Show #146: The Braves Pieces Come Together

post from Atlanta Baseball Talk on 08 May 2011 11:42:52 PM. © Atlanta Baseball Talk

A stunning 6 – 1 week. Teheran’s debut. Lowe trade rumors. And a dearth of steals.[...]

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Jurrjens bests Hamels as Braves stay hot (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 May 2011 11:16:19 PM. © MLB News Blog

Jair Jurrjens pitched neatly into the seventh inning, Freddie Freeman, Alex Gonzalez and Eric Hinske homered, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 on Sunday night. Jurrjens (4-0) allowed one run and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings to outduel Cole Hamels. Jurrjens hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any start, [...]

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Giants Bring Out Brooms for Rockies

post from The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website on 08 May 2011 11:01:50 PM. © The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website

It's Mother's Day and the Giants gave the best gift they could to all of you moms out there, their 5th victory in 6 games. Even on the holiday, I just had to get something up after the huge win Sunday that completed the 3-game sweep of the Rockies and moved the team to within a game of first place.

First, I wanted to touch on Ryan Vogelsong a bit, who I'm now dubbing "The V" by the way, and his brilliant start vs. a powerhouse of a ball-club. Giants fans were a little on the fence with Vogelsong after his rough outing in New York, but I think today's game was a so called "game changer" for the 33 year-old. Let's face it, he's no spring chicken, and doesn't have the upside the other 4 starters do, but still, he's giving better quality outings than his injured predecessor Barry Zito was. In Zito's 13 IP before hurting his foot, he was 0-1 with a 6.23 era, 6 K's, 8 BB's and a 1.54 WHIP. Now "The V" just made his 5th outing of the year, and his numbers blow Zito's out of the water. After the 6 1/3, 1-hit winning effort Sunday, Vogelsong now sits at 2-0 with a 3.05 era, 0.97 WHIP with 17 K's and 7 BB's in 20 innings of work for 2011. He almost reminds me of an older Matt Cain the way he attacks with fastball after fastball and has control of it. He keeps this up and Zito has to comeback as a long-reliever/spot starter, unless (fingers crossed) there is another injury to the starting rotation. I know he's making $17 million, and it would be a shock to the career and reputation of Barry Zito to be demoted to the pen, but that's what has to happen if the Giants want to sure up that 5th rotation spot.

Now, don't get me wrong, Vogelsong allowed just 1 hit in his 6 1/3 innings, but he most certainly had some help behind him. Most notably that nice over the shoulder catch by Cody Ross off the bat of Ian Stewart that if Aubrey Huff had been in right field for, would have most certainly been extra bases, and most likely a Rockies run or more. Cody didn't just do it with the glove either, it looks like his stroke has finally come around after missing the end of Spring Training and the first 3 weeks of the year. The Boss went 2-3 with a 2-run homer and an RBI single, accounting for all 3 of the Giants runs. A big reason this offense has been in such a rut is because Ross has not been swinging the bat like he did last fall, but he's 3 for his last 5 now with 2 extra-base hits. He's always been a bit of a slow starter anyway, but I think the game he had today ( he made another nice catch after being moved to LF on that foul ball late in the game) was one that he'll feed off of and it wouldn't surprise me to see him take off from here. Nate Schierholtz has had some nice games and deserves a role, but let's not fool ourselves, Ross is this team's right fielder, and I expect him to be there 90% of the time here on out.

Roster Moves Expected: The Giants will finally get leadoff man and speedy center fielder, Andres Torres, back from the DL for Tuesday night's tilt with AZ. It's an easy decision as to who gets send down to make room for him, Darren Ford (actually, Ford has done some positive things up here with his legs), but the question is how the playing time will get divided. Some people think Schierholtz should play everyday, and Aaron Rowand has been swinging one of the better bats on the team (2nd on active roster with .271 average). I think Boch will indeed mix-and-match more with the idea of Nate and ARow getting more PT, but I expect the first unit to play most the time together. I also would like to see Mark DeRosa get some time at 3rd base when he's ready to play.

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Dubya's Top Farm Performers (5/8/11)

post from Royals Review on 08 May 2011 10:01:18 PM. © Royals Review

Dubya's Top Farm Performers (5/8/11)

Mario Lisson (3B-NWA-26): 1-3, 2R, HR(7), 2 RBI(15), BB - Hitting .281, OBP .406
Mike Moustakas (3B-Omaha-22): 2-4, 2R, 2 RBI(23), BB, SB(1) - Hitting .250, OBP .333
John Whittleman (3B-Wilmington-24): 2-4, R, HR(6), RBI(18), 2BB, K - Hitting .223, OBP .314
Danny Duffy (SP-Omaha-22): 6.0IP, 5H, 2ER, BB, 8K, W(3-0) - 2.25 ERA
Lorenzo Cain (CF-Omaha-25): 2-4, R, 2B(8), 3 RBI(7) - Hitting .313, OBP .402

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To My Mom

post from Baseball: Past and Present on 08 May 2011 09:52:29 PM. © Baseball: Past and Present

Moms got us to school every day, made sure we had our lunch or money for lunch, fixed our hair and made sure our socks matched. They always had a shoulder we could cry on and could fix even the most serious injury with a kiss and a “you’ll be alright”. They straightened us out [...]

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Sunday Pebble Report: Drillers dominate, other
farm teams not so much on Saturday.

post from Purple Row on 08 May 2011 09:01:47 PM. © Purple Row

Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Rex Brothers throws during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, March 24, 2011, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Side note regarding the new PuRPs polling. I'm really sorry I've flaked on that this weekend, some stuff came up. We could discuss prospects here, though, and I'll put up a polling thread tomorrow.

Colorado Springs: L 0-4

The Sky Sox had just two hits, one by Chris Nelson, one by Brad Emaus. Rex Brothers collected three more strikeouts, giving him a total of 28 in just 15 innings this season. He did give up one of the Sacramento runs in his one inning pitched.

Tulsa: W 15-3

The Drillers knocked out 17 hits, collected 10 walks and otherwise clobbered the Naturals. Tim Wheeler had two hits, including a home run (his ninth of the season) walked three times and scored four runs. Wilin Rosario went four for five with a pair of doubles and a walk. The opposing starter, Edgar Osuna was a Rule 5 pick by the Royals a couple of years ago from the Braves, and the Braves decided to let the K.C. organization keep him. Seems a wise choice today. Wheeler's been a liability as a base-thief, but otherwise he's a center-fielder hitting like a corner player. He had a similar power surge his final college season prior to being drafted, so the question going forward will be about whether and for how long he can sustain this level of play. It's been a clear step forward for him as a prospect, though.

Juan Nicasio pitched for the Drillers, and while the seven innings, seven hits, two walks and seven K's actually make for one of his least impressive starts season to date, offensive environment last night should be taken into account and make it a bit more in line with what we've seen from him.

Modesto: L 7-8

Mike Zuanich hit a home run and along with Delta Cleary Jr, Angelys Nina and Orlando Sandoval had a multiple hit game in the loss to Visalia. One of the interesting things to watch this season will be how NL West 3B prospects Nolan Arenado and Bobby Borchering fare in the California League. Borchering was considered by the Rockies before the 2009 draft with the pick that eventually would be used to select Tyler Matzek. The D-backs snagged Borchering instead in the first round, and the Rockies selected Arenado in the second. So far in their second full seasons, it would seem on the surface that Borchering has a bit of an advantage with a .259/.298/.431 line and five HR's (including one last night) compared to a .257/.284/.321 line for Arenado. Same league, same age, one guy has power, one doesn't both aren't taking a free pass yet.

Go beneath the surface, however, and it's looking a lot more promising for Arenado right now. Borchering's already racked up 42 K's in 122 plate appearances. He needs to take a massive step forward in his contact ability before he'll be ready for the MLB. Arenado, on the other hand, has 14 K's in 117 plate appearances. As for the power, the difference is legit, but Borchering also plays half his game in one of the Cal League's most offense rich environments. Modesto is a pitching park in the league context, albeit neutral at best overall.

Asheville: L 4-7

Rafael Ortega started his season a little slowly, not an uncommon occurrence for players young for their leagues, but has since heated up nicely. Ortega collected four hits, a stolen base and scored twice, he's batting .385 in the month of May so far. The power's disappeared again, meaning the amount he produced in Casper may have indeed been a small sample, high altitude illusion, but the hit tool is still of a high quality with him. Russell Wilson went two for three with a pair of stolen bases. Alberto Campos pitched and allowed ten hits in five and two thirds innings. Patience should be practiced with Campos, his 6/1 K/BB rate yesterday and the ten hits show that he's not missing the plate, and more mature hitters are better equipped to hit him right now, but he remains a work in progress.

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Frustration Over the Weekend So Far...

post from Oriole Post - Baltimore Orioles Analysis & News; The World of Baseball and Beyond on 08 May 2011 09:01:39 PM. © Oriole Post - Baltimore Orioles Analysis & News; The World of Baseball and Beyond

I came to the game yesterday and it was not a pleasurable experience. Aside from it being a wonderful day out, the Orioles once again struggled, losing to the Rays. They got ten walks, but yet could not bring anyone home and were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

James posted quite a lengthy recap on Saturday evening; however, I am going to a bit more succinct.

Basically, something needs to be done with the offense. So far, the new additions - Lee, Vladmir and Reynolds - are not hacking it at the plate. All three are hitting below their career averages, although we are sort of seeing out of Mark Reynolds what we expected. Vladmir has been adequate, but Lee has not been good -- despite his solid credentials.

The middle of the lineup for the most part is a black hole with some offense produced at times. Both Lee and Vladmir are up in years now, and much like with Jeter in New York, could Father Time be taking their next victims?

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Whats On My Bookshelf-The Celebrant

The Celebrant- Eric Rolfe Greenberg There have been many examples of baseball being compared to religion. The Church of Baseball, ala Annie Savoy, stadiums referred to as cathedrals, baseball traditions treated with an almost holy reverence, and a deification of many baseball legends, culminating with the ultimate baseball shrine nestled in the venerable village of [...]

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Sunday Rants & Raves

post from LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Rumors on 08 May 2011 08:01:53 PM. © LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Rumors

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