Talking Chop - All Posts

4-run 8th gives Braves a series sweep over Los Angeles

2013-05-20T00:49:44Z

For the second straight game, Atlanta's bats were kept quiet through seven-plus innings, but as they did on Saturday, Atlanta broke through in the eighth inning to emerge with a 5-2 win and its first series sweep over the Dodgers since 2008.

Down 2-1, Freddie Freeman singled and Brian McCann walked to put runners on first and second against reliever Kenley Jansen. B.J. Upton came in to pinch run for McCann, and the Dodgers brought in Brandon League to face Andrelton Simmons. Simmons' sacrifice bunt attempt was misplayed by Juan Uribe, allowing him to reach an load the bases for pinch hitter Gerald Laird. Laird singled to right, scoring Freeman and tying the game at two. A sacrifice fly by Ramiro Pena, a single from Chris Johnson and a sacrifice bunt from Jordan Schafer made it a 5-2 game in favor of Atlanta.

Braves closer Craig Kimbrel worked around a walk to strikeout the side and record his 14th save of the season. Luis Avilan threw a scoreless eighth inning to earn his second win of the season. Atlanta starter Mike Minor was impressive as usual, allowing just two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out nine in the victory.

It took Atlanta five innings to plate a run against Dodgers starter Matt Magill, as Jordan Schafer singled to score Pena and make it a 2-1 game in the fifth.

Turner Field, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves, 5/18/13, bottom of the fifth

2013-05-19T17:34:03Z

Turner Field, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves, 5/18/13, bottom of the fifth

The Braves of 2013 Bowman

2013-05-19T14:00:09Z

When I got back into the hobby in late 2005, I was in absolute awe at the number and types of sets that were being produced. As it was all new to me, I was a bit irrational in some of my purchasing decisions. I made an attempt to buy a box of almost everything that wasn’t super high end as soon as it came out. I quickly became a favorite of the card shop near me. I then discovered Dave & Adam and Blowout Cards and abandoned the shop for the cheaper internet, but saving money just allowed me to buy additional boxes.

When Topps took the Bowman brand out of mothballs in 1989, I have to admit, I was less than impressed. I thought the cards were ugly and the ones I decided to keep were a pain because they wouldn’t fit into any of the standard boxes or pages that I had. That was fine for pre–1957 cards, but it was simply annoying for these ugly new cards. I can’t recall when Topps decided to brand Bowman the “Home of the Rookie Card”, but it was long before I got back into the hobby. When I left the hobby, it was that first base card that was a really big deal. When I came back, it was the Bowman Chrome rookie, preferably signed.

I spent two years buying a lot of boxes of the big three Bowman products (Bowman, Bowman Chrome, and Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects). I’m a set collector by heart so I sorted each set by card number and put them in boxes. They then set there and the vast majority of those cards are sitting there now. Turns out, I don’t really like the Bowman sets. The cards themselves are attractive, but as far as design goes, they change too little from year to year. The designs aren’t distinctive enough to stretch across three different product lines.

A bigger problem for me is the checklist. If you get to see a lot of minor league games, you might love this set. Bowman is full of minor leaguers. When I open a pack, especially of Draft Picks and Prospects, I’m left scratching my head at each of the names. The vast majority are people I’ve never heard of. Of course, that’s to be expected of any set dedicated to minor league prospects. I love minor league baseball. I love it when the different Braves top prospect lists come out each year. That said, I’m not interested in collecting sets full of players I won’t remember in a few years. The thrill of an older baseball card set is leafing through the pages of a set in a binder and seeing the history of the game unfold. With Bowman, I can’t do that. Bowman just confuses me.

2013 Bowman for the Braves Collector

Topps just released their first Bowman set of 2013 and for Braves collectors, there’s not a lot here. The set itself is mostly the same as it ever was, with additional gimmicks to make up for what is widely considered a week autograph checklist. The base set comes in at 220 cards featuring major league players. Their is also a 110 card prospect list that are technically inserts, but are realistically, considered a part of the set. The prospects are available in Chrome parallels, which are also the beginning of the Bowman Chrome prospect parallel set that will be continued when 2013 Bowman Chrome is released. The base cards and prospect cards are available with the usual variety of colored borders allowing the collector to build a rainbow of their favorite player or team.

There are other notable insert sets and gimmicks. The Topps 100 prospect insert set has been continued in 2013. This set features a card for each of Bowman’s Top 100 prospects in baseball, in order. Debuting this year is 2013 Bowman Blue Sapphire Best Players of All Time. This insert set features shiny reprints of top players first Bowman card and will be continued throughout all of the Bowman products this season. Topps has produced a series of Blue Wave Refractors which can only be obtained by redeeming wrappers. Finally, Topps has created a list of the top 5 prospects in each organization and created a series of Bowman Chrome Prospect Mini cards. You should be able to find a mini in about every six packs.

The base set features the usual array of Braves that you would expect, with a notable exception or two. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons is the most notable starter not included among the base set players. (At this point, Topps should really consider including Simba over Dan Uggla, although, they should both appear in every base set.) Each of the base cards is relatively nice, but none are especially memorable. They feature the same crisp, bring photography that you can find in all of the Topps sets these days.

The Braves didn’t exactly rack up a lot of hits in the prospect insert set. The only Braves included are Christhian Bethancourt and Jose Peraza. Both are worthy inclusions, but it would have been especially nice to have seen Evan Gattis get an autographed Bowman prospect card. With Gattis on the major league roster to stay, I would think Bowman Chrome would be the last shot for a Gattis Bowman prospect card of any sort. While two players makes for a week checklist for the Braves, I’m sure there will be plenty of additional players included in the remaining Bowman sets.

There are only two Braves hits in Bowman this year. There’s not a single relic featuring any of the Braves players. The Braves are not included on the Rookie Autograph checklist. They are not included on any of the special, rare, weird autographs like the Dual Franchise autograph. There is a rare Hank Aaron Blue Sapphire auto, and chances are you won’t ever see one. Even if we do see one on the market, I doubt most of us could afford it. The hit that can be found is a Christhian Bethancourt autograph. You can see the card pictured here. Well, you can see the hit you would actually pull from a pack since the only obtainable Braves auto in Bowman this year is a redemption. Better yet, the redemption codes still haven’t been loaded into the Topps system so who knows when I will ever see the card. (Actually, I’ve been waiting on a 2011 Jason Heyward/Freddie Freeman dual relic box loader from 2011 for two years now, so I’ll be shocked if I even get the card.)

Bowman gets mini cards this year, for which exactly no one was asking. Still, since the set includes five players for every team, it does give a team collector some cards to chase. The cards themselves are attractive, but there’s no real reason they had to be mini. The Braves list includes Julio Teheran, Sean Gilmartin, Lucas Sims and J.R. Graham, along with Bethancourt. You can see the four I’ve picked up so far. The Braves are also well-featured in the Blue Sapphire Best Players of All Time set. The three Braves included, Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Warren Spahn, are undoubtedly among the greatest players of all time and belong in the set. The problem is that the cards are among the ugliest I’ve ever seen. Some older designs work really well when they are presented in shiny fashion with colored borders, but these do not. The Spahn card is overwhelmed by the blue borders. The Aaron just looks ridiculous with the blue obscuring the wood borders of the original. The Mathews is the best of the bunch, but it is also flawed. If Topps had just left the borders blue, the cards might have been tolerable. As it is, the blue tint is applied over the photo and they are among the most overwhelmingly ugly cards I’ve ever laid eyes on. I’m all for getting new Aaron, Mathews and Spahn cards, but I could have lived without these.

So, basically 2013 Bowman is the same as 2012 Bowman and 2011 Bowman, but with minis. If you collect minor league cards, then the set is for you. If you like to get prospect autographs yourself, they buy it up. The rest of us would be better served by just picking up the Braves cards we want.

Bowman Braves of Years Past

How many names do you remember on the following lists? Topps did better some years than others, clearly, at pulling names who “made it” in the big leagues. There are a lot of names here I simply can’t remember. This list is more about who was chosen and not so much about who was not chosen. It might look like Topps missed an obvious top prospect here, but they might have picked them up in Bowman Chrome or Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects.

2000: Pat Manning, Marcus Giles, Rafael Furcal, Jimmy Osting, Troy Cameron, Ryan Langerhans, Derrin Ebert, Matt Belisle, Junior Brignac, George Lombard, Nick Green, Luis Rivera, Jason Marquis, Scott Sobkowiak, Jung Bong

2001: Matt Belisle, Adam Wainwright, Brett Evert, Wilson Betemit, Marcus Giles, Jason Marquis, Tony Pena Jr., Aaron Herr, George Lombard, Matt Butler

2002: Wilson Betemit, Brett Evert, Travis Wilson, Matt Belisle, Derrick Lewis, Richard Lewis, Adam Wainwright, Jung Bong, Cole Barthel, Kelly Johnson, Macay McBride, Billy Sylvester

2003: Dexter Cooper, Carlos Guzman, Ardley Jansen, Kazuhiro Takeoka, Gonzalo Lopez, Andy Marte, Brian McCann, Kyle Roat, Bubba Nelson, Jon Schuerholz, Adam Stern

2004: Zach Minen, Brayan Pena, Anthony Lerew, Carl Loadenthal, Jose Capellan, Paul Bacot, Sung Jung

2005: Jake Stevens, Luis Hernandez, James Jurries, Chris Vines, Steve Doetsch, Martin Prado, Bill McCarthy, Johan Silva, Chuck James

2006: Chuck James, Clint Sammons, Diory Hernandez, Greg Creek, Max Ramirez

2007: NONE! (Two doesn’t look so bad now, does it?)

2008: Josh Anderson, Jamie Richmond, Jonathan Venters, Quentin Davis

2009: Julio Teheran, Luis Sumoza, Edgar Osuna, Jon Mark Owings, Kyle Farrell, Brett Oberholtzer, Robert Brooks

2010: Jason Heyward, Michael Dunn, J.J. Hoover, Randall Delgado, Caleb Brewer, Julio Teheran

2011: Brandon Beachy, Freddie Freeman, Willie Cabrera, Carlos Perez

2012: Tyler Pastornicky, Brandon Drury, J.R. Graham, Ian Gac, Andrelton Simmons

Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 5/18

2013-05-19T02:58:37Z

Louisville Bats 6, Gwinnett Braves 5

Jose Constanza LF - 2-4 BB, .283 Avg
Joey Terdoslavich RF - 1-4 2B(16), RBI(27), 2 K, .325 Avg
Brandon Boggs CF - 3-3 2B(6), 3B(2), 2 RBI(14), BB, .202 Avg
Joe Leonard DB - 2-2 2B(6), .198 Avg

The Braves attempted to rally late in this one. They went into the ninth down by two and got the first two batters on base. Joey Terdoslavich hit a sac fly to score one, but the offense left Jose Constanza stranded on second. Yohan Flande allowed 13 hits in six innings of work and gave up six runs (four earned).

Jacksonville Suns 3, Mississippi Braves 1

Edward Salcedo 3B - 2-4 CS(5), .273 Avg
Jose Martinez RF - 2-4 2B(5), K, .305 Avg

With the loss to the Suns, Mississippi falls behind them by a half game in the division race. Martinez and Salcedo were the only hitters to collect multiple hits and Martinez collected the only extra base hit of the game for the Braves. Alex Wood will take the mound for the Braves tomorrow as they try to regain the division lead.

Carolina Mudcats 3, Lynchburg Hillcats 7

Matt Lipka CF - 2-4 SB(10), .274 Avg
Robby Hefflinger LF - 2-5 RBI(29), .296 Avg
David Rohm DH - 2-4 RBI(17), .326 Avg
Kyle Kubitza 3B - 2-4 3B(2), 2 RBI(17), BB, .242 Avg
Shawn McGill C - 3-3 .750 Avg
Navery Moore 6 IP 7H 3R 1BB 5K 5.94 ERA
Nate Hyatt 1IP 0H 0R 1BB 3K 4.60 ERA

Matt Lipka picked up with his multi hit ways after an o-fer last night and raised his average up to .276. He finished last season at .271 with a late surge but his power numbers are still light years ahead of previous seasons. Kyle Kubitza has gotten warm in the last week as well. He has three multi-hit games in his last four and hit his first homer on a walk-off three nights ago. He is still showing excellent plate discipline with 10 walks in the last 10 games, but the power might finally be showing up.

Asheville Tourists 4, Rome Braves 6 - Game 1 - Resumed from Suspended Action on 5/17

Jose Peraza SS - 3-4 3B(1), 2 RBI(11), SB(12), .281 Avg
Levi Hyams 2B - 3-3 2B(5), 2 RBI(12), .348 Avg
Josh Elander LF - 1-4 RBI(32), .313 Avg
Lucas Sims 3.1IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K 3.18 ERA

Lucas Sims continues to get the kid gloves treatment which is fine by me. The Pirates did the same thing with Jameson Taillon the year after he was drafted (though he debuted later in the year) and he is doing pretty well. Sims is currently riding a streak of five consecutive scoreless outings. During that span he has thrown 13.1 innings, allowed 6 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 14. His most impressive stat so far is his batting average against: .154 through 22.2 innings for the seaosn. He has only given up more than one hit in an outing twice this year and he hasn't allowed a walk in his last three appearances.

Asheville Tourists 5, Rome Braves 2 - Game 2, 7 Innings

Josh Elander LF - 2-3 3B(3), E(1), .320 Avg
Carlos Franco 3B - 2-2 RBI(17), BB, SB(9), .237 Avg
Felix Marte RF - 2-3 K, .255 Avg
Frank Lafreniere 6IP 5H 3R 1BB 5K 5.23 ERA

Josh Elander and Carlos Franco were about all the offense in this one. Franco was on a hot streak a couple of weeks ago but had fallen on hard time again recently. He has a modest four game hitting streak going now but it has been pretty empty so far. He still shows the ability to take walks but his strikeouts remain high.

Back-to-back homers from Evan Gattis & Andrelton Simmons give Braves a 3-1 win

2013-05-19T02:27:03Z

For 7 1/3 innings and 91 pitches, Dodgers starter Chris Capuano had the Braves in fits. He left after allowing a rally starting single to B.J. Upton, but it was a masterful performance by the 34-year old. Fast forward eight Kenley Jansen pitches later, and all of Capuano's hard work had been undone.

The scouting report to throw Evan Gattis high fastballs and breaking balls away apparently hadn't made its way to the Dodgers' clubhouse, as Jansen pounded Gattis with cutters in the zone before "El Oso Blanco" turned on one and lined it into the left field seats for a two-run home run that put Atlanta up 2-1 game. The TV broadcast had really cool video of Justin Upton giving Gattis a scouting report on Jansen before Gattis went to bat.

Andrelton Simmons followed with a home run of his own, pulling a high fastball to left field as well to up Atlanta's lead to 3-1. Craig Kimbrel slammed the door with two strikeouts in the ninth to record his 13th save of the season.

Up until the eighth inning, the game was a pitchers duel between Capuano and Atlanta starter Kris Medlen. Capuano kept the Braves off balance all night, rotating his sinker and changeup en route to five strikeouts and eight whiffs on his changeup.

Atlanta almost got to Capuano in the first, as Jason Heyward connected on a shot to deep center that looked like it was going to get over the fence for a home run. However, Matt Kemp had other plans as the Los Angeles center fielder made an absolutely perfect read on the ball and an insanely good catch to rob Heyward of a home run.

Luckily, Medlen was up to the challenge of matching Capuano pitch for pitch.

The right-hander allowed just two hits and one run (unearned) while walking three and striking out five in seven innings of work. After struggling with location in recent starts, Medlen was much better in that aspect today and recorded 14 whiffs on 112 pitches.

The only blemish against Medlen came in the fourth inning when Adrian Gonzalez walked with one out and came in to score on a double from Skip Schumaker that Justin Upton bobbled in the corner. It was ruled an error on Upton, so the run was unearned.

Cory Gearrin pitched an impressive eighth inning to receive the win, his first of the season. Chris Johnson was the only Brave to record multiple hits, as the third baseman singled three times in three plate appearances.

Eric O'Flaherty Has Torn UCL; Braves Bullpen Suddenly In Shambles

2013-05-18T22:22:48Z

Just when the Braves' injury situation seemingly couldn't get any worse, the club announced Eric O'Flaherty has a tear in his UCL.

O'Flaherty has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, although Frank Wren said Saturday afternoon that a quick recovery is not expected. He will meet Dr. James Andrews this week, and it seems highly likely that reconstructive surgery will be needed. If that's the case, EOF would be out for the remainder of the year.

The news of O'Flaherty being lost for the season comes days after Jonny Venters was lost for the season with his second Tommy John Surgery in five years. Jordan Walden, who has dealt with injuries throughout his career, was also placed on the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation.

Cristhian Martinez has been out for more than a month with a right shoulder strain and is reportedly not close to returning. Recently acquired reliever Luis Ayala remains in the Minor Leagues as he adjusts to pitching on medication for an anxiety disorder.

To replace O'Flaherty, Atlanta called up Gwinnett closer Cory Rasmus. He posted great numbers in AAA, although he's unproven at the big league level. With so many relievers out, look for Cory Gearrin and Luis Avilan to handle most of the late-inning duties along with the suddenly-hittable Craig Kimbrel.

Wren also said on Saturday that the club would look outside the organization to help restock the bullpen. Make of that what you will.

Justin Upton's Grand Slam Was Magical (VIDEO)

2013-05-18T18:27:33Z

Broadcasting has always been at the forefront of baseball. Here are three different calls of Justin Upton's grand slam last night, including Jim Powell with yet another terrific call on the Braves Radio Network and a pretty hilarious call from the Dodgers analyst. Also, be sure to check out Carl Crawford's reaction in left field.

Your browser does not support iframes.

ESPN estimated the ball carried 461 feet into the Atlanta night. After not hitting a homer in two weeks, it seems J-Up has rediscovered his power stroke as teams continue to pitch around him. That's bad news for everyone else. Now let's just hope the rain stays away tonight.

Around the NL East: Bryce Harper Meets Wall, Terry Collins Doesn't Care What Fans Think, Carlos Zambrano Joins Phillieslol, Marlins GM Clueless About Own Roster

2013-05-18T14:30:03Z

Don't ask me why, but I trying to track down the current whereabouts of lefty reliever Arthur Rhodes earlier this week, and to no success. In the process, I discovered that Rhodes is the all-time leader in holds, and it's really not even close, with Rhodes having 231 credited holds, with the next guy being LaTroy Hawkins with 167. But in the process of finding these numbers, I discovered that Rhodes accumulated his holds in almost 3,000 fewer pitches, which made me realize that MLB.com is actually logging total pitch counts too.

So out of curiosity, I clicked that as well, and the current all-time leader in net pitches thrown is CC Sabathia, with, at the time I'm writing this, 41,028 pitches thrown. The scary thing about this fact is that the 32-year old Sabathia is younger than just about everyone else beneath him on the list from guys like Derek Lowe, Roy Halladay, Mark Buehrle and Livan Hernandez. But one of the more alarming names to show up way, way, way beneath Sabathia is #16 on the list, the 50-year old Jamie Moyer, who in 12 fewerseasons than big CC threw nearly 10,000 fewer pitches, at 31,614.

Obviously, there's a cut-off somewhere in their timelines from pre-modern-era times where pitches weren't recorded, but for the record, guys like Greg Maddux (22,735), Tom Glavine (24,331), Randy Johnson (25,551), Andy Pettitte (30,530) and Roger Clemens (20,138) make this list, and all those guys don't even come close to the workloads that Sabathia has endured already.

Needless to say, either we put Sabathia's arm on death notice, or we simply marvel at quite possibly the most durable arm since the pre-modern-era. Funny how this game works out sometimes.

Stories of the week published a day early, since I'm out of town (again) this weekend. At least I'll get to enjoy a night at my favorite AL ballpark, Camden Yards, in the process. Welcome back to the basement.

In case you live under a rock, Bryce Harper crashed into an outfield wall - Nationals Journal
Doing his best impression of Bump Bailey, Bryce Harper reminded everyone that in spite of the talent and grit he shows for a 20-year old player, he's still got plenty of lessons to learn. Mostly like familiarizing himself with what the warning track is, and how Dodger Stadium's right field plays, and that in a game in which your team is leading 6-0, sometimes it's best to just concede the hit.

Just how bad was the damage? - Nats Insider
Naturally the first scare is fear of concussion; initial tests show that there is no concussion, but Harper has been cited of suffering bouts of nausea, which is apparently one symptom that many believe to be a sign of concussion.

But it was probably due to the disdain of having to shave his beard - Nats Enquirer
The most obvious result of the collision was a pretty nasty cut on his chin that required eleven stitches to close up. But also in order to do that, doctors were apparently forced to shave his beard in the process; naturally Harper is not pleased with a forced shave.

Will this change anything about his play style? - The Bog
According to Bryce Harper himself, no.

Injuries are mounting, yet their record doesn't really reflect it - Nats Insider
Or perhaps it's the underwhelming performance of the Braves is why the NL East lead is under so much duress at the moment. Either way, Wilson Ramos re-aggravated the hamstring that put him on the DL earlier this season, and Ross Detwiler's back has been giving him some problems. This is all on top of Jayson Werth's DL stint, despite the fact that he is back this weekend.

Can the Nationals' attendance increase really count if people are there to do their homework instead of watch baseball? - Deadspin
I mean, it's not like the Nationals are a bad team or anything; I'd understand looking for something else to do if it were like the Marlins or the Astros, but man, I'd never bring my laptop to the ballpark.

MLB greedy policy prevents Adam LaRoche from honoring Mother's Day with pink bats - Nationals Journal
Apparently, MLB has a new policy that gave exclusive rights to pink bats on Mother's Day to Louisville Slugger. The problem is that not every player in baseball uses Louisville Slugger bats, like Adam LaRoche, who uses Max Bats bats. And despite Max Bats providing Roachy with pink bats to use on Mother's Day, the policy in place forbade anyone from using any pink bats that were not Louisville Slugger. Needless to say Roachy was not pleased, as probably were many other players who don't use Louisville Slugger bats.

How much more slack can be given to Danny Espinosa? - Nats Insider
One of the most fervently discussed players on the Nationals is their current second baseman, Danny Espinosa. After making a big splash in his rookie year, he's since been a guy known for a big swing, lots of strikeouts, and being the "reigning" NL strikeouts leader from 2012. Not a whole lot has changed this year, except the unfortunate trending down of his walks; Espinosa has literally three walks versus his 31 strikeouts, and that unfortunate 10.3 K/BB ratio glares in comparison to the major league average of 2.3 K/BB. With Anthony Rendon continuing to shine after his cup of coffee at the major league level, as well as several other infield prospects in the system, just how long will Danny Espinosa last if he doesn't improve?

Nationals bench nowhere near as good as it was a year ago - MASN
You know what this reminds me of? The Braves. After the Braves bench of 2010 lit the world on fire and contributed heavily to all sorts of key performances and comeback rallies, they were pretty bad in 2011. It makes me wonder if when constructing benches, if it should really be done for a year at a time in mind, because off the top of my head, I have a hard time remembering when there was ever a bench roster, brought back for a second consecutive season with similar roles, that did close to as well as they did a year prior.

How to work the LOL into "Jordany Valdespin?" - NY Daily News
Hmm... "VaLOLdespin? Anyway, for a guy that has barely been in the game for a year, Jordany Valdespin's already getting a little too big for his britches, and doesn't really seem to get the message. Whether it's admiring his home runs, wearing self-aggrandizing t-shirts, or trying to boss rookies around in the locker room despite barely even having a full year's service time accrued, Valdespin isn't really making any friends in baseball with his inflated sense of self.

What does Terry Collins have to say about Valdespin controversy? - NY Post

I don’t answer to fans, they don’t play this game. They have no idea what goes on. They have no idea what goes on in there, they have absolutely no idea what it means to be a professional teammate at this level.

Terry Collins also looks like he's taking a page out of Bobby Cox's book of staunchness - NY Daily News
In regards to Ike Davis stinking it up:

Ike’s gotta hit fourth. He’s a big leaguer and he’s a good hitter. He’s gotta get through this. This is the big leagues.

This reminds me of Andruw Jones' walk year in 2007, and Bobby Cox staunchly putting him in at cleanup, despite having like a .169 batting average. Just because a guy is "supposed" to be the clean-up hitter does not mean he should be hitting clean-up, especially if he's stinking it up.

Well, it's a good thing the Mets just signed Rick Ankiel, because he can help reduce Valdespin's role - AA
But the best headline has to have been what the usually tame New York Times wrote:

Ankiel Arrives Without a Bat, and Thus Fits Right in With the Mets

Owned

Zack Wheeler arrives in New York - NY Post
To play baseball? Ha, no way. Because he's hurt, and was brought to New York to be examined by team medical personnel, for his sore clavicle.

Speaking of hurt Mets, Jenrry Mejia - again - AA
It seems like it was just yesterday that Jenrry Mejia was shelved due to an elbow problem. It was actually in 2011, when Mejia blew out his elbow and required Tommy John Surgery, and missed just about all of 2012. And just like that, he's placed on the 60-day DL for elbow inflammation, which is never a good thing. The sad thing is about this once-promising pitcher was that it was thought being a reliever would reduce the wear and tear on his arm, and this still happened. Where else can Mejia possibly go from now?

Also, Frank Francisco - NY Post
After gradually making progress into working his way through the minor league system to prepare for an eventual return with the big club, Francisco appears to have suffered a set back, citing "his elbow doesn't feel good." Also mentioned in this article is the fact that another pitcher, Jeurys Familia was also put on the DL with biceps tendinitis in his throwing arm.

Well, at least Tim Byrdak is next on the list of recovering Mets - MetsBlog
One of the better LOOGYs in the game, of course when healthy, Tim Byrdak is down in PSL throwing in bullpen sessions now.

On any other team, Dillon Gee would probably be put on the DL for sucking - MetsBlog
But on a team like the Mets that are frantically starving for any arms that can throw a ball 60'6" at anything over 80 mph, it looks like Gee's job is going to be safe, even with his 6.13 ERA in just 33.1 innings pitched. The worst part is that Gee has no idea why he's performing so badly; to me, that's about as bad as it gets.

Subway Series in Flushing not sold out - The Mets Police
Man, I remember years in which even when the Mets weren't a good team, the series still selling out, for not other reason than for Mets and Yankee fans wanting to have the bragging rights. Yeah, not so much anymore these days.

Phillies sign Carlos Zambrano to minor league deal - Beerleaguer
I like it whenever any team signs a somewhat controversial player, and the fanbases/analysts always proclaim that something is a low-risk deal. Low risk deals are Rodrigo Lopezes and Aaron Cooks who might actually get warm and provide 2-3 good starts before the team wises up and cuts them before they become detrimental. Carlos Zambrano is a like a jug of diesel fuel who sure, might get hot on the mound, but is also volatile enough to get hot in the dugout, in the locker room, or perhaps in the car while dealing with bad traffic, and when that happens, explosions, often in the form of metaphorical feces, go flying.

Phillies brass tries to justify Zambrano signing by making fun of others - High Cheese

It’s a minor league deal. It’s not like we’re signing him to a $90 million deal like the Cubs did.

It's easy to justify this deal when you put it in this perspective, but they're not going to fool anyone, much less Philadelphia fans when he implodes on the mound and gives up 6 runs to the Brewers at home or something.

So much for "clubhouse atmosphere" - Crashburn Alley
For those who believe in the concept of clubhouse atmosphere, think about how the Phillies signed Michael Young, citing that he brings veteran presence and being a good clubhouse guy. But then consider that the exact team signs Delmon Young and now, Carlos Zambrano. Off-set?

Mike Adams is having some back issues - Phillies Nation
Back spasms are causing Mike Adams to have some uncomfortable pain lately. Perhaps it's partially to blame for his uncharacteristic control issues this season, leading to a career-high walk rate?

Roy Halladay unnecessarily apologies to Philly fans for getting hurt - TGP
The man gives a fan-base with almost excessively high expectations two no-hitters and some of the most dominant pitching seasons in their franchise's history, and then he feels the need to apologize to them because he's gotten substantially hurt for just about the first time in his career? Class act... or posturing for free agency when he might possibly be an old and busted pitcher with low velocity and injury history?

Where does Darin Ruf fit into the future? - High Cheese
Apparently, the Phillies are getting a little jealous looking at the early success of Evan Gattis, and wondering what's going to happen with their own version in Darin Ruf. From what the article insinuates, it almost seems like they're waiting for John Mayberry, Jr. to screw up or play himself out of the position, so that they can call Ruf up immediately. In spite of his poor spring numbers, Ruf appears to be destroying Triple-A, so a call-up seems inevitable, for when the Phillies can fit him into the lineup.

Marlins GM pretty much nails it - Marlins Diehards
From the words of Marlins GM, Larry Beinfest himself:

I don't even know who is here anymore

What's the difference between the Marlins and Astros? - Fish Stripes
Although I agree with just about everything said here, from a very superficial, yet oddly not invalid take, it's Jeffrey Loria. Loria is perceived as a bad man, and people who believe themselves to be good do not like bad men, and therefore the Marlins being a product of a bad man, makes them also subject to bad man scrutiny and criticism.

Marlins set a new team record... in futility, of course - Fish Bytes
If you were a kid of the 80s-90s like I was, imagine hearing the digitized voice heard in arcades and eventually Super Nintendos of whenever you played a racing game or like a boxing game that said "NEW RECORD" whenever you broke the previous top time/score. Well, the Marlins set a new franchise record against the Reds earlier in the week, where they had a game where they cranked out eleven hits - but failed to score a single run, in an eventual loss. NEW RECORD!

Don Mattingly thinks Jose Fernandez is reminiscent of Felix Hernandez - Sun Sentinel
That's quite a compliment from the former Yankee great, but let's face it, that's quite a high reach to compare a guy with all of seven major league strikes to one of the best pitchers in the game today. It's probably mostly due to the fact that Fernandez, much like King Felix is a big latin right-handed pitcher, who's an inch and ten pounds different in stature.

All that losing is turning some Marlins bitter it seems - Palm Beach Post
Several Marlins, namely Greg Dobbs appear to have some objection with Major League Baseball's choice to paint the league pink on Mother's Day, and are not shy about vocalizing their scrutiny. But the best part is the loaded comment that kind of bites Dobbs back in the obvious implication that even being on the future worst team in history, he still gets no playing time:

"I’ve never had a ball with pink stitching and pink labeling come at me, so I have no idea (in the different spin between a slider and a splitter)."

Marlins reliever takes on breakfast food challenge; being a Marlin, guess what happens? - Sun Sentinel
Of course he failed, duh. Then again, it is a massive food challenge consisting of over twelve eggs, three potatoes and two biscuits; considering I'm going to San Diego later this summer, I kind of want to see how I'd fare against it myself.

And no week is complete without another Marlins Park attendance fail story - Grantland

"I got four bucks," I said.

Shorty took the money and vanished.

I was sipping a Diet Pepsi and eating a hot dog when I realized I'd forgotten to look at the actual price on my ticket to see what kind of bargain I'd gotten. I looked. It was … one dollar.