Yes, the Atlanta Braves may have had two series wins since being swept by the White Sox, but that sweep was still fresh in the minds of the fans, and it affected the fan confidence. The FCP dipped below 80% to 77% for the first time since May, as it had previously spent all of June in the 80s.
It was an understandable drop, and the sweep was quite a blow to a team that had been cruising for so long, but that sweep and the two hard-fought series wins since then may be evidence that the Braves do indeed need some more help on their team. Certainly getting Jair Jurrjens back and removing Kenshin Kawakami from the rotation will help, but getting Matt Diaz and Nate McLouth back from the DL may not be enough to boost the offense.
In the lead-up to the All-Star break the Braves will face every NL East team once (they have already faced the Nationals). The Marlins come to town next, then the team goes to Philly and finally New York, where they end the first half. How the Braves play in these next nine games will say a lot about this team, since Jason Heyward will be missing from the lineup. The Braves have a chance to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the division, on the other hand, they could also let a couple of other teams slip ahead of them.
It's going to be a tough, but fun nine games.
Note: We did indeed have some technical glitches with the newfangled interface on the fan confidence poll last Monday. Dare I say that some people feel a little less bewildered about Floridians circa 2000 than they did last week. The result of 77% was a bit of a "grade on a curve" kind of week for the FCP, as I had to make a command decision that the 67% the new poll kicked out was way off base due to some hanging chads... I never knew so many old people read my blog...
0 recs | 68 comments
Not to worry, Gondeee
I have contacted The Reverend Jesse Jackson and informed him of voter disenfranchisement. You should be hearing from him soon……..
UMDBHIK - July 1, 2010
Shit, if Warren Christopher and/or James Baker knew how to find the internet I’d be in trouble.
gondeee - July 1, 2010
I find it really interesting how the schedule works out.
We (as the 1st place team) play the NL East going into the All Star break in order of worst up. Washington, Florida, Philly, NY. It’s fun the see the competition get stronger as a test ending the 1st half of the season.
Pavy848 - July 1, 2010
Nice observation.
gondeee - July 1, 2010
I accidentally clicked “vote now” at the 50% default last week… Can’t imagine I was the only one.
Richard R - July 1, 2010
yeah i did that to and was mad that i did it lol
d1gram420 - July 1, 2010
same here… I would have put up a nine spot!
UpstateNyBravesFan - July 1, 2010
User error skews the poll this week
Too many reporting they voted at a default or 0 number instead of their real opinion. My guess is that fan confidence is really at worst the same, likely a little bump after pulling out 2 hard-fought series wins afterward.
skymuse - July 1, 2010
Hate to say I called this
Oh, who am i kidding, i love being right!
10-4 - July 1, 2010
Dude, can your computer even handle a click-poll such as this?
justincredubil02 - July 1, 2010
haha
GoBravesNY - July 1, 2010
not sure, i voted on my work computer. It did handle your Proctobomb pretty well though.
10-4 - July 2, 2010
My proctobombs are classic.
justincredubil02 - July 2, 2010
like New Coke
Mr. Sanchez - July 2, 2010
Or
like Old Coke. Not classic coke, but old coke. Or Gatorade.
frozendesert - July 2, 2010
Come on, now...
Four hours seems to be cutting it a bit close. Everybody can do better than that if they want to pull a bomb.
MichaelProcton - July 4, 2010
Wait did I just see "boost the offense" and "Nate McClouth" in the same sentence?
SuperNewb - July 1, 2010
HEY GUYS
http://twitter.com/CyborgHanson48/status/17515539457
kbertling353 - July 1, 2010
Lol i wonder if it really is Lemmer
MBL1 - July 1, 2010 via mobile
LOL.. pwned
GoBravesNY - July 1, 2010
Wish
that approached worked in some of his last starts.
frozendesert - July 2, 2010
Utley to have thumb surgery, expected to miss 5-6 weeks.
That should boost the confidence
MBL1 - July 1, 2010 via mobile
Actually, now it’s more like 8 weeks. Wow, two whole months of no Chase Utley?
TonyAlmeyda - July 1, 2010
also known as...
heaven. or maybe iowa.
VivaLosBravos - July 1, 2010
not enough people quote Field of Dreams
kudos to you!
kreese555 - July 1, 2010
The year of the thumb
Diaz, Heyward & now Utley (not to mention past issus from Chipper). Heard on a broadcasts that Diaz could’ve face amputation if they hadn’t got to it in time. Yikes. Concerning my confidence, it wasn’t shaken by a series sweep by Chicago. The Braves had been playing good. Chicago came in hot. This is baseball. Crap happens.One interleague series isn’t going to move me.
The upcoming series w/our division rivals is going to be the real test. Regardless of the outcome I’m confident of this. The Braves will give them one helluva fight.
adc62 - July 1, 2010
Well,
there be going my fantasy team that I haven’t checked since I drafted in March.
frozendesert - July 2, 2010
Minor just dominated AAA. 7.2IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 9 K’s, 1 ER
telemakhos - July 1, 2010
Sell high…
justincredubil02 - July 1, 2010
sigh...
or keep a guy that’s proving to be a top of the rotation starter in the high minors…
either way.
telemakhos - July 1, 2010
I like Minor, but he is very expendible, and is pitching WAY above anything he has ever shown before, so he is a perfect example of a sell high. If he were our only pitching prospect, I would be inclined to keep him, but he isn’t.
He could have more trade value than any of our other pitchers right now. To get a great outfielder, like Kemp, we have to give up some things. Minor would be an excellent candidate.
justincredubil02 - July 1, 2010
i know you and i don't agree much
but i feel that we’re on the same page with Matt Kemp.
Scott Coleman - July 2, 2010
If Mike Minor
can bring us Kemp, then kudos (and I mean a whole lot of them, including some filled with peanut butter and chocolate) to Frank Wren. On the other hand, as much as I appreciate the immaculate steal from Billy Bean that was Tim Hudson, I have grown to hate the idea of dealing from the farm system because it is a “position of strength”. Having five thousand dollars as opposed to one dollar does not make any dollar less valuable than the one.
Also, really fast, to Justin: you say that Mike Minor’s ceiling is not that of a top-of-the rotation starter, yet you say that he could have more trade value than any of our other pitchers. Isn’t trade value based on perception? Or do you perceive that twenty nine other general managers and three hundred other special assistants, along with the countless baseball entities, from scouts to accountants, who might be involved within a trade would simply say ’let’s get Minor! Look at those K’s!’ while you and Frank Wren sit back, chill, and share a Corona, all while being absorbed in the fact that you were the only two people in baseball who knew that Minor was just playing way above his head?
But in this case, my perception is wrong, because I can’t tell what you think of Minor right now.
frozendesert - July 2, 2010
You say his ceiling is top of the rotation starter. Are you and Frank Wren sitting back drinking Coronas while the rest of the baseball world is oblivious to this little factoid?
Everyone in baseball is shocked that Minor is pitching with increased velocity and control in his first season. Nobody that I have read expects him to be able to keep this up.
I am one of the biggest Minor fans on this site, but claiming him to be a #1 starter is ridiculous – especially after a handful of games against lesser competition (remember, he was a polished college pitcher, not some 19 year old scrub).
Unless of course, you think he was just sandbagging his velocity all through college and the part of the season he pitched last year.
justincredubil02 - July 2, 2010
Or that he fine tuned his mechanics...
and as he got a little older, he got a little strong. Neither one of those things is out of the realm of possibility, and both are much more likely than not.
Mr. Sanchez - July 2, 2010
I hope you are right.
justincredubil02 - July 3, 2010
A little older?
Like a few months?
MichaelProcton - July 4, 2010
JJ has more value, among others
Mr. Sanchez - July 2, 2010
Yup.
Like that Cyborg. Or any of Lopez, Delgado, Vizcaino, and Teheran.
frozendesert - July 2, 2010
The same Vizcaino that just went on the DL?
justincredubil02 - July 2, 2010
JJ is represented by Scott Boras, and coming up on some big pay-days. JJ has also outpitched his periphs by nearly all accounts, and is just coming back from an injury after being not so great earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Minor is blowing through the minors with increased velocity and sexy K numbers in his first professional season.
Minor could possibly have more trade value right now than JJ.
However, that is not the point I was making. I am saying that Minor probably has more trade value than any of our other minor league studs.
justincredubil02 - July 2, 2010
Minor is, as you say, projected to be a middle of the rotation type...
he wasn’t highly thought of coming out (or at least not top 10 type). Meanwhile, JJ is a proven P at the big league level (oh, and he had that same 3/4 projection coming up that has proven possibly inaccurate). No, Minor could not possibly have more trade value than JJ.
And no, he doesn’t have more trade value than at least Teheran, if not others. But then that is probably depending on who the trade partner is and what their scouts think.
Mr. Sanchez - July 2, 2010
Reposted for Emphasis
justincredubil02 - July 3, 2010
A team that needs a starter now, or in '11, would certainly prefer Minor.
MichaelProcton - July 4, 2010
Absolutely.
His major-league readiness (or closeness to that), too is another element that will probably help on a return for a package that includes him.
MichaelProcton - July 4, 2010
Also, I haven’t heard any scouts say Minor is a top of the rotation guy, even with his awesome 2010 so far.
justincredubil02 - July 1, 2010
The fact that he’s lefthanded, though, while our top prospects and all 6 MLB starters are righthanded, may make him harder to part with. If he could bring us a Kemp, you won’t hear one complaint from me; I’m just pointing out that even if he’s a 3/4 starter rather than a 1/2, the handedness balance he brings might make the organization loath to deal him.
J-Freak - July 1, 2010 via mobile
This year, his velocity has increased, which most of the experts didn’t expect, and his command has improved, raising his ceiling from mid-rotation starter to top of the rotation starter.
Just because he kind of came quickly and easily through our farm system doesn’t mean he’s not just as good of a prospect as the other guys that we’ve had since they were 16.
telemakhos - July 2, 2010
So, his increase in velocity and command was, as you admit, sudden, yet that doesn’t seem to be some sort of warning sign?
justincredubil02 - July 2, 2010
Ummm....
An increase in command is not a warning sign. Neither is an increase in velocity. Both come with a better approach and mechanics, something that I would like to believe a MLB team can teach better than three pitching coaches at Vanderbilt. And God forbid that the scouts don’t spend their time lavishing praise (which will do absolutely nothing in terms of his future development, but will apparently make you change your mind on him!) on our guy in AAA.
frozendesert - July 2, 2010
A temporary spike in these things, to me, says “over achieving” right now. That is the warning sign that I am talking about.
justincredubil02 - July 2, 2010
yes, it’s a warning sign that he’s improving. oh no!
telemakhos - July 2, 2010
So does that make Gregor Blanco an All-Star OF?
MichaelProcton - July 4, 2010
Phils and Mets both lost
MBL1 - July 1, 2010 via mobile
Best news I’ve heard all day!
TonyAlmeyda - July 1, 2010
+1
Pavy848 - July 1, 2010
What’s better is that the Phillies lost to the Pirates with one of the Pirates 5th starters going against Hamels.
Pavy848 - July 1, 2010
Haha
Cole…
frozendesert - July 2, 2010
Aren't all the SPs for Pittsburgh 5th starters?
MichaelProcton - July 4, 2010
Any team is bound to stumble at times.
Whether it be poor pitching matchups, running into hot teams, etc; we hit the White Sox at the wrong time and they capitalized.
I’m not worried, personally. We, around the White Sox, are winning series and will end up with some sweeps of our own.
Keep the Faith. As a Saints fan, thats all we knew until 5 months ago. I feel a Double Championship for me.
Tim Goad - July 1, 2010
Obviously as a Braves fan the sweep blows, but as a fantasy owner, thank GOD something finally woke Quentin up.
J-Freak - July 1, 2010 via mobile
You weren’t in the Jurrjen’s Surgeons group at the game last night by any chance, were you?
kauf67 - July 2, 2010
No, I live roughly 600 miles from the Ted.
I’ve only been to two games in my life. But I watched the games on TBS, with my grandpa, growing up.
I do stand by the fact that I came up with that fan group though, FWIW.
Tim Goad - July 2, 2010
Alright.
But I got dibs on Minor’s punch liners.
frozendesert - July 2, 2010
Hahaha.
Thats a bit long but if you bring a mic and stand to the game that would be funny.
Tim Goad - July 2, 2010
I think Katrina and the Wave sum my feelings up best
I’m walking on sunshine
whoooaaaaaa
And don’t it feel good!
UMDBHIK - July 2, 2010
Heyy! aaaalright now
And dont it feel good!
Hey! Aaaalright now
MBL1 - July 2, 2010 via mobile
Walkin on Sunshine sucks noodles
Mr. Sanchez - July 2, 2010
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