4/12 News, Links, Discussion: Tommy Hanson’s Stuff, Tim Hudson Starts
April 12, 2012 at 11:53 am by David Lee under Atlanta Braves
Coming Off a Series Win
* The Braves defeated the Astros 6-3 on Wednesday to take the series in Houston, winning their first two games and series of the season. Atlanta takes a day off today before hosting the Brewers on Friday in the home opener at 7:35. Jair Jurrjens will get the start against Randy Wolf.
More Links
* Mark Bowman discusses Tommy Hanson’s fastball velocity, using data from Brooks Baseball and FanGraphs. Scouts told Bowman that Hanson’s fastball didn’t have the sink it needed to justify the dip in velocity, but as Ben pointed out, the data shows there was more movement. It’s a move in the right direction for Hanson, in my opinion. Also, the fact that Brooks Baseball is being referenced like this is very encouraging.
* Carlos Collazo of Tomahawk Take looks at Hanson’s increased movement from the breaking pitches.
* DOB notes that Tim Hudson will start for Class-A Rome tonight, with Fredi Gonzalez, Roger McDowell and Bobby Cox in attendance.
* Full quotes from David O’Brien following the win on Wednesday against the Astros.
* Daniel Rathman of Baseball Prospectus liked what he saw from Randall Delgado and Jason Heyward on Wednesday.
New (10:15p): * Jacob Peterson of Talking Chop takes a look at Braves starters and their innings pitched so far.
New (10:20p): * Tim Hudson’s start went well, health-wise. He gave up five runs in four innings, but he said he felt good and is on track for a late-April/early-May return. Hudson will go for five innings in his next rehab start, followed by six, probably at Triple-A Gwinnett.
New (10:50p): * Buster Olney’s latest blog post is headlined by Brian McCann and his looming contract negotiations, saying there has been no traction in talks so far.
Around the NL East
* Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports Drew Storen underwent surgery on Wednesday to remove a bone chip in his throwing elbow. Kilgore guesses Storen could be back around the All-Star break.
New (10:00p): * More bad news for the Nationals, as Michael Morse has been shut down for six weeks with his strained lat. That means no activity, which means this is a serious timetable he’s facing.
New (10:00p): * David Wright has been cleared to play by a hand specialist. He could be a game-time decision on Friday.
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A little tough to keep with DOB’s Quotes drama. So I take it he’s back to doing these every game now?
I love how short Randall was in answering all the questions.
“How’d that line drive off your ankle feel?”
Typical baseball player… “It wasn’t too bad. I mean, it stung just a little bit, but you know, I was glad I am good enough to have purposely placed my leg in the path of that ball in order to knock it down and allow my second baseman to make a play on it. It’s actually something we’ve practiced time and time since spring training. I really owe credit to the fantastic pitch I made causing that sharp grounder as anybody else probably would have given up a homer.”
Randall’s answer… “It @!#$@$! hurt, what the hell do you think?”
:)
He can barely speak English.
its only been a week, but i think this stat is pretty telling. Heyward’s GB% is 35.7% instead of around 55% where it had been the past two years. Hopefully that is a sign of the new swing working.