2015 Braves Thread
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Teheran rattled, but not hurt, avoiding liner
Braves righty loses focus after single by Duda, but says his knee is fine
By Mark Bowman
/
MLB.com
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@mlbbowman
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April 11, 2015
ATLANTA -- Braves right-hander Lucas Duda began the seventh inning Saturday night with a line-drive comebacker that could have produced a much more dire consequence.
Teheran lost his mental focus after landing awkwardly while avoiding
Duda's liner. But as the Braves' ace walked away from this 5-3 win over
the Mets, he eased the concerns of many by confirming he was not feeling
any discomfort in his right knee.
"I felt a little pinch in my knee, but after that I didn't feel anything," Teheran said.
here
I'm sure none of us thought this Braves team would be in first in the NL East after the first week. 161-1!
A couple things I've noticed so far:
Pitching has been pretty good. Even losing a 4-3 game isn't bad. Not walking tons of guys.
They're actually manufacturing some runs which is nice to see. That big inning against that Mets was double after double after double... really nice job of guys putting the bat on the ball.
The defense seems serviceable so far.
The veterans seem to be having a nice positive impact.
I was disappointed with how things went before opening day - especially with the Kimbrel trade, but I told a buddy that it's better to grab some quality prospects and let him go somewhere he'll be useful than to get a nice collection of saves, but little substance this year in terms of meaningful wins.
The strikeout machines are gone - Uggla is thankfully gone. BJ is gone. Heyward (who never really lived up to the hype or his potential) is gone. Can't say I'm really upset at any of the moves they made, but it's definitely disappointing that they needed to be made.
But we're also off to a nice start. Solid. I'll take 6-1 all day long.
Pitching has been pretty good. Even losing a 4-3 game isn't bad. Not walking tons of guys.
They're actually manufacturing some runs which is nice to see. That big inning against that Mets was double after double after double... really nice job of guys putting the bat on the ball.
The defense seems serviceable so far.
The veterans seem to be having a nice positive impact.
I was disappointed with how things went before opening day - especially with the Kimbrel trade, but I told a buddy that it's better to grab some quality prospects and let him go somewhere he'll be useful than to get a nice collection of saves, but little substance this year in terms of meaningful wins.
The strikeout machines are gone - Uggla is thankfully gone. BJ is gone. Heyward (who never really lived up to the hype or his potential) is gone. Can't say I'm really upset at any of the moves they made, but it's definitely disappointing that they needed to be made.
But we're also off to a nice start. Solid. I'll take 6-1 all day long.
Nothing like giving away a lead, tieing it on a home run in the ninth, just to give up a leadoff walkoff in the 10th.
Heard a commentator say the first week of the season that the Braves would go as far a the bullpen allowed them. First week looked good. Hasn't been great since.
I don't know I would draw that conclusion from getting swept by the hottest team in MLB right now. They just came off of winning a road series at Toronto where they could've had a sweep of their own. Now, if this really starts a slide to the bottom of the division, then there's no argument.
It's more so the way they are playing, not losing. The bullpen is definitely dipping right now and the hitters were not showing the plate awareness/discipline. I can take the losing, but I at least want the effort and style from the first week for most of the season. The last few games were anything but. And perhaps it is a bit tainted as Johnson's error was huge and a few at bats were just atrocious, especially the couple of times players took a strike 3 (reminded me of some FSU games, and that is one thing that just drives me nuts, swing the bat!)
No problem there. But you know the Ryan Howard and Chase Utley of 2008 will show up this weekend.
Passed ball gets the runner to third, error by Freddie allows him to score. Sucky way to lose a game.
If by that you mean you want Uggla to have 5 rbi's including the winning home run in the ninth, you got your wish.
How do you blow a 10-3 lead? Dammit man!
Back to .500 which is more than I expect from them for the year. Still though find myself needing to temper my expectations.
Shelby Miller loses a no hitter with two outs in the ninth finishing with a two hit shutout. The Braves sweep the Marlins in Miami for the second time this season.
Well, the lack of activity goes to show how the season is going. Sitting around .500, somewhat exceeding expectations but nothing to get excited about. If the team was completely tanking, there would be much more posting. Observations so far:
Pros:
-Miller may be a future ace if he can continue to develop his pitches.
-The lineup has actually exceeded expectations as far as offensive output has been thus far.
-Strikeouts down, and much more productive at bats.
-Simmons is looking much better at the plate and may be what most hoped for (solid bat to go along with his amazing defense)
-A lot of the prospects acquired in the offseason have looked very good in the Minors.
Cons:
-The rest of the starting pitching has not been what anyone hoped, especially Teheran and Wood. But Stultz and Cahill were just awful and thankfully are out of the rotation. Cahill has looked decent his last few times out of the 'pen as well.
-As a result of the starters struggling, the bullpen has been atrocious at times, just having to throw too much.
-Bethancourt just can't get it going with his bat and because AJ has been hitting well, is losing playing time to develop.
Pros:
-Miller may be a future ace if he can continue to develop his pitches.
-The lineup has actually exceeded expectations as far as offensive output has been thus far.
-Strikeouts down, and much more productive at bats.
-Simmons is looking much better at the plate and may be what most hoped for (solid bat to go along with his amazing defense)
-A lot of the prospects acquired in the offseason have looked very good in the Minors.
Cons:
-The rest of the starting pitching has not been what anyone hoped, especially Teheran and Wood. But Stultz and Cahill were just awful and thankfully are out of the rotation. Cahill has looked decent his last few times out of the 'pen as well.
-As a result of the starters struggling, the bullpen has been atrocious at times, just having to throw too much.
-Bethancourt just can't get it going with his bat and because AJ has been hitting well, is losing playing time to develop.
It's been a long time since we've had such weak pitching. So disappointing, but this is a young team, so hopefully we'll see them grow a lot this year. We need better arms, though. I don't remember the last time we were so thin with so few major league prospects on the horizon.
If you are talking strictly arms, I would disagree. If you mean position players, I completely agree because the cupboard, especially outfield, is absolutely bare. Arms though, we have several, but need this season to grow. Foltzy really needed a bit more time, but he had to be called up. Banuelos is looking good coming back from TJ and leads Gwinnett is wins and ERA, he needs to work on his control and improve his K/BB ratio. He was a top 50 prospect before injuries. Wisler has looked decent in Gwinnett and is probably a year away, and his K/BB ratio is phenomenal.
If you just look to next year's rotation, there is likely: Teheran, Miller, Wood, Foltzy, Minor, Banuelos, and Wisler all competing for the 5 spots. And all of those pitchers (except Minor) have a ceiling of top 3 in the rotation. You may want to scratch off Minor from the list because who knows if arbitration will happen again or the Braves just turn him loose.
Also, can add in Jenkins (the other pitcher from the Heyward deal) who has pitched well in AA and will likely move up to AA later this year.
Can't say that I disagree, I'm just thinking in comparison to what we've been known for in the past which is outstanding pitching. (Why is Mazzone not back in the dugout?) I don't know that any of these guys can lead us to the WS which is where I want to see us go. Teheran has had his moments, but he's hot or cold - at least from what I've seen. Miller may be good but he's young and not entirely sure what we'll see from him over time (hence why growth is needed this season). Foltynewicz is also very young and could be great. The rest have been rather average in my opinion. Hopefully we'll see them get up to speed and get this team competitive again.
But you're also right about being thin everywhere else too. Can't say I was excited about the Heyward trade, but I can't say that I really miss him, and he didn't live up to his billing which is probably my biggest issue over all for this team in recent years - guys not realizing their potential.
But you're also right about being thin everywhere else too. Can't say I was excited about the Heyward trade, but I can't say that I really miss him, and he didn't live up to his billing which is probably my biggest issue over all for this team in recent years - guys not realizing their potential.
Agree, I'm hoping that with the pitching depth and money becoming available soon (from Upton and Uggla contracts) that those resources will be used wisely for position players. Big hope there because the last time money was spent on position players, we got nothing in return but a forced rebuild.
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