Atlanta Braves Afternoon Chop: So Much Newsy Stuff
Nick Markakis Out – Likely for Next 2 Games (Family Emergency)
Nick Markakis has left the team to attend to a family emergency. Fredi said he expects to have him back on Friday. No other details. #Braves
— Kevin McAlpin (@KevinMcAlpin) May 4, 2016
Prospects of the Month
Both Ozzie Albies and Mike Soroka made the BaseballAmerica ‘prospects of the month’ list for April… and I’d have to wonder if Dansby Swanson might have made the list if Albies hadn’t been there. The Royals were the only other team with two representatives on this list.
AJ Minter Ready to Start Pitching
Braves minors: ROME activates RHP Josh Graham & AJ Minter from DL. Adds INF Yeudi Grullon. RHP Luis Gamez & RHP Matt Custred to DANVILLE.
— gondeee (@gondeee) May 4, 2016
A.J. Minter was Braves 5th pick last year, No. 75 overall in the draft. Coming off of TJ surgery last March. He's a closer w/ HUGE upside.
— gondeee (@gondeee) May 4, 2016
If Tommy John surgery hadn’t cropped up, sothpaw Minter would have been a first-round pick in 2015 (from Texas A&M). He’s 22 now (and will be 23 in September), so if he can recover his stuff, he could move quickly through the system.
After Further Review
The Braves are the worst team in baseball in one more category: Instant Replay Challenges. The Braves are 0-for-7 on their own challenges so far this year. The only other team without a challenge ‘victory’ are the Mets… but they are only 0-and-2.
Even teams with only 1 challenge overturned in their favor (the Yankees and Reds) both have significantly fewer challenges thus far: 4 and 3 respectively.
Teams with the most success at the replay roulette table include the Cubs (4/5, 80%), Dodgers (6/8, 75%), and the Tigers/Royals/Oakland (all at 66% success). The most challenges have been requested by Toronto (13). They are just 4 to the good in those attempts. The Rangers are next with 5 of 12 successful.
In 2015 – with Horatio Ramirez manning the video watch – the Braves were over .500: successful on 19 of 37 challenges.
Last night’s replay of Mallex’s home run was successful for the Braves, but it was initiated by the umpires, not Fredi Gonzalez.
Last week, the replay process came into the crosshairs as video replay coordinator Rob Smith failed to suggest a replay late in a game with the Red Sox that had the potential to change the game’s outcome, but it’s not even just their own challenges that aren’t working. The specific numbers are not kept, but anecdotally, the Braves are routinely even losing challenges initiated by others. Mallex Smith has already been a victim of this multiple times by himself.