The Braves jumped on the Mets early and never looked back, beating them 11-0. Brian McCann was 3-for-4 with a home run 3 runs scored and 4 RBI. Martin Prado had two hits and a homer, while Yunel Escobar had 3 hits and 3 RBI. Jair Jurrjens threw 6 innings and gave up the only two Mets hits of the game. The Braves and Mets play this afternoon at 4pm on FOX and tomorrow night at 6pm on ESPN. Kenshin Kawakami gets the ball tonight for Atlanta.
Lance Lynn threw a spectacular 7 innings last night for the Springfield Cardinals. In those seven innings, he did not give up a run, allowed three hits and a walk and struck out 7. He has quality starts in 3 of his last 4 games and is now 9-2 on the season with a 3.50 ERA at Springfield.
The Brownsburg 12s were defeated by Plainfield last night in the winners bracket finals. The Dogs play Fall Creek tonight in an elimination game for the right to play Plainfield and hopefully beat them twice. The Brownsburg 10s won their tournament last night, beating Ben Davis. They start play on Thursday at Wabash in the 9-10 state tournament.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
A good way to start
The Braves beat the Mets last night 5-3. Garrett Anderson was 3-for-4 with a home run to lead the offense. The pitching was great. Derek Lowe threw 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits. Manny Acosta, Peter Moylan, and Rafael Soriano each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. The Braves are still 6 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 5.5 games behind the Giants for the wild card. The Braves and Mets play at 735p tonight. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves.
The Brownsburg 10s played last night, but I do not have the results from that game as of 8am. The 12s play tonight in the winner's bracket finals against Plainfield.
Lance Lynn will pitch tonight for the Springfield Cardinals. He will have some help on offense as Khalil Greene will be in Springfield for a rehab assignment.
The Brownsburg 10s played last night, but I do not have the results from that game as of 8am. The 12s play tonight in the winner's bracket finals against Plainfield.
Lance Lynn will pitch tonight for the Springfield Cardinals. He will have some help on offense as Khalil Greene will be in Springfield for a rehab assignment.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Let's get it started
The Braves start the second half of the season tonight against the Mets. Derek Lowe will start on the mound. These next three weeks are going to be tough on Atlanta. They play the Mets, Giants, Brewers, Marlins, and Dodgers, teams that are a combined 35 games over .500. I think we will know by next Friday if the Braves are going to be buyers or sellers before the trade deadline. Tonight's games starts at 710p.
In little league action, the Brownsburg 12s beat Eagle Creek last night. The Dogs will play Plainfield on Friday at 6pm in the winner's bracket finals. The Brownsburg 10s play tonight against Fall Creek in the semi-finals of the single-elimination tournament.
Drew Storen pitched a spotless inning of relief last night while striking out two batters. He has pitched very well over his last 4 games. In those games, he has thrown 5 2/3 innings and given up no runs, no hits, no walks, and has struck out 12 hitters. I think he settled down after his first few outings and is showing why he was the #10 pick in the draft.
In little league action, the Brownsburg 12s beat Eagle Creek last night. The Dogs will play Plainfield on Friday at 6pm in the winner's bracket finals. The Brownsburg 10s play tonight against Fall Creek in the semi-finals of the single-elimination tournament.
Drew Storen pitched a spotless inning of relief last night while striking out two batters. He has pitched very well over his last 4 games. In those games, he has thrown 5 2/3 innings and given up no runs, no hits, no walks, and has struck out 12 hitters. I think he settled down after his first few outings and is showing why he was the #10 pick in the draft.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The pitching isn't that bad
The Braves are 5th in the league in ERA, so the pitching is not the reason that we are 2 games under .500. Every pitcher in the starting rotation has made an overall positive contribution to the win probabilities for the season.
Starting Rotation
Jair Jurrjens
Derek Lowe
Javier Vasquez
Kenshin Kawakami
Tommy Hanson
Tim Hudson (Rehab start on July 19th)
These 6 guys are a solid group of pitchers and if Hudson comes back in August we could have a 6 man rotation that would give the older guys (Lowe, Vasquez, Kawakami) and extra day of rest towards the end of the season.
The bullpen is another story. It seems that Bobby Cox picks three relievers each year and uses them until their arms fall off. This year, those three are Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, and Peter Moylan. Soriano has pitched well with a 1.48 ERA and 12 saves. However, his career high in innings is 72 and he is on pace for 79 this year. But, his career splits show that he pitches better in the second half of the season, so he may be OK for this year. Mike Gonzalez was the closer until he had some ineffective outings that opened the door for Soriano to take the role. Gonzalez is on a pace for 77 innings pitched when his career high is 54 innings. This extended usage, coupled with his normal decline in the second half, could cause problems with him in the set-up role for the rest of the season. Peter Moylan has been inconsistent this year, but he should pull it together in the second half. He is on a pace to throw 68 innings, which is way below his career high of 90. However, after he threw those 90 innings in 2007, he only threw 5 innings the next year due to injury. Jeff Bennett, Eric O'Flaherty, Manny Acosta, and Kris Medlen round out the bullpen. Those four have pitched pretty well in spot starts and low-leverage relief appearances.
The Braves start a 4 game series with the Mets on Thursday. Derek Lowe will get the start.
Starting Rotation
Jair Jurrjens
Derek Lowe
Javier Vasquez
Kenshin Kawakami
Tommy Hanson
Tim Hudson (Rehab start on July 19th)
These 6 guys are a solid group of pitchers and if Hudson comes back in August we could have a 6 man rotation that would give the older guys (Lowe, Vasquez, Kawakami) and extra day of rest towards the end of the season.
The bullpen is another story. It seems that Bobby Cox picks three relievers each year and uses them until their arms fall off. This year, those three are Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, and Peter Moylan. Soriano has pitched well with a 1.48 ERA and 12 saves. However, his career high in innings is 72 and he is on pace for 79 this year. But, his career splits show that he pitches better in the second half of the season, so he may be OK for this year. Mike Gonzalez was the closer until he had some ineffective outings that opened the door for Soriano to take the role. Gonzalez is on a pace for 77 innings pitched when his career high is 54 innings. This extended usage, coupled with his normal decline in the second half, could cause problems with him in the set-up role for the rest of the season. Peter Moylan has been inconsistent this year, but he should pull it together in the second half. He is on a pace to throw 68 innings, which is way below his career high of 90. However, after he threw those 90 innings in 2007, he only threw 5 innings the next year due to injury. Jeff Bennett, Eric O'Flaherty, Manny Acosta, and Kris Medlen round out the bullpen. Those four have pitched pretty well in spot starts and low-leverage relief appearances.
The Braves start a 4 game series with the Mets on Thursday. Derek Lowe will get the start.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Looking toward the second half
If the Braves can get healthy over the next few weeks, I think they can make a run at the NL East title. They are set at many positions:
Catcher - Brian McCann/David Ross
First Base - Casey Kotchman/Martin Prado
Shortstop - Yunel Escobar
Third Base - Chipper Jones
Center Field - Nate McLouth
Right Field - Ryan Church (still in his review period)
That leaves second base and left field as positions in need of help. Right now, Brooks Conrad (1.085 OPS in 10 games) has played well filling in for the slumping Kelly Johnson. If he can keep this up after the advanced scouts have had a chance to poke holes in his swing, then we may have something. In left field, there is the gaping hole that is Garrett Anderson. Matt Diaz should be playing left field, except that he can't hit right handed pitching. Since 2/3 of the at-bats this season have been against right-handers, it looks like Diaz and Anderson will still platoon for the rest of the season.
Tomorrow I will look at the Braves pitching staff....
The Brownsburg 12s beat WDT on Monday advancing to the semi-finals of the winners bracket. They play Eagle Creek on Wednesday night. The Brownsburg 11s lost to WDT and were eliminated from the tourney. The Brownsburg 10s play Fall Creek on Thursday night.
Former Brownsburg little-leaguer Tucker Barnhart was named Mr Baseball for 2009. He is the second Brownsburg High School player to win the award following Lance Lynn's honor in 2005. Tucker was drafted by the Reds in the 10th round and is supposed to sign with the team fairly soon.
Drew Storen pitched for the Class A Hagerstown Suns last night. He threw one inning and struck out all three batters that he faced. In his last 10 appearances, Storen has struck out 21 hitters in 12 2/3 innings giving up 11 hits and ZERO walks. He is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA this season. Right now, he is 35th on the National's depth chart for right-handed relievers, but there is only one player above him that is younger than he his so he may have a chance to move up quickly.
Catcher - Brian McCann/David Ross
First Base - Casey Kotchman/Martin Prado
Shortstop - Yunel Escobar
Third Base - Chipper Jones
Center Field - Nate McLouth
Right Field - Ryan Church (still in his review period)
That leaves second base and left field as positions in need of help. Right now, Brooks Conrad (1.085 OPS in 10 games) has played well filling in for the slumping Kelly Johnson. If he can keep this up after the advanced scouts have had a chance to poke holes in his swing, then we may have something. In left field, there is the gaping hole that is Garrett Anderson. Matt Diaz should be playing left field, except that he can't hit right handed pitching. Since 2/3 of the at-bats this season have been against right-handers, it looks like Diaz and Anderson will still platoon for the rest of the season.
Tomorrow I will look at the Braves pitching staff....
The Brownsburg 12s beat WDT on Monday advancing to the semi-finals of the winners bracket. They play Eagle Creek on Wednesday night. The Brownsburg 11s lost to WDT and were eliminated from the tourney. The Brownsburg 10s play Fall Creek on Thursday night.
Former Brownsburg little-leaguer Tucker Barnhart was named Mr Baseball for 2009. He is the second Brownsburg High School player to win the award following Lance Lynn's honor in 2005. Tucker was drafted by the Reds in the 10th round and is supposed to sign with the team fairly soon.
Drew Storen pitched for the Class A Hagerstown Suns last night. He threw one inning and struck out all three batters that he faced. In his last 10 appearances, Storen has struck out 21 hitters in 12 2/3 innings giving up 11 hits and ZERO walks. He is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA this season. Right now, he is 35th on the National's depth chart for right-handed relievers, but there is only one player above him that is younger than he his so he may have a chance to move up quickly.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Who are these guys? Is it September already?
The Braves lost to the Rockies 8-7 yesterday after leading 7-3 after six innings. Kris Medlen got the start due to a Javier Vasquez scratch for his abdominal strain. Medlen threw 4 innings and gave up three runs. It was Medlen's first starts since May 31st. Boone Logan threw the next 2 1/3 innings and was brilliant giving up no runs and no hits. Logan was called up from the minors two weeks ago. That gets us to the seventh inning with a 7-3 lead......then it all fell apart. A Clint Barmes single that included two throwing errors (Garrett Anderson and Manny Acosta) allowed a run to score. Then a two-run homer made the game 7-6. Peter Moylan, pitching his fourth game in five days, gave up the tying run in the 8th and would have gave up the go-ahead run if it was not for a great throw to the plate by Brooks Conrad to get a Rockies runner out. To top it all off, Luis Valdez made his major league debut, pitching the ninth inning for the Braves. Valdez only threw 2/3 of an inning because a Brad Hawpe single scored the winning run and ended the game. Brooks Conrad had great game in the field and at the plate. Conrad was 3 for 5 with a homer, a triple, and 3 RBI. Nate McLouth also had a good game getting on base 4 times in 5 plate appearances and scoring two runs. The Braves are off until Thursday due to the All-Star break. Maybe we could have some of the actual major leaguers back on the roster by then.....
The Brownsburg 12s play WDT tonight at 8pm in the winner's bracket quarterfinals. The 10-11s beat Zionsville on Sunday and will play WDT at 7pm tonight in the loser's bracket finals. The Brownsburg 10s play the Tri-West 9s tonight at 8pm in the quarterfinals of the single-elimination tourney. The Brownsburg 9s were defeated by the Ben Davis Purple 10s and were eliminated from the tournament.
The Brownsburg 12s play WDT tonight at 8pm in the winner's bracket quarterfinals. The 10-11s beat Zionsville on Sunday and will play WDT at 7pm tonight in the loser's bracket finals. The Brownsburg 10s play the Tri-West 9s tonight at 8pm in the quarterfinals of the single-elimination tourney. The Brownsburg 9s were defeated by the Ben Davis Purple 10s and were eliminated from the tournament.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The Jair Jurrjens Show
The Braves beat the Rockies last night 4-3 due to Jair Jurrjens mastery on the mound and at the plate. Jurrjens pitched 6 inning and gave up 2 earned runs, plus he was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored. Ryan Church made his Atlanta debut and went 0 for 4, leaving 4 runners on base. Manny Acosta pitched a high-leverage final out of the eighth and Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 12th save of the season. Soriano threw 13 pitches in the ninth, with 12 of them strikes. He was on!!! The team finish the series this afternoon at 310p. Kris Medlen will start for the Braves because Javier Vasquez has been scratched due to a strained abdominal muscle. If the Braves win today they will end the first half of the season at 44-44. It would be the first time they have been at .500 since June 12th.
Lance Lynn pitched for the Springfield Cardinals last night and got the victory. Lance threw 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 5 hits with 3 walks and 7 Ks. Lynn is now 8-2 for Springfield with a 3.84 ERA.
In little league, the day was rained out so everything was pushed back a day. Brownsburg's 12s will play the Eagledale/WDT winner on Monday night at 8pm. In the 10-11 tourney, BBurg will play Zionsville today in an elimination game. In the 9-10 division, the BBurg 10s have a bye and will play on Thursday. The BBurg 9s are scheduled to play today against the Ben Davis 10s.
Lance Lynn pitched for the Springfield Cardinals last night and got the victory. Lance threw 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 5 hits with 3 walks and 7 Ks. Lynn is now 8-2 for Springfield with a 3.84 ERA.
In little league, the day was rained out so everything was pushed back a day. Brownsburg's 12s will play the Eagledale/WDT winner on Monday night at 8pm. In the 10-11 tourney, BBurg will play Zionsville today in an elimination game. In the 9-10 division, the BBurg 10s have a bye and will play on Thursday. The BBurg 9s are scheduled to play today against the Ben Davis 10s.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
