The Bravesologist

Changed Hosting

bduronio — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 06:22:55 +0000

I recently changed hosting and upgraded to WordPress.org. Due to the change, this page is no longer necessary and will not be updated any longer. For all future articles, please visit http://www.bravesologist.com.

Thank you!

Fredi Gonzalez Fired as Florida Marlin’s Manager

bduronio — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:27:39 +0000

As cited by Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post, Fredi Gonzalez and two other coaches have been fired by the Florida Marlins.

The reason this has significance for the Braves, is that many see Gonzalez as a likely candidate to succeed Bobby Cox as manager next season. The Marlins firing him makes him an even more likely candidate. For four seasons prior to being hired by the Marlins after the 2006 season, Gonzalez served as the third base coach for the Braves. In addition to coaching third, Gonzalez also managed the then triple-A affiliate Richmond Braves for a season in 2002. He is liked within the franchise.

I’ll have a piece speaking about my personal feelings on the possibility of Gonzalez becoming the next Atlanta Braves manager. Frankly, I am not a big fan of his managerial decisions. Having seen the Braves play the Marlins and seen questionable bullpen management and in game strategies, I do believe there are better options.

Julio Teheran, Mike Minor Selected for “Futures Game”

bduronio — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:10:04 +0000

With the surplus of arms the Braves have in the minors, it is no surprise that both members chosen to represent the Braves in the futures game are pitchers. Mike Minor was the Braves first round selection last year and Julio Teheran was one of the top international prospects when he was signed in 2007.

Mike Minor

Some questioned Minor’s overall talent and projectability when he was drafted. Many saw him as a third starter with limited strike out ability. The southpaw has changed his perception for the better this season, as he has struck out 101 batters in 80 innings at double-A Mississippi. Expected to be a control pitcher, his strikeout total is as surprising as his walk total. His 33 walks are not an impressive number, but if he continues to strike batters out at this pace it becomes more acceptable. Minor will pitch for Team USA.

Minor’s stats: 2-6, 4.16 ERA, 80 IP, 101 K, 33 BB, 1.23 WHIP

Julio Teheran

Julio Teheran is seriously coming into his own as a 19-year-old. Coming off of a season in which his ERA was 3.65 in 14 starts, he has pitched to a 1.26 ERA in 13 so far this season between low-A Rome and high-A Myrtle Beach. Teheran has been absolutely dominant this year, striking out 10.8 batters per nine, and 11.3 in his six outings at Myrtle Beach. His 7.00 K/BB ratio is unfathomable and by the end of the year there is a very good chance of him being a top-10 prospect in all of baseball. Teheran will pitch for the International Team.

Teheran’s stats: 5-3, 1.26 ERA, 78.1 IP, 94 K, 17 BB, 0.90 WHIP

If you haven’t seen Minor or Teheran pitch live or on video yet, be sure to catch them on the futures game live on July 7 at 6 pm EST.

The rosters for both teams can be found here.

Fear The Prado

bduronio — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:59:58 +0000

In 158 plate appearances since moving to the leadoff spot, Martin Prado has a line of .378/.410/.534. Every one of those numbers leads the league (with a minimum of 75 leadoff plate appearances). The next highest leadoff average comes from Ichiro, at .341. That’s a difference of .037 points, and Ichiro is known for having possibly the best bat control in baseball since Tony Gwynn. The next highest OBP comes from Ichiro as well, who has walked 17 more times than Prado. The next highest SLG comes from the player Prado replaced at second base, Kelly Johnson, who already has 30 extra base hits.

Prado’s career numbers as a starter are .319/.363/.459. While those numbers aren’t quite the dominating stats he has as a leadoff hitter this season, they are very impressive to say the least. Having quickly glanced over them they remind me of one player instantaneously, Derek Jeter.

Derek Jeter’s career numbers are .316/.383/.458. So Jeter does gets on base a bit more, but the numbers are scarily similar outside of the .020 points in OBP.

But Back to Prado, he’s currently leading the league in batting average (.340), hits (100), and multi-hit games (33). Six of those multi-hit games have come in the Braves’ past seven, and for the month of June he is batting .390.

Martin is hardly your prototypical leadoff hitter, but he has responded well to the role since the Braves have put him there. They have had a great deal of first inning success and have went 25-10 since Martin has entered the first spot in the lineup. In addition to an astonishing record, the Braves haven’t lost a series with Martin batting first. This is absolutely not a coincidence, and while Jason Heyward moving up to the second spot has helped as well, Martin is the one who has seen his numbers jump drastically since changing spots.

By the way, vote for Prado for the all-star game.

Currently, Prado is projected to have 237 hits, get on base 284 times, hit 14 home runs, and hit 50 doubles. Those a pretty amazing numbers for a utility man turned starter, aren’t they?

The Best Record in the NL Belongs to the Braves

bduronio — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:44:49 +0000

The Atlanta Braves just took 2-of-3 from the Rays after taking 2-of-3 from the Twins, two division leaders in the better American League. This is one of the more impressive feats the Braves have accomplished in the past five years.

The Braves current record of 39-28 stands as the best record in the National League. In addition, their run differential of +61 stands as the best in the NL as well. Since their May 7-9 series loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Braves have not lost a series. That is 12 straight without a loss, impressive to say the least.

The Braves winning percentage of .722 since then also ranks as the best in baseball. The 26-10 record they have posted since that series is astonishing considering how mediocre the Braves looked up until then.