Braves have opening vs. Nats, but still need to make move
Frank Wren can't let this season's opportunity slip away without a move. (Curtis Compton)
(Second update: 11:35 p.m.)
John Smoltz looks at the Braves and sees what everybody else sees.
“They’ve made some adjustments offensively, but the inconsistency of their starting pitching has them where they are,” he said. “Win six, lose eight. Win five, lose four. They’re stuck in neutral.”
Neutral isn’t necessarily a bad place to be, particularly in the National League East. When baseball’s second half opened Friday, the Braves were only four games behind the Washington Nationals, which is better than being four games behind a team with an actual resume. The Nationals’ franchise last made the playoffs 31 years ago in a whole different language (Montreal).
There’s also this curious matter of Stephen Strasburg. Washington maintains it’s serious about this plan to limit its best starting pitcher (and his surgically repaired arm) to 160 innings. That could be construed as telling Nats fans, “We really, really want to win the division, but not really,” and/or telling the Braves, “Do you want to win the division? Here, we’ll put the ball on the tee for you.”
Strasburg is only 61 innings from hitting the mandated ceiling. Washington plays 79 games after the All-Star break. In a five-man rotation, that factors to 16 starts for Strasburg in normal circumstances. But at an average of six innings per start, there’s room for only 10 starts before the medical stop sign goes up. So the Nationals would lose six potential starts from their No. 1 starter … in a pennant race … when they have never made the playoffs in Washington.
The Nationals may shelve pitcher Stephen Strasburg for equivalent of six starts in the second half of the season.
“I don’t buy it,” Tommy Hanson said. “I mean, good for us – we don’t have to face him.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Chipper Jones said.
“I’m sure when they came up with this plan, they didn’t expect to be this good this year,” Smoltz said. “It’s a good problem to have for the future. But right now it’s a PR nightmare.”
The Braves’ return Friday had a nightmarish look. There was a blackout in the second inning, causing a 16-minute delay. Tim
Tim Hudson was mediocre, leaving in the fifth inning after allowing four runs on eight hits. (AP photos)
Hudson had his own power outage (four runs, eight hits allowed in four-plus innings). The strange decision to not immediately bring in a shortstop to replace the injured Andrelton Simmons backfired when backup Jack Wilson suffered a dislocated finger in the fourth, forcing Martin Prado to move in from left field and Eric Hinske to come off the bench. (Even if general manager Frank Wren figured he was close to a trade, the one-game risk was nonsensical.)
To open the second half, the Braves didn’t look like a smooth operation. Still, they defeated the New York Mets 7-5, and the big picture is unchanged: They have an opportunity. This should be viewed by management as a go-for-it season. That means make a deal for a starting pitcher and loosen the death grip on the pitching prospects.
The Braves can’t really know what this team will look like next season. Jones is retiring, which leaves a hole in the clubhouse. A number of other big contracts are up. And those perceived great pitching prospects (Mike Minor, Randall Delgado, Julio Teheran) that Wren has refused to let go of? Not so great yet.
“I’d like to see us get a pitcher,” Jones said. “You would be amazed how consistent you play when you’ve got five guys who expect to win every time they walk out there.”
But when asked about trading youth, he added: “The Braves have been very stingy with their young guys, and we saw first-hand what can happen when you mortgage the future for the quick fix in [the Mark] Teixeira [trade]. I don’t see them going all out again.”
They shouldn’t hold back. The main names that are circulating: Milwaukee’s Zack Greinke and the Chicago Cubs’ Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza (4.32 ERA). But Wren said Friday he has had only casual conversations with other clubs, and he still doesn’t have a sense for what clubs will demand in trade.
“Teams haven’t measured the market yet,” he said. “Right now the conversations are, ‘If this guy is available, would you be interested?’”
Does his team need starting pitching?
“We got a starting pitcher in Ben Sheets. We’ll get a chance to see Ben in the next few weeks leading up to the deadline and see what else we need.”
What they need seems pretty obvious, and the Nationals may leave an opening.
By Jeff Schultz
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364 comments Add your comment
todd grantham
July 13th, 2012
9:52 pm
from Jerry Sandusky’s blog: this game makes my sentence look short.
Casey
July 13th, 2012
9:52 pm
Freeman gets on – Uggla hits into DP – Ross flies out. Just thought I’d throw out a prediction.
todd grantham
July 13th, 2012
9:53 pm
so far, freeman popped out
1-800-SAFE-VOTTO
July 13th, 2012
9:54 pm
J-Man – Great ideas. Let’s just go out and sign a REAL pitcher. How much you wanna pay for Hamels, Shields, or Greinke? $9 mil a year won’t touch those guys. Huddy’s been consistently good for years, minus the Tommy John surgery, and every time he goes out he gives you a chance to win. Let’s let McCann go and get Wieters or Posey….yeah right. And all Uggla did last year was hit 36 HR and drive in 82, and this year he’s on pace for 25/90 and he’s not even gotten hot yet.
Geez, a lot of you whiners in here are worse than Tennessee Vols football fans!
NORRIS CHUCK
July 13th, 2012
9:54 pm
They best be trying to get a pitcher in here, cause what they have is not gonna cut it. Sheets coming out Sunday…geez, cant wait to see that
Marco Pillow
July 13th, 2012
9:55 pm
Reggies been apologizing. 300 wins is automatic HOF credentials. Reggie IS an idiot.
1-800-SAFE-VOTTO
July 13th, 2012
9:56 pm
Jeff, do they still serve that Bentley’s Popcorn at the stadium? That stuff is AWESOME!
Coach (2012 Fredi's Beisbol Fandango)
July 13th, 2012
9:56 pm
We may be leading 5-4 but this game feels like a terrible loss right at the moment. Huddy may be headed for the DL and Jack Wilson’s injury just adds to the misery.
Marco Pillow
July 13th, 2012
9:58 pm
So Wren is waiting on teams to test the market for SP? He can be the first. What a moronic statement.
Tom(Independent Viet Vet USAF)
July 13th, 2012
10:00 pm
Go get Jeff Keppinger from TB(he does not play regularly anyway for them). He can play all IF positions, hits around .290 and rarely KO’s!! Our minor league guys not productive enough? Another option is leave Prado at SS and bring up Constanza to play LF with Diaz!!
Jeff Schultz
July 13th, 2012
10:00 pm
Sorry folks … had to duck out of conversation for a quick update to serve early print master.
SG10
July 13th, 2012
10:01 pm
Just watching the game, it feels like the Braves ERA is significantly lower with Simmons in the lineup. Does anyone have stats that might confirm that?
Jeff Schultz
July 13th, 2012
10:02 pm
OK … 3 straight walks, Francisco hitting for Martinez and Mets making a double switch … this is too much for me. …. OK. I’m fine now.
todd grantham
July 13th, 2012
10:03 pm
bases loaded. no runs scored. bet on it.
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:04 pm
Now look at the money they we will have off the books next season
$10 million Lowe
$14 million Chipper
$1 million Wilson
$2.125 mil Diaz
$1.6 mil Hinske
$6 million Jurrjens if we nontender him
$12. mil Option for McCann
$9 million option for Hudson
$6.845 million for Bourn
Thats a total of
$62.57 million that can be used if we have the same pay roll
Lets say we give Bourn 15 mil a season that bumps it to 47.57 million
now lets say we sign Grienke for 20 million that leaves 27.57 million
Ok we have a bluchip Catching prospect Bethancourt that could replace McCann defensively
and we could more replace McCann’s bat with that 27.57 million heck with that kind of money
If we did have that 27.57 freed up we could realistically go after Josh Hamilton.
But of course thats not gonna happen because we like to pay “Nice guys” and McCann and Hudson will get their options met.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
10:05 pm
The unearned runs surely must have gone down with Simmons at SS.
Jeff Schultz
July 13th, 2012
10:06 pm
Not saying this game moving at a slow pace but expect the Braves to open a breakfast bar in the 8th inning.
Jeff Schultz
July 13th, 2012
10:06 pm
Francisco — that didn’t look so good, nice pitch though.
Casey
July 13th, 2012
10:06 pm
All he had to do was put it in play..
SG10
July 13th, 2012
10:07 pm
Can we bring Julio Franco back as a pinch hitter?.. Man, that guy was good for the Braves. Perhaps, not coincidentally, Braves have not won the division since he was let go. The same could be said about Furcal. At least now with Bourne and Simmons, we can get Furcal’s qualities back.. we still miss Julio Franco’s great at bats off the bench.
todd grantham
July 13th, 2012
10:07 pm
you must have shown Mrs. Schultz a grand holiday for her to let you out on a Friday night.
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:08 pm
Ill tell you this the Braves seem to leaves the most bases loaded Ive seen for a while
Coach (2012 Fredi's Beisbol Fandango)
July 13th, 2012
10:09 pm
Beachy is done, Huddy is pitching on a bad ankle, Jurrjens is still questionable and the two kids (Minor and Delgado) are very inconsistent, while Ben Sheets is an unknown commodity. Leaving us with Tommy Hanson as the only sure bet at the moment.
So somehow I’m not thinking this team’s pitching can carry them in the second half.
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:10 pm
And we are gonna get snake bitten tonight. We need to get a real GM like we got with Dimitroff and Ferry because Wren just does nothing but waste money, and hires Bobby Cox rejects.
Casey
July 13th, 2012
10:10 pm
I don’t have a good feeling about this game. Too many missed opportunities.
Coach (2012 Fredi's Beisbol Fandango)
July 13th, 2012
10:11 pm
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
SG10
July 13th, 2012
10:12 pm
Where is Brooks Conrad when we need him?
The best close&late hitter Braves have had in a while..
Jeff Schultz
July 13th, 2012
10:12 pm
Todd Grantham — Every day with me is a friggin’ holiday, don’t you know that?
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:12 pm
Ok lets trade for Grienke now
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
10:12 pm
J-man – Interesting list, but I assume that all of those lower-paid guys are not going to be replaced with inexperienced call-ups from the minors. There is likely to be a Hinske-equivalent, Diaz-equivalent and Wilson-equivalent in reserve on the bench. The guy that *has* to be put under a new contract ASAP is Bourn. I’d hate to see them let him get away, but there is always the constraint of not having a committed owner of this team.
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:13 pm
We need Jamey Carroll too
Jeff Schultz
July 13th, 2012
10:17 pm
SG10 — “Where is Brooks Conrad when we need him?” … Oh yeah, he’d be a great defensive option.
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:18 pm
Yea I dotn see why they havent engaged Bourn about a contract ASAP. But if you look at the numbers of the bench Juan Fransico has had the best numbers this season. Hinske hasnt had the seasons he had the last 2 years and Diaz has been diaasppointed. I personally wuld rather have a good athletic CF like Constanza and get a Back up 1st baseman with a Right handed power bat……wait we have one of those in Ernesto Meja, he has 18 HR with a .315 BA in AAA and has good size.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
10:19 pm
One thing about Conrad, he keeps his head in the game. Boink! Ouch!
archie
July 13th, 2012
10:25 pm
The shorstop inaction this week is inexcusable. If you managed a McDonalds and forgot, or neglected to order enough McNuggets for tonight, you’d be fired. Yet Wren and the Frediot somehow get away with negligence at the major league level.
archie
July 13th, 2012
10:26 pm
Where did Hinske spend the All-Star break? The KFC buffet?
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:27 pm
We really dont have any good defensive athletic backup outfielders on the ML roster. Constanza never gets the chance he deserves but if Hinske and Diaz are gonna have those terrible numbers I think I would rather have Constanza up and have Meja back up Freeman and to come off the bench as a Right handed power hitter. Also Jack Wilson is still great defensively but you still need better than .175 all I wwould want is .220 but Wilson just cant bat anymore.
Jeff Schultz
July 13th, 2012
10:27 pm
Old man homers.
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:28 pm
Well the AJC NEVER calls out the Braves. They just gave them a free pass last year.
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:29 pm
Yea Chipper kills the Mets again…….wish he would stay
SG10
July 13th, 2012
10:30 pm
Jeff,
Brooks Conrad would be upgrade over any of the current bench players offensively. It’s amazing how pathetic our bench is really..I always wondered why Braves never tried to convert him to an outfielder. Clearly, he wouldn’t have been as much defensively liability and his run-after-everything attitude would have served well there..
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:30 pm
Somebody tell Chipper to try and find Ponce De Leon’s fountain of youth so he can stay
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:31 pm
SG10 Brooks played some outfield while he was in Atlanta
SG10
July 13th, 2012
10:31 pm
Jeff,
Clearly Conrad would have been upgrade over current bench offensively. I always wondered why Braves didn’t try to convert him to an outfielder where he wouldn’t be as much defensive liability and his run-after-everything attitude would serve him well there.
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:32 pm
Who we really miss is Omar Infante
SG10
July 13th, 2012
10:34 pm
J-Man, He did? How did he do defensively? I must have missed those games.I remember him only at 3rd and 2nd base.
Jeff Schultz
July 13th, 2012
10:34 pm
How about that — clutch hit from Uggla brings home a big run.
Jeff Schultz
July 13th, 2012
10:34 pm
SG10 — Loved Brooks Conrad but after what he went through in playoffs he was a complete head case here. Was never the same after that.
SG10
July 13th, 2012
10:35 pm
J-Man, I agree with you on Infante but I think he was better than just a bench player. I was sad when Braves traded him away (even if it was to get Uggla).
J-Man
July 13th, 2012
10:35 pm
He was so-so defensively