Gwinnett 5, Scranton WB 3
Just a good solid win for the Braves. Kelly Johnson knocked his 5th XBH in 41 ABs for Gwinnett. At least he is hitting the ball with some authority down there. John Halama was solid as well, allowing only 2 runs over 6 innings of work. Gwinnet is currently 50-45 and 5 games out of the division in third place.
Huntsville 3, Mississippi 4
Man it is nice to see Travis Jones get it going a little. Remember when he was rolling way back in May? Yeah, he hit .194 in June and so far in July he is posting a .167 AVG on the board. I like the guy a lot (and not completely beause he went to the University of South Carolina) because he brings some decent pop to the plate along with good speed to go along with the ability to take some walks. So far this season he hasn't put it together (save for May).
So the fun will begin soon. What do we do with Tim Hudson? He is saying already that he is feeling better throwing than he has in years, which is impressive to me considering how well he pitched the last couple of seasons. I know I shouldn't expect anything from him this season simply because I know it usually takes a guy a full season to knock the rust off and air it all out after an injury like this. Cody Johnson may finally be finding some sort of equilibrium with his approach as he already has 4 homers this month vs just 3 all of last month. His OPS is pretty much the same however, but if his low points for a season are gonna be .818 and .817 I'll take it.
West Virginia 6, Rome 12
Shayne Moody and Yoel Campusano (he used to be Joel) have combined to go 21-44 since July 15 (take out July 16 and it becomes 21-38) and the Braves have gone 4-1 in that span (and not coincidentally they lost on the 16th). Rome is 9-15 in the second half of their season which places them at the bottom of their division and well out of 1st place.
Bristol 4, Danville 3 - 12 Innings
RSF did go 1-3 in this one to keep his average jus over .400.
GCL Braves - Off
0 recs | 46 comments
Question about Cody Johnson
Im pretty sure i read somewhere that since we drafted Heyward, who was as close to a sure thing a prospect can be, we took a big risk on CJ since we could keep him down in the minors to really fix his swing.
Is this true?
Since Heyward will be in the bigs sometime in the next 2 to 12 months, McLouth has CF locked down and we have a combo of Diaz, Church, Schafer and/or a FA next season in LF, is it more likely CJ stays in the minors until he’s 23 or 24?
I think he could REALLY improve his swing and approach at the plate as long as we don’t rush him. Ryan Howard had more holes in his swing than a minigolf course, and the Phillies kept him down until he was 24 or so to call him up. And look at the results.
Is any of this true? Agree? Disagree?
Scott Coleman - July 19, 2009
Ryan Howard did not play his first professional season until he was 21.
Just thought it might help your understanding.
MichaelProcton - July 19, 2009
I dunno about Howard
But I read that the Braves are more comfortable moving Freeman and Heyward along quickly because they are just that good. However with C.J. they want to take their time and not rush him to the majors which i think will be a great thing. I would imagine they would try to time his arrival with the departure of McLouth. McLouth leaves therefore making LF vacant and C.J. comes up and plays LF. Hopefully by that time Schafer has bloomed into someone who can be a lead off hitter for us when McLouth leaves.
drumzalicious - July 19, 2009
Heyward in 2-12 months?
Nah, 12 months minimum. No way we rush someone so good! We CANT afford to rush a player of his caliber.
Zeus12888 - July 19, 2009
Okay then
Why do people keep saying this? He won’t be here this season, but it wont take a year.
esadb - July 19, 2009
I don’t wanna rush him either, but he’s not going to learn much if he keeps destroying AA pitching every night. If the kid forces the Braves’ hand, so be it. What does it hurt if we call him up in September? If he struggles, have him play at Gwinnett at the start of next season. If he rakes, our RF of the future has arrived.
Scott Coleman - July 19, 2009 via mobile
For sakes: See Andruw Jones. The Braves can and will and have moved a player through the minors quickly. Its no rushing someone if they are handling it.
yondaime4 - July 20, 2009
You can edit you comments?
esadb - July 20, 2009
Your*
esadb - July 20, 2009
i can
yondaime4 - July 20, 2009
If you're a writer/mod.
MichaelProcton - July 20, 2009
And yet that didn't work out as well as it could have in the long run...
MichaelProcton - July 20, 2009
It did for us
Maybe not the Dodgers…
esadb - July 20, 2009
hahaha
good point
Scott Coleman - July 20, 2009
I mean, the guy was certainly never the complete hitter he could have been.
MichaelProcton - July 20, 2009
Could have would have should have, there is no way to tell how good he would have been if we had left him in the minors but the guy posted a .800+ OPS with gold glove defense for 10 years with the team. I don’t know what else you could want from any player.
yondaime4 - July 20, 2009
A point about this, Andruw was never the most coachable player in the world. His unwillingness to go to RF really hurt him. From all that I’ve heard, Heyward is not that way. From what I’ve heard, Heyward is coachable, is a very smart kid, and studies baseball very well. So, think if he is ready, then we can call him up.
dlkinser86 - July 20, 2009
Wait...
wouldn’t you get a player up quickly because he’s so good?
MichaelProcton - July 20, 2009
Keeping Nate McLouth is CF is a disaster waiting to happen.
bigjoe - July 19, 2009
why?
esadb - July 19, 2009
he has shown that he is a below average CF… so far in his career…
in 05 he was 18 plays above average…but the next couple years have shown that was a fluke
in 06 his UZR/150 was -10.3
in 07 his UZR/150 was -15.4
in 08 his UZR/150 was -14.3
in 09 he is at -9.0 (so technically he has improved)
FYI his totals in 09 make him the 6th worst starting CF in baseball defensively.
Now, you don’t have to accept defensive metrics as the end all be all of the debate… But you have to admit there’s no way McLouth is anything but an average CF (and according to the data that’s a stretch).
And for the people who want to know if he can play RF, he has the 3rd worst arm rating according to Fangraphs of qualifying CF…which would lead me to believe he is destined to be a LF.
Swo12bv - July 19, 2009
i would argue that we dont really need to wait for that disaster…its kinda here
Swo12bv - July 19, 2009
I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see Heyward in CF next year if Schafer can’t go for some reason. But other wise probably McLouth -Schafer – Heyward for the next couple of seasons.
yondaime4 - July 20, 2009
Really?
You think Bobby looks at those two guys in the clubhouse and puts that hoss in CF?
MichaelProcton - July 20, 2009
I actually like to think Bobby would. I could be wrong, but I think he knows that Schafer is the better fielder. McLouth would give us damn good defense in left though.
timmy3 - July 20, 2009
I was talking about Heyward vs. McLout in CF.
MichaelProcton - July 20, 2009
I just know Heyward has played about half of his games in CF this year, give or take. But you are probably right, Bobby would let McLouth run rampant until it was infinitely apparent that he actually does suck out there.
yondaime4 - July 20, 2009
I know he didn’t deserve the Gold Glove last year and that his defensive stats are pretty bad, but how would you (or anyone for that matter), based on what you’ve seen, describe him as a bad CF, or a disaster?
Does he take bad routes? Bad jumps on the hit? Doesn’t field the ball well? His arm is hurting him that badly in CF?
I’d rather see him in LF when we get the (hopefully) better CF in Schafer, but McLouth is a disaster in CF?
award6 - July 20, 2009
I remember reading some reviews of Cody when he was drafted. Several scouts/experts were surprised that the Braves took him in the first round. Huge holes in his swing causing lots of Ks being the reason. They said that if he DID make to the MLs, it would be a long project. Looks like they were right, but if he ever does make it, look out brother!
Do you think they will bring him to Spring Training next year, the way they did with Freeman and Heyward this year? Seems like it put a bee in their bonnet and might would do the same for Cody.
Braves fan since 1966 - July 20, 2009
Just as an ameteur watching:
It seems like he takes good routes and has good quickness breaking on the ball ( ie standstill to top end speed on route to the ball). It seems to me that he gets hurt by a suboptimal top speed which hurts his range and merely average glovework when diving towards the ball. His arm is, as stated, not very good for a CF.
All of his weaknesses would be nearly voided (poor range/arm) playing LF but his strengths (good quickness/routes) would make him a very good LFer.
bbxxj - July 20, 2009 via mobile
Crap, this reply was for award’s post.
bbxxj - July 20, 2009 via mobile
Could have had him two picks later.
This is the travesty of taking Kody with our first pick. We could have used the pick we used on Evarts for Kody and gotten someone like Conger or Joba to boot.
There is no bee and no bonnet. Kody is not as advanced a hitter as the other two and will not be where they were last year by Spring Training. There is a lot of work to do here to take him past his ceiling of Mike Hessman.
parish - July 20, 2009
Luis Sumoza
demoted
esadb - July 20, 2009
Probably for the best.
He’s still young, and he was clearly in over his head at the beach.
MichaelProcton - July 20, 2009
Didn’t that happen like a week ago?
cbwilk - July 20, 2009
I didn't hear about it.
esadb - July 20, 2009 via mobile
Yeah he’s been down for over a week
yondaime4 - July 20, 2009
Cody does look like he’s turning it around, making more contact instead of striking out 40% of the time.
And hopefully Timmeh does come back soon so we can figure out if he’s worth the 12MM that he’s due on the option.
soup du jour - July 20, 2009
about Huddy
there is no way pick up the 12M option,after he had TJ surgery. A 7M plus incentive contract may be acceptable?
p7682 - July 20, 2009
Then again, he may not accept such an offer.
It could be that the option is the only way to get him back when all is said and done.
MichaelProcton - July 20, 2009
I am just fine with giving Huddy his option money. Let him start or close and as long as we don’t need to spend 15M on Bay (which we won’t and shouldn’t) we can have Soriano back as well.
bbxxj - July 20, 2009 via mobile
you won’t pay a closer 12M/yr.I’ll say if we pick up his option and put him in the rotation next season ,he’ll be a NO.3 at best! Should we really need to spend 12M on a NO.3 pitcher who just return from TJ surgery?(not to mention we’ve already have a strong rotation) or just spend the money on the power RH bat?
p7682 - July 20, 2009
What RH power bat would be out there for 12M or less and would accept a deal that is not going to block or OF prospect and would be worth 12+M?
Bay will get more than we have to spend over too many years, Holliday is not worh the years and money he will get and Dye plays awful D and will only continue to get worse.
We need to spend on the talent we can obtain and just rely on our in house options for the OF. McLouth, Schafer, Heyward, Church, Diaz in any combo should provide enough if we keep building upon pitching and defense to win.
bbxxj - July 20, 2009 via mobile
We gave up on Dye way to early some time ago. If we dont want to pay Holiday money, we could grab cody ross very cheap tol hold us over until Heyward Schafer are ready. I’ve also heard Ellsbury’s name a few times. Any current trade rumors for Gonzalez or Soriano??
littlethings - July 20, 2009
Chipper will be 38 next season and he didn’t play over 130 games in the past few years ,Mac has to rest every five days. don’t need a power bat?
McLouth will be traded if Schafer get his bat back,i don’t see Church and Diaz in the future.
Put the RH bat in LF won’t block anyone.
Pitching and defense to win? so why are we just .500 and 6.5 behind Phillies now? we have two starter’s era below 3 and with 8-7 and 7-7 records,so does this lineup really provide enough to win?
p7682 - July 20, 2009
Sorry, but $12 mil for an unproven closer ain't gonna cut it.
If he’s not gonna be ready to start, we can’t exercise.
MichaelProcton - July 20, 2009
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