"You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word." -- Al Capone from the 1987 movie "The Untouchables".
You are probably wondering what that quote has to do with anything. When speaking of the current "Untouchables", I am referring to the 4 pitching studs in the Atlanta Braves system: Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, and Arodys Vizcaino. These guys were the four Braves pitchers that were considered "untouchable" at the trade deadline, and have since received the Untouchables moniker from myself amongst others. The "gun" that the quote is referring are the arms of these four. Not only do these seem like 4 humble, gracious kids, they also have a lethal weapon in their arm that will take them and the Braves a long ways for years to come.
Let's look at the stats:
Mike Minor - 23 years old -- Minor is coming off a game in which he outdueled two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum in a crucial game for both teams. Minor finished the night with 6 IP, 4 H, 9 Ks, and 0 earned runs. In his 9 starts this season with the big-league team, he is 3-2 with a 4.26 era. He is averaging 8.2 K's per 9 innings compared to 3.4 BB's per 9 innings, and has yet to give up a homerun. As has been more evident recently, he is finally getting comfortable in the big leagues, and it is obvious with his mound presence. With AAA Gwinnett (the end of last season, and part of this season), he has 22 starts. He has an 8-6 record with a 2.82 era, while averaging just over 9Ks per 9 innings and just under 3 Walks per 9 innings. Minor is a lefty, something the Braves lack in the rotation.
Julio Teheran -- 20 years old -- Teheran has been the ace of the AAA staff at Gwinnett. He has started 2 games for the big league club, and is 0-1 with a 5.19 era in only 8.2 innings pitched. Not enough of a sample size for Teheran in the majors. The 20-year old has phenomonal minor league stats. Teheran has been in Gwinnett all season, except the two starts with Atlanta. He has compiled a record of 13-2 with an era of 2.14 in 22 starts. He averages 7.7 Ks per 9 innings and 2.8 Walks per 9 innings. Teheran was rated the #5 overall prospect by Baseball America before the season, and is projected to be a staff ace when he finishes developing.
Randall Delgado -- 21 years old -- Delgado is coming off a game in which he took a no-hitter into the 7th inning before giving up a solo HR. He has two starts with Atlanta, going 0-1 with a 3.65 era. Like Teheran, this is a small sample size, so the minor league numbers need to be looked at. Delgado has spent most the year in AA, and only recently was called up to AAA. He has two starts for Gwinnett, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 13 innings. His combined minor league stats this season between AA Mississippi and AAA Gwinnett are as follows: 7-5 with a 3.45 ERA in 23 starts. He has averaged 8.6 Ks per 9 innings and 3.5 Walks per 9 innings. The 21-year old has continued to get better with each level he has moved up, and he has a very high ceiling.
Arodys Vizcaino -- 20 years old -- Vizcaino has been a nice right-handed addition to the Atlanta bullpen that was sorely needed. He has made 4 appearances in the big leagues, going 1-0 while pitching 5.1 scoreless innings. He has shown filthy stuff in each of his appearances. Arodys began the season at A+ ball and has quickly moved from A+ to AA to AAA, and now the MLB club. He mostly started in A+ and AA, but due to the amount of innings pitched, the Braves made him a reliever in AAA and with the Atlanta team. In the minors this season, Vizcaino has pitched 97 innings in 26 games (17 starts). He has a record of 5-5 and an ERA of 3.06 in his combined minor league appearances this season. He has also averaged 9.3 K's and 2.6 Walks per 9 innings. "Vizzy" was obtained from the Yankees in the Javier Vazquez trade, and he has been a gem. Fredi Gonzalez has thrown him into some crucial situations already, and Vizcaino has responded well each time. It is unclear whether the Braves will groom Vizcaino into a late-innings reliever, or continue to groom him as a starting pitcher. Either way, the future is very bright for him.
For further evidence of how good "The Untouchables" are, just take a look at this stat line this week.
Delgado (MLB) --(0-0) 6 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, and 4 Ks
Minor (MLB) -- (1-0) 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, and 9Ks
Vizcaino (MLB) -- (1-0) 2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, and 0 Ks
----------------(2-0) 14 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, and 13 K's in a crucial series.
Teheran (AAA) -- (1-0) 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks.
"The Untouchables" have put up great stats, and are very young (23, 20, 21, 20). As each of them become more seasoned, they will get even better. The question is what will the Braves do with these young guys next season. All 4 seem to be either major-league ready right now, or extremely close to being ready. An organization cannot sit on this kind of talent in the minors another season while continuing to trot an aging Derek Lowe to the mound, and having a couple of holes in the lineup. So where does that leave them? Here are guys that are under contract and could possibly be in the rotation next year:
Tim Hudson
Jair Jurrjens
Tommy Hanson
Brandon Beachy
Derek Lowe
Kris Medlen
Mike Minor
Julio Teheran
Randall Delgado
Arodys Vizcaino
10 potential starting pitchers. Wow. Below are my predictions for each of them for the 2012 season.
Tim Hudson (Braves Starting Rotation)
Jair Jurrjens (Possible trade bait. Scott Boras client and will want big $ soon. Could trade for a LF bat.)
Tommy Hanson (Braves Starting Rotation)
Brandon Beachy (Braves Starting Rotation. Possible trade if JJ is not traded.)
Derek Lowe (No question in my mind that he will be traded. The Braves will have to eat a lot of his $15 mil salary)
Kris Medlen (Braves long-relief in bullpen)
Mike Minor (Braves Starting Rotation)
Julio Teheran (Braves Starting Rotation IF Jurrjens or Beachy is traded)
Randall Delgado (AAA Gwinnett. He has only had 4 starts above AA. He could benefit from 1 full season at AAA)
Arodys Vizcaino (Braves Bullpen. I believe Vizcaino becomes the 7th inning guy next year forming an incredible trio of Vizzy, Venters, and Kimbrel to close out the 7th, 8th, and 9th.)
If Jurrjens is not traded, then Teheran or Minor may start in AAA. The Braves will not trade away all of their veteran pitching, but they cannot sit on this kind of talent in the minors. Lowe WILL be gone, and if the return is sufficient, Jurrjens will be traded as well. That will leave the Braves with Delgado in the minors in case they need a starter due to injury, and Kris Medlen could be stretched out to make a couple of starts too. Worst case scenario in case of injuries, Vizcaino get sent down to AAA to stretch back out into a SP. The options are there to put together one of the best staffs in baseball, and still trade 2 of the current starters for prospects or a LF bat. Frank Wren deserves some kudos for turning Javier Vasquez into Uggla and Vizcaino, and hanging on to "The Untouchables" at the trade deadline, and still ending up with a difference-maker in Michael Bourn. He has put the Braves in this envious position stockpiling young elite pitching.
With 10 potential starting pitchers under contract for next season, it will be very interesting to see what Frank Wren does with them all. One thing is for sure, the Braves are loaded on the mound for years to come. If the bats hold up, Atlanta could be on the verge of another 90's-like dynasty.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Rookie of the Year....
Yesterday on twitter, Jeff Passan, MLB Columnist for Yahoo!, tweeted that since coming back from the DL, Aroldis Chapman has been the most dominating releiver in the Majors (20 1/3 ip, 5 hits, 6 bb, 37 Ks, and a 1.37 era). While that is impressive, I had to remind him of Craig Kimbrel's numbers over the same time period (24 ip, 6 hits, 6 bb, 40 Ks, 0.00 era, along with a 1-0 record and 16 saves). Phenomonal stats for anyone, much less a rookie. After tweeting this to him, Passan admitted that he was incorrect, and sent kudos to Kimbrel by posting his stats. The reason I put that in this blog is because it got me really thinking about the Rookie of the Year competition in the National League. The ROY competition has been a 3-man race most of the year Craig Kimbrel, Freddie Freeman, and Danny Espinoza, but it looks like it is turning into a 2-man race between teammates. Let's look at the argument for each...
Danny Espinoza came storming out of the gates, and led NL rookies in HR's, RBI, and SLG % at the All-Star break. He was selected to the midsummer classic, and rightfully so. He has cooled off quite a bit since the all-start break, but still has impressive power numbers. He currently is sitting at 17 HRs, 55 RBI, .422 SLG, and 12 SB. Espinoza plays a solid 2B, and helped keep the Nationals around the .500 mark for most of the season. The biggest argument against Espinoza is his batting average, .228. He also only boasts a .322 OBP. Despite the power numbers, it will be very difficult to have a ROY batting under .230.
Freddie Freeman struggled early in the season, but has been on a consistent tear over the last 2 months. Evidence of this included his 20-game hit streak that was snapped last night. Freeman was not selected to the all-star team, but has been on fire since the break. He has caught up to Espinoza in many of the power categories, but also has a much better avg, on-base %, and has played gold-glove caliber defense at 1B. Freeman has 15 HRs, 55 RBI, and .474 SLG. He also boasts a .298 batting average and a .362 OBP. At this point, Espinoza only has Freeman trumped in homeruns, and that is by 2. What is more impressive for Freeman is that he has done much of his damage with Chipper and McCann out, and Heyward struggling. Him and Uggla have put this team on their back during a rough stretch. Due to him passing Espinoza in almost every offensive category, and with him playing gold-glove caliber defense, one would have to think that at this point, there is no way Freeman loses the ROY to Espinoza.
Craig Kimbrel has been dynamite as the Braves closer. Fredi Gonzalez deserves some kudos for sticking with Kimbrel as the closer when he went through a rough patch and Venters was dominating. Fredi continued to boast confidence in Kimbrel, and it has paid off. Above I posted his numbers over his last 24 appearances. During this stretch, he has been the best reliever in all of baseball, not just rookies. Now let's look at his overall numbers. Kimbrel is 3-2 overall with a 1.93 era, and 34 saves. In 56 innings he has 87 Ks, 22 bb, and only given up 1 HR. His strikeout to walk ratio is an awesome 3.95. Almost 4 strikeouts to every walk. He has converted 16 consecutive saves, and has not blown a save since June 8th, two months ago. Kimbrel set the major league record for most saves by a rookie before the all-start break with 28. There is no denying Craig Kimbrel's accomplishments, and no reason for him not to finish 1st or 2nd in ROY voting.
If voting were today, and I held a vote (which obviously I do not), my NL ROY ballot would look like this:
1) Freeman
2) Kimbrel
3) Espinoza
As of today, I give Freeman the nod over Kimbrel due to him going out there on an every day basis. Most rookies struggle in the 2nd half as teams find weaknesses, but Freeman has excelled. In saying that, a Freeman slump accompanied by continued dominance by Kimbrel, and these two could flip-flop. Espinoza was probably in the lead at the All-Star break, but his recent struggles have sent him to 3rd.
What do you think? Who are your top 3?
Danny Espinoza came storming out of the gates, and led NL rookies in HR's, RBI, and SLG % at the All-Star break. He was selected to the midsummer classic, and rightfully so. He has cooled off quite a bit since the all-start break, but still has impressive power numbers. He currently is sitting at 17 HRs, 55 RBI, .422 SLG, and 12 SB. Espinoza plays a solid 2B, and helped keep the Nationals around the .500 mark for most of the season. The biggest argument against Espinoza is his batting average, .228. He also only boasts a .322 OBP. Despite the power numbers, it will be very difficult to have a ROY batting under .230.
Freddie Freeman struggled early in the season, but has been on a consistent tear over the last 2 months. Evidence of this included his 20-game hit streak that was snapped last night. Freeman was not selected to the all-star team, but has been on fire since the break. He has caught up to Espinoza in many of the power categories, but also has a much better avg, on-base %, and has played gold-glove caliber defense at 1B. Freeman has 15 HRs, 55 RBI, and .474 SLG. He also boasts a .298 batting average and a .362 OBP. At this point, Espinoza only has Freeman trumped in homeruns, and that is by 2. What is more impressive for Freeman is that he has done much of his damage with Chipper and McCann out, and Heyward struggling. Him and Uggla have put this team on their back during a rough stretch. Due to him passing Espinoza in almost every offensive category, and with him playing gold-glove caliber defense, one would have to think that at this point, there is no way Freeman loses the ROY to Espinoza.
Craig Kimbrel has been dynamite as the Braves closer. Fredi Gonzalez deserves some kudos for sticking with Kimbrel as the closer when he went through a rough patch and Venters was dominating. Fredi continued to boast confidence in Kimbrel, and it has paid off. Above I posted his numbers over his last 24 appearances. During this stretch, he has been the best reliever in all of baseball, not just rookies. Now let's look at his overall numbers. Kimbrel is 3-2 overall with a 1.93 era, and 34 saves. In 56 innings he has 87 Ks, 22 bb, and only given up 1 HR. His strikeout to walk ratio is an awesome 3.95. Almost 4 strikeouts to every walk. He has converted 16 consecutive saves, and has not blown a save since June 8th, two months ago. Kimbrel set the major league record for most saves by a rookie before the all-start break with 28. There is no denying Craig Kimbrel's accomplishments, and no reason for him not to finish 1st or 2nd in ROY voting.
If voting were today, and I held a vote (which obviously I do not), my NL ROY ballot would look like this:
1) Freeman
2) Kimbrel
3) Espinoza
As of today, I give Freeman the nod over Kimbrel due to him going out there on an every day basis. Most rookies struggle in the 2nd half as teams find weaknesses, but Freeman has excelled. In saying that, a Freeman slump accompanied by continued dominance by Kimbrel, and these two could flip-flop. Espinoza was probably in the lead at the All-Star break, but his recent struggles have sent him to 3rd.
What do you think? Who are your top 3?
DYNO-MITE Weekend
The first full weekend of August is in the books, and I am spending the week celebrating my team's victory in the Dynomite Dave's Golf Tournament held at Chateau Elan this past Saturday. For those of you who may not know, the Dyno Dave Tourney is a 4th of July tournament that is held in August. It is a very gimmicky tournament, with only 4 holes "straight-up" golf. Teams are a random draw the morning of, and this year there were 11 teams (8 foursomes and 3 threesomes). I was fortunate to draw outstanding teammates in Zach Davis and Mike Carlson. Zach's putter was an inferno, and Mikey G was crushing the ball of the tee and dominating the gimmick holes. I contributed when I could, but willingly admit that I was the weakest link. As a team, we fired a 6-under 66, but lost 2 orange balls, which left us coming in with a 4-under 68. There were two other teams under par, and both teams were loaded, but they could not overcome the outstanding score that we came in with. Kudos to my partners, Dyno Dave Champions! One thing I have learned by winning the tourney is that "a donk gonna donk and a hater gonna hate".
In the world of Major League Baseball, the Atlanta Braves took two of three from the New York Mets this weekend at Citi Field. In the 3rd and deciding game, it was only fitting that Larry Wayne Jones delivered the game-winning hit in the top of the 9th inning over the Mets. Freddie Freeman's 20-game hit streak was snapped yesterday, but Dan Uggla stretched his streak to 28 games. A 28-game hit streak is pretty impressive for anybody, much less Dan Uggla after his struggles for most of the year. One thing about Uggla is that when he struggled he never made excuses, dodged the media, etc. he just kept working. This makes it easy to root for the guy, and I would love for him to push the streak further. I, personally, think that Joe D's streak of 56 games is untouchable, but it would be nice to see it at least challenged a little bit. To put 56 games into perspective, Uggla is only HALFWAY there. Good luck Uggs!
For more Braves info, check out my next blog, "Rookie of the Year".
Football is under way, which means practices are heating up in Athens. There will be a blog by the end of th week previewing the upcoming UGA season. Stay tuned.
In the world of Major League Baseball, the Atlanta Braves took two of three from the New York Mets this weekend at Citi Field. In the 3rd and deciding game, it was only fitting that Larry Wayne Jones delivered the game-winning hit in the top of the 9th inning over the Mets. Freddie Freeman's 20-game hit streak was snapped yesterday, but Dan Uggla stretched his streak to 28 games. A 28-game hit streak is pretty impressive for anybody, much less Dan Uggla after his struggles for most of the year. One thing about Uggla is that when he struggled he never made excuses, dodged the media, etc. he just kept working. This makes it easy to root for the guy, and I would love for him to push the streak further. I, personally, think that Joe D's streak of 56 games is untouchable, but it would be nice to see it at least challenged a little bit. To put 56 games into perspective, Uggla is only HALFWAY there. Good luck Uggs!
For more Braves info, check out my next blog, "Rookie of the Year".
Football is under way, which means practices are heating up in Athens. There will be a blog by the end of th week previewing the upcoming UGA season. Stay tuned.
Friday, August 5, 2011
The Bourn Effect
As the MLB trade deadline approached, Braves fans had to be getting quite frustrated. The supposed top targets were coming off the board to our biggest competitors in the NL. Beltran to the Giants. Pence to the Phillies. I think the only two names out there that would still satisfy Braves fans on Sunday was Quentin and Bourn. Chicago decided to hang on to Quentin, which made Bourn the main target for Frank Wren. The rest is history as the Braves traded Schafer, and 3 mid-tier minor leaguers for the leadoff man they have missed over the last 5 years.
The question now is will this move be enough to push the Braves into October? Bourn brings a different dynamic to the table, adding gold-glove defense, along with a solid bad and blazing speed on the basepaths, something the Braves were severely lacking. It may be a few weeks before we actually see what Bourn does for this team due to injuries to McCann and Chipper, but once we get a full lineup, I expect some big things. Simple things that Bourn does on the offensive end were on display Wednesday night. With the Braves needing a win after losing the first two in Washington, Bourn singled in the first inning to lead off the game. His 40th stolen base of the season put him on 2nd with nobody out. A Prado groundball out to the first base gets him to 3rd, where pretty much any contact, basehit, flyball, etc. will score him. A Freeman groundout to 2nd scores Bourn and the Braves go up 1-0 in a crucial game. Any other player on the Braves roster would have not stolen 2nd, and would have been doubled up on Prado's grounder. With the speed, Bourn changed the game and got the Braves off to the start they needed. Opposing pitchers know Bourn's speed and will be focused on him when he's on the basepaths. If Bourn runs on an off-speed pitch, it is an automatic stolen base. Due to this, I expect Prado, Chipper, Mac, Uggla, and Freeman to get more fastballs when Bourn is on base. This will increase production from the middle of the order. Simple chaos caused by speed. When measuring this trade down the road, people will look at Bourn's stats to decide if it was a success or not, but I think you should couple that with the stats of the guys in the lineup behind him. The Bourn Effect will translate into production from the middle of our order. The Bourn Effect: Will it be enough to propel the Braves into October baseball? Yes. Will it be enough to defeat the Giants or Phillies in October? To be determined.
Any thoughts?
The question now is will this move be enough to push the Braves into October? Bourn brings a different dynamic to the table, adding gold-glove defense, along with a solid bad and blazing speed on the basepaths, something the Braves were severely lacking. It may be a few weeks before we actually see what Bourn does for this team due to injuries to McCann and Chipper, but once we get a full lineup, I expect some big things. Simple things that Bourn does on the offensive end were on display Wednesday night. With the Braves needing a win after losing the first two in Washington, Bourn singled in the first inning to lead off the game. His 40th stolen base of the season put him on 2nd with nobody out. A Prado groundball out to the first base gets him to 3rd, where pretty much any contact, basehit, flyball, etc. will score him. A Freeman groundout to 2nd scores Bourn and the Braves go up 1-0 in a crucial game. Any other player on the Braves roster would have not stolen 2nd, and would have been doubled up on Prado's grounder. With the speed, Bourn changed the game and got the Braves off to the start they needed. Opposing pitchers know Bourn's speed and will be focused on him when he's on the basepaths. If Bourn runs on an off-speed pitch, it is an automatic stolen base. Due to this, I expect Prado, Chipper, Mac, Uggla, and Freeman to get more fastballs when Bourn is on base. This will increase production from the middle of the order. Simple chaos caused by speed. When measuring this trade down the road, people will look at Bourn's stats to decide if it was a success or not, but I think you should couple that with the stats of the guys in the lineup behind him. The Bourn Effect will translate into production from the middle of our order. The Bourn Effect: Will it be enough to propel the Braves into October baseball? Yes. Will it be enough to defeat the Giants or Phillies in October? To be determined.
Any thoughts?
It Is What It Is....
This blog is designed for me to express myself about things in which I am passionate. The title of the blog, Chit Chatting, Chopping, and Barking refers to the things this blog will usually be about.
Chit Chatting refers to "Life". Things going on with my precious daughter, beautiful wife, and everything else that might be interesting. I am on an incredible journey of fatherhood, so some of those joys and pains will be shared. I will try not to bore you with my life, and post mainly "chopping and barking" blogs, but there will be times when life just needs to be discussed.
Chopping refers to my passion for the Atlanta Braves. Many of the posts will be discussing Braves games, players, trade rumors, free agent rumors, etc. If you are a fan of the Braves, I think you will enjoy this blog.
Barking refers to my passion for UGA athletics. I am not a crazed maniac when it comes to UGA sports, but that is the college team that I support and cheer for. I will post game recaps, opinions of players, coaches, etc. and discuss the "hot seat", as well as other college sports rumors.
I hope you enjoy this blog and am looking forward to feedback. My first Chopping blog will be posted shortly... stay tuned.
Chit Chatting refers to "Life". Things going on with my precious daughter, beautiful wife, and everything else that might be interesting. I am on an incredible journey of fatherhood, so some of those joys and pains will be shared. I will try not to bore you with my life, and post mainly "chopping and barking" blogs, but there will be times when life just needs to be discussed.
Chopping refers to my passion for the Atlanta Braves. Many of the posts will be discussing Braves games, players, trade rumors, free agent rumors, etc. If you are a fan of the Braves, I think you will enjoy this blog.
Barking refers to my passion for UGA athletics. I am not a crazed maniac when it comes to UGA sports, but that is the college team that I support and cheer for. I will post game recaps, opinions of players, coaches, etc. and discuss the "hot seat", as well as other college sports rumors.
I hope you enjoy this blog and am looking forward to feedback. My first Chopping blog will be posted shortly... stay tuned.
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