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Talking Chop

Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 8/8

Gwinnett 5, Lehigh Valley 2 - 10 Innings

  • F. Freeman 2-5 2 RBI, .306 Avg
  • J.C. Boscan 2-3 2B, BB, .251 Avg
  • B. Beachy 7IP 3H 2R 1BB 4K 3.18 ERA
  • C. Kimbrel 1IP 0H 0R 1BB 0K 1.64 ERA

Freddie Freeman just keeps getting the job done racking up RBIs 70 & 71 tonight. I will give everyone 2 gusses who will be sitting atop the hotsheet tomorrow. Brandon Beachy - like fellow farmhand Julio Teheran - has made the adjustment to AAA without any hiccups. The biggest concern voiced about Beachy moving to the rotation was how far he would be able to pitch after having relieved for most of his career. Tonight he went 7 innings on just 84 pitches so I think we can put that to rest. Craig Kimbrel has quietly racked up 17 saves for Gwinnett this season.

Mississippi 8, Birmingham 1

  • T. Pastornicky 2-4 RBI, BB, K, 2 SB(8), .233 Avg
  • J. Sucre 3-5 2B, HR(2), 3 RBI, K, .300 Avg
  • T. Gustafson 5IP 4H 1R 2BB 2K 3.99 ERA
  • R. Sullivan 3IP 0H 0R 1BB 2K 5.47 ERA

Richard Sullivan and Jacob Thompson have had eerily similar seasons with their ups and downs almost mirroring each other. Right now that is a good thing because both guys are pitching really well with more strike outs and less base runners allowed for both pitchers. I am a little worried about Willie Cabrera. Since his demotion back to AA he has picked up just one hit in 16 ABs. Willie is my boy though and he will turn it around. Cody Johnson went 0-5 with 3K.

Potomac 4, Myrtle Beach 3

  • My. Jones 1-2 2 RBI, BB, K, SB(13), .275 Avg
  • M. Kennelly 3-4 .212 Avg

There wasn't  a whole lot going on in this one. Brett Oberholtzer wasn't bad as the starter but he wasn't fantastic either and the offense was held in check by a bunch of relievers  with 4.00+ ERAs. Mycal Jones - in essentially the same amount of playing time - has been essentially the same player in Myrtle Beach that he was in Rome. The difference is his hot streak in Myrtle Beach came right when he got there and he has been just mediocre since while in Rome his hot streak happened right before he was promoted.

Rome 6, Greenville 4

  • P. Gosselin 3-4 BB, K, CS(2), .324 Avg
  • T. Cunningham 3-5 2B, RBI, K, .262 Avg
  • J. Leonard 3-5 2B, 3 RBI, K, .289 Avg
  • R. Weber 6IP 6H 4R 1BB 1K 6.75 ERA

My boy Ryan Weber was promoted back to Rome and  while he didn't collect a bunch of Ks he did his thing collecting 11 fly outs vs just 5 ground outs. He was helped out by the Braves stock of college draftees at the top of the order who combined to go 9-14. Most impressive.

Danville 0, Burlington 4

  • E. Reyes 1-4 2B, .279 Avg
  • A. Northcraft 6.1IP 5H 3R 1BB 4K 2.89 ERA

A very poor offensive showing for the Danville Braves lead to a wasted outing by Aaron Northcraft. Elmer Reyes collected 2 of the Braves 4 hits out of the #2 spot in the order. He now has multi-hit games in 4 of his last 6 appearances.

GCL Braves - Off

DSL Braves 2, DSL Tigers 0

  • R. Luna 2-3 BB, .316 Avg
  • H. Garcia 1-1 2 RBI, BB, SB(15), .255 Avg
  • A. Espinosa 6IP 4H 0R 1BB 4K 1.37 ERA

Would-be high school sophomore Abraham Espinosa continues to murdalate the DSL. He has now gone 5 appearances without allowing an earned run (he has allowed 9 unearned runs during that span). I guess that is ok.

0 recs  |  63 comments

Comments

FREE FREDDIE!

i agree. but i only have one problem with that and it is that the lineup would have 4 lefties 2 righties and 1 switch and depending on who plays left the other spot in the order could be either one of the three . best case scenario there would be capt caveman in the lineup every day between heap and ff to spoil late inning lefty lefty matchups. i would love to see both matty d and ff get the oppertunity tho

my thoughts exactly. Cliff Lee would be our worst nightmare

and add another lefty to the team when mcclouth comes back

and add another lefty to the team when if mcclouth comes back

When he'd fill in for Ankiel...

subtract a lefty before adding it.

Cliff Lee?

Right, so we shouldn’t make a move because Cliff Lee, a pitcher in the AL West, would do well against us.

I get what he’s saying…

Cliff Lee, Johan, Hamels, it doesn’t matter.

Or maybe he’s just calling us meeting the Rangers in the World Series.

i am sorry i didnt see your post while i was typing mine (my not so smart phone sux) but you are right there has to be alot more considered when you plan on going all the way you have to look at al clubs to and the three that has a legit shot have some great lefty pitching

Believe it or not, we might have to face a lefty or two if we’re going to win the World Series. And it’s not like we can’t beat them. And it’s not like Troy is killing lefties anyways.

what about the lefties in our division cole hamels and johan santanna and if they plan on playing deep into october yeah cliff lee and cc sabathia

I was defending your post and I now I want to re-nig it after you disregarded my post directly above your’s :)

what about the lefties in our division cole hamels and johan santanna and if they plan on playing deep into october yeah cliff lee and cc sabathia and david price

If you're worried about Johan

obviously you missed the last time we faced him. He got lit up by Matty Diaz.
And as far as those big AL lefties go, we’ll only have to face one of them in the playoffs.
Plus, our roster is filled with a bunch of super-patient AL hitters (Hinske, Ankiel) who are used to pitchers like Price/Sabathia.
The only pitcher I’m afraid of is Cliff Lee- the guy walks nobody.

It’s called an example bud, haha chill. My point is, which someone reiterated, that with another lefty we would be lefty heavy, and someone like Cliff Lee or Cole Hamels wouldn’t have too much trouble shutting us down.

The Phillies have 4 right handed starters.
The Mets have 4 right handed starters.
The Marlins have 4 right handed starters.
The Cardinals have 4 right handed starters.
The Reds have 4 or 5 right handed starters.
The Padres have 3 right handed starters.

Besides the Giants, it’s not really going to matter if we’re lefty heavy.

Facing Lee in the World Series is our worst nightmare?

Didn’t we beat him at least once when he was in Philly last year?

The whole idea is to give Glaus some rest so maybe he can get back to being the masher he was a couple months ago. It’s not like we’re going to miss his bat if we put it on the DL because it’s been MIA for awhile now.

TIME TO BRING FREEMAN UP

This whole idea not to bring up a kid who has proven that he is ready for the big leagues is ridiculous. The idea not to bring up a kid because he is a left handed batter is even more ridiculous. Glaus is batting .243 vs. left handed pitchers in 107 AB’s Freeman is batting .258 vs. left handed pitchers in 93 AB’s. This idea that we should not bring Freeman up because he is a left handed hitter and Glaus is a right handed hitter now is even more ridiculous because stats don’t lie

Are you really comparing Glaus’ numbers against the best pitching in baseball to Freeman’s numbers against AAA pitchers?

YES

I am since your argument is that we should not have another lefty in our lineup incase we face a lefty pitcher. Yes I understand that Freeman is in Triple A however it is an indication of how he will fare against ML pitching since most of the guys are ML pitchers rehabing or going in between leagues. And if you want to go off numbers Freeman did bat .333 in ST. Yes it is a time to get ready but that was against ML pitching, coming off the bench as defensive replacement for the pride and joy of Atlanta Troy Glaus

That is not my argument at all.

I understand that it was not YOUR argument however I was responding to the pure fact that there is hesitation on bringing Freddie up because of him being a left handed hitter and this whole platoon thing with Glaus. That was my response however you started questioning the fact that these numbers are based off of ML(Glaus) and AAA Until Freeman has a shot we won’t be able to compare LH numbers. But Freeman has shown that he can hit the left hander in the minors

This is deceitful misuse of AVG…

Glaus has an .815 OPS against MLB LHP
Freeman has .702 OPS against IL LHP

All this being said, I’m still supporting Freeman getting called up and put in the lineup today, but I’d also like to see if we can get Glaus’ legs healthy so he can help us in September.

We´ll need to sign a big bat RH OF for the next year

and if chipper will retire, we´ll need to sign a RH 3B

Not to get into rosterbation, but there are plenty of scenarios where neither are necessarily true ;)

pleas not another frank wren rh power bat i still remember the fuga incident. looking for a h power bat he got a lefty who couldnt get it out of the infield hitting off of a tee

i would love to see a lineup of prado/1b infante/2b heyward/rf chipper/3rd bmac/c diaz/lf ankiel/cf agon/ss imo that would be a balanced lineup and give them til september to give ff a shot that would give them the oppertunity to get him some more cosistent abs without having to throw him straight into the fire against some tough lefties. as of now the only way to make roster room is to release glaus and then who is gonna start against someone like cole hamels

Heyward still doesn’t need to be in the 3-hole.

If Infante and Prado are in the same line-up, I’d prefer Infate to bat lead-off. Prado has a little more power, and (to me) is a better fundamental player. Infante seems like a one-trick pony: single to LF just past the third baseman. (Admittedly, I say this after he hit a homerun today.)

Infante
Prado
Jones
McCann
Diaz
Heyward
Gonzalez
Ankiel

good point with infante and prado i was thinking about prado being a doubles machine and a single to left would score a run against most leftfielders with a man on second

It's time..

Glaus is jus not gonna make it the rest of the yr his knees won’t make it no doubt..release him an call up Freeman..I’m
shakin It up a little to get infante more time like he deserves he is not jus a utility man he is an everyday player also moving heyward he will be more productive 4-6 spots in lineup with prado battin 2..and with that we got hinske out primary PH and Brooksie being a INF Utility man…with all that in mind here’s wat I believe to be the most productive lineups when prado comes back…..

Vs RHP

Infante-LF
Prado-2B
Jones-3B
McCann-C
Heyward-RF
Freeman-1B
Ankiel-CF
Gonzalez-SS

Vs LHP

Infante-2B
Prado-1B
Jones-3B
McCann-C
Heyward-RF
Diaz-LF
Cabera-CF
Gonzalez-SS

Release Glaus?

Why the hell would you do that? You can just rest him for a week or two and let him get his legs back under him.

He has hit in 2 straight games now…

Yeah, but still continues to roll over on balls. And let’s be honest: If there’s a runner on base and he hits it to someone on the infield, its an automatic double play. It’s sad to watch the big fella hobble down the line.

I get that, and I think he needs a few days rest, but it also appears that he may be starting to work things out.

Either way, calling for his outright release is just stupid.

Oh yeah…that’s for sure. Releasing Glaus would be a big mistake.

Gonzalez batting 8th???

What’s wrong with you? Gonzalez is a 5th/6th guy, waaay too good to be batting 8th. Put Ankiel or Cabrera in the 8 spot.
Freeman should be in the 7 spot.

lol at Gonzalez being “waaay too good to be batting 8th”

FTFY

lol at Gonzalez being "waaay too good to be batting 8th"

No love for Steven Kent:

2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K

On the year now, 21.1 IP, 16 H, 6 BB, 34 K, 1.27 ERA, 1.03 WHIP

I think he may be one of our more interesting relief prospects.

AAA or AA?

Low A, Rome. He’s 21 and coming off Tommy John surgery.

Oh good god.

the new Blackberry “Bash The Braves” Chat is back on the sidebar. That’s fun.

I enjoy it.

It’s both ridiculous and hilarious. They can hate the Braves simply because they are well run organization and dominated for so long and they can see it starting back up.

I dunno

If Glaus is actually waking back up there would be no need for Freeman.

I like that Glaus and TP are working on hitting up the middle and opposite field, but the fact remains, his legs are toast. I hope Freeman is brought up in time to be eligible for the playoff roster, just in case Glaus doesn’t get the rest he needs to be able to return to his May abilities. Glaus was raking in spring training, coming off a period of rest, maybe another period of rest would buy us another month of the good Glaus. Some combination of Prado, Infante, Freeman and Hinske could buy us that period of rest.

I agree

that Troy needs some rest, but if he is going to the 15 DL then I dont think Freeman should come up. It wouldn’t make sense to have Freeman start for two weeks then sit him on the bench or send him back down when Troy comes back.

Glaus will be...

A platoon/RHBench Bat for the rest season once FF gets called up. You bobby will platoon the rookie with Glaus/Hinske which there is solid track record for bobby to do. Unless they can get a solid bat from the waiver wire they will give glaus the bench with hinske/FF platoon till Glaus can get his knees back to the point where he can rake at the plate.

unlesss FF just rakes
correction

Bobby will platoon Glaus/FF at 1B with Hinske/Melky in LF Melky/Ankiel ….Braves need another RH Bat on the Bench that can play all infield or OF positions for day to day needs in that position. But unlike and will call FF and make the adjustment to make it work…FF has nothing to prove at AAA …

I still stand by

My opinion of releasing glaus so Freeman can have it full time don’t bring him up to platoon that would hurt his statistics let him play em and get some experience b4 next yr..it’s like this I would rather have a 20 yr old who is full of excitement and will do anything to prove his worth..he can actually run a lil (watching glaus is painful) and he would provide better defense and hustle every play then to have a platoon of 30 yr olds who r at best platoon and bench players especially glaus I have nothin agains him I jus don’t think he can brin it back to form I mean it’s august he can barely make it dwn the line w/ no range at 1st no hustle (like the young guy FF would offer) glaus is gone after this season anyway if they wanta keep him that’s cool but who will b sent dwn..?? Ask urself this who would u rather have honestly

Why release Glaus...

when at his salary, you could at least trade him to another team.

How in the world is a platoon going to hurt his statistics (why is that even a concern), if anything it would improve his statistics?

As for everything else … It’s called the Disabled List, you put players who are hurt on it for two weeks, they stop taking up a roster spot, then they come back rested and healed.

Why are we even going to platoon Freeman. Last time I checked we are not platooning Heyward and he is a left handed hitter batting .224 against lefties. This whole idea that Freeman is 20 and might not be able to handle the pressure, what about Heyward? He just turned 21 today. That means he was 20 for the most part of the season. Should we not play him because the pressure of a post season. What is all this double standard with Freeman anyways?

he's worse
Says Who? You

No. Says every single scout, coach, player and fan. If Freeman were as good as Heyward, people outside of Atlanta would have heard about him, and you would have players talking about him.

that is not the case.

Well every scout in 2004 was saying Francouer was the better one between him and McCann and look how that turned out. Nobody outside of Atlanta organization heard of BMac. Plus you should start reading Baseball America because people have heard about Freeman. I am not saying Jason is not good or anything because he is really good but there has been a double standard.

Plus no players heard about Heywad until really after last season.

I don't think that's accurate regarding...

the 2004 feelings on Francouer vs. McCann. Or at least it certainly shouldn’t have been if one looked at Francouer’s plate discipline.

It’s completely accurate. All the way up until about their second year in the Majors Francoeur was the can’t miss player and McCann was just a guy who was gonna be solid.

Hadn't seen it mentioned...

but Brent Clevlen obviously cleared waivers since he was in the Gwinnett lineup.

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