Braves

[msstate7]

Have been impressive tonight against the reds (7-2 in 8th). Maholm pitched well. McCann returned, but hasn't gotten a hit. War's boy Schafer got a pinch hit hr. The best ss in the game (Simmons) has 2 spectacular plays on defense and 2 long balls.

[War Machine Dawg]

I'm telling you, I'd start Schafer over BJ for a stretch. BJ needs a break. I think there's an MLB rule requiring him to swing at the first pitch in EVERY damn AB.

Methinks Andrelton likes the Smallpark. The between-the-legs tag was insane. Gotta be Sportscenter #1 play.

Mac's timing is just a little off, but he'll come around. Am I the only one who immediately noticed he's slimmed down a lot? Looks to be in much better shape. And speaking of catchers, GATTIS SMASH. He still needs some defensive work in LF, but he looked like he has decent athleticism out there. Just needs reps on the fly balls.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in CF when J-Hey comes back. I'm really rooting for Schafer to get more PT. We have a good problem in that we're actually a little too deep right now. But it's still a problem. Regardless, this time is damn fun to watch. Nice to see us starting to manufacture more runs, too.

[Will James]

BJ could use some AB's at Gwinnett or Jackson

[msstate7]

BJ could use some AB's at Gwinnett or Jackson
I agree but it won't happen. He can't be optioned.

[msstate7]

I'm telling you, I'd start Schafer over BJ for a stretch. BJ needs a break. I think there's an MLB rule requiring him to swing at the first pitch in EVERY damn AB.

Methinks Andrelton likes the Smallpark. The between-the-legs tag was insane. Gotta be Sportscenter #1 play.

Mac's timing is just a little off, but he'll come around. Am I the only one who immediately noticed he's slimmed down a lot? Looks to be in much better shape. And speaking of catchers, GATTIS SMASH. He still needs some defensive work in LF, but he looked like he has decent athleticism out there. Just needs reps on the fly balls.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in CF when J-Hey comes back. I'm really rooting for Schafer to get more PT. We have a good problem in that we're actually a little too deep right now. But it's still a problem. Regardless, this time is damn fun to watch. Nice to see us starting to manufacture more runs, too.

Mac did look to be in good shape. I expect him to have a big year.

[War Machine Dawg]

He may not be able to be optioned, but he can suddenly become "injured." Give him a few days off then have him "rehab" his "injury" with Pearl or Gwinnett.

Honestly, I think the real problem is his entire plate approach. He's fallen in love with power and the homerun swing the last 3-4 years. In the process, he's stopped making contact and using his legs. He needs to have it drilled into him again that he's a speed guy who happens to have power, not a power guy that happens to have speed. There's a subtle but very distinct difference.

Schafer is actually a perfect example. He's a very fast player who's gone back to just putting the ball in play and letting the power come as a result of contact. When he came up the first time, he forgot that and started trying to hit with power more frequently. He went back to basics over the offseason, changed his swing to make more contact, and now Schafer is having the success a lot of us thought he'd have. BJ would benefit from taking Schafer's current approach. Of course, that's a solution that would take months to implement. Short term, I have no clue.

I should also say that for all the hell I've given him, Uggla is showing signs of life at the plate. He's gone oppo two days straight. And his swings are looking much better. Hopefully he's starting to come around. It would be nice if he returns to the .250 hitter he was at Miami. I could at least semi-live with that Uggla. If nothing else, maybe he'll get hot for a month and we can find a sucker to take him.

[Todd4State]

The Reds are overrated. They have Joey Votto. (woo hoo) The Cardinals are much better- and now they are fixing their bullpen with Carlos Martinez. They have a few other guys in AAA that are probably going to help them this year too- Oscar Taveras, Kolten Wong and Michael Wacha. You'll hear about them in September. If I was the Cardinals GM, I'd find a way to get the SS from the Cuban National Team to defect and sign him. Barrenbuella is his name I believe. I'd use Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Matt Carpenter, and either Jon Jay or Allen Craig as trade bait. I hate Matt Holliday's contract.

BJ Upton has always been a free swinger- I highly doubt that is going to change.

[msstate7]

The Reds are overrated. They have Joey Votto. (woo hoo) The Cardinals are much better- and now they are fixing their bullpen with Carlos Martinez. They have a few other guys in AAA that are probably going to help them this year too- Oscar Taveras, Kolten Wong and Michael Wacha. You'll hear about them in September. If I was the Cardinals GM, I'd find a way to get the SS from the Cuban National Team to defect and sign him. Barrenbuella is his name I believe. I'd use Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Matt Carpenter, and either Jon Jay or Allen Craig as trade bait. I hate Matt Holliday's contract.

BJ Upton has always been a free swinger- I highly doubt that is going to change.

If St. Louis is needing a ss, they should try and get Paul janish from the braves. Janish is outstanding defensively. I hope the braves hold him personally.

Joey votto is a great player. Not sure if you're saying he's overrated or what, but I put him way up there as far as the best hitters.

[Will James]

One Bruce starts hitting the Reds are gonna be vicious. Losing Cueto has hurt them too.

[Todd4State]

If St. Louis is needing a ss, they should try and get Paul janish from the braves. Janish is outstanding defensively. I hope the braves hold him personally.

Joey votto is a great player. Not sure if you're saying he's overrated or what, but I put him way up there as far as the best hitters.


No- what I'm saying is people overrate the Reds team because they see that Votto is on the team and they don't look at the rest of the team.

[Todd4State]

One Bruce starts hitting the Reds are gonna be vicious. Losing Cueto has hurt them too.

If they don't trade Bruce.

[tenureplan]

One Bruce starts hitting the Reds are gonna be vicious. Losing Cueto has hurt them too.


Cingrani has been been lights out.

[Will James]

Cingrani has been been lights out.

You never get better losing your ace. When Cueto comes back they most likely keep Cingrani and are better because of it.

[War Machine Dawg]

I'm going to disagree, Todd. The Reds also have Brandon Phillips who's been great for the last few years. Shin-Soo Choo is killing it for them. Todd Frazier is a pretty good 3B. Bruce is slumping a little, but we all know he can rake. Cozart at SS isn't a slouch, either. They're a pretty solid team. I'd say they're pretty even with the Cardinals, honestly. Your team pitches better, but they have the offense. The Cards suck up the middle and don't have a SS or 2B worth a damn without an aging Furcal.

You also have to factor in the Reds not having Cueto right now. When he comes back, they can get Mike Leake out of the rotation, which makes them even better on the hill. And Aroldis Chapman is potentially one of the top 3-5 closers in baseball. They're going to push you all season for the division.

But as this is a Braves thread.....I agree BJ is a free swinger. I have a feeling he's going to be my new Brave I hate, maybe even overtaking Uggla. I think, just like with Uggla, we way overpaid him. He'll be another massive contract we're stuck with and unable to move. I'm NOT a Frank Wren fan.

[Will James]

Uggla's K's will come down. Last year he go ton base just as much as Bourn.

BJ will figure it out as well. With him and Uggla getting it going and Heyward coming back they will be a feared lineup.

I think this team was very well put together and will make the playoffs.

[FISHDAWG]

Gattis looked ok in left field last night but he doesn't look like a natural fit there... I say let him play left, move J. Upton to center, and let BJ play cheerleader .... or just go ahead and sit BJ for a while and start Schafer

[msstate7]

Kimbrel blows another save. I'm getting really concerned about him.

[War Machine Dawg]

I'm not concerned yet. It's only his second this season. And I'd guess he has less than 5 in his career. The only thing I see so far is he's relying too much on his fastball so far. Part of the reason he was so unhittable the last 2 seasons was his use of that filthy slider. He needs to get back to using it more. We're just so used to it being absolutely automatic when he's out there that every blown save is magnified now. Kinda becoming a victim of his own success in that way. This is what most closers are like. Bottom line, I think with a slight adjustment he'll be just fine.

[FISHDAWG]

I thought that was his third blown save for this year - maybe I'm wrong but I too think there is no need to panic ... maybe he's getting them out of the way early this year .... to quote Rocky's manager " he's not a machine - he's a man !! " ..... I'm much more concerned with BJ Upton ..... at least Uggla is starting to put good wood on the ball so there's that

[Will James]

Schafer getting the start today over BJ.

[War Machine Dawg]

Fish, you're right it was his 3rd blown save. My bad. But I stand by my comments.

That's awesome, Will. Hopefully he'll continue to produce. I'm really happy to see him finally having the success we all knew he was capable of having.

[msstate7]

Fish, you're right it was his 3rd blown save. My bad. But I stand by my comments.

That's awesome, Will. Hopefully he'll continue to produce. I'm really happy to see him finally having the success we all knew he was capable of having.

When's Heyward gonna be back? I miss him spectacular catches every day?

[War Machine Dawg]

No official word yet on J-Hey. My guess is he's still at least 2 weeks away. He'll need to do a rehab stint before he comes back, too.

Also, JV is scheduled to throw off a mound tomorrow. Looking he *might* be back in late May or early June. But I'm not counting on it.

[War Machine Dawg]

Schafer is having a big day starting for BJ. 3 hits and a run scored.

El Oso Blanco showed off his arm in left. Threw a laser to home to cut down Phillips at the plate. He's looking better and better out there. Also just barely missed a homer. Hooked it foul by inches.

Also should be noted that Uggla has 2 bombs. His ABs and swings are looking so much better. Hopefully he's starting to figure it out some. The emphasis on trying to go oppo lately has apparently worked for him.

Minor looked pretty good. Pitched around a some trouble and has given us 7 solid. Hopefully the 'pen doesn't blow it aGAIN. 3-1 good guys, bases juiced, no outs in the 8th as I type.

[War Machine Dawg]

Juan Francisco SLAMMY!!!! 7-1 good guys. The Smallpark is playing like it today.

[FISHDAWG]

thanks WMD ... can't watch todays game - keep reports coming if you don't mind ..... love to hear that about Schafer

[War Machine Dawg]

Braves win 7-2. Bruce hit a solo shot off Varvaro to lead off the 9th. 5 HRs total in the Smallpark today. Varvaro locks down the 8th & 9th to give the rest of the pen some rest with the off day coming tomorrow.

Braves become the 1st team this season to win a series at the Smallpark. Also, J-Hey is starting a rehab stint today. Could possibly rejoin the club in the next week or 2.

[FISHDAWG]

it's sounding like it's gonna be a fun season

[War Machine Dawg]

This team is getting me hot, Fish. Andrelton had a 4-hit day, including a perfectly executed hit-and-run with Schafer that started the huge 8th inning. Schafer took off, Cozart moved to cover 2B, and Andrelton reached out and slapped one into the hole Cozart had just left. He couldn't have rolled it out there any better. Speaking of Schafer, one of his hits was a triple.

Honestly, we've got a (good) bench problem when J-Hey comes back. BJ is the only obvious choice to be benched right now, but we're paying him too much to bench him long. Schafer is hot and Fredi thinks he's our best all-around defensive outfielder. Plus he's the true leadoff guy we're missing. Gattis is RotY good. I think it was Joe who said today he's something like 4th in rookie average and 1st in HRs & RBI. I don't know how we take his bat out of the lineup, but there's no way we bench a healthy Mac. The only scenarios I *might* could see is moving J-Hey to CF, J-UP to RF, and leaving Gattis in LF or simply putting Schafer in CF.

[msstate7]

Nice win tonight. Teheran pitched well. Mac with 3 hits including a hr. Bj and uggla even had hits. Uggla seems to be turning his season around. Kimbrel bounces back with a save. We need to keep winning bc Washington is playing well.

[War Machine Dawg]

Yeah, I didn't get to watch much of it. Hate I missed Mac hitting a bomb. Definitely nice to see Teheran get a QS. He needed it.

Uggla has been on fire the last week or so. As Joe has said, he's been focusing on going oppo and it's really helped him rediscover his swing.

It's going to be a dog fight between us and the Nats until the last day of the season. Whoever wins the division will have earned it and the other team will be really disappointed with the Wild Card spot. I think we're better right now, but they've got a couple of pitchers struggling. Gotta figure Stras and Gio will figure it out for them at some point. Of course, we also get Beachy back in some capacity in June, but who knows what his role will be. And unless BJ starts to hit, I'll worry about our offense when J-Hey comes back and it's all the starters everyday.

[FISHDAWG]

I stayed up for most of the game (I'm on Eastern time)last night ... in years past - would have been asleep by the end of the 3rd - these guys are exciting

[msstate7]

This weekend we took it on the chin. This team is wildly inconsistent. Hopefully we bounce back in Arizona tonight. To this teams credit, they're in 1st place despite playing more road games than anyone.

[War Machine Dawg]

With all the strikeouts in the lineup, we're going to be inconsistent. No way around it. It sucks, but we're going to have to get used to it. And it's likely to get worse in that regard when J-Hey comes back in a few days. I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I really wanna see Schafer get more of BJ's reps in CF. Frankly, I think he's earned it.

Pitching needs to pick it up some. SF isn't is bad offensively as they've been the past few years, but they aren't a juggernaut, either. Medlen has been ok, but not as good as we'd hoped. And he's gotten shit for run support. Huddy had a bad day, but he'll bounce back. Maholm is struggling some. I'm afraid the real Maholm is starting to rear his head a bit. Teheran has been serviceable, but he's gotten crazy run support. I was reading today that Beachy is going to pitch a game in extended spring tomorrow then probably go on a rehab stint. Looking like he's on track for a mid-to-late June return. No clue how we'll use him, but I'll be damn glad to have him back.

And yes, it's hard to believe we're still in 1st. The schedule has been brutal in terms of how much we've been on the road. Need to get some momentum back in 'Zona for sure, though.

[msstate7]

I'm really interested in how he use beachy. If he goes straight back to rotation, who leaves? Teheran has been pitching pretty well so he could be here to stay. Could medlen return to bullpen?

[War Machine Dawg]

Teheran has an ERA of nearly 5....4.84 to be exact. Don't get caught up in the fact that we've won his starts. He's been pretty bad. I'd boot his ass now if we had anyone else. I'm just not as sold on him as most of our fans and the front office seems to be. He may be great eventually, but right now he's terrible.

[msstate7]

You may be being a little hard on Teheran. Here's last 3 starts:

@ col 7.0 inn 1 er (win)
Was 5.2 inn 2 er
@sf 7.0 inn 3 er (win)

So that's 2-0 with era of 2.75 in his last 3 starts. That's pretty good