Free Freddie Freeman!
Gwinnett 4, Durham 3
Since the All-Star break, Troy Glaus has a .195 average and a .570 OPS, Freddie Freeman has a .373 average and a 1.038 OPS, and Barbaro Canizares has a .388 average and a .998 OPS. Obviously, it's unrealistic to expect Freeman or Canizares to duplicate those numbers in the Majors, but it's highly unlikely that they couldn't easily outproduce Glaus' production. Brandon Beachy gave up a few too many hits, but he didn't walk anyone and managed to fan 7 in just 5 innings. He's racked up the strikeouts this year, averaging 11.6 K/9. Eric O'Flaherty pitched a scoreless 6th inning in his first rehab appearance and Steve Marek and Craig Kimbrel pitched perfect 8th and 9th innings. Clint Sammons started at third base, playing there for just the second time in his career.
Mississippi 5, Montgomery 3
Ty'Relle Harris made his first start as a professional, and allowed his first earned runs with Mississippi, but still was effective. Yeliar Castro rebounded from a pair of bad outings with 3 scoreless innings. Mauro Gomez homered and doubled, with the double tying him for the league lead. He's got a good chance of taking over sole possession of that lead, since the hitter he's tied with, Willie Cabrera, is in AAA now. Yasser Gomez has a 4 game hitting streak, going 6-15 in that span.
Myrtle Beach 2, Potomac 4
Myke Jones hit his fourth homer in his last 4 games and in his last 7 he's gone 8-22, with 2 doubles, the 4 homers, 7 RBI, 6 walks, and 2 stolen bases. After only allowing 2 earned runs in 11 innings in his last 2 starts, Cory Rasmus allowed 4 in 5 innings tonight. On the bright side, he didn't walk anyone. After putting up a 2.61 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 41.1 innings for Rome, Andrew Wilson tossed 3 scoreless innings in his debut for Myrtle Beach. royhobbs and Smoltz's Beard were at this game, and they'll be there tomorrow, so if you're in the DC area head to Woodbridge and watch some Baby Braves. I'll be at the game there Sunday.
Rome 4, Augusta 7
Brett DeVall was charged with 4 unearned runs in the 4th inning, which started off with an error by first baseman Osman Marval. David Hale's turnaround this year has been just outstanding. He's averaging 3.1 innings per outing, so the Braves have figured out how to manage the need to keep him out of the roatation, where he was just awfu, and the need to put innings on his arm. Prior to the All-Star break he had a 6.75 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP in 44 innings, since he's had a 0.54 ERA and a 1.14 ERA in 33.1 innings. Steve Kent has had a great year coming off of Tommy John surgery, with a 1.11 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and 13.3 K/9 in 24.1 relief innings. He not only pitched 3 scoreless innings tonight, but took a nasty line drive off the back of his pitching shoulder and managed to grind through it.
Danville 11, Bluefield 3
Andrelton Simmons extended his hitting streak to 5 games, going 7-20 in that span. 19 year old Nicaraguan second baseman Elmer Reyes has been great in August, with a .311 average and a .837 OPS in 45 at bats. Ryan Delgado has been outstanding in August as well, with a .350 average and a 1.009 OPS in 20 at bats. In his last 4 games, first baseman Joey Terdoslavich has gone 6-12 with 2 homers and 6 RBI. Aside from his second start of the year, Aaron Northcraft has been really good this year.
GCL Braves 4, GCL Phillies 15
Tyler Hess, a 21 year old selected in the 19th round this year, had the worst outing of any Braves farmhand this season, giving up 4 hits, 4 walks, and allowing 8 earned runs while recording just 1 out. His ERA nearly doubled, from 3.00 to 5.92. Apparently Kyle Rose leaving the game early yesterday was part of the plan, and today he showed he's recovering well, stealing the only time he reached base.
DSL Braves 3, DSL Tigers 4
After hitting .313 with a .901 OPS in his first 35 games, Aris Alcantra has fallen off, with a .239 average and a .605 OPS in his last 20 games. 17 year old Mexican Ramon Sauceda made his first professional start, allowing just 1 unearned run over 7 innings. So far that's all he's allowed in 9 innings over 3 appearances. Ignacio Geronimo hasn't allowed an earned run in his last 19 innings, with a 0.73 WHIP in that span.
0 recs | 47 comments
Andrelton Simmons vexes me
He’s like, just a good enough hitter to convince you he deserves his chance there, but he’s not so good to make you think he’ll be a huge asset as a major leaguer. Even though he was going to be a project as a pitcher, I can still wonder if he might not have been better suited there. Of course, it’s still early to make a determination on him.
As for Freeman-the man is white hot, and he’s giving me tons of hope for the future, but I’d just as soon not rush his development. Yeah, you’d think he can do better than Glaus has been lately, but then, Glaus will probably not continue to be as bad as he has.
Bronn - August 14, 2010
As far as Simmons goes, I’m still seeing a guy who’s hitting .240 with a .609 OPS. He has some hot weeks, but overall he really hasn’t been very good. His defense is apparently outstanding, so he probably doesn’t have to be a great hitter to make it, but he can’t perform that poorly. I’m sure the Braves will give him another year to hit, but if his OPS is closer to .600 than .700 again, especially if he’s a 21 year old playing Low A ball, that’s not something you can really build on going forward.
cbwilk - August 14, 2010
To me, he needs a couple of years of professional experience before any realistic assessments can be made. Elite defensive shortstops with cannon arms don’t exactly fall like manna* from the sky.
fandave - August 14, 2010
Come on, CB. You’re better than that.
Troy has been hitting the ball really well lately. He looks to be warming back up.
justincredubil02 - August 14, 2010
He just stated facts
JasonHeywardisGod - August 14, 2010
Last 28 days: .173/.284/.240/.524
Last 14 days: .188/.235/.281/.517
Last 7 days: .250/.250/.400/.650
His better is bad. Especially since his defense is atrocious. I know you love lost causes, but the guy is just bad. May and June were great, but everything else has been very, very bad and there’s little to no indication it will ever get better.
cbwilk - August 14, 2010
He looks the same right now as he did in April – which led to his May.
I think Glaus is going to finish strong and help us out a ton in Chipper’s absence.
justincredubil02 - August 14, 2010
Chipper over Heyward
Kawkami over Minor
Glaus over Freeman
Is there any old veteran you won’t side with over a hot rookie?
ATLandUNC - August 14, 2010
Well, if you were chiding me for choosing Garret Anderson over Heyward or JoJo Reyes over Minor or Thorman over Freeman, you would have a good point.
justincredubil02 - August 14, 2010
huh
didn’t know playing in the mlb for a year and a half made you a veteran…
SuperNewb - August 14, 2010
When you’re in your mid 30s
You’re a veteran
ATLandUNC - August 14, 2010
I admire your optimism, but I have a feeling that you’re going to be wrong.
Zontar - August 14, 2010
Glaus has been hitting the ball as well as anyone on this team, aside from Chipper, since the start of the Astro series. I still think that Glaus outproduces Freeman on the major league level from here on out. He’s had a homer, a deep double, and a rocket shot to center field that was caught in the last few games. He also had a couples singles thrown in there that helped score runs.
BenDuronio - August 14, 2010
You mean baseball is a sport that thrives on having peaks and valleys in performances?
Pavy848 - August 14, 2010
This is why SSS sucks.
Make this his last 6 games, and he has a .261 avg, with a .261 OBP (about 100 points lower than his career avg due to his lack of walks) and a .435 slg for a .696 ops.
justincredubil02 - August 14, 2010
You were asking for a small sample size. I gave since the AS break, you said he’d hit better lately, and the fact is lately he still sucks. His last 6 games he has a sub .700 OPS? Wow, he’s really on the comeback trail. I know you love lost causes, but this one is over. His back and legs are shot. He’s immobile in the field and at the plate and the chances of him rebounding are so low it’s scary.
cbwilk - August 14, 2010
I’m with cb on this. Enough is enough. The Braves should release Troy and call up both Freddie and Barbardo. The chances of that happening are, however, very unfortunately, very close to zero.
I don’t share justin’s optimism whatsoever, but sure do hope that (to my great surprise) he’s right and Troy starts maximally raking or at least being a halfway decent run producer.
I’m positive that the Braves have the urgent need to score more runs, more consistently, if they are going to be playing post-season baseball.
fandave - August 14, 2010
Come on Justin
You’re better than this.
RichmondBraves - August 14, 2010
No, Glaus is better than this.
justincredubil02 - August 15, 2010
Ok
I’m now officially in the Free Freakin’ Freddie Freeman camp now lol! This is getting ridiculous, kid is awesome!
Jay212033 - August 14, 2010
In regards to Rasmus
It was four in the first inning, with them being literally the result of a HBP, 2R HR, single, 2R HR. And then he actually settled down nicely and worked himself nicely out of the few jams he or the defense put him into for the next four innings.
royhobbs - August 14, 2010
It’s highly unlikely that Freeman or Canizares would hit as poorly as Glaus has since the all-star break but it’s also highly unlikely that Glaus will hit as poorly as Glaus has since the all-star break. It’s easily possible that Glaus would outperform either of them going forward.
Justin Smoak was 23 and a more highly regarded prospect than Freeman and is now back in AAA after posting a .278 wOBA in 86 games. Even Ike Davis, whom everyone seems to love for some reason, is posting a .332 wOBA to Glaus’ .335 on the year (though his defense has made him the more valuable of the two).
Anyway, we’re only a few weeks away from roster expansion. If Glaus hasn’t really picked it up by then I’d be surprised if Freeman wasn’t called up for platooning.
Ron A. - August 14, 2010
…but…he has…
cbwilk - August 14, 2010
And he is unlikely to continue at that rate.
Ron A. - August 14, 2010
Based on what? Past performance? At what other points in his career what he this restricted by injury? Last year when he only played 6 games? The dude is 34. He wouldn’t be the first slugger to suddenly suck at 34. In fact, guys who hit for low average and high slugging like he has for most of his career tend to fall off rapidly right about this age.
cbwilk - August 14, 2010
I do think he sucks. I’ve been saying he sucks most of the year. But OPSing .580 is a lot worse than sucking and it’s unreasonable to think he’ll keep that up for the rest of the year. Given his recent injury the most reasonable thing to do is use the largest post-injury sample we have and assume that is his true talent level, which would put him at a .335 wOBA. A .335 wOBA sucks for a first baseman, especially a poor defensive first baseman, but it’s not at all obvious that someone from AAA could come in and post better numbers and I definitely wouldn’t expect a 20-year-old to “easily outproduce” it.
Again, I think the best thing is just to sit tight for a few weeks and call up Freeman to hit against righties once rosters expand.
Ron A. - August 14, 2010
At the very least
I would like to see Freeman get a September call up (like Chipper in ’93 or Javy in ’92) to let him get his feet wet and experience a pennant chase. At most, I would like to see him sooner, with Glaus taking a DL stint to get fully healthy. The possible downside of that is that Troy seems to be regaining his stroke and that idea may retard that progress.
Still, it seems to me that Troy’s problems are far more releated to his legs (and their lack of strength’s effect on his swing and power) than any real slump. It’s an open question but one I hope they give serious thought to.
Sam Jethroe - August 14, 2010
Is Freddie eligible for Parole yet?????
What the hell were the charges to keep him locked up this long??
KJDH2154 - August 14, 2010
i mean really though
is 4for5 not good enough with a double and a homer. it’s like he can smell the majors and ever since the suspicion of him being called up, hes been on fire. he’s ready to go. I think any prospects with that average and power numbers should be called up. lol but waiting til prado comes back would be a good idea. Give Freeman a couple of starts and if he catches on, give Glaus a load more of rest so he can catch fire in the last month of this division race. If he doesnt catch on, let Brooksy stay at third, Infante at second, and Prado at first
Cody Arrington - August 14, 2010
He’s been on fire all season, not since the rumors of him getting called up started.
And still, I’d rather have Glaus than Freddie right now – and I love Freddie.
Remember, Freddie is hitting like this against AAA pitchers. I’m willing to bet Glaus would have the same numbers, if not better, than Freddie at the AAA level.
justincredubil02 - August 15, 2010
I would bet not. An old, slow bat doesn’t hack it well at AAA. Look at McLouth, he’s not exactly tearing it up at AAA.
cbwilk - August 15, 2010
But McLouth didn’t ever tear it up in the bigs this year either – Troy did.
justincredubil02 - August 15, 2010
For 2 months…that’s all…The other 3 months he’s sucked…
cbwilk - August 15, 2010
I love Freeman and his potential as much as anyone here. That being said I would hate to see him called up now. Maybe in September when his season is over in AAA.
You may disagree and say, “He’s ready now!” But can you honestly tell me that Bobby would start Freeman over Glaus? This just seems highly unlikely to me as Bobby is super loyal even to the detriment of the team. I would prefer that FF just stay hot and keep improving the rest of the month and not lose playing time, at bats, and his hot streak.
However, if Wren brings up FF anytime soon, he better send Glaus to the 15-day mini vacation list to avoid benching FF and losing FF’s potential value to the team.
Pavy848 - August 14, 2010
Glaus looks like he is starting to hit a bit. I would give him 4 or 5 more games to see where this goes. If he is still not hitting, I think we might consider bringing Freeman up, and put Glaus on the DL. I think it would be best to wait til Prado comes back before doing anything.
dkinser86 - August 14, 2010
On the error in Rome.....
……by the 1st baseman Marval – the ball he ‘missed’ was a throw from short from Salcedo that tore through the web of Marval’s glove. No kidding. Marval went straight to the dugout and got himself another glove. Not saying the glove wasn’t ready to bust anyway – but I’m just saying. Weird play.
secondbass - August 14, 2010
That is weird. I also think the scoring system there is weird; he makes an error to start the inning and DeVall follows it up with a pair of hits, a walk to score a run, a popup, and another hit, so only getting one out in the next 5 batters, but still all those runs are unearned.
cbwilk - August 14, 2010
yeah....
What secondbass said!!!
It was a wierd kinda night for us all the way around. Rain delay from spectacular storm then we sat in a suite (which we never do) and it was like watching a game but not really being there……..
Birdzerk tonight if the rain holds off. Wish I’d know other TC’ers were there, we could’ve met up. Anytime you’re gonna be in Rome, email me! :)
rbravesfan - August 14, 2010
Will do
I used to go to 20-30 games a year (2005, 06, 07, 08), but now the kiddies take all of my time. We went to 1 game last year, and we’ve made it to 2 this year. I miss it big time! We did get some autographs last night – Salcedo, Cunningham, Gosselin, Spanjer-Furstenburg. Always a blast….
secondbass - August 14, 2010
glad you had a good time. I think I know who you are, but didn’t want to freak you out by randomly walking up to you last night outside the clubhouse and asking…. lol. If it was you, cute kids! :) We’ll have to meet up sometime – we enjoy the company.
rbravesfan - August 14, 2010
For those venturing to Potomac to catch the Pelicans play, prepare yourself for the worst stadium in all of minor league baseball. There are plenty of high school fields that are better than Pfitzner Stadium.
fattums182 - August 14, 2010
Indeed. It’s pretty bad. The field condition is horrible too. But, they do have one of only 9 of the newest HD video boards and that thing is spectacular. And the folks are really nice there, so I always have a good time. But yeah, it’s a dump. Still better than Richmond.
cbwilk - August 14, 2010
Hey!
That’s completely true unfortunately…
RichmondBraves - August 14, 2010
True. I worked there last season when they had their old Lite-Brite video board from the mid 1980s. Now THAT thing was spectacular.
fattums182 - August 14, 2010
Freddie Freeman is going to be really good, and he could easily be better than Glaus right now. But it’s not so simple as just knowing he’ll be better. Guys his age, no matter their pedigrees, are not automatic bets to produce at the big league level right away. In fact, they struggle more often than not in their first exposure.
I’d love to see Freddie get a chance with Atlanta this year, but I won’t be crying too much if he doesn’t. The chance that he’s going to be the difference for us is pretty slim, I’d say. And there are of course lots of other considerations (roster, service time, clubhouse, etc.), none of which point toward bringing Freeman up as being an obvious move.
Regardless, Freddie looks ready to start next year with the big club, and that is very comforting. He’s going to be a good one eventually.
Jacob Peterson - August 14, 2010
I agree
I think calling him up now wouldn’t make much sense..but I do think when rosters expand that he should be brought up without a doubt because regardless his age he can help this club.
heyward4prez - August 14, 2010 via mobile
I have never been a Bobby Cox basher and I’m not going to start now. I’m no baseball genius either, but I cannot get a grip on why they keep feeding incentive $$ to Glaus when Freeman looks like an offensive and defensive upgrade for less money. Timmons too, while he might see very little playing time at 3rd, his offense is dramatically better than Hicks. The Braves offense is horrible right now, why not give a couple of .810 and .880 OPS players a chance to help out?
bighop - August 14, 2010
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