Posts Tagged ‘Bradley’s’

Sometimes you eat innings; sometimes innings eat you

He’s 2-0, but Jair Jurrjens is in trouble. So writes Tom Verducci of SI.com, who places the 23-year-old Braves ninth on a list of 10 young pitchers at risk. The Verducci Theory: A pitcher under 25 whose workload has increased by 30 or more innings is in immediate peril.

Yes, there’s evidence to support his case. On the other hand, what exactly is a club to do? Jurrjens went from working 143 innings in 2007 to 188 in 2008. That happened for two reasons: First, he was really good in 2008, and second, he was the only member of the Braves’ rotation not to get hurt.

Writing for ESPN.com, Buster Olney examines the innings-equal-arm-trouble dynamic as it applies to Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels, who has indeed developed soreness in the ol’ soupbone. But Olney makes the same salient point: Philly was trying to win a championship in 2008; would it have made sense to shut down its best pitcher in October — indeed, Hamels would be MVP of …

Continue reading Bradley’s Buzz: Danger, Jair Jurrjens! Danger! »

The Bravos’ bandwagon? It’s not yet rolling

Not for the first time, I’m in the distinct minority. I believe the undefeated Braves will win 88 more games and the wild card. Almost nobody else does.

This is the time of year when the big Web sites poll their experts, and the raw data isn’t promising for the local nine. Of ESPN.com’s 21 baseball analysts, only two see the Braves making the playoffs. Of SI.com’s 13 baseball pundits, not one does. (Though, intriguingly enough, three different Braves are tabbed as rookie of the year — Jordan Schafer, Tommy Hanson and the 33-year-old Kenshin Kawakami.) Of CBSsports.com’s four baseball analysts, two have the Braves finishing third in the NL East and two have them fourth.

As for power rankings: Sporting News Today puts the Braves 15th among the 30 big-league clubs; USA Today has them 14th, and ESPN has them 11th. But Jayson Stark of ESPN does call the Braves “the best team nobody is talking about,” and Stan McNeal of Sporting News Today …

Continue reading Bradley’s Buzz: Not much spring love for new-look Braves »

Big contract, smallish results

It has been this correspondent’s contention that Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt has underperformed for five consecutive seasons. In three of those he has finished with a losing record, and in the other two — 2004-2005, when the Jackets returned four starters from a Final Four team, and 2006-2007, when Tech had four future NBA players on the squad — he manged to lose 12 games each time. But now Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal has gotten all analytical and determined that, lo and behold, Hewitt is the most overpaid coach in college basketball.

Futterman measures a coach’s contract — Hewitt makes $1.3 million — against his team’s annual RPI to ascertain that the Institute is paying its coach $288,888 for what he calls “each [rating] point beyond the threshold of mediocrity.” Futterman writes that Hewitt declined a request to comment, but Tech publicist Mike Stamus writes in an e-mail that,”Matthew asked to speak either to Dan …

Continue reading Bradley’s Buzz: Hewitt delivers least bang for big bucks »