2018 Braves

[Patriot44]

There is a reason TJ surgery is becoming more common in the college ranks and even down into high school...

Kid that plays for my son's high school had the surgery as a sophomore.

It is not un common in Cobb to see kids at the mall or in stores that are 15-16 years old with a TJ scar.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine coached a 15 year old travel team and in the off season that year, he had 5 players having TJ surgery.

 

[KyDawg]

We can debate the Tommy Johns thingy til the cows come home, I don't buy that its innings but rather kids pitching junk from the time that they are 9. I tell the pitchers on my 11-12 year old team, NO JUNK!!! Fast balls and change ups, that is it.

Have you watched any of the LL world series? These kid throwing curve balls that are breaking a foot.

 

[BornToHuntAndFish]

How 'bout relief pitcher Culberson giving up 2-hits & 1-run with 10-pitches (includes 7-strikes) for 3-groundouts in the 9th-inning???



27-seconds

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1030652291693662209

 

[biggdogg]

I guess Snit felt it was time for the Braves to jump on the "position player pitcher" train... just about every team in MLB has put a position player on the mound at some point this season.

 

[DannyW]

Ouch...just ouch.....

We gotta get someone who can get 3 outs consistently. For those who thought Thursday night "Brach? Why Brach when we have a healthy A. J. Minter in the bullpen?"

Well consider tonight's game as exhibit A....

 

[Duff]

Good Lord!! Get Culberson back out there. Venters, SOMEBODY!!!

 

[biggdogg]

AJ looked awful and he's inconsistent for sure. Luke Jackson is just incompetent. Folty looked fantastic and it was nice to see him work through his frustration and get out of that fourth inning that not long ago would have come completely unraveled for him. He has improved dramatically at keeping his emotions in check. He and Newcomb will prove to be two pillars in this rotation.

 

[HighCotton]

If you've ever watched any of the Braves "Driven" episodes on TV, there are several that talked about the Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz era and both Scherholtz and Booby Cox saying that pitching wins championship.

Well, how much more evidence do we need. The Braves pitching- both starters and the bullpen, is not consistent enough and sometimes just flat out horrible.

Another problem, having a 230's hitting catcher (Flowers) and shortstop is ridiculous. I could see it if they were good defensive players, but neither is.

I'm tired of seeing the Braves beat up only on the lesser teams only to lose against anybody half-way good. This week is case in point-- sweep the Marlins only to then crap your pants against the Rockies.

 

[livetohunt]

It would be nice to replace Swanson somehow before the year is up. That would be a big improvement at the plate, and on the field if they can replace him.

 

[HighCotton]

It would be nice to replace Swanson somehow before the year is up. That would be a big improvement at the plate, and on the field if they can replace him.

Amen 100% on that!!

 

[biggdogg]

For starters, the Smoltz-Madduz-Glavine era is long gone, and not just in Atlanta. You will never see a starting staff eat those kinds of innings again. The pen has it's issues, but outside of Moylan and Venters, they're very young. The pen is the number one priority this offseason. Flowers isn't hitting much, but he and Suzuki aren't behind the plate for their bats. They're behind the plate to mentor a young pitching staff. A job they're doing a very good job with. And don't get your hopes up for much of an upgrade, Suzuki will likely be back, but the only decent catcher available this offseason is Yasmani Grandal. And there will be a bunch of teams bidding for him. Swanson is a plus defender that needs to work on his strike recognition at the plate. No, hes not Andrelton in the field (who is?) and he's not Machado at the plate, but he's young and isn't going anywhere.

AA has made it clear the pen is a priority this offseason and Kimbrel will be a primary target (for about a dozen other teams as well) and hopefully a front end starter. Whether the Braves pony up for a Keuchel or a similar starter remains to be seen.

 

[dixiecutter]

All this "need pitching" has to be adressed before Aug 1. Front office hung it up instead. I think it's a mistake. Hindsight may reveal that this was "the year".

 

[biggdogg]

All this "need pitching" has to be adressed before Aug 1. Front office hung it up instead. I think it's a mistake. Hindsight may reveal that this was "the year".

There isn't a snowball's chance in you know where that enough pitching upgrades could be made to make a legitimate run at a World Series, even if that kind of pitching was available in the first place. Not even by gutting the farm system. This was never going to be "the year". In a one game play-in game, anything can happen. Maybe even in a 5 game series. But to think this team could take an Arizona, Chicago, Houston or Boston in a 7 game series. Nah. This team was projected to win 77-80 games with a slim chance of going .500 at best. They have well outplayed expectations and still may even make the playoffs (still far from a guarantee). But if you think this was "the year", you apparently haven't been paying attention.

 

[dixiecutter]

There isn't a snowball's chance in you know where that enough pitching upgrades could be made to make a legitimate run at a World Series, even if that kind of pitching was available in the first place. Not even by gutting the farm system. This was never going to be "the year". In a one game play-in game, anything can happen. Maybe even in a 5 game series. But to think this team could take an Arizona, Chicago, Houston or Boston in a 7 game series. Nah. This team was projected to win 77-80 games with a slim chance of going .500 at best. They have well outplayed expectations and still may even make the playoffs (still far from a guarantee). But if you think this was "the year", you apparently haven't been paying attention.

"The year" as opposed to what their projections are. It was posted for those of us that think some pitching help is coming. It isn't. Scroll up.

 

[biggdogg]

Have you watched any of the LL world series? These kid throwing curve balls that are breaking a foot.

And the coaches should be taken out behind the woodshed...

Ever notice when ESPN talks about current and former major leaguers that played in the llws, very few, if any, are pitchers?

 

[Duff]

There isn't a snowball's chance in you know where that enough pitching upgrades could be made to make a legitimate run at a World Series, even if that kind of pitching was available in the first place. Not even by gutting the farm system. This was never going to be "the year". In a one game play-in game, anything can happen. Maybe even in a 5 game series. But to think this team could take an Arizona, Chicago, Houston or Boston in a 7 game series. Nah. This team was projected to win 77-80 games with a slim chance of going .500 at best. They have well outplayed expectations and still may even make the playoffs (still far from a guarantee). But if you think this was "the year", you apparently haven't been paying attention.

Can’t argue with that

 

[antharper]

Glad to see the Rockies leave , hard to believe we still in 1st place after that 4 game beating !

 

[spurrs and racks]

the last 4 games were very upsetting

 

[Coenen]

This weekend stung, but the Rocks are a good team this year.

IMO they've got the first part of the equation figured out, beating the teams they're supposed to beat. The next step will be finding ways to beat the better teams more consistently. Pitching has to step up for sure, but the offense has to come around as well; maybe it's just me, but our top of the lineup guys seem to disappear against the better teams. The K's start to stack up, and it just goes downhill from there.

We'll see where it goes. For all of you clamoring about the bullpen, the announce team brought up several times over the weekend that Colorado had gone hard in the past offseason looking to strengthen their relief corps, and still had to make moves at the deadline. Saying "they need to sign someone" is easy, finding the right guy is hard. We'll see what they do.

Wish I'd seen the subject about young pitchers earlier as well! That's a favorite of mine. I'm in the John Smoltz camp, too many young players are throwing too many max-effort innings too soon. They grow up throwing instead of pitching, and end up hurting themselves.

I am also surprised though, that teams don't let more guys go deep. Folty is a good example for the Braves. He's in his physical prime. Why not let him throw 110-120 pitches more often? I would think that pitch counts would be more of a bell curve than a hard and fast number for all players.

 

[BornToHuntAndFish]

Up & down Braves seem to regularly make the history record books, good & bad. 1st time 4-game sweep at home in Suntrust Park.

Reckon it's better for Braves to avoid Western division teams they appear to have more problems with this season.

Maybe Braves need to play more last place teams for confidence builders.

Never know when Braves bats will break out again with double digit hits & scoring.

Nothing much new here, it still takes both pitching & hitting to win usually.

Nice having the Mets beat up on the Phillies a bit to help Braves barely hold on to 1st place by the grace of God.

Still frustrating having Marlins Jose Urena hurting Acuna's HR hitting momentum. Reports state for the next series with the Marlins, Urena will not be playing in those games.

On the road for the next series with the Pirates followed by the Marlins.

Nice job by Lauren Daigle singing God Bless America in yesterday's game.



Braves Re-Tweet:

Time = 1:28

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1031262225149747200

EDIT UPDATE:


Braves Recent/Today's tweet updates:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1031633607922659330

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1031634033405505537

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1031634205271355393

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1031634508930580482

https://www.mlb.com/braves/news/prospect-team-of-the-week-led-by-padres-urias/c-291130300

RHP: Bryse Wilson, Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A)
(Braves' No. 13 prospect)
1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 13 SO, 0.13 WHIP

Wilson has now won all three of his International League starts since getting promoted, and this one was by far his most dominant. He faced the minimum in his eight innings of work and it was his first double-digit strikeout performance of the season, and just the second in his pro career. Wilson is now second in the pitching-rich Braves organization in strikeouts.