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Braves Morning Chop – Stats, Most Interesting Man in Baseball

By Alan Carpenter

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Kelly Johnson (24) misplays the ball in the second inning of the spring training baseball game against the Detroit Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

RECAP: Competitors Getting Game Faces On

HITTING

More from Tomahawk Take

In yesterday’s Grapefruit League action, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Marlins 6-3… but as usual, it’s not the score we care so much about:

it’s the details on who did what

.

Eric Young Jr. – played the entire game in CF… where he’s locked in a battle with Eury Perez (.308/.379) for the opening day spot.  Young went 1/4, but scored twice and drove in a run.  He’s hitting .257, but still has a .366 OBP thanks to 5 walks.  He leads the club with 4 steals – and nobody has caught him yet, either.

Alberto Callaspo – welcome to Disney World!  2 for 4 yesterday, but that only brought his average up to .182.  He scored once and drove in a run.  As bad as that hitting average is, he’s actually managed to create a worse OBP:  .176.  Still not exactly what we’re looking for…probably should be cut, contract notwithstanding.

Kelly Johnson – Suddenly KJ is on track, too:  2 for 2 with a pair of walks means that he was 4 for 4 in OBP while playing RF.  His Spring OBP is now .355 – double that of Callaspo.  Alas, he doesn’t have a roster spot and doesn’t have a major league deal, so even that differential might not be enough to win a job.

Joey Terdoslavich – still has his hitting stroke:  1 for 3; now at .303, but those were “end of the game AB” after Freeman departed for the golf course.  JoeyT needs more AB at the front of the game before I can really declare him to be a serious threat to move to Atlanta.

Somebody is likely to contact Atlanta about acquiring John Buck.  He’s hitting .294 after a 1 for 3 day, and he’s now our third-best hitting catcher.  Go figure.

When can we start worrying about Chris Johnson?  0 for 2 yesterday, so he’s now at .120 for the Spring.  Ouch.  As bad as Callaspo has been, he’s now hitting 60 points better than CJ.

Jace Peterson.  Here’s one guy we don’t have to worry about:  1 for 1 in a PH/2B role yesterday – he’s hitting .355/.444 with an .863 OPS.  Also stole a base.  Did have his first Spring error, but at least that’s now out of the way.

PITCHING

Manny Banuelos (64) throws against the New York Mets. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

Some interesting trends are developing over the past couple of days:  relied pitchers are doing badly; prospective starters are doing well.

Manny Banuelos.  Very encouraging to many:  2 innings, 3 hits, 1 earned run.  Just one K, but also no walks.  ERA drops to 17+, which still sounds more like a movie rating, but it’s heading the right direction.

Cody Martin.  All he does is pitch well.  3 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 K.  Spring ERA?  Zero.  People have noticed.

Aaron Kurcz.  1 inning, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 K.  No runs allowed – 4.91 for the Spring.

Donnie Veal.  1 inning…. zeros on his line score otherwise.  4.76 for the Spring.

John Cornely.  I’ve been watching him – played at AA Mississippi last year.  This was his first GL action yesterday, but it was solid:  1 inning… and zeros – no hits, walks, K’s, or runs.  Actually was credited with a save.  Nicely done.  He’s not in the mix for this year, but could easily get a call at any point during the season.

Josh Outman.  This was disappointing, as he had been pitching well, but like James Russel, could not get the LHH out.  Managed to get out of the inning he began, but not until allowing 4 hits and 2 earned runs.  Somebody really needs to review the guidelines for awarding a “hold” to a pitching giving up more than 1 run.  Outman is now at a 5.40 ERA for the Spring.

Game time:  3:06.  That’s quite a bit better than that interminable Yankees contest from Wednesday.

 

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