I met Mike Dunn today....

[BigWorm]

He was a real nice guy. My daughter and wife took me and my father out to Mimi's cafe in Buford for Father's Day breakfast. Apparently Mike Dunn and his wife were taking his dad (and mom) out for the same thing. As we were waiting outside for our buzzers to go off I started catching glimpses of their conversation. He was talking about the game last night. At first I thought he was Brooks Conrad because they are both bald. We were sitting right next to his family and I said "Are you Brooks?" He laughed and said No. I said do you play for Gwinnett? He said Yes, I'm Mike Dunn. I then spouted off the transaction in which the Braves got him (trade with the Yankees) and he smiled. His father laughed when I said that the Yankees could use a good left handed reliever nowadays. I then commented how I saw a not too good performance the other day from one, to which his dad said "Yeah, Boone Logan." I really wish him the best. He gained a fan in my family for being so cool to us. I told him that it'll be awesome to have him and Venters anchoring our bullpen in the future.

Just a random story, but I wanted to brag a bit.

[Andy G.]

Awesome. I love that we have Mike Dunn in our system. Just like Kimbrel, he doesn't have to be extremely accurate to be a good reliever in the majors. His stuff is so good that he can get away with some wildness. It's really cool that you met him, and I'm happy to hear that he wasn't a douche.

[quick]

Seems like he's a genuine nice guy...even after he was mistaken for Brooks Conrad. lol

With he, Venters and O'Flaherty, the lefty situation in Atlanta seems pretty well sewn up...but my fear would be that one of them will be packaged up this winter to either acquire a closer or to acquire something else this team may need (3B? LF? Setup man?). I honestly see room for all 3...especially if Venters is used in his earlier longman hybrid role of pitching multiple innings on one night...and coming back later in the week to give the big guns (though, he's developing into one) a night off.

Should Venters be the closer of the future? He seems to have the right stuff.

[sdp]

Venters has gotta cut down on the walks if he wants to be a closer. The only thing that's saving him right now is that his K/9 (9.9) is almost double his BB/9 (5.2). Same goes for Kimbrel. With the right amount of coaching and mentoring, I think control is something that comes with age and maturity. Both guys are still very young.

[Lauren T.]

Venters is my pick for our closer next year if Wags sticks with his retirement promise. I think he's got it, and I'm not just saying that because he told me I pitch well on Saturday. :D (He was the nicest guy there, and I know you guys don't care about that, but it means a lot to some fans.) He's got the rest of this season to iron things out, but I have a lot of confidence in him.

[IkeWagner]

Venters has gotta cut down on the walks if he wants to be a closer. The only thing that's saving him right now is that his K/9 (9.9) is almost double his BB/9 (5.2). Same goes for Kimbrel. With the right amount of coaching and mentoring, I think control is something that comes with age and maturity. Both guys are still very young.

I of course agree that both guys can potentially improve their control, but at least with Kimbrel, he seems to have the type of wildness that will never completely go away--he will always walk people. We'll just have to live with that, but it's easier to live with when the dude strikes out almost everyone he doesn't walk.