Rockies Beaten Again Tonight – All Star Break Ahead
By Fred Owens
As we rap up the first half of the season by beating a sad looking Rockies team behind Jair Jurrjens and very nice night by Dan Uggla, Jordan Schafer. Eric Hinske and Chipper Jones, there are signs Uggla may be coming around. Homers on back to back nights and solid hits to go with them as well as a couple of walks seem to indicate he’s getting it together. The test will come just before the break against the Philly starters but I’m happy that Uggla is getting some confidence and swagger back.Jon Heyman’s DAILY SCOOP has a mid-season list where a few Braves appear. For instance number two on his Cy Young list behind Roy Halladay and ahead of Cole Hamels is Jair Jurrjens who he calls “The best of the second best.”
Aside from strikeouts where a power pitcher like Halladay has the edge, their numbers aren’t all that far apart. In fact while our top three may not be the big names Philly boasts but there isn’t that large a difference in the numbers between them. Here are a few selected stats before tonight’s win by Jurrjens.
Others on Heyman’s list include a Rookie of the Year pick for Craig Kimbrel, a least valuable player for the aforementioned Uggla and a Worst NL manager of the year for Jim Tracy of the Rockies; wasn’t he just manager of the year a couple of years ago?? How quickly they forget.
Former Braves in the News
I saw that (as heavily rumored) the Royals have said they’ll trade former Braves Wilson Betemit and Jeff Francoeur but they want to keep the resurgent Melky Cabrera. Another old Brave in the news today was Buddy Carlisle who cleared waivers for the Yankees and was sent to triple A. Finally for Brave starter Javier Lopez now of the fish made John Heyman’s list as the NL Cy OLD.
In spite of our recent romp among the also-rans evening up the schedule balance we still need an injection of OBP in our lineup. I expect a move to happen, whether it will be before the trade deadline or in August off the waiver is the first question. Another is whether it will be another go cheap and pray deal ala Rick Ankiel or a significant move that makes us stronger for the long term.
Tomorrow I head to Phoenix for the All Star Game and posts from there will be done as I can get the time before heading to the festivities. I will perhaps tweet some pics of things I see that are cool. Meanwhile I’m sure Bob and his canine deep throat will keep the information flowing.