Atlanta Braves: The Morning Chop
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor Notes: Though he’s only getting on base once a game, B.J. Upton is our new leadoff guy! Since taking over the spot, the Braves are 8-1 and still hold a 1/2 game lead in the NL East!! Christian Bethancourt caught a terrific game last night and just looks very comfortable behind the plate. Mike Minor continues to struggle with the home run ball but the bullpen helped him Tuesday.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.J. Upton CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .209 | .276 | .340 | .616 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .251 | .290 | .353 | .642 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .290 | .383 | .498 | .882 |
| Justin Upton LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .274 | .346 | .500 | .846 |
| Jason Heyward RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .245 | .341 | .373 | .714 |
| Chris Johnson 3B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .282 | .302 | .361 | .663 |
| Tommy La Stella 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .277 | .359 | .348 | .708 |
| Ramiro Pena 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .194 | .257 | .323 | .580 |
| Christian Bethancourt C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .273 | .333 | .273 | .606 |
| Mike Minor P | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .174 | .174 | .174 | .348 |
| Shae Simmons P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Dan Uggla PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .163 | .238 | .233 | .470 |
| Luis Avilan P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Jordan Walden P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Craig Kimbrel P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Team Totals | 31 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 35 | .226 | .314 | .258 | .572 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Minor | 4.1 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4.73 |
| Shae Simmons, W (1-0) | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.23 |
| Luis Avilan, H (6) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.13 |
| Jordan Walden, H (8) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.82 |
| Craig Kimbrel, S (26) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.10 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 4.00 |
Atlanta Braves Trade Rumors: Latest Updates, News and Reaction
Tomahawk Take Editor Notes: David Carpenter returns to the Atlanta Braves bullpen today. Hopefully the time off and the DL stint brought him back to his 2013-self. The Braves and Frank Wren always seem to make some kind of move prior to the trade deadline – so look out for at least a minor move.
"The Braves have plenty of big bats on offense, but they rank among the worst in all of baseball at scoring runs. That can easily be explained by the fact that they have several batters who swing and miss quite frequently. That’s not a good thing to have come October, but first, the Braves have to find a way to get there.Atlanta’s pitching is good enough to keep the team in every game. The offense has the bats to make some noise, but it would benefit by adding a consistent hitter. Evan Gattis, Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton and Chris Johnson are all hitting the ball well in 2014. However, the rest of the lineup is full of holes that could cost the team a postseason spot."
Braves face potential lawsuit, parking lot woes in new stadium plan
Tomahawk Take Editor Notes: The struggle for the Atlanta Braves stadium continues. Since the announcement of this project, we’ve heard nothing but angst about it. There is a main hearing on July 7th where a judge must review the county’s approval of the bond issuance. Check back then….
"Citizens for Governmental Transparency, a group of residents opposed to the stadium, said it is working on a legal challenge to block the stadium’s public funding. In addition, local parking lot owners are reportedly unwilling to share crucial spaces with stadium visitors.CGT’s Rich Pellegrino admits to Creative Loafing that contesting the county’s $397 million bond issuance for the stadium is a long shot. Grassroots legal foundations have declined to support the group’s fight because of the low odds, he says.“We haven’t given up, but we may be on the losing end of the Braves battle. But we’re winning the war,” Pellegrino says. “The old way of doing business is gone forever here.”"