GG on taking care of the phils to start the season. Now if we can sweet the mets that would be awesome!

4/5/2007 10:13:21 PM

Quote :

"sweet"

????

Huh

4/6/2007 12:05:01 AM

sweep

4/6/2007 12:15:20 AM

I say we will probably take 2 out of 3. I am a little worried with Redman starting today. Didn't see him much last year when he was with the Royals, but the 5+ ERA(iirc) didn't sound too hot.

4/6/2007 7:27:30 AM

Also it is very hard to throw a baseball when it is cold. The ball is stiffer and harder to grip. Plus your arm just doesn't want to throw it.

The same thing happens to me when I play disc golf in cold weather. I lose about 50-75 feet of distance because of the cold weather.

4/6/2007 7:29:06 AM

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2827992

good article

4/6/2007 12:56:49 PM

Quote :

"Also it is very hard to throw a baseball when it is cold. The ball is stiffer and harder to grip. Plus your arm just doesn't want to throw it."

Cold weather def. favors the pitcher. It's the batters that are cold as hell. NO EXCUSES for that 9th inning implosion (and yes, I call 5 straight walks from 2 pitchers an implosion).

4/6/2007 3:06:36 PM

Quote :

"Cold weather def. favors the pitcher. It's the batters that are cold as hell."

i love insight from someone who has obviously never played the game of baseball

4/6/2007 3:17:54 PM

Are you implying that the quote is wrong? Because pitchers definitely tend to have the upper hand in cold weather...

[Edited on April 6, 2007 at 3:29 PM. Reason : V i disagree]

4/6/2007 3:24:51 PM

hell yes i disagree

it's more difficult to pitch with accuracy in 30 degree weather than it is to hit

you might lose power in the cold, but you can still make contact

getting a good grip on a cold ball is tough -- hence all the walks yesterday, the bad throw from howard, and the "lawn dart" from right

4/6/2007 3:28:02 PM

coming from an ex-pitcher, pitchers do have the slight upperhand in cold weather, but its very slight. The walks can be attributed to the cold weather, no matter how much of an upperhand you say the pitchers have. In cold weather, your fingers harden up, the ball feels harder, and your grip loosens. A very big reason why the walks were being administered

4/6/2007 3:31:06 PM

Quote :

"i love insight from someone who has obviously never played the game of baseball"

Yes I obviously have never played the game of baseball.

Cold weather favors the pitcher. Sure, the walks can be attributed to cold weather, but 5? That's straight up shotty pitching.

I love insight from someone who likes to make excuses because he wants to not acknowledge the fact that his team's bullpen probably is going to suck again this year.



and I'm a Braves fan. I just own up to it.

4/6/2007 3:40:50 PM

With Soriano, Gonzalez, and Wickman there is NO way your pen will suck. Frankly, your closer is the worst of that bunch. I think, until Mota comes back from suspension, the Braves pen is the class of the NL..

4/6/2007 3:42:43 PM

how can you draw conclusions based on a single inning?

the pen gave up 2 runs in 12 innings before the ninth yesterday

every staff is going to have a bad game here and there -- we still have a long time before we can make any kind of assesment

[Edited on April 6, 2007 at 3:45 PM. Reason : ^amen sister]

4/6/2007 3:45:25 PM

No, there are too many weaknesses at Relief. Until Villareal is traded or is killed, then I will always be worried.


Bob Wickman is quality. He seems to really have his save opportunities under control (referenced from last year too).

Soriano was a good pickup.



^I can say that because you can see a lot of the 9th last night was nerves. These guys aren't ready. In situations like that, nerves is the most destructive thing to a pitcher.

4/6/2007 3:46:42 PM

villarreal is the least of my worries

once he calmed down last season he was pretty good -- as a starter and reliever

he looked good yesterday too

kali yates is shit, though

4/6/2007 3:49:45 PM

Yeah Villareal isn't that bad...compared to Yates

4/6/2007 5:06:25 PM

welp

thanks for the fantasy stats, jose

i told you guys kali sucks ballz

4/6/2007 9:59:10 PM

before nym410 gets his trolling in

we started our worst starter, two bench players (who had three bad defensive plays), and kali and mcbride (the worst fucking relievers ever) made appearances

this is pretty much the perfect storm

4/6/2007 10:12:29 PM

(regardless of our disagreement in fantasy baseball thread)

Ernie do you think the Braves have a realistic shot of finishing the division above the Mets?

my prediction is

Mets
Braves
Phillies
Marlins
Nationals

[Edited on April 6, 2007 at 10:13 PM. Reason : .]

4/6/2007 10:13:19 PM

Quote :

"the Braves pen is the class of the NL.."

Quote :

"No, there are too many weaknesses at Relief."

I rest my case.

Fucking pathetic.

4/6/2007 10:14:33 PM

yes

this game is not representitive of how our season will play out

our bullpen is much better than this -- mcbride will be in richmond before long and we have lots of good relievers in the minors

the mets pitching will fail them, perez looked great tonight but it's fucking oliver perez

and as great as the mets offense is, the braves scored more runs last year

the mets outperformed their pythagorean expectation by about five games last year, the braves underplayed by about five -- things will even out this year

(and opening night was ny/stl, not sf )

[Edited on April 6, 2007 at 10:19 PM. Reason : ]

4/6/2007 10:15:20 PM

I just miss mazzone... And decent owners... and a kick ass hoss of a 4 pitcher rotation... and Sid Bream... and Andruw Jones in the 1995 WS... and Otis Nixon climbing the wall... and Jeff Blauser lookin all goofey... and the time I wish Gregg Olson would've gotten up off his ass after being railroaded and nailed that motherfucker in the face instead of getting taken to the hospital in a neck cast... and watching Andy Van Dyke cry in center after the pile at the plate... and Cy Young Awards starting in 1991: Glavine, Maddux, Maddux, Maddux, Maddux, Smoltz... and John Rocker and the 7 Train... and ROY Justice in 1990 and (real) ROY Chipper Jones in 1995 (I don't care what you say, fucking Hideo Nomo should not have one that fucking award in 1995... he played professionally...)... and Game 6 of the 1995 World Series and Justice's solo homer... and Justice beating Halle Barry... and Terry Pendleton's fat ass on 3rd base... and back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back division championships... and Raffy at SS...



[Edited on April 7, 2007 at 12:16 AM. Reason : .]

4/7/2007 12:16:18 AM

4/7/2007 12:21:04 AM

get that shit out of here

4/7/2007 12:39:57 AM

i think everyone missed andruw jones in the 1995 world series

4/7/2007 12:47:04 AM

Andruw Jones heroics were in the 1996 World Series.

4/7/2007 1:35:16 AM

i don't think oeuvre realizes we have 158 games still to play

4/7/2007 10:45:12 AM

smoltz glavine on right now. 2-1 braves. GO BRAVES!

4/7/2007 4:36:09 PM

thanks for taking second, wright

4/7/2007 7:10:58 PM

I think if we are losing bad then Bobby will put in a scrub relievers and if we are tied or losing by a run he will probably use our best 3(soriano, wickman, and gonzales)

4/7/2007 8:31:46 PM

Quote :

"thanks for taking second, wright "

ha no doubt about that... what a funny game baseball is. big ups to smoltzie today... and then pen for holding it up. GO BRAVES

4/8/2007 12:34:27 AM

hell yea

first pitch kelly johnson

4/8/2007 1:17:52 PM

KJ takes the first pitch of the game 10 rows deep

4/8/2007 1:18:05 PM

nice play... love the superman theme too

4/8/2007 1:27:25 PM

davies

....

4/8/2007 1:30:44 PM

if he's giving up bombs to the bottom of the lineup, we're fucked

4/8/2007 1:32:00 PM

He's pitched very well today, IMO.

I just wish the fucking braves could get their minds into the RISP situation. McCann is the only one.

[Edited on April 8, 2007 at 2:58 PM. Reason : .]

4/8/2007 2:58:13 PM

good call oeuvre

[Edited on April 8, 2007 at 3:45 PM. Reason : why is pena pinch running for mccann?]

4/8/2007 3:45:04 PM

4/8/2007 4:06:43 PM

^^ Not sure what the reason for the switch was...

Oh well, 2/3 from the Mets ain't shabby. GG Kyle Davies, it's good to see you in top form to complete the rotation.

The bullpen was suspect on game 1, suspect on game 2, and pretty good today.

Wickman, ftw. One run games still make me nervous even though Wickman had that nasty offspeed pitch going on today (I think it was a changeup). Love ending a game on a K... especially when he's on my fantasy team.

4/8/2007 4:18:57 PM

I think maybe Pena has a little better speed than McCann. Also with McCann the winning run he was going to go balls out if there was a play at the plate. Why risk hurting your #1 catcher either with a pulled hamstring(cold weather) or a possible collision with the catcher?

...just a thought

The bullpen wasn't that bad yesterday. Wickman tends to let at least 1 runner get on before he settles down. Remember he did that a lot last year with both the indians and braves and he only blew one save with the braves last year.

4/8/2007 4:49:11 PM

good job bravos

4/8/2007 5:20:59 PM

pena is alot faster than mccan. It was a smart move. Pena can fuckin MOVE for a catcher

4/8/2007 6:28:04 PM

5-1 and first in the Eastern. YEAH BABY!

4/8/2007 10:18:41 PM

you guys will need production out of your LF platoon

pitching looks good, but I's worry about the braves' depth at this point


but good start nonetheless

4/8/2007 10:22:39 PM

Quote :

"you guys will need production out of your LF platoon"

"you guys will need production out of your LF platoon centerfielder"

4/9/2007 1:02:27 AM

^touche

motherfucker battin like .130

4/9/2007 1:09:32 AM

They flashed a stat today that said that Chipper and Andruw were a combined ~.175 BA and had 1 RBI between them.

But, that being said, I'm very excited that we can win 5 out of 6 games with our two biggest offensive players doing virtually nothing. You know they're both going to pick it up, and we'll be in really good shape when that happens.

4/9/2007 1:35:07 AM

Good series this weekend for the Braves. The bats were asleep, but they sitll managed 2 out of 3. Yesterday's comeback was great

Anyway some bad news on Hampton and positive news on Cormier:

Quote :

"Elbow pain latest Hampton setback By DAVID O'BRIEN The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 04/09/07 The Braves were counting on Mike Hampton to be a big part of their starting rotation. Now they just hope he'll pitch at some point this season. Pain in his surgically repaired elbow forced the left-hander to abort a bullpen session Sunday, and the Braves scheduled an appointment for him today in New York with the doctor who did his ligament-transplant surgery 18 1/2 months ago. Dr. David Altcheck will examine Hampton to determine if he has more structural damage. "Especially knowing what a productive, competitive member of our pitching staff he was before he got hurt, this is bad news," general manager John Schuerholz said. Hampton, 34, hasn't pitched in a game since Aug. 19, 2005. After he hurt his side March 7 during spring training, the Braves immediately filled the void by signing veteran lefty Mark Redman. They thought Hampton would be back in May, until this setback. He will make $29.5 million during the 2007-08 seasons, the last of an eight-year, $121 million contract he signed with Colorado. Atlanta got him in a November 2002 three-way trade with Colorado and Florida, and those teams paid most of his salary from 2003-05. The Braves were responsible for his entire salary during the 2006-08 seasons, though insurance paid part of his $13.5 million salary in 2006 when he was on the DL recovering from elbow surgery. The Braves had a $48.5 million commitment to him over six years through 2008. He's 32-20 in 72 starts for the team between eight trips to the disabled list. Cormier shows improvement Not all the pregame pitching news Sunday was disappointing. The Braves were encouraged by Lance Cormier's pain-free morning throwing session on flat ground. The Braves' most effective starter during spring training, he began the season on the DL with a strained triceps muscle in his pitching arm. Cormier had soreness when he tested it on flat ground Monday at Philadelphia, but not during a similar workout Sunday. "Today was definitely the best it's been [since the March 26 injury]," said Cormier, who threw the ball with some zip from about 90 feet. "I didn't let it go, but ... I kept it on a line, not floating it." He will probably throw once more on flat ground before moving to a mound test. He's eligible to return from the DL next Sunday, but the Braves probably wouldn't need him before April 19. They haven't said whether Redman or Kyle Davies would be pushed aside to open a rotation spot for Cormier. After Davies' strong performance to beat the Mets Sunday (6 2/3 innings, four hits, two runs), manager Bobby Cox said Davies would get plenty more starts if he kept pitching so well. "

4/9/2007 9:12:31 AM