Atlanta Braves Morning Chop
What will Gattis’ role with Braves be in 2015?
CORY McCARTNEY / FOR SPORTS SOUTH
Fredi Gonzalez has a simple solution for one of the biggest questions surrounding the Braves lineup going into next season.
If Christian Bethancourt is penciled in to become the primary catcher, how will the manager keep Evan Gattis and his power bat in the lineup?
“You wish you could call (new MLB Commissioner Rob) Manfred and say ‘Hey, can we go to the American League?” Gonzalez quipped.
A move to the Junior Circuit, where Gattis could be used as a designated hitter, isn’t going to happen, leaving Gonzalez to come up with more practical answers. But in the days after a disappointing season, it hasn’t been a point of his focus.
“I’ve not thought anything about Gattis as far as how many games is he going to catch next year, is he going to play another position or that kind of stuff,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve talked about it internally, a lot.”
Finding some clarity may be critical for a team that was severely lacking in producing the long ball this past season.
The Braves ranked 11th in the National League with 123 home runs in 2014, and Gattis’ 22 trailed only Justin Upton‘s 29 among all Atlanta players, despite having 240 less trips to the plate than Upton. In fact, only the Reds’ Devin Mesoraco had more HRs (25) than Gattis among players with less than 475 plate appearances.
[Editor’s Note: while Bethancourt (“Betty”, as Fredi calls him) handled the chores reasonably well in September, there was one notable issue that had showed up on prior scouting reports, but has seemed to be largely ignored: defensive laziness lapses. While he tends to block balls in the dirt very well, he often relies too much on his glove to snatch other wild throws – and that has resulted in too many passed balls.
How many? take a look:
- Gerald Laird (378 innings): 7
- Christian Bethancourt (260 innings): 6
- Evan Gattis (799 innings): 5
The rate of wild pitches, however, was in Betty’s favor – just over half the rate as with Gattis, and a little less than Laird. Pick your poison, I suppose: PB or WP. But if Bethancourt can correct that problem… he’s good to go. ]
Pace of game initiatives to be tested at AFL
Major League Baseball will test initiatives that were developed by MLB’s new Pace of Game Committee during the Arizona Fall League, it was announced Wednesday.
Included are restrictions on hitters stepping out of the batter’s box between pitches, limits on the time allowed between innings and for pitching changes, a change in how intentional walks are issued, reducing the number of conferences, and the modification of existing rules on the allowable time between pitches.
“The Pace of Game Committee is eager to test various ideas — ranging from the incremental to the dramatic — in order to learn more, and we are fortunate to have a setting in which we can do exactly that,” said Commissioner Bud Selig in a news release. “We will work with the appropriate parties — including players, umpires, our partners, our fans and many other contributors to our game — to form effective pace-of-game recommendations that will fit the Major League level.”
Braves president John Schuerholz is chairman of the committee, which was announced on Sept. 22.
VIA CBSSPORTS.COM, here are the trial changes:
"•Batter’s Box Rule: The batter shall keep at least one foot in the batter’s box throughout his at-bat, unless one of a series of established exceptions occurs, in which case the batter may leave the batter’s box but not the dirt area surrounding home plate. (Exceptions include a foul ball or a foul tip; a pitch forcing the batter out of the batter’s box; “time” being requested and granted; a wild pitch or a passed ball; and several others.)•No-Pitch Intentional Walks: In the event a team decides to intentionally walk a batter, no pitches shall be thrown. Instead, the manager shall signal to the home plate umpire with four fingers, and the batter should proceed to first base to become a runner.•20-Second Pitch Rule [AT 17 SALT RIVER FIELDS HOME GAMES ONLY]: A modified version of Rule 8.04, which discourages unnecessary delays by the pitcher, shall apply. Rule 8.04 requires the pitcher to deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball with the bases unoccupied. The penalty prescribed by Rule 8.04 for a pitcher’s violation of the Rule is that the umpire shall call “Ball.”"
AFL play begins on Tuesday, October 7th. The Braves’ participants will be playing for the Peoria Javalinas. Included are pitcher Aaron Northcraft and now-designated-as-an-outfielder Edward Salcedo.
Can John Hart revive the Braves?
More than 10 days ago John Hart stepped out of the shadows of his advisory role with the Atlanta Braves to become interim general manager after the dismissal of Frank Wren. He, team president John Schuerholz and former manager Bobby Cox make up a three-headed search committee to find someone more permanent.
The search may end with the 66-year-old Hart, at least in the short term.
But his roots in baseball stretch far.
Cleveland Indians President Mark Shapiro claimed his branch of the Hart tree in 1992, after a memorable interview in the quaint rot of old Cleveland Stadium.
A Princeton man, just 25 and ready to remake the world, Shapiro was after a job in the player development department. Hart sat behind a worn desk that bore the scars of Bill Veeck’s careless smoking. The place reeked of many things, but success was not among them.
“It was amazing,” Shapiro remembers now, “because (Hart) could paint a picture of the organization regardless of the setting we were in that was so vivid, so passionate and so authentic.”
Atlanta Braves Morning Chop.