Morning Chop: Atlanta Braves News 5/19
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editorial Notes: What’s being lost in the shuffle is Freddie Freeman going 3-3 and helping the Braves make the comeback in the 9th inning. Also, Gavin Floyd pitched another good game for the Braves – if it wasn’t for one inning, he probably would of received most of the talk. Ryan Doumit came of the bench and saw one pitch and drove the fastball down the right field line in the 9th inning to set up a potential tying run.
Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jason Heyward RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .215 | .626 |
Justin Upton LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .279 | .903 |
Freddie Freeman 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .314 | .927 |
Chris Johnson 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .270 | .644 |
Andrelton Simmons SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .268 | .711 |
Dan Uggla 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .178 | .501 |
David Carpenter P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Ryan Doumit PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .217 | .495 |
Craig Kimbrel P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Gerald Laird C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .158 | .457 |
Evan Gattis PH-C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .242 | .769 |
Jordan Schafer CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .115 | .399 |
Gavin Floyd P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .167 | .333 |
Alex Wood P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .143 |
Ramiro Pena 2B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .190 | .658 |
Team Totals | 31 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | .226 | .817 |
Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gavin Floyd | 5.1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.41 |
Alex Wood | 1.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.35 |
David Carpenter, W (3-0) | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 |
Craig Kimbrel, S (11) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 |
Team Totals | 9 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2.00 |
Braves Rally Past Cardinals for 6-5 Victory
Tomahawk Take Editorial Notes: The Braves win! Over the past few years we haven’t been able to say the Braves have beat the Cardinals but on Sunday they did. Yes, it was a come back finish and we took advantage of a few miscues – and the Cardinals sending their closer out there for the fourth straight day – but the box score says the Braves won.
May 18, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher
Jaime Garcia(54) walks off the mound as Atlanta Braves left fielder
Justin Upton(8) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game at Busch Stadium. The Braves won 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports
Justin Upton hit homered leading off the fourth for the Braves. The homer was the 10th for Upton, who also doubled and scored two runs.
The Braves failed twice to close out innings due to defensive miscues with two outs. That allowed the Cardinals to score four runs.
With two outs in the seventh and Yadier Molina on first, Jhonny Peralta hit a high fly ball to center field. Schaefer lost the ball in the sun and it fell just to his right side. Peralta was credited with a double and Molina scored to give the Cardinals a 5-4 lead.
G-Braves Add Infielder Ozzie Martinez
Tomahawk Take Editorial Notes: Martinez was originally selected by the Florida Marlins in the 2006 MLB Draft in the 11th round. Ozzie attended Porterville College. He has appeared in 34 major league games with the Marlins.
The Gwinnett Braves, in conjunction with the Atlanta Braves, have announced the addition of infielder Ozzie Martinez to the 25-man roster. Martinez was acquired by the Braves from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in exchange for left-hander Adrian Rivero.
Martinez, 26, played in 33 games for Double-A Chattanooga in the Dodgers’ system this season, batting .176 (19-for-108) with two doubles, one triple, two home runs, 11 RBIs and one stolen base. Last season, he hit .247 (73-for-296) with 15 doubles, a triple, four home runs, 23 RBIs and six stolen bases in 89 games between Chattanooga and Triple-A Albuquerque.
Atlanta Braves Need To Call Up Christian Bethancourt
Tomahawk Take Editorial Notes: Is Christian Bethancourt the answer for the Atlanta Braves? I’m not sure if we can say right now but Rant Sports thinks it’s time to give our young catching prospect the tilt of the hat. Currently in Triple-A Gwinnett, Christian is hitting .243 but where he stands out from the rest is his defensive skills.
Braves catchers have had a difficult time defensively this year. Evan Gattis‘ five errors puts him in a tie for most errors by a catcher in the NL. In the first two games of the Braves’ recent series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Gattis had difficulty blocking pitches in the dirt, and made a critical throwing error as well. Despite his shortcomings defensively, Gattis a consistent producer offensively and actually frames pitches well according to new metrics.
It’s the Braves’ backup catchers who are the real issue. Gerald Laird was brought in before the 2013 season and was expected to be an above-average defensive catcher. While he throws out a higher percentage of would-be base stealers than Gattis, his defense has been unimpressive. His passed ball in the series finale against the Cardinals led to three runs, and his mistake would’ve cost the Braves the game if not for a poor outing from Trevor Rosenthal.
Atlanta Braves are Still Tops: Updated MLB Rankings Per FUBAR
Tomahawk Take Editorial Notes: This may come a little shocking to some of you but XN Sports has the Atlanta Braves has their #1 team in their power rankings. Braves fans everywhere have been destroying this team and personally I had to take a second look at this site. Atlanta is still a very good team and we shouldn’t harp on this poor strand of losing. Lets put those games behind us and get ready for Milwaukee.
Rank
Team
Total Points
Win
Loss
Previous
Difference
BI
1Braves70221810
9
As hard as it is to believe, the Atlanta Braves still hold the top spot in our rankings. Atlanta has gone 5-11 since our last release of our rankings, but they still own the best rotation, bullpen, and defense in baseball. They are also in first place of the National League East. Their offense has been brutal however as their hitting prowess and plate discipline has been one of the worst in all of baseball. Their saving grace on offense has been their base running as Jason Heyward has led the way in the Braves’ only competent offensive category used in FUBAR.
Stock: Even