Playoff Hunt
Myrtle Beach -After defeating Salem tonight, the Pelicans took over the lead for the division's second half title. They're ahead of Kinston and Salem by half a game with 11 games left.
Danville - A Danville win and a Burlington loss helped the D-Braves maintain their hold on the division's second playoff spot, increasing their lead to 3.5 games with 6 games to go.
Gwinnett 9, Charlotte 6
Freddie Freeman extended his hitting streak to 7, knocking in his 83rd run of the season, a Gwinnett record. Troy Glaus was struggling mightily at the plate in Atlanta, but he's having no troubles with AAA pitching, homering again and driving in 4 runs on 3 hits. Barbaro Canizares' batting title is already being engraved. After hitting .250 with a .691 OPS before the All-Star game, Joe Thurston has hit .295 with a .811 OPS since. Scott Diamond had only allowed 4 earned runs in his last 35 innings, but he matched that in just 5.1 tonight. Walks continue to hurt Craig Kimbrel, he's averaging 5.7 per 9 innings, but that is an improvement over teh 6.8 per 9 he allowed last season.
Mississippi 4, Jacksonville 0
This season Mauro Gomez has set Mississippi single season records with 38 doubles and 76 RBI. He's 3 homers shy of Matt Esquivel's single season record of 19. In his last 10 games, Orlando Mercado is hitting .343 with a .823 OPS. Erik Cordier has been Mississippi's best pitcher this year, picking up his organizational leading 11th win, and even adding a pair of hits at the plate.
Myrtle Beach 3, Salem 2
Cody Johnson doubled in Sammy Sime for the walkoff win tonight, giving the Pelicans the lead in the divisional race. Johnson has played well for Myrtle Beach, which you would expect him to, and his strikeout rate is down to his typical 34%. Which is still way, way too high, but in line with what he's always done. If you take out his last start, where he allowed 7 earned runs in 4.1 innings, Brett Oberholtzer has a 3.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in 21 August innings.
Rome 3, Greensboro 6
After pitching well for Danville, a 2.73 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 52.2 innings, Aaron Northcraft hasn't had any success with Rome. The 20 year old has allowed 8 earned runs, 9, hits, and a whopping 12 walks in 6.2 innings for the R-Braves. That's a 10.80 ERA and a 3.15 WHIP. I'm gonna make a pretty easy assumption here: He's much, much better than that. Kyle Rose now has a 4 game hitting streak, going 4-13 with 4 walks and 4 stolen bases in that span. Joey Terdoslavich was good for Danville, with a .296 average and .753 OPS in 189 at bats, but the 21 year old first baseman has been better for Rome, with a .342 average and .796 OPS in 38 at bats.
Danville 10, Greeneville 1
Andrelton Simmons extended his hitting streak to 5 games, going 12-19 with 2 walks, 5 RBI, and 4 stolen bases in that span. Ryan Delgado hits a homer for the second straight night, and he's hit .333 with a 1.073 OPS in his last 10 games. Ronan Pacheco is bouncing between great and awful over his last 4 starts, allowing 12 earned in 2 of those starts and just 2 earned in the other 2.
GCL Braves 2, GCL Phillies 3
Matt Lipka collected 2 of the team's 5 hits today. In 73.2 innings split almost evenly between the DSL and the CGL, Eduardo Castillo has a 3.30 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.
0 recs | 39 comments
WOOHOO THE G BRAVES CORNER INFIELD REPORT
Today just sucked for the regular Braves and luckily I was able to get away and see Gwinnett manage to score early but then hold on for a win. And here’s what I saw of their corner fielders tonight.
Glaus
At Bat #1 – whiffed horribly on an offspeed 0-1 pitch but came back 1-2 with a solid RBI single up the middle.
At Bat #2 –lazy fly ball semi-deep to right field.
At Bat #3 – smacked a 1-0 fastball (again) deep to let center for about a 390 foot two run bomb. Once again looked like the Troy of May.
At Bat #4 – trying to keep up with Freddie, he hits a screaming line drive to center that landed about 300 feet from home on the fly and drove in Freddie for an RBI single. Later came home on an RBI double from 2nd and once he got going, really kinda got going down to home and scored easily (he had held up a little b/c the ball may have been caught).
Defensive Play #1 – medium liner hit over his head, and while getting to it would have been impressive, he got no joke about 3-4 inches off the ground max and didn’t really come close.
Defensive Play #2 – pretty hard hit ball to his left that he actually got over to and his feet were there, but he could not lean over in time to get to the ball (this is becoming a disturbing trend).
Defensive Play #3 – attempted to dive for a ball down the line. I say attempted because he sorted just fell down to his right like a beached whale. It produced a good chuckle from myself and then a number of boos from the other 700 or so people there when they realized it had turned into a double.
Defensive Play #4 – what I’ve been waiting for the last three days. A BUNT. And it was not pretty folks, it was a pretty hard hit bunt too that he didn’t have to rush. But he did and the only piece of the ball he got was maybe the tip of his fingers. He really just could not get down for the ball again, and an E5 was the result. Actually the gameday guy probably got a call after the game from the Braves FO to change this to just a bunt single so his stats don’t look so bad because the error was up on the scoreboard the whole game. But wow, this was 100% an error and don’t believe the evil official scorers for one second.
Summary: Very impressive offensive night with 3 hits, (one being a homer), and 4 driven in. But his defense right now is just awful, I mean awful. He cannot bend down to get to balls even if he does get to them, which is a challenge unto itself.
Freeman
At Bat #1 – hit a HR distance foul down the right field line maybe by 10 feet early in the count. Then smoked an RBI double in between center and right.
At Bat #2 – inside out swing that produce a hard tailing away fliner that eventually tailed into the left fielder’s glove on the edge of the warning track in left center.
At Bat #3 – 6 pitch walk.
At Bat #4 – ho hum, another well struck single pulled over the second baseman. Stole second on a play where he probably would have been out with a good throw, but took out the second baseman so he had no shot.
Defense – Triple play in the first – caught a liner, sprinted to 1st to beat the runner who was on 1st, and tossed to 2nd for my first ever live TP!, caught everything thrown his way, took charge on an infield fly that no one was sure who was going to get for a little while.
Summary: 2-3 with a walk at the plate. All three balls he hit were really smoked as usual, and two of them resulted in basehits. Drove one in and scored all three times he got on. Defense was solid and made a very aware, quick reacting triple play.
Tomorrow night I may or may not attend the game, and even if I do, I won’t be working so it’s unlikely that I’d have a full report. I may comment on a few plays though if I go.
elucas91 - August 26, 2010
thanks man
do you watch the game in the ballpark? or are you one of the Gwinnett coaches?
joshant - August 26, 2010
the beached whale comment
was hilarious lol
drumzalicious - August 26, 2010
rec'd again
Scott Coleman - August 26, 2010
I love it. Thanks, dude.
If Troy’s bat is really coming back, I don’t care how bad his D is.
But, perhaps we could hide him at 1st and put Lee at 3rd? Just for shiggles, you know.
justincredubil02 - August 26, 2010
You might've heard by now...
but I wouldn’t watch today’s game if I was you.
Scott Coleman - August 26, 2010
It was on AFN this afternoon. I stopped watching at 3-0.
justincredubil02 - August 26, 2010
I was thinking more like
Infante in LF if his BAbip stays in the .390 range.
drumzalicious - August 26, 2010
Great report, thanks a lot.
Wow does Glaus’s D sound horrifically bad. I admire him for tying, but I had to laugh at some of your descriptions.
FitzFan - August 26, 2010
Well
At the very least Troy is showing McLouth how ML hitters are supposed to perform in AAA.
DeadlyWalrus - August 26, 2010
maybe we should ask MLB to include the DH in the Braves Lineup so
we can use Glaus as DH
joshant - August 26, 2010
McLouth’s now 29 games and 107 AB into the AAA assignment and it ain’t going so great: .224 / .331 /.374.
fandave - August 26, 2010
Pretty sure
we’ve already come to the conclusion Glause is coming off the bench and spelling at first. The third base experiment was horrific while it lasted.
king of games - August 26, 2010
Right on
That I certainly what it looks like will happen. If he sees any time at third with the big club, be afraid. But he could be solid playing first once or twice a week and pinch hitting
elucas91 - August 26, 2010 via mobile
Then why is he still playing there?
Pretty sure that nobody has come to the conclusion that the expirement is over after just 3 games.
justincredubil02 - August 27, 2010
I work for Baseball Info Solutions, and they give two season tickets behind home plate to whichever two of three or four of us are scheduled to work that game. Our job it to keep chart of all pitches, plays, hit types, hit speeds, plot where the balls go, etc. Then we send it in, and I guess they sell the information they gather to the MLB teams’ scouting departments.
I figured I can help people out with more detailed reports for the last week or so of Glaus and Freeman. And I love that you even maybe thought I was a coach, haha. Sure would be nice to work for a team one day doing something kinda like this.
elucas91 - August 26, 2010
How do I get that job???
justincredubil02 - August 26, 2010
I pretty much lucked into it, as i know a guy who does it out in Vegas, and when they started doing it here last year, he sent me a whole bunch of information on how to sign up for it and sorta helped me get my feet on the ground with it.
It’s nothing major, just sort of a part time job for me to make a little cash to hold myself over during the summer and get to see a lot of free baseball while I’m at it.
elucas91 - August 26, 2010
Well thanks for bringing your information to TC!!!
bwellnjonesco - August 26, 2010
What’s the word on Castillo?
I seem to remember hearing something about him, but can’t recall now.
timmy3 - August 26, 2010
The way Troy is playing
we might be seeing Derrick Lee on the Bench.
drumzalicious - August 26, 2010
Doubt it. They went out of their way to get DLee because of how bad Glaus was. They’re not going to change course just because Glaus is beating AAA pitching.
cbwilk - August 26, 2010
thats why i said might. If DLee struggles and glaus is hot you gotta go with the hot bat. Or move infante to LF
drumzalicious - August 26, 2010
I’d be down with Infante in LF, Prado at 3rd and Young at 2nd.
Scott Coleman - August 26, 2010
lol
If you wanna throw Young in it. Why not
Young CF
Infante LF
Prado 2B
McCann C
Lee 1B
Heyward RF
Glaus 3B
Gonzalez SS
Hudson P
BAM! lol
drumzalicious - August 26, 2010
That actually looks pretty great, though I’d have Infante hitting leadoff and Young #2.
Scott Coleman - August 26, 2010
Jordan Schafer
Last I checked, he was still listed as active on Mississippi’s roster, but apparently hasn’t even appeared in a game since 8/18. I’m wondering if the Braves have shut him down for the year. After an approximately one week DL stint beginning 8/2 or 3 for “nerve-related” inflamation in his left hand (per DOB quoting Wren), they threw him right back into the lineup, he had close to zero production over the next 8 or 10 games and since then has been disappeared. Anybody have any intel on this?
fandave - August 26, 2010
oops – he’s on the DL again effective 8/23. This local article says it was because of “(wrist)” – unsurprising, but still too bad.
fandave - August 26, 2010
I can tell you straight from the horse’s mouth Schafer is done for the rest of the season. He told me last Friday they shut him down for the rest of the season due to his wrist.
chrisdaugherty - August 26, 2010
THANKS!
fandave - August 26, 2010
with Freddie raking like he is and with 12 more games of the G-Braves schedule, he might have an outside shot at 100 RBI.
fandave - August 26, 2010
Cody Johnson’s walk off double should have been a walk-off homer. He hit it off the very top of the 30-foot high batter’s eye in dead center field, but the umpire inexplicably ruled that the ball was still in play. The only person besides the umpire who didn’t think it was a sure fire walk off homer was Sammy Sime, who was at first base. He was busting it all the way home and scored the winning run. Johnson was mobbed between second and third, so even if the play could go under review, there’s not much the Pelicans can do about it.
fattums182 - August 26, 2010
Thanks for the info! It’s amazing how often the umps don’t know the ground rules. I saw Starlin Castro hit what should have been a homer in a AA game but the ump had no idea that that spot on the wall was actually a cut in that made the hit a homer.
cbwilk - August 26, 2010
What about that pop up in the Rays game a few weeks ago. I think they were playing the Jays and there was a pop to the infield that hit the catwalk, and fell into play for an infield single.
I thought anything that hit the first catwalk in Tropicana was an out, and anything that hit the back cat walk was a HR?
justincredubil02 - August 26, 2010
I thought the cat walk is considered the field of play there...
and you have to play it as it falls.
Mr. Sanchez - August 26, 2010
That’s what I thought. It’s like old Olympic Stadium in Montreal, wherever it goes is how you play it. I remember a pretty classic highlight of a catcher making a diving catch on a foul pop that bounced off a speaker.
cbwilk - August 26, 2010
Our answer...
The Catwalks
There are four catwalks located above the playing surface at Tropicana Field. They are labeled the “A”, “B”, “C” and “D” rings with the lowest ring the “D” ring. The “D” ring ranges from 59 feet above the playing surface in CF to 121 feet behind home plate. The “C” ring ranges from 99 feet in CF to 146 behind home plate. The “B” ring ranges from 142 feet in CF to 173 feet behind home plate. And, the “A” ring ranges from 181 feet in CF to 194 feet behind home plate. If a ball strikes the A or the B ring in fair territory, the ball is in play. If a ball strikes the C or the D ring in fair territory it is a home run.
http://mlb.mlb.com/tb/ballpark/fact_figures.jsp
Mr. Sanchez - August 26, 2010
There we go.
justincredubil02 - August 27, 2010
you are.....
SO RIGHT!!! CJ got ROBBED on that call…..but glad the Birds pulled off the win, either way. Hope they keep going, all the way to the championships…..we had more fun there than we’ve had in a LONG LONG time. Great place!!
rbravesfan - August 26, 2010
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Talking Chop to post a comment.