Atlanta Braves Morning Chop – with Platinum-level Fail
Yadier Molina, Alex Gordon named Platinum Glove winners for 2014
Live Feed
FanSided
Yes, Alex Gordon of the Royals and Yadier Molina of the Cardinals have been named as the top defenders in the AL and NL, respectively, as determined by fan voting.
Gordon of course helms one of the best defensive outfields ever in Kansas City, and Molina has long been regarded as the top defensive catcher of his era. In winning the 2014 award, Molina topped fellow NL finalists Andrelton Simmons of the Braves and Juan Lagares of the Mets. Gordon, meanwhile, edged teammate Salvador Perez and Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox.
[ Editor’s Note: this was a fail on the part of Braves’ fans… at least if you believe the fans should have been voting on this at all. There is no way Molina should have won this. While the article notes that Simmons must have finished second in the balloting, the fact is that Jason Heyward was actually the best fielder in the National League – and really in all of baseball – for 2014. Lagares only played in 116 games while Molina saw action in 110 this season. In all honesty, if Rawlings wants to maintain any credibility for this award, they need to remove all fan voting whatsoever. But it seems that a vote split occurred, leaving the award to Molina – who was neither the highest rated defender on the Cardinals (Jhonny Peralta), nor the highest rated Catcher (he was sixth – in the NL). Simmons was the highest rated of all fielders in baseball (tying for second in Defensive Runs Saved), while Heyward was #1 overall in DRS.
Cards’ Wilson hits pinch-hit walk-off in AFL Play
Live Feed
Motor City Bengals
One strike away from closing out a victory Friday against Salt River, Peoria suddenly found itself scrambling. With two outs in the top of the ninth inning,
Brandon Drurylined a two-run single off right-hander
Brandon Cunniffto tie the score and keep the Rafters hopes alive.
Unbowed, Bubba Starling led off the bottom of the inning with a double for the Javelinas. When Daniel Castro popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt for the first out in the inning, manager Vance Wilson sent Jacob Wilson to the plate as a pinch-hitter to face right-hander Tyson Perez.
After taking the first pitch for a ball, Wilson lashed Perez’s next offering into right field and Starling raced home to score the winning run. Peoria walked off with a 5-4 victory, its ninth in its last 12 games in the Arizona Fall League.
[Editor’s Notes: Braves’ Contributions…
- Edward Salcedo: 2 for 4 (.265) with his 8th RBI an 8th double, though David O’Brien noted that he badly misplayed a ball in right field early on. He was also caught stealing.
- Daniel Castro: 0-3, hitting just .189 now.
- Aaron Northcraft had an excellent start: 3 innings, 1 hit, 2 K, though still walked 2 more batters. ERA down to 2.60.
- Ryne Harper had a rare outing in which struggled with control – 2 walks and a hit in 2/3rds of an inning. Nonetheless, nobody scored, bringing his ERA under 4 to 3.97.
- Harper can thank Nate Hyatt for the assist, getting out of that bases loaded jam before pitching another full inning. 1 walk, 1 strikout and his ERA is now down to 0.96. Nobody is talking about him, but Nate’s had an excellent short-season in Arizona this Fall.
- Brandon Cunniff was mentioned in the article above, but that because he yielded 2 runs in a blown save opportunity (as Salt River tied it up in the top of the ninth). The 2 runs can on 1 hit and 1 walk, though a fielding error by Bubba Starling got the inning started on the wrong track… in fact, neither of those runs were counted as ‘earned’, so his ERA actually dropped to 3.86.
Our Peoria Javelinas are now just a half-game behind in the West division standings, and the hottest team in the league with a week to go. ]