7/28 News, Links, Discussion: Braves-Phillies, More Pitching Possibilities, Batista Signed
July 28, 2012 at 12:34 pm by David Lee under Atlanta Braves
Update (4:20p): Medlen to Start
The Braves are giving Kris Medlen a shot at starting, replacing Jair Jurrjens in the rotation and giving him his first start Tuesday. Jurrjens will move to the bullpen.
The ramifications of this move are yet to be determined regarding how this will improve the rotation and whether they aren’t finding what they hoped in the trade market, so it’s not appropriate to assume how the front office’s dealings are going yet. It would be tough if this is the rotation upgrade, but there’s still plenty of time.
Game 2 vs. Phillies
Braves lineup: Michael Bourn (CF), Martin Prado (LF), Jason Heyward (RF), Chipper Jones (3B), Freddie Freeman (1B), Brian McCann (C), Dan Uggla (2B), Paul Janish (SS), Mike Minor (P).
Phillies lineup: Jimmy Rollins (S, SS), Shane Victorino (S, CF), Chase Utley (L, 2B), Ryan Howard (L, 1B), Hunter Pence (R, RF), Ty Wigginton (R, 3B), John Mayberry (R, LF), Erik Kratz (R, C), Joe Blanton (R, P).
The Braves took advantage of another strong outing by Ben Sheets and another home run from Brian McCann against the Phillies to beat Philadelphia 6-1 on Friday. The Braves stopped the Phillies in their tracks after an exciting series sweep of the Brewers in their most recent set.
The Braves will go for four straight as they host the Phillies in the second game of the series. Mike Minor faces Joe Blanton. Blanton continues to record very good peripherals, sporting a 20.3% strikeout rate and 3.2% walk rate, which have remained pretty stable this season. They are almost the same as the last time the Braves saw him, which resulted in six runs allowed in 6.1 innings earlier this month in one of his worst starts of the season. Blanton has gone eight innings in each of the past two starts since.
Minor seems to have turned a corner in his past three starts, allowing a total of six runs in 19.1 innings with just four walks and 17 strikeouts. He missed the Phillies in early July and has yet to face them this season.
Game time is 7:10. Atlanta: SportSouth. Philadelphia: CSN.
MLB.com preview
STATS preview
More Pitching Possibilities
As you all know, Zack Greinke was traded to the Angels for three highly ranked prospects in the Los Angeles system. Comparing to the Braves, it could have taken Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, plus one more top 10 guy to pull him in. If the Braves knew they couldn’t work an extension, it’s simply not worth it.
Frank Wren continues the search for an arm, however. Mark Bowman notes Edinson Volquez, James Shields and Wade Davis as possibilities, with the outside chance of Josh Johnson, although Johnson’s chances in Atlanta should be slim to none. Volquez was recently mentioned on Twitter as staying in San Diego, as the Padres couldn’t find an offer they liked and apparently wanted much more than he was worth (same boat as Chase Headley, probably).
Shields will cost plenty, to the point where the Rays may try to squeeze out more than he’s worth, especially with options of $9 million and $12 million over the next two years. He has a 4.52 ERA, but his xFIP is in line with his norms at 3.47. He’s getting ground balls at a career-high rate of over 50% while maintaining a strikeout rate above 20%, but his walks have increased to 7.2%. It’s hard to believe Shields will ever be the pitcher he was in 2011 again, but that’s nothing against him. He remains a good No. 2 on playoff staffs.
Grabbing Davis and putting him back in the rotation seems OK on the surface because of a 2.70 ERA in 46.1 relief innings this season, but despite Davis not exactly loving what he’s doing right now, he’s thriving at it and probably belongs in the bullpen. His relief arsenal is fastball/curveball, while his starting arsenal is fastball/curveball/slider/changeup. His ability to attack the zone with the fastball/curveball has led to a big spike in strikeout percentage to 27.1% after years of 15.7% and 13.2% as a starter. Adding Davis could still solidify the bullpen, and considering the Braves haven’t ruled out putting Kris Medlen back in the rotation, Davis could fill Medlen’s spot.
Buster Olney adds more to the Shields talk (Insider required).
Braves Sign Batista
The Braves signed Miguel Batista to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Batista was designated for assignment by the Mets on Sunday and released on Thursday before the Braves picked him up yesterday. He had a 4.82 ERA and 5.09 xFIP in 46.2 innings this season, including five starts. He has always had high walk rates and never could match it with high strikeout rates, posting career marks of 14.5 K% and 10.4 BB%. His walk rate this year is 14.1%. He gives the Braves depth in the minors, but let’s hope they never have to use him in Atlanta, and if so, in mop up duty.
More Links
Braves.com recap for Friday’s win.
AJC quotes following Friday’s win. Fredi Gonzalez on Ben Sheets: “I think the best thing I’ve ever seen anybody do in a longtime, Huddy does it, is he reads the bat. He knows what these guys are looking for and he’ll make adjustments to that. He’ll change, which is something that’s learned. It’s an experience thing. And then he’s commanding his fastball.”
It was reported on Twitter yesterday that Peter Moylan, after being assigned to Triple-A, was placed on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis. Gwinnett’s roster confirms this.
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I’ve heard Jon Lester could be moved. Thoughts on him?
Lester scares me. He isn’t commanding his fastball like he used to and he’s giving up more hard hit balls. I feel like Boston would probably ask for the moon, too, despite him looking much worse this year.
I know the Braves are looking to a bench bat/ bullpen help, but I cannot find any info anywhere on who they might be going after. Any clues?
I haven’t seen anything either. Normally, you won’t see lesser bench bats/relievers getting linked to teams because there’s more of them and they aren’t in the rumor spotlight like a Greinke or Dempster. You might not find out who the Braves are targeting for the bench or bullpen until they’ve been acquired.
Ugh. No Hamels, no Dempster and no Grienke.
We didnt have the cash for Hamels, Dempster doesn’t like fried chicken and I’m glad that we didnt go after Greinke. 3 top prospects for a potential rental? To rich for my fried chicken loving self.
However, we do need to do something to shore up the back end of our rotation. Sheets has made FW look like the second coming of Billy Beane but we can’t keep pissing away every fourth/fifth game with bad starting pitching. I’m glad Minor has stepped it up recently, but Hanson still scares the shit out of me while JJ needs to be DFA’d like a bourbon when its closing time and all you have to choose from is ugly chicks (Franklin knows what I’m talking about)
FYI on Hanson: Most of our crazy, out of control, come from behind wins over the past few years have come with him as the SP….if @junkstats is still alive, I’m sure he could give greater detail…..
Hey buddy, you win the award for most obvious, most overstated comment over the last few weeks.
Somebody must still have the link regarding lucky Tommy that was on here the other day.
I knew that our home / away records were the back to front but I have only just realized that we have the best record in mlb on the road – and obviously our home record is one of the worst amongst contending clubs. Anyone got any theories for this or is it just coincedence bearing in mind we played 49 at home and 50 away?
No discernible home field advantage in baseball. The least correlative of the 3 major sports and win percentage home/away is a function more of random than an advantage one way or the other.
Thanks, wasn’t sure on that one.
We must play at home every Monday.
We must have some kind of record on this Monday thing. I am really hoping if we make the playoffs we can avoid a Monday game. I can see it now, 1 game wildcard playoff held for Monday night…
it is amazing how difficult it is to judge pitching talent. it is why i would not trade it for a rental. Did we not trade Diamond who is a lefty with 10 wins for the Twins, who did we recieve? wish we had him now. Hanson and JJ should have been contributing more by now. Do you think Roger is a good pitching coach?
On December 9, 2010, Diamond was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 2010 Rule 5 draft. Towards the conclusion of spring training, the Twins acquired Diamond from the Braves for prospect Billy Bulluck, allowing them to send Diamond to the minors.
Do you think Roger is a good pitching coach?
YES!
Don’t know why I let myself think that Moylan would ever be healthy again. Oh well. Time to step it up, Gearrin.
Moylan says the issue is not major and he could.probably pitch through it, but its better to not risk anything major during his rehab, which is still ahead of the Braves schedule.
It’d be awesome to have him back for the rest of the year – especially if Medlen stays in the rotation. When I saw that JJ is moving to the bullpen, I laughed. Why would we think he would be able to get anyone out coming out of the pen? Hurry up and get healthy Peter
FYI. Leo Mazzone is featured on an article today on philly.com. Look for the one about the PHI bullpen. He talks a lot about how he used to managed the Braves bullpen. My recollection is that his role was often downplayed due to the quality of the rotation, while some of his best work may have been w the late inning arms.
Apologies, of course.
Do you think that Sheets’ pitch count will come back down after a couple of starts, or do you anticipate him at the 100 mark by the end of the 6th? I’m loving the results, but a Sheets/JJ/Minor rotation has the potential to tax the pen.
Honestly, I’m sick of seeing anything about the rotation that includes JJ. We can assume a move for another SP will be made before his next start, but if that doesn’t happen the FO needs to make sure he doesn’t start another game for us this year. Unless his fastball regains some of its lost velocity or he somehow develops plus command–at this point of his career, this is a near impossibility–we need to assume he is no longer an asset to the organization as a SP. Either try him out in relief, see how he adjusts, or move on. I’ve always been a fan of JJ, but he’s only hurting the team at this point.
philly.com has an insightful interview w Leo Mazzone in an article on the PHI bullpen. Interesting comments on how to get the most out of your bullpen. Mods please delete my other comments awaiting approval.
The braves should shop Dan Uggla in the off-season.
That would be selling low and that’s rarely a good idea.
The beauty of Venters when he’s able to locate his sinker:
http://www.fangraphs.com/not/index.php/a-very-jonny-venters-sequence-of-events/
The Wade Davis talk is bad iMO. He’s really a Medlen clone and neither is really much better than Delgado a a starter. When you factor in the $7.6 Mill Davis is owed the next 2 seasons, I don’t see much value there. He would either be an overpaid middle reliever or an overpaid (when put in the perspective of Delgado or Teheran) starter for the next 2 years.
man i just wished they would hurry and do whatever they are going to do but at this wrate all they are going to do is drive everyone crazy with all the false stuff
i think if we could get josh beckett out of the AL to the NL it would be good for him and the braves im praying for somthing good to happen just not sure it will thow
Wow. My opinion has rarely become reality, but Medlen is finally in the rotation. Im not expecting him to be amazing, but i think Kris can regularly show some consistency through at least 5-6 innings, and not have the erratic results of Delgado. If we get a reliable long reliever to pick up Medlen (and Hanson when he shits the bed) the combination could be as successful as acquiring a solid #3 starter. Beyond Medlen, the next player on my wish list is Wade Davis. His numbers are strong w 10 K/9 and a good BB/9. And down the road (after this season) he could be moved back into the rotation if need be. NickB says we shouldn’t get him because he’s a Medlen clone, but that’s exactly why we should get him. He’s a Medlen that strikes out twice as many batters in relief.
Medlen has been pretty bad with inherited runners but good when he comes in to start innings. The problem is, he is likely to be just as unreliable the 2nd and 3rd time thru the order as Delgado is right now and paying WADE FREAKIN DAVIS $7.6 mill to be a middle reliever is a terrible idea.
I like Medlen, but as a middle reliever. I also don’t know where you are getting the idea he can consistently go 6+ innings as he has 102 innings pitched in 18 starts for an avg of 5.2 innings pitched. He looks to me to tax a now undermanned bullpen as much as JJ or Delgado yet we won’t have Medlen to rely on .
I think it’s a sketchy move. and Wade Freakin Davis is too pricey to be the guy to pick up just to be a middle reliver.
Why don’t you look those numbers up again. Davis makes 1.5m this year and 2.8 next season. Maybe you’re from the year 2015 when there is a 7m TEAM option on his contract.
Inherited runners obviously don’t apply to starters, and what I responded to you before was that you can’t really just Medlen’s numbers from 2 YEARS AGO on which to base an argument. Maybe if he had been in the league for 10 years, but that was his first full season and the Braves did happen to win 13 straight games in which he pitched. I would rather know that he will most likely go 5-6 giving up 2-3 runs than Delgado’s crapshoot starts. Moving him to the rotation is why I brought up getting Davis and strengthening the bullpen. You think Wren is really going to move Medlen out of the bullpen and say fuck it and not acquire a reliever or two? Come on.
He makes $2.8 in 2013 ans $4.8 in 2014 boith are too damn high.
Your idea is stupid, quit tryin to rationalize it by dancing around the truth
What an intelligent retort!
Like trying to rationalize $7.6 mill over 2 season for middle reliever is intelligent? it would be a terrible move.
What is the Braves record when Medlen starts? Something like 14-4? And you really think that doesn’t matter at all? Yes innings are an issue, but weren’t they the same concern about Sheets? How has that worked out so far? No offense intended, but I honestly think you gentlemen and/or ladies think too much about numbers and forget results for the team. I mean individual numbers do not always translate to team numbers.
I mean, I don’t think anyone here is expecting Medlen to go 7-8 strong innings. He really only had a partial year as a starter, so 5.2 is stretching him out quite a bit when you consider where he’s coming from. Might be sketchy, but probably the best option we got right now. I’m also of the belief that FW is shopping for bullpen arms right now.
Its tough being a Braves Fan with a FO who looks for “Lightning in a Bottle” when it comes to players.
What does this mean: Cheap costs compared to ability unknown.
Been Sheets for example is exactly that. He cost nothing and is are 2nd best pitcher IMO…
on the other hand—
Livan Hernandez, old and wasnt consistant.
Ofcourse lot of teams use this all the time. But Frank Wren Loves this strategy, becuase its financially available to him. Like playing the lottery.
I hope that the Braves before the deadline could pick up a SP without trading the farm away. No I dont like WADE DAVIS the SP, But I like WADE DAVIS the RP. I wouldnt be going after Davis until I land a SP IMO.
Bench Help is needed. I hate to say that Eric Hinskie “The Kevin James of Baseball” Hasnt worked out that well of the beanch this year. It really sucks to see Pastornicky or Wilson coming off the bench to pinch hit. Other than Ross (which he cant pitch hit due to being the back up for McCann), We have no Righty bat of the bench. So there is the need for a Righty that can hit. This sounds familliar….. THe Braves need a right handed batter, hmmm. let me think of where I have heard that for the past 2 years…. get my point.
From the great Herman Cain “We are not Stupid”
The word “of” actually means “OFF”
Have you thought that maybe Wren is on a limited budget? He makes a good move in signing Sheets and he is still called CHEAP? He has a budget and has to work within it. Yes Sheets is arguably the #2 on the team right now, and I hope dearly that that continues the rest of the year. You come across as complaining about Wren because he is working within a budget that is out of his control. Hell he has done an amazing job in my opinion given the financial restraints he has to work under.
agreed. days of Ted Turner are long gone. Wren taking chances on guys like Livan Hernandez and Sheets is part of the strategy. Low risk, potential high reward (well, maybe not with Livan, but you get the point). saves money.
Just heard a report that the Braves swapped minor leaguers with the Pirates. Anybody have any clues to the details and why we would want to do this?
setup a trade perhaps???
We gave them Christian Marrero for an infielder named Brian Friday, and sent him to Gwinnett. I would assume that he is a SS since we left Gwinnett SS poor by calling up Pastornicky. I don’t see this move as anything more than acquiring organizational depth for a position.
I like Medlen in the bullpen but unless we get a piece for the bullpen I think this is just cutting off the bottom of a blanket and attaching it to the top. Doesn’t make the blanket longer.
MBraves are having a beanball war tonight against Mobile. At least 7 hbp and a bunch of ejections.
Ironic that Bautista said Mets were the best team in baseball and less than 10 days later is given his walking papers. Mets are holding false hope and should start selling by Tuesday.
Just a random thought, wonder when Liberty Media will put Braves franchise on the market? Who would realistically be a great owner for a great organization? One name comes to mind for me. Arthur Blank, he did try to acquire them once before.
After Tuesday: Hudson, Dempster, Sheets, Minor, Hanson