Tagged: Chipper Jones
Starting Success
Braves 2, Pittsburgh 5
Javier Vasquez started a Grapefruit League game for the first time since the conclusion of the World Baseball Classic, and he was lights out. He went 5 2/3 innings, giving up only 1 earned run. Quite a few hits were allowed, but there was plenty of clutch pitching on his part to get out of most major pickles. The other four runs were surrendered by Jeff Bennett (who I hope doesn’t make the cut) and Rafael Soriano (who I expect much better from). Offensively, the Braves did very little, with Gregor Blanco being the sole run producer.
Prospect Ross Ohlendorf continued to impress for the Pirates, firing 6 innings of shutout ball. Munroe, Doumit, and Mclouth each had one RBI apiece.
courtesy of: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/6uEmIHBCbBd/World+Baseball+Classic+Puerto+Rico+Day+1/JwHaoEguoJM/Javier+Vasquez
What do I make of all this?
Chipper Jones went hitless in his return, while Brian McCann contributed a solid 2 hits. Hopefully, more offensive production comes out the rest of the lineup, especially the 5 and 6 spots. Chipper can’t do his thing every day, as evident from this game, so others need to step it up a notch.
I am very optimistic about the Braves’ starting pitching, but I still have some doubts about the bullpen (especially considering their propensity to give up leads so much last year, resulting in one-run losses). I think I will go as far as to say the Braves have the most solid starting rotation in the NL East, and that’s saying a lot.
In other news, Tommy Hanson continued to impress, throwing first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 21 batters he faced and no-hitting a minor league team for the duration of his outing. He recorded 8 strikeouts.
My next post will be about who I feel the Braves should trade or release. Thanks for reading!
Jairtastic
Mets 12, Braves 1
The New York Mets returned yesterday’s pounding with a strong offensive showing of their own today. Thankfully, it wasn’t against Jair Jurrjens, who pitched brilliantly, throwing 4 2/3 of shutout ball. One run was charged to him after he was pulled out of the game. The starting pitching certainly seems to have shown up for the Braves this spring, except for one of Derek Lowe’s outings. On the other hand, Johan Santana did his job tremendously well, limiting the Braves’ hot offense to just 2 hits, one of which was a Matt Diaz solo homerun. Not much to discuss today, folks, thanks to a weak offensive turnout for the Braves. The last week of spring training will give us all a glimpse of what the season has in store offensively speaking when Chipper Jones, Garrett Anderson, and Brian McCann are all in the starting lineup.
Boxscore:
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_03_22_atlmlb_nynmlb_1
Best of luck to Team USA today against Japan in the WBC semifinal!!!!!!!!
2009 Spring Training
Amidst March Madness, it’s certainly refreshing to have baseball active once again! The World Baseball Classic has been truly exciting, with the only setbacks being the nagging injuries that are hitting Team USA. How have the Braves been faring without Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Javier Vasquez, and others? As of now, they are an outstanding 15-4, at the very top of the Grapefruit League…not bad for a team that looked so shabby last year. The prospects have been producing and the newly acquired Braves pitchers have certainly not been a disappointment. Is this enough reason to be excited? I have a feeling that the NL East this year will closely resemble what the AL East was like last year: a largely 3 team race, with decent teams at 4th and 5th. If the Braves are to keep up with the Phillies and the Mets, the 3 following things must be accomplished:
1. The bullpen must be in shutdown mode, all the time. This is a pretty tall order, right? I think the talent is there. But it’ll be quite some time before I forget the fact that the Braves had so many 1-run losses last year. A solid, injury-free bullpen would cut those down severely.
2. Jeff Francoeur needs to become a bigger factor. Spring Training has been treating him well, I have no doubt that this year, he will be better than ever.
3. A stable lineup HAS to be decided on. All of last year was spent deciding who should lead off, whether it was Yunel, Gregor, or someone else. A clear, set lineup would help players feel more comfortable in establishing their role in the team. Although it is generally not part of Bobby Cox’s philosphy, I feel that the Braves need to steal some more bases to be more effective.
Braves Nation 