Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Fredi Gonzalez Talks, Joe Girardi To The Braves?
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves have won double-digit games now in the 2016 season as they improved to 10-29 after beating the Pittsburg Pirates on Wednesday night. Julio Teheran pitched a fantastic game for the Braves lasting 7.2 innings and allowing only five hits, no walks and no runs. He also picks up is first victory since October 2, 2015. Tyler Flowers sent 3-4 on Wednesday and continues to prove he needs to be in the lineup more often. He’s now batting .211 against left-handed pitchers and .370 off right-handed pitchers. For a recap of last night’s game, check out the recap that Colby wrote last night.
Braves WIN 3-1
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ender Inciarte CF | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .232 | .295 | .250 | .545 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .264 | .372 | .347 | .719 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .275 | .372 | .458 | .830 |
| Jeff Francoeur LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .226 | .258 | .286 | .544 |
| Tyler Flowers C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .277 | .347 | .338 | .686 |
| Erick Aybar SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .174 | .207 | .205 | .412 |
| Arodys Vizcaino P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Chase d’Arnaud 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .320 | .393 | .480 | .873 |
| Daniel Castro 2B-SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .207 | .242 | .218 | .460 |
| Julio Teheran P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Gordon Beckham 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .340 | .421 | .480 | .901 |
| Team Totals | 33 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 38 | .303 | .361 | .455 | .816 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julio Teheran, W (1-4) | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.73 |
| Arodys Vizcaino, S (4) | 1.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.53 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1.00 |
Atlanta Braves: The Search for the Next Manager
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: You know the popular names so far to take over the Atlanta Braves managerial job – Bud Black, Terry Pendleton, Eddie Perez, Mark DeRosa, Chipper Jones – but what about names that you’d have to think out of the box about? Brian Snitker is 1-1 for the Braves since he took over and he’d like to be included in this discussion as well. When Braves GM John Coppolella talked about this after Fredi Gonzalez was fired, his inflection made me think they are definitely wanting to look outside the organization. Who knows that this point. Our own Ben Chase wrote an article on Call To The Pen about this subject and Ben did some digging.
"Girardi had some flirtations with leaving New York when his last contract was up, and those contract negotiations did not go smoothly, so it is feasible that he could even choose to walk away from the Yankees after 2017 if he does stay.If he were to leave the Yankees, he would immediately shoot to the top of probable candidates, and he’s the type of guy that I could see the purse strings being opened in Atlanta to hire. Girardi and GM John Coppolella of the Braves know each other fairly well from Coppy’s days working with the Yankees front office before being hired by the Braves.The other consideration is possibly hiring a guy like Pendleton or Perez for 2017 with the knowledge that they could pursue Girardi after 2017 if he fulfills his contract and likely keep those guys in the fold due to their long-time loyalty to the team."
Rome Braves Coach Called up to Atlanta
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The 34-year-old former Gwinnett catcher has been called up to the big leagues…not to play, but to coach. Yepez retired from baseball after a 12-year career in the minors and four seasons with the Gwinnett Braves…2012 to 2015. Good for him as I’ve watched him for a couple of seasons at the Wide World of Sports complex during Braves Spring Training.
"The Rome Braves announce that coach Jose Yepez has been named as bullpen catcher for the Atlanta Braves and has joined the team in Pittsburgh. Yepez was in his first season with Rome. A 14 year veteran of professional baseball and a native of Caroa, Venezuela, Yepez has played for the Toronto, Seattle, and Atlanta organizations.The Rome Braves return home to State Mutual Stadium tomorrow at 7 p.m. to begin a short four game home stand with the Augusta GreenJackets."
Former Braves manager Gonzalez laughs off clumsy firing
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: By now, we’ve all heard the story about how Fredi Gonzalez received an email from the travel agency on Monday night informing him he had a flight back to Atlanta from Pittsburgh. But we really haven’t heard anything past that. Fox Sports and the Associated Press sat down with Gonzalez on Wednesday a few blocks away from Villanova University. Villanova is located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which makes you wonder…Fredi’s been doing a lot of flying this week…or did he ever fly back to Atlanta?
"”It’s still my team. I feel like I should have been there,” he said.Gonzalez was professional and gracious toward the Braves on Wednesday in a lunch with The Associated Press just a few blocks away from Villanova’s campus. Gonzalez is engaged to a woman in the Philadelphia suburb of Malvern and plans to make the area his home.He doesn’t have a home anymore in Atlanta. Gonzalez had a lease on a townhouse that expired June 30 and he had just given his 45-day notice that he would renew for another year.”Two days later, I get whacked,” he said, laughing. ”I call (the realtor) and he says, `I know what you’re calling me for.”’"