Game 85: Braves 4, Phillies 3
July 8, 2012 at 5:08 pm by David Lee under Atlanta Braves
Source: FanGraphs
Game MVP: Jason Pridie, .316
Least Valuable Phillie: Ryan Howard, -.138
Most Valuable Brave: Dan Uggla, .231
Least Valuable Brave: Eric Hinske, -.096
Big plays:
2nd – (PHI) Pridie two-run homer for a 2-0 Phillies lead, .202
4th – (ATL) Uggla two-run homer for a 2-2 tie, .229
4th – (PHI) Pridie RBI double for a 3-2 Phillies lead, .160
5th – (ATL) McCann RBI single for a 3-3 tie, .105
7th – (ATL) McCann solo home run for a 4-3 Braves lead, .244
Another Jair Jurrjens-type outing, giving up three runs on six hits with just one walk in seven innings, but his command continued to suffer at times and he worked off weak contact and a .238 BABIP. The command he showed in Boston has yet to reappear, but he has done well with less so far.
Andrelton Simmons suffered a fractured pinkie finger on his right hand while sliding into second base. He will meet with a specialist tomorrow to determine the severity of the injury, but a fractured pinkie normally means 3-6 weeks, as far as I know. Updates will be provided.
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David,
I posted this in the previous thread as well, but David Wright fractured his right pinkie on April 9, 2012 and was back in the lineup April 14 without missing any more time. He saw a specialist and was fitted with a custom-built splint. And the article I read said the specialist cleared him to resume baseball activities as soon as he could handle the pain. With the injury being on his throwing hand just like Simmons’, that makes me think Simmons could be good to go come Friday. Though it depends on his pain threshold. With him being such a great defender, I think I’d take some injury-plagued PAs so long as he can throw the ball. And so long there’s no chance of re-injury simply by playing of course.
I assume this means Pastornicky again? Why was Chipper out, was it a day game after night game thing?
A trade must be made for a SS. It’s clear that Pastornicky is not a capable defender at SS. It is also clear that Jack Wilson’s lack of batting justifies any fielding benefit he provides to a lineup. A trade should be made for a fringe starting SS. When Simba returns, keep the incoming SS and release Jack Wilson promptly
I disagree. It’s going to be painful to get nothing at all from the 8 spot in the batting order for the next month with Wilson slotted in there. (And I think it’s obvious that Wilson has got to be the choice, since Pastornicky proved he can’t field his way out of a paper bag.) But the Braves should not part with the prospects it would take to bring a respectable SS in when they already have a long-term solution at the position who’s sidelined with a freak injury for a short period of time.
We’ll just have to hope Simmons comes back at the shorter end of that window and that Wilson is at least a competent fielder in the meantime.
The Braves would be parting with prospects for hopefully, a quality bench bat down the stretch… not just a SS. We are in trouble if September, the only right-handed bats we have off the bench will be Diaz and Wilson, (as Ross will never be used as a pink-hitter). It is evident that a move for a bench player needed to be made before today’s injury. Now it must be made. And what kind of prospect will it take to obtain a fringe starting SS/utility player with an expiring contract? I hardly think it would take a quality prospect. A mid to low level prospect is worth trading for a player that is required to make the playoffs.
I just think this is a mythical creature you’re positing. The guy in question has to be
1) Capable of playing passable SS
2) A good bench bat (right handed?)
3) Playing for a non-contender (no contender is going to sell a Major League piece unless they get a Major League piece in return)
4) In the last year of his contract (otherwise, he’ll cost too much)
Can you point to an example of a guy who fulfills all those conditions? I doubt he exists. It’s not a banner year for shortstops in either league, so I suspect that once you narrow by criteria 3 and 4, you get at most one of 1 and 2 (that is, either an okay glove or an okay bat). And we have the okay glove option already in Jack Wilson.
Acquiring a Major League shortstop would be a big overreaction to the Simmons injury. Wren just needs to have Wilson hold down the fort while focusing his attention on the area where the team is lacking and has no help on the horizon: the rotation.
I concur with Anon21, and besides, we’ll just have to wait and see how bad it is. Back in April, David Wright only missed three games with a fractured pinkie.
The player does not have to be all of the 4 scenarios fit. It is lunacy to think that the Braves shouldn’t at least attempt to trade prospects to better a very poor bench.
A player in the last year of his contract is more likely to be traded at the deadline: that was the point, not the requirement. You assume the Braves cannot afford a pro-rated portion of a serviceable bench player’s salary. The Braves have a ton of money coming off the book next year. They could trade for a bench player who is under contract beyond this season to be on the team next year. I don’t have the time to search every major league roster for a fit: that’s Frank Wren’s job. But it is obvious that a move outside of the organization must be made.
Oh, and how many hitters come back during the season, hitting well after a hand injury? Further, the injury is to Simba’s throwing hand. Therefore both his defense and offense will likely be compromised for the rest of the season.
The mythical thought is thinking that this team makes the playoffs with Jack Wilson playing everyday for a month.
We can always sign Ruben Gotay again.
typo: Wilson’s glove does not justify his lack of batting.
I would bring Pastornicky back up and use Wilson as Hudson’s SS and a late game defensive replacement.
The trade chips need to be used on a starter.
Pastornicky will have balls hit to him early in games….
The trade chips needed to land a quality starter are not likely to be the same level as a replacement SS. The farm must be used to set the table…
Here’s the thing, though – it’s really easy to suggest trading some non-elite prospects for a fringe starting shortstop who could then transition to a bench bat until you start searching for candidates. Let’s look at the WAR leaderboards and eliminate the first ten shortstops and then consider the potentially available remainder. I see Jamey Carroll, Marco Scutaro, Willie Bloomquist, and Cliff Pennington. Pennington is barely better at hitting than Jack Wilson and Bloomquist is barely better at fielding that Pastornicky. Jamey Carroll is nearly 40 and most of his value looks like UZR noise. I know that Pastornicky’s defense was ugly, but I really don’t think that any of these options are significant upgrades over what he would provide. As far as a potential bench upgrade over Jack Wilson (after Simmons returns), Pastornicky seems like the obvious solution – he won’t have to play much on defense and is just fine as a pinch hitter and runner.
Are The Philles sellers?
If you’re in the cellar, then you’re a seller.
It’s amazing how quickly the Phillies have gotten bad. At this point, there’s no one that really scares you at the plate in their lineup, and the bullpen just plain stinks. Seeing as they’re an old team, without a lot of help in the farm system, they could be a bad team for some time to come.
Now their fans can start showing their true colors, screaming that Utley and Howard suck and Manuel is an idiot and should be fired. What a bunch of frauds.
kinda like what a lot of Braves do now
No, I’ve always said Utley and Howard suck and Manuel is an idiot. I’m not a fair-weather hater.
The guy who fits Atlanta’s need perfectly is Drew Sutton…..oh wait…nevermind
Agreed.
I remember reading that Drew Sutton was released again by, who was it….tampa? I´m not sure if he latched on w/ another organization, but I´m saying go w/ a Pastornicky/Wilson split. it´s not ideal, but we were winning with that situation at the beginning of the season.
Drew sutton is tearing the cover off the ball for the suddenly respectable Pittsburgh pirates.
I would have really liked to see Chipper used to pinch hit in the place of Hinske. At that point in the game, you’re most likely burning that pinch hitter for that at bat only. Why not let Chipper have the one and done at bat with the bases loaded?
Yeah, he would’ve been a much better choice. Especially since Hinske has been garbage this season.
true, but with Simmons coming out it was good to have infield depth on the bench should Wilson have hurt himself. Hinske is in need of some at bats and I´m guessing Fredi wanted to get Chipper an extra full day of rest seeing as how he´ll be at the ASG.
Also, Chip has a 13 game hitting streak
I still think one of the best moves would be to find a guy who could just sit behind home plate in order to free up Ross as a PH.
But there must be some reason why that’s not a good idea, because they still haven’t done it after years of refusing to PH with their best bench bat.
Why not make a play for Infante? There was some discussion last year about bringing him back as a super-utility man.
He’s due 2 mil this and 4 mil next year.
Wait a second, in the broadcast Chip said that Simmons fractured the fifth metacarpal. That’s not his pinkie finger, it’s the bone below it in the hand, which would be a good bit more serious. It seems there is some confusion, as evidenced here:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8141389/atlanta-braves-shortstop-andrelton-simmons-leaves-broken-pinkie
Is it his pinkie or his metacarpal? Seeing as he had a huge bag of ice around his whole hand in the dugout, I’m thinking the latter. Probably a month or so for him.
Also totally agree about Chipper instead of Hinske with the bases loaded….Frediot, gawd I h8 u.
If it’s the metacarpal, I broke the same one on my throwing hand in 8th grade. The pain was gone in 2-3 days and I was able to resume normal athletic activities. It *did* take 6-8 weeks for it to “fully heal” but there wasn’t any pain after the first few days.
Chip is an idiot, so I would listen to almost any other source.
Julio Jones broke the 4th metacarpal in his hand a few years ago against South Carolina and played the next week. Of course he wasn’t himself since he had surgery and had a screw placed in it.
I would rather see Jack Wilson play everyday and use Pastornicky or whoever else off the bench. The problems recently have been the pitching in every inning but the 9th when we have a lead. Guys like Delgado and Minor need a shortshop who can save some hits and help get them out of innings. We can just deal with a black hole in the 8 spot, which isn’t going to win us many games offensively anyway. If the 1-7 guys aren’t hitting then we’ll probably be losing regardless.
Here’s an idea, tell me if i am completely crazy. But how incompetent would Prado be at SS?? I can’t see him being any worse than Pastornicky would be, right?!
What if Prado was placed at SS and a platoon of Diaz/Hinske at LF….or just bring up Costanza. We wouldn’t have a black hole at the 8th spot and the defense wouldn’t be awful. Just an idea. Feel free to tell me how crazy I am
The Braves can’t afford to lose another bat – we don’t have Uggla and we miss Chipper every four days. If we play Wilson, we only have 5 batters in the lineup.