Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Box, Dansby Swanson’s Projections
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals faced off in game one of their four-game series on Thursday night and it didn’t go the “Braves Way”. I think last night it finally hit me that the Braves have Matt Kemp. In the 1st inning, the Nationals had two men on and two outs. Anthony Rendon hit a high fly ball to the warning track and Kemp got under it. Unfortunately, Kemp committed his first error as a Brave and let this easy fly ball hit the ground scoring two runs. Rob Whalen pitched a great game against the NL East leading Nats, going six innings, giving up one earned run, three hits, three walks and had six strikeouts.
Braves lose 8-2
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ender Inciarte CF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .266 | .323 | .339 | .662 |
| Adonis Garcia 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .265 | .305 | .392 | .698 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .288 | .383 | .542 | .926 |
| Matt Kemp LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .259 | .290 | .478 | .767 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .270 | .342 | .387 | .730 |
| Tyler Flowers C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .254 | .343 | .424 | .767 |
| Anthony Recker PH-C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .294 | .383 | .451 | .834 |
| Jace Peterson 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .249 | .339 | .371 | .711 |
| Dansby Swanson SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .250 | .250 | .250 | .500 |
| Robert Whalen P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .286 | .286 | .286 | .571 |
| Jose Ramirez P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Gordon Beckham PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .217 | .310 | .348 | .657 |
| Arodys Vizcaino P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Mauricio Cabrera P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Jim Johnson P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Chase d’Arnaud PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .254 | .317 | .349 | .667 |
| Team Totals | 33 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 37 | .212 | .250 | .273 | .523 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Whalen, L (1-2) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 5.73 |
| Jose Ramirez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.54 |
| Arodys Vizcaino | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.75 |
| Mauricio Cabrera | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.96 |
| Jim Johnson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.45 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4.00 |
Projecting Dansby Swanson, Atlanta Braves Cornerstone
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: This is a great read from the boys at FanGraphs about recently called up top prospect Dansby Swanson. The media is surely hyping this guy up, but do the statistics back these talks up? The 22-year-old went 2-4 in his debut and then 0-4 in the following game. I keep debating on whether or not I should pick up Swanson in fantasy baseball.
"During his brief stay in the minors, Swanson didn’t stand out in any particular area offensively, but was better than average across the board. He posted a healthy 11% walk rate this season, a .151 ISO, and made enough contact (recording an 18% strikeout rate) for it not to be a concern. Even his 13 steals indicate a guy who’s fast, if not exceptionally fast.Swanson is a good hitter, but his bat alone doesn’t make him a particularly exciting prospect. What really sets him apart is that he’s a good hitter who also happens to play a mean shortstop. Eric Longenhagen noted yesterday that he thinks Swanson will be a plus defender at short. The data support that observation. In just 105 minor-league games at short this year, he’s been a +19 defender according to Clay Davenport’s model."
Mayor: Turner Field deal will remake Atlanta’s south side
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Oh, this story again. The Hank Aaron statue that’s sitting outside of Turner Field is once again popping up on websites all over. Georgia State comes out on top here with the Braves move to Cobb County, good for them. Georgia State has over 53,000 students and is one of the largest universities in the nation. Their main campus is a little more of Turner Field, in downtown Atlanta. Nice to see this stadium with a lot of history isn’t going to waste.
"Turner Field, the home of the Atlanta Braves and the 1996 Olympics, will get its “third life” when Georgia State University converts it to a college football stadium, Atlanta city leaders said Thursday.The deal involves new commercial development and improvements to streets and neighborhoods on the city’s south side, an area that has struggled as other parts of the city blossomed.Speaking outside Turner Field, near a bronze statue of Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the monument’s presence was fitting.“Hank Aaron helped unify a city — and a country — with one swing of his mighty bat at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium,” Reed said."