According to David O'Brien of the AJC, after Friday night's game the Braves optioned Craig Kimbrel to triple-A Gwinnett and recalled reliever Christhian Martinez. Who? That's what I said.
We were talking in an earlier thread today about the Braves needing to recall Chris Resop at some point, he of the 2.03 ERA. Or Michael Dunn, who has a 0.47 ERA. But Christhian Martinez, the guy with the 5.04 ERA?
Martinez was taken off waivers from the Marlins back in early April, so he is on the Braves 40-man roster. Perhaps they want to see what they've got, but shouldn't that 5.04 ERA be a clue. He has also given up homeruns and multiple runs in each of his last two outings.
I will say this for him, he doesn't walk anyone. Only 4 walks in 25 innings.
The Braves likely sent down Kimbrel to get some more work. He wasn't being used a lot. Since being called up on the 5th of May, he has only made it into four games, the 7th and 8th, 15th, and 20th. So there was a lot of down time in between his outings. For him to develop into the closer we need him to for next season he needs to get all the innings he can this year, and getting them at triple-A should be just fine.
Still, a bit of an odd move. Should we go ahead and name this Martinez guy Manny Acosta part deux?
0 recs | 42 comments
Well, Bobby doesn’t use the last guy in the pen so we shouldn’t ever see him. Wren may just be bringing up the guy he cares the least about developing because he knows he’ll just rot on the bench or just throw junk innings.
bbxxj - May 21, 2010
haha
This actually makes a twisted sort of sense.
I hope Martinez can give us 2-3 innings if we need him to in case of a blowout or extra-inning game. Other than that, I doubt he gets used at all.
Jacob Peterson - May 21, 2010
I hope you're right Pac
But bbxxj does have a good point, so let’s hope he’s rarely used
Zeus12888 - May 22, 2010
I told you guys.
Scott Coleman - May 21, 2010 via mobile
Before his outing Thursday, I would have said we already had Acosta2.0 in Chavez.
Rhyno18 - May 21, 2010
So...
Acosta3.0. We can start nicknaming these guys something different any day now.
djvog - May 21, 2010
Reitsma2.0
djvog - May 21, 2010
Only if he gets save opportunities
Jacob Peterson - May 21, 2010
Alright, alright. Acosta got save opportunities as well though. But until he receives save opportunities and then epically blows saves in June, he can still be Acosta3.0. Just trying to change up the Acosta stigma. He wasn’t the only reliever to come in and give up runs.
djvog - May 21, 2010
How is he at all like Acosta?
Acosta never had control at any point, while Martinez has walked 4 in 22.3 innings
acie4mvp - May 22, 2010
I’m advocating that he should be referred to differently than Acosta(somethingsomething). A new nickname will suffice here.
djvog - May 22, 2010
I can understand wanting Kimbrel to get more work in, but I really don’t see why this was the guy called up. Of course, to get Resop up, we would have had to make a move on the 40-man, so maybe that’s part of the reason. Dunn is already on the 40-man, but maybe they want him to keep getting regular work in too, and only want to use Dunn and Kimbrel if guys like Saito, EOF, or Moylan go down to injury. I really was hoping Resop would get the call up. He makes one hell of a left fielder.
Martinez didn’t seem very friendly the one time I’ve tried to talk to him. Maybe it was just me though.
Rhyno18 - May 22, 2010
I don’t think Martinez knows much English, which is a big factor.
cbwilk - May 22, 2010
yeah, I was wondering about that. He didn’t say enough for me to be able to tell if he was a jerk, or just had no clue what i was saying to him.
Rhyno18 - May 22, 2010
Chris Resop!
Bronn - May 22, 2010
Chris Resop! part dos
Mighty Healthy - May 22, 2010
Makes perfect sense
Kimbrel has not been needed of late, send him down to get some regular work.
Bring up Martinez for mop up work if needed, otherwise let him sit.
HEYJUDE - May 22, 2010
It’s a shame Bobby can’t just use Kimbrel instead of using Saito on three consecutive days. At some point Saito and Moylan are going to tire.
timmy3 - May 22, 2010
I thought Bobby was doing a pretty good job with Saito
Of course then he pitches him three consecutive games, with all too predictable results.
dutchschultz - May 22, 2010
Moylan is getting these 3-6 pitch outings. that won’t tire him out.
Braves Biceps - May 22, 2010
Martinez for Oswalt!
makes perfect sense for the Astros.
elevenforbraves - May 22, 2010
We gotta be about to deal one of these damn pitchers....
Lowe would be obvious if we could. But with the way things are going and JJ’s injury, a reliever makes the most sense. Chavez, EOF (with Dunn excelling), Resop, among others could all be wanted by someone with bullpen problems like Arizona.
Mr. Sanchez - May 22, 2010
Who would we get for one of these pitchers?
It seems to me we need another quality starter. Are any available? We do have Jo-Jo stretching out in AAA, as an emergency starter. We also have Minor tearing up AA. I can see him at Gwinnett at some point this year and possibly getting the call in an emergency.
DawgB - May 22, 2010
huh?
Another quality starter? We essentially have 2 aces in Hanson and Hudson. Lowe & KK are pitching better as of late and Medlen is filling in great as #3.
We are fine in the SP department. We can’t have a rotation of aces. I’m sure a lot of ppl here would love for us to deal for Oswalt and Cliff Lee but we don’t need them.
drumzalicious - May 22, 2010 via mobile
I meant to say, if we trade one of our starters, who would we get. We would then need another quality starter to replace him. I agree that Lowe and KK are pitching better lately, so why make a trade at all?
DawgB - May 22, 2010
I like our roster as is unless someone suffers a long term injury...
so any deals right now, I’d think we want prospects in return more than players who’d join the MLB roster.
Mr. Sanchez - May 23, 2010
indeed
drumzalicious - May 23, 2010
this actually pisses me off
If Bobby had given Kimbrel more innings he would been sharper than he was pitching every 5 days which would have given us 5 great relievers to choose from in later innings.
The decision to bring up another long man makes entirely no sense to me as we already have 2 in Chavez and Venters. I feel like instead of them bringing up someone who they don’t mind rotting on the bench then the FO should have just had Bobby put Kimbrel in more games.
drumzalicious - May 22, 2010 via mobile
I suppose the game situations have dictated going with the veterans as opposed to putting Kimbrel in. I do think pitching either Wags or Saito 3 days in a row is asking for trouble, especially with Moylan in the mix. But 8-2 over the last 10 games must mean Bobby is making some right decisions.
DawgB - May 22, 2010
You can’t really tell how well bobby is using the bullpen over 10 games. It is August and September that we will hopefully need Saito and Wagner pitching well without a ton of innings on their arms.
vikedawg - May 22, 2010
I, too hope that Saito and Wagner don’t have a ton of innings on their arms come August and September. I have been advocating using Moylan in the 8th/9th inning mix from Spring Training. My rationale being that there were going to be a lot of close games this year and that troika would save wear and tear on all 3 of them. We’ve got the arms to pitch the 6th & 7th if necessary, saving 2 of these 3 for any given day.
DawgB - May 22, 2010
Christhian Martinez
The guy hasn’t pitched since Wednesday, so he’s ready in case KK or Medlen get knocked out early this weekend. A starter most of his career, Martinez can step right into the long relief role open since Medlen’s promotion to the rotation.
Martinez is an older rookie, because of Tommy John surgery several years back. He did quite well as a starter in AA last year and has a fine K-BB ratio.
I think Resop will continue to start regularly in AAA (and Minor in AA or perhaps soon in AAA), ready for a recall if any more of our starters go down. You don’t want either of those guys being used infrequently in the Atlanta bullpen, any more than you do Kimbrel.
The move makes sense on paper, and hopefully by the time the Phillies come to town a week from Monday we’ll have a better idea if Martinez is ready to face top major league talent.
JimK - May 22, 2010
Here is Martinez's Minor League Baseball Splits.com page:
http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?pl=450852
An FIP of 3.07 is pretty damn good
acie4mvp - May 22, 2010
0.029 AVG against lefties..hmm..
bwellnjonesco - May 22, 2010
spilts ville guy?
Braves Biceps - May 22, 2010
woah, i thought that was a typo
but lefties are 1 for freaking 38 against martinez. it’s probably SSS, since lifetime in the minors lefties are hitting .253 and righties .262, which is weird since martinez is a righty.
atl192485 - May 22, 2010
good point, he might just be here for this week.
Braves Biceps - May 22, 2010
And on queue here is a picture of Martinez pitching in Gwinnett recently. It’s funny, I didn’t realize he was wearing #19 on the day I saw him…I wonder what # he wore when Yunel was there as Yunel was wearing #19.
Dave_D - May 22, 2010
You are awesome Dave!!
bwellnjonesco - May 22, 2010
and you tried to say...
you can’t work at night.
Mr. Sanchez - May 23, 2010
Especially
This is especially strange given Resop’s unusual contract. It seems like a call him up or lose him situation.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/MLB-latest-news-from-May-042710
Quilvio Veras - May 22, 2010
What the...
FiretrucK! Some of the moves we make just make no since at all!! I didn’t understand when we signed this guy to begin with! We have better arms than this just rotting in AA ball! I fully understand why Kimbell was sent down, and I agree with that, but why bring up this up to the big leagues where each and every game count! Just don’t get it at all!!!
Seeer - May 23, 2010
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