Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop and Box Score 7/21
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor Notes: Justin Upton went 2-2 on Sunday but than got hit in the triceps and was removed from the game. Fredi Gonzalez said after the game “fingers crossed” that JUp will play Monday. With Gattis returning to the lineup, the Braves hope to have a full strength lineup heading into the Marlins series.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.J. Upton CF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | .214 | .278 | .339 | .617 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .259 | .303 | .353 | .656 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .289 | .379 | .483 | .862 |
| Justin Upton LF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .282 | .352 | .501 | .853 |
| Tyler Pastornicky PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .211 | .302 | .263 | .565 |
| David Hale P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .071 | .067 | .071 | .138 |
| Ryan Doumit PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .208 | .238 | .323 | .561 |
| David Carpenter P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Jason Heyward RF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .253 | .342 | .379 | .721 |
| Chris Johnson 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .280 | .303 | .389 | .691 |
| Tommy La Stella 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .297 | .371 | .376 | .747 |
| Gerald Laird C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .240 | .325 | .308 | .632 |
| Alex Wood P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .050 | .136 | .050 | .186 |
| Jordan Schafer PH-LF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .171 | .256 | .229 | .485 |
| Team Totals | 32 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 41 | .250 | .415 | .438 | .852 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Wood, W (7-7) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3.24 |
| David Hale | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.88 |
| David Carpenter | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4.28 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 2.00 |
Braves option LHP Avilan to minors
Tomahawk Take Editor Notes: Twitter has not been a happy place for Luis Avilan over the last few weeks. His struggles on the field has made my timeline populated with angry tweets directed to Avilan. The Braves made the move to send Luis to Triple-A Gwinnett in hopes to find his confidence again. In turn, Atlanta called up Chasen Shreve, a lefty from the Mississippi Braves.
Avilan had a 1.69 ERA in 101 innings of relief over the previous two seasons, but he’s given up 15 earned runs in 11 innings with runners in scoring position this year. Opponents are hitting .293 against the left-hander.
Avilan, 25, is 3-1 with a 4.85 ERA in 48 games. He has allowed 15 walks and 34 hits in 29 2-3 innings.
In 54 1-3 innings at Mississippi, Shreve went 3-2 with a 2.48 ERA, seven saves, nine walks and 76 strikeouts.
Atlanta Braves Have Right Mix to Win National League East
Tomahawk Take Editor Notes: With the win on Sunday, the Braves are now 54-44 in 2014. The Washington Nationals are 53-43. The NL East race is either teams to lose right now. The Wildcard is even tighter as the LA Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers both have 54 wins, with Pittsburgh having 52 and Cincinnati having 51 victories looming in the wings.
Expect this to lend itself to a tight race for most of the rest of the way. The Braves have a slightly easier schedule coming up right now which could mean they could stretch a tiny lead before they meet the Nats in August, but because of the competitive nature of the division that is not certain. All the same, the Braves do not need to change a bunch of stuff to win this division. No, they don’t even need to get rid of B.J. Upton to win. Upton plays a pretty consistent role right now so fans should be thankful.
Their defense is taking a step up lately which is really good to see. It is the nature of baseball fans this day in time to think of what the team can change via trades and that sort of thing but trades that have a real impact are not happening as much with the extra wildcard slot. In the ultra-competitive world that the Braves live in, they have the right mix of talented players in the right places to win. If those players don’t play well enough to win it all, at least the team knows they were good enough. Chances are, the Braves will at least make the postseason and anything can happen from there.
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Cincinnati could add Dan Uggla to list of possible acquisitions
Tomahawk Take Editor Notes: Dan Uggla was let go by the Atlanta Braves on Friday afternoon and supposedly his phone may be ringing shortly. The Braves had tried to find anyone to take his salary or trade him away for months but decided to cut the rope and let him go. The three-time All Star is in his next to last year of his contract that owes his $13 million a season.
Cincinnati Reds GM Walt Jocketty noted Sunday how “surprisingly quiet” free agency has been for his team so far, but that could change soon. The team will discuss several possible moves on Monday, including potentially the acquisition of Dan Uggla. The Atlanta Braves released the struggling Uggla on Friday after he hit .162 with two home runs in 48 games for the Braves this season.
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Fay reports that while Jocketty wants to get a deal done, he doesn’t feel he has to pull off a major move before the July 31 trade deadline.