Braves

[msstate7]

Dang...with all those hurdles to over come someone must be doing a hell of a job leading this team***

Fredi did a good job yesterday. He PH ciriaco instead of his usual give away an out with Gomes vs rhp. With 2 outs in the 8th and runner on 2nd, fredi went with eveland. I wasn't crazy about that move bc the mets had Mayberry (rh) on the bench. Eveland k'd Mayberry though. Fredi did a good job yesterday... Doesn't make up for the ton of boneheaded decisions that cost us games before though.

[msstate7]

@MBravesRadio
Arodys Vizcaino in his first @MBraves rehab was easy 98-100 velocity. Gave up 2 doubles, 1
...
That was Saturday night. Vizcaino bounced yesterday...

1.0 ip 0 h 0 er 0 bb 2 k

[msstate7]

Over his last 19 games, Davidson is hitting .323/.457/.492 with 2 HR, 5 2B, 14 BB, and 15 SO in about 65 at bats. His isolated power keeps climbing. He's starting to get a feel for things, and his power is starting to come. He has hit 6 HRs on the year now.

Also, RHP Max Povse got promoted to Carolina. He's a 2nd year guy out of UNC Greensboro. Atlanta drafted one of his teammates this year in Ryan Clark. Both are 6'6" + pitchers. The Rome pitching staff is now: Touki Touissant, Alec Grosser, Caleb Beech, Ricardo Sanchez, and Chad Sobotka.

Povse yesterday...

7 ip 6 h 0 er 0 bb 4 k

[BrunswickDawg]

This is interesting
@DOBrienAJC: #Braves are 35-35 w/ 4.06 ERA, .259 batting avg. & 294 runs. Through 70 last season: 36-34 w/ 3.33 ERA, .244 BA & 253 runs.

[KB21]

This is interesting
@DOBrienAJC: #Braves are 35-35 w/ 4.06 ERA, .259 batting avg. & 294 runs. Through 70 last season: 36-34 w/ 3.33 ERA, .244 BA & 253 runs.

The difference in ERA can probably be tied to the bullpen. I think our starters have been better overall since last year. I like our younger starters. I think Foltyniewicz will be back up soon. He's just in a slump right now. I also think we have some pen help on the horizon with Manny Banuelos and possibly Aroydis Viscaino.

[smootness]

The difference in ERA can probably be tied to the bullpen. I think our starters have been better overall since last year. I like our younger starters. I think Foltyniewicz will be back up soon. He's just in a slump right now. I also think we have some pen help on the horizon with Manny Banuelos and possibly Aroydis Viscaino.

I think it's actually tied more to our starters. At this point in the season last year, you had gotten really good things from Teheran, Wood, Harang, Santana, and Floyd. Minor had hardly pitched and only started struggling later, and Santana's numbers also worsened later in the year.

But so far this year, Teheran has been bad, Folty overall was bad, and Stults and Cahill combined to be garbage earlier in the year. Sure, Miller's been fantastic, and Wood has been good (though not as good as last year), Perez has been good lately, but outside of that it's been rough.

While our bullpen has had issues, Grilli and Johnson are putting up great numbers, and Avilan and Masset are doing ok. Kimbrel, Varvaro, and Walden were great for us last year, but outside of that it was pretty average, and Avilan really struggled last year.

So while I think both the rotation and bullpen have probably been worse than last year, I think the rotation actually has the bigger gap. Hopefully Teheran gets it together and Wisler can be productive for us going forward.

[msstate7]

The difference in ERA can probably be tied to the bullpen. I think our starters have been better overall since last year. I like our younger starters. I think Foltyniewicz will be back up soon. He's just in a slump right now. I also think we have some pen help on the horizon with Manny Banuelos and possibly Aroydis Viscaino.

Folty will have a hard time getting back if wisler and Perez keep it up. Mckirahan and vizcaino will most likely get a shot in July. The rest of the pen is picking it up so we could be set for a while. Who knows though... The pen could collapse again and wisler only has 1 start under his belt

[msstate7]

@GwinnettBraves
ROSTER MOVE: RHP Jake Brigham has been promoted to Gwinnett from @mbraves.

RHP Kanekoa Texeira has been placed on the DL.

...

Brigham has been really good lately.

[msstate7]

Banuelos tonight...
9.0 ip 2 h 0 er 0 bb 5 k

Season era = 2.03

[msstate7]

Supposedly the Braves felt they needed to send folty down to motivate him. That isn't good. Lord please don't let him be another Bethancourt

http://mlb.com/r/article?ymd=2015062...s_atl&c_id=atl

[KB21]

Supposedly the Braves felt they needed to send folty down to motivate him. That isn't good. Lord please don't let him be another Bethancourt

http://mlb.com/r/article?ymd=2015062...s_atl&c_id=atl

Eh, I think they simply didn't let him battle through some issues on the mound like losing the feel for his secondary stuff. If Mark Bowman was asking around and someone mentioned that Folty did not show the sense of urgency he needed to show on a side throwing session, I'd bet dollars to donuts that it was Fredi who said it. That's my one big issue with him, even more than some of his moves that are criticized. He has a tendency to air dirt laundry to the public too much and will not come to the defense of his players. Similar to how he threw Alex Wood under the bus a week ago when Wood was tossed.

Of the young pitchers the Braves have, Folty has the best stuff. He sits 95-97 easy with movement, and when his secondary stuff is on, he is hard to hit. Most guys like him have command issues, and scouts feel he will end up being a 45 on the 20-80 scale with regards to his command. However, they feel his fastball is an 80 with a 60 curve ball. He was averaging 8.31 K/9 and only 2.34 BB/9 on the year. The fact that his ERA is over 5 and his FIP is 4.35 with an xFIP of 4.23, it suggests that he has been hurt some by the defense on this team.

In my opinion, the pitchers in the upper levels of the minors, including the ones that have gotten some time on the major league team would be rated like this:

1. Mike Foltynewicz
2. Matt Wisler
3. Tyrell Jenkins
4. Williams Perez
5. Manny Banuelos

[msstate7]

Eh, I think they simply didn't let him battle through some issues on the mound like losing the feel for his secondary stuff. If Mark Bowman was asking around and someone mentioned that Folty did not show the sense of urgency he needed to show on a side throwing session, I'd bet dollars to donuts that it was Fredi who said it. That's my one big issue with him, even more than some of his moves that are criticized. He has a tendency to air dirt laundry to the public too much and will not come to the defense of his players. Similar to how he threw Alex Wood under the bus a week ago when Wood was tossed.

Of the young pitchers the Braves have, Folty has the best stuff. He sits 95-97 easy with movement, and when his secondary stuff is on, he is hard to hit. Most guys like him have command issues, and scouts feel he will end up being a 45 on the 20-80 scale with regards to his command. However, they feel his fastball is an 80 with a 60 curve ball. He was averaging 8.31 K/9 and only 2.34 BB/9 on the year. The fact that his ERA is over 5 and his FIP is 4.35 with an xFIP of 4.23, it suggests that he has been hurt some by the defense on this team.

In my opinion, the pitchers in the upper levels of the minors, including the ones that have gotten some time on the major league team would be rated like this:

1. Mike Foltynewicz
2. Matt Wisler
3. Tyrell Jenkins
4. Williams Perez
5. Manny Banuelos

When you say he rates so highly on 2 pitches (fastball and curve), but struggles with overall command... That screams relief, right? I don't why I just don't see folty as a starter.

As for your rankings... On potentional, I'd go...

1. Folty
2. Jenkins
3. Fried
4. Wisler
5. Banuelos

As far as right now...

1. Perez
2. Wisler
3. Banuelos
4. Folty
5. Jenkins

[msstate7]

10:13 PM
@mlbbowman
The #Braves haven't made an official decision about Freeman, but it sounds like there's a strong possibility he'll be placed on the DL.

...

Well we're about to be sellers

[War Machine Dawg]

10:13 PM
@mlbbowman
The #Braves haven't made an official decision about Freeman, but it sounds like there's a strong possibility he'll be placed on the DL.

...

Well we're about to be sellers

There was never a chance we were going to be buyers. I'll be disappointed if we're sellers, though. Best bet is we stand pat, outside of maybe moving a couple of marginal pieces like Pierzynski and CJ. And I'd be a little surprised if we move Pierzynski just because we literally don't have another option behind the dish with Bethancourt sucking ass and O'Dowd being banned for PEDs.

[msstate7]

There was never a chance we were going to be buyers. I'll be disappointed if we're sellers, though. Best bet is we stand pat, outside of maybe moving a couple of marginal pieces like Pierzynski and CJ. And I'd be a little surprised if we move Pierzynski just because we literally don't have another option behind the dish with Bethancourt sucking ass and O'Dowd being banned for PEDs.

I thought we could've been buyers for a player like lucroy -- player that is under contract for a few years that addresses a weakness like catcher, lf, or relief pitching.

[msstate7]

@DOBrienAJC
#Braves Freeman's wrist injury called a contusion.

?@Braves
The Braves place Freddie Freeman on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 6/18, with a right wrist contusion and recall Joey Terdoslavich from GWI.


...

This sucks. Got 6 of next 9 vs nats. We are officially in the danger zone trying to stay in the nl east race

[msstate7]

Our offense is really gonna suffer without FF. In 5 games without FF, we've scored 12 runs (2.4 a game) with 6 in 1 game. We're 3-2 in those games, but I can't see that continuing without some offense. Right now we have no one that scares any pitcher. If someone or someones don't get hot, we'll be out of it by the time FF gets back. FF was a devastating injury. We've got 8 games vs the nats and pirates coming up. We have to find a way to go 4-4 at least to continue to be a fringe contender

[msstate7]

2:17 PM
@grantmcauley
Christian Bethancourt is hitting .370 (10-for-27) with 1HR, 4RBI, 4R since return to AAA. He has 1 passed ball in 58 innings caught. #Braves

[smootness]

I think there's definitely still hope for Bethancourt. I think there's a decent chance his offense continues to improve to the point where he can be an everyday catcher. And most of his defensive issues are about poor technique. He needs to have a fire lit under him and to put in the work to improve, but he can still get there.

[msstate7]

5:48 PM
@DOBrienAJC
#Braves promoted CF Mallex Smith to Triple-A after he hit .340 w/ .418 OBP, .830 OPS & 23 SB (6 CS) in 57 games at Double-A Mississippi
....

Congrats Mallex.

Interesting that we've been playing peraza in cf and we promote Mallex there. My guess is we're shopping peraza