Gwinnett 5, Syracuse 6
Hanson was pretty much cruising till he hit the 6th. The defense made two errors behind him in the inning cwhich ended up plating all 4 runs. The big blow was a 2-Run Homer from Corey Patterson after the second error was committed. I don't usually discriminate between runs and earned runs but Hanson should have recored 4 outs in an inning in which he only had 2 on his record. The only thing that worries me right now about Hanson is that he has given up 5 HR in his 66.1IP this year. Thats not a lot, but his fly ball rate suggests he could give them up in bunches. Really I am in the camp that his stuff is so good that it just induces a lot of weak pop up, but it is worth mentioning.
West Tennessee 4, Mississippi 1
Eric Campbell continues his torrid hitting of late. In his last 9 games he is hitting .448 with 4 of his 11 XBH for the season. Homers tend to come in bunches, especially for Campbell who is prone to streakiness. Cory Gearrin finally gave up some runs, but he didn't actually give them up. He came in and relieved Diamond in the 7th and picked up a K and then got the first guy in the 8th. Then he hit a guy and walked the next guy. Gunderson came in and allowed two consecutive singles after a double steal put two men in scoring position. I feel like Gearrin could have gotten out of it himself.
Myrtle Beach 3, Wilmington 1
Cody Johnson has 29 XBH in less than 200 ABs at this point in the season. He's not on the pace Brandon Wood was a couple years back, but that a pace of about 85 for the season. INSANE. Just sayin. Eric Cordier has been really good coming back from injury this year. If he can get his walks under control he could really explode. Jason Heyward has missed 5 or 6 consecutive games at this point. I've heard that it is a hammy injury, an oblique thing or a reoccurrence of his hip issue from earlier in the season. I haven't been able to get confirmation on any of it yet, but the Braves have been very careful with him in any of his little tweaks. Hopefully it will be ok. Also, The Pelicans are still the worst team in the Carolina League (by far), but they have shown some improvement going 8-6 in their last 15 games. Not great, but better than the 11-24 they started with.
Rome 5, Bowling Green 3
This crap with Jesus Sucre is getting ridiculous, and now he is starting to add in some doubles power to go along with all the hits he is dropping in. He is currently on a 15 game hitting streak that actually stretches all the way back to May 7th because he wasn't even the starting catcher when the streak started. He was hitting .283 at the time and is now sitting at a smooth .356 on the season. He doesn't walk. Like, at all. Only 4 of them in 104 AB. But, he doesn't K much either. Only 8 total. He's never shown any ability to hit anything like this with his highest season AVG being .221 in the GCL in 2007. He is 21, so he's a little old, but still this is impressive. Zeke put up a decent start tonight but was victimized by last years top pick, Tim Beckham, who hit a 2 run homer off of him. Otherwise he was pretty solid. Craig Kimbrel has only walked 3 guys in 12.2IP in Rome as compared to 18 in 10.2IP in Myrtle Beach. Also he is striking out 18.5 men per 9 innings Rome. I'm going to bold that for emphasis.
0 recs | 26 comments
I heard them say on the radio today that he just “had a little pull in his side.”
Little Lady - June 1, 2009
Which would go along with it being an oblique strain…
timmy3 - June 1, 2009
That’s right, timmy.
Little Lady - June 1, 2009
lol
yondaime4 - June 1, 2009
This season and last at AAA, Barbaro Canizares has had 697 AB w/ a stellar composite BA of .323, 42 2B and 21 HR.
Nine runs yesterday notwithstanding, the Braves have to somehow add additional power and production. Why shouldn’t Canizares be given a chance, even if his role would be limited to PH / spot starter at 1B?
fandave - June 1, 2009
I heard that he is too much of a defensive liability and not good enough offensively to replace one of the guys we have on the bench now.
bwellnjonesco - June 1, 2009
Because Greg Norton is such an awesome defender, right?
timmy3 - June 1, 2009
He's been awful this year...
But he’s got a track record of being able to PH well. That’s a limited skill, as it’s tough to come in off the bench cold and produce in a key situation.
MichaelProcton - June 1, 2009
Norton is a more valuable piece to our bench,
Norton is a 13 year MLB vet (36) …
Canizares is a 29 year old that has never played above AAA…
Norton plays multiple positions (maybe not awesomely, but still)…
Canizares, from what I heard, can barely play first…
There isn’t really room for him anywhere else on the bench…
bwellnjonesco - June 1, 2009
Getting rid of Norton would also remove the only LH bat we have on the bench.
Smoltz's Beard - June 1, 2009
the only place he could play is currently occupied by someone who is producing. Kinda the same deal as Hanson
yondaime4 - June 1, 2009
Also worth noting,
Erik Cordier had 16 ground ball outs compared to 2 fly ball outs in his start against Wilmington. His big issue right now is, like yondaime mentioned, his walks.
Also worth noting, Benino Pruneda has made the move from A- Rome to A+ Myrtle Beach easily. His walks shot up a tad (9BB in 12IP compared to 1BB in 8IP), but he is still almost unhittable (8 hits in 20IP this year) and is striking out more than a guy an inning (27SO in 20IP). Interesting future bullpen possibility.
I think Kimbrel is ready for another shot at the Beach. A- is too easy for him…
bwellnjonesco - June 1, 2009
The premise...
that Hanson could be HR prone has been made before back when he was in Myrtle Beach. It was posited that the large park at the Beach was keeping balls in the park, but once he left he would give up lots of HR’s. We all know how that turned out. Thankfully, the Ted plays as a pitcher’s park as well….
Andy Braves Fan - June 1, 2009
He did give up 9HR in 98 innings at Mississippi but again thats not really bad, but Mississippi is also a pitchers park. At this point they have never gotten the better of him so I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I think in the long run though whenever he does struggle it will probably be with giving up the HR.
yondaime4 - June 1, 2009
It was a small sample size, but Tommy did a pretty good job of keeping the ball in the park in Arizona… And that’s about as good as it gets for hitters. I don’t expect him to have an especially low HR rate, but he can be successful even if he is slightly homer-prone. So are Johan (at least before the new park), Hamels, and Nolasco.
timmy3 - June 1, 2009
And as it's said on game broadcasts all the time...
Giving up one solo shot in six innings is better than giving up three doubles.
MichaelProcton - June 1, 2009
Exactly.
Hanson isn’t going to put too many runners on… So a homer every other start isn’t really going to be too damning.
timmy3 - June 1, 2009
Bingo
I was watching a Natinals game a few years ago, and of all pitchers in the world, Ramon Ortiz was cruising along with a 6-0 lead against the Cardinals. His pitch count was low, and he had already lost his no-hitter in the 5th inning, and he was going for the CG. In the 8th inning, up comes Albert Pujols. My friend and I swear we can see exactly what he is thinking, because the first pitch he throws is right down the middle for a called strike, and then the next pitch is in the exact same spot, and Pujols mashes it out of the park. Two pitches, no more Pujols. Ortiz cruises for the remaining four outs, complete game.
Had it been a series of doubles, then that whole momentum myth comes into play, and pitchers sometimes freak out.
royhobbs - June 1, 2009
If the game really is reverting back to the old-scool trends, with fewer sluggers and OBP being crucial, it seems like that could be a dangerous tendency as time goes by, as homeruns would likely be multi-run shots.
Bravely going forward - June 1, 2009
I bet Beckham has faced Zeke before, since both are Atlanta area guys coming up in the same draft class.
timmy3 - June 1, 2009
yeah i am sure all those guys played together in summer leagues or the East Cobb program.
yondaime4 - June 1, 2009
Georgia has the 2nd most counties of all the states. Some counties have more than 5 high schools alone. Zeke went to Kell High School (6-AAAAA). Beckham went to Griffin High School (4-AAAA). So, they probably didn’t play against each other in High School.
Georgia has tons of baseball camps, summer leagues, and fall leagues (with most of the more prestigous players in the same leagues), so I say theres a pretty good chance they met up there.
Maybe CB can ask one of them personally.
bwellnjonesco - June 1, 2009
I’ll do my best.
cbwilk - June 1, 2009
good, because your life depends on it
yondaime4 - June 1, 2009
Morpheus?
cbwilk - June 2, 2009
I’m glad to see Diamond pitch solid, I don’t know why, but I’m pulling for the guy, well I pull for all our players, but he is one of the guys I frequently check on. I don’t know why, maybe because he went to a SUNY school.
But anyways, he pitched solid in this start, and with the exception of the first inning of his last start, he made a pretty gutsy performance, hanging in there for another 5 innings after getting lit up for an inning.
Another thing, I think it’s time for Kimbrel to get another crack at the Beach, I think he has shaken off the rust and his control is back, but I do think he may have been rushed through the system a little too quick. Although, he was obliterating the competition like he is now so it is hard to second guess, but I think it is in our best interests to be patient with him.
MatM - June 1, 2009
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