Braves

What a game last night... and those fireworks after the game... nothing like the fireworks during the game... I really have no idea what happened.

Here's a picture of a real All-American guy:

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Happy Fourth of July everyone. In all likelihood I am already in the mountains of North Carolina with the famdamily. Thankfully this new SBN blogging platform allows us to schedule posts, which means for the weekend everything is already pre-written... sort of makes it hard to talk about last night's game.

Anyway, maybe we can have a better series against the Astros than we did against Philly.

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Richmond 6, Norfolk 5

• J. Anderson 3-4 2B
• B. Jones 1-5 2B, 2 RBI, K
• S. Thorman 2-5 3B, RBI, K
• E. Cruz 2-4 HR(2), 2 RBI, K

Well the Braves scored their 6 runs in the 3rd and 4th and then the pitching staff held on for dear life. Enrique Cruz flashed some power with a 2 run homer. Josh Anderson is hitting .500 for July. Thats gotta be a record or something (actually didn't Barry Bonds hit over .500 for April a couple seasons ago? Secondbass should look that up).

Mississippi 7, Montgomery 5

• J. Holt 2-5, RBI, K, SB(14)
• J. Guzman 1-3 HR(2)
• J. Boscan 2-3 2B, HR(1), 2 RBI, BB
• J. Parr 6IP 1H 1R 4BB 4K

Another solid outing from Parr. He was 3-0 in June with a 2.49 ERA and he appears to be getting better. This team is playing well across the board though and are now 12-5 in the second half leading the South division of the Southern League.

 

Myrtle Beach 8, Potomac 3

• W. Cabrera 3-5 2B, HR(8), 2 RBI
• E. Campbell 1-4 2B, 2 RBI, K
  
• T. Jones 1-5 HR(13)
• J. Owings 2-3 3B, BB

You know I have to give a little love here to two guys that I probably at least should have given some acknowledgement to on the hotlist. Willie Cabrera hit .337 with a .904 OPS last month for The Beach. I don't know where he would fit in the future plans of the Braves because he doesn't seem to have a whole lot of speed and he doesn't hit for much power, but I think his bat could be decent for average. Either way he had a really good month. Jon Owings is having a great season for the Pelicans. He now has 13 homers to lead the team, his season OPS is .857 and he is on pace for just over 100 Ks in a 500 AB season, which isn't bad for a power hitter. In June he hit .320 with an OPS over 1.000. He's just 23 at this point and his bat could be useful in the coming seasons. Maybe he could play some first? Or give us a real bat in LF.

Rome 3, Asheville 4

No one really did anything special enough in this game to deserve any recognition from me. And we all know that is important. Cole Rohrbough gave up 3 runs in 2.2 innings and his command wasn't good at all. I wonder if there is something serious wrong or if he just has a nagging injury that he won't give in to. Jason Heyward sat out the game for some reason.

Burlington 7, Danville 6

• G. Rodriguez 1-3 HR(7), 2 RBI, BB
• M. Kennelly 2-3 2B, HR(2), 3 RBI, BB

Rodriguez just keeps on raking. He leads the league in homers at this point and has 7 in 14 games. Matt Kennelly is a catcher out of Australia. He is only 19 at this point and I'm sure hasn't played a ton of baseball coming out of the Down Under, but he has already matched his homer total from last year in the GCL. The Braves sure are mining the Prison Continent.

Braves 3, Blue Jays 5

• D. Matra 2-4 2B
• E. Cordier 3IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K

I think we might have someone good in Daniel Matra. Just a feeling and I could be overreaching because he is hitting well in limited PAs, but he was projected with lot of talent when he was a Jr in high school. Some other good news here is that Eric Cordier pitched 3 scoreless innings. Cordier is a guy we picked up from Kansas City for Tony Pena, Jr. Cordier needed arm surgery when we got him, but scouts have always said he has an excellent arm and if he can bounce back we might have gotten a steal.

There is a very real possibility that we could get swept for the second straight time at home by the Philadelphia Phillies. What a sad, sad sight it would be. We came into the series with the possibility of being only a game behind Philly at the end of it, if we had swept them, but we will instead be at least five games behind and we could possibly end up seven games out.

I've tried to avoid putting both feet on the giving-up-on-the-season bandwagon, but pretty soon inevitability will take the place of hope, and we all might have to admit that somewhere along the way this team short circuited where winning was concerned. It's really hard to watch player after player under perform night after night.

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Richmond 4, Norfolk 8

• J. Anderson 2-5
• S. Thorman 2-4 2B, HR(15), K

Honestly, there wasn't a whole lot of good that came from this game. Thorman hit a meaningless homer and he appears to turned into somewhat an all or nothing type of guy. I guess we knew that. Damian Moss isn't going to help the team in the future either since he gave up 8 runs in less than 2 innings tonight. But we knew that too.

Mississippi 6, Montgomery 4

• J. Schafer 1-4 2 K
• R. Gorecki 1-3 HR(5)
• G. Creek 2-4 2B, K
• K. Kaaihue 2-4 RBI, K
• K. Medlen 6IP 2H 1R 1BB 5K

Kris Medlen's transition from starter to reliever is still a success and he appears to be getting more and more comfortable as the season progresses. We have to remember this guy was a DOMINANT reliever in Rome and Myrlte Beach last year. I don't know why he struggled so much this year as a reliever but as a starter his ERA is now 2.63. Not bad at all.

Myrtle Beach 8, Potomac 0

• G. Hernandez 2-5 2 SB(10)
• B. Hicks 1-3 3B, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K
• T. Jones 2-4 2B, HR(12), 2 RBI, K
• C. Rodriguez 1-3 HR(6), 2 RBI, BB, K

This team really does have a ton of power. Four players have 10+ homers and another 4 have more than 5 long balls. All of that while playing half their games in an offensive vortex. It is also good to see Gorkys stealing some bases again. I guess that hamstring is fully healed.

Rome - Off

 

Burlington 5, Danville 1

• L.V. Ware 1-4 2B, K
• C. Shehan 1-3 BB, K

Moving on.

 

Tigers 2, Braves 5

• J. Hanson 2-4 K
• L. Hiller 2-3 HR(2), 2 RBI, K
• A. Feliz 3-4 2B, RBI
• B. Oberholtzer 5IP 5H 1R 0BB 6K

I spelled Oberholtzer right on the first try. Feliz is a 20 year old Dominican OF that showed some extra base power last year in the Dominican and so far has been hitting well for the GCL Braves. I can't figure out who this Hanson guy is. Baseball America says we drafter a guy named Jason Hanson, 3B in the 14th Rd. and then MinorLeagueBaseball.com has this guy listed as Jake Hanson, 3B but I can't really find anything about him. I don't think they are the same people, just a weird coincidence of some sort.

That was a pretty crappy game last night. Poor Charlie Morton reverted to his old form of completely falling apart when he gets into trouble. I was all excited to see Chipper and Kotsay back in the lineup, but the excitement quickly faded.

I tell you, I haven't been to a Braves game at the Ted in a month or so, but I don't remember it being so loud. Last night I had to scream at the person right next to me in order for them to hear me when anything was playing on the PA system. They really have the sound in that stadium cranked up. It's sad really, that loud music is the only way they think the fans will be able to get into the game.

We're barely treading water right now.

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We need to come back and start off this homestand on a positive note with a win against these Phillies. The Phils have been the worst team in the NL East over the past 10 days, but that's not saying too much since they are still in first place. This is as good a chance as any to take three games from them and even things up in the division. Alls we need to do is score some damn runs and catch the ball.

Maybe my presence will affect the outcome of this game. I will be in attendance and in the Golden Moon Casino Suite on the first base side... some type of vendor sales-pitch-slash-baseball-game event. But for a free game in a suite, I'll sit through the sales pitch.

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It looks like we might get Mark Kotsay back today, but in the process we will likely see Chipper Jones head to the disabled list. Hopefully Kotsay picks up where he left off for the team.

I really don't like it when I look at the probably pitchers list for the upcoming games and Tim Hudson's name is not on there.

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Richmond 39-46 (11-19 MTD)

You've seen me say it a lot lately, but this Richmond team has fallen hard. You can't really blame them as they have lost JoJo Reyes, Charlie Morton, Brent Lillibridge, Brandon Jones, and others for partial periods. Those guys have been replaced with the likes of Brian Lawrence, Jerome Gamble and Chris Resop and nothing special could be sent up from Mississippi with the exception of AAAA slugger Jason Perry. Perry has been the lone bright spot on the offense with a .938 OPS since his callup. The only other player with an OPS over .800 is Barbaro Canizares who I think might be best served as a bench player as he appears to get a little overexposed. Chuck James has been good with a 1.69 ERA but I don't expect him to ever be a good major league pitcher. We'll see how much that shoulder healing helps I guess.

Mississippi 9-3 2nd Half (17-9 MTD)

This team has really turned itself around in the past month and a half. They still aren't over .500 for the season but they are only like 6 games under. They have picked up help from everywhere from promotions (Tommy Hanson, Deunte Heath, Carlos Sencion) to injury/suspension (Jordan Schafer, Van Pope), to free agent signings (Jason Perry, Reid Gorecki). Jordan Schafer is hitting well since his return, Kala Kaaihue has become a dominant hitter in the last month and Kris Medlen has become an effective starter for the team. I wouldn't be surprised to see them carry this on to the end of the season. There is a chance these guys could see some more help come from Myrtle Beach in the form of Gorkys Hernandez.

Myrtle Beach 6-5 2nd Half (16-10 MTD)

Losing two pitchers with ERAs below 2.00 will always hurt a team, but The Beach is weathering the storm pretty well. The return of Gorkys Hernandez helped spark the offense, though this offense is pretty damn good no matter how you slice it. They are tied for the league lead in OPS, lead in HRs, 2nd in AVG, 1st in Runs, and 1st in OBP. Not bad. On the pitching side they still lead the league with a 3.31 ERA and 629 Ks. This team still has a lot of talent and will probably get a reinforcement or two from Rome (Heyward? Freeman? Locke?).

Rome 6-6 2nd Half (10-18 MTD)

This team was supposedly the most talented team we had in the minors coming into the season. The pitching staff alone was loaded with guys like Locke, Rodgers, Rohrbough and Barrett but for the most part that staff just hasn't been very good. Locke and Rodgers have been up and down which is probably just youth and learning to adjust to a full schedule. Most everyone else has been pretty bad. The offense has been even worse with only Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman being consistent sources of production, and even Heyward is slipping some this month hitting his only homer tonight.. Cody Johnson was good for most of the month and his numbers indicate he is making some strides. I don't think any other team is as happy to see the second half of the season as Rome.

Danville 11-3

After 14 games the Braves are 4 games up in the Appy League. Not bad I guess. It seems like the Braves short-season teams are always very good. Gerrardo Rodriguez has been the offensive star with 6 homers in 11 games. Some guys to keep an eye on in the upcoming weeks: Craig Kimbrel (bullpen arm from the draft will move fast), Jon Gilmore (supposedly the second best hitter we took last year seems to have found his stroke finally), L. V. Ware (Toolsy guy drafted out of a community college a couple years ago), Julio Teheran and Steve Kent (young pitchers with solid upside).

GCL Braves 6-4

So far this team has some of our younger draftees and a wave of rehabbing players. Mike Hampton, Anthony Lerew (remember him?), Cory Rasmus (possibly one of the most live arms in the system if he can stay healthy) Erik Cordier and Lee Hyde have all been here to rehab. The biggest prospect on the team is probably catcher Daniel Matra. He was supposedly a first round talent coming into his Sr season of high school but I believe he was hurt that season and really underperformed. The Braves got him in the 26th round and he only hit .143 in the GCL last year. He is hitting .452 in his first 10 games so far this season. A couple of pitchers to keep an eye on are Zeke Spruill (our second rd draft choice this year) and Dimaster Delgado (a 19 year old Panamanian lefty pitcher).

 

HOTLIST

1. Kris Medlen - I'm doing a monthly thing here but Medlen converted a starter after his first appearance of the month (June 1) so I'm just going to count his starters stats. His line: 2.63ERA 24IP 19H 6BB 22K. Not bad and deserving of the top spot simply for the difficulty in switching roles midseason.
   
2. Kala Kaaihue -  A .338 AVG, a .646 SLG and an OBP approaching .500 he has been fairly dominant over the last month. I wonder if he is becoming a good prospect again? He took his time adjusting to AA but he always has had an adjustment period to new levels.
3. Tyler Flowers - Tyler turned his best month fo the season with a .970 OPS and an impressive 21/15 BB/K ratio. His stats have improved gradually every month as the season has worn on. 
4. Tommy Hanson - Several Mississippi players here. He makes is solely because he threw a no-hitter. His ERA for the Month was 3.30, but that is moot.
5. Gerrardo Rodriguez - I know Danville has only played about half the month but when a guy blasts 6 homers in his first 11 games he gets put on here. He is slugging .830 so far and has an OPS nearing 1.200. Move him up and see if he can boost the Rome team at all.
6. Cody Johnson - Johnson gets a mention here because he had his best month so far this season and appears to have found some sort of middle ground. He only struck out 28 times in 93 ABs this month whereas he K'd 44 times in 93 ABs last month and 40+ the month before. So hitting .280 with an .817 OPS this month is a bit of an improvement.

If indeed the rest of the NL East continues to allow us to stay in the division race, and Frank Wren and company decide to go out and pick up what the Braves need most at the trade deadline (an impact bat), who will we have available to trade. Better yet, which of our young players would we be willing to part with? After all, this is the all or nothing year for the Braves, with key veteran players like Smoltz, Glavine, Teixeira, and Kotsay likely exiting this off-season.

The Braves know that in the coming years they need to rebuild their starting pitching, and for the Braves that generally starts on the farm. The biggest up and comer for Atlanta is Tommy Hanson, who recently threw a 14-strikeout no-hitter at double-A, and might be ready to make his major league debut as early as this season. Regardless of when he debuts he will likely be one of the young pitchers the Braves call on to rebuild their rotation and he should be a solid contributor by late 2009. With what his upside looks like, I say Tommy Hanson is untouchable.

What about the pitchers who are already in the majors? With the way Jair Jurrjens has pitched this year mark him down as untouchable. How about Jo-Jo Reyes and Charlie Morton? My guess is that the Braves would be willing to part with one, but not both of those guys, for the right return. A less attractive but tradable pitcher is Chuck James, who is proving to be more of a four-A player as he has put up a 1.69 ERA in nine games spanning 48 innings for Richmond without allowing a homerun; this after giving up seven homers in just 23 major league innings this year (and a whopping 32 homeruns in 161.1 major league innings last year). Still, James’ good work at Richmond could make him attractive to several teams.

I would venture a guess that every other pitcher in the Braves organization not named Teheran is available; even Cole Rohrbough and Jeff Locke – though the return on those two guys would have to be significant.

As for position player prospects that might be available the list may be even greater and the untouchable list shorter. First up is Jason Heyward, who is probably the most untouchable prospect in the Braves organization. Much like the Braves would likely only trade one of either Morton or Reyes, they would likely also listen in on either Jordan Schafer or Gorkys Hernandez, but not both. Many Braves fans are going ga-ga for Gorkys, but he might be the most tradable prospect in our minor league system, and with Schafer already ahead of him on the center field depth chart, Wren may be getting the most offers for the talented young center fielder. Apparently after we acquired him this past off-season several teams inquired immediately as to his availability. Gorkys is probably the prospect the Braves would prefer to trade at the deadline as he doesn’t deplete their pitching depth and plays at a position of organizational depth.

Another player position combo which the Braves could move one of two guys is at shortstop with either Yunel Escobar or Brent Lillibridge being possibly made available. While Escobar has made a big impact in the majors, the presence of Lillibridge, who has only to be given playing time to prove he can hit in the majors, means that Yunel could be swapped for more power or a better combination of speed and power bats. Odds are that Escobar will not be the one moved, but recent youthful attitude outbursts may loosen the Braves’ feelings on his possible previous untouchable status.

To recap, my list of the only untouchable players in the Braves system are as follows:
Jair Jurrjens
Jason Heyward
Tommy Hanson
Julio Teheran

… and of course the major league core of McCann, Chipper, and Hudson. Everyone else, in my opinion, is available… for the right return.

The way the Braves are playing from one day to the next seems to change the argument as to whether we should be sellers or buyers as the trade deadline nears. I’ve already made the argument that we are well positioned to be sellers and get a high return on several of our veterans free agents, but the exact opposite is also true. If we choose to be buyers at the trade deadline then once again our farm system has put us in a good position to make some moves to help us acquire the player or players we need. The depth of that farm system has also made it so that there are very few untouchable player and prospects.

In the comments let me know who you think our untouchable players are.

Durham 5, Richmond 1

• J. Anderson 2-4 2B, K
• M. Jurich 1-4 HR(1), 2 K

You know there is just so little in this game to write about. Chris Resop started the game and pitched 2 innings striking out 4 and not allowing a run. Thats pretty impressive for him. Josh Anderson did get two hits but then he got picked off first by the pitcher (Cummings). I think it is going to get worse for Richmond before it gets better.

Birmingham 5, Mississippi 2

• M. Prado 2-4
• R. Gorecki 2-4
• V. Pope 1-4 HR(3)

You know what is amazing about this Mississippi team? They were one of the worst teams in organized baseball after the first month of the season and now they lead their division (though they play a split season in the Southern League so technically they are 9-2 right now but on the season they have risen to 39-43 after being 15 games under .500 at one point). All of a sudden this team has some of our best prospects on it with Hanson, Schafer and Heath all playing here. Martin Prado played LF in this game.

Myrtle Beach 4, Frederick 1

• G. Hernandez  1-4 BB
  
• E. Campbell 2-4 2B, RBI, K
• J. Owings 3-4 HR(11)
• K. Cofield 6IP 3H 1R 1BB 5K

Another well pitched game from Kyle Cofield. Right about now is when we start to see if some of these young pitchers will start to tire or not. Cofield slipped a little in June after having a great May. Eric Campbell continues to mystify me. The only bad part about his stats is his batting average. He isn't striking out a ton, he is walking in about 10% of his PAs, and he has shown good power so far. So why can't he put more balls through the infield? Baffling?

Rome 2, Columbus 11

• C. Johnson 3-4 2B, RBI, K

The only real news here is that Jason Heyward didn't play. I don't know why, if he got promoted, injured or just a scheduled day off. Cody Johnson has actually been hot lately hitting .410 over his last 10 games. His K rate was down quite a bit in June. He dropped from striking out 40+ times to less than 30 (granted 10 less ABs) so that is some improvement. I'm not convinced until i see it last for a half a season at least.

Danville 12, Johnson City 2

• L. V. Ware 2-5 2 RBI, 2 K
• G. Rodriguez 1-4 HR(6), 3 RBI, BB, K
• J. Gilmore 3-5 K
• T. Ladd 4.2IP 4H 0R 2BB 5K

I'm glad to see Jon Gilmore finally hitting. I was starting to really worry when he didn't hit at all in Rome and then struggled the first couple weeks in Danville. Him, Heyward and Freeman have enough talent to anchor the middle of our lineup in a few years. Granted he isn't even 20 yet. This Rodriguez kid needs to get sent somewhere a little tougher.

GCL - off

Our three day run of making fun of Canada with clichéd and oft-repeated slogans comes to an end today. You may insert your very own mockery of our northern neighbor in this here game thread.

Let's hope that A.J. Burnett continues to forget how to be a big game pitcher.

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