2008 Atlanta Braves Thread

I was thinking the same thing. Holliday was due. If anything you throw off the plate make him get himself out. Lost in this was the outstanding performance by Glavine, who should be 2-0.

 

Glavine has definitely been encouraging. I would love for him to keep pitching this well. But just as long as he eats up innings its good.

 

Im not putting all the blame on the bullpen. They have done some nice work in a few spots. But in baseball you're only as strong as your weakest link. The back end of the bp is horrible.

 

i too was thinking that. i get mad because sometimes Bobby over analyzes things and wastes the pen with moves like bringing in a pitcher to face one batter, but then at the same time he doesn't make moves like this one that seem obvious.

 

I dont doubt Bobby too much for these 2 reasons:

1. To know what guys are capable of you have test them in certain situations.
Bobby brought Boyer in the 8th to see if he could be a potential set-up man. Now that Yates is gone (and until Gonzalez comes back) we need another option besides Moylan for the 8th.

2. He rarely lets the same guy make the same mistake twice.
Last week he gave Resop a couple chances in a set-up type role... Resop promptly suffered a loss and a blown save in that role. Since then he has relied heavily on Moylan and Ohman in those roles.

What happens when you have a very weak back end of the Bullpen (Boyer and Resop) is you put extra pressure on the guys down there. Until Gonzalez comes back I anticipate seeing:

Bennett as the long man, Royce Ring and Manny Acosta in the 6th/7th, and Moylan in the 8th. (Soriano obv in the 9th)

Once roles are defined and guys know what is expected of them I think things will go alot smoother. Alot of talent in the pen IMO, just have utilize them in the right way.

EDIT: Im coming down a little hard on Resop because I knew him personally and we didn not see eye to eye on a few things. So Ill correct myself, he did not suffer that loss in a set-up role, it was in extra innings.

 

Jordan Shafer Suspended 50 games for HGH Use!

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080408&content_id=2504908&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

I knew this kid was too good to be true. He was rated amongst the top prspects in the Braves organization.

 

Wow that sucks. He can't be the only guy using. I wonder why he was the one to get caught.

 

5 one run losses this year.

 

Kotsay seems like a solid player when he can stay healthy. I hope our bats start to heat up soon because I just don't see our bullpen being able to overcome our lack of scoring runs. If not we are going to see a lot more 1 run losses.

 

another tough loss... but this team is competitve every night, the law of averages can fix that over time hopefully.

 

you make some good points. thanks for the response. care to fill us in on the Resop stuff?

 

Our High School teams played in the same district so we faced each other twice a year.
The feud basically stems from me striking him out (he was an All-State OF) and him making some comments afterwards.

Our teams were pretty big rivals and there was ALOT of smack being talked during the games that year. Long story short, they beat us in the district championship game and as we're shaking hands Chris utters something under his breath to me. I was pissed and told him to stop acting like a ****ing Douche Bag and be a good sport.

He turned around (in typical High School fashion) and challenged me to a fight in the parking lot, which I accepted. By the time I made my way to my car he and his cronies were gone.

He has ZERO class. And one of the worst atitudes of any kid Ive ever seen. It makes me sick to my stomach to see him in the Bigs. To think that arm injuries prevented me from pursuing that dream, and this kid takes it for granted.

After he got drafted by the Marlins on 01'. They nearly cut him because he was hitting .180. But converted him into a pitcher instead. He was then dealt to LAA where he spent only one season (take a guess as to why).

Whew. I get fired up thinking about that

 

thanks HardKorexxx... kind of sad to think the Braves bother with him, they usually shun character issues, but then again they did just sign Spezio too.

 

Well Chuck James is making his first start of the season tonight.

The Rockies are sending Mark Redman to the hill. So yes if we score fewer than 7 runs I will be dissapointed, severely.

 

Ok now Im gonna question Bobby. Bringing the infield in there was a bad move. Only down by 1 run aginst a poor pitcher in Redman? Sends a negative meesage to the team that early in the game.

 

Elbow tendonitis. Its early yet. I dont get worried until Mid-May. They've had a rough week without a doubt. All they need is a few wins in a row to right the ship.

BTW, I want to correct myself on something I said the other day about Boyer. The ONLY reason he was in the game in the 8th the other night (2-run homer by Holliday) is because Soriano couldnt go. Otherwise you would have seen Acosta come in there instead of Boyer, wth Rafael pitching the 9th.

 

Game today snowed out. Will make up on June, 16. Off to Washington. Hudson and then Smoltz. We should get back on track this weekend.

 

Hudson looks strong so far. Offense needs to get their heads out of their asses

 

Off the shnide boys. Hudson was masterful tonight

 

The middle of the lineup should heat up soon. Tex, Frenchy, and McCann should find their power once summer starts to roll around. Our starting pitching has been pretty encouraging.

 

nice a much needed victory.

 

a buddy of mine called last night to tell me the countdown was over... i said what countdown? so he told me to check his myspace page. he had a countdown clock on his myspace to "when Chipper Jones gets hurt." he missed it by a week. Yankees fan...



Hudson has pitched very well thus far, so has Glavine. and i have really like watching Kotsay play center field. another great catch last night.

hang in there, the offense will come. then, if the starting pitching continues to shine, look out.

 

Your friend may be a closet Mets fan, cause it doesnt look like anything serious. The Braves official site calls it a "sore quad".

Chipper may miss a game or two for precautionary reasons. Baseball is a game of nagging injuries, and the first week or two you always see quite a few. (ask your friend why Jeter has gotten hurt in the first week 2 seasons in a row)

 

Chipper IS in the lineup today. Nice to see Francouer stay back on a ball and drive it out.

 

I don't know how Smoltz still does it but he blew away Kearns with a 96 mph fastball (that looked almost like a 2 seemer the way it moved back over the plate) to get out of the first.

 

Smoltz is the reason I became a pitcher when i was a kid. Even though he is well known, he's always been a little underappreciated from pitching behind Glavine and Maddux for so many years

 

Matt Diaz is the type of player Booby Cox dreams about when he goes to bed at night. Guy goes balls-out like the game is meant to be played.

 

Francoeur having himself a game, 3-4 2HR 7RBI. My fantasy team is quite happy

 

You could see last year Diaz was his type of player. I just hope he hits as well as he did then. Its about time we get some power from the middle of the lineup. Maybe Frenchy can combine the power he had his first year with the discipline he had last year.

 

Well boys, this is a favorable part of the schedule for us. Florida next week, then back home where we get to face the Gnats again. Hopefully we can have a nice little stretch here. Hampton says he's feeling good throwing the ball...take that for what its worth

 

Glavine leaves game injured after 16 pitches. This is starting to look like a repeat of last year with all the injuries...

 

Well today is def a throw away. Woulda been nice to finish off the sweep, doesnt look like thats gonna happen.