Morning Chop: Atlanta Braves News
The Atlanta Braves just got swept under the rug, dust mites and all, and no one should really be all that surprised with the way the pitching has begun to erode. We can wax poetic or something all day long about how the Braves still have one of the best whatever in the majors, but the aforementioned erosion is staring you square in the face as you do so. I’m thankful I’m actually on vacation as I write this, with the radio and the ridiculous (blackout restricted for video) MLB.tv audio being my only resource for games. If I were home, I might be buying a new television set! Check out the box scores from the final game of the sweep by the Philadelphia Phillies, courtesy of Baseball Reference.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | Pit | Str | PO | A | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy La Stella 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | .343 | .410 | .371 | .782 | 21 | 12 | 0 | 4 | |
| Ramiro Pena SS | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .212 | .272 | .353 | .625 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 4 | |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .276 | .369 | .485 | .855 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | GDP |
| Evan Gattis C | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .294 | .346 | .588 | .934 | 25 | 19 | 8 | 0 | HR |
| Jason Heyward RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .255 | .340 | .388 | .728 | 27 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 2B |
| Chris Johnson 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .275 | .294 | .357 | .651 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2B,GDP |
| Ryan Doumit LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .227 | .253 | .333 | .586 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 0 | HR,SB |
| Jordan Schafer CF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .216 | .286 | .294 | .580 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2B,IW |
| Aaron Harang P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .040 | .077 | .040 | .117 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | SH |
| Pedro Beato P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Dan Uggla PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .164 | .243 | .238 | .480 | 2 | 1 | HBP | ||
| David Hale P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .091 | .083 | .091 | .174 | 0 | 0 | |||
| B.J. Upton PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .213 | .284 | .346 | .630 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Shae Simmons P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Team Totals | 32 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 40 | .281 | .410 | .563 | .973 | 154 | 97 | 27 | 10 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | BF | Pit | Str | Ctct | StS | StL | GB | FB | LD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Harang, L (5-6) | 5 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3.83 | 32 | 115 | 66 | 37 | 9 | 20 | 9 | 16 | 8 |
| Pedro Beato | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| David Hale | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3.17 | 9 | 24 | 17 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Shae Simmons | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.08 | 4 | 25 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 18 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 9.00 | 49 | 177 | 110 | 61 | 22 | 27 | 16 | 22 | 9 |
Brad Rowland of our FanSided Network’s sister site, ATL All Day, shares the dismal news of the sweep of the Atlanta Braves by the Philadelphia Phillies. Check out Brad’s thoughts on the unceremonious sweep.
Atlanta Braves unceremoniously swept by Philadelphia Phillies
"The great majority of the fireworks from Wednesday occurred in the first two innings, and the damage began immediately as Atlanta starter Aaron Harang allowed three hits, a walk and a wild pitch on the way to two runs in the top of the first. For a brief moment, it seemed as if Harang would avoid complete disaster, however, as the hometown Braves responded for four big runs in the bottom half, led by a two-run home run from the red-hot Evan Gattis and a 2-run single from Wednesday’s left fielder, Ryan Doumit."
Todd Salem, featured columnist for the Bleacher Report shares his projections on when the latest call ups could occur for the Atlanta Braves. Check out Todd’s thoughts.
Latest Projections on When Atlanta Braves’ Top Prospects Will Be Called Up
"With the MLB Draft in the rear-view mirror, fans and organizations must focus solely on the 2014 season now. It pays to have a long-term outlook on your team, if only to keep things positive during down weeks. However, even while prospects are concerned, immediate winning should be the ultimate goal.For the Atlanta Braves, a franchise with a bit of a weak farm system at the moment, calling up some young kid to make a huge impact on the rest of the 2014 season is unlikely. This is especially true since they already revealed some of their hand with the call-ups of second baseman Tommy La Stella and reliever Shae Simmons in recent weeks."
James Wagner of the Washington Post takes a look at the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals, and shares his thoughts on how these two teams have changed a great deal since April. With the two teams beginning a four game series tonight, and with the recent sweep by the Philadelphia Phillies, fans could get a sort of microcosmic view of the struggles Atlanta will face the rest of the season, if things don’t change. Take a look at James Wagner’s thoughts.
Much has changed for the Braves and Nationals since two series in April
"When the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves met in April the outlook for both teams could not have been more different. The Braves were in the midst of another hot start, much like they did last season en route to winning the National League East title, and the Nationals continued their puzzling struggles against them. The Braves swept the Nationals out of Atlanta — outscoring them, 23-11 — and the already hobbled Nationals lost Ryan Zimmerman and Denard Span to injuries."
Dan Simpson of Talking Chop wonders, like much of the fans in Braves’ Country, why Dan Uggla is still an Atlanta Brave. There’s actually a pretty good answer for that, but check out what Dan thinks.
Why is Dan Uggla still an Atlanta Brave?
"After much consternation from virtually every fan in Braves nation, Dan Uggla was finally pulled from the starting lineup for good when Tommy La Stella was called up at the end of May. Since that time, Uggla has only appeared in 7 games, 6 of which came as a pinch hitter. In those 7 games, he has gone 0-9 with 0 walks and 2 strikeouts. In each game, he posted a non-positive WPA, which means he didn’t help the team’s chance of winning in any game he played in."