Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Box Score, Sean Rodriguez’s Return
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves defeated the Washington Nationals on Saturday afternoon and IT WAS AMAZING!! Anytime the Nats lose it’s great, but by the Braves is icing on the cake! The offense showed up against Stephen Strasburg in a big way…seven hits, six runs (three earned) in three innings pitched. Strasburg didn’t record a strikeout for the first time since May 29, 2015 against the Reds. The strikeout king was shutout!
The Braves improved to 42-44 on the 2017 season and the Nats fall to 51-36. As we head into the All-Star game, the Braves are in striking distance for both the NL East and the Wildcard. Atlanta’s hitters are hitting, our bullpen is holding up (the majority of times) and the starting pitching seems pretty strong right now.
It’s a fun time to be a Braves fan! After those awful years, we’ve begun to turn the corner!
Braves WIN 13-0
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ender Inciarte CF | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | .304 | .351 | .410 |
| Brandon Phillips 2B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | .281 | .327 | .413 |
| Freddie Freeman 3B-1B | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | .344 | .455 | .732 |
| Matt Kemp LF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .296 | .341 | .491 |
| Lane Adams PR-LF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .231 | .259 | .346 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .287 | .368 | .398 |
| Matt Adams 1B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .288 | .336 | .553 |
| Akeel Morris P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Kurt Suzuki C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .250 | .342 | .461 |
| Johan Camargo SS-3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .307 | .330 | .446 |
| Julio Teheran P | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .133 | .156 | .133 |
| Jace Peterson PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .182 | .272 | .240 |
| Rex Brothers P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Dansby Swanson PH-SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .224 | .299 | .329 |
| Team Totals | 42 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 48 | .357 | .426 | .571 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julio Teheran, W (7-6) | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4.79 |
| Rex Brothers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Akeel Morris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0.00 |
Remarkable return: Sean Rodriguez determined to make comeback with Braves after fatal accident
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The amazing comeback of Sean Rodriguez continues to develop. The 32-year-old is on pace to return to the major leagues by the end of July. That’s six months after that horrible accident and sustained extensive damage to his left shoulder, labrum damage, and a dislocated bicep tendon.
Could you imagine? Rodriguez must be able to heal extremely quickly or the Braves have some magic doctors.
He’ll play today with Gwinnett and then on Monday through Wednesday with the Mississippi Braves. After that, he’ll most likely stay with Mississippi or move back up to Gwinnett. On Saturday, he went 1-3 with a walk. He started at second base and third in the lineup.
It will probably take Rodriguez a few more weeks until he’s fully healthy and ready to come back to Atlanta. But the news of him returning by the end of the month is just unreal!
GOOD NEWS: It looks like the @Braves could have Sean Rodriguez back by the end of the month. @KelsWingert has the details. #ChopOn pic.twitter.com/Us8AGU9BnR
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) July 8, 2017
"Rodriguez said hitting and throwing feel pretty normal. It’s taking some to get used to his bionic shoulder, and he said it has definitely been the hardest injury to come back from in his career. He had a single in his first game back at the Gulf Coast League, and on Friday he had a sacrifice-fly for an RBI with the G-Braves. He said he feels as strong as ever.The mental recovery has been tough, as well, but it’s something Rodriguez and his family are doing together.“It’s been a grind. But I feel like that’s natural. You wake up, trying to grind out, each day trying to make the most out of each day. This obviously added a few more hurdles, some high ones to obviously climb,” he said. “You just keep setting your feet down firm, take another step and keep moving forward. That’s how me and my wife have always viewed it and that’s what we keep doing.”"
Next: Can we say Jim Johnson is done?
Twins sign ‘Big Sexy’ to minor league deal
Tomahawk Take Editors’ Note: On July 4, the Atlanta Braves officially let Bartolo Colon go. With his brief time in Atlanta, he went 2-8 with an 8.14 ERA. The Braves signed Big Sexy to a one-year, $12.5 million deal this past offseason in hopes he could eat innings, help the young pitchers, and pick up some victories.
The 44-year-old will get another shot with the Minnesota Twins! Do what?! It’s not the New York Mets? Some reports did have that the Mets did reach out to the 20-year veteran, but I guess he didn’t want a return. Maybe he wanted to go to a winning team? The Twins are somehow 45-42 in 2017.
Good for Bartolo, sucks it didn’t work out here in Atlanta, but we wish him the best in Minnesota.
"Bartolo Colon is getting another chance with the Minnesota Twins.The 44-year-old pitcher is set to join his 10th major league club after the Twins signed the former American League Cy Young Award winner and four-time All-Star to a minor league contract on Friday.“When he came off the roster he certainly had garnered some interest from a handful of clubs and we chatted with his agent about potentially providing pitching depth for us,” Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said Friday. “We feel like, certainly, with some of our needs at the back of the rotation and otherwise that we felt, ’Let’s get him in, get him on a minor league deal, get him a chance to pitch down in Rochester and we’ll see from there.”"