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Talking Chop

Braves Demolish Cubs 16-5, Mike Minor Strikes Out 12

We all know Mike Minor has had haters since the day he was drafted with the 7th pick in the 2009 draft. I'd like to find out where the haters are now.

Mike was absolutely filthy on Sunday, and dominated the Cubs hitters with the exception of a few at-bats. Minor went 6 innings in a 104 pitch effort, and allowed three runs on six hits and one walk. All three of his pitches were dominant today, and the hitters couldn't touch his change-up the entire afternoon. Mike's fastball was moving and alive the entire day and he touched 94 on multiple occasions. His sweeping curveball stayed down in the zone all day, and got three Cubs batters to swing at it in the dirt for strikeouts. All-in-all, it was a great day to watch our young lefty tear the Cubs lineup apart.

The entire offense looked great on Sunday, but Omar Infante and Jason Heyward stood out and were incredible. Combined, they were 8-for-10, with two walks, 4HRs, and 8RBI. Heyward didn't make an out on Sunday, and is now hitting .265. Derrek Lee continued to look uncomfortable at the plate, but broke the game wide open with a 3-run double in the 8th. Martin Prado continued to rake with two hits, and Rick Ankiel continued to remind us of Jeff Francoeur with every at-bat.

After Mike Minor departed, Jonny Venters came in and made quick work of the Cubs hitters in the 7th inning. He allowed a hit, but the Chicago hitters looked confused for the entire inning. Peter Moylan oddly came in to pitch the 8th inning, and allowed two runs on three hits. You can't really fault Moylan though, as he probably had no idea he'd be pitching with an 11 run lead on a getaway day. Cristhian Martinez did his thing in the 9th inning to close out the game.

Whew! What a day on Lou Pinella's final game as the Cubs manager.

The Braves will hop on a plane tonight and get into beautiful Colorado to kick off a 3-game series tomorrow night against the Rockies. It's an 8:40 start, so make a hot pot of coffee (or cold 12-pack of beer) and enjoy the game. The Rockies are on life support right now, and we know they'll give the Braves a fight at Coors Field. It'll be Tim Hudson against Jason Hammel.

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Comments

BRAVES WIN!!!

lead up to 3 for now

that Heyward kid...

…really sucks. Someone should make a fanpost about benching him or moving him down in the lineup or something he’s outrageous

I've already made fun of myself for it in the game thread.
yeah

he has no powerr..

lol +1

A special thank you to everyone who said we should move heyward down in the lineup lol. I guess he’s not a bad number two after all. Who would of thought!?

Who would have thought!?

Grammar Police

Jeffy wishes he had Ankiel’s .318 OBP.

Just imagine

How well the Braves will hit in a place with virtually no atmosphere.

Are the Nats/Phillies still on a game delay?
This recap went up so quickly,

I’d guess the writer is clairvoyant.

Crazy what happens when I don’t have work! Tomorrow’s Rockies recap should come about…3am eastern time.

You always type ‘dominate’ when you mean ‘dominant’.

Check 1, Check 2, Check......

i like win the division better
I like win the NL Pennant better

I posted “Division” on GT and was told “get to playoffs first” . . . I have both, hope to need both.

but if we win the division we get to the playoffs, i don't want the wild card.
I like Win the WS Mo' Betta
This.

Also, rec’d.

Oh, and Minor actually got 13 but the ump robbed him.

Beautiful game. Heyward making up for lost time w’ those homers.

How about win it all.
Great win

Amazing road series win. The offense had a great day. Heyward looked good, but Minor was outstanding. Minor continues to prove a lot of people wrong. He has had only three starts, but I think he can only get better.

oh yeah. Where are the haters?

Minor stuff looked great and was very effective. The curve was good, but the change was unhittable

Anybody remember the scouting report on Minor…“very high floor, ceiling of a #2 or #3 starter”. Looking pretty accurate to me.

Yep...

He’s looking like a #2 right now. He might regress to a #3, though. What’s surprising is that he’s turning into a major strikeout pitcher.

Yeah

Wasn’t he leading MiLB in K’s earlier this year? Out of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting a 12 K pitcher in Minor 4 months ago.

yep

IIRC he was the first to record 100 strikeouts in baseball, minors and majors

Minor is a winnar

10-2 against Nats
16-5 agains Cubs

the team score a lot of runs when he is the starting pitcher.

and

He throws quality starts

He looks crafty

meh

QS is BS. Its essentially a 4.5 ERA starter

Not exactly....

That’s just the worst a pitcher can do and get a QS. The cut-off has to be somewhere. Where would you place it?

It's basically a good tool that needs to be tweaked a bit.

Jon Sciambi is the only announcer I’ve ever heard discuss it with any rationality. It’s almost always derided with the “4.50 ERA” meme, often followed with some story about how pitchers in the Old Days were like Yosemite Sam, rootin’ tootin’ desperadoes who expected to go at least 12 innings in every start and how today’s milquetoasts can’t hold a candle to them.

Personally, (and this isn’t an especially original observation/recommendation, I’ve seen it or variations of it several times and several places), I would up the minimum requirement to 7 innings and I would pro rate that much of whatever the league ERA was at that time to get what you should see as a baseline. Getting in at or under that after 7 should qualify as a QS, which is nothing really except a measurement of how many times the starter gives his team a reasonable chance to win.

Seems to me that holding an opponent to 4.5 runs in 9 innings is giving your team a good chance to win. Don’t most teams average 4 or 5 runs offensively per game. To me, a quality start does not mean a dominating start, it means the pitcher did not lose the game early. 3 runs in 6 innings is catchupable if the offense shows up at all. The pitcher did his job.

Exactly.

It’s designed to measure competence, not dominance.

i think

it should be 2 in 6 innings and 3 in 7

And change the name from “quality start” to " ace outing"!

i guess i have high standards

Ace to me is 8IP 1ER

Factoring in the dominance side with the 1ER and also the guy that gives your pen a rest and goes deep into the game with 8IP

I'm pretty sure

He was joking.

PUH-SHAW

It’s perfection or it’s CRAP!

It's a 4.5 ERA ...

AT WORST. More often you’d see pitchers last longer than 6 and give up fewer than 3. If you hold strictly to the minimum requirements, it’s going to look worse than it would otherwise.

Watching Lou's press conference after the game...

I re-realized what I think we’ve all known the entire year… This season is going to end in tears (at least for me, I’m guessing for most other people too) no matter what. Win or lose I’m going to end up crying at the end of the season. I think what the team is working towards is making those tears of joy… I’m not sure what point I’m trying to make here, I’m just saying this year is beyond special. And I’ll kill anybody that gives up on this team at any point… I’m not giving up on any game this year, or the season, or any postseason series until the very, VERY last pitch.

and hopefully we can carry all these good feelings into next year

WTF. How many games the phillies will play at their home.

They played agains Giants at home, is playing against Nats at home and tomorro they start a serie agains Astros at home.

all that matters

is that we have that last series at home:)

All these home games they’re playing now just means that many more road games they have left to play….

To answer your question – the same amount that every other team in MLB plays. – 81.

Actually

They will get 83 this year __

and 79 road games?

He’s talking about the Blue Jays/Phils series that was moved from Toronto to Philadelphia earlier this year, but officially counted as home games for the Jays (they wore their home whites, batted 2nd, and the DH was used).

It’s actually 3 extra home games.

They got at least one extra...

if not more because of that G8 or G12 stuff that forced the Toronto series not to be in Toronto.

So whats the rotation now? Hanson is having a off year even with all the strikeouts… I guess the rotation should be a 4 man one with:
Hudson
Minor
Double J
Hanson

BTW Screw Lowe

for the playoffs btw

Lowe will be a starter in the playoffs… It’s just a fact. Minor won’t… you really think we’re starting a rookie that will have what… 10 starts?

lol

Lowe actually has pretty good post season numbers.

But i would have it the way it is now..

Huddy
Lowe
j.j
hanson
minor

How is Hanson having an off year? For one it is his 1st FULL season in the majors. For two he has the second best ERA out of our regular starters. For 3 his FIP is still 5th best in the NL.

hes 8-9 thats not a great year maybe it is to u since we have been suffering for a few years

you have to be kidding.

Sigh....

Really? REALLY!?

okay so u wont hanson to be the number two in the playoffs?

yes, I will take him as the #1 even.

Alright Albert K is being stupid... don't make him look smart by being dumb yourself!

How would Tommy be No. 1 with Huddy on the Roster?

the same logic as to why Albert thinks Hanson is doing poorly as to why everyone thinks Hudson is amazing. Don’t get me wrong, Hudson has been amazing but if you are basing an argument statistically then Hanson has been the better all around pitcher. For the record I would take either one 1st. Doesn’t really matter.

Yes, but the statistics you’re using are flawed for measuring Hudson’s performance this year. That GB% is just ridiculous….and he’s remarkably consistent about it.

yeah

and the stats you speak of don’t account for postseason experience, which tends to become a huge factor once you get there

If we took a poll on this blog...

No. 1 Playoff starter… and we got less than 80% Huddy I’d be surprised

Huddy is a no brainer… Besides you know, being 2nd in the league in ERA he has the experience to be the ace in the playoffs, and he’s been our ace the entire season.

I love Tommy, but we’re not sending a 1st full year pitcher that has shown some inconsistency during the year out there as the No. 1 guy in the playoffs, we’re sending Tim Hudson out there.

Oh darn you mean I have to take Hudson? Well that sucks. Seriously guys I’m not bashing Hudson, he has been fantastic this year and you are right that GB rates aren’t factored properly into most sabermetric stats. My original point was to the guy that asked if we would take Hanson #2 in the playoffs and I would be fine taking him #1.

I can go with that argument....

And Hanson would be #1 easily on most teams.

I'll agree on *many* teams but not most playoff teams
Not really...

Aside from the Phillies’ Halladay, which NL playoff team has a better #1?

I’m assuming it’s going to be Padres, Reds, Phillies, Braves, btw….

I'm sure the Dad's are happy w/ that Lactose kid

Mat Latos is nowhere near the caliber of Hudson or Hanson, IMO.

You’re right, he’s better.

Well, better than Hudson for sure. Maybe not Hanson, but it’s close.

Lies...

Everytime I see Latos pitch, he gets murdered.

since April he hasn’t allowed more than 3 runs in a game. Batters are hitting .192 off him so far this year

Oh brother. He’s had 1 or 2 bad starts all year. Only 1 where he got “murdered”

this

and both were in April. Since then, his monthly ERA has been 1.54 in May, 2.37 in June, 1.04 in July and 1.80 so far in August. I know ERA isn’t the best measure of a pitchers performance but the kids legit

“Murdered” was a bit of a hyperbole. And, I wasn’t referring to just this season.

I don’t know about that – he’s been a beast this year

WHAT? HAve you watched him pitch or checked his stats? You're being a homer now.
I'm not being a homer....I'm looking at his stats right now.

He’s a good pitcher, but he’s not amongst the elite in the NL. I’ll take Hudson and Hanson over him….just like I’d take Halladay or Wainwright or Josh Johnson over them.

statsstatsstatsstatsstats

blahblahblahblahblah

:D

maybe Ubaldo too

especially considering the coors field factor

The Padres...

Potentially the Cards but you have decided they are not making the playoffs.

So if you count the Padres… that’s 2/3 teams.

I would’ve went with Wainwright on the Cardinals, but that’s only if they make it…

Oh...

And I don’t count the Padres.

You just did…

You seem to be misunderstanding something. SuperNewb was implying that Latos was a better #1 choice than Hudson/Hanson, thus making 2/3 playoff teams from the group I selected having better #1s – unless I’m interpreting what he said incorrectly. My response that I don’t count the Padres, means that I don’t count Latos as a better #1 – an argument I’ve already made.

Just Hanson, not Huddy

Well, everyone else here seems to be arguing that Hanson is a better #1 than Hudson, thus making Hudson a worse #1 than Latos…..it’s insanity, I tell ya.

No reason to argue this...

Hudson, Hanson and JJ have been straight dealing lately and Lowe has had mostly good starts since the break.

I have absolutely zero worries about our playoffs rotation this season.

-C

Also one placed advanced stats are picking up Hudson’s worth is in pitch value. His Fastball has been the move valuable pitch in the majors this year. And its not even close.

second this

and because it’s a fastball it helps all his other statistics, he can throw it in any count, runners on or bases empty, strikeout or double play

No.

Hudson is #1…..Hanson is #2, unless JJ usurps it by season’s end.

OH NOZ HE DOESN'T HAVE TEH WINZZZ!!!

DFA HANSON NOW!!!!

THIS!

He is not a WINNAR therefore DFA him and sign Clemens.

maybe the guys dont like him thats why they dont score for him… who knows? And btw Lowe wasn’t lights out for LA either

maybe you’re a dumbass…. who knows?

uncallled for.

haha...

but just barely

He was at times, especially 2nd half. We need Maddox around. D Lowe always went off when he joined the team

plus look at SO

Are you joking?

Lowe has been an absolute god in the playoffs. He has lost some of his stuff, but I’d much rather bank on that than an unproven/untested rookie. It’ll be scary enough that Hanson and Jurrjens don’t have any playoff experience either.

I’m guessing that in the playoffs the rotation will be Hudson/Lowe/Jurrjens/Hanson

If Lowe is our #2 starter in the playoffs, we will not go to the WS.

not necessarily

when dudes like minor and jj and even huddy if the timing is right can come out of the BP its alllll good. As long as bobby pulls everyone at the right time we’re golden.

As long as Bobby pulls everyone at the right time we're golden!?

THAT’S WHAT IT TAKES!? YOU’VE DOOMED US!!!

So

You’d rather have Hanson or Jurrjens – two guys with no playoff experience – instead of…Derek Lowe? You do…know…what Derek Lowe has accomplished in the playoffs, right?

I hear that John Smoltz was pretty good in the playoffs too. We should sign him.

Why does “experience” count for so much in the playoffs? Has a rookie pitcher never pitched well in the playoffs? Do you have to have pitched in a playoff game in the past to be able to pitch in one in the future? If so, how did any pitcher ever get experience?

You are insane if you would rather have Lowe pitch over Hanson or JJ just because he has done it in the past.

It would not at all surprise me to see Derek Lowe as our mathematical game 2 pitcher because of his experience.
 
FWIW, I think John Smoltz proved you don’t need a ton of playoff experience to deal in October.

Lol

Like in 1991, when he had zero postseason experience and allowed a total of 5 runs over four starts, picking up 2 wins and competing in one of the most epic pitching performances ever? His lack of experience really cost him there, didn’t it!? How about Steve Avery that same offseason, who also didn’t take a loss in the posteason and also only allowed 5 ER in 4 starts-did he need more experience?

Your argument is silly. Should we get Tom Glavine back so that he can use his experience? Let’s just use our best pitchers, and let postseason experience work its magic in the dugout.

My point

Is while playoff experience may not be extremely important, pitchers who DO have good playoff experience (Derek Lowe has amazing playoff experience) should trump players who have zero playoff experience.

I honestly would not be shocked if Lowe is #1 or #2 starter for playoffs. Assuming we get there. (Knocks on wood).

That is just stupid logic.

So your point is we should be starting...

Jack Morris and John Smoltz instead of Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson. Those two have great playoff history, while Jurrjens and Hanson have none.

I hope you are beginning to understand the insanity of your point. Perhaps now you’ll come to the who’s the better pitcher side instead of who’s been alive longer.

Heyward raised his OPS by 31 points with his performance today. Went from .799 to .830. Most impressive.

That's epic...

And to all his haters, I think .800+ OPS from a rookie is pretty awesome.

I'll take an OPS over .800

from my 20/21 yo rookie RF any day.

Shoot after the RF we have had recently I will take an .800 OPS from any OFer no matter the age.

This is in response to someone on the OT saying that no one will get 90 RBIs this season....

That might be true, but it looks like we could end the season with 6 guys around 15 HRs and 75 RBIs (roughly): McCann, Glaus, Prado, Heyward, Gonzalez, Lee.

Chipper probably would’ve made that list, too, if he hadn’t gotten injured.

Man, Lou's press conference....

….was one of the most emotional things I’ve ever seen in sports. The stopping mid-sentence and saying, ‘this will be the last time in a uniform’ as if it was just hitting him was heartbreaking.

Such a shame to see him leave under these circumstances. Class guy.

Perspective from the other side:

You wouldn’t believe all the people over at BCB who were happy about Lou being gone. It was as if his family shouldn’t matter to him at all.

There was a thread at BCB announcing his retirement, and a few guys used that as their opportunity to spout off just how much they hate Lou.

IMO, he deserves better from Cubs fans.

Anyone think...

He’ll be back a couple years from now??

Definitely not trying to say it without a sense of compassion, but family issues of this kind don’t generally last too long.

The aforementioned uniform statement just leads me to believe that this isn’t the way he wants to leave the game for good…granted, he could go back to broadcasting, analyzing, etc., but I think in his heart of hearts, he still wants to coach.

-C

Not sure.

From what I’ve heard, there was a thought that he would be a consultant in Florida for the Yankees, but I have to think that he’s put those plans on hold after what’s been going on in his family.

that’s pretty awful.

Let me say I was wrong about this kid,all I kept reading about and viewing on t.v. was how Alex White was going to go to us at 7.I did read Minor was pretty good though but all the baseball guys on MLB and ESPN had us taking White.Man I’m so glad we took Minor this kid has been lights out for us.Plus he’s only going to get better once he really settles in and use all of his pitches more.I heard he was told to scrap his slider in the minors have he realy done so or what.I’ve seen Minors fastball top out at 95 so far since he’s been here.This guy will be a good one with the coaching we have to offer up here.

I do have a question though what if Medlen doesn’t need TJ surgery Minor’s a lock to be in the rotation if he keeps this up who do we move to make room.I say Lowe will be the prime target.During the off-season Lowe’s name will come up again for trade potiential but no way Hudson ,J.J. ,Hanson will be dealt.Medlen if he can avoid going under the knife figures to get a legit chance being he’s cheaper and has done better than Lowe.If Medlen needs surgery then Lowe would be just fine.Lowe has more big game experience then Medlen though

Medlen has already had TJ surgery

this

rehab will take 12+ months

Eh....

That’s high end. It’s probably not going to take 12+, given how young he is. I’d say just under 12….

good god...

i think Lowe’s contract expires in 2012 could you imagine the rotation we could have at the start of that season!?!?!?

Hanson
Huddy
Teheran
Minor
Arodys Viscaino, Medlen, Delgado

where is teh JJ?

Getting traded….

Why is everybody so sure this is happening, haha

He’s the oldest of the bunch, so he’ll hit free agency soonest. He also has a longer track record of good stats, meaning his price will inflate faster in arbitration years. Finally, he’s represented by Scott Boras, which will drive the price up in both arbitration and free agency. Why pay more for a guy when you have plenty of cheaper options that are just as good, especially when you can likely trade him at the peak of his value to get a pretty good bat or some A grade prospects?

That was a pretty legit answer.
well oldest excluding Hudson...

and I agree 100%, in fact I believe no less than 2 of those guys getting traded perhaps 3 but medlen might be a reliever, depending how he rebounds from surgery

we should at least be able to get a top quality 3rd base or OF prospect, with replacement level pitching by the time all’s said and done

I was talking about non-contract pitchers. I thought that was obvious.

it was

OH THAAAAAT’S HOW YOU GET BOLD LETTERS IN THE MIDDLE SECION!!!

but the point is you don’t know if they will be just as good. With everyone so ready to kick JJ out the door, I hope he stays. Hanson is also rep by Boras, so what? The Braves should not factor in that when making trades.

you say kicking him out...

but personally I love JJ i just think we can use his great track record and his still existing upside (he’s 24 and hasn’t even developed a reliable breaking pitch yet) to get more than he’s worth in a trade

Hanson is rep’d by Boras, but he’s under control for longer….

yeah

and Chipper’s, Lowe’s, McLouth’s and KK’s salary will all be off the books. I’d say that make Hanson about a million times more signable no matter who his agent is

well i flat out forgot him...

due to being overwhelmed with the dominance, but thats a good point!

Ummm……Medlen HAD surgery.

Medlen does need TJ surgery... that's why he had it
Haters wanna hate; lovers wanna love; I don't even want, none o' the above: I want the Braves to win.
Opening Day #2

Heyward homered, Score:16-5

Heyward should hit HR more often
If only he would try harder.
wow

When we won, everybody won.
Phillies are winning
Reds are winning
Cardinals won
Padres won

Nationals lost!
Cubs lost!
Giants lost!
Brewers lost!

That's okay..

We do that the rest of the year and we win the division.

MLB.com

“…weren’t as unique as those provided by Mike Minor, who accomplished something that no other Braves rookie pitcher had done over the course of the past 47 years.”

I'm going to admit I was one of Mike Minor's biggest haters!

But this Mike Minor is not the same Mike Minor I saw pitch in person at Vandy! Man the Braves saw what I and every other scout saw that his mechanics were out of whack. A tweak in his mechanics has added velocity and more bite on his CB. Dude has far exceeded my expectation and I hope he continues to make me eat crow! IT TASTE FREAKING GREAT LOL!

Once you’ve commented on something, it is set in stone! You can’t change your opinion when you get new information or circumstances change. That would be stupid.

Looking around the minors...

DSL is finished up the year yesterday.
GCL had the day off.
Danville, losing bad but Andrelton Simmons is 2-2 with a BB.
Rome won 6-5 with a lot of guys having multi-hit days (Weaver, Terdoslavich, Hefflinger, Bethancourt)
Myrtle just started, with Zeke Spruill giving up 4 runs in the top of the first. But I did notice Myke Jones was Carolina League player of the week last week.
Mississippi is getting rocked 8-1 in the 3rd.
Gwinnett won 10-8. Kimbrel vultured a win from a blow save, with Marek closing it out. Kenshin started (his 4th in Gwinnett), 5.2 innings (87 pitches), 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 HR, but 9 K to 0 BB. The big sticks were Thurston (2 hits, 1 HR), Freeman (2-5 with a BB and a K), Canizares 3-6, Clevlen 4-6 with a HR, Wilikin Ramirez had a HR, Sammons had a HR, Boscan and Bolivar had 2 hits each.

Final DSL stats...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ibp&cid=605

The pitchers put up much better numbers than the hitters; with Ignacio Geronimo, Jesus Saldeno, Abraham Espinosa, Jean Carlos Gil, Ramon Sauceda, and Rafael Bricino looking like the most promising.

What about the AAAA Royals?

I have a strong feeling

Kimbrel wont be our closer going forward. Venters has kind of vaulted himself to the spot and I wouldnt mind one bit if Venters closed and Kimbrel was the SU man.

I thought EOF pitched in today’s game not JV?

Gameday had it as eof and later corrected it. Confused me too.

even

ESPN has it in EOF game log

That’s because ESPN is made of stupidity

Wow, I can't believe Bobby wasted JV in this slopfest.
to be honest

JV was prob already warming up because before he came in it was a close game still

That’s a good point

Minor probably won't be in our playoff rotation. We will most likely shut him down to keep his innings low right?

I would sure think so. His next start will be skipped with the off-day, and they plan to do that from here on out. I think he’ll be the ’pen if we make it.

We should call a moratorium on discussing potential playoff rosters

For another two weeks. After that, it’s probably close enough to be fair, even if the race remains close.

I think J-Hey is about to go on a huge tear.

I like the way you think

Please tell me how I can subscribe to your newsletter.

I had benched him all week. I was so lucky Aaron hill didn’t start today as I moved hey to my util spot.

Worse for me, I had Heyward benched for some reason and forgot to put Minor in, had him benched too. I FAILED

I always forget to start Tommy Hanson. I remembered to do that for Saturday, since he’s been super awesome recently.

BIG MISTAKE. I also remembered to start Tim Lincecum on Saturday. omg, I am so close to dropping him, but there aren’t really any better options available for me.

Mike Minor has nauseating swag

Mike Minor and Jason Heyward will cure cancer, save people from earthquakes and rescue kittens from a tree all in one day.

You forgot about All Star Infante…..and throw in “bring world peace”.

Wow

I would have never expected such a performance out of Minor like this but I’ll take it!

Also good to see Heyward tearing it up today, hopefully this gets him going again and he can get back to putting up some monster numbers. It’s kind of ironic that this performance happened a day after I was just talking about how he wouldnt be ROY unless he had a monster finish to the season.

JHey kills the Cubs, lol.

hopefully

it sends him on a tear like it did before

There's a chance

Omar still has a chance to win the batting title if he starts the rest of the way. Too bad glaus will probably ruin his small chance.

a healthy Glaus over a healthy Infante anyday.

Prado
Heyward
Lee
McCann
Glaus
Hinske
Gonzalez
Cabrera

is much better IMO

It depends a lot on Lee, Glaus, and Infante’s ability to produce from here on out, and obviously on if Glaus can play third or not. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Infante stay in the line up.

Any chance infante gets some starts in LF?

Infante
Prado
Heyward
Lee
McCann
Glaus
Gonzalez
Melky/Ankiel

I’ve always respected your opinion, but that just went whoosh over my head. Infante is batting a solid 100 points higher than Glaus and is infinitly more mobile in the field and on the basepaths. If Glaus gets his rest and his legs allow him to return to his May production, I want him playing too. But I have some serious doubts we get that. Meanwhile Infante has raked for a second or third year in a row and folks want him benched. Why trade an auto-single for a GIDP?

I'm sorry

But I’ve watched Infante get 2 hits one day and 3 hits the next, then sit on the bench for 3 days while the offense struggles, way too many times this season. If the man can keep producing, the man should keep playing. Sit Gonzalez, play Infante at SS. Sit Diaz or Melky, let Infante play LF. Leave him at 2nd, he makes a great turn on DP’s. Sitting Infante at this point is nothing short of ignorant in my book. My God, he has an 11 game hitting streak, batting .450 for those games and we are talking about benching him for Glaus. My head is about to explode thinking about that.

WHY bench Sea Bass- He has raked. That is just stupid. If anything move him to LF, not to SS. Gonzo has been maybe the 2nd best hitter the past week or more- Infante has been the best, McCann struggled this series, J Hey struggled until this series, Ankiel had 1 good game, Prado did decent not great, Lee had 1 good hit, Diaz did good against the lefty, melky did bad

On Gonzo

I didn’t mean permanently, I meant a day off. Frankly, I don’t care where Infante plays, so long as he plays.

I think you missed bighop’s point. It wasn’t to bench Gonzalez….it was just a list of examples, with the meaning of: PLAY INFANTE ANYWHERE, BUT JUST PLAY HIM!!

Yes it was my point

Thanks, I was ranting and not real clear about it

Damn

That doesn’t read right either! Eric understood what I couldn’t write is what I’m struggling to say.

Hey man thats why its an opinion

If Glaus comes back and gives us what he gave in May then yes I would rather have him in the lineup everyday over Infante.

Like I said, I always respected your posts, they are always good. I just don’t see Glaus finding his “May game”.

i doubt it will happen as well

just me saying that if we gave Glaus a few games at 3B and he was tearing it up again i would rather him stay than Infante.

a lot of it has to do with me believing that Infante is playing way above his head. Im ok with guys having career years but he is WAY above his career numbers. Last year when Prado did this he was right in line with his career numbers just as he is this year. Infante’s BAbip has to be up around .390-.400 now

Absolutely not

Guess you didn’t watch Glaus’s play in every month but May. Omar has been on a complete tear and if you forget was an All-Star this year as well… Glaus was not. He was an All-Star for a month out of the entire season.

Glaus has power with good OBP. Infante has batting average with minimal power.

One isn’t “Better” than the other. It just depends on what you prefer. I’ll take the guy with power, but either one works.

You are ignoring current results...

that is the two of them historically, but right now, ride the hot hand imo.

And Glaus needs to prove he’s back to good health before he rejoins the discussion.

Agreed. That’s why he’s doing the AAA thing. Obviously, if he is still not up to par, Infante should start.

Infante's selection to the AS team

matters not at this point in the season.

I would go with Omar until he cools off. I don't see May Glaus coming back, or even June Glaus.
Really?

You’re still posting this.

yes i am

as its my opinion on the matter.

What does Infante have to do?

Like, at the end of the season if his average is still above .350, will you still be going on about how Glaus would have been better than him?

i think you are misunderstanding me

im not saying Glaus will be a better option than Infante no matter what. Only if he gets back to his May way of hitting. Even June was good he just had a lower average but still had an OPS of .869

What?!!

Really.

So, when Glaus gets off the DL you’d rather start him at 3B and sit a red hot Omar Infante – just to test Glaus and see if he’s “back to his May way of hitting?!”

Really?

Really?

I mean…really?

Yeah, I guess you’re right. June, July, and August were not enough to verify that Glaus is not back to his “May way of hitting.” We should sit one of our hottest players to give Glaus another shot!

Someone isn’t thinking clearly. Apparenlty you missed the part about Glaus’ AAA rehab assignment.

And Infante over Hinske

anyday.

thank God, we wont see Ramirez again.

How many times we got out him?

Rumors

Maybe he heard the rumors about him to the braves and wanted to show them they traded for the wrong guy

well

actually what happened is that he wouldnt re-structure his contract for us so we went after Lee.

Aramis Ramirez in this series:

8 for 12, 2 HR, 6 RBI

I’m glad to see some early offense for once! Let’s hope it continues against the Rockies.

Good news for the Braves is that they’ll miss Ubaldo Jimenez this week, although I was looking forward to getting some payback for that no-hitter, so I’m almost completely positive the Braves will have a good series.

Phillies will have four at home with the Astros.

Phillies schedule is a joke.

the schedule is always the same

except for 3 extra home games for the Phillies

It just seems like they’re always at home when we’re on the road and always playing bad teams when we’re playing good teams. Seems that way cuz I’m a Braves fan, it isn’t really that way

I hate to put it this way

But the reason they are always playing crappy teams is because the Phillies are a very good team. Their offense can be as potent as any in MLB, and they have a few good pitchers.

Yes, the Phillies are a good team. But their bullpen and bench aren’t very good. The Braves have a better bench and bullpen than the Phillies.

I wouldn’t say they have a bad bench given how well they have played with Utley, Rollins, Howard, Victorino and Ruiz hurt and missing somuch time.

The replacements did their jobs, that’s for sure.

The hell it is!

They have to play the Braves 6 times.

I feel sorry for them.

THIS

times a million!!!

True but the Astros have been pesky the second half of the season.

After 4 at home they go to Padresville without Halladay pitching, then on to the Dodgers.

So I sent in the view from my seat at a game today, and no luck. What’s up widdat?

HERE'S one for you

“FROM ELIAS: The Braves had a multi-HR game from their top 2 hitters in their lineup Sunday (Omar Infante and Jason Heyward). It’s the first time in Braves history that their top 2 hitters each had a multi-HR game in the same game.”

Today was like porn. It was just awesome.

Let’s take the series from Colorado and roll into a season close-out!

I would like to be happy and all

What with Heyward having his best game in the bigs, Minor setting a Braves rookie record for Ks, the whole lineup raking and seeing those tiresome yuppie drunks shut the hell up for once, but…knowing that Omar is playing so far over his head and that his crash and burn is inevitable just sucks all the joy from it for me.

you are pretty much the most pessimistic human on the planet aren’t you

Omar is playing so far over his head. Oh woe! He’s hitting .350 on the season and had 2 HRs today. He only got 4 hits in 6 ABs. There’s no way that he won’t suck starting tomorrow. I’m sick of hearing this crap. I’ve heard it almost all year. Omar’s having a career year. Get over it and accept it.

Um, guys...

Sarcasm. I’m on your side of this.

Honest.

Good. I thought for a sec I was gonna have to give back all the fantasy points I’ve been raking in from him.

I think Ed Kowalczyk said it best when he said this:

You’ve got a serious side to you
That could
Give the whole world a frown

The offense was pretty much unstoppable today,

which is obviously awesome. It seems like we can put up the big-run games (8+) as much as anyone, but we also seem to struggle to score 5 or more with regularity, at least lately. Hopefully we can settle into a groove where we consistently score in bunches.

Today was a weird game for Minor. He was obviously pretty dominant to most of the hitters, but he also got hit really hard at times. That ball that Ramirez hit must have gone 450 feet. If he can just harness that dominance throughout a game, he’s going to be special. Actually, this game is kind of like his AA performance this year in microcosm—not dominant runs-wise, but lots of Ks. He’s not going to put up a great ERA this year, but he’s certainly got the ability to do so in a year or two.

Seems he was having trouble spotting his FB. Told B-Mac that he wanted to focus on his off speed stuff. Now that is impressive from such a young rookie pitcher. Shows he’s not afraid, & is a smart in his pitching knowledge.

We now have the same number of runs scored, 579, as the Phillies do this year

But our offense sucks….remember?

Omar Infante has a hit in 23 of the last 24 games

I am not sure if anybody knows or cares but I am keeping tabs. Go Bravos!

Here's a good one for you

Last year when Infante broke a bone in his hand, he was hitting .349….After today, Infante is hitting .349.

Yeah he was awesome with the bat to start last year also.

batting ave. in the last 24 games since being a regular is .394

that is Ted Williams type of numbers. I guess I am the only one geek out by these absurd numbers by Omar. Think I found my new man crush. (Runner up is Mike Minor)

reply fail. That was supposed to be under my post.

But

You know, Glaus > Infante!

So, he needs to be benched ASAP.

/s

Really

Of all of the silly pseudo-controversies we’ve seen coughed up around here, that one is among the silliest.

Peter Gammons' twitter:
Thankfully Braves went with real scouts on Mike Minor(3-0, 19 IP, 22-4 K-BB), not the online “experts” who dsmissed him as a “soft thrower”
He's only 2-0

Bah. Meaningless details. :p

Minor >>>>>>> Hanson

WINNING PERCENTAGE FTW!

We should have drafted Matzek

or some other high school arm in the mid-upper 90s who wouldn’t be above A ball right now.

Fortunately, the Braves organization has a lot of experience with using “soft throwers”… at least two whose next destination is Cooperstown.

+10000000

To second guess the Minor pick at this point is pointless….He has already won more games than many of these so-called mid-upper 90’s high school wiz kids who never reach
the majors.

Pitching is an art….Throwing is athletic….We had two Picasso’s with numbers retired (31,47) that should remind us all that speed is not everything.

Another note

The excitement about Minor needs to be tempered slightly, unfortunately. He has pitched ~152 innings already this year, last year he pitched 110. Verducci suggests a range of ~30 innings or so more than the previous year, so Minor is already over that limit. I’m slightly worried that if the Braves don’t shut him down soon, they’ll regret it later.

My bet, with the off day on Thursday (when Minor would have pitched again), his spot will get skipped. He’ll either get one more start after that, or KK gets the call back up.

i actually

asked DOB and Bowman on twitter what his inning cap would be and they said their isnt one.

And there shouldn't be

I can remember when pitchers didn’t have to worry about how many pitches/innings they threw. It’s too much babying going on now days and to me that’s what’s the cause of most of these arm injuries. I don’t have stats to prove it but there are far more guys having arm issues now than back in the day.

+100000000000

exactly

MRI = downfall of modern baseball

That and pitch counts

Mark Prior disagrees.

Ugh

And what numbers do you have to verify this?

I hate stat people as much as myself, but Tom Verducci has proven beyond a doubt that whenever a pitcher throws more than 30 innings than his career max, there will be major implications down the road later. Either a severe drop off in talent (i.e. Cole Hamels), or worse a bad injury.

Wait….you hate yourself as much as stat people?

Haha

I fail at posting during lunch. Sandwich in one hand while pecking away at the keyboard with the other hand /= perfect grammar.

 I think you know what I meant though :-p

lol

blah blah blah name drop blah blah twitter blah DOB yeah I’m getting coffee with Bowman after the rockies series

Let him have an “inning cap” next year. This is our year to do it for Bobby!

Does that count the Arizona Fall...

and other games?

That was beautiful to read after waking up this morning!

NICE win!

Minor looks fantastic, the guys just keep hitting (for the most part) and that Heyward kid – what can I say about him? I guess the poster was right when he said Heyward needs to be lower in the lineup – like 3rd or 4th.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am not a big fan of Lee in the 3 hole right now.

I think he'll be fine

He just needs to get out of Chicago and not playing against his old running mates. I’ll hold judgment until we get a few more series with him there

He'll be fine Justin

I chalk it up to him playing his former team and the butterflies had play a factor. Let’s see how he does in the Rockies series.

I wasn’t ready to put Heyward in the 3 hole this year – mainly because of Chipper and his awesomeness for my entire cognisant life. However, I have no such feelings for Lee and can think with my head instead of my heart now, and I think Heyward belongs in the 3 spot.

I’d like Lee 4th.

Absolutely

Like Gant and McGriff in ’93: a power guy from either side of the plate, back to back in the order.

"I’d like Lee 4th."

Um, that’s the only spot he’s hit in here.
Infante
Heyward
Prado
LEE!

I thought it went Prado, Heyward Lee in at least one of those games…

Nope.

The entire Cubs series was Infante, Heyward, Prado, Lee.

Nope, it was that 4 every time.

And it seems the standard going forward will be…
Infante
Heyward
Prado
Lee
McCann
when all 5 are in the lineup.
Of course, there will be various mixing and matching when Ross plays for McCann and if Glaus proves he can handle 3B, but for right now, I’d guess our “A” lineup is…
Infante
Heyward
Prado
Lee
McCann
Hinske/Diaz
Gonzalez
Melky/Ankiel

Ah, gracias.

In that case, swap Heyward and Prado.

Absolutely. That one is a bit of a head scratcher.

Uhm

Infante?

Oh wait that’s right! He’s playing over his head and will regress promptly.

What?

Several people around here

Have been beating that drum of late, even to the point of advocating that the team go out and get a replacement for him before the deadline. Sag (and others, including me) have objected to that, often using irony and sarcasm. Several other people have misread that and assumed (as with my response above) that we’re being serious, which just adds to the confusion.

Infante IS playing over his head. He is bound to regress soon. That doesn’t mean we think he is a bad player – he isn’t. He just isn’t THIS good. Nobody is.

Let's break down 1 and 2...

1) Infante IS playing over his head. likely true
2) He is bound to regress soon define “soon” and look into your crystal ball to give the exact date. Since you have no crystal ball, let the man play until he proves he’s “regressed”

I never said to bench him…

And besides, what does Infante have to do with my post that Sage was replying to?

This damn tree system

Masks what is a straight response to something from time to time. I think he was suggesting Omar in the 4 slot.

To be clear:

I wouldn’t bat Omar in the cleanup spot, myself.

I know you aren’t saying Infante is bad, but that was the suggestion a few days ago from another poster, to the extent that he advocated getting a replacement for Infante. Like this week, before the deadline. That struck me as insane and it still does.

I’ve never denied that he’s having a career year. I’ve denied that he’s absolutely, positively bound for a regreession, at least with the lead pipe certainty that many people around here invest that idea with. “Probably” is not “will.”

daygames RULE

first live innings i watched (oh wait, i did see Mac strike out to end the game also for some reason) since moving out here and i cant wait to join the next daygame OT.

This country is just littered with Yankee fans (i know, puke-ola time) but something tells me we have a chance for old school WS and if that happens, at least bars will stay up and open all night to broadcast the games. For that alone I hope the yanks are our opponents.

16-5, Deja Lou!

With Pinella now retired, it Can’t be an Uglier Baseball Season for the northsiders.

In honor of Minor's 12Ks (for Mr. Sanchez)


(I hope the new version shows up, you may have to refresh)

TC's cache is storing the old. Let me try this:

BEAUTIFUL!

Mrs. Chopper, I do believe you have a gift, and I must say thank you for bestowing it on the rest of us.

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