Wickman DL’ed

An upper back strain has landed Wick on the DL. This might not be awful news — it explains his recent lack of command, and doesn’t sound like (knock on wood) the type of injury that a little rest won’t cure. Chad Paronto is back, and presumably ready to pitch the 7th inning. [...]

Minor League Wrap-up culled from minorleaguebaseball.com

Richmond Braves (
Atlanta Braves)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The R-Braves won six of seven games last week, including the last four, to improve to 14-5 overall. The team with the best record in the IL leads the South Division by 6 1/2 games over Durham and
Charlotte. WHO’S HOT AND WHO’S NOT: OF Barbaro Canizares has hit [...]

Closing like its 2005

Suddenly the vaunted bullpen, noted by many as the strength of the 2006 Braves, has begun to show cracks in the veneer. Sunday the Braves took a lead into the 9th that they probably didn’t deserve. But once there, Wickman should not have lost it. Yet he did. Again.
The Braves put up an insurance run in [...]

BP Braves 4/25…return of the Jake?

————–  Batters ————–
ORG LVL PLAYER                         AB  R  H  BI
ATL AA  Hernandez, Diory 2B  ……..   3  1  2  0  .343 – SB (3)
ATL AA  Lillibridge, Brent SS  ……   3  1  3  0  .301
ATL AA  Saltalamacchia, Jarrod DH …   3  0  1  2  .377
ATL HiA Andrus, Elvis SS  ………..   4  0  1  0  .225
ATL HiA Kaaihue, Kala [...]

Smoltz & Braves Agree on Contract Extension

After being embarrassed by letting pro-players strike pitcher Tom Glavine get away, the Braves made sure that John Smoltz would not be tempted to do the same. Tonight the Braves announced that Smoltz signed a contract extention that will pay him $14 million for 2008, his 20th season in Braves Red, White and Blue.
The contract also [...]

The Phil Mickelson of Baseball

What could that possibly mean, right? To answer that question, we must first ask ourselves this one; just who is Phil Mickelson in the first place?
– He is a fine golfer. But no, John Smoltz is not the Phil Mickelson of baseball.
– He attended Arizona State. So did Barry Bonds, but Barry [...]

well, we could be Jason Neighborgall

————–  Batters ————–
ORG LVL PLAYER                         AB  R  H  BI
ATL AAA Escobar, Yunel SS  ……….   5  0  2  0  .344
ATL AA  Lillibridge, Brent SS  ……   4  0  2  0  .271 – 2B (5)
ATL AA  Pope, Van 3B  ……………   3  1  1  0  .174 – 3B (2)
ATL AA  Saltalamacchia, Jarrod C  …   4  2  2  2  .379 [...]

Well, That Sucked

Confession time — when the good guys hold a slim lead going into the ninth inning, I almost never watch. I just get too wrapped up in it, being all too aware of the open-ended nature of a baseball game, and as a result I derive almost no pleasure from seeing us close out [...]

I’m SO surprised

Top 5 2007 NL Catchers, by VORP
Player, Team, EqA, VORP
Brian McCann, ATL, .326, 8.6
Russell Martin, LAN, .315, 7.5
Ramon Castro, NYN, .404, 4.8
Michael Barrett, CHN, .294, 4.4
Carlos Ruiz, PHI, .270, 2.6

Braves in Minors 4/23

————–  Batters ————–
ORG LVL PLAYER                         AB  R  H  BI
ATL AA  Saltalamacchia, Jarrod DH  ..   3  1  1  1  .370 – 2B (5)
ATL HiA Kaaihue, Kala 1B  ………..   4  0  2  0  .161
————–  Pitchers ————–
ORG LVL PITCHER                         IP  H  R  ER  BB  SO  ERA
ATL AAA McBride, Macay  …………   3.0  5  1   0   0   3  1.50 – [...]

The Two-Out Terrors

The Braves clutch hitting is a wonder to behold. In last night’s 11-run performance, 10 runs crossed the plate after there were 2 outs.  Jeff Francoeur, putting 2 more 2-out rbi’s on his ledger last night, leads the lead in this catagory with 18. Inexplicably, the Marlins once chose to intentionally walk McCann with 2 outs to [...]

Time for Plan B

Last night’s Braves-Marlins game should have been rated PG-13. At least until Redman was mercifully removed after 3 horrible innings. Vanden Hurk, the Marlins rookie starter, had the decency to leave the stadium with nobody out in the second. Between the 2 they allowed 11 hits, 5 walks and 12 EARNED runs.  As Dave O’Brien [...]

Fasten Your Seatbelts

This ride is about to get turbulent as the front of the bus starts to get more crowded. The Braves again trail the Mets by 1/2 game and now the Marlins, winners of 3 straight, are coming up fast to join us. Having lost the first game of the series, we now offer up our sacrificial [...]

Braves Prospects BP 4/23

Batters ————–
ORG LVL PLAYER                         AB  R  H  BI
ATL AAA Escobar, Yunel SS  ……….   5  1  1  2  .352 – HR (1)
ATL AA Pope, Van 3B  …………….   3  1  3  1  .175 – HR (1)
ATL AA Saltalamacchia, Jarrod C  ….   3  1  1  1  .373 – HR (4)
————–  Pitchers ————–
ATL AAA Lerew, Anthony   ………..   4.2  6  [...]

Happy 35th Birthday, Chipper

Another big Brave birthday. Today is Chipper’s 35th. Like Andruw, Chipper’s entire career has been in the Braves franchise, being a first-round draft pick way back in 1990. Along with John Smoltz, Chipper is widely regarded as the face of the organization.  Having put up more than 350 HR’s, 1,200 rbi’s, a lifetime average above .300 and [...]