. maybe your projecting?
Mike Berry
August 21st, 2012
3:14 pm
Hey Efrim? What do you do for a living? Just curious.
FIRE FREDI
August 21st, 2012
3:16 pm
chipper for player/manager
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:16 pm
you named a couple of closers. motte, bentantcourt, clippard.
I think Motte was the closer last year, was Betancourt and Clippard? I guess my overall point is that I think there are plenty of really, really good relievers around. EOF is nothing special. He had a special 2011, but has reverted back to what he was doing in 2009 and 2010 – which was good, but not great. And he’s been awesome since June 1st, but that’s just analyzing his stats and not the stats and samples of the other 210 relievers on the other teams.
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:16 pm
I really don’t see the need spend heavily to keep EOF if we were able to get a nice package back.
Or if we package him with another piece or two and turn it into an OF, like Jay or someone similar.
raleighbravefan
August 21st, 2012
3:16 pm
My guess is that Wren will decide what EOF is worth to this team, and what he’s worth as trade bait…and will make the right decision, whatever that is. I’m OK with that.
George
August 21st, 2012
3:17 pm
MiaBchBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
2:57 pm
Disgusting. Revolting.
Last night’s loss portends what is to come in September. A train wreck at 2B, a veritable cripple at 3B, & a one-armed man at catcher are the supposed lynchpins of this supposed playoff wagon – whose wheels are just about to fly off.
Saturday, Sunday, and from the sixth inning last night to the fateful 12th, the Braves are showing what their true colors are. From 1 to 8 and the bench, there is not a single player on this lineup that strikes fear in the heart of any pitcher in either league.
The starting pitching and bullpen are absolutely playoff quality. However, this haphazzard bird’s nest of talentless knuckleheads are an embarrassment to Chipper Jones and every pitcher on this squad.
For seven innings, these twits were facing a bullpen that, to put it charitably, sux. They folded like a pretty doily while our bullpen toiled like champions.
Franke Wren, for all of his wasteful squandering of nearly $100 million in the past four years, has been relegated to making fans swallow this hodge-podge of late-season ineptitude and…
Yellow-striped cowardly-ness.
You can just imagine in that clubhouse what is going through each and every positional player’s thoughts: WHO will carry us in September. Chipper Jones, who has played in more games this season than even he imagined, is staring at his ravaged knees and begging Providence that the pain will subside for just one month or so, because at 40, he is the ONLY player remotely capable of carrying this team. I truly feel for Chipper that he has to be forced into such a role; his body, as shown by his all-arms pop-up in extras last night, is not prepared for such a last stand.
The rest of the positional team? Revolting. Disgusting
******************************************************
ARE YOU A BRAVES FAN?
Doug
August 21st, 2012
3:18 pm
Reality hurts. Nats are good, we are mediocre. This team is scrappy, but not up to it when it comes to the big boys. If we make it to the post season via wild card, it will be brief.
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:18 pm
Hey Efrim? What do you do for a living? Just curious.
Kicking arse, Mike. What do you do for a living? And why is this the first time I’ve seen your name in six years? Just get here today? First time poster, long time reader? Welcome. Let’s talk Braves and not what I do for a living.
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:20 pm
Or if we package him with another piece or two and turn it into an OF, like Jay or someone similar.
He’s a solid major league trade asset, just like Tommy Hanson. If they don’t want to dip into their prospect pool of players, then O’Flaherty and Hanson are two players that can fill needs on the big club. Depends on what they see in free agency to replace EOF and how they feel about Venters, as he would be the main LH reliever again in 2013.
MVPrado14
August 21st, 2012
3:21 pm
“Nats are good, we are mediocre.”
Not true. We are good. Nats are just better.
DAP
August 21st, 2012
3:21 pm
efrim I’m sorry – I’m not going to look at ERA+
ok, then im gonna look at regular ERA, which means EOF is better than all of them! i guess if you want to pull a shaun, and only look at stats YOU think are important (aka that support what you think) thats cool. ill do it too. :- ) <<<just thought id drop that in, so you dont think im "getting mad".
Arkansas Transplant
August 21st, 2012
3:21 pm
If we packaged him, it might actually yield us a really nice return.
MFin04
August 21st, 2012
3:21 pm
“Let’s talk Braves and not what I do for a living.”
$20 he is a professional blogger.
Some of us in AAA blogging can only dream to make it to the show. 
NC Roseman
August 21st, 2012
3:21 pm
I didn’t hang in there long enough to watch Uggla’s final mishap, watched the Braves half of the inning, and pretty much knew that the Nats would push one across somehow. So the game ended like it started on defense for us, with Chipper not making a play on Werth’s grounder that seemed really catchable. Very few mentions of that first misstep, sure might have changed that first inning of he makes that play. And isn’t it funny, after he calls Jason out for the Sunday game misplays, that sure enough the ball finds him on the first defensive play of the game…
The A Bomb
August 21st, 2012
3:21 pm
Always seems the Braves have to “move on.”
When will this team be able to “MOVE FORWARD” and actually win a big series under this manager?
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:23 pm
Atlanta Braves @Braves
Tonight’s game at WSH (7:05, SPSO/680AM/BRN): Bourn 8 Prado 7 Heyward 9 Freeman 3 Uggla 4 McCann 2 Francisco 5 Janish 6 Maholm 1
Chippers out, still no Rev
MVPrado14
August 21st, 2012
3:23 pm
“When will this team be able to “MOVE FORWARD” and actually win a big series under this manager?”
If they win tonight and tomorrow, will that count?
Doug
August 21st, 2012
3:25 pm
Good compared with the likes of the Mets, Phils and Marlins.
Juan
August 21st, 2012
3:26 pm
Signing of Overbay mean Hinsky days in Atlanta is over….DFA HISNKY
Jimmy
August 21st, 2012
3:26 pm
NC Roseman – Saw that play and noted that. Mus have lost it in the lights.
I didn’t expect Chipper toplay tonight. He looked drained last night. He’ll play tomorrow then take another game off after the cross-country flight.
Francisco has been playing well as of late.
TennesseePaul
August 21st, 2012
3:27 pm
Thanks for the work CR.
GO BRAVES!
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:27 pm
i guess if you want to pull a shaun, and only look at stats YOU think are important (aka that support what you think) thats cool. ill do it too. :- ) <<<just thought id drop that in, so you dont think im "getting mad".
Okay. Why don’t you look at WHIP, K/9, etc.? Why just ERA? I think I explained why I thought strikeouts per 9 innings was important and keeping runners off the basepaths in high leverage situations. Why don’t you like those stats? Just curious.
phil
August 21st, 2012
3:28 pm
Enee, Meenee, Minee, Jim
August 21st, 2012
2:59 pm
raleighbravesfan, I suppose anyone who doesn’t have a blind conviction that the Braves are going to rule the world is what? A jerk?
To me a jerk is someone who addresses someone else’s post and says something like…”Or maybe you don’t understand the nature of the game of baseball.” Gee RBF, I don’t recall directing anything directly to you or anyone else before your post directed to me.
So I’m an arrogant jerk? You mean the jerk who started the back and forth between us?
Hey water head, that would be YOU! G-d what and idiot you are. And you have the documentation to prove it, right here. lol
*************
You’ve got about as much sense as my left shoe….stick it in your ear, pal.
bill arp
August 21st, 2012
3:28 pm
I said it yesterday, McCann and Uggla are killing this team. And in the 9th last night, with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out, the two of them once again, let us down. Uggla with a horrible at bat(struck out looking) and McCann popping up to the first baseman. Terrible. Both hitting around .100 this month.
MiaBchBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:29 pm
Efrim, I don’t think that McCann even starts tonight. And if he does, it will be an 0′fer. That shoulder told you the story in the late innings.
It should not have to be this way just yet, but Heyward and Freeman are going to have to carry this team the rest of the way. I truly hope that they are ready; I fear that they are not.
Uggla, is a loser who is better served playing in Kansas City, where he can hit his 30 HR’s a year in relative obscurity. His wet dream is to become the all-time HR leadre for 2B, not to become a WS champion. His attempts at hustle are farcical in the face of his stubborn futility; he is a second-division loser, another brilliant waste of money by Frank Wren.
Add Uggla’s salary, and Wren will have wasted (between Lowe, KK, & McLouth) over $150 million!!!
People on this blog look at how pretty Wren’s door mat is… while the house falls completely to rubble in September – again.
CrαZy
August 21st, 2012
3:29 pm
Reality hurts. Nats are good, we are mediocre.
So let me make sure I understand? There’s 4 Good teams then there’s us who is mediocre and then there’s everyone else who’s mediocre to bad? Or do the other 3 teams that have a better record than us also fall in the mediocre category?
phil
August 21st, 2012
3:29 pm
No Chipper….biggest games of the year to date and he has to sit.
I guess it’s not his fault his knees are toast.
Oh well.
MFin04
August 21st, 2012
3:30 pm
“Why don’t you look at WHIP”
I don’t really get using WHIP for a guy that is dominant against lefties, I mean aren’t you better off walking righties if you dominate lefties? You’d be crazy not to.
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:31 pm
Signing of Overbay mean Hinsky days in Atlanta is over….DFA HISNKY
Not yet…. Overbay needs some playing time in AAA… also, rosters expanded in Sept, so Hinske can stay…
MFin04
August 21st, 2012
3:31 pm
“No Chipper….biggest games of the year to date and he has to sit.”
Well his defense has cost us more runs than his offense in the last few games so it might be a good time to sit him…
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:31 pm
I said it yesterday, McCann and Uggla are killing this team.
On a side note, looking towards 2013 – A healthy McCann and productive Uggla will be necessary for this team to compete next year. Offseason hasn’t started yet, but the lineup depth will most likely not be as strong so we’ll definitely need those two to produce at their career rates to have an above average offense.
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:33 pm
I don’t really get using WHIP for a guy that is dominant against lefties, I mean aren’t you better off walking righties if you dominate lefties? You’d be crazy not to.
And if you can’t dominate both lefties and righties, you’re not that elite.
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:33 pm
You’d be crazy not to.
Yeah, I mean I’d rather my elite relievers to get both RH and LH hitters out, but ya know, I guess walking the bases loaded to face a LH hitter is another route to go……………………………………………………………………………………….
Jimmy
August 21st, 2012
3:33 pm
Man, this blog NEEDS a win tonight.
I mean, real bad.
usnavyvolfaninva
August 21st, 2012
3:33 pm
It seems to me that some on here are acting as if, despite no professional baseball experience, they could just walk out there, pick up a bat, and hit a 90mph fastball out of the park on the first swing….
Did it ever occur to you that Washington has owned just about every other team out there, not just ours…there’s a reason why they’re going to win the Division…they’ve been consistent all year long. Maybe it ain’t pretty, but their guys go out there and get the job done. Unfortunately, the Braves are in the same division. But at one point, we had the 2nd best record in the entire league. This team has the capability of making the playoffs, that much we know. But unlike you, they’re not going to quit b/c they’re 6 or 7 games out. They get paid to go out and play, and they’re going to continue to do so. This IS the team that came back from 9-0 to win against these same Nationals, are they not? A, shall we say, , “revolting, disgusting” team would never be able to do that.
Backdoor Slider
August 21st, 2012
3:33 pm
MORE FREDI MISMANAGEMENT
Consider these well stated comments from Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk on Fredi’s mismanagement of the bullpen last night:
“Nationals 5, Braves 4: I suppose you can yell at Dan Uggla for messing up the play with the infield in and a runner on third in the 13th inning which allowed the winning run to score. But perhaps it’s also worth noting that the Braves played perhaps their most important game to date, in a series that, if they don’t win, the division title is basically out of reach, with their best relief pitcher sitting on his butt. But hey, at least Fredi Gonzalez saved Craig Kimbrel for a save situation that never came. Not having him then would have been terrible. Far better to leave everything up to Cristhian Martinez in a situation when a strikeout is absolutely critical, not the guy who strikes out 15.8 batters per nine innings.” — End quote.
phil
August 21st, 2012
3:34 pm
A consistently productive Uggly no longer exists….
A healthy and IN SHAPE McCann would be nice, but I see no reason to expect a thing but continued fatness going forward.
MiaBchBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:34 pm
raleighbravesfan: get over yourself. It’s an opinion blog. If you don’t like what I have to say, deal with it, silly child. Just don’t get personal with me, bud; I have no quarrel with you.
George: yes I am, albeit an angry one right now. And I know where to lay the blame, ’cause that train is never late.
Carroll Rogers
August 21st, 2012
3:34 pm
wrong guess about Chipper….13 innings caught up.
Juan
August 21st, 2012
3:36 pm
Bench killing us to…..
Ward
August 21st, 2012
3:37 pm
Hello everyone! I read the article on Lyle Overbay, and he was batting .292 in 45 games with Arizona, and he will play in Playoffs too. He will give Freeman a few days off when needed. I think this could be a good pick up. He bats LH too. That’s why Mejia wasn’t caalled up.
DAP
August 21st, 2012
3:38 pm
efrim Hey Efrim? What do you do for a living? Just curious.
Kicking arse, Mike.
there a big market for that these days. ;- )
Ward
August 21st, 2012
3:38 pm
Lyle Ovebay will be on roster starting Sept 1st after called up.
Mike Berry
August 21st, 2012
3:38 pm
Efrim…been a Braves fan since 1978. How about yourself???
Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:38 pm
phil
“raleighbravesfan, I suppose anyone who doesn’t have a blind conviction that the Braves are going to rule the world is what? A jerk?
To me a jerk is someone who addresses someone else’s post and says something like…”Or maybe you don’t understand the nature of the game of baseball.” Gee RBF, I don’t recall directing anything directly to you or anyone else before your post directed to me.
So I’m an arrogant jerk? You mean the jerk who started the back and forth between us?
Hey water head, that would be YOU! G-d what and idiot you are. And you have the documentation to prove it, right here. lol
*************
You’ve got about as much sense as my left shoe….stick it in your ear, pal.”
Co-Sign! 100 Percent!
TennesseePaul
August 21st, 2012
3:39 pm
Can you do this also for Heyward and remove his May from the equation?
Sure:
sans-Slump for both Heyward and Freeman:
_________PA_BB__K__AVG__OBP__SLG__OPS
Heyward 380 36 94 .293 .359 .522 .881
Freeman 329 31 56 .315 .386 .538 .924
But you know, I split EOF for you because you kept mentioning how much his 2011 skewed his numbers. So, I offered his totals with and his totals without 2011.
RC
August 21st, 2012
3:40 pm
Hey Efrim? What do you do for a living? Just curious.
Kicking arse, Mike.
Efrim modeled his career after Patrick Swayze’s character from “Roadhouse”
TennesseePaul
August 21st, 2012
3:40 pm
Last 9 Starts of the Starting 9
_________AVG__OBP__SLG___OPS_wOBA_L9S9+
Bourn__ .270 .372 .432 0.805 .369 __122
Prado__ .333 .364 .643 1.006 .420 __170
Heyward .324 .419 .622 1.040 .461 __182
Freeman .152 .282 .273 0.555 .263 ___55
Uggla__ .121 .237 .364 0.600 .263 ___62
McCann_ .125 .222 .125 0.347 .161 ____0
Francis .433 .485 .767 1.252 .481 __238
Janish_ .313 .389 .344 0.733 .340 __106
Maholm_ .048 .091 .048 0.139 .065 __-60
Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:40 pm
Juan
“Bench killing us to…..”
I never Knew That SKE would be sooo bad this year….His 2012 season has been Greg Norton-esque, after being one of the best PH’s in the game from 2010 and 2011
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:41 pm
we’ll definitely need those two to produce at their career rates to have an above average offense.
Indeed…. an ace would be great as well, to help win games when the offense isn’t rolling that night
Far better to leave everything up to Cristhian Martinez in a situation when a strikeout is absolutely critical, not the guy who strikes out 15.8 batters per nine innings
Christhian Martinez with the 8.3 K/9 this year or Kimbrel with the 15.8…
Christhian Martinez with the 10.1 H/9 this year or Kimbrel with the 3.6
Christhian Martinez with the 1.286 WHIP this year or Kimbrel with the 0.667
Christhian Martinez with 56 Ks in 60.2 IP this year or Kimbrel with 79 Ks in 45IP
Christhian Martinez with the 97 ERA+ this year or Kimbrel with the 336 ERA+
Christhian Martinez with the 4.01 ERA this year (before last night) or Kimbrel with the 1.20 ERA
Yep, CMart was the perfect choice with runners on the corners and 1 out.
Ron Roberts
August 21st, 2012
3:42 pm
It all comes back to being inCAPABLE of doing what it takes to win, even when the bats go cold (as they’ve basically done for over a week now)…
Small-ball. This franchise SCOFFS at the very idea. Meanwhile, the Cardinals won a World Series not because they had a loaded lineup or even a vastly intimidating rotation or bullpen. They won a World Series because they know how to get ‘em on, get ‘em, and get ‘em in.
The roster’s incapable of getting a bunt down with any sense of regularity. The letters RISP and LOB form a symbiosis with this club, and it’s the difference between vying for a division title and “hoping” to make the one-game wild card playoff.
Even the BEST lineups struggle; the ones who are truly gifted are the ones who can work around that, and not just leaning on a pitching staff to keep the other team at-bay.
phil (always confident fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:42 pm
Play Overbay….
Bench Freddie…
DAP
August 21st, 2012
3:42 pm
efrim Why don’t you look at WHIP, K/9, etc.?
i did.
Why don’t you like those stats?
i do! i also like ERA. guess im just weird.
hey, you know im not a big ERA+ fan, and dont lean on WAR to heavy either. but, you took ERA from me so i had to do something.
if i can use ERA, how about you dont use k/9 and see where it gets us? that would be stupid, right?
Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:42 pm
MiaBchBravesFan
“Disgusting. Revolting.
Last night’s loss portends what is to come in September. A train wreck at 2B, a veritable cripple at 3B, & a one-armed man at catcher are the supposed lynchpins of this supposed playoff wagon – whose wheels are just about to fly off.
Saturday, Sunday, and from the sixth inning last night to the fateful 12th, the Braves are showing what their true colors are. From 1 to 8 and the bench, there is not a single player on this lineup that strikes fear in the heart of any pitcher in either league.
The starting pitching and bullpen are absolutely playoff quality. However, this haphazzard bird’s nest of talentless knuckleheads are an embarrassment to Chipper Jones and every pitcher on this squad.
For seven innings, these twits were facing a bullpen that, to put it charitably, sux. They folded like a pretty doily while our bullpen toiled like champions.
Franke Wren, for all of his wasteful squandering of nearly $100 million in the past four years, has been relegated to making fans swallow this hodge-podge of late-season ineptitude and…
Yellow-striped cowardly-ness.
You can just imagine in that clubhouse what is going through each and every positional player’s thoughts: WHO will carry us in September. Chipper Jones, who has played in more games this season than even he imagined, is staring at his ravaged knees and begging Providence that the pain will subside for just one month or so, because at 40, he is the ONLY player remotely capable of carrying this team. I truly feel for Chipper that he has to be forced into such a role; his body, as shown by his all-arms pop-up in extras last night, is not prepared for such a last stand.
The rest of the positional team? Revolting. Disgusting.”
Very Well Pu, lol you just went Full N8 on ust….This Team better start Playing with some urgency because the WC lead has not been sewn up up.,..They keep Effing around and they will lose that too….
Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:43 pm
I meant to say Very Well Put
@Ron Roberts
Good Post @ 342
raleighbravefan
August 21st, 2012
3:44 pm
MFin @3:21 –
Threadkiller
August 21st, 2012
3:44 pm
Can Overbay play Left Field?
phil (always confident fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:44 pm
There’s also a rarely discussed possibility that the Nats are simply the better team….
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:44 pm
I never Knew That SKE would be sooo bad this year….His 2012 season has been Greg Norton-esque, after being one of the best PH’s in the game from 2010 and 2011
I did…. his 2011 was pretty poor. Surprised that he was tendered a contract after last year… he was good in 2010, not since.
Ward
August 21st, 2012
3:44 pm
Whats mac doinf grounding to second, or first every time there ’s a shift on? I mean Mac , you haven’t figured it out yet? Are you going to hit into second base again in the shift, and to 1st base to tonight?
TennesseePaul
August 21st, 2012
3:44 pm
if i can use ERA, how about you dont use k/9 and see where it gets us? that would be stupid, right?
Handed in my VORP along time ago. But I’ll trade you a HBP/9 for a BB/9, sound good?
Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:45 pm
Over/Under on Struggla K’s
2
Strasturd is pitching so I doesn’t bode well for #26
Struggla is sooo streaky that He makes me long for 2005 A. Jones
Jimmy
August 21st, 2012
3:45 pm
Hey Ward – How’s it going today?
Not alot of love on here, as you can see.
phil (always confident fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:46 pm
Judging from his enormous girth, Hinske should just be glad he hasn’t keeled over yet….
It’s sad to see him let himself go and prematurely end his career like this. Nevermind what it will do to his life span.
Ward
August 21st, 2012
3:46 pm
I mean come on Mac, it’s getting real old seeing you hit into the shift every time you come to bat. Maybe you should work with Walker on hitting the ball the other way?
phoenix
August 21st, 2012
3:46 pm
Excellent work from Carroll, much preferred over the Sultan of Snark.
About Uggla: 5th in today’s lineup? WTF? Is it because of his 15 HR in 496 plate appearances? Is it because of his solid right-handed hitting (batting .206 off lefties! .212 off righties!) Is it because of his 138 strikeouts?
In the grand tradition of Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francoeur, Uggla needs to be shipped to the outer fringes of Toronto or Kansas City ASAP….somewhere in the shadows of almost-major-league baseball. This man will never be in the lineup of a playoff team.
And they scored last night’s final play a hit? Looks like Congress isn’t the only thing screwed up in DC.
Doug
August 21st, 2012
3:46 pm
OK, we’re Good, if that makes you feel any “better” while watching the “gooder” teams play for a championship. This can be a fun team to watch, but they still have to ratchet up the talent before we can hope for a ring. I’m just saying that we ought to quit fooling ourselves and face reality.
phil (always confident fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:47 pm
Love….love will keep us together.
Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:47 pm
phil (always confident fan)
“There’s also a rarely discussed possibility that the Nats are simply the better team….”
I Warned Everyone on here About The Curley W’s in May and Was Mocked At and Jeered…They are the Best in Baseball for a Reason, and Still get no fan support in DC
MiaBchBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:47 pm
RE: McCann. A shoulder is a complex thing – especially for pitchers and catchers. From recent reports, BMac has a cyst and a frayed labrum that “may not require surgery, but rest.” That speaks to a chronic condition that will reappear for the rest of his career. His ability to throw out baserunners is now compromised in the same way a pitcher with a shoulder problem is much more suspect than one who has had relatively simple TJ surgery.
To say nothing about being able to swing a bat in the same fashion he did during his better years. Add his recent history of other injuries…
And the cold, hard truth is that a fan favorite becomes a severe risk as far as excercising his 2013 option is concerned. Love the guy, but I would not do it for the $12 million, I’m sorry to say.
Ward
August 21st, 2012
3:47 pm
Jimmy – I’m good just trying to fire up Mac…….
Gustopher
August 21st, 2012
3:48 pm
Great blog Carroll
Efrim
August 21st, 2012
3:48 pm
Efrim modeled his career after Patrick Swayze’s character from “Roadhouse”
Just watched the Family Guy episode last night where Peter keeps kicking everyone with a close up of him while he says “Roadhouse”.
Awesome.
TheOnlyBravesFan
August 21st, 2012
3:48 pm
Uggla is 8-15 against Strasburg, T-Hawk, with 2 Doubles, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K
Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)
August 21st, 2012
3:49 pm
Ward
“I mean come on Mac, it’s getting real old seeing you hit into the shift every time you come to bat. Maybe you should work with Walker on hitting the ball the other way?”
He’s Injured Bro! Just like last year his injury is more severe than the team leads the fans to believe
He can’t be relied on to save this excuse making collection of Stiffs, That’s #26’s job from here on out