Medlen belongs in Braves rotation rest of season and beyond

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Venice Jim

August 24th, 2012
1:19 am

Sorry – thought I had just refreshed – that comment was supposed to have appeared way up above…

Ward

August 24th, 2012
1:19 am

Hnason is not getting an exscuse from me. He showed he’s just not (Ace) material yet.

Disgusted

August 24th, 2012
1:20 am

A-Bomb — I don’t think that Gonzalez is a good down the stretch manager but this team is not really that good.

And we are seeing tail offs from key players and the pitching is falling apart again.

Of course when all is said the corporate shirts in Colorado will look at the bottom line, Wren will make bit moves in the off season and once again we will be sold a line of S for next yr.

Its hopeless. And Mc Cann and Uggla are done. Done, finished.

TheOnlyBravesFan

August 24th, 2012
1:20 am

Well, the whiners are out…. back to homework for me…. take care all.

Go Braves. Peace.

uga-brave

August 24th, 2012
1:20 am

great try at a comeback. we kept the line moving there for a while.

Ward

August 24th, 2012
1:20 am

How about another jet flight…….Sorry, but had to slip that in.

IlliniBrave

August 24th, 2012
1:20 am

@TOBF: I get that, but in this case, it didn’t really matter. Romo almost equally tough against RH as LH. Lopez just isn’t as intimidating.

usnavyvolfaninva

August 24th, 2012
1:20 am

Ryan,
Really, try not to sound like a jackass… say what you want about his managing ability, but just to save you from your lack of education, just about all our ancestors came over on a “raft” of some kind.

Hmmmm

August 24th, 2012
1:21 am

When I was thinking they would split this series I was hoping they’d be able to beat the High ERA guys: Zito (4.42) / Lincecum (5.30). But seeing what Zito did to the lineup and now they’ve got to face a 2.85 Righty and then a 2.83 Lefty doesn’t give me much hope of them splitting anymore.

Ward

August 24th, 2012
1:22 am

It seems like Hanson, has that one inning where he just falls apart, and it happens way too much.

kelevra

August 24th, 2012
1:23 am

uggla still had some pretty bad baserunning tonight that cost us two innings….not all on him but he by no means played a complete game….offense…hanson…..fredi….that’s who lost this game

Veer

August 24th, 2012
1:23 am

If sheets struggles tmr then who gets the 5th spot? I would say just go with a 4 man rotation if possible if there are dayoffs. Both Sheets and Hanson are similar pitchers I dont see them having any success.

We are in trouble because of Mac and Uggla not doing their part

Veer

August 24th, 2012
1:25 am

Anyone ever sit and wonder how Hanson managed to win 12 games this year?
That is remarkable for a guy that stinks like he does.
How did he manage to win 12 games? How?

Anyone think about that?

kelevra

August 24th, 2012
1:26 am

50 bucks fredi or chipper blames jet lag and/or hanson not giving the offense a chance (forgetting of course it was 1-0 until the 5th and with some run support game could have gone a completely different way)

IlliniBrave

August 24th, 2012
1:26 am

@kelevra: yeah, Uggs has shown us how he hurts us with his bat (or lack thereof), and then recently hurt us with his glove. He went for the trifecta tonight and burned us with his baserunning errors – like a Matty D impersonation out there!

The A Bomb

August 24th, 2012
1:26 am

Sorry Disgusted –

When fundamentals are NOT demanded from a manager it clearly shows. It is also clear Gonzalez mind-screws certain players — maybe even Hanson for that matter — but favors others. He is not a teambuilder and in all the years I’ve followed baseball I’ve never seen in-season competitions like this. It’s ridiculous.

We don’t bunt, we don’t hit and run, we don’t steal as much as we should, we just try to hit the ball 450 feet and that’s what we’ve done now for 1.4 seasons.

Managers may not LOSE a ton of games, but they sure as hell can put their teams in POSITION to WIN or LOSE based on their decisions. Our esteemed field commander has his thumb up his posterior against the better teams. Maybe it’s an attempt to loosen his sphincter. But he makes the team tight and you can tell this team is about to turn down the same highway they went down last year.

Gonzalez? Eddie Haas 2.0.

Ward

August 24th, 2012
1:28 am

Anyways, let’s all be cool, and get ready for another game tomorrow. Ugly game, and it will sting tonight, but let’s pick our selves back up, and be ready for tomorrow. Remember, Braves were jet- leged…….LOL! Peace my friends, and hang in there.There will be a brighter day……”Go!!!!!Braves!!!!!”

uga-brave

August 24th, 2012
1:28 am

best i can tell thunder dan got on base 5-2 runners on base and nobody out.

Brava

August 24th, 2012
1:30 am

Fredi thinks Tommy didn’t pitch that bad. No surprise there.

uga-brave

August 24th, 2012
1:31 am

macc did not keep the line moving.

Brava

August 24th, 2012
1:34 am

BMac needs to be checked for PEDs? If he’s doing them, he needs to get his money back because he got ripped off bad.

kelevra

August 24th, 2012
1:34 am

ok…just real quick confirmation….is it jet-lagged or jet-legged….not being a smart a** ….really want to know

Brava

August 24th, 2012
1:36 am

It’s jet-lagged, kelevra.

Hmmmm

August 24th, 2012
1:37 am

“Anyone ever sit and wonder how Hanson managed to win 12 games this year?”

not that hard to figure out:
*Braves run totals in his 12 wins: 8, 7, 6, 6, 10, 5, 3, 5, 7, 6, 3, and 6 runs. And in a majority of those games he gave up 3 runs or less. He looks pretty good when the offensive and pitching machine is working together but when one messes up it usually doesn’t end well.

Brava

August 24th, 2012
1:39 am

If Medlen goes back to the pen, I’ll stop watching the Braves until Fredi is gone. Surely he isn’t that big of an idiot.

Brava

August 24th, 2012
1:42 am

I know, nc fan. Not good.

Trey

August 24th, 2012
1:44 am

They didn’t pitch that well, we just pitched that bad.

Trey

August 24th, 2012
1:45 am

Plus, our hitting was just sh**

Trey

August 24th, 2012
1:46 am

and base running.

Florida Fan

August 24th, 2012
1:50 am

are starting to add up.

uga-brave

August 24th, 2012
1:53 am

this guy that we are about to pick up a huge option on will have at least one moment, right?

i a can at least name five javy had. start with the dinger in the second game of the series.

the entire series against the cardinals in the NLCS. and the dinger against the cubs in the nlds.

David O'Brien

August 24th, 2012
1:54 am

Chipper before game: “You’ve got to kind of wait and see what he’s got. A lot depends on the umpire. If we’ve got a pretty hitter-friendly umpire, then he’s a guy I think we need to wait out. Because he can walk a bunch of guys and give you a lot of opportunities.”

Fredi after game, when asked if Braves could have been more patient after drawing two first-inning walks: “Yeah, but he’s not going to walk four or five. There’s going to be a fine line where… A couple of at-bats there, you wish we could take back.”

Hmmmm

August 24th, 2012
1:55 am

huh, I actually agree with Fredi here:
“I don’t know if it’s Barry being that dominant or us not having a good approach”

There are occasions when watching this team I too find that the line, where good pitching ends and bad offense begins, starts blurring

Hmmmm

August 24th, 2012
1:58 am

“Yeah, but he’s not going to walk four or five”

he walked 3 … what’s 1 or 2 more? Another patient at-bat or two?

J-MAN

August 24th, 2012
2:02 am

Looks the same as last year.
We were great until August 15 just like last year but now we dont hit……Just like last year
Now all we need is some injuries to the Starters and then we will be exactly like last year.
Fredi doesnt make adjustments and keeps playing the same players no matter what.
Uggla should be benched and McCann shouldnt have played today with Zito starting and him having a hurt shoulder.
Right now with McCann and Uggla in the line up to go along with Janish and the pitcher. That leaves only 5 spots where we can score runs.
Yet when people were bashing the people that were critical of Fredi and the Braves because of the collapse last year, they are nowhere to be found now (Lew, lobosolo, ect.)
I’m not saying they will collapse but this is very similar. And drastic actions need to be taken to stop this

J-MAN

August 24th, 2012
2:12 am

NC Fan I watch a player get picked off twice so what good did it do Uggla still got him sellf out and killed rallies

J-MAN

August 24th, 2012
2:13 am

Hanson just doesnt make adjustments and gets killed when he has runners on base. Just like that Marlin game where he allowed 7 Stolen Bases

J-MAN

August 24th, 2012
2:15 am

Also why should we pick up that 12 million dollar option on McCann. He injury prone and declining. Bring up Bethancourt and use that money for better players.

Astral

August 24th, 2012
2:31 am

Bethancourt can’t hit worth a crap. The blog would go crazy on him within a month.

David O'Brien

August 24th, 2012
2:38 am

uga-brave

August 24th, 2012
2:42 am

23 out of 105 with runner in scoring position .162..

draw your on conclusions. those are macc’s numbers.

uggla, 26 for 108. ,241 with ,858 .ops in the same situation.

uga-brave

August 24th, 2012
2:46 am

the bash brothers.

David O'Brien

August 24th, 2012
2:48 am

David O'Brien

August 24th, 2012
2:54 am

Who is gonna ask the TOUGH questions? DOB? No. Carrol Dawson? No. DOB has to ask TOUGHER questions

OK, here’s a tougher question: Who is Carrol Dawson?

Animus

August 24th, 2012
2:54 am

It’s just a shame. The pitching has been excellent this month, and the Offense barely has the team over .500 for the month.

Need a leader on the team to close the clubhouse doors and have a LOUD meeting w/these players. Chipper, it’s your last season – wanna go out a winner? Rip into some of these guys who aren’t “playing up to the back of their baseball cards”.

You have the Cred to do it – playing under pressure seems to deflate instead of inflate the play of several players.

Train Wreck Bystander

August 24th, 2012
3:30 am

Carroll Dawson is on Facebook, has 17 friends and types in ALL CAPS.

https://www.facebook.com/carroldaw

Perfect candidate for the late night blog.

Ward

August 24th, 2012
3:33 am

Hello everyone! Been thinking about last nights game, and we will just have to ride it out. It’s hard telling where the Braves will go? No one thought the Braves would be in the wild card again, but here they are. The hitting is the most frustrating of all , but maybe the Braves will bounce back? One thing I know is never count the Braves out. Braves bats are going to have to wake up! Or watch the playoffs from T.V. again. No one likes to lose, nor I like to lose, but I think the Braves will give it a good fight, so let’s all hang in there, and ride the wave, and stay the course. Still think the Braves will hang on to win the wild card…….Peace my Friends, and “Go!!!!!Braves!!!!!” Talk tomorrow some time…….

nolie

August 24th, 2012
3:38 am

Did we really expect a win with Hanson going against Zito, the way he owns us? Better luck tonight

Train Wreck Bystander

August 24th, 2012
3:50 am

If this team can heat up at the plate, they can go deep in the postseason rounds.

Maybe Simmons will be the one to carry the team. I just hope the Braves can hang on until he comes back.

Couch Tater

August 24th, 2012
3:51 am

Who is Carrol Dawson?

Actually, a heck of a story…

Dawson ending up staying with the Rockets as an assistant coach for 16 seasons. During his coaching career, Dawson became renowned for his work with big men. He worked with pivots like Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson. Above everything else, Dawson loved teaching the game.

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Dawson_set_to_end_a_27year_ru-221038-34.html

Jeff R

August 24th, 2012
6:45 am

The Braves’ bats in the deep freeze. Last night’s loss in SF, just painful.

njbraves

August 24th, 2012
7:07 am

That game was a loss the day the schedule was printed. This team isn’t winning a game in SF the night after playing in Washington.

phil

August 24th, 2012
7:12 am

Thank goodness i had to go to bed and miss the predictable….i thought we’d lose 5-3 or so but 5-2 was close enough…sigh.

Jet lag my foot.

And DOB? Glad to see you venting some frustration too…..does get old, eh?

Jeff R

August 24th, 2012
7:12 am

according to maylan world ends on dec.21

It’s “Mayan,” not “maylan,” unless your referring to some other people.

And as long as the world ends after the winter meetings… I’d regret not seeing what the Braves could do via trades…

Jeff R

August 24th, 2012
7:19 am

Tall order, but the Braves need to finish this 10-game swing at 5-5. That’s 4-2 for the balance.

tiger297

August 24th, 2012
7:47 am

from gamer – The Braves landed in San Francisco at about 3 a.m. after their night game in Washington and a five-hour flight. But they didn’t look any more listless than they have in some other recent games, on the road as well as at home.

I’ll second that – the monday night game against san diego may be the flatest I’ve seen this team since 2009

George

August 24th, 2012
7:49 am

Can not BEAT GOOD TEAMS period.

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
8:09 am

phil

“Thank goodness i had to go to bed and miss the predictable….i thought we’d lose 5-3 or so but 5-2 was close enough…sigh.

Jet lag my foot.

And DOB? Glad to see you venting some frustration too…..does get old, eh?”

Co-Sign! I turned That Trash off after we got down 5-0….

There was Once Upon a time on the old Days of TBS that Braves games on the West Coast were Must see TV (During the Early 90’s)

No they are just total borefests

The Giants fans showed up, 40K on a Thursday…They have a pathetic offense and still draw 40K on the weekdays

And I know this collection of stiffs would use the jet-lag excuse, they will be using it the whole roadtrip

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
8:10 am

I meant to say, Now the west coast games are just total borefests because the team is sooo lifeless

phoenix

August 24th, 2012
8:12 am

Tommy Hanson: the Anti-Medlen. Last night was a typical Hanson start: high pitch count, quick fatigue, inability to hold runners, inability to defend his position, inability to rebound after a fielding mistake, and of course, worthless at the plate.

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
8:13 am

Damn, even D.O.B. is calling out the team on its inept execution, A First since he started the blog in 2005

One thing this team has done during the last week is make a lot of mental errors….

Could not happen at a worse time

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
8:16 am

phoenix

August 24th, 2012
8:12 am

“Tommy Hanson: the Anti-Medlen. Last night was a typical Hanson start: high pitch count, quick fatigue, inability to hold runners, inability to defend his position, inability to rebound after a fielding mistake, and of course, worthless at the plate.”

Co-Sign…

He Got ripped on Sports Radio this morning on The Rude Awakening…I’m in agreement in them saying, he has 1 more start to prove he belongs in the rotation….

I’m not gonna bash him, or rip him but he hasn’t been the Same since he switched Agents to Bor–ashole prior to 2011…His velocity has fallen off… Its a conspiracy!

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
8:19 am

Ok…

We Got 3 Automatic Outs in the lineup (B-Macc, Struggla, PJ)

We need lil Andy Simmons Back BAD!

and has anyone noticed that Bourn has sucked over the last month? I bet his OBP is around .300 during that span…?

CrαZy

August 24th, 2012
8:24 am

Those are the most unreadable overnights in the history of this blog… I’m now dumber for reading them!!

MVPrado14

August 24th, 2012
8:28 am

Braves are now 7-18 against Washington, Cincinnati, and San Francisco

Should this team actually hold on and get past whoever they would play in the one game playoff, would they really have a fighting chance?

Always want them to win, but they certainly are not exuding confidence that they can actually do anything in October should they get there.

Tim

August 24th, 2012
8:29 am

Medlen has been most consistent, followed by Maholm. The rotation has to start with those two. If they are going back to a five man, I would think it would be Medlen, Maholm, Hudson, Sheets, and Minor. I’m tired of watching Hanson. I say trade him and Jurrjens for a bucket of practice balls and maybe a new on-deck ring. We’d be the winners of that trade. For him to have 15 wins this season means he must have been spotted 12 of them before the season ever started.

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
8:30 am

Enter your comments here

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
8:35 am

Should this team actually hold on and get past whoever they would play in the one game playoff, would they really have a fighting chance?—–MVPrado

I give them a 15 percent chance in a 1 game elimination…Braves have sucked in elimination games since 2000…We always have bad luck in those kinds of games…..

Brian from SC

August 24th, 2012
8:46 am

I hate west coast games…I saw none of the game, so I have nothing to say, really.

brian

August 24th, 2012
8:53 am

if it came to the one game playoff/elimination, I know who I would want on the mound…….the man who used to be the best SS in our system

brian

August 24th, 2012
8:54 am

SC – no clutch hits. Baserunning blunders, etc. Tommy pitched into and out of trouble until his last partial inning when things fell apart.

Brian from SC

August 24th, 2012
8:54 am

if it came to the one game playoff/elimination, I know who I would want on the mound…….the man who used to be the best SS in our system

Chipper Jones?

Efrim

August 24th, 2012
8:55 am

I figure we’ll just start winning again once we start playing worse teams. They were unbeatable for so long, something was bound to go wrong. Just sort of sucks that it seems like we can’t beat good teams. Oh well.

Efrim

August 24th, 2012
9:01 am

Sean Gilmartin with a rough start last night – 4 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 3 BB’s, 3 K’s. 71 pitches – 43 for strikes.

Arkansas Transplant

August 24th, 2012
9:08 am

I think we may be witnessing another collapse coming. This team presently looks terrible.

Arkansas Transplant

August 24th, 2012
9:09 am

Hanson needs to be shut down so he can begin some extensive rehab. He needs some strengthen done on just about his whole body.

MFin04

August 24th, 2012
9:13 am

The pitching is coming back to earth and the offense is reverting to 2011 collapse mode. Not a good combo. And the night we finally get a good start and begin hitting, Kimbrel will blow a save. ;)

Efrim

August 24th, 2012
9:14 am

I think we may be witnessing another collapse coming. This team presently looks terrible.

It’s called playing good baseball teams. It happens.

Starting Monday:

3 @ SD
3 vs. Philly
4 vs. Colorado
3 @ NY
3 @ Milwaukee
3 vs. Washington
3 @ Miami
3 @ Philly
3 vs. Miami
3 vs. NY
3 @ Pittsburgh

That’s not a difficult schedule.

CrαZy

August 24th, 2012
9:16 am

I hate west coast games…I saw none of the game, so I have nothing to say, really.

Love the West coast games…. just not the ones when we lose. Last night was the first weekday game in months that I’ve watched every pitch.

Brian from SC

August 24th, 2012
9:16 am

The Braves have whooped up on bad teams and lost to good teams all year. That will continue. 28 of their last 34 against teams with a losing record. I’d be surprised if they didn’t win 91 games.

MikeInFl

August 24th, 2012
9:17 am

The first run against Hanson, Pagan in the 3rd, was down 0-2 and then walked on 4 consecutive pitches. And the fateful 5th starts with a 4-pitch walk, and features Hunter Pence single off an 88-mph 4-seamer, and a Hector Sanchez double off an 88-mph 4-seamer.

Bad control (not just command, but control) combined with pedestrian velocity. Not a real good recipe for success.

CrαZy

August 24th, 2012
9:17 am

I think we may be witnessing another collapse coming.

If that happens Fredi is gone, but I don’t think it’ll happen.

brian

August 24th, 2012
9:18 am

BrianSC – Medlen

brian

August 24th, 2012
9:19 am

I should have said “self proclaimed” best SS in our system

brian

August 24th, 2012
9:19 am

if the BRaves even start collapsing again, Fredi wll be fired before the end of the yea and TP will be interim manager

BravesFanInMaine

August 24th, 2012
9:20 am

Does anyone know when Simmons is coming back to the braves??

Old Braves Fan

August 24th, 2012
9:20 am

Why in the world would anyone even raise the question as to whether or not Medlen should stay in the starting rotation–he needs to stay there permanently end of statement, end of discussion

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
9:22 am

The A Bomb

August 24th, 2012
1:26 am

Sorry Disgusted –

When fundamentals are NOT demanded from a manager it clearly shows. It is also clear Gonzalez mind-screws certain players — maybe even Hanson for that matter — but favors others. He is not a teambuilder and in all the years I’ve followed baseball I’ve never seen in-season competitions like this. It’s ridiculous.

We don’t bunt, we don’t hit and run, we don’t steal as much as we should, we just try to hit the ball 450 feet and that’s what we’ve done now for 1.4 seasons.

Managers may not LOSE a ton of games, but they sure as hell can put their teams in POSITION to WIN or LOSE based on their decisions. Our esteemed field commander has his thumb up his posterior against the better teams. Maybe it’s an attempt to loosen his sphincter. But he makes the team tight and you can tell this team is about to turn down the same highway they went down last year.

Gonzalez? Eddie Haas 2.0.

Good Post!

I dont hate Fredi and have liked a majority of his lineup decisions and adjustments butt, Can Anyone Tell me Why The Holy Hell did he sit J-Hey Out Last night? He has been the hottest bat in the lineup and was the only Pos player who showed up during that series against The Curley W’s

The Dude is in his early 20’s, he doesn’t need the rest. If u wanna rest him, take him out in Blow out games

A. Jones in 2001 went at it everyday during a heated pennant race that didn’t end til the final weekend….What Gives?

Efrim

August 24th, 2012
9:23 am

BravesFanInMaine, sounds like 2nd week in September barring any setbacks.

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
9:23 am

BravesFanInMaine

August 24th, 2012
9:20 am

“Does anyone know when Simmons is coming back to the braves??”

Im Hoping 10 days…but it will prolly be 2 weeks, we need lil Andy Simmons in the lineup BAD! It sucks have 4 automatic outs in the lineup (6-9 hitters)

Arkansas Transplant

August 24th, 2012
9:24 am

No matter how you want to spin it.. whether they are playing good teams or bad teams… right now at this moment, this team is playing terrible baseball. They are making way too many mental mistakes and they just aren’t executing when the opportunities arrives.

MFin04

August 24th, 2012
9:24 am

“That’s not a difficult schedule.”

I don’t think it is the schedule that matters. If the team goes into choke mode it doesn’t really matter who they are playing. And Dan Uggla and Brian McCann have been cruising on choke mode for months now.

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
9:26 am

Brian from SC

“The Braves have whooped up on bad teams and lost to good teams all year. ”

Word Dude! Its usually the other way around…

Watch out for the Cardinals!

They have 7 games left against the AAA DisAstros

Less of Uggla

August 24th, 2012
9:26 am

Remember–It’s not Gonzalez penciling in Danny Boy. It’s Frankie W who does not want to see his 65 million acquisition benched. Better he hit .207 and continue to contribute limited range and bad baserunning than to be deemed a flop, even though he has been deemed a flop. Name another acquisition with these kind of numbers by any team in baseball. I’m thinking of Lackey and a couple of other pitchers, but a full time player that has been allowed to stink it up for almost 300 games?? IF Uggla had played near what was expected, they make the playoffs last year and are in 1st place or really close this year. Tell us David, who really pencils in Dan Uggla? Frddi may be silly but he’s not stupid.

Efrim

August 24th, 2012
9:26 am

After going 0 for 4 yesterday, High-A 3B Edward Salcedo is down to .242/.301/.403 on the year with 38 errors at 3rd base.

Arkansas Transplant

August 24th, 2012
9:28 am

At least Uggla got to feel what it’s like to be on base lastnight, although it wasn’t for very long.

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
9:28 am

@MFin

“I don’t think it is the schedule that matters. If the team goes into choke mode it doesn’t really matter who they are playing. And Dan Uggla and Brian McCann have been cruising on choke mode for months now.”

No Diggidity! No Doubt!

The offense needs to stop sitting back and waiting for the 3 run homer from both B-Macc and Struggla

B Macc is Hurt Beyond Belief

And Struggla is Alex Gonzalez 2.0…Hack, Hack, Hack, All Night Long!!!

Tomahawkin (Suffering Fan)

August 24th, 2012
9:34 am

Free MIXXO

The Team is 1-6 Since he got Bozo’d! :(

BravesFanInMaine

August 24th, 2012
9:35 am

Thanks Efrim and Tomahawkin for the update….. we need him back asap!!

BravesFanInMaine

August 24th, 2012
9:36 am

for the September callups I hope they bring up mejia to play first and give FF some time off…. just my opinion

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