Gamethread: San Diego Padres @ Atlanta Braves, 8/26/2009 LOSS

[Chris_Moderato]

August 26, 2009 - 7:10PM
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.e1d/img/2.0/sect/baseball/mlb/teampages/toppers/padres.jpg
AT
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.e1d/img/2.0/sect/baseball/mlb/teampages/toppers/braves.jpg

Getting a very, very early start on this one. No lineups announced yet- lazy managers!

Go Braves.

Related Links
Braves Fall In 12th - MLB.com (http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090825&content_id=6612290&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl&partnerId=rss_atl)
Braves Fall to Last Place Padres - AJC.com (http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-fall-to-123838.html)
Prado and Anderson Back, Baby! (http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-get-123797.html)
A Moral Victory For Me Is A Walk - Chipper Jones (http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2009/08/25/braves-jones-a-moral-victory-for-me-is-a-walk/?cxntfid=blogs_jeff_schultz_blog)

Just for fun...
When They Were Players... (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0908/mlb.managers.as.players/content.1.html)

EDIT: Merged the threads.

[Lauren T.]

Just for fun...
When They Were Players... (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0908/mlb.managers.as.players/content.1.html)
That was a fun article -- thanks! :thumbsup:

[Middle Man]

That was a fun article -- thanks! :thumbsup:

Dang! Bobby didn't make the cut. Cox was playing 3rd base the first MLB game i ever saw as a kid. True story. I didn't know it until many years later when I found the old box score.

...and thanks to Chris for trying to improve our feeble game threads.

[Dreamscape]

Starting Lineup for the San Diego Padres...

Everth Cabrera, SS
-The latest in a long line of really short guys wearing number one.
David Eckstein, 2B
-One of my most hated ballplayers of all time.
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
-Over/under on his number of walks today?
Chase Headley, LF
-What is with so many people getting named Chase nowadays? The Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League have a pair of them, including former Brave farmhand, Chase Fontaine.
Will Venable, RF
-51 K's in 174 AB is fairly Dunn-esk.
Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B
-The comrade still hasn't quite figured out how to hit major league pitching. His OPS has gotten worse each of the past two years and his OBP makes Francoeur blush.
Nick Hundley, C
-Seriously, dude, are you related to Todd?
Tony Gwynn Jr., CF
-He's half the Gwynn his dad was in the 90's.
Tim Stauffer, P
-University of Richmond represented. Sadly enough. Has gone five innings in each of his last four starts, all in a losing effort.

And now, the starting lineup for the Braves...

MattE Diaz, RF
-Diaz: Professional Leadoff Hitter.
Marteeeeen Prado, 2B
-Since July 26th, Prado is .247/.253/.364.
Larry Wayne Jones, 3B
-Just one hit in his last nine games, spanning 28 AB. Or, to put it this way, over the last nine games, Chipper Jones has as many hits as he does stolen bases. Yeah.
Brian McCann, C
-Hitting just .229 this month, dropping his average from .301 on July 31st to .287 now. Seems like our offense either lives or dies together, hmmm?
Garrett Anderson, LF
-Old Man River Strikes Again.
Yunel Escobar, SS
-Right now, I'd bat Esco third and drop Chipper and McCann a spot.
Adam LaRoche, 1B
-Doing everything he can to attain Type A free agent status.
Ryan Church, CF
-He's healthy today, tomorrow he'll be to day-to-day
Kenshin Kawakami, P
-He has ended Johan Santana's season. When he activates the game genie, almost unhittable.

[Dreamscape]

Lovely start. 1-2 single by Everth.

[Dreamscape]

Another single...this time by the rather evil as hell Eckstein. Sigh.

[Dreamscape]

Add a wild pitch and clearly, Konami is attempting to lull the Padres into a false sense of comfort.

And Gonzo walks.

Come on, Konami, this isn't the first game of the series, damn you.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Just for fun...
When They Were Players... (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0908/mlb.managers.as.players/content.1.html)


Disappointed not to see Bobby Cox listed though.

[Dreamscape]

And after 20 pitches to warm up, Konami is ready to pitch. Flyout to left for the first out.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Can't believe the Padres aren't tagging up.

[Dreamscape]

Hey, another flyout. In steps the Russian dude. There's a lot of K's in this matchup. A lot of letters in general.

[Dreamscape]

Konami is a genius! He could have gotten through the inning without giving up a baserunner, but he chose to hurt the Padres' convidence and destroy their sense of self-worth.

Damn, he's one fine ninja.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Matt Diaz leading off. Let's see if he takes the first pitch.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Well, I'll be damned. He takes it, a strike of course.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Matt better grab a different piece of lumber next time up. It sounds like he's hitting with bamboo shoots.

[Dreamscape]

Hey, maybe Prado can get hot again. This team badly needs it.

[Dreamscape]

Chipper's Moral Victory in play.

[Dreamscape]

Stauffer is no ninja.

3-0 on McCann's three-run job!

[-Dr. Brave-]

McCann is really fighting it lately. His homer landed only a few rows into the first deck.

[Dreamscape]

Even Ganderson reaches via a single.

[Dreamscape]

Oh, Esco...

Three run frame, but it probably could have been better.

[-Dr. Brave-]

C'mon, Kakakaki... throw strikes.

[Dreamscape]

Again, the ninja at work. Puts a couple of runners on just to make Eckstein look bad. I like it.

[-Dr. Brave-]

3-0 Braves after 2.

At this rate, we'll win 13½-0.

Wait, we won't bat in the 9th if that happens. Make that 12-0.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Kawakami will set a major league record for most flyouts in one game by one pitcher.

[Dreamscape]

Konami has decided he no longer would like to win. It's a strange philosophy.

[Dreamscape]

Annnnnnd, that could be the season.

Come on, dummies, it's friggin San Diego!

[Dreamscape]

Yes, walk Eckstein and take your chances with Adrian Gonzalez. That's a good idea.

[Lauren T.]

Disappointed not to see Bobby Cox listed though.

Per the article, "All managers listed have played in at least 300 major league games."

Bobby only appeared in 220 (http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coxbo01.shtml) games over two seasons. :rolleyes:

[Dreamscape]

Remember when McCann hit a three-run homer and Kawakami threw five scoreless? Why couldn't the game have ended there?

[hoosjon]

Lookin' at the box score ... I was all psyched that we put some runs up and then it looks like standard Kamikaze meltdown. Wow. He really needs to be a long reliever. And by long, I mean 4 innings MAX and then 4 days rest. :hissyfit:

[Lauren T.]

I've switched to a rerun of Top Chef. Can't watch anymore. :(

[Dreamscape]

Here's my problem.

Good teams don't seem to have a Greg Norton...a Manny Acosta...maybe I'm just not seeing it and they do have those horrible players.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Per the article, "All managers listed have played in at least 300 major league games."

Bobby only appeared in 220 (http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coxbo01.shtml) games over two seasons. :rolleyes:

Well, I'm still disappointed that he's not listed. :rolleyes:

[-Dr. Brave-]

Jerry Springer sang the 7th inning stretch for the Braves. He probably had more cheers tonight than the Braves themselves.

[KB 34]

Kawakami gets a bunch of love here and then this happens. I'm afraid the Braves are one potent power hitter away from competing, still. It's still impressive how well the team has done given their lineup and bullpen though. I didn't see them this close to the playoffs this late in the season in April or May.

[Middle Man]

Acosta. I can't remember a guy who looked like he ought to be so good but was so bad. The dude just seems incredibly hittable.

What's that sound? I think it's the the playoff train pulling out of the station - without the Braves. Damn, we suck against the weaklings. At least we can't be accused of being bullies.

[Middle Man]

Kawakami gets a bunch of love here and then this happens. I'm afraid the Braves are one potent power hitter away from competing, still. It's still impressive how well the team has done given their lineup and bullpen though. I didn't see them this close to the playoffs this late in the season in April or May.

The team has made improvements for sure. And I think things are setting up pretty well for next season. Wren's improvements this year have been undermined by injuries though.

Our weakest link, the outfield, has been seriously compromised recently - especially defensively. Any outfield with Anderson and Diaz in it is extremely weak in the field. Church (if Nate was in CF) would have caught that ball near the wall in RF tonight, no doubt.

[Chris_Moderato]

Man, Manny Acosta is just awful.

[wordslayer©]

Listening to the braves game on radio and they just gave out this riddle:

"what do the atlanta braves and Ted Kennedy have in common tonight?"

[KB 34]

The team has made improvements for sure. And I think things are setting up pretty well for next season. Wren's improvements this year have been undermined by injuries though.

Our weakest link, the outfield, has been seriously compromised recently - especially defensively. Any outfield with Anderson and Diaz in it is extremely weak in the field. Church (if Nate was in CF) would have caught that ball near the wall in RF tonight, no doubt.
The pitching staff has been ridiculously healthy and Chipper is playing a lot of games. If you ask me this has been the best year in terms of Braves health that I can recall off hand. No losing Hudson, Smoltz, and others before June this season! The problem is when you enter a season with an outfield of Anderson/Diaz-Schafer-Francoeur you're asking for trouble. This is exactly what the Braves did and it's been a struggle since then.

[luvdembravos]

This loss sucks ... and the fat lady is starting to warm-up her voice.

[Gman]

I went and picked up Heyward off waivers for my fantasy team. I just can't see any way possible the Braves don't bring him up before 8/31 even though he is a LH hitter. He'll go to RF and Cox will use Diaz, Church and Anderson to play LF and at times to protect Heyward from getting over-matched against certain LH pitchers. Anderson essentially should take over for Norton in the coveted role of Barney Fifes Bullet off the bench. He cannot field his position at all.

Even when McLouth returns this team is one impact bat short of making the wild card. I can't see the Braves taking on a bad multi-yr contract to fill this spot so to me it's gotta be Heyward. Too bad they couldn't find a way to trade for Willingham when he was barely playing for the Nats. We'd probably be 5 games up on the Phils if they coulda gotten him. I wonder what they were asking for back then?

[KB 34]

In regards to Willingham Cot Contracts has him making $2.95 million this season. Seeing the Braves dumped Glavine to get the money for McLouth the money simply wasn't there.

With Heyward I don't see how the Braves call him up after keeping him in the minors for this long. The decison to keep Hanson in AAA until June 1 is also a telling sign to me that they're really thinking financially with the top prospects, which I entirely support. I'm starting to agree with the idea that this team was built to compete next season, not this season, and the Braves aren't going to make desperate moves to compete this year when they could expect it to compromise chances next season. The big late edition this season is going to be Hudson. It would be nice to have another bat but the money isn't there and in the longterm the team will benefit opposed to have a slight chance at getting the Wild Card at this point.

[Freddy_Ballgame]

Listening to the braves game on radio and they just gave out this riddle:

"what do the atlanta braves and Ted Kennedy have in common tonight?"


Let's see....They're both getting last rites from a Padre? How about it's all over but the cryin' for both of 'em......maybe, neither will be around in October?
Am I getting warm?

[Andy G.]

They put a graphic Tuesday night that showed where the Braves have ranked since the All Star break in pretty much every major offensive category. They were first or second in every single one. It's not an impact bat we're lacking. Really, we're not lacking anything right now. We've played excellent baseball over the past two months. We could easily be on top of the division with a little luck. The Phillies have definitely gotten some breaks.

Check out the BP Adjusted Standings (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/standings.php). I'm not saying the only thing to blame here is bad luck. I'm just saying that I don't think there's any glaring weakness, like an impact power bat, keeping us from being on top of the standings. It would have been nice if the Braves were as good as they are now at the beginning of the season.

It's not over. It's going to be tough, and we'll need some help, but it's not over. How sweet would it be if we won all six of the games we have left with the Phillies and overtook them in the last week of the season?

[luvdembravos]

It's not over. It's going to be tough, and we'll need some help, but it's not over. How sweet would it be if we won all six of the games we have left with the Phillies and overtook them in the last week of the season?


I’m not saying that it’s over yet but it’s getting close. Losing the first two games to the lowly Padres hurts our chances a lot.

Doing the math, the Braves playoff chances revolve around them playing over .600 baseball the rest of the way while HOPING that teams ahead of them implode. Let’s just assume it will take 90 wins to claim the NL wild card. The Braves would have to go 24-12 (.667) and the Rockies would have to go 18-17 to achieve that mark. It could happen but I wouldn’t count on it. Maybe sweeping 6 from the Phillies and taking the NL East outright is our best hope at this point.

And yes, we have played great ball since early July but if we don’t make the playoffs this year, blame it on the organization’s early season patience with guys like Francoeur, Schafer, Kotchman and KJ. Those players gave us nothing at the bottom of the order during the first half.

Whatever happens, I do like the team we have now and don't see the need for many changes during the off-season.

[Gman]

Well some good news is that McLouth is going to Mississippi on Friday and barring any setbacks should be back by Monday. I read where Huddy will be up after his next start as well. Those could be two very good shot-in-the-arms for the team down the stretch. Would have been better if they could have gotten McLouth back in time for this weekend for the Phils since we're getting two of their righties (Pedro and Blanton).

The Braves really need to get on a roll tonite. A momentum building blowout would certainly help the cause.

[Hobbes]

A momentum building blowout would certainly help the cause.
We had one of those a few games ago and it got us nowhere. :no:

[Hillbilly]

Well on a positive note, the organist played the "Blazing Saddles" theme when Chase Headley came to bat. At least somebody is on top of their game.

[Lauren T.]

I went and picked up Heyward off waivers for my fantasy team. I just can't see any way possible the Braves don't bring him up before 8/31 even though he is a LH hitter.
Considering his manager is talking about shutting him down for the season to heal and prep for the AFL, I don't plan to see him in Atlanta this year.

[Hobbes]

Well on a positive note, the organist played the "Blazing Saddles" theme when Chase Headley came to bat. At least somebody is on top of their game.
That's Hedley!

[quick]

I’m not saying that it’s over yet but it’s getting close. Losing the first two games to the lowly Padres hurts our chances a lot.

Doing the math, the Braves playoff chances revolve around them playing over .600 baseball the rest of the way while HOPING that teams ahead of them implode. Let’s just assume it will take 90 wins to claim the NL wild card. The Braves would have to go 24-12 (.667) and the Rockies would have to go 18-17 to achieve that mark. It could happen but I wouldn’t count on it. Maybe sweeping 6 from the Phillies and taking the NL East outright is our best hope at this point.

And yes, we have played great ball since early July but if we don’t make the playoffs this year, blame it on the organization’s early season patience with guys like Francoeur, Schafer, Kotchman and KJ. Those players gave us nothing at the bottom of the order during the first half.

Whatever happens, I do like the team we have now and don't see the need for many changes during the off-season.


In other words, it's basically over. I've invested too much time in this season already. :banghead:

You comments about the early season are dead on. You can only play yourself so deep into a hole before it's too deep to get out! And interestingly much of this could have been fixed without the new trades. Prado for KJ and Diaz for Frenchy could have been made any time. And, we could have dropped Nawton for one of our AAA bats at any time--not too hard to replace a .130 hitter. Or, we could have made KJ or Frenchy the PH batter while they were here--even they were hitting in the .200s. That leaves only a CF and first base adjustment, and frankly, Kotch at 1st wasn't so bad--great d, and good hitting but lacked power--even if LaRoche has been great since he's been here.

Also, we have started running some. We ran almost none in the first half.

We have had a series of nagging injuries, which have not helped, but still.

Anyway, absent a miracle, I have shut it down. Football season is almost here. ;)

[BigWorm]

The way I look at it is like this. We needed to take two out of three from the Pads and the Phils. It is still possible to go 4-2, but now we'll have to sweep the Phils and win the last game in the SanDiego series. Still possible and the first game of the Phils series looks promising with Hanson going against Pidro Mar TEENEZ

[wordslayer©]

It's easy to manage when looking in the rear view mirror.

I know that I wouldn't have swapped out KF for prado early on in the season. I also would have kept Kotchman in the lineup so as to get him at bats, in an effort to see if he can help out the team.

I certainly would have brought Hanson up earlier. That could have helped us out early on, especially in the bullpen.

And as far as playing Francouer....it was indefensible. If we had done a few things right, we would be a little better off, but other than Francouer, I don't give management too much grief about it.

[KB 34]

Gilley's earlier got me wondering about how lucky the Braves have been, and therefore the Pythagorean record the team has had since the streak ended. Here are the numbers, the actual record is listed first and Pythagorean second.

2006: 79-83 (85-77)
2007: 84-78 (88-74)
2008: 72-90 (79-83)
2009: 66-60 (69-57)

One could take this to mean ever since the streak ended the Braves have been really unlucky. I take this to mean managerial decisions are costing the Braves wins as in close games BC is making below average decisions resulting in fewer wins than a mathematical model involving statistics corresponding to wins would predict.

[Dreamscape]

Gilley's earlier got me wondering about how lucky the Braves have been, and therefore the Pythagorean record the team has had since the streak ended. Here are the numbers, the actual record is listed first and Pythagorean second.

2006: 79-83 (85-77)
2007: 84-78 (88-74)
2008: 72-90 (79-83)
2009: 66-60 (69-57)

One could take this to mean ever since the streak ended the Braves have been really unlucky. I take this to mean managerial decisions are costing the Braves wins as in close games BC is making below average decisions resulting in fewer wins than a mathematical model involving statistics corresponding to wins would predict.
I would argue both, and downplay BC's dummy decisions. As easy of a target as Cox is, and I have him in the sights more than most, let's not ignore that there are some other dumb managers whose decisions probably cost games against the Braves.