Braves Report

With the draft just days away, Braves-Report continues to look at some of the potential draftees the Braves may look to select. Since there has not been profiles added the past two days, today and tomorrow’s profile will each feature 2 players.

Zeke Spruill

Height: 6’4
Weight: 190
Birthdate: 9/11/1989
City: Marietta
State: GA
Position: RHP
B/T: R

Zeke has a nice and easy delivery that enables him to repeat his delivery time and time again. Has topped out at 94 MPH on the gun  but regularly sits in the 91-92 MPH range.  His fastball has a little sink on it which makes it a plus pitch. He also throws a curveball that acts more like a slurve. It is currently an average pitch. He like most high school pitchers needs to work on his changeup. Which usually sits around 81 MPH. He has command of all 3 of pitches. His slender frame allows for some projection. His velocity could increase once his frame fills out.  He has good makeup. And is very competitive.

Brett DeVall

Height: 6’4
Weight: 220
Birthdate: 1/8/1990
City: Niceville
State: FLA
Position: SP
B/T: R/L

Brett is one of the most advanced high school pitchers in this draft in terms of understanding of how to pitch. He does not light up the radar guns. He has touched 91 MPH but usually sits in the upper 80s. His curveball should develop into an average pitch but does not currently have the making of an out pitch. His change-up is currently his best pitch and has the making of a plus pitch. He is able to repeat his delivery quite easily which allows him to have command of all three of his pitches. He profiles as a middle of the rotation starter in the big leagues. But he could become a number two if he can increase the velocity of his fastball or develop his curve into a plus pitch.

What a horrible ending to what was looking like a fantastic game.  I know a lot of people blame Bobby for not pulling Huddy (which is partially true), but there is plenty of blame to go around.  Huddy told Bobby he was good to go for another inning, when he wasn’t.  Huddy has earned the right to stay in if he feels he can.  One the other hand he is starting to show he cannot make that judgment and needs to realize that.  Also, the bats really needed to score more than two runs.

Huddy, almost, pitched a great game.  He went eight innings, scattered 11 hits but only allowed two runs.  He came out to pitch the eight, where he gave up the tie.  Bennett was brought in to pitch ninth, he pitched well only allowing one hit.  But, a sacrifice, a stolen base (McCann was asleep?) and a sac fly and the game was over.

The Braves got very little done at the plate.  Chipper (of course) had two hits.  Both runs were scored by solo shot.  One by KJ the other by Blanco.

Today’s game, 8:05 PM.  Not nationally televised.

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Update: Apparently, Diaz went on the DL, so everything below about him is contingent on him coming back healthy.

Well, two months into the season and we need to look at what we need. Today is the first part of a two-part series. I’ll talk about players who we can trade and who has the most value in a trade. For the record, I’m not suggesting these players because I dislike them. The reason they are here is because they will have some value in trades, and I think it is reasonable that they could be traded (I realize most would want Chipper, Brian, or Frenchy, but they aren’t going anywhere).

Kelly Johnson

I don’t even want to suggest his name, but he has a lot of value. It was indicated that he was the most asked about player on the Braves in the offseason, and his start (.297/.356/.487/ 5 HR / 22 RBI) has not doused those flames. At age 26, he is still young and has something most second basemen don’t have, power. Although he’s had issues with the glove, most teams will look past that for the offensive prowess and that this is only his second season at the position. With Lillibridge, Prado, Infante, and Gotay hanging around to succeed Johnson, Johnson becomes expendable. Again, I really like Johnson, and if we could have him and Escobar in the middle for the next five years, it may end up being the best middle infield in baseball. Yet, he has a lot of trade value. My guess is that he or Lillibridge will not be around come August 1.

Brent Lillibridge

The young (and even younger looking) shortstop could be an integral piece in a Braves trade this season. At age 24, he is young, has a good arm, plays multiple positions, has speed, and has pop. Again, my bet is that either he or Johnson is gone this season and whoever is left will be the starting second baseman next season (Infante will probably get the job the rest of this season if Johnson is traded). I like Lillibridge as well, and I even saw him for a couple games when Richmond came to Louisville. He looks good. He even hit well for those couple of games although I think a couple bullets were caught. His inability to hit in Richmond may hurt his value, but I bet several teams will inquire about him.

Gregor Blanco

I would hate to see him leave. To me, he should be the starting left-fielder (topic for future blog?) because of his defense, speed, stick, and plate discipline. Also, he should be our lead-off hitter and let Escobar move him around or drive him in. Escobar has done a fine job as the lead-off hitter, but I feel he is more of a No. 2. But I digress. Blanco’s turn around will look good to a lot of teams looking for center fielders, and he could fetch something decent, or help get something big, for all the reasons above. Again, I want to see him stay, but Anderson, Kotsay (if healthy), and Schafer make him expendable.

Josh Anderson

See above, but substitute Blanco for Anderson. Anderson has been playing well in the minors and doesn’t deserve to be there. Someone will want him, or at least ask about him.

Matt Diaz

Who needs a platoon partner? With Blanco playing well and Kotsay doing well (until getting hurt recently), Diaz may find himself being expendable. He’s not hitting particularly well, and he’s not been very good defensively. With Josh Anderson playing well, it may be better to bring him up to serve as the fourth outfielder and help in case Kotsay continues to be hurt. Although Diaz isn’t hitting now, some teams might be attracted to the fact that he has hit the past two years and that he will hit in a new spot where he might feel like his job isn’t slowly being taken away from him. He doesn’t have the value of Johnson or Lillibridge, but he could be valuable.

Chuck James

Before you yell at me, hear me out. He does have value, just not as much as the previous five. Although he hasn’t pitched well in Atlanta, he has been fantastic in Richmond. Some teams may view his lack of success this season on his lack of third pitch and recent surgery (which also limit his value), but they may also see these as correctable. The next off-season will allow for his shoulder to heal and for him to learn another pitch. Most scouts believe that if you saw it once, it can happen again. He’s still relatively young, and he could be a throw-in to help get an important piece. I doubt Atlanta really wants to bring him back up, and a new place could be what he needs.

Jordan Schafer

Again, before you yell at me, hear me out. Steroids and HGH don’t scare anyone off from trading for players. If he comes back strong from the suspension, he will be wanted. With Blanco playing well, we don’t need Schafer to be the center fielder of the future. To me, he’s still welcome in Atlanta, but it might be a nice PR move for Atlanta to get rid of someone who was involved with PED’s. At age 21, Schafer will look really good to teams in need of center fielders for the future (Padres, Giants, White Sox, Mariners, Astros to name some). If he doesn’t come back strong, he’ll still have some value as a “needs a change of scenery” player, but not as much as he would have otherwise.

I expect at least one or two (maybe three) of these players to be gone by July 31, but there is no knowing yet. Some other minor leaguers will be needed to complete deals. In the next installment, I’ll explain what we need and who might be available.

Well, even though the starting pitching situation has waded in and out between panic and pleasure, the bullpen has been solid over the past month. I guess I really can’t complain when we have one of the top two or three team ERA’s in the NL, but it’s a bit more sketchy than it started out. Anyway, the bullpen has been great, and it is going to get better. In the next few days to weeks we should be getting Rafael Soriano, John Smoltz, and Mike Gonzalez back (probably in that order). So with Resop already designated for assignment, the Braves still have plenty of decisions to make. Here’s the bullpen as of now:

Jeff Bennett         3.57 ERA

Blaine Boyer        3.94 ERA

Manny Acosta     2.81 ERA

Will Ohman          3.10 ERA

Buddy Carlyle     3.38 ERA

Royce Ring          6.75 ERA

Phil Stockman     0.00 ERA

Pretty impressive, huh? So what do we do? Well, I don’t think Bennett will go because he’s been so flexible and crucial to our success. Boyer won’t go because he’s out of options, and better yet, he’s been pretty awesome (who doesn’t love the 29/6 K/BB ratio?). No way Acosta will go considering he’s got the best ERA above (Stockman doesn’t count; not enough innings). Ohman won’t go because we made the big trade for him, and again, better yet, he’s been pretty awesome. So that leaves the last three. This is how it should go. Soriano will come back first most likely, and then Stockman will go because Carlyle can pitch multiple innings and has more experience. Smoltz will come back, and Carlyle will most likely go because we might want Ring with Milwaukee and Cincinatti coming up. Prince Fielder for Milwaukee and Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. for Cincinatti are left-handers that we’ll need Ring for. Yet, Ring hasn’t been particularly spectacular, and Carlyle is a bit more flexible. Also, Ring is out of options, so he’ll be DFA’d as well. When Gonzalez comes back, the other will leave. Ohman will then shift to the left-handed specialist role, but he’s more valuable because he can get righties out as well. You have to like the security we should be getting in the back of the bullpen. While Smoltz and Soriano can be instantly put back into big situations, Cox needs to resist the temptation with Gonzalez. He hasn’t pitched in a while, and there will complications after Tommy John surgery. In conclusion, our new bullpen will look like this:

Jeff Bennett        3.57 ERA

Blaine Boyer       3.94 ERA

Manny Acosta    2.81 ERA

Will Ohman        3.10 ERA

Rafael Soriano    2.25 ERA

John Smoltz        2.00 ERA (as a starter)

Mike Gonzalez   N/A

Pretty impressive, huh? Bennett will be the long-reliever. Boyer and Acosta will be the middle-relievers. Ohman will be the left-handed specialist. Soriano and Gonzalez will be the set-up guys. Smoltz will be the closer. I can’t wait to see the other teams faces when we roll out Gonzalez, Soriano, and then Smoltz.

Shameless Plug: For more on baseball in general, check out my blog Rounding the Bases, which is located in the blogroll to the right.

I said yesterday that Jurrjens would have to bring his “A” game to win this one, I was wrong. This game was carried by the bats. We drove Webb’s pitch count up, we hit the ball where it was pitched, we did the little things and it all paid off. While its fun to watch the ball leave the yard, its also fun to watch small ball be played the right way! This game had both.

Jurrjens battled today, he really didn’t have his best stuff, and it showed. He couldn’t even finish the fifth. After last night, Bobby didn’t want to take any chances. Jair went 4.2 innings, allowing eight hits, three runs. It could have been worse, but he made his pitches when he needed to. Bennett closed out the fifth with one pitch! Acosta went two solid innings, no hits, no walks, two strikeouts. It was good enough for him to get the win. Boyer pitched the eighth and ninth, allowed a couple of hits, but nothing came from them.

The bats played it smart. If a pitch wasn’t in the zone we didn’t swing. We forced Webb to make pitches, and if he didn’t we hit them. We pounded out twelve hits and seven runs. Tex swung the biggest bat of the day driving in four runs on two hits. (I really hope I get to talk about Tex’s bat more). Escobar, who is beginning to get mentioned as one of the best shortstops around, had two hits and scored. Blanco went three for three with a walk. Chipper’s batting average may have dropped, but his on base percentage went up. He reached three out of six times. McCann launched a long solo shot. Braves also laid down two successful sacrifice bunts, something they have been struggling with.

Tomorrow’s game 8:05 PM. Not nationally televised.

Feel free to leave a comment or join the discussion in the Forum. Check back often to see all of our blogs.