BRAVES NEWS
Braves offense is sorely missing Freeman
That Atlanta Braves' offense is in dire need of some TLC. They need hugs, and one man handed out those hugs better than anybody else on the roster: Freddie Freeman. The offense has nearly screeched to a halt without Freeman, and it really doesn't take advanced analytics to see that the Braves are direly missing the linchpin of their offense.
His has been only a 10-game absence, but it seems much longer. Without Freeman, the Braves have averaged just more than two runs a game. They have hit three home runs. A small sample size, certainly, but its represents a significant drop-off from the 66 games that preceded his injury this year (4.3 runs per game, an average of .62 homers a game opposed to .30 since June 18).
One man does not make an offense. But now that it is in storage, the Freeman Effect seems rather disproportionately important.
We hated the Braves offense back when it was based on swinging for the fences. We squirm now that the home run is a rarity of red diamond proportions (the Braves are last in the majors in home runs).
There is a balance to be struck here and Freeman is so obviously the base upon which the Braves offense teeters.
Atlanta should have plenty of options at the trade deadline
We've done a lot of talking about the Braves, their future, and how they're building towards that future. One of the bigger events of the season for the Braves will be the trade deadline, and according to assistant GM John Coppolella, the Braves are going to have a bevy of options at their disposal once that date comes around.
Simba credits Seitzer for improvement at the plate
Andrelton Simmons has seen a pretty big improvement at the plate this season. He's currently hitting .271/.329/.369 with 95 wRC+, compared to the utterly dire numbers of .244/.286/.331 with 71 wRC+ in 2014. Just like other Braves who have seen even a tiny bit of improvement, Simba has been showering Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer with praise.
"I give [hitting coach Kevin Seitzer] headaches in the cage, but I'm seeing the results of what we're doing," Simmons said. "It's definitely helping with staying through the ball more."
"I'm still working, still growing," the 26-year-old said. "We've been working on staying up the middle more, staying on the ball, learning how to hit the off-speed a little better. We're making progress."
Braves set to welcome Nationals to Atlanta
After a day off, the Braves are getting ready to welcome the Nationals back to Atlanta for a three-game series. Here's hoping that a change of scenery helps the Braves, because the series in Washington was an absolute mess for Atlanta. As usual, we'll be covering each game here, so go ahead and give our series preview a look.
Braves fan sells home run ball to Nats fan at Phillies game
Meanwhile on Sunday, Braves fan and Nationals fans proved that they can get along quite nicely. However, the weird thing is that this particular exchange of peace happened in Philadelphia. During Washington's loss to the Phillies on Sunday, a Braves fan caught a Jose Lobaton home run ball. A nearby Nats fan offered the Braves fan cash for the ball, and the Braves fan graciously accepted. Again, this happened at Citizens Bank Park. Times are tough in Philly right now.
Check out the minor league recap
MLB NEWS
Angels GM and Manager are currently feuding with each other
Despite the fact that Mike Trout basically beat the Yankees by himself last night, the Angels are having themselves a controversial 2015. They started the season with the whole Josh Hamilton saga, and now they've got another scandal on their hands: Apparently, GM Jerry Dipoto and Manager Mike Scioscia are in the midst of a power struggle in the Angels organization.
Bad blood between those two isn't news, exactly, as it was reported a few years back that they didn't see eye to eye on multiple things; be it hitting coaches, use of advanced stats or personnel, they came up against one another more than once, and some sparks may have flown. Arte Moreno made them continue to play in his millionaire sandbox, though, and extended both rather than firing one or the other...they were stuck together, but often it would work. This year, not so much.
Meanwhile, here's video of Mike Trout haunting the Yankees last night. The man was everywhere last night.