Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop Christian Bethancourt Ready To Shine
By Jeff Schafer
Bethancourt ready to start for Atlanta Braves
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: It’s time for Christian Bethancourt to take the reins of the catcher for the Atlanta Braves. The 23-year-old catcher from Panama is primed and ready for this job. This Spring Training he has hit .313/.303/.500 with six doubles, six RBIs and three runs scored. He has also throw out a few runners from the catcher position. A defensive-minded catcher first but his bat could still be efficient in the Braves lineup.
"“I’ve got to make them feel when they’re on the mound like their watching TV in their living room in their house,” Bethancourt said. “You can’t be more comfortable than that. If they’re comfortable, they’re going to have confidence.”He also has learned to speak English. He couldn’t speak a lick of it when he got to Orlando in 2008, but Bethancourt knew catchers have to talk with their pitchers. So he learned the language.“I’m a catcher, so I’ve got to be able to communicate and talk with everyone and be on the same page with the starter,” Bethancourt said. “You’ve got to have good pace and make him feel comfortable. You want to make him to want to throw to you.”"
Braves want green stadium: Team is looking to irrigation, lights and LEED certification
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: All the bells and whistles are being thrown into the new SunTrust Park for the Atlanta Braves and their fans. This will be one great place to attend a ball game and enjoy your time when the game isn’t going on. With restaurants, shops and coffee stores, ice cream, etc…this facility will be a destination area for all family members. One other item to mention from the article, they are installing live cameras on two main buildings on Circle 75, so that fans can see live images 24/7 of the activity going on at the site…not the Braves games I’m afraid so don’t get your hopes up to much.
"The Braves are working to increase sustainability at their new ballpark in Cobb County, using new technology and green initiatives to help decrease SunTrust Park’s impact on the environment.For instance, work is now underway to install a 30,000-gallon irrigation tank on the site of the new stadium, said Mike Plant, Braves executive vice president of business operations.When a heavy rain leaves water on the grass playing surface, Plant said, a “very sophisticated suction/irrigation system” will collect the water and store it in the tank.“We’ll suck the surface water out of the field, it goes into a filtration system and an irrigation tank and we’ll reuse that water to irrigate the field,” Plant said.Turner Field has a similar system, Plant said, but the system at SunTrust Park will be more advanced."
Minor Leagues announce pace-of-game rules
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The new rules that the MLB have put into place for the minor leagues in 2015 is for inning breaks, pitching changes and the pitch timer. The time in between innings will now be two minutes and 25 seconds in duration. Once a change in pitchers happens and the new relief pitcher crosses the warning track, a timer will begin. Pitchers are allowed 20 seconds to begin their wind-up after the last pitch has happened. The new “shot clock” “pitch clock” goes into affect on May 1st. For more information on these changes, click on the link above.
"The procedures, created in partnership with Major League Baseball, will monitor the time taken between innings and pitches, and will limit the amount of time allowed during pitching changes. Umpires will continue to enforce rules prohibiting batters from leaving the batter’s box between pitches.Timers have been installed at all Triple-A and Double-A parks in plain view of umpires, players and fans to monitor the pace of play and determine when violations occur. The month of April will serve as a grace period, with players receiving warnings for infractions. Beginning May 1, rules will be enforced as written. The regulations and penalties for non-compliance are listed below."
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