- The trade for Dan Uggla, just as a reminder, breaks down like so:
BRAVES GET:
2B Dan Uggla: 674 PA, .287/.369/.508, 33 HR, 105 RBI, 130 OPS+, 3.7 WAR
MARLINS GET:
UT Omar Infante: 506 PA, .321/.359/.416, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 111 OPS+, 2.9 WAR
LRP Mike Dunn: 19 IP, 15 H, 4/4 R/ER, 17 BB, 27 SO, 1.684 WHIP, 0.4 WAR
It's the kind of trade that looks so good on one team's side: the Braves get a power bat they so desperately need in exchange for a utility player who had a career year and a rookie reliever who is wild, but has potential.
Since the trade, Braves GM Frank Wren has tried to work on an extension with Uggla. On the 7th, the talks were said to be encouraging."The early discussions we've had -- really introductory discussions -- have been very pleasant," Wren said. "I think there's a mutual desire for us to keep him long term and for him to stay long term. I think that has come through loud and clear -- both from Terry and from Dan. I think we've made it clear that's what we want to happen."
Unfortunately, since that time, outfielder Carl Crawford agreed to a monstrous seven-year, $142 million contract with the Red Sox. Before that, Jayson Werth had signed a huge seven-year, $126 million deal with the Nationals. This might cause some fears that Uggla will demand an extension that's either out of the Braves' budget range or will cripple them down the road when Uggla's skills most likely decline.
I'm really not sure that Uggla will be able to increase his demands that much. After all, the players that got those huge deals are outfielders with speed, stolen-base ability and decent defense. Uggla provides below average to horrible defense with above-average offense and no speed. - At the Winter Meetings, Wren agreed with reliever George Sherrill to a $1.2 million, one-year deal, which includes $200,000 in incentives. The deal won't be official until Sherrill passes a physical. The former closer was downright awful for the Dodgers last season, posting a 1.926 WHIP in 31 1/3 innings. The year seems to be an aberration. If Sherrill makes the team, he'll be the third lefty in the pen, joining Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters.
I do believe that Sherrill will be fine. At worst, he should be a great LOOGY, something that might appeal to new manager Fredi Gonzalez. - Wren is also working to move Kenshin Kawakami. According to MLBTradeRumors, Rob Biertempfel tweets that the Pirates are close to a deal, but the sticking points are how much the Braves will pay of Kawakami's $6.67 million salary and whether or not left-hander Paul Maholm might be included.
Maholm might be an interesting reclamation project if he's included, but it will be a shame to see Kawakami go. I've defended him a lot over the past couple of years and I do believe that he shouldn't have been stuck with the 1-10 record. In fact, that should be a test case on how wins and losses don't mean too much for some pitchers. If Kawakami does move on to Pittsburgh, all I can say is: Sachiare!
Showing posts with label jayson werth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jayson werth. Show all posts
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Intemperate Braves And Baseball Thoughts
It's "catch-all" time. There's a lot to talk about, so let's get to it:
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Braves Fight, But Phillies Have More Fight In Series Win
PHILADELPHIA 5, ATLANTA 3
Although the Braves gave their much-maligned fifth starter some needed support, Kenshin Kawkami couldn't hold down the power of the Phillies lineup as he was hit for three solo home runs in Atlanta's 5-3 loss.
The Phillies teed off of Kawakami almost immediately. After Omar Infante just missed a leaping catch off of the bat of Placido Polanco, giving him a single, Chase Utley doubled into the right field corner. Bobby Cox chose to intentionally walk Ryan Howard to set up a double play, but Jayson Werth was hit by the second pitch of the at-bat, forcing in a run. Raul Ibanez then followed with a soft liner to right that Melky Cabrera caught. However, he took the ball out of his glove and didn't attempt a throw, allowing Utley to score.
The Phillies added solo home runs in the third and fourth innings, the first a line drive shot over the left field wall by Polanco. The second shot was by Jayson Werth, the 100th of his career. After Raul Ibanez lined a double to the right field wall, Kawakami got the next two batters out to stem the tide.
The Braves finally broke through in the fifth inning off of Phillies starter Cole Hamels. After stranding runners on first and second in the third and fourth innings, Atlanta drove in three for their rare successes on the road. Kawakami led off the inning with a walk and Infante and Martin Prado singled to load the bases. Cabrera, who was just 5-28 with runners in scoring position on the year, hit a hard grounded to second that Utley couldn't control, allowing one run to score. Troy Glaus followed with another single, driving in two runs and close the lead to one run. Brian McCann struck out and Matt Diaz grounded to first, moving the runners up. Brooks Conrad, making his first start of the year, walked to load the bases, but Nate McLouth grounded out to end the inning.
Kawakami stayed in the game and pitched into the seventh inning, giving most of the bullpen a needed rest. Unfortunately, he coughed up a solo home run to Shane Victorino and was relieved after striking out Polanco. Eric O'Flaherty came into the game, got Utley to fly out to right and stayed in the game in the ninth inning, striking out Howard, getting Werth to ground out and Ibanez to pop out behind home plate.
The Braves had been retired 10 straight times after Conrad walked in the fifth inning mostly by relievers Chad Durbin and Jose Contreras. In the top of the ninth, Brad Lidge came on to record his first save of the season. Pinch-hitter Eric Hinske tattooed a dead-red fastball to center field that Victorino was able to grab at the warning track thanks to the win. Omar Infante, who had three hits in the game, followed with a huge drive to left that was also knocked down by the wind, allowing Ibanez to catch. it. Prado ended the game with a comebacker to the pitcher.
It was mentioned during the broadcast that Kawakami is the first Braves pitcher to start 0-6 on the season since Pascual Perez in 1985. Unfortunately, Perez accumulated that record in 11 starts, while Kawakami has extended his franchise record of six losses in his first six starts.
Although the Braves gave their much-maligned fifth starter some needed support, Kenshin Kawkami couldn't hold down the power of the Phillies lineup as he was hit for three solo home runs in Atlanta's 5-3 loss.
The Phillies teed off of Kawakami almost immediately. After Omar Infante just missed a leaping catch off of the bat of Placido Polanco, giving him a single, Chase Utley doubled into the right field corner. Bobby Cox chose to intentionally walk Ryan Howard to set up a double play, but Jayson Werth was hit by the second pitch of the at-bat, forcing in a run. Raul Ibanez then followed with a soft liner to right that Melky Cabrera caught. However, he took the ball out of his glove and didn't attempt a throw, allowing Utley to score.
The Phillies added solo home runs in the third and fourth innings, the first a line drive shot over the left field wall by Polanco. The second shot was by Jayson Werth, the 100th of his career. After Raul Ibanez lined a double to the right field wall, Kawakami got the next two batters out to stem the tide.
The Braves finally broke through in the fifth inning off of Phillies starter Cole Hamels. After stranding runners on first and second in the third and fourth innings, Atlanta drove in three for their rare successes on the road. Kawakami led off the inning with a walk and Infante and Martin Prado singled to load the bases. Cabrera, who was just 5-28 with runners in scoring position on the year, hit a hard grounded to second that Utley couldn't control, allowing one run to score. Troy Glaus followed with another single, driving in two runs and close the lead to one run. Brian McCann struck out and Matt Diaz grounded to first, moving the runners up. Brooks Conrad, making his first start of the year, walked to load the bases, but Nate McLouth grounded out to end the inning.
Kawakami stayed in the game and pitched into the seventh inning, giving most of the bullpen a needed rest. Unfortunately, he coughed up a solo home run to Shane Victorino and was relieved after striking out Polanco. Eric O'Flaherty came into the game, got Utley to fly out to right and stayed in the game in the ninth inning, striking out Howard, getting Werth to ground out and Ibanez to pop out behind home plate.
The Braves had been retired 10 straight times after Conrad walked in the fifth inning mostly by relievers Chad Durbin and Jose Contreras. In the top of the ninth, Brad Lidge came on to record his first save of the season. Pinch-hitter Eric Hinske tattooed a dead-red fastball to center field that Victorino was able to grab at the warning track thanks to the win. Omar Infante, who had three hits in the game, followed with a huge drive to left that was also knocked down by the wind, allowing Ibanez to catch. it. Prado ended the game with a comebacker to the pitcher.
It was mentioned during the broadcast that Kawakami is the first Braves pitcher to start 0-6 on the season since Pascual Perez in 1985. Unfortunately, Perez accumulated that record in 11 starts, while Kawakami has extended his franchise record of six losses in his first six starts.
Friday, May 07, 2010
The Old Dude Strikes: Moyer Superb In Phillies Opening Victory
PHILADELPHIA 7, ATLANTA 0
Showing that older gentlemen can do anything, much like Julio Franco once did, Jamie Moyer pitched a complete game shutout just one day after Phillies legend Robin Roberts passed away. Philadelphia's offfense gave Moyer his usual support en route to a dominating 7-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Derek Lowe, the Braves' starter, kept the Phillies off the board for the first two innings, leaving two men on base both times. However, with one out, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit consecutive singles; Howard hit one right past Prado, who was in short right according to the shift. Jayson Werth then followed with a bomb to left field, giving the Phillies a 3-0 lead. The team added four in the fifth with four singles, a walk and another single. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard both scored two runs.
Lowe managed to finish the fifth inning so Cox didn't have to burn a reliever. (I wouldn't say Lowe pitched terribly. The Phillies offense is just that good). Derek allowed 11 hits in an outing for the sixth time in his career and 10 or more hits for the 25th time.
The Braves had two firsts occur in the later innings: Brandon Hicks batted for the first time in his career as a pinch-hitter for Lowe in the sixth, but he struck out swinging. Then, Craig Kimbrel, the fire-balling closer prospect whom the Braves called up to replace Jair Jurrjens on the roster, made his major league debut in the seventh inning. He gave up a leadoff double to Werth, but struck out Raul Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz. He got shortstop Wilson Valdez to ground out to second to prevent Werth from scoring.
Kimbrel did exactly what his reputation says: he threw gas (95-97 miles an hour on his fastball) and was very wild (almost threw the ball to the backstop on his first major league pitch and threw a wild pitch during Ruiz's at-bat).
But the man of the hour was Jamie Moyer. He continued the streak of Phillies starters not allowing an earned run against the Braves (32 innings this season). Moyer allowed his first hit to Troy Glaus to lead off the second inning, but he erased him on the next pitch with a double play grounder. Ross then grounded out on the third pitch of the inning, proving once again that it doesn't usually pay to be hyper-aggressive at the plate. Moyer didn't allow another hit until Glaus singled to lead off the eighth, ending a streak of 17 batters retired in a row. Moyer came up in the ninth inning to bat. He was greeted with a standing ovation and chants of his name. He rewarded that with an 11-pitch battle with reliever Jesse Chavez before flying out into foul territory in left.
Moyer got the final three outs in the ninth, completing the game and setting a record for the oldest pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout in MLB history. He was the oldest to pitch a shuout against the Braves since Jerry Koosman, who was 41 years, 198 days old, shut out Atlanta on July 8, 1984. Ironically, Koosman was pitching for the Phillies and the team beat the Braves 7-0.
Showing that older gentlemen can do anything, much like Julio Franco once did, Jamie Moyer pitched a complete game shutout just one day after Phillies legend Robin Roberts passed away. Philadelphia's offfense gave Moyer his usual support en route to a dominating 7-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Derek Lowe, the Braves' starter, kept the Phillies off the board for the first two innings, leaving two men on base both times. However, with one out, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit consecutive singles; Howard hit one right past Prado, who was in short right according to the shift. Jayson Werth then followed with a bomb to left field, giving the Phillies a 3-0 lead. The team added four in the fifth with four singles, a walk and another single. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard both scored two runs.
Lowe managed to finish the fifth inning so Cox didn't have to burn a reliever. (I wouldn't say Lowe pitched terribly. The Phillies offense is just that good). Derek allowed 11 hits in an outing for the sixth time in his career and 10 or more hits for the 25th time.
The Braves had two firsts occur in the later innings: Brandon Hicks batted for the first time in his career as a pinch-hitter for Lowe in the sixth, but he struck out swinging. Then, Craig Kimbrel, the fire-balling closer prospect whom the Braves called up to replace Jair Jurrjens on the roster, made his major league debut in the seventh inning. He gave up a leadoff double to Werth, but struck out Raul Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz. He got shortstop Wilson Valdez to ground out to second to prevent Werth from scoring.
Kimbrel did exactly what his reputation says: he threw gas (95-97 miles an hour on his fastball) and was very wild (almost threw the ball to the backstop on his first major league pitch and threw a wild pitch during Ruiz's at-bat).
But the man of the hour was Jamie Moyer. He continued the streak of Phillies starters not allowing an earned run against the Braves (32 innings this season). Moyer allowed his first hit to Troy Glaus to lead off the second inning, but he erased him on the next pitch with a double play grounder. Ross then grounded out on the third pitch of the inning, proving once again that it doesn't usually pay to be hyper-aggressive at the plate. Moyer didn't allow another hit until Glaus singled to lead off the eighth, ending a streak of 17 batters retired in a row. Moyer came up in the ninth inning to bat. He was greeted with a standing ovation and chants of his name. He rewarded that with an 11-pitch battle with reliever Jesse Chavez before flying out into foul territory in left.
Moyer got the final three outs in the ninth, completing the game and setting a record for the oldest pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout in MLB history. He was the oldest to pitch a shuout against the Braves since Jerry Koosman, who was 41 years, 198 days old, shut out Atlanta on July 8, 1984. Ironically, Koosman was pitching for the Phillies and the team beat the Braves 7-0.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
No Miracle With Doc On Mound; Phils Shut Out Braves
PHILADELPHIA 2, ATLANTA 0
Your bullpen blow a game you had in the bag? No problem: just put the majors' leader in complete games over the past decade on the mound, add water, stir, bake and enjoy.
Phillies ace Roy Halladay twirled a few lucky breaks and some great defense into a five-hit shutout as the Phillies took Game 2 against the Braves by a score of 2-0.
Halladay set down the first eleven Braves he faced until Chipper Jones doubled to left-center. This included a drive by Troy Glaus in the second inning that center fielder Shane Victorino snagged just before it went over the wall.
In the second inning, Jayson Werth hit a pitch where he thought he had a home run and he bumped fists with first base coach Davey Lopes as he rounded first. The ball hit off the wall and Werth had to hustle to second for a double. This led to some apparent confusion by Braves radio announcer Don Sutton on whether Werth should have been called out on the play. This is the rule that he was referring to:
Ryan Howard led off the sixth inning with a check swing that resulted in a freak single to left field. This proved to be significant because he scored on Werth's double. Raul Ibanez was intentionally walked and Hudson got three straight groundouts to end his day, including Escobar throwing out Werth at home for the first out.
The Braves tried to get rallies going the next two innings, but they were snuffed out both times. Melky Cabrera singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, but was stranded with four pitches resulting in three outs. In the seventh, Jones and McCann hit back-to-back singles to start it off. Glaus struck out, but Heyward drew a walk to load the bases. After a five-pitch at-bat, Escobar hit a hard liner up the middle that bounced off the mound. Chase Utley was able to corral it and start an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, the Phillies' only one of the day.
Eric Hinske hit a bloop double down the left field line with one out in the eighth. He moved to third on Nate McLouth's groundout, but was stranded at third base when Martin Prado grounded out.
Tim Hudson was able to pitch around trouble after damage was done. The Phillies scored runs in the second and sixth innings. Both times after the scores, they had men on first and third with no one out. Both times, Hudson was able to keep the Phillies off of the board. He pitched six innings, allowing six hits, two runs (both earned), two intentional walks and five strikeouts. Jonny Venters continued his success, pitching two innings in relief, allowing no hits and getting two strikeouts. Takashi Saito finished the game for the Braves.
An Odd 'N End: The Braves are scuffling offensively as a team: they're 15th in the league in batting average (.227, three points above Houston's .224) and 13th in the league in slugging (.360, one of four teams below .400). Their league-leading 69 walks is what puts their on-base percentage tenth in the league (.329).
Your bullpen blow a game you had in the bag? No problem: just put the majors' leader in complete games over the past decade on the mound, add water, stir, bake and enjoy.
Phillies ace Roy Halladay twirled a few lucky breaks and some great defense into a five-hit shutout as the Phillies took Game 2 against the Braves by a score of 2-0.
Halladay set down the first eleven Braves he faced until Chipper Jones doubled to left-center. This included a drive by Troy Glaus in the second inning that center fielder Shane Victorino snagged just before it went over the wall.
In the second inning, Jayson Werth hit a pitch where he thought he had a home run and he bumped fists with first base coach Davey Lopes as he rounded first. The ball hit off the wall and Werth had to hustle to second for a double. This led to some apparent confusion by Braves radio announcer Don Sutton on whether Werth should have been called out on the play. This is the rule that he was referring to:
Rule 7.09(h): In the judgment of the umpire, the base coach at third base, or first base, by touching or holding the runner, physically assists him in returning to or leaving third base or first base.Since Lopes wasn't assisting Werth in running the bases while the ball was in play, he wasn't called out. Raul Ibanez drove him in with a ground-rule double to right-center. Juan Castro singled to put men on the corners with none out. However Carlos Ruiz flied out to short right, Halladay struck out and Victorino hit a soft liner to center that McLouth got with a sliding grab.
Ryan Howard led off the sixth inning with a check swing that resulted in a freak single to left field. This proved to be significant because he scored on Werth's double. Raul Ibanez was intentionally walked and Hudson got three straight groundouts to end his day, including Escobar throwing out Werth at home for the first out.
The Braves tried to get rallies going the next two innings, but they were snuffed out both times. Melky Cabrera singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, but was stranded with four pitches resulting in three outs. In the seventh, Jones and McCann hit back-to-back singles to start it off. Glaus struck out, but Heyward drew a walk to load the bases. After a five-pitch at-bat, Escobar hit a hard liner up the middle that bounced off the mound. Chase Utley was able to corral it and start an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, the Phillies' only one of the day.
Eric Hinske hit a bloop double down the left field line with one out in the eighth. He moved to third on Nate McLouth's groundout, but was stranded at third base when Martin Prado grounded out.
Tim Hudson was able to pitch around trouble after damage was done. The Phillies scored runs in the second and sixth innings. Both times after the scores, they had men on first and third with no one out. Both times, Hudson was able to keep the Phillies off of the board. He pitched six innings, allowing six hits, two runs (both earned), two intentional walks and five strikeouts. Jonny Venters continued his success, pitching two innings in relief, allowing no hits and getting two strikeouts. Takashi Saito finished the game for the Braves.
An Odd 'N End: The Braves are scuffling offensively as a team: they're 15th in the league in batting average (.227, three points above Houston's .224) and 13th in the league in slugging (.360, one of four teams below .400). Their league-leading 69 walks is what puts their on-base percentage tenth in the league (.329).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
