AAA: 2011 Gwinnett Braves Discussion

[sdp]

All generalized discussion regarding the G-Braves should go here.

[Hillbilly]

Jo-Jo left the game after one batter in the first inning. This from MiLB.com's game recap (http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_log&gid=2009_06_09_colaaa_gwiaaa_1&did=t431&sid=t431) :

--Michael Brantley singles on a soft ground ball to first baseman Barbaro Canizares.
--Pitcher Change: Todd Redmond replaces Jo-Jo Reyes.
--Injury Delay.
--Gwinnett Braves pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes left the game due to an injured leg.

[slowride]

Why is he in AAA? I think Rome could use some help...

[KB 34]

Reyes has pitched fine in AAA the past few seasons. For whatever reason that hasn't corresponded into any success at the major league level. I'm ready to see if he can be a LOOGY.

[slowride]

What's a LOOGY?

sidenote: Andrew Jackson = My Favorite President

[Hobbes]

What's a LOOGY?

sidenote: Andrew Jackson = My Favorite President
LOOGY stand for Lefty One Out GuY. Essentially, it's a lefty pitcher who is mostly brought in to face only one or two left-handed batters. They often aren't good all-around pitchers, but do very well against lefty batters.

[Devil Wears Prado]

Schafer could miss 2 weeks due to hand injury

By David O'Brien

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Center fielder Jordan Schafer, who was demoted to Class AAA Gwinnett last week, could miss about two weeks after being diagnosed with a deep bone bruise in his left hand.

Schafer played with a sore left wrist for much of his two months with the Braves, but this injury is to the hand. He told team officials he felt a “pop” in his hand during a swing Friday with Gwinnett.

He had an MRI and two visits this week to a hand specialist, who diagnosed the bone bruise.

One of the Braves’ top prospects, Schafer, 22, won the center-field job with a strong showing during spring training. The Braves traded Josh Anderson to Detroit after deciding Schafer would be the center fielder.

He was sent down after batting .204 in 50 games, with eight doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and 63 strikeouts in 167 at-bats.

“Maybe that’s part of what was wrong with him,” manager Bobby Cox said, referring to Schafer’s wrist injury.

General manager Frank Wren said the hand injury Friday wasn’t believed to be related to the wrist injury.

Schafer went 8-for-19 with two homers in the first five games of the season for the Braves, but hit .176 with a .289 on-base percentage and .216 slugging percentage in his remaining 45 games before the demotion.

He struck out 59 times with 24 walks in 173 plate appearances in that 45-game period.

Schafer initially hurt his wrist on a swing in the Braves’ April 10 home opener against Washington. He played with the wrist wrapped during his remaining time with the Braves.

Schafer insisted several times that the sore wrist was not the cause for his hitting woes, particularly his high strikeout total.

http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/06/10/braves_schafer_hand_injury.html

What a tough scenario for Schafer. I hope he comes back healthy. I'm still looking forward to this kid's return to the majors, but only after he fixes his batting. He hasn't really impressed too many in the AAA yet, but maybe getting this problem fixed can be a step towards the right direction. Get better soon, Jordan!

[sdp]

What happens when you trade/promote half your AAA pitching staff? Answer (http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3841314).

[Hillbilly]

The entire Braves organization, from Rome up through Atlanta, has a combined record of 1-17 since Wednesday the 10th. :eek:

[KB 34]

What's a LOOGY?

sidenote: Andrew Jackson = My Favorite President
He's a fascinating president I've researched several times. It was time to bring back that avatar after using Reagan, Goldwater, Coulter, and Aldrin over the past couple years.

[hoosjon]

GRAND SLAM!!!! For Gwinnett to tie up the Bats in the bottom of the 8th on the MLB Network. (I miss my R-Braves.)

Followed by a Jordan "Logan" Shafer ... to give us the lead, as I type this.

Alright, I'm going to see the Hillcats tonite. I want some Minor League Baseball action.

[Dreamscape]

Hillcats! I'm going Friday myself. Fireworks and one of my friends was upset she missed last Friday's fireworks.

[hoosjon]

Wow, I watched some UGLY baseball. I love their ballpark and it was All-You-Can-Eat hot dogs, cheeseburgers, peanuts, and popcorn for a $10 ticket and you get to sit so close, it's like being in the dugout, but the errors, bad pitching, and lack of Hillcats hitting made it rough to root for them. The fact that they were playing the Salem Red Sox made it easier, though.

You'll have a great time. I love minor-league ball. When the pitcher "pulls an Escobar" and gives up the easy out in order to throw the ball away (and let the guy score anyway), you can TOTALLY attribute that to the fact he's 18 or 19 years old and will learn.

[Dreamscape]

I grew up around City Stadium. My dad was an usher there back when the Mets were there with Dwight Gooden, Daryl Strawberry, etc. If you checked their gift shop, they have some collectables you can buy of Gooden and Lenny Dykstra in a Lynchburg Mets uniform which is kinda cool. Considered getting a Dykstra one. Also saw the Red Sox when they replaced the Mets. Saw Phil Plantier, when he played third, take one right off the face on a liner. I was a third baseman and for a kid, that kinda scared me. A few years back, they totally renovated the stadium and it is so much nicer now. For a high single-A park, I am quite impressed with what they have done with the it.

[Middle Man]

I caught the July 3 game with the Tides down in Norfolk. It was kind of a last minute thing. We sat down near the RF foul pole. I was surprised it wasn't closer to a sell out since the R-Braves always sold out the fireworks games. I guess fireworks aren't as popular in Norfolk.

Not much to report from the game. Schafer looked grumpy and out of sorts and then apparently left the game with an injury. B. Jones didn't do anything. Canizares didn't do anything. Brian Barton hit a baby a few rows down from us with a foul ball. The stupid woman in front of us got drunk and then continually ridiculed other people who she thought were drunk. The fireworks were only ok. Harbor Park is still very nice. If stupid Richmond had done something kind of similar a few years ago, the G-Braves would still be the R-Braves.

[Chris_Moderato]

I caught the July 3 game with the Tides down in Norfolk. It was kind of a last minute thing. We sat down near the RF foul pole. I was surprised it wasn't closer to a sell out since the R-Braves always sold out the fireworks games. I guess fireworks aren't as popular in Norfolk.

Not much to report from the game. Schafer looked grumpy and out of sorts and then apparently left the game with an injury. B. Jones didn't do anything. Canizares didn't do anything. Brian Barton hit a baby a few rows down from us with a foul ball. The stupid woman in front of us got drunk and then continually ridiculed other people who she thought were drunk. The fireworks were only ok. Harbor Park is still very nice. If stupid Richmond had done something kind of similar a few years ago, the G-Braves would still be the R-Braves.

I didn't even hear fireworks at the game that night. My wife and I walked over to the pier across from Nauticus to watch the Harbor Fest fireworks Friday night. They were kind of cool.

[Middle Man]

I didn't even hear fireworks at the game that night. My wife and I walked over to the pier across from Nauticus to watch the Harbor Fest fireworks Friday night. They were kind of cool.

The game started at 6:15 so the fireworks were fairly early I guess. Like I said, they weren't overly impressive. But I went to the fireworks on the Mall in D.C. last year, so maybe I'm just a fireworks snob.
:D

At one point during the fireworks, there appeared to be a bunch of stuff going off near the ground. I wondered whether there might have been some sort of accident, but then the show resumed. On the way out to the parking lot afterwards, about 4 fire trucks came racing in. I don't know what was going on, but I didn't see anything in the paper about it, so i guess there was nothing serious.

[Lauren T.]

I went to the G-Braves last regular-season game today. Jason Heyward is amazing. I put pictures and videos (http://braveslove.blogspot.com/2009/09/game-day-pictures-gwinnett-braves-vs.html) from the day on my blog, if anyone's interested. :)

[Middle Man]

Has everyone seen this? The once proud Richmond Braves have been replaced by the ......... Richmond Flying Squirrels. Ha, I bet you think I made that up.

Go Nuts with the Squirrels! (http://www.richmondprobaseball.com/index.html)

SF Giants AA team. I'm so excited.

[Lauren T.]

It's about freakin' time. (http://twitter.com/ajcbraves/status/7683295684) I never ever thought B.Jones was all that.

[Dreamscape]

It's about freakin' time. (http://twitter.com/ajcbraves/status/7683295684) I never ever thought B.Jones was all that.
I liked Brandon Jones, but he never lived up to the projections some had that I did buy into. He looked like he could be a solid starter, possibly reaching a .900 OPS in a career year. But his power seemed to disappear.

[bravos4evr]

I just don't think he was ever given enough AB's in the big leagues to really get a chance(hold on let me go check baseball reference page......)....ummmmm nope 148 over 3 seasons..... and last year in very limited use he put up an OBP oif .471(granted prolly highly exaggerated by the low sample size).
IMO, he's the kinda guy who needs to play for a team like the Nats or Pirates for a year or two, start every day, and he might turn into a .800 or more OPS guy. I don't think he will get that chance in the ATL.

[The Rap]

I'm in the camp that believes he has been wasted for some reason or the other. My belief is that I always thought he looked like a kid who was going to develop into at least a near star. Why they never gave him the full opportunity remains a mystery to me.

[Andy G.]

Gwinnett won their opener tonight. Craig Kimbrel got his first save of the season by throwing a scoreless inning with one walk and no strikeouts. Cory Gearrin set him up with a scoreless inning of his own in which he walked on and struck out three.

Freddie Freeman went 1-4 with a run and an RBI.

[Andy G.]

Gwinnett lost 3-1 on Friday, but a Scott Proctor and Micheal Dunn, like Kimbrel and Gearrin before them, had successful debuts in the game. Proctor threw a perfect inning while recording two strikeouts. Dunn threw two innings, allowing one hit while walking none and striking out two.

[Andy G.]

Craig Kimbrel made his third appearance tonight. He pitched two scoreless allowing three hits and striking out four. He's pitched four innings now and has only walked one batter to go with his six strikeouts. It's an extremely small sample size, but it's encouraging that he's starting the season off so well and seems to be pitching with better accuracy at this point.

[Dreamscape]

Craig Kimbrel made his third appearance tonight. He pitched two scoreless allowing three hits and striking out four. He's pitched four innings now and has only walked one batter to go with his six strikeouts. It's an extremely small sample size, but it's encouraging that he's starting the season off so well and seems to be pitching with better accuracy at this point.
Which is the most important thing. If he can throw more strikes and avoid the walks, he will be a stud major league reliever. I think anyone who saw him in spring training can see that. The whole "right-handed Billy Wagner" bit is very applicable. If he throws 20 solid innings at AAA where his control remains on target, it's time to cut someone and bring him up.

[Andy G.]

Which is the most important thing. If he can throw more strikes and avoid the walks, he will be a stud major league reliever. I think anyone who saw him in spring training can see that. The whole "right-handed Billy Wagner" bit is very applicable. If he throws 20 solid innings at AAA where his control remains on target, it's time to cut someone and bring him up.
He really does look like Wagner doesn't he? I didn't know if I was imagining things because everybody was saying it, but it's uncanny how true that comparison is.

[Devil Wears Prado]

Freeman is really struggling, and I question the decision to move him up to AAA knowing that he didn't do too hot in his 64 AB's in Mississippi the previous year.

[Andy G.]

Freeman went 2-4 with a double today, so that's good news.

Kimbrel threw a hitless inning with three strikeouts, but two walks.

[Andy G.]

Since my last post, Kimbrel has thrown 2.1 inning without allowing a single baserunner. He struck out five hitters during those two appearances.

[Andy G.]

Freddie Freeman has had a great couple of days. In the last two games he's 4-6 with 3 HR, 1 2B, 6 RBI, 4 R, and 1 BB.

[warefreak]

While the big team was getting shutout by by somebody about to get social security our AAA team was getting shutout by somebody less than half his age.

I was hoping our AAA team could get to Strasburg.

No Dice. :no:

[Dreamscape]

Jordan Schafer made his return to live baseball last night, going 1 for 4 with a strikeout while batting leadoff and playing the entire game in center field for Gwinnett. Today, with the game in the ninth inning, Schafer is again 1 for 4.

Added: Well, I'm an idiot. He actually returned with Rome and then Mississippi, playing a handful of games with both clubs before heading to Gwinnett.

[Gman]

Chris Resop is looking pretty intriguing this year. Anybody know what he throws? Looks like he was converted from outfield-to-reliever by the Marlins in 2004. His results were good enough to get him to the majors in just two years. The one thing that has held him back was his control. That's not surprising for a guy who hasn't been pitching that long.

The Braves moved him into a starting role this year and it looks like it's helping with his development. His numbers indicate a guy who throws a lot of groundballs and he misses a lot of bats which is a nice combo. Anybody seen him pitch? That .163 avg vs RH hitters this year is impressive. I'm guessing he's got a nasty breaking ball of some sort. Anyway, he'll be interesting one to watch. Might be a perfect fit into Medlen's role if Medlen pitches his way into the rotation and the Braves make a move with Kawakami or Lowe.

[warefreak]

With the way Medlin has been pitching in the rotation I would love if we kept him there and found a way to trade or give away KK or Lowe when Jurrjens comes back.

We have Boone Logan as well that is just killing it in the AAA

[Lauren T.]

With the way Medlin has been pitching in the rotation I would love if we kept him there and found a way to trade or give away KK or Lowe when Jurrjens comes back.
We couldn't find anyone to take KK or Lowe and their respective contracts in the offseason -- why is May any different?

[Gman]

We couldn't find anyone to take KK or Lowe and their respective contracts in the offseason -- why is May any different? It's spring? It's when hope is supposed to spring eternal and all. Maybe the Braves can find some GM out there looking at these two with rose-colored Minaya glasses. Where's Bavasi when you need him :(

[Lauren T.]

Fox Sports gave Freddie Freeman a video camera and had him give us the tour of the G-Braves a couple of days ago. I put links to all the vids (http://braveslove.blogspot.com/2010/05/freddie-files.html) on Braves Love if anyone wants to see them -- I thought they were pretty cool!

[Dreamscape]

On the day that the Braves beat the club that he originally signed for, Todd Redmond tossed a no-hitter. It was the first nine-inning no-hitter since 1989 for a Braves AAA club and first complete game no-hitter since 1977 by a Braves pitcher in AAA. He walked two, struck out three.

[warefreak]

Freddie Freeman had a good game last night batting 3 for 4. His season average is now at .277 which is not bad for a 20 year old at AAA. I don't think he's ready to be our starter next year though.

[Lauren T.]

One of my Twitter followers mentioned last night that he's got a 12-game hitting streak going. Maybe he's finally fully healthy and he's normalizing.

[Lauren T.]

How did I miss Clint getting put on waivers, clearing waivers, and being cut (http://bit.ly/bP6oh9) from our 40-man roster?

[warefreak]

He's still ours though right? We didn't outright release him?

[Dreamscape]

It's easy to miss Sammons getting cut...because that's what should happen to a pretty bad offensive player. He was outrighted to Gwinnett after passing waivers.

The stranger thing is that he was cut for Diory Hernandez. We just love those all-glove, no bat guys.

[Hillbilly]

Mike Minor has been promoted to Gwinnett.

[Andy G.]

Minor's first start in AAA was a good one. He went 7.2 innnings allowing 3 hits, 3 walks, 1 run and he recorded 9 strikeouts. Kimbrel closed the game to get a four out save. He gave up a couple of hits, a walk and had two strikeouts.

[Gman]

Minor tossed a one-hit gem tonight and McLouth hit one out for the second straight night. Plus Freddie had another nice night with the stick.

I was happy to see the Braves move Minor up to AAA so we could see how he did against more seasoned hitters. Well he's made 5 straight excellent starts in AAA. The way he's going, we might see this guy this year which would shock the heck out of me considering the "meh" reaction the Braves got when they took him in the first round.

Can't remember where I read it but some one with the Braves said Minor was really getting hurt by a bad fielding team in Mississippi. Apparently that was true since he's looked even better in AAA.

[Andy G.]

Minor made his fifth start tonight for Gwinnett.

7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 SO

He's been as good as we could have hoped this year. Here are his stats for the season.

IP H BB R ER SO HR ERA SO/9 H/9 BB/9 HR/9 WHIP
AA MIS - 87 74 34 48 39 109 8 4.03 11.3 7.7 3.5 0.8 1.24
AAA GWN - 31.2 18 10 7 7 35 1 1.99 10.1 8.1 2.9 0.3 0.88
Minors - 118.2 92 44 55 46 144 9 3.50 10.9 7.0 3.3 0.6 1.15

Edit: Even though our posts came through nine minutes apart Gman, I hadn't seen yours yet where you already acknowledged his most recent start. That's how long it took me to put the stats in there. :laugh:

[Gman]

No problem Andy, yours was much more complete. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Freemen and Minor before 8/31. I can see some scenarios where it would be worth getting them up in August to see if they are stretch drive/post season worthy. I know that sounds a bit premature but sometimes it's not the guy acquired in trade that provides the big boost but instead it's a player from the farm that shows up earlier then expected and provides some big moments. Actually I can think of a lot more of those types then guys acquired in trade!

A lefty starter like Minor could be that kind of guy. And Freemen is looking more and more important to me with the way Glaus is running/hobbling/hitting (sure hope he gets better soon). But, neither Freddie nor Minor is on the 40man roster so some finagling would have to happen if the Braves want to be able to consider them for the post season roster should they make it.

[Gman]

Shouldn't be too hard. There are 38 players on our 40 man roster. :)

Can't think of anyone else they'd be keeping the door ajar for besides these two. Maybe he's keeping roster space for an August waiver grab or trade.

[Dreamscape]

Nate McLouth hit his third homer of the week, all leading off the game, last night for Gwinnett. Including his previous stint during his rehab, McLouth is hitting .275/.321/.451 with 4 HR and 3 SB so far in 12 games.

[warefreak]

Sounds like we have a lifetime AAA allstar on our hands.

I'll pass.

[Dreamscape]

Sounds like we have a lifetime AAA allstar on our hands.

I'll pass.
Not really at all. McLouth is a pretty decent hitter. Maybe he's not a high .800 OPS type of guy, but he can be productive with an OPS around .815, 20-30 steals, similar production in homers, and so forth. I wouldn't be so quick to right him off. The man has been a train wreck this year, but even when he was disappointing after the trade last year, he still put up a solid .350ish OBP last year. He got skills. A hell of a lot more than a lifetime AAA allstar does.

[Andy G.]

Freddie Freeman's OPS is all the way up to .877 now! This dude has been crushing the ball for the past two months. He's got 15 homeruns, 27 doubles, and his slash line is .305/.368/.509. And he's only twenty!!

It looks like the organization was right to believe that he would only need one more year in the minors.

[Andy G.]

There's something happening here (http://gwinnett.braves.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t431&t=g_box&gid=2010_08_30_noraaa_gwiaaa_1).

[Dreamscape]

The no-hit bid comes to a close as the 8th opens. Diamond also helped to one-hit the Rochester Redwings earlier this month.

[-Dr. Brave-]

The no-hit bid comes to a close as the 8th opens. Diamond also helped to one-hit the Rochester Redwings earlier this month.

Great pitching line for Scott Diamond:
9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K

A real gem!

:rimshot:

[Dreamscape]

The International League End-Season Awards are in and two G-Braves got mentioned. Both Freedie Freeman and Barbaro Canizares made the final All-Star lineup released by IL and Freeman won the Rookie of the Year award for the league.

PDF file (http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/documents/2010/08/31/14137364/1/2010_IL_All-Star_Team_Announcement.pdf)

[Dreamscape]

DOB reports...ugh...Scott Proctor resigned. 2011 roster has already seen a change as Minor is headed up for a spot start. The initial roster looked like this.

PITCHERS (12): Juan Abreu (RHP), Jairo Asencio (RHP), Yohan Flande (LHP), Cory Gearrin (RHP), Rodrigo Lopez (RHP), Stephen Marek (RHP), Mike Minor (LHP), Scott Proctor (RHP), Todd Redmond (RHP), Julio Teheran (RHP), Jacob Thompson (RHP), Anthony Varvaro (LHP)
CATCHERS (2): J.C. Boscan, Wilkin Castillo (S)
INFIELDERS (6): Shawn Bowman, Mauro Gomez, Diory Hernandez, Ed Lucas, Joe Mather, Daniel Nelson (S)
OUTFIELDERS (4): Willie Cabrera, Jose Constanza (L), Wilkin Ramirez,
Jordan Schafer (L)
DISABLED LIST (3): Erik Cordier (RHP), Jay Sborz (RHP), Shawn McGill (C)

[Middle Man]

I wore my Richmond Braves tie Thursday for opening day. I just wanted to share that.

[Andy G.]

A question for people who've attended minor league games before, do players sign autographs before or after games very often? I've been telling myself I would make it out to Rome and Gwinnett games for a few years now, but this year I'm actually going to do it. If I could get Teheran's autograph, that would really cool.

[jlcct]

lol :)

[Middle Man]

A question for people who've attended minor league games before, do players sign autographs before or after games very often? I've been telling myself I would make it out to Rome and Gwinnett games for a few years now, but this year I'm actually going to do it. If I could get Teheran's autograph, that would really cool.

I've been to quite a few minor league games in Richmond and Norfolk, never at Rome and Gwinnett though. For what it's worth, we didn't usually get there early enough for autographs but when we did, it was pretty easy to get a bunch by hanging out near the dugout before the game. It was much more casual and not nearly as much competition compared to Turner Field.

[Lauren T.]

Take a blonde in a tank top who doesn't care about keeping the autograph she gets for you. You'll be fine. ;)

[Middle Man]

Take a blonde in a tank top who doesn't care about keeping the autograph she gets for you. You'll be fine. ;)

Ha, a cute kid in Braves gear works pretty well, too - except they always want to keep the autograph. :D

[warefreak]

Great to see Teheran at AAA. I did not think he would start at AAA! That basically tells me he is going to be up in the majors probably this year. Although he's probably 3rd in line behind Minor, R. Lopez, and Mike Minor.

That offense looks terrible btw.

What happened to that huge 1b from a few years ago. Canizares or something? Did he move on? I thought for sure he would be a good backup 1b if Freeman had a long injury. He had awesome power so I don't understand why he was never given a better chance.

[luvdembravos]

DOB reports...ugh...Scott Proctor resigned. /QUOTE]

That's good.





[QUOTE=Dreamscape;31805] 2011 roster has already seen a change as Minor is headed up for a spot start. The initial roster looked like this.

PITCHERS (12): Juan Abreu (RHP), Jairo Asencio (RHP), Yohan Flande (LHP), Cory Gearrin (RHP), Rodrigo Lopez (RHP), Stephen Marek (RHP), Mike Minor (LHP), Scott Proctor (RHP), Todd Redmond (RHP), Julio Teheran (RHP), Jacob Thompson (RHP), Anthony Varvaro (LHP)


Pretty nice top 3 for a AAA team w/Teheran, Lopez and Minor (when he returns).

[Andy G.]

Pretty nice top 3 for a AAA team w/Teheran, Lopez and Minor (when he returns).
Yeah, and Todd Redmond has had a lot of success in AAA the past couple of years. The Braves don't seem to believe he has the ability to have similar success in the major leagues, but he puts up good numbers. He's the guy we got for Tyler Yates a few years ago.

[Middle Man]

Great to see Teheran at AAA. I did not think he would start at AAA! That basically tells me he is going to be up in the majors probably this year. Although he's probably 3rd in line behind Minor, R. Lopez, and Mike Minor.

That offense looks terrible btw.

What happened to that huge 1b from a few years ago. Canizares or something? Did he move on? I thought for sure he would be a good backup 1b if Freeman had a long injury. He had awesome power so I don't understand why he was never given a better chance.

Barbaro! Canizares was one of my favorites. He had another good year in AAA last season. I assume he'll be back this year. He's a man among boys in the minors - probably close to 40 by now.

[Dreamscape]

What happened to that huge 1b from a few years ago. Canizares or something? Did he move on? I thought for sure he would be a good backup 1b if Freeman had a long injury. He had awesome power so I don't understand why he was never given a better chance.
Actually, Canizares does not have awesome power and that's why he's been laboring in AAA. In 439 games at AAA, he has 47 homers. You may have mixed up Canizares name with Isaiah (or Kala) Ka'aihue's power. The latter hit 50 homers over a two year span, but petered out after that and last year was in the A's system and independent ball.

[Lauren T.]

Canizares got released.

[Middle Man]

Canizares got released.

Bummer. Any idea what he's doing?

[Hobbes]

Bummer. Any idea what he's doing?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2GNe2CrPpJc/SPjc1FLntLI/AAAAAAAAAKc/BAVkER7OMQI/s400/Taco+Bell+3++10-18-08.jpg

[Lauren T.]

I don't know why or where he is now - I just remember seeing it in my Twitter feed a little while back. Here's a link (http://twitter.com/GDPBraves/status/54660026924666880).

[Middle Man]

Poor Barbaro. I found a more extensive write up on his release. Looks like Mather's demotion doomed him. 31-years old? Ha, that's funny. He may have been older than that when he came over from Cuba. Maybe an AL team will find a spot for him.

Gwinnett Daily Post (http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/gbraves/headlines/Braves_release_G-Braves_1B_Canizares_119152059.html)

...An infield crowed with utility players and a potential need in Atlanta for defensive replacements in the outfield and at third base during the season, meant the end of Barbaro Canizares’ time with the Atlanta organization.

The Braves released the three-time consecutive Class AAA All-Star designated hitter and first baseman Sunday....

A serviceable first baseman, Canizares’ biggest strength was his bat. A doubles hitter with modest power, Canizares led the International League in batting in 2010, hitting .341 with 28 doubles and 13 home runs....

... Canizares’ usefulness became relegated to just his at-bats with prospect Freddie Freeman dominating the time at first base. With the 21-year-old Freeman now the starting first baseman in Atlanta, the 31-year-old Canizares’ value to the organization diminished....

[Dreamscape]

Some early observations...Dan Nelson, a 2B/3B guy the Braves picked up last year has come out hitting .353 with 2 homers and 5 BB to 1 SO. Nelson has played in the Cardinals and Nats system before coming to the Braves and spent most of last year with the Pelicans, though also played with Mississippi and Gwinnett. Wilkin Ramirez is only hitting .217, but is slugging over .500 because of his five hits, one is a triple and two have left the yard. Two spring training stories...Joe Mather and Ed Lucas...are having opposite starts. Mather is hitting .290 while Lucas is hitting .231 and leads the G-Braves in strikeouts.

Jordan Schafer hasn't shown too much pop, but is hitting .310 with an OBP of .429.

The G-Braves have an ERA of 1.69, yet are only 5-4. The top four of Julio Teheran, Rodrigo Lopez, Mike Minor, and Todd Redmond are all quality pitchers, either as rising prospects or very good AAA pitchers. Former UVA pitcher Jacob Thompson looks like the fifth guy and the weak link in the chain. Stephen Merak and Jairo Asencio have been great out of the pen, though Asencio's production will have to be replaced. Scott Proctor has pitched okay.

[Andy G.]

Julio Teheran - 5 GS, 30 IP, 25 H, 6 ER, 0 HR, 8 BB, 25 SO, 1.10 WHIP, 1.80 ERA

Mike Minor - 4 GS, 25.2 IP, 19 H, 5 ER, 2 HR, 6 BB, 29 SO, 0.97 WHIP, 1.75 ERA

[KB 34]

I went to see the Gwinnett Braves play the Durham Bulls tonight. I wasn't actually planning on going until I saw the pitching matchup. Teheran started and convinced me he's ready for the majors. What impressed me about Teheran was the movement on his pitches. He used his changeup a ton to completely confuse batters, often to get ahead 0-1 in the count. He gave up a decent number of hits but in 6 innings only one ball I'd describe as being hit well. The rest were mainly ground balls to right and center field. Unfortunately for Teheran the Braves left side of the infield was simply unbelievable and Gotay was mediocre defensively.

Vizcaino made his first AAA appearance tonight and gave up a HR in an inning. His talent was clear but my impression was he still needs work on placing his pitches. Throwing a 98 mph fastball to the wrong location cost him. Other than that I was impressed. Like Teheran he can downright throw the ball past people and use some movement to throw them off.

Gearrin pitched an inning and seemed to do fine. Hopefully he's turning things around.

Hicks and Pastornicky were great defensively, in particular Hicks. Hicks made a couple unbelievable plays at ss. In terms of offense Boscan was a guaranteed out and Ramirez threw his bat about 135 feet in one of his at bats, which got applause from the crowd. No one really stood out to me offensively, but I'm more excited about the young arms the Braves are developing than I was yesterday.

[KB 34]

Game 3/4 of the Bulls-Braves series was tonight and I decided to go again. $6 for a seat and $1 hot dogs and popcorn made it a great deal. However, the selling point was seeing Redmond pitch for the sole reason he was acquired for a useless reliever by the name of Yates, who I wanted gone quite badly. Redmond and the Braves pitchers combined for a shut out. Redmond had great control of his pitches and neutralized the Bulls offense.

Vizcaino pitched his second AAA game and ran into trouble, putting runners on 2B and 3B with one out. His teammates seemed to calm him down and he struck out the next two batters to end the threat. That's 4 strikeouts in 2 innings for him if anyone's counting. He can flat out throw the ball past batters.

Richardson pitched a third of an inning and did his best Proctor impersonation. Proctor should be swapped with Ascenio in my opinion, who pitched fine tonight.

I was also interested to see Hicks playing 1B tonight. He did fine and showed some good versatility. Both teams did some stupid bunting with good batters to move the runner over for easy outs. That helped to explain why both teams managed a whopping 2 runs combined.

[KB 34]

Game 3/4 of the Bulls-Braves series was tonight and I decided to go again. $6 for a seat and $1 hot dogs and popcorn made it a great deal. However, the selling point was seeing Redmond pitch for the sole reason he was acquired for a useless reliever by the name of Yates, who I wanted gone quite badly. Redmond and the Braves pitchers combined for a shut out. Redmond had great control of his pitches and neutralized the Bulls offense.

Vizcaino pitched his second AAA game and ran into trouble, putting runners on 2B and 3B with one out. His teammates seemed to calm him down and he struck out the next two batters to end the threat. That's 4 strikeouts in 2 innings for him if anyone's counting. He can flat out throw the ball past batters.

Richardson pitched a third of an inning and did his best Proctor impersonation. Proctor should be swapped with Ascenio in my opinion, who pitched fine tonight.

I was also interested to see Hicks playing 1B tonight. He did fine and showed some good versatility. Both teams did some stupid bunting with good batters to move the runner over for easy outs. That helped to explain why both teams managed a whopping 2 runs combined.

[KB 34]

I caught the final game of the 4 game series, making it 3 games in 4 nights, which is a good week. The Gwinnett Braves posted their second straight shutout. Flande got the start for the Braves and somehow kept the Bulls off the board despite throwing 90 or less evrey time and not having a lot of movements in his pitching. Gearrin pitched 2 unlucky innings in which Young made a really bad error and a ball bounced off 2B. At the same time he didn't look as in control as Monday.

On the offense side when the Braves have to DL another outfielder I suggest calling up Jeff Fiorentino next. Young didn't impress me at all offensively or defensively in the 2 games I saw him. Fiorentino made a fantastic diving catch in CF tonight and hit a rocket HR to RF. Gotay once again played bad defense and proved himself a worthy candidate if the Braves ever feel the need to replicate Pete Orr's defense. I haven't mentioned him yet but Pastornicky hit pretty well this week and showed some good range defensively. I will be interested to see how he develops in the next couple years, especially with ss a definite area the Braves need to address in the near future.

[warefreak]

Talk about poor timing. We have 6 good SP in our rotation and are trying to figure out what to do with them and THEN Julio starts pitching good.

Just pitched 8 innings, no walks, 5 hits, 1 run, and 9 strikeouts.

[KB 34]

I don't understand what's happened with Teheran. When I saw him pitch a couple weeks ago in Durham he looked pretty miserable, like he did earlier in the season. Last season Teheran was throwing an assortment of pitches that looked filthy. Both starts I saw him this season I wasn't impressed. I understand the Braves trying to tinker with his pitches and ability to get major league hitters out, but how long do these adjustments take? Are the adjustments causing him to regress in other ways? I think the Braves are really interested in him throwing a 91-92 mph fastball instead of 93-95. I have no idea what this does to his stats either. I'm not as excited about Teheran as I was earlier in the season. He looks like a minor league pitcher right now and I'm concerned as to why.

[Gman]

I don't understand what's happened with Teheran. When I saw him pitch a couple weeks ago in Durham he looked pretty miserable, like he did earlier in the season. Last season Teheran was throwing an assortment of pitches that looked filthy. Both starts I saw him this season I wasn't impressed. I understand the Braves trying to tinker with his pitches and ability to get major league hitters out, but how long do these adjustments take? Are the adjustments causing him to regress in other ways? I think the Braves are really interested in him throwing a 91-92 mph fastball instead of 93-95. I have no idea what this does to his stats either. I'm not as excited about Teheran as I was earlier in the season. He looks like a minor league pitcher right now and I'm concerned as to why.

I agree. I'm not thrilled about the Braves imposing their "well located 91-92" vs 95" philosophy on Teheran or Delgado. That philosophy isn't for everybody. Some guys don't gain that much more control at the lower speed so they just become more hittable.

I think they should bring Teheran and Delgado up in September, have them work out of the pen AND tell them to just turn it lose when they are out there. Who knows maybe they'll find better control turning it loose. Teheran and Delgado seem to have lost some control since they started throwing a lower speed fast ball.

I'm really kind of confused with the way young pitchers are handled in general. Teams want them to throw at less-than-max effort and then they pull them after 100 pitches. I don't believe in the theory that throwing lower speed fastballs prevents injuries or that it increases control. I think pitching injuries increased with the addition of the slider and split into everyone's repertoire. And I think some guys can have more control and more confidence pitching at higher levels of effort (i.e. higher speeds).

[warefreak]

Well don't get too excited about him yet. He just put up 7 ER in less than 3 innings in his last start allowing 9 hits and 1 BB.

WTF :banghead:

[-Dr. Brave-]

WTF is right. What's up with this kid?

The Braves may have to let him rot in Gwinnett for a few years like they did with Todd Redmond. (Not saying Redmond deserved it.)

[Andy G.]

WTF is right. What's up with this kid?

The Braves may have to let him rot in Gwinnett for a few years like they did with Todd Redmond. (Not saying Redmond deserved it.)

Completely different. Redmond doesn't have the stuff to pitch in the major leagues. He wasn't let down there for some unknown reason. He's not that good.

Teheran does have good stuff. And he's already pitched well enough against AAA hitters for a long enough period of time (all last season at the age of 20) for us to know that he's got what it takes. He's OBVIOUSLY working on things. The Braves are having him attempt to pitch with less velocity and learn new ways of sequencing his pitches. It's unimaginable for baseball fans nowadays, but there are still times when a team will take the old fashioned route of developing their minor league players. I like the way the Braves are handling Teheran. I think he's going to be a better pitcher in the long run because of what he's experiencing this year. He's 21 year old. When did that stop being a good enough reason to practice some patience? That's not even mentioning the fact that he's already proven himself against the same competition he's facing this year.

[Dreamscape]

You aren't even a little concerned, Andy?

I know we have said "he's working on things" and "he's already proven" and so forth for four months now, but at a certain point, there needs to be results, right?

[Andy G.]

I'm not really concerned because we've already seen great results. Everyone who has watched him pitch this season has noticed a change in his pitch selection and that he is throwing with less velocity, and we have no reason the drop in velocity is not intentional. He's developing. The Braves are taking advantage of his age and their depth in pitching to allow Teheran to learn as much as possible before putting him in the majors for good. Ill be concerned if he's still struggling into next season. Right now I'm not.

[bravos4evr]

I'd be concerned if he was 24 or 25 and still pitching like this. I agree with Andy, he's a young developing arm who projects to be a true ace. I'm willing to wait another year or two if it means he reaches his ceiling

[BFH]

I guess I am somewhere between AndyVbravos and the rest wwho are baffled/worried by Teheran's struggles.

For me, I generally agree with Andy and bravos in that he is still just 21/22 years old at Triple-A and we do know the Braves wanted him to work on some things this year. If he were older, it'd be alarming as heck because an older player....well, probably should have the maturity (and extra baseball years) to work through it reasonably. At age 21 not everyone's going to immediately grasp the "you don't have to throw your hardest to get outs" concept. Even when he starts to accept the idea, there's still no guarantee he immediately masters the art as some guys lose the feel of their breaking stuff and even their fastball as they feel the need to "baby" it.

Alas, there simply has to be a little bit of concern to see your best prospect struggle. Well, struggle is an understatement, really. Its more like...well, what's a good word for this?....uhh...faceplant? As bluntly as I can put it, he's getting his butt handed to him regularly and while there are bright spots...the negative this year has far outweighed the positive gains.

So in summary of that...I think, like Andy, the Braves are taking advantage of some extreme depth in order to weather the storm. It is way too early to be calling him a bust or a failed prospect. Its probably even too early to package him up and let someone else deal with his growing pains. However, one has to believe trading for Maholm and signing Sheets doesn't happen if Teheran is even half of what he was advertised as leading into this season. A lot of the rotation concerns stem around the fact he did not figure things out as fast as the team hoped. The Braves can ill-afford going forward assuming that it will be a forgone conclusion that he will be ready anytime soon. Maybe the concern I have isn't directly over Teheran himself...but he's done the Braves no favors in their plans to build the rotation going forward.

[Dreamscape]

I'm worried that he has had four months to "adjust" to this new pitching style and nothing has come from it except several bad starts. It's not unheard of for prospects to fiddle away for almost odd, unexplainable reasons. I just can't see not being a little concerned here.

Besides that...I kind of hate the "intentional" drop in velocity. Did they push Hanson/Jurrjens to pitch with less velocity?

[Agent-X-]

I'm worried that he has had four months to "adjust" to this new pitching style and nothing has come from it except several bad starts. It's not unheard of for prospects to fiddle away for almost odd, unexplainable reasons. I just can't see not being a little concerned here.

Besides that...I kind of hate the "intentional" drop in velocity. Did they push Hanson/Jurrjens to pitch with less velocity?

Good question. In Jurrjens' case, I believe it was physically necessary, and that might go for Hanson as well.

Is it possible Teheran was already showing signs of wear from throwing so hard?

[warefreak]

The reason I am concerned is because the pitches that did so well in AAA didn't do squat in MLB. He was lit up... hard. Now they've got him working on things in AAA that will help when they call him back up and instead of it helping him it's getting him lit up in AAA as well. The Rays develop these pitchers slowly and never have I seen this much trouble for a Rays pitcher in AAA that had a ceiling of an ace. Herickson was left in AAA for a year and he developed while dominating. Matt Moore did the same.

I hope you're right Andy but I'm not seeing it.

As much as I'd like to hope it's one step back to take 2 steps forward I just don't think this is the case.

[Agent-X-]

On the bright side, I really feel like pitching prospects are a dime a dozen. For every Teheran or other highly regarded ace prospect, there are Brandon Beachys who rise to the occasion.

I would love for Teheran to tear it up as a Brave, but in my mind he has had "Trade for established ace" written all over him since about June.

[Andy G.]

The reason I am concerned is because the pitches that did so well in AAA didn't do squat in MLB. He was lit up... hard. Now they've got him working on things in AAA that will help when they call him back up and instead of it helping him it's getting him lit up in AAA as well. The Rays develop these pitchers slowly and never have I seen this much trouble for a Rays pitcher in AAA that had a ceiling of an ace. Herickson was left in AAA for a year and he developed while dominating. Matt Moore did the same.

I hope you're right Andy but I'm not seeing it.

As much as I'd like to hope it's one step back to take 2 steps forward I just don't think this is the case.

You're talking about a ridiculously small sample in the majors. A 20 year old kid is supposed to go the major leagues and pitch well immediately?

By the way, he was good again today. 8 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks and 9 strikeouts.

[Andy G.]

I'm very anxious to see what Teheran is going to do this year. Since we last discussed him here, the Braves have confirmed that they had him working on some adjustments to his delivery, and if his performance in the Dominican Winter league and spring training is any indication, he seems to have figured it out. Plus, he's now using a two seam fastball to go along with his 95 mph four seamer and the changeup that has never really been questioned.

I think he's going to break out this year.