Atlanta Braves News: Chop, Box, Interested In 19-Year-Old Cuban Star Luis Robert
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves took on the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in game one of this three-game series on Friday night. Bartolo Colon took the hill for the Braves, but didn’t have his best night. It seems as though ever other start for him he brings the good stuff. He didn’t pitch bad, the Phillies just got to him. He pitched seven innings, gave up 11 hits, four runs, one walk and had four strikeouts.
The tough part, Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson was very strong. He went seven innings, gave up three hits, two runs, no walks and had five strikeouts. Freddie Freeman got to Hellickson in the seventh inning when he blasted a solo homer to right-center field on a 2-2 pitch. Freddie has seven homers already this season.
Braves and Dansby Swanson are still struggling at the plate. Swanson went 0-3 after being dropped to eighth in the Braves lineup. He’s now hitting .125 for the 2017 season. Don’t panic yet, he’ll find his groove. Dansby has been making good contact and taking good swings, he’s just hitting it right to guys.
Braves lose 3-2
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ender Inciarte CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .235 | .268 | .441 | .709 |
| Adonis Garcia 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .197 | .234 | .311 | .546 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .397 | .485 | .862 | 1.347 |
| Matt Kemp LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .333 | .360 | .750 | 1.110 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .283 | .368 | .433 | .801 |
| Emilio Bonifacio PR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .111 | .158 | .167 | .325 |
| Brandon Phillips 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .323 | .364 | .435 | .799 |
| Tyler Flowers C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .367 | .457 | .400 | .857 |
| Dansby Swanson SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .125 | .152 | .188 | .339 |
| Bartolo Colon P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jace Peterson PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .207 | .303 | .310 | .613 |
| Ian Krol P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Team Totals | 33 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 34 | .182 | .206 | .394 | .600 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bartolo Colon, L (1-2) | 7 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Ian Krol | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12.00 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4.50 |
Hellickson dodges raindrops, dominates Braves in Phillies win
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Braves have now lost four straight games — three against one of the best teams in baseball, the Washington Nationals and this game against the Phillies. Philadelphia and Atlanta are pretty comparable teams…both have young stars and a few veteran pieces on their teams. Both teams will probably be fighting for third in the NL East in 2017 and should both be very good in the near future.
Phillies got the best of the Braves in game one, but we’ll move on. Braves can still win this series and it all starts tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm ET with Jaime Garcia pitching for the Braves and Jerad Eickhoff going for the Phillies.
"Hellickson set the tone early, retiring each of the first nine Braves batters that came to the plate and survived a long home run from Freddie Freeman to guide the Phillies to a 4-3 win. It’s the first time the Phils have won consecutive games since taking the final two games of their series at home against Washington two weekends ago.The Phillies won the game despite Freeman’s seventh home run of the season. Only Milwaukee’s Eric Thames (eight) has more home runs in all of baseball.“He’s one of the best hitters we’ve got in the game,” Hellickson said. “You’ve just got to make pitches. That wasn’t a good pitch.”"
Next: Braves Have 2 Catching Prospects Off To Hot Starts
Braves have interest in Cuban outfielder Luis Robert
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Could the Atlanta Braves add another teenager to their already amazing, talented, young minor league system? It sounds possible, but maybe not likely. Ben Badler mentioned that the Braves are interested, but they haven’t come up in conversations as much as other teams.
It seems like the show The Amazing Race right now with Robert. Who will sign Cuban’s top outfield prospect?
Earlier this week, Robert was cleared to sign with an MLB team before June 15 which helps the Braves because it’s not considered as the “next international signing period”. If you remember in 2016, the Braves went shopping big time and sign Kevin Maitan and others.
The Atlanta Braves may have interest, but who doesn’t? It would be amazing if the Braves could somehow sign this Cuban star, but I don’t see it happening, unfortunately.
"Enter Cuban outfield prospect Luis Robert, a 19-year-old slugger who was declared a free agent last week and is considered to be advanced for his age – he’s reportedly 6 feet 3 and powerfully built — and expected to draw varying degrees of interest from perhaps a dozen teams."
"Since he’s eligible to sign during the current international free-agent signing period, the Braves and six other teams that will face restrictions in the next signing period beginning in July can make whatever offer they see fit for Robert if they sign him by June 15.However, the Braves and those other teams – the Nationals, Cardinals and Astros are among them – would have to pay a steep penalty on any bonus since they exceeded their international bonus allotment last summer."