Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Box Score, Looking For A Catcher, The Chase d’Arnaud Band

Baseball Reference

Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves had this game…it was so close you could taste their 32nd win of the season, but two late inning collapses lead to their 60th loss of the 2016 season.  Braves starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz pitched a great game and really deserved to get his fourth win of the season.  For a recap of the game, click on this link.  Folty has really pitched well of late and is developing into a solid pitcher for the Braves.  The talent is there, the fastball is definitely there (hit 99mph late in the game), the off-speed pitches are coming along, and he’s healthy now.  Looking forward to his next start which will be against these same Rockies on July 21st, at Coors Field in Colorado.

Braves lose 4-3

ESPN

MLB Rumor Central: Braves seeking catcher of the future now

Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: As we learned a few days ago, Tyler Flowers will be out with a broken hand most likely until September.  This puts the majority of the catching duties into the hands of the 39-year-old A.J. Pierzynski.  The Braves also called up catcher Anthony Recker to share games with Pierzynski, but the 32-year-old won’t be the saving grace.  The catcher position has been priority for the Braves front office for quite some time now and the name Jonathan Lucroy continues to pop up.  Lucroy’s contract ends after this season, but does have an option for 2017.  Reports the other day say that the Braves won’t make any deals involving Lucroy unless they are confident they can resign him.

"“Right now, I think we’d have to stand in line to get our catching position solved,” president of baseball operations John Hart told MLB.com “We’re certainly going to look at catching, but I don’t know that we’re going to find the right guy to step in right now. But don’t think for a minute we’re not examining the catching situation.”The Braves could go after the Brewers’ Jonathan Lucroy, who is back to his All-Star form and has a player option of $5.25 million for next season. If a player his caliber isn’t attainable, the Braves are almost assuredly looking for a veteran to help provide guidance to young pitchers.The plan, according to Bowman, is for Flowers to be used as a backup next season with an established catcher handling the majority of the duties."

MLB.com

Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: May and June of 2016, we saw the emergence of Braves utility man Chase d’Arnaud.  The 29-year-old was hitting .345 still on June 8th, but he’s cooled down since.  Braves Manager Brian Snitker hasn’t played him since July 10th in Chicago and is batting now .253 in 2016.  He may have cooled off at the plate, but he’s heating up on stage.  After Saturday night’s game, he put on a post-game concert for Braves fans.  The Chase d’Arnaud Band performed for over an hour as you may have seen in person or on FOX Sports post-game show.  If you missed it, I believe they’re showing it on the pre-game show today or you can check it out below.