Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 5/10

by yondaime4 on May 11, 2009 12:49 AM EDT in Braves Minor League Recaps

Durham 4, Gwinnett 3

D. Hernandez 1-4 2B, RBI, BB
B. Jones 2-2
T. Hanson 8IP 6H 3R 1BB 9K

Well finally a mortal outing from Tommy Hanson, and it is still pretty good. The thing to note here however is that he did give up 3 HRs. He hasn't given up 3 homers in his last 100 innings (I dont think) and I doubt he has given up multiple homers in one game in a long time. (Sorry using a friends comp so I don't have time to do all the research tonight.) The one knock on Hanson has always been his high fly ball rate and that some day it would catch up to him. I don't really ascribe to this belief, choosing to believe, rather, that he generates tons of fly balls due to weak contact. Also to note in this game he actually allowed more groundballs than flyballs (7-6). The only other start he had this season in which he gave up 3 or more runs was one April 19 and then he had a 4-4 ratio. I wonder if he gives up more ground balls when his stuff is having an off day? Either way, I am honestly happy to see him have a 'bad' game (even though his bad game is still a quality start) because now we can see how he can bounce back.

Mississippi - Off

Myrtle Beach 5, Kinston 1

J. Heyward 2-4 BB, K
C. Johnson 2-4 2 HR(11), 5 RBI, BB, 2K
C. Rohrbough 4IP 2H 1R 2BB 5K

Cole Rohrbough makes his first appearance since April 12 and he looked pretty solid getting some Ks and having solid control to go along with a 4:2 GB:FB ratio. People expect a lot from this guy and he could really sky rocket if he stays healthy. And look what Cody Johnson is doing. His OPS is up to 1.051 on the season to go along with a 40% K rate. Both of those are ridiculous but the Ks don't seem to be hindering him for now. If that walk rate continues to rise he could actually become an Adam Dunn type. We shall see.

Rome - Off

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HANSON GAVE UP 3 RUNS OVER 8 INNINGS?! WHAT?! Trade this bum. He obvisously cant pitch. And we thought he might make a good 4th or 5th starter for the next 10 years or so…guess we were wrong

Good evening San Diego, Im Ron Bergundy. Tits McGee is off tonight.

by Scott Coleman on May 11, 2009 1:28 AM EDT reply actions

Cody Johnson

I mean, seriously…11 HRs? And it’s May 11? Jesus…

i like him…he reminds me of a more athletic version of Fielder…

Heyward hammy seems a bit better now…

but what’s up with Freeman???

by apoxonbothyourhouses on May 11, 2009 3:50 AM EDT reply actions

I think Freeman is just off to a bit of a slow start, but his numbers are getting better, he played pretty good last night, he went 1-3 with 2 walks.

by MatM on May 11, 2009 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions

and he still has 5 homers this saeson. just needs to get the BA up

by yondaime4 on May 11, 2009 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

His ribs are hurting him like they did at the end of last year. He went to California on an off day to see if they were broken again, but they weren’t, so he’s just playing through the discomfort.

"At least he didn’t nail the bitchy fat girl from Hell's Kitchen."
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by cbwilk on May 11, 2009 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Do you think that has anything to do with him getting hit by six pitches already this year?

It’s pretty crazy, he only got plunked three times all last season, and he’s already taken six HBP in a month this year.

Tommy Hanson 4 ROY

by timmy3 on May 11, 2009 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn’t know that stat, but you’d have to assume that has something to do with it. As somebody who used to average a HBP every two games, I can tell you, it takes a lot out of you.

"At least he didn’t nail the bitchy fat girl from Hell's Kitchen."
www.dropoutproductions.com

by cbwilk on May 11, 2009 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions

The other thing I’ve noticed on Freeman is that he’s just had some rough luck too. I think he’s like 6-for-14 on line drives now, which is just a case of the at ‘em balls. I know these minor league stuff on batted balls aren’t perfect, but FF hit like .800 on line drives last year… If he had say 10 hits (and make one of the four added imaginary hits a double) on line drives— which would be a more normalized number— he’d be hitting .304/.385/.490 right now as the youngest player in the league. I think more than anything we’re looking at a guy who’s have rough luck based on small sample size.

My only concern is that he needs to start doing something against lefties…

Tommy Hanson 4 ROY

by timmy3 on May 11, 2009 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions

His BABIP is .280, which is below where you’d like it to be. Heyward’s isn’t much better at .288, so some of those balls will start dropping for both of them.

Wow, that didn’t sound right at all

"If on-base percentage is so important, then why don't they put it up on the scoreboard?"
President, CEO, and chairman of the Brandon Jones fan club. PLEASE COME BACK! PLEASE COME BACK! PLEASE COME BACK!

by bigjoe on May 11, 2009 6:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Lol, they aren’t that young.

Tommy Hanson 4 ROY

by timmy3 on May 11, 2009 7:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Hanson’s start was still very impressive, but I do think home runs and walks could be a problem as a starter in Atlanta(yes I know he only walked 1 guy and his walk rate is down this year). I think the only chink in Hanson’s armor could possibly be his control, which can result in either walks or leaving his fastball up. I was following the 7th inning where he gave up 2 home runs on MiLB gameday, and if it is right, he was leaving the ball up and since it doesn’t show pitch type, this is just a guess, I imagine they were fastballs he left up in the zone.

Call me crazy, but I am starting to get this feeling that while Hanson will probably still be one heck of a pitcher, Medlen is going to be better. Medlen’s stuff isn’t quite as good as Hanson’s, but it seems like he doesn’t have a potential glaring weakness like Hanson, because his control has seems to be pretty good.

by MatM on May 11, 2009 10:01 AM EDT reply actions

actually...

i think Medlen’s stuff is on par with Hanson. As a matter of fact, I think Medlen’s fastball may be a little more electric than Hanson’s.

by apoxonbothyourhouses on May 11, 2009 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Medlen’s matched Hanson’s performance at least ERA and WHIP wise since the end of last season. He hasn’t dominated quite as much, but he’s just quit walking anyone, ever. Medlen’s biggest enemy at this point is his size, and he’s going to have to keep dominating as a starter for a whole year, before anyone is actually going to start to buy into the fact that he can go out there and through 6+ every fifth day.

Tommy Hanson 4 ROY

by timmy3 on May 11, 2009 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions

If a bad outing equates to giving up less baserunners than innings pitched…not bad

by Smoltz's Beard on May 11, 2009 10:28 AM EDT reply actions

Bad game

9 K’s and 1 walk. I can live with an off day like that.

by adc62 on May 11, 2009 10:33 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah, he gave up 3 HR, and that sucks...

But solo HR don’t hurt you that much. If the other team can’t get runners on base with any regularity, having a slightly above-average HR rate isn’t going to hurt nearly as much. That’s been my thoughts on his fly ball tendencies…

One thing we have to remember on him is that even though we know he’s ready to contribute at the big league level, there’s no reason to think he can’t improve once he gets here. I’d say learning to pitch to contact and get ground balls is where he can improve as a pitcher, especially on nights where he doesn’t have his best stuff.

At this point Tommy’s set the bar so high that nothing short of a no-no is really going to impress anyone. Nearly anyone else pitching this line is having a nice night with a couple of mistakes… And you can’t really blame us for struggling to be amazed by anything he does against minor league competition after he Stephen Strasburg’d the AFL where the league average ERA is like 5.75.

Tommy Hanson 4 ROY

by timmy3 on May 11, 2009 12:39 PM EDT reply actions