BRAVES NEWS
Braves throw away six-run lead against Diamondbacks
It happened again. The Braves had a pretty comfortable lead on Wednesday against the Diamondbacks. In fact, it was pretty sizable; They led by six at one point. However, Mike Foltynewicz couldn't get deep into the game, which meant that the game ended up getting into the hands of the bullpen at a relatively early point. That meant bad news for the Braves, and Atlanta eventually found themselves down by two at one point. It ended 9-8, but this was an extremely frustrating loss because this team is absolutely not in a position to waste good offensive performances (including a two home run performance from Freddie Freeman).
Braves looking for bullpen help
Naturally, after the bullpen gave us another shining example of how to collapse, the Braves have decided that it's time to do something about it. However, the Braves also still plan on being a legit competitor when their stadium opens up in 2017, which means that they aren't willing to mortgage the future in order to do so. That sounds like a catch-22 to me, but we'll see how they go about trying to fix what is currently one of the worst (if not the outright worst) bullpens in all of baseball. Additionally, Michael Cunningham of the AJC is wondering if this team should be buyers at the trade deadline. The Braves are (amazingly) still in contention right now, but with the way the team is constructed right now, there's really no reason why this team should be buying at the deadline.
Jace Peterson just might become part of the Braves' foundation
The Braves have gotten a couple of positive surprises from their winter dealings, and one of those surprises has been the play of rookie Jace Peterson. The second baseman's been playing pretty well this season (he's been worth 1.0 fWAR so far this season), and appears to have gone from being a stopgap option to potentially being the second baseman of the future for the team. This has the Braves pretty excited to see if Peterson can continue developing at the position.
Check out today's minor league report
Seriously, check it out. Peter Moylan's pitching in Gwinnett now. Help us, Obi-Wan Moylan. You're our only hope.
MLB NEWS
Kenley Jansen misses game due to undisclosed issue
There was a bit of a scare during Wednesday night's game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies. Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen was labeled "unavailable" for the contest, and all that we know about it is that Jansen said that he wasn't feeling well. Considering Jansen's history with heart issues, that's kinda serious. It was also serious enough that Rick Sutcliffe was sending up prayers via Twitter. Here's hoping that everything turns out okay with Jansen.
Josh Hamilton is back on the DL
Well, that didn't take long. Shortly after making a pleasant return to Texas, Josh Hamilton has found himself right back on the disabled list. This time, Hamilton is dealing with a grade-2 hamstring strain. It's not really surprising to see that Hamilton's on the disabled list since injury problems have been a running issue during his career, but it's a bummer that it happened this early into his return to Texas.
Taking a look at the Manny Banuelos trade from a Yankees perspective
In case you may have missed it, David Carpenter was recently DFA'd by the New York Yankees. This came after Carpenter managed to compile -0.2 WAR after only 18.2 innings. That is pretty bad, but at least they've been getting positive results from Chasen Shreve. Other than that, the Yankees may be having serious buyer's remorse when it comes to the trade that they made with the Braves during the offseason.
Chasen Shreve may be the real deal and could end up as an important piece for the already-strong back of the bullpen, but the inclusion of Carpenter and loss of another potential starter may make this trade a wash in terms of overall value before we even reach the All-Star Break.
If [Manny] Banuelos ever makes it to the majors and excels, the trade would become a huge loss for the Yankees.
