Game Thread: April 30, Phailies at Braves
Philadelphia is actually playing pretty well now, and has caught Florida in the standings. Luckily, we miss Moyer, who's been their best pitcher.
Labels: Game Threads
posted by Mac @ 4/30/2007 12:44:00 PM
131 Comments
131 Comments:
Home sweet home! Perhaps the guys can take the series, and the pen will settle back down.
I predict a big week from Diaz. After the numbers he put up in the minors and the way he hit last year, I think he'll be motivated by this trade and come out focused.
Our biggest problem is that our bullpen walks guys and our left side defense is non-existent. Wickman's been a contact pitcher for 8-9 years, now he's missing the plate. I cant blame him. Do any of you have any idea how hard it is to throw a ball 90mph and make it hit the exact spot on the bat necessary for it to fall within the 3-4 feet Renteria can cover. No wonder he's trying to hard to spot it.
The pen needs rest badly. James and Hudson need to step up and go deep into the game and the offense needs to keep scoring like it did on the road trip.
Let's score a bunch of runs tonight, so we don't have to sweat the 9th. I'd like to see Wickman another day.
Isn't it strange that we are pining for Lance Cormier to come back?
So How bad was Davies in the last start. I missed the game.
I don't have the line, Johnny, but he had terrible control and I think he was gone by the 5th. He made me want to punch myself in the face.
Johnny,
Davies' line:
4.0 IP, 4 R(all earned), 5 BB and 5 H
Combined our pitchers gave up 13 walks.
oh and Davies had 4 strikeouts.
Here's the boxscore
William Schaeffer at Chop-n-Change makes a good point about the Langerhans trade. The Reds picked up the A's best relief prospect for an injured outfielder that will be out for all of 2007. With that in mind, we may be able to get somebody that we can use. Rich Harden maybe? :)
No.
some good news...
Chan Ho Park is now in the Mets rotation. El Duque has been sent to the DL
Quote of the day: "Before this contract extension was completed, my question wasn't about of these players will the Braves would be able to keep." -Mark Bowman
Re: El Duque.
You knew that was going to happen. All spring, the Met fans in my office have been talking about "El Duque Insurance."
And, of course, he was pitching really well. I certainly won't miss his starts against the Braves. El Duque always gives us fits.
Although I remember him having a good start against ATL when he was with Texas, I'll take my chances with Chan Ho.
And one more thing:
I really, really miss Lima Time!
Mac, I don't know how I feel about the tagline to this game thread. I wouldn't want to jinx the Phillies into being good or something.
I know everyone on here is really down on Edgar's defense, but blaming Wickman's loss of control on it? Man, I just don't know about that. He has been overworked pretty badly. I just hope he isn't hurt.
If Wickman turns heel, I say we start calling him Walkmania. He could jog in from the pen to the sounds of "Doing it for the Shorties" by Mizzeatwizzad.
I agree Weldon. It's gotten out of hand in here.
We are so pleased that the game will be starting at 1905 today. Thanks you Bravos.
Bad news, Wickman has been placed on the DL.
Here's the link. .
We brought up Paronto and placed him on the DL. It certainly makes sense on why he was struggling.
Well at least he blew two games before he admittedhe was hurt. Thanks a lot.
Evidently Wickman sprained his fat. Thank goodness we got Soriano and Gonzo.
Wonder which one gets to be the "Closer"?
We need some pitchers to stay healthy.
AJC updated a little and said either Gonzo or Sori will be the closer. I'm fine with either one to be honest.
"Rafael Soriano likely will fill in as closer, along with Mike Gonzalez."
I'd say that's good news, based on the way he's performed recently, Jay. At least there's an explanation.
As bad as the news of Wickman's DL is, I'm relieved that he didn't drag us through the Reitsma hidden injury crap we had last year.
Stu,
Yeah man, that's what I said on my blog, at least we know why he's blown 2 saves and was pulled from another game...he's been injured. I wish our players would just stop hiding injuries, put your ego aside and get healthy.
Willie Harris is getting the start tonight...
SS-Rollins
LF-Victorino
2B-Utley
1B-Howard
RF-Burrell
CF-Rowand
3B-Nunez
C-Ruiz
P-Lieber
2B-Johnson
SS-Renteria
3B-Jones
CF-Jones
C-McCann
RF-Francoeur
1B-Thorman
LF-Harris
P-Hudson
Oh and AJC is now saying Wickamania has tendinitis in his upper right back.
So much for Diaz getting increased opportunities.
Big Willie Style is all in it.
Matt "T-2000" Diaz, shamed again.
You might as well face it, Bobby Cox is addicted to Platooning.
Tim Hudson is playing with a heavy heart, not only did he lose a former teammate, Hancock, but apparently his grandmother also died. He's wearing a big "JH" oh the left side of his chest.
That inning went quick, nice Huddy.
Nice, Leadoff walk for KJ.
Wow, Huddy striking out Howard on three pitches.
Are there tendons in the upper back? That's just muscle, fat, and bone, right?
Double plays are murder. I really think people should keep closer track of them.
They showed a picture of Mark Lemke in the radio booth on Saturday or Sunday. It makes his proclamation on that ad somewhat funny. He does not have a "full head of his own hair".
Little Willy, Willy won't go home
But you can't push Willy round
Willy won't go, try tellig everybody but oh no
Little Willy, Willy won't go home
Huddy is dealing tonight. I hope he can go 7-8 tonight to give our pen a nights rest.
You're right, Jay. It would be nice to get a long start tonight.
Wait, if Paronto was going to pitch tonight in Richmond, why didn't we just keep Wickman on the roster and DL him retroactive to yesterday? Paronto's not going to pitch tonight anyway, so there's an empty roster spot anyway, and he would get work tonight instead of his first live work being against a major league team.
NIIICE barehander Chipper!!
Langerhans wasn't destroyed....
The misson remains incomplete.
No more unasiisted Triple Plays, please...
I have an announcement! The new Braves Journal is now up and the DNS is migrating right now. Hopefully tomorrow morning bravesjournal.com will point to the new site but it can take up to 48 hours. Anyway, for now it's sixtyfeetsix.com, though I'll keep tonight's game thread here.
Most of you guys should have had your profiles cross over.
Frenchy hustling to get an infield single.
Francouer is safe....good start to thsi game....
Willie has now 1/3 of Langerhans' hit total for the season in 1/26 the plate appearances.
Wow, it looks good Mac. Does that mean that this is the last Blogger game thread?
When I go to sixtyfeetsix.com, it gives me some Sean Foreman guy.
1-0 Braves!
Sean (the genius behind Baseball-Reference) is hosting the site. It's possible that your DNS hasn't migrated for that URL yet. It's a temporary fix.
Oh, I went to bravesjournal.com
Yeah, bravesjournal.com is working for me too. Sometimes it migrates fast for some people.
The Marlins are crushing Park...it's 7-0 in the 4th.
BravesJournal.com works for me now too. Go BJ.
Yeah, I realized later Sean Foreman was the guy behind B-Ref. Good man.
Rob,
What URL did type in? Did u do Bravesjournal.com or sixtyfeetsix.com ?
Try this , maybe it'll work.
Oh ok...disregard that last comment.
Oh it just changed with the new banner...it looks really good.
CHIPPER!!!! Tie ball game!
I'm still playing around. There are lots of themes on the site; I like this one, but would have to hack the banner some to make it work.
Why free Brent Lillibridge? Where do you want to play him?
Pat Burrell looks great in RF wearing a Braves Uniform.
Bases left full....at least Chipper tied it up.
Shortstop. Have you not been paying attention the last few days? Renteria is turning into Julio Franco anyway, let's give him Julio's old job.
You've gone off the deep end. Renteria is not Julio Franco. He can play shortstop. You don't put Renteria's bat on the bench. Sheesh.
The same Lillibridge who's hitting .282/.367/.400 at AA? Renteria is hitting .340/.405/.510. You seriously think he'll improve our defense enough to compensate for Renteria's offensive upgrade? Wow.
Julio's old old job, first base. Put Thorman in left. Or vice versa. Renteria can't play shortstop anymore.
And an out a game -- Renteria's difference from the average shortstop -- is a lot.
He's even starting to look like Julio.
Wow, nice stolen base KJ! He's a great lead off guy...takes walks, gets on base, hits for average and power.
Where's Tony Pena Jr. when you need him?
You know, I think I like this Kelly Johnson kid. I think we should give him a nickname.
How about "Sparky"?
Double plays, sheesh.
come on Andruw...
Alright, I e-mailed a Braves blogger and he did some stat-hunting, and here's what he found:
"1. Dewan has his +/- around -5, which is a shade below average .... he is ranked ~20 in shortstops (again, a shade below half way).
2. Pinto's PMR has him about average too (actually a shade above)
3. Tango's fan scouting report also has him marginally below average http://www.tangotiger.net/scouting/pos2006_SS.html
So, in summary, largely average. To be honest that jives with what I see on screen. I can see where Mac is coming from as he can be a little lazy sometimes but he is generally okay, not great, but okay."
I've never said he was good. I just said he wasn't bad. So, according to those metrics, he's an average defender. But he's an above average hitter. That would make him an above average player. He's a good shortstop.
Those stats are from last year, though, aren't they? All we have during the season is range factor -- and his range factor is really bad. And we have a colossal hole in left field.
Mac, you don't take a 30 year old shortstop who's never played any other position at the big league level, and stick him in LF because he's not getting to enough balls. He's not BJ Upton. He's not a good shortstop defensively, but he's not that bad.
I swear it seems like there's always gotta be a whipping boy around here. Now that Langerhans is gone, it seems you've picked up Renteria more fervently.
Thorman is really coming along, both offensively and defensively. Now that he's getting some at-bats.
Oh, and you definitely don't do it in the middle of the season. Trade Escobar for a LF. Don't move a shortstop of 10 years on a whim.
Hmmm, Detroit and Baltimore's benches cleared after Tejada was hit by a ball and pointed his bat to the pitcher warning him and probably not saying very nice things. I didn't see who the pitcher for the O's was....but I can tell you who it wasn't...Jaret Wright, who was placed on the DL again today. Now who didn't see that coming?
renteria has had 80 total chances at a play this year. furcal has had 83 and furcal has played in 8 less games than renteria. renteria is 26th in ss rankings at total chances. rob, he just doesnt ever get to anything.
re: nickname for Kelly Johnson. On another Braves blog (velcroblog.com), they call Kelly "Scooter." I think it fits him pretty well.
Yes, nice single Thor...come on Willie
Renteria/Furcal chances
1) Sample size.
2) The Dodgers have more groundball pitchers, especially Brad Penny and Derek Lowe.
3) Of freaking course Furcal does. When you compare most shortstops to Furcal, they're going to come up short. "Man, that Chipper Jones sucks for a third baseman. Mike Schmidt had way more home runs!" Sheesh...
C'mon boys, let's win this one & take first.
Mets are still getting whipped.
Come on...all we need now is a deep fly...and we have the lead.
yes, but 8 game differential. get your red and blue tinted glasses off and face reality. renteria is not a good defensive shortstop. oh, and i guarantee by the end of the year renteria will have about 200 less chances than furcal ends up with. sheesh.
well that sucked.
WOAH!....that was a horrible call!
Don't know if Pena is the guy I 'd have hitting here
Oh, one more thing. Renteria and Furcal have the same fielding percentage. Tony Pena is also leading the majors in errors. Didn't I say something about sample size earlier?
wha'appen?
Ryan, did I say Renteria was a good defensive shortstop? No. Read my posts. I'm just not ready to call him BJ Upton like most people here are.
Damnit...another spoiled chance.
Gonzo time!
Inning over. Pena grounded out to the pitcher.
When it comes to shortstops, sometimes you also have to trust your own eyes.
My eyes tell me that Renteria's range is less than what you'd like. But, he is hitting .337.
"A great chance squandered.." Yes.
Bryan Pena? Are you kidding me?
Another great outing by Hampton. Let's see how long he can keep this up. One more run...
I love Gonzo...he pitches angry!
Gotta love that shift.
Rob is posting from the alternate reality where Hampton's arm didn't fall off.
yes, HAMPTON has pitched well rob. :)
YES!! Helluva inning Mike. Wow that was impressive.
I don't have the braves on TV where I live, but according to MLB gametrax the ump has a pretty wide strike zone all night. Is that true?
-CourtneyC
Whoops. Yep... go Hampton.
I hear Hudson's out for the year with an elbow problem.
KJ!
KJ!
I wish Kelly Johnson was my brother. Don't tell my brother I said that...
Courtney, Yeah he's been very wide tonight, the strikeout on Harris wasn't EVEN close. It never had the corner of the plate and it was high.
Hey, let's bunt with a guy hitting over .330. Good call. Bunting...
All right, time for Chipper to deposit another one over the left field wall.
Eight-for-15 against Alfonseca and Cox has Renteria bunting. Great bloody call.
Well, Rob you have to consider the situation...leadoff hitter at first and our best hitter is up next. You gotta try and get him into scoring position.
Yeah, I got the situation. It's still stupid. Renteria's a good hitter too. You don't bunt with a guy hitting over .330. I can understand the 8th place hitter and you got a pinch-hitter for the pitcher.
Plus, if you bunt with Renteria, they might walk Chipper. Nice trip through the 2 and 3 spots in the lineup.
Good point...
Come on DRUW!
Well, here we are.
Be clutch, Andruw
WALK OFF!
BRAVES WIN! BRAVES WIN! BRAVES WIN!
That's clutch!
Druw!!!
Sweet!
Hey-o! Go Braves!
Nice to get one of those bad beats back
Mac, let me guess: was Joe Simpson talkin about the need to take the ball to the opposite field?
Shea Report:
Marlins 9, Mets 4
Fish rallying in the 8th.
Hello, first place...
how far did that go??
I bet Renteria bunt on his own. He is known for doing the "little things"(for the shorties(so that they will know how to play the game the right way)).
Thanks, Alf!
Goodbye, Blogger.
Mac,
Where do we sign in on the new site? I entered my info when i commented, will that do it or is there someplace esle?
Well, shut my mouth.
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