Official 2008 Atlanta Braves Season Thread (59-77) vol. We Blow

[trillipinotrapstar]

OK Braves fans. Baseball season can't come long enough for us, and we've missed the postseason the last 2 yearsdue to the pesky Mets and Phillies taking the NL East crown in 2006 and 2007 respectively. We still got doubters against us, but let's push them aside andmake sure we get back on top of the NL East and be World Series contenders again.


Starting Rotation (for 2nd half):

(1) Tim Hudson

(2) Jair Jurrjens

(3) Jorge Campillo

(4) Charlie Morton

(5) Jo-Jo Reyes

Relievers: Manny Acosta, Royce Ring, Will Ohman, Julian Tavarez, Blaine Boyer, Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez

Starting lineup

1B - Casey Kotchman

2B - Kelly Johnson

3B - Chipper Jones

SS - Yunel Escobar

LF - Gregor Blanco

CF - Mark Kotsay

RF - Jeff Francoeur

C - Brian McCann

Bench: Brent Lillibridge, Omar Infante, Greg Norton, Martin Prado, Brandon Jones, Ruben Gotay, Corky Miller, Josh Anderson


Mets and Phillies fans, we're here to take back what was ours: the NL East.

SO......................


LET'S GO BRAVES!!!!

 

[j rain 23]

And Nats, we are going to spoil your debut at your new stadium March 30!!!!!

nope. there's no way we lose the opener with all of the excitement and emotionthat will be in the stadium. prepare to start the season 0-1.

and seriously, what's the point of the n.l. east thread ? i should just make a nationals season thread, or just continue to invade the braves/mutts threadswhenever we are playing you guys.

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

J RAIN okay.......

Our lineup > yours
Bobby Cox > Manny Acta

We will return to MLB dominance once and for all this season. Just Watch.

 

[nightruans]

might as well make this the official Braves offseason thread... mets running the table young man

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

Originally Posted by nightruans

might as well make this the official Braves offseason thread... mets running the table young man

Ummmmmmmmmm............I don't think so.

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

Looks like our top two relievers are recovering quickly.............

[table][tr][td]
Good news for Soriano, Moylan

Braves' relievers recovering quickly from elbow ailments

By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
[/td] [td]
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/tickets/index.jsp
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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Many of the concerns the Braves might have had about their top two relievers' elbows were seemingly reduced on Friday morning at
Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.

One positive development for the Braves came when closer Rafael Soriano completed a 32-pitch bullpen session while feeling minimized discomfort in his rightelbow. Soriano was encouraged enough to predict he could make his Grapefruit League debut on Tuesday or Wednesday.

"It feels better today than yesterday, and yesterday all I did was play catch," said Soriano, who began feeling some discomfort above his elbowlast week. "Today, it was just a little bit sore, but not the same."

As for top setup man Peter Moylan, he said the elbow discomfort that prevented him from making his scheduled appearance against the Tigers on Thursday issimilar to what he felt during Spring Training last year and midway through the 2007 regular season.

Moylan didn't miss any time last year and is confident that he could pitch in a game on either Monday or Tuesday. The Australian right-hander said hefirst felt the discomfort after completing a scoreless inning against the Dodgers on Feb. 29.

"We figured instead of letting it be one of those injuries that keeps coming back and coming back, we'd just knock it out now," Moylan said."It wasn't really an injury. It was more of an annoyance than anything."

Like Moylan, Soriano felt he simply needed to rest his elbow when it began flaring up last week. After playing long toss the past few days, he arrived atthe stadium on Friday and convinced the medical staff to let him complete this bullpen session, which consisted primarily of fastballs.

"Today, I asked them to let me throw and everything was good," Soriano said.

 

[briannnnn]

crawl on ESPN said Mike Hampton had a strained groin

Will this dude ever pitch in the regular season again?

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

damn Mike injured again. First he undergoes reconstructive elbow surgery, then returns. Next he has a strained oblique and was declared out for last season. Now a strained groin?

His future with the Braves is in doubt right now pending the severity of the injury. If its minor, whew. If not,

.

 

[dman14]

him and carlos pavano be stealing money, lol

 

[atljunkie]

Checking in homies! bout time we get a season thread going! first off...
[color= rgb(255, 0, 0)]GO BRAVES!!!!![/color] s
econdly, mike hampton

third, nationals are going down on national tv this opener!
fourth, good pictures!!!!!
fifth, what happened to matt diaz in right field?

 

[theotherai9]

Didn't realize you guys lost Edgar. Where did he end up??

 

[atljunkie]

^ Detroit.

Detroit is stacked this season.
They also got Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

This is why Jo-Jo Reyes is still terrible.


LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Jo-Jo Reyes understandably had trouble explaining the outing he had during the Braves' 7-4 loss to theAstros at Disney's Champion Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Now he's hoping that it will be much easier to forget it.

Looking simply at the fact that Reyes surrendered one earned run in two hitless innings might indicate that this wasn't a normal outing. Learning thathe achieved this while issuing five walks and recording four strikeouts confirms the oddity of his latest audition for a spot in the Braves' startingrotation.

As for the afternoon's embarrassing moment, it came when Reyes fell to the ground while delivering a pitch with the bases loaded. As his face wasnearing the mound's dirt, the 23-year-old southpaw still attempted to heave the pitch toward the plate. It fell way short, prompting home-plate umpire JoeWest to signal home a run courtesy of a balk.

"My foot got caught, and I was just trying to throw the ball, instead of catching myself and seeing if I could get it past the plate," said Reyes,who found the strike zone with just 23 of his 52 pitches.

After the embarrassing balk, Reyes ended his afternoon by throwing four of his next five pitches for strikes and recording consecutive strikeouts of MichaelBourn and Jose Cruz Jr. During that second inning, Reyes struck out three, walked three and threw just 10 of 27 pitches for strikes.

"It could have been a lot worse," Reyes said. "It's a good thing my slider and my curveball were there the last two batters. The fastballjust wasn't there today."

When Reyes went 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA in his first seven career starts last year, he issued 19 walks in 30 1/3 innings. Then while going 2-0 with a 3.18 ERAin his final three starts, he had just seven walks in 17 innings.

"His stuff is there," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's just off target. We've got to find a way to get him to hit the plate moreoften. He's not wild, wild. He's just off, and that's what he's got to work on.

"He's so close to being a high-caliber pitcher. He's got all of the pitches."

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

mike hampton is a wt vaigina baking in custard sauce....

i dont knw what thet measnz but that wht he is.....

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

Hudson did his thing in a win against the Cards in ST.

Jair Jurrjens has an 1.80 ERA and has emerged as our best starter in spring training so far.

 

[mfr3shm]

http://niketalk.com/topic/53290

Someone posted this up in the Sneaker showcase forum it's some cool pics ofAndruw Jones' Jordan cleats some nice stuff in there. Hopefully he will have some new pairs when he's on the Dodgers.

I never expected anything out of Mike Hampton this year and still don't. I didn't even think he will make it this year and i don't care i'drather the Braves release him but he is stealing money that he doesn't deserve while Francoeur and Teixeira could be given contract extensions.

Jair Jurrjens has been pitching great in spring training and he should take the 4th spot IMO.

I think it will be like this

Tim Hudson
John Smoltz
Tom Glavine
Jair Jurrjens
OPEN SPOT (Hampton, Carlyle, James, Bennett) I think Bennett should get the 5th spot i like his stuff and Chuck James won't be ready by regular seasonbecause he is healing his arm. Buddy Carlyle is doing better in spring training as a reliever and he struggled in his appearance as a starter in one start thisspring training game.

Everyone seems to be healing up C. Jones, Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, Moylan they are taking some time off but are feeling better not worried about them.

Some pics.

Matt Diaz is tearing up pitchers and is hitting great in spring training he will be the everyday starting Left Fielder

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

^ nice pics.

Matt Diaz will be a legit LF for us. I liked his performance against the Phillies last season when he helped the Braves overcome a 6-run deficit with thetriple with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th at Turner Field last season.

And yeah I feel the same way as you on Mike Hampton. Might as well let him go.

 

[ii flash ii]

Im hyped for this season... I live right next to where they play at Disney and I haven't had the chance to go watch em... What a shame, but I know ill makeit at least once... We need to win this...

 

[atljunkie]

 

[messiahchild]

Mike Hampton will win at least or close to half his starts this season. Like I said in the NL east thread, his elbow won't be a problem this year, it wouldbe his groin/hamstring since he is out of shape. But once he get his legs under him, he is going to surprise alot of people. Yall probably think I'm

right now, but I actually have confidence that he can productive for at least 4 innings and that the offense will carry him from there.....

 

[mfr3shm]

Jair Jurrjens pitched another great game.

Braves' hot-shot prospect backing up swagger
Schafer impressing Cox, teammates with confident demeanor and production

By DAVID O'BRIEN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. - He drives a big Hummer and walks with a strut. He's the kid in high school who was the top jock and homecoming king, who might have dated the girl you wanted. Make no mistake, Jordan Schafer is that guy - talented as all get-out, and he knows it.

But he also knows there's a fine line, a point where swagger and confidence morph into arrogance and entitlement - and that's not a place where any rookie, top prospect or not, should venture. Oh, yes, he's also smart.

"It's a real fine line," said Schafer the Braves' No. 1-rated prospect and the center fielder who's expected to take over the position a year from now, if not sooner.

Schafer, 21, has been on the good side of that line in his first major league spring training, impressing veteran players, coaches and Braves officials with his performance and demeanor on and off the field.

He had a double and two walks in four plate appearances during Monday's 3-1 exhibition win against St. Louis, and is batting .389 with two doubles and four RBIs in 18 at-bats.

"He looks great," manager Bobby Cox said. "He's real smooth. Does everything really well, and he knows how to play. He really knows the game, knows situations, all that kind of stuff."

Veterans like him even with that walk - head high, chest out - and that ride. And the Nike gear, a kid who hasn't played above Class A already paid to endorse the swoosh.

He wore the gear head-to-toe one morning early in camp.

"If you don't know him you'd say, 'Look at this clown,' " hitting coach Terry Pendleton, smiling. "I call him that anyway. But when you talk to him you know he's a good kid. You need that confidence that he has to make it at this level."

"He's motivated," said Cox, who batted Schafer in the leadoff position Monday and played him in left field, though he'd never played the position at any level.

"Can't be that hard, you're still going to catch fly balls," Schafer said after seeing the lineup posted Monday. He played right field a couple days ago, also a first for him in pro ball.

Schafer led all of minor-league baseball with 176 hits and batted a combined .312 with 49 doubles, 10 triples, 15 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 136 games at Class A Rome and high-A Myrtle Beach last season.

The Braves think he'd be a productive center fielder in the majors now, but didn't want to rush such a bright prospect. So after announcing they wouldn't re-sign 10-time Gold Glove center fielder Andruw Jones because of financial reasons, the Braves sought a replacement to carry the baton between Jones and Schafer.

Schafer's performance in Class A last season landed him a spot in the Arizona Fall League, where he made the All-Star team and earned a non-roster invitation to Braves big league camp.

"He definitely has the tools," Kotsay said. "And he's got a good work ethic, and wants to do what it takes to get to the big leagues. All those things combined, it's a good foundation to move forward."
Jordan has been really impressive he is going to be a good player once he is called up to the majors.

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

Jair Jurrjens at his best again. His ERA is what making it difficult for batters to hit against him.

Can't wait to see what's up with Schafer soon as well.

 

[atljunkie]

damn, braves looking wild right now. gotta love it!!!!!

 

[mfr3shm]

Mariners Release Horacio Ramirez

The Mariners released pitcher Horacio Ramirez, closing the door on the Bill Bavasi blunder. RotoWorld makes a good point - the Mariners wasted $458K by not non-tendering Ramirez back in December. Nice. Meanwhile, Rafael Soriano will close for the Braves for the next couple seasons.

Ramirez, a 28 year-old southpaw, brings nothing to the table at this point aside from his groundball rate.

We got a steal in Rafael Soriano.

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

^ damn Horacio didn't cut it for the Mariners so we ended up as the winner in that trade.