Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop and Box Score 9/17
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Notes: If you’ve missed Craig Kimbrel, so have we…he hasn’t pitched since September 10th and hasn’t picked up a save since September 6th. The Braves put an interesting lineup on the field on Tuesday but continue to play B.J. I get it, we’ve paid him a lot of money and he should be on the field but why not give a start to Joey Terdoslavich (or Joey Turnitdownforwhat). Fans are frustrated, the organization is frustrated and the players are frustrated…going into the season with such high hopes drains a team at this point of the season if they aren’t winning.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philip Gosselin 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .290 | .327 | .366 | .692 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .244 | .287 | .335 | .621 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .291 | .387 | .472 | .859 |
| Justin Upton LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .275 | .348 | .498 | .846 |
| Jason Heyward RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .273 | .351 | .388 | .740 |
| Christian Bethancourt C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .259 | .286 | .272 | .557 |
| Chris Johnson 3B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .264 | .293 | .358 | .652 |
| B.J. Upton CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .206 | .282 | .329 | .611 |
| Aaron Harang P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .089 | .105 | .089 | .195 |
| Jordan Walden P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Ryan Doumit PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .205 | .245 | .336 | .581 |
| David Carpenter P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Team Totals | 30 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 31 | .167 | .167 | .167 | .333 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Harang, L (11-11) | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 3.68 |
| Jordan Walden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.33 |
| David Carpenter | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.56 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 3.00 |
Nats blank Braves to wrap up 2nd NL East title in 3 years
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Notes: Can Atlanta fans be real upset after this season…with the success we had in the 1990’s and even 2000’s, does missing one year of playoff baseball kill an organization? Braves fans expect to win and especially with the talent that is put on the field each night. Septembers are tough on the Braves in recent years and it looks like we can add 2014 to that list.
"The Nationals wrapped up their second NL East title in three years against the team that knocked them out of the top spot last season, beating theAtlanta Braves 3-0 on Tuesday night.Tanner Roark pitched five-hit ball over seven innings and Ian Desmond‘s two-run homer broke a scoreless tie in the sixth, sending Washington back to the playoffs with nearly two weeks to spare.“Nice to have it done,” said Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche, who began his career with the Braves. “The sooner, the better.”"
Can the Atlanta Braves fix their lousy offense for 2015?
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Notes: Heading into the 2014 season, most believed the rotation was the Braves weak spot….well 151 games later, we’ve all come to realize the Braves offense stinks. With the slim chances we get a runner in scoring position, we can’t get that guy across the plate. The Braves have scored only 33 runs in 14 games in September. Usually injuries kill a team’s production, this season, the bats killed the team’s production.
"Yet they are on the brink of elimination in the NL East because the offense has been atrocious. “We haven’t had three of four guys just clicking,” Gonzalez said. But it’s more than that. Only the completely inept Padres have scored fewer runs than Atlanta, which is on pace to score 593 times this year – what would be the Braves’ lowest output in a full season since 1989. That Braves team won 63 games.This from a lineup that includes first baseman Freddie Freeman (.293/.389/.475) and left fielder Justin Upton (.277/.351/.502), who have combined for 45 home runs and 170 RBI. But it’s a lineup that also includes downright black holes. The on-base-plus-slugging percentages of Johnson (.647), B.J. Upton (.616) and Simmons (.615) all rank among the 10 worst in baseball this season. Put another way, the Braves have given more than 1,650 plate appearances to three of the least productive offensive players in the game, a trio that comprises a third of their lineup."