September Callups

The Braves have called up relief pitcher Royce Ring, catcher Brayan Pena, and everyone's favorite 50 year-old ballplayer, 1B Julio Franco.

Divisional Roundup 8/30/07

This column will sum up the week's action around the NL East. All the other teams' transactions, player news, and how they’ve been playing over the last week will be summarized in a brief paragraph for each team. This column will be published every Thursday.

Mets: The Mets' biggest splash this week was landing 1B/OF Jeff Conine from the Cincinnati Reds for Minor Leaguers Jose Castro and Sean Henry. Jeff has career numbers of .285/.347/.444, which aren’t bad for a guy drafted in the 57^th round. And it isn't like Castro or Henry are particularly interesting prospects. Conine will serve as a pinch hitter, and can play left field to give rickety 41-year-old Moises Alou the night off. To make room for Conine on the 40-man roster, Pedro Martinez was moved to the 60-day DL. Pedro is expected to make one more rehab start and then join the Mets after rosters expand. Paul Lo Duca was activated from the DL after missing 15 days with a hamstring injury. Reliever Ambiorix Burgos underwent Tommy John surgery on Tuesday, he will miss most if not all of next season recovering. Think the Mets are regretting dealing Brian Bannister for Burgos this past winter? Damion Easley, Jose Valentin's miracle replacement at second base, will miss the rest of the season with a severe ankle sprain. Endy Chavez was activated from the DL, after missing 2½ months with a partially torn hamstring. The Mets missed him quite a bit. He was a Willie-Harris-esque spark plug in their lineup.

The Mets have had their stuggles on the field this week as well, going only 2-5 over the last 7 games. Much of the blame for their stuggles can be pinned on the 4.79 ERA they posted in those games, and the .315 BAA. Billy Wagner also struggled in the past week, pitching 2 innings and giving up 3 ER, but he didn't receive any losses. Their batting fared just as well; they were 22nd in the league with only 25 runs over the last 7 games. But there have been a few bright spots: David Wright went 10-for-22, with 2 doubles, 2 homeruns, 3 stolen bases, 7 RBIs, and only 6 strikeouts.

Phillies: Adam Eaton was activated from the DL with a sore shoulder. This could actually be good news for the Braves, as Eaton has only managed a 6.23 ERA over 138.2 IP this year. Chase Utley was activated from the DL after suffering a broken wrist, but expect it to be a while before his power returns. Recent signee Russell Branyan was designated for assignment to make room for him. Dropping Branyan doesn't really make much sense, given that Greg Dobbs is left with most of that playing time. Cole Hamels was sent to the DL with a mild MCL strain in his left elbow, but an MRI showed no ligament damge. He is expected to make a start this Sunday. Shane Victorino was activated from the DL after suffering a calf strain. He has still been bothered by it, and he sat out a few games to rest after coming back. Freddy Garcia is seeing a specialist about his sore right shoulder to see if surgery is necessary. In his rehab starts his fastball had been topping out at 84 mph, and currently has no timetable to return.

Philadelphia has had a pretty calm week, going 4-3, but that includes a three game winning streak against the Mets that they are taking into tonight's game. They posted a team ERA of 3.80 over the week which was half a run lower than the league average, but curiously had a rather high BAA of .293. The Phillies also had an excellent offensive week, scoring 38 runs and had a BA of .316. Jayson Werth had a sensational week, going 14-for-23 a .609 BA.

Marlins: Ricky Nolasco was activated from the DL, and then optioned to Triple-A. The Marlins aren’t quite ready to give him a spot in the rotation yet. The Marlins signed RHP Byung-Hyun Kim for the rest of the season. The Fish originally let the Diamondbacks take Kim on waivers, so the Snakes were responsible for his contract for the rest of the year. Then when the Diamondbacks dropped him last week, the Marlins came and signed him for league minimum. He will start Saturday or Sunday. Aaron Boone will undergo season ending knee surgery on Sept. 4, having been on the DL since June 25. RHP Henry Owens is going to see a specialist about his right shoulder to see if surgery is necessary. Owens has been on the DL since June 9.

Florida had a horrible week pitching, posting a 6.68 ERA (with alot of help from the Braves) but still went 2-5 thanks to their 34 runs scored. Miguel Cabrera has been stone-cold recently, posting a .083 BA (2 for 24) but Jeremy Hermida has been able to pick up the slack, going 12-for-30 with 3 doubles and 2 homeruns. Rick Vanden Hurk has been throwing the ball well of late, posting a 1.80 ERA in his last two starts.

Nationals: Nick Johnson had surgery to remove a rod and screw where he broke his leg last year. It is unsure whether he will be ready for spring training. SP John Patterson suffered a setback during rehab, he isn’t expected to rejoin the team this year. He’s been on the DL since May 5 with a nerve problem in his elbow. Wily Mo Pena suffered a contusion on his foot, and is day-to-day. Since joining the Nationals he has showed his outstanding power, with 4 home runs in 34 at-bats. Jason Bergmann was activated from the DL and made his first start on Tuesday. He went 6 innings and gave up 4 runs, walked one and struck out one. John Lannan was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Bergmann.

Washington went 1-6 over the last week, due to their pitching staff who put up a 6.31 ERA over the last week, and a 38/28 K:BB ratio. Their offense has been slumping too, putting up an average of 4.8 runs a game. Dmitri Young sparked that offense, hitting .409, and Ryan Zimmerman drove in 8 runs with the help of 3 homeruns.

Minor League Roundup: 8/22/07-8/29/07

I posted this, but didn't write it. Shashank is our minor league beat writer. Sorry about the lateness, but we're still trying to get all the logistics figured out. This column will normally be a Wednesday column. Without further adieu, a trip around the Braves organization:

Since this is the inaugural Minor League Roundup, I thought I’d include some background info so you’ll know what the format will be like. Each week, there will be a short description of each team’s week along with a Who’s Hot, Who’s Not type update. Here’s hoping you will become weekly readers!

AAA: The Richmond Braves went just 2-5 over the past week, including a four game losing streak. They have now dropped to 2 GB of the International South leading Durham Bulls.

Who’s Hot: Not many guys hit well this past week, but both Brayan Pena and Gregor Blanco hit .333 while Pena also added a homer and 4 RBI. Joey Devine and Zach Schreiber have pitched well in relief, with Devine striking out seven in four innings of work.

Who’s Not: Brandon Jones and Brent Lillibridge had down weeks, but both have solid numbers overall on the season, with Jones hitting .311 and Lillibridge hitting .296. Look for them both to be in Atlanta come the start of the 2008 season. The rotation in general had a bad week, with the exception of Jeff Bennett. Pitching prospect Dan Smith got hammered, allowing five runs in four and two-thirds. He’s struggled since being moved up.

Notes: Pitcher Kevin Barry went on the DL. Martin Prado was named an International League All-Star for his performance during the ’07 season.

AA: The Mississippi Braves went 3-4 this past week, not a bad week in what has been an interesting season record-wise. The Braves won the division in the first half but sit in last place in the second half. Overall, the Braves are in 4th, 13 games back of the division leading Jacksonville Suns.

Who’s Hot: A guy who’s dropped off the radar , J.C Holt, has hit .367 with multi-hit games in his past three. Prospect Van Pope is finally showing signs of life, with a .304 average and a homer this past week in an otherwise forgettable season (he’s hitting .223).

Who’s Not: Kala Kaaihue is 1 for 22 in his last seven games. He has really struggled since being called up from Myrtle Beach, where he hit .298 with 22 homers. The main problem has been strikeouts… he’s struck out 50 times in just 29 games. These are troubling signs for a Braves fan, especially when you consider that Kaaihue’s our ticket to a team without Scott Thorman.

Notes: Reliever Kevin Gunderson has just been called up to Mississippi. He has tossed two scoreless innings, allowing five hits. After being lights out in Rome and Myrtle Beach, righty Kris Medlen was called up and promptly gave up three earned runs in a third of an inning. Not exactly an inspiring start.

High-A: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans have gone 0-8 (make-up games included) over the last week. They currently sit last in the Carolina South at 59-75.

Who’s Hot: Ouch. That’s all you can say. OF Jordan Schafer hit .346 with a homer and 2B Diory Hernandez hit .360 with a couple of stolen bases, but that’s all the production the Pelicans could muster up.

Who’s Not: Everybody else. Literally. Eric Campbell takes the cake, though. Due to insubordination (Rotowire), Eric Campbell has been suspended for the rest of the season. I don’t understand what’s going on. This is the second time he’s been suspended, and this suspension just adds icing to an already disappointing season. Maybe the Braves should adopt a three strike policy with him…one more suspension and he’s gone. Any suggestions?

Notes: Pitcher Tommy Hanson has been called up for Rome, and he has struggled with his control. Despite his 6’6” height, he’s more of a control pitcher, but he is racking up some strikeouts as well.

Low-A: The Rome Braves have gone 4-3 this week. They sit in fifth at 35-30 (tough league) and 6.5 games back of the Columbus Catfish. Minor league team names are excellent

Who’s Hot: RF Jon Owings hit a couple homers, but again, not many quality prospects here. I guess that’s what happens when you trade your farm for one player. I do like Teixeira, by the way, we just gave up too much. Starter Jamie Richmond pitched six solid innings in his last start, giving up just one earned run and striking out six. He’s got a 3.56 ERA on the season.

Who’s Not: Can I say Eric Campbell again? No? Well, beyond Richmond, there’s not much here in terms of potential, so maybe saying the Rome Braves overall would be appropriate. I guess 2007 draft pick Brandon Hicks, a shortstop, whose bad week hasn’t put a damper on his overall average, which is .311.

Rookie: Danville has gone 4-3 this week. They’re in first place at 48-20 and have clinched their division. The playoffs start in about a week.

Who’s Hot: First round draft picks Jason Heyward and Cody Johnson lead the list. Heyward is hitting a solid .333 since his call up, while Johnson may deserve a whole new category for himself: Who’s Really Hot? Johnson hit .320 this week and added three homers to his league-leading total. His 17 homers in 62 games leads the league by seven. Jeff Locke has been on fire as well, going six and two-thirds with 11 K’s in his last outing. His record’s up to 7-1. Steve Evarts improved to 4-0 with a 1.95 ERA when he threw five scoreless with seven K’s in his last appearance

Who’s Not: 2007 draft pick Dennis Dixon hasn’t hit well. He has only gotten ten at-bats, though.

Short-season rookie: The GCL Braves finished with a 2-3 record in a miserable season overall. They have finished their season at 17-43, 25.5 games behind the GCL Yankees (as much as I hate to say it).

Who Finished Hot: Samuel Sime finished with five homers, the lone bright spot on a weak offense. Eric Barrett finished with a 1.36 ERA

Who Finished Not: Prospect Cory Rasmus took a beating, ending with an 8.59 ERA.

Well, that’s it for this week. Hope you enjoyed it and don’t worry, they will be shorter from here on out.

Welcome to Tomahawk Talk!

Thanks for visiting. This site is going to be dedicated to all things Atlanta Braves. We’re going to be dedicated to providing the best Braves coverage anywhere.

So who are we anyway? You’ll hear from three authors on this site: Shashank Bharadwaj, Tom Gieryn (some of you know me as rtgthree on ProSportsDaily), and Sheldon Taylor. We’re three Atlanta guys who all have lifelong obsessions with Braves baseball. This blog is the result of our combined desire to write about, discuss and analyze every aspect of the Braves.

There will be at least one post every day, and here’s what you can expect to find if you visit regularly:

1. Game recaps: We’ll have detailed reports on every Braves game, day in and day out—and not written by somebody who just read the box score the next morning.

2. Columns: Each day of the week we’ll put up a different column covering different pieces and angles of the Braves organization. Here’s what we plan to write about:
Monday: Players of the Week…we’ll name the most valuable Braves over the previous week
Tuesday: A Look Back...starting in 1990, we’ll look at the transformation of the team from last place to its 14th straight division title, evaluating each move along the way
Wednesday: Minor League Roundup…a trip around the Braves minor league system (who’s hot, who’s not, who’s on and off the radar)
Thursday: Divisional Roundup…we’ll break down each team in the NL East, from their play on the field to their personnel moves
Friday: Prospect Profile…each week, we’ll take a detailed look at a different prospect out of our system
Saturday: Point/Counterpoint…we’ll pick a topic and have two writers write opposing views about a specific Braves question
Sunday: Stat of the Week…to understand some of the advanced stats we’ll use, this series will introduce sabermetric numbers and what they mean for player evaluation

3. News and Rumors: We’ll cover every tidbit of Braves news we can get our hands on, and give you at least a brief analysis of what happened, why it happened and what it means for the team and the players involved. Also Tomahawk Talk can be your one-stop shopping for any reported rumors that could involve the Braves. Any articles or blog posts we find about the Braves that we like, we’ll link to, and offer our commentary on what another writer has to say.

4. Discussion: You can’t be a good blogger without good readers. We want to hear from all of you. Leave comments, write us e-mails at tomahawktalk755@gmail.com. We’ll participate in the discussion on the comments, and we’ll be looking for e-mail suggestions for columns. If you see an article about the Braves (that isn’t just a game recap), send us the link. If you have a question, ask us and we’ll do a “Mailbag” column to answer it. We want to know which prospects you want to know more about for Prospect Profile, and we’d love suggestions for topics for our Point/Counterpoint column.

I’m not really big on “rules” on a blog. This should be an opportunity for everybody to voice their Braves opinions. I kind of expect that we’ll all be decent to each other and avoid profanity, racism, etc. I’m going to make it so you have to register to post, just so we can get to know each other.

Finally, I’ll ask for a favor from all of you readers. You don’t have to like our blog, but if you do, please tell your friends. The more readership we have, the better our discussion will be. If you have a blog or website, link to us. E-mail links to your buddies. Quote us on forums where you post.

Thanks for visiting and GO BRAVES!!!!!!!