One thing that becomes immediately obvious is that the RH batters have to hit against lefties and the LH batters have to hit against righties. Chipper and Tex are going to do their thing in the middle, but unless 3 of the other hitters are doing what they should, we're going to see a lot of results like last night.
We have a wonderfully balanced lineup, 3 lefties, 3 righties and 2 switch hitters. I can't think of a better balanced lineup in all of baseball. However, that means nothing if the guys who are supposed to hit don't hit.
Last night the right handed trio of Francoeur, Diaz and Escobar went 1-6 (the lone hit was an infield single) with a walk against the soft tossing lefty, odalis perez. Those same 3 then went 0-4 against the subsequent relief pitchers. If you had told me this before the game, I'd have picked us to score about 2 runs, if that.
The same thing applies with RH pitchers with regards to Kelly Johnson, Brian McCann and Mark Kotsay. The non-switch hitters have to hit against the pitchers they're supposed to or this offense just won't score runs.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Opening Day
Although I liked the Japanese series, to me, this is opening day. This is the first game that the majority of Americans baseball fans will watch. It's the opening of a new stadium, its America's Team (well, now that the TBS deal finally is gone, maybe not so much anymore) v. the team in America's capital.
I don't normally get sentimental when it comes to sports, but there really is something special about opening day. There is an excitement that you just can't quite put your finger on. Obviously a major part is the hope for a magical season. Winning a championship in what may be 6's final year in the dugout (I really hope not, but it's going to happen sooner or later). Winning one in what may be Tom Glavine's final year and on a more practical note, what may be our last good shot for a few years, as I think our chances of signing Teixeira after this season are slim to none.
Although I'd love to be there, opening day tickets in a new ballpark are a little hard to come by. However, I am planning on seeing John Smoltz pitch when the Braves return on the 11th of april.
Now playing: John Fogerty - Centerfield
I don't normally get sentimental when it comes to sports, but there really is something special about opening day. There is an excitement that you just can't quite put your finger on. Obviously a major part is the hope for a magical season. Winning a championship in what may be 6's final year in the dugout (I really hope not, but it's going to happen sooner or later). Winning one in what may be Tom Glavine's final year and on a more practical note, what may be our last good shot for a few years, as I think our chances of signing Teixeira after this season are slim to none.
Although I'd love to be there, opening day tickets in a new ballpark are a little hard to come by. However, I am planning on seeing John Smoltz pitch when the Braves return on the 11th of april.
Now playing: John Fogerty - Centerfield
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely review
3.5 stars (out of 5)
So the Raconteur's debut album sounded like exactly what it was. An album somewhat hastily put together that was based around a handful of excellent songs and filled with songs that neither of the two principal songwriters in the group, Jack White and Brendan Benson, thought good enough when they wrote them for their projects, the white stripes and Brendan's solo career. That's not to say it was a bad album, the highs were really really high. They kicked you in the gut with Level and were extremely catchy with Steady As She Goes. However, the album really lacked the consistency that seperates great bands from assemblages of good musicians coming together for a short time. So this time around, would their album fall into the same rut?
Consolers of the Lonely comes out punching, and hard, with the title track and Salute Your Solution. The Raconteurs certainly find themselves playing more together than they ever did on the previous album here. All the parts really fit well together on these two songs. The tempo change into a Jack White freakout solo followed by a big bass line about halfway through Salute Your Solution is defintiely a high point of the album.
Just when you think this album is just out to cut your face off, they throw a nice change of pace with the piano intro of you don't understand me. While not a particularly amazing song, it does show a few things you'd never see on a white stripes album, some pretty vocal harmonies and subtle rhythym playing from Jack. However, the song does drag a little. The chorus isn't particularly catchy, but the song is structured in such a way that it really needs a catchy chorus.
I consider the next song, Old Enough, to be the highlight of the album. The organ comping, mixed in with the great fiddle playing really gives it a dixie dregs type feel, while the chorus and verses are all catchy. Jack really plays well on this song without ever taking over with the gigantic jack riff that we know from the white stripes and the last raconteurs album. the last 45 seconds ends with the band all playing together for a great ending to a great song. The next song, the switch and the spur, continues the same feel from Old Enough. Just as you were starting to yearn for some big jack guitaristy, it delivers about 3 minutes into the song.
On Hold up, the band returns to the driving rave-ups they started the album with. Big intro featuring a great wah wah guitar line. The song doesn't really make it to that next level of a great song, but its very very good. Featuring probably the best guitar work on the album, both throughout the song and in Jack's massive solo.
They slow it back down for a slow simmering blues number in Top Yourself that has some greasy (and that's a good thing) Jack White slide guitar and some really driving acoustic guitar licks. Outro is pure jack white in the very very good sense. This is very white stripeish.
I think the album starts to turn south on Many Shades of Black. We have the same horns as we did on the switch and the spur, but they sound more forced here. Its a 50ish groove, but nothing is really catchy, there are no big guitars, there is nothing that elevates this song from much above mediocre. This is B-side material and its placed in a very critical juncture in the album.
So instead of putting a great song to get the ablum back on track, we here insert a song that seems to be weird for the sake of being weird. There isn't anything particularly interesting. You keep thinking this song is just going to explode into something major, but it just never does. The same can be said for the next song, only notable thing is that it uses the line "now that you ahve my attention, what are you gonna do?" right when the album is starting to lose my attention and I'm wondering what they are doing here. Again, its not a bad song, but its not great, and there hasn't been much of anything great for a while.
The next three songs are okay, they drag and that's about all I think I'll ever need to say about them. I'm starting to wonder why there is this much filler. There are 14 songs on this album, they're almost all over 3 minutes, can't we just cut a couple of them out? Its hard to fault them for putting in more music, but I think a few of these songs between top yourself and carolina drama could have been (bonus songs) tacked on at the end. They really break up the excellent flow the album had established early on. I mean if Jack White is anything, he's not boring and he throws down huge riffs, and here we have a group of average songs that could really use some of that magic. You have to wonder if Jack forgot who he is briefly.
Carolina Drama ends the album on a good note. It's Jack White telling a story, in a slow driving simmer, the song building energy slowly until it explodes at the very end.
This is a very good album. There is more good material than the previous album, there isn't as much great material and there are too many songs that are just filler and they're all lined up in a row. You can tell this is a band carried by the genius of Jack White, when Jack White isn't 100% committed to the band. This album starts off rocking and it ends on a great song. You get glimpses of what they could be, but its just not consistent enough to cross over into great territory. Its a shame too, from the glimpses, I could really see the Raconteurs surpassing anything the White Stripes have done if Jack really threw himself into the band for 2-3 years.
So the Raconteur's debut album sounded like exactly what it was. An album somewhat hastily put together that was based around a handful of excellent songs and filled with songs that neither of the two principal songwriters in the group, Jack White and Brendan Benson, thought good enough when they wrote them for their projects, the white stripes and Brendan's solo career. That's not to say it was a bad album, the highs were really really high. They kicked you in the gut with Level and were extremely catchy with Steady As She Goes. However, the album really lacked the consistency that seperates great bands from assemblages of good musicians coming together for a short time. So this time around, would their album fall into the same rut?
Consolers of the Lonely comes out punching, and hard, with the title track and Salute Your Solution. The Raconteurs certainly find themselves playing more together than they ever did on the previous album here. All the parts really fit well together on these two songs. The tempo change into a Jack White freakout solo followed by a big bass line about halfway through Salute Your Solution is defintiely a high point of the album.
Just when you think this album is just out to cut your face off, they throw a nice change of pace with the piano intro of you don't understand me. While not a particularly amazing song, it does show a few things you'd never see on a white stripes album, some pretty vocal harmonies and subtle rhythym playing from Jack. However, the song does drag a little. The chorus isn't particularly catchy, but the song is structured in such a way that it really needs a catchy chorus.
I consider the next song, Old Enough, to be the highlight of the album. The organ comping, mixed in with the great fiddle playing really gives it a dixie dregs type feel, while the chorus and verses are all catchy. Jack really plays well on this song without ever taking over with the gigantic jack riff that we know from the white stripes and the last raconteurs album. the last 45 seconds ends with the band all playing together for a great ending to a great song. The next song, the switch and the spur, continues the same feel from Old Enough. Just as you were starting to yearn for some big jack guitaristy, it delivers about 3 minutes into the song.
On Hold up, the band returns to the driving rave-ups they started the album with. Big intro featuring a great wah wah guitar line. The song doesn't really make it to that next level of a great song, but its very very good. Featuring probably the best guitar work on the album, both throughout the song and in Jack's massive solo.
They slow it back down for a slow simmering blues number in Top Yourself that has some greasy (and that's a good thing) Jack White slide guitar and some really driving acoustic guitar licks. Outro is pure jack white in the very very good sense. This is very white stripeish.
I think the album starts to turn south on Many Shades of Black. We have the same horns as we did on the switch and the spur, but they sound more forced here. Its a 50ish groove, but nothing is really catchy, there are no big guitars, there is nothing that elevates this song from much above mediocre. This is B-side material and its placed in a very critical juncture in the album.
So instead of putting a great song to get the ablum back on track, we here insert a song that seems to be weird for the sake of being weird. There isn't anything particularly interesting. You keep thinking this song is just going to explode into something major, but it just never does. The same can be said for the next song, only notable thing is that it uses the line "now that you ahve my attention, what are you gonna do?" right when the album is starting to lose my attention and I'm wondering what they are doing here. Again, its not a bad song, but its not great, and there hasn't been much of anything great for a while.
The next three songs are okay, they drag and that's about all I think I'll ever need to say about them. I'm starting to wonder why there is this much filler. There are 14 songs on this album, they're almost all over 3 minutes, can't we just cut a couple of them out? Its hard to fault them for putting in more music, but I think a few of these songs between top yourself and carolina drama could have been (bonus songs) tacked on at the end. They really break up the excellent flow the album had established early on. I mean if Jack White is anything, he's not boring and he throws down huge riffs, and here we have a group of average songs that could really use some of that magic. You have to wonder if Jack forgot who he is briefly.
Carolina Drama ends the album on a good note. It's Jack White telling a story, in a slow driving simmer, the song building energy slowly until it explodes at the very end.
This is a very good album. There is more good material than the previous album, there isn't as much great material and there are too many songs that are just filler and they're all lined up in a row. You can tell this is a band carried by the genius of Jack White, when Jack White isn't 100% committed to the band. This album starts off rocking and it ends on a great song. You get glimpses of what they could be, but its just not consistent enough to cross over into great territory. Its a shame too, from the glimpses, I could really see the Raconteurs surpassing anything the White Stripes have done if Jack really threw himself into the band for 2-3 years.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Braves claim Gotay off waivers
So this is one of those moves that 99% of the baseball world overlooks, but is what seperates great GMs from good GMs. He's only been on the job for a short time, but I really like what Frank Wren is doing. The Braves didn't exactly need another backup middle infielder and a lot of GMs in his position would have passed on Gotay. However, Wren has a backup infielder with trade value and options (prado) and he needs a power corner infield bench bat. While acquiring Gotay might not on the surface seem to be fulfilling a need it opens up Prado to be packaged in a deal for a piece we really need, as opposed to filling a spot we only kind of need. Gotay can fulfill our purposes fine. He's had a steadily improving bat and looks to get better defensively. Although he switch hits, he's essentialy a lefty bat, as he's pretty bad against lefties. Here is Paul Lebowitz's take on the Mets putting Gotay on waivers (this was before he found out a divisional rival claimed him)
http://paullebowitz.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2008/03/keeping_tatis_o.html
Even if Prado isn't traded, he can be sent down to the minors to get more regular play, while Gotay can play in the majors. When Infante comes back, Gotay will primarily be someone to fill in at third on occasion and a good to very good lefty bat off the bench.
The Braves were also able to get Scott Thorman to clear waivers. He's got a lot of potential and I'm glad he can get another year of trying to cut down those Ks and harness the immense power he has.
All in all a pretty good day for the Braves, and keep looking for a trade for a power corner bench bat. That would really pull the bench together quite nicely.
http://paullebowitz.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2008/03/keeping_tatis_o.html
Even if Prado isn't traded, he can be sent down to the minors to get more regular play, while Gotay can play in the majors. When Infante comes back, Gotay will primarily be someone to fill in at third on occasion and a good to very good lefty bat off the bench.
The Braves were also able to get Scott Thorman to clear waivers. He's got a lot of potential and I'm glad he can get another year of trying to cut down those Ks and harness the immense power he has.
All in all a pretty good day for the Braves, and keep looking for a trade for a power corner bench bat. That would really pull the bench together quite nicely.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
A rational Mets fan (gasp)
So I wanted to give a specific shout out to Paul Lebowitz and his blog. I think he is sometimes a little bit biased (something he disputes vehemently), but its only slight and much less than most of the Braves fans I know. He also talks about baseball generally, as opposed to just blogging on the mets. His opinions are always well thought out and supported.
His top post today is even calling the mets brass pure stupidity. :)
http://paullebowitz.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/
His top post today is even calling the mets brass pure stupidity. :)
http://paullebowitz.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/
Batting the Pitcher 8th
So there has been some recent talk about the utility of doing this. Some people criticized Bobby for not being more open to it (which would seem to indicate you're criticizing every single manager outside of Tony LaRussa, which is odd to me to say the least).
A lot of statheads really push it, saying you'll score around 2 tenths of a run more per game. I've looked at the stats and I think there is some validity to wanting to bat your worst hitter 8th. You want your best overall hitter (slugging and OBP) to bat third (that's another subject in itself), so you want to get one more high OBP/low slugging guy 9th so that when the order flips around in later innings he has even more RBI chances. That's a little oversimplified, but the basic gist of it. If you look at AL lineups these days, typically the worst overall hitter does hit 8th now. You'll have a good OBP/speed guy with no power batting ninth. But why, when it comes to the NL, does the pitcher always bat 9th? A couple of reasons:
1) In the NL, you want to protect your #7 hitter. If you bat the pitcher 8th, your #7 hitter, which on good teams is typically a pretty good hitter, is going to get pitched around even mroe than he already does. The stats really only look at OBP and Slug as a given, they don't observe how slugging is affected based on a pitcher hitting behind him. In the AL there isn't nearly as much difference between your 8th and 9th hitter, so this effect isn't as noticeable there.
2) In the NL you want your pitcher to have to bat as little as possible. The pitcher's only responsibility is pitching, if you can avoid a few ABs for him so that he is less gassed on the mound, you want to do that. It also means that you have a tiny bit more flexibility when it comes to when to take him out later in games, since he is less likely to come up.
3) the stats don't take bunting into account. Since the stats that say batting your worst hitter 8th are based pretty much purely on OBP and Slug, it doesn't take into account that probably the most important contribution a pitcher makes to the offense is bunting a guy over for the top of the lineup. You wouldn't want the pitcher bunting a guy over when two high OBP/low slug guys are coming up back to back after him.
Do those effects counterbalance the .2 runs that the statistics predict you would gain by batting the pitcher 8th? Hard to say. I'd guess it is pretty close one way or another (maybe .05 runs per game). I don't think either position is as crazy as the other side makes it out to be. With it not being obvious one way or another, I feel more comfortable keeping with tradition and waiting for some other NL manager to do it enough for a statistically valid study to sort it all out.
A lot of statheads really push it, saying you'll score around 2 tenths of a run more per game. I've looked at the stats and I think there is some validity to wanting to bat your worst hitter 8th. You want your best overall hitter (slugging and OBP) to bat third (that's another subject in itself), so you want to get one more high OBP/low slugging guy 9th so that when the order flips around in later innings he has even more RBI chances. That's a little oversimplified, but the basic gist of it. If you look at AL lineups these days, typically the worst overall hitter does hit 8th now. You'll have a good OBP/speed guy with no power batting ninth. But why, when it comes to the NL, does the pitcher always bat 9th? A couple of reasons:
1) In the NL, you want to protect your #7 hitter. If you bat the pitcher 8th, your #7 hitter, which on good teams is typically a pretty good hitter, is going to get pitched around even mroe than he already does. The stats really only look at OBP and Slug as a given, they don't observe how slugging is affected based on a pitcher hitting behind him. In the AL there isn't nearly as much difference between your 8th and 9th hitter, so this effect isn't as noticeable there.
2) In the NL you want your pitcher to have to bat as little as possible. The pitcher's only responsibility is pitching, if you can avoid a few ABs for him so that he is less gassed on the mound, you want to do that. It also means that you have a tiny bit more flexibility when it comes to when to take him out later in games, since he is less likely to come up.
3) the stats don't take bunting into account. Since the stats that say batting your worst hitter 8th are based pretty much purely on OBP and Slug, it doesn't take into account that probably the most important contribution a pitcher makes to the offense is bunting a guy over for the top of the lineup. You wouldn't want the pitcher bunting a guy over when two high OBP/low slug guys are coming up back to back after him.
Do those effects counterbalance the .2 runs that the statistics predict you would gain by batting the pitcher 8th? Hard to say. I'd guess it is pretty close one way or another (maybe .05 runs per game). I don't think either position is as crazy as the other side makes it out to be. With it not being obvious one way or another, I feel more comfortable keeping with tradition and waiting for some other NL manager to do it enough for a statistically valid study to sort it all out.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Yates for Redmond
So it was pretty inevitable that Yates was going to be dealt or the braves would try to sneak him through waivers right around opening day. I think even then he would have been snatched up, so I am glad the Braves got something out of him.
Now to evaluate what we got in return: Todd Redmond is a control specialist. He walks about 2 guys per 9IP. That level has been pretty constant and I think we can depend on that unless he gets shelled a few times and tries to be overly fine. Looking at his minor league numbers, he looks to project to about 6K/9IP. Which isn't bad, especially compared to his extremely low walk rate. Where he got in trouble last year was by giving up a lot more hits. However, his homerun rate didn't jump drastically, which would lead one to believe he was victimized by a lot of unlucky hits or he played in front of really bad defenses.
Pitchers rarely ever learn control, or they do a lot less than people think they can. Scouts have long held you can't teach velocity, but I think the stats show that you can't teach the kind of control that redmond has. However, since he isn't a power pitcher he is going to need to continue developing pitches in order to get guys out at the major league level. From what I hear he already has a great change. He likely needs to develop some sort of moving fast pitch (be it a hard slider or a sinker or a cutting fastball) and a curve to be a viable #4 or better ML starter. However, that is in the realm of possibility. What he can't do is continue to rely on just his change, as he will have to become over fine, which will lead to walks, which will take away the one thing he has going for him, his control. So how far away does that put him? I'd guess at least 2 years at best. Even then I'd only put his chances of ever starting a game for the Braves at 30% (not counting the Richmond Braves).
Yates of course is a better player right now than Redmond. However, as far as getting something out of Yates, I think we got more than I expected. Yates wasn't going to make the team, and if nothing else, I hope he does well with the Pirates.
Now to evaluate what we got in return: Todd Redmond is a control specialist. He walks about 2 guys per 9IP. That level has been pretty constant and I think we can depend on that unless he gets shelled a few times and tries to be overly fine. Looking at his minor league numbers, he looks to project to about 6K/9IP. Which isn't bad, especially compared to his extremely low walk rate. Where he got in trouble last year was by giving up a lot more hits. However, his homerun rate didn't jump drastically, which would lead one to believe he was victimized by a lot of unlucky hits or he played in front of really bad defenses.
Pitchers rarely ever learn control, or they do a lot less than people think they can. Scouts have long held you can't teach velocity, but I think the stats show that you can't teach the kind of control that redmond has. However, since he isn't a power pitcher he is going to need to continue developing pitches in order to get guys out at the major league level. From what I hear he already has a great change. He likely needs to develop some sort of moving fast pitch (be it a hard slider or a sinker or a cutting fastball) and a curve to be a viable #4 or better ML starter. However, that is in the realm of possibility. What he can't do is continue to rely on just his change, as he will have to become over fine, which will lead to walks, which will take away the one thing he has going for him, his control. So how far away does that put him? I'd guess at least 2 years at best. Even then I'd only put his chances of ever starting a game for the Braves at 30% (not counting the Richmond Braves).
Yates of course is a better player right now than Redmond. However, as far as getting something out of Yates, I think we got more than I expected. Yates wasn't going to make the team, and if nothing else, I hope he does well with the Pirates.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
A beer, a bourbon and a band
So one thing I am planning on doing is periodically having a recommendations blog. It will start with me giving a few various recommendations and then (hopefully) follow with commenters giving recs.
A beer: Mc Chouffe
Somewhere between your typical British brown ale and your typical belgian lies Mc Chouffe (Chouffe being the name of the brewery and Mc indicating the newcastle type influence, clever, eh?).
Cons: it costs between 8 and 12 dollars
you shouldn't drive after one (its about a pint and a half and 8% alcohol)
its hard to find (luckily I found it at my local harris teeter)
Pros: a very unique blend that is smooth, spicy and just plain tasty. (i'll leave out all the beer aficianado descriptions, but if you want more, you can find it here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/321/1581/ )
You will have a nice buzz after just one (see cons)
One of the coolest bottles around
A bourbon: (or more precisely a bourbon drink): Ma Maker
This is a simple little drink that I concocted during my bartending days that was very popular amongst bourbon drinkers. Somewhat similar to a bourbon equivalent of a rusty nail, without being as thick and sugary. The Gran Marnier really brings out the frutier aspects of the bourbon without overpowering it. Some days you want your bourbon to take you away, some you just want it to take the edge off, this is for the days when you just want to take the edge off.
Rocks glass
ice (preferably three medium sized cubes)
2 shots Maker's Mark (the maker)
Splash of Gran Marnier (the ma)
garnish with a cherry
A Band: The Raconteurs
Normally the band rec would be a little more obscure (sure, why dont you just go ahead and recomend us that we listen to the beatles), but the new album just came out and from what I've heard of it, it easily surpasses the debut. I'll give a fuller review of the album when I have more time to let it soak in. Right now, it would likely just consist of "this song is awesome, these guys totally rock!"
If they keep this up, the White Stripes will become just Jack's little side experiment. Not having a bassist is fine and all, but it really does have its limitations. Its hard for Jack to really freak out when he constantly has to think about holding down the bottom end. Its also nice to see some other creative forces intertwine with Jack's. Lennon-McCartney they ain't but White-Benson are a very able songwriting pair and its great to see how Jack interacts as opposed to dictates in a different setting.
A beer: Mc Chouffe
Somewhere between your typical British brown ale and your typical belgian lies Mc Chouffe (Chouffe being the name of the brewery and Mc indicating the newcastle type influence, clever, eh?).
Cons: it costs between 8 and 12 dollars
you shouldn't drive after one (its about a pint and a half and 8% alcohol)
its hard to find (luckily I found it at my local harris teeter)
Pros: a very unique blend that is smooth, spicy and just plain tasty. (i'll leave out all the beer aficianado descriptions, but if you want more, you can find it here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/321/1581/ )
You will have a nice buzz after just one (see cons)
One of the coolest bottles around
A bourbon: (or more precisely a bourbon drink): Ma Maker
This is a simple little drink that I concocted during my bartending days that was very popular amongst bourbon drinkers. Somewhat similar to a bourbon equivalent of a rusty nail, without being as thick and sugary. The Gran Marnier really brings out the frutier aspects of the bourbon without overpowering it. Some days you want your bourbon to take you away, some you just want it to take the edge off, this is for the days when you just want to take the edge off.
Rocks glass
ice (preferably three medium sized cubes)
2 shots Maker's Mark (the maker)
Splash of Gran Marnier (the ma)
garnish with a cherry
A Band: The Raconteurs
Normally the band rec would be a little more obscure (sure, why dont you just go ahead and recomend us that we listen to the beatles), but the new album just came out and from what I've heard of it, it easily surpasses the debut. I'll give a fuller review of the album when I have more time to let it soak in. Right now, it would likely just consist of "this song is awesome, these guys totally rock!"
If they keep this up, the White Stripes will become just Jack's little side experiment. Not having a bassist is fine and all, but it really does have its limitations. Its hard for Jack to really freak out when he constantly has to think about holding down the bottom end. Its also nice to see some other creative forces intertwine with Jack's. Lennon-McCartney they ain't but White-Benson are a very able songwriting pair and its great to see how Jack interacts as opposed to dictates in a different setting.
What to do with Chuck James?
So jumping right in to baseball...
What do we do with Chuck James? On the one hand, at this point it doesn't seem like he is one of our 5 best starters. Obviously Jair hasn't done it in the regular season like Chuck has, but with Jair, it seems like we at least have hopes of a guy who gives us 6+ on a regular basis, unlike Chucky. On the other hand, Chucky has had a lot of success and its seems unfair for him to have to hope for an injury to crack the ML roster.
Chuck is what he is, he's going to keep you in the game for 5 or 6 innings and then you have to hope the bullpen holds the lead. He doesn't have a dominating fastball and doesn't have a 3rd pitch. What he does have is a great changeup that can keep hitters from pounding him for 5 innings, until they have seen it that day for the third time, which is when a very good chunk of those 32 homers allowed in just 161 IP came from last year. (by way of comparison, Tim Hudson allowed 10 HRs in 224 innings)
Jurrjens on the other hand, has significantly better stuff and could one day be a #2 starter. Chucky won't be more than a #3 starter unless he somehow drastically improves his control and develops a third pitch.
An option that likely won't be taken is to use Chuck as something like a 6th starter and give Glavine, Smoltz and Hampton periodic rests. This would allow Chucky to make between 12 and 20 starts, depending on how much those three are hurt or just need a few extra days off. It would also help stave off some of the fatigue that he showed at the end of last year (while it was due to "injury" the injury was likely caused by fatigue, so not making 30 starts could very well keep that injury from coming back). It has the downside of effectively taking a reliever out of the mix, as James isn't really built to be a long reliever, he'd definitely just be a spot starter.
Another option that has been discussed is trading Chuck, but I think its the wrong time to do that. His value is likely at an all-time low as he is either injured or couldn't hold down the 5th spot, depending on how skeptic the person you are talking to is. And the Braves are likely losing two lefthanders next year in Glavine and Hampton (both have contracts that expire after this year) in a division full of power lefty hitters.
Right now, the route I see the Braves taking is to just wait for one of the starters to go on the DL or for Jair to fall flat on his face. So if you're a Braves fan, you're hoping to not see Chucky at all.
All that being said, its a much better problem than the braves faced last year, when Chucky was locked in as our #3 starter and we were counting on lance cormier, mark redman and kyle davies to fill the last 2 spots.
What do we do with Chuck James? On the one hand, at this point it doesn't seem like he is one of our 5 best starters. Obviously Jair hasn't done it in the regular season like Chuck has, but with Jair, it seems like we at least have hopes of a guy who gives us 6+ on a regular basis, unlike Chucky. On the other hand, Chucky has had a lot of success and its seems unfair for him to have to hope for an injury to crack the ML roster.
Chuck is what he is, he's going to keep you in the game for 5 or 6 innings and then you have to hope the bullpen holds the lead. He doesn't have a dominating fastball and doesn't have a 3rd pitch. What he does have is a great changeup that can keep hitters from pounding him for 5 innings, until they have seen it that day for the third time, which is when a very good chunk of those 32 homers allowed in just 161 IP came from last year. (by way of comparison, Tim Hudson allowed 10 HRs in 224 innings)
Jurrjens on the other hand, has significantly better stuff and could one day be a #2 starter. Chucky won't be more than a #3 starter unless he somehow drastically improves his control and develops a third pitch.
An option that likely won't be taken is to use Chuck as something like a 6th starter and give Glavine, Smoltz and Hampton periodic rests. This would allow Chucky to make between 12 and 20 starts, depending on how much those three are hurt or just need a few extra days off. It would also help stave off some of the fatigue that he showed at the end of last year (while it was due to "injury" the injury was likely caused by fatigue, so not making 30 starts could very well keep that injury from coming back). It has the downside of effectively taking a reliever out of the mix, as James isn't really built to be a long reliever, he'd definitely just be a spot starter.
Another option that has been discussed is trading Chuck, but I think its the wrong time to do that. His value is likely at an all-time low as he is either injured or couldn't hold down the 5th spot, depending on how skeptic the person you are talking to is. And the Braves are likely losing two lefthanders next year in Glavine and Hampton (both have contracts that expire after this year) in a division full of power lefty hitters.
Right now, the route I see the Braves taking is to just wait for one of the starters to go on the DL or for Jair to fall flat on his face. So if you're a Braves fan, you're hoping to not see Chucky at all.
All that being said, its a much better problem than the braves faced last year, when Chucky was locked in as our #3 starter and we were counting on lance cormier, mark redman and kyle davies to fill the last 2 spots.
Intro, etc
Hey guys,
So in the excitement of spring training, I realized I was starting to take over a few other blogs that I liked and was tempted to write highly verbose replies that people only read if they're right up top. Up front I'll pay homage to the greatest blogmeister of all time, David O'Brien.
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/braves/index.html
This is THE BRAVES BLOG. It is where a lot of my thinking about Braves baseball starts from. And where I pick up a lot of the new artists I find. Its a little awkward when a friend asks "where did you find out about this guy?" and I reply "uh, a braves baseball blog." But the guy has excellent taste
A very brief bio: I am a proud graduate of the University of South Carolina. I currently attend The University of Virginia School of Law. I also briefly attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, before transfering to USC. In the interim between college and law school, I held an assortment of odd-jobs, which most relevant were a tour assitant for various artists, bartender and sound engineer for various concerts/clubs. Those positions allowed me to see a lot of great music and try a lot of great beers.
I take law school much less seriously than I should (hence the blog) and the subjects of this blog much more seriously than anyone ever should. (well, except when I'm making very horrible jokes about them)
Anyway, that's enough of an intro. Hope that some people actually read this.
Oh, and Noel Gallagher is GOD.
So in the excitement of spring training, I realized I was starting to take over a few other blogs that I liked and was tempted to write highly verbose replies that people only read if they're right up top. Up front I'll pay homage to the greatest blogmeister of all time, David O'Brien.
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/braves/index.html
This is THE BRAVES BLOG. It is where a lot of my thinking about Braves baseball starts from. And where I pick up a lot of the new artists I find. Its a little awkward when a friend asks "where did you find out about this guy?" and I reply "uh, a braves baseball blog." But the guy has excellent taste
A very brief bio: I am a proud graduate of the University of South Carolina. I currently attend The University of Virginia School of Law. I also briefly attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, before transfering to USC. In the interim between college and law school, I held an assortment of odd-jobs, which most relevant were a tour assitant for various artists, bartender and sound engineer for various concerts/clubs. Those positions allowed me to see a lot of great music and try a lot of great beers.
I take law school much less seriously than I should (hence the blog) and the subjects of this blog much more seriously than anyone ever should. (well, except when I'm making very horrible jokes about them)
Anyway, that's enough of an intro. Hope that some people actually read this.
Oh, and Noel Gallagher is GOD.
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