Braves Making the Team Meter: Pitchers Week 3

by gondeee on Mar 9, 2009 11:22 AM EDT Comment 6 comments

If it's Monday then it's the Making the Team Meter for the Atlanta Braves. It's about time for the first cuts of spring training, so we might get word that this list will be getting leaner in the next few days. I had a thought that the WBC may force the team to delay cuts for a few days, but they can always call people over from the minor league camp, so the WBC will likely not cause any delay in the trimming of the roster.

It's always a mystery as to who will get cut, but I would imagine this first round would be some of the minor leaguers who are just in camp for a hey-how-you-doin' -- guys like Medlen, Redmond, Valdez.

Go here for last week's MTM.

Player, Position	Chance	Notes
Manny Acosta, RHP		Not much to say other than he's having a good spring so far.
Jeff Bennett, RHP		For Bennett, a lot will hinge on whether Peter Moylan is ready to go, as Bennett is apparently the other ground ball specialist in the Braves pen.
Blaine Boyer, RHP		He's throwing good, and I would expect him to. We just have to hope he doesn't get overused again this year.
Francisley Bueno, LHP		Frank Good he has been, and perhaps he's moving up the LOOGY depth chart with the spring Ridgway is having.
Jorge Campillo, RHP		He's now toiling for the Mexican WBC team and doing pretty well. They'll need him after getting rocked by Australia yesterday.
Buddy Carlyle, RHP		We keep hearing little things about how valuable this guy can be. It looks more and more like he'll get a spot in the pen.
Rafael Cruz, RHP		He's walking too many people, but he's striking people out too.
Emiliano Fruto, RHP		He's getting lost in the mix. He's been doing pretty well, but he's still on the outside.
Mariano Gomez, LHP		Gomez has made it into games and he's pitching really well. Could he enter into the LOOGY mix?
Tommy Hanson, RHP		Still pitching like a man possessed, and this time it was against the world champs. There's all this talk about Hanson forcing the Braves hand to put him in the rotation, but unless someone gets injured, no matter how well Hanson does, I think the organization really wants him to spend some time at triple-A.
Anthony Lerew, RHP	OFF	He's off the 40-man and likely bound for a rehab season at triple-A. He's coming off this list next week.
Boone Logan, LHP		Boone Loogy.
Stephen Marek, RHP		A lot of people have been really impressed with him this spring. I don't think he'll make the club to start the season, but he's definitely an option for a mid-year call-up.
Kris Medlen, RHP		A lot of positive things happening for Medlen. With his good spring I think he's upping his prospect value. I hope we don't discount him because of his size.
Charlie Morton, RHP		At this point I'm not sure he has enough time to get ready for the start of the major league season. Because of the injury he'll likely get ticketed back to triple-A.
Peter Moylan, RHP		The awesome Aussi is back at it and throwing great.
Eric O'Flaherty, LHP		He's had some issues, but not as many as some of the other LOOGY's.
James Parr, RHP		He is still quietly putting in good work at the end of games. He's way down on the depth chart, but he is some good depth to have (that we hope we never have to use).
Juan Perez, LHP		In danger of getting lost in the LOOGY shuffle.
Todd Redmond, RHP		Another youngster who is putting in some good work this spring.
Jo-Jo Reyes, LHP		Perhaps the biggest surprise in camp so far. He's pitching much better than he did last year. This could bump him up the depth chart, above Morton and possibly Campillo.
Jeff Ridgway, LHP		1IP, 4BB, 5H, 7R... oof!
Rafael Soriano, RHP		He is supposed to be making his spring debut on Tuesday.
Phil Stockman, RHP		Poor Phil. He's having a reocurrance of the pain that caused him to miss time the last two years. He will have an MRI and perhaps surgery and may be out for an indefinite period of time.
Luis Valdez, RHP		This "youngster" is still struggling with his control -- 5BB in 1.2IP.

Arrow Key:
= Chance of making the team is even.
= Chance of making the team is going down.
= Chance of making the team is going up.

I'll wrap the hitters up tomorrow.

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Gondee, why do you emphasize that you’re taking Lerew off the list because he’s off the 40 man roster? Fruto, Gomez and others aren’t on the 40 man roster either and you list them here. Is this supposed to be a list of just players on the 40 man-roster or include everyone that was invited to camp?

by BravesFan on Mar 9, 2009 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Disregard my question.

by BravesFan on Mar 9, 2009 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Carlyle

I agree he has looked good this spring. He should be a consistant workhorse in innings 6&7 this year.

Boyer also apears fresh and ready to go. Hes alot of people’s punching bag from last year but he has very good stuff.

by bbxxj on Mar 9, 2009 3:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

poor stockman...

man, the year of make or break and he breaks. oh well! i guess my prediction of a 2 aussie ‘pen will have to wait. i still can’t see bennett and carlyle both making the team.
new prediction (this time the safe route):
moylan, soriano, gonzalez, carlyle, boyer, logan, acosta
Gwinnett rotation: hanson, campillo, jo-jo, morton, marek.

Holy Crap! Lots of good stuff to see in Gwinnett. Hopefully the braves get smart and move Hanson up sooner than later.

by ryan c on Mar 9, 2009 4:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nice

Because they’re not using the fifth-starter until April 19th, I would say that opens the door for a 7 or 8 man bullpen, of course, that depends on whether or not Blanco makes the team as the 14th position player. I would almost guarantee a 7-man pen for the first two weeks, so that opens the door for either Bennett or Campillo, though they may want to keep Campillo starting at Richmond in case Glavine can’t go.

by gondeee on Mar 9, 2009 7:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Carlyle

As nice as it would be to have a guy like Carlyle in the bullpen, is there really going to be a spot for him? Eventually, there will be injuries and spots will open up. But, if Moylan is ready to do on opening day, the Braves have seven likely bullpen arms: Gonzalez, Soriano, Moylan, Acosta, Boyer, Campillio and Logan. Given at least one LOOGY will make the team, there doesn’t seem to be spot for Carlyle or Bennett.

by BrandonG on Mar 10, 2009 3:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs