 |
| Good fans. :) |
 |
| MLB |
From Bowman on braves.com:
The Braves will almost certainly not tender Peter Moylan a contract by Monday. But Wren said he has already had discussions with Moylan's agent, Adam Katz, about the possibility of the Australian reliever returning once he begins throwing and proves that his surgically repaired right shoulder is sound.Okay. I get it. He's had 3 back surgeries. He's had Tommy John. He just had his shoulder zapped. Wren is 100% business-minded (which is why I have never wanted to be a baseball exec) and he might see a health liability there for a 30-something reliever.
Moylan made just seven appearances this year before he needed to undergo back surgery to repair a ruptured disc. After he returned to the Atlanta bullpen in September, he made just six more appearances before needing to undergo shoulder surgery.
While Moylan is hoping to be ready to pitch early next season, there is certainly a chance he could miss much of the season's first half.
"There's still some unknown about his health status," Wren said. "We probably won't know more until he starts throwing and we get deeper into the rehab process."
This video showed up in my inbox today, and after about 10 seconds in, I made my cousins Andy and Emily watch it on the big TV instead of on a computer. It's totally worth full-screen, y'all. The only way it could be better is if it also included EO and Meds and Moylo and all the other bullpen boys we love. :)
I hate November. It's just bleak. No Braves, no Hawks this year, everyone's gearing up for Christmas when it's not even Thanksgiving yet. I just went to New York for a Big Gay Halloween (thanks to a fabulous friend of mine), and while that was so fun, coming back to the harsh realities of NOVEMBER suck. Here are some things that have happened lately...
You can vote in the GIBBY (Greatness in Baseball Yearly) Awards. Through December 4, vote here as often as you can for the following Braves:
| I forgot my camera! Yay for camera phones. |
I haven't commented on our new hitting coach because I don't really have an opinion. Sure, Greg Walker is from Douglas, GA -- that doesn't necessarily mean he's the most amazing choice! ...But obviously, I don't know anything. I mean, look what Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas has to say about him!
Do you see the Braves signing Mark DeRosa to be a super-utility type of guy?
-- Jeff M., Lakeland, Fla.
DeRosa's versatility could certainly help the Braves, and there's no doubt he would like to play alongside his good friends Chipper Jones and Brian McCann. His ability to play most of the infield positions and corner outfield positions would give manager Fredi Gonzalez some of the flexibility that he lacked with Brooks Conrad this past season.
But there are also concerns about DeRosa, who has recorded just 201 plate appearances since suffering a left wrist injury in 2009. He partially tore a tendon in his left wrist again this past May. After returning in early August, he hit .367 with just one extra-base hit (a double) in 49 at-bats.
While some of you might remember DeRosa as a shortstop during the early days of his career, he has made just two appearances (one start) at the position since the start of the 2007 season. Still, as long as he remains healthy, he certainly has the potential to give the Braves bench that it lacked this year.
Facing Rangers starter Derek Holland for the first time in his career, Freese struck out in his first at-bat. He later grounded into a double play and grounded out to short.
"Very impressive," Freese said of Holland's night, which featured 8 1/3 shutout innings. "If I was going to compare it, it was kind of like facing [Braves reliever Jonny] Venters for eight innings. Same type of action on everything. Throwing offspeed for strikes. Spotting in. Tough battle."
At the end of 2008, I wrote an end of the year wrap-up on each player in the organization. 2009 was skipped, and last year I decided to write “love notes” instead of a semi-objective wrap up for each player. A few people have wondered if I’m doing the same this year – why not? So here are short little notes to the boys, from one of their biggest fans. Ya know. :)
Names taken from baseball-reference.com, hope I didn’t miss anyone...
Yeah, I know, I don't want to think about it any more than you do, but here we go...
“I’m proud of the club," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We battled today. The ball that Pence hit, you couldn’t throw it or place it any better. And they got the win. It’s a good club over there, but I’m really proud of our club, the way we battled. We had an opportunity to play for tomorrow, but it didn’t work out."
"But baseball’s like that. It’s kind to you one day and fickle the next.” - Chipper
O’Flaherty finished the season with an 0.98 ERA which is the lowest season ERA by a reliever with at least 75 games since 1900.
Q. Has it become redundant to hear [Lowe] say he needs to make mechanical changes? A. No, I just think it’s a situation where you want to put the best five starters out there, and right now the way we project, I’m not sure Derek would be one of our best five starters. I’ll just leave it at that.
Q. Is re-signing Alex Gonzalez still an option? A. Yes.
Q. How concerned are you about Hanson’s shoulder? A. Based on the information we have right now, not very. It’s just going to take some time. None of the doctors have come back with any structural damage, and so it’s one of those things where we were trying to ramp him up and see if we could get him ready to pitch at some point in the postseason if we made the postseason, and he couldn’t get going that quickly.
Q. What do you tell Medlen about his role heading into the winter? A. He could do so many things. The great thing was getting him back and getting him into major league games and competing again, because it sends him off with the confidence that he knows he’s back, and we know he’s back. And whether he’s a starter or a reliever – I don’t know the answer to that right now – but he can do either.
In Atlanta, where the Phillies swept the Braves in the final three regular-season games, reliever Jonny Venters said he had a sleepless night. "I was just sitting in bed," he said. "I couldn't really believe what happened. "Everybody started struggling at the same time. Everything just kind of snowballed."
"If you look at our offense for the whole year, it never clicked for whatever reason," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It never hit on all cylinders. The pitching covered it up for 5 months."
"My mind was rushing," [Kimbrel] said. "Things started moving too fast. My head started moving too fast. My brain. I didn't put it together. It was just too late when I felt like I could. "It was tough. It was tough to be so close and then have the feeling like it was falling out of your hand. And that's the feeling I have now."Poor Kimmie.
 |
| Cute. :) cbscleveland.com |
 |
| last day |
 |
| Why are shortstops always bffs? |
 |
| Gas South made some HUGE donations to local charities. So nice. :) |
 |
| Make sure you enlarge this one and look at the faces. I love them, and I wish this was more clear. |
 |
| Nice, Meds. |
 |
| Kimmie waving at everyone cheering for him. |
 |
| Goooo Huddy! |
 |
| This guy and his awesome intro song can go away now. Never liked him. His bloop hit didn't help anything. |
 |
| Socks UP, Joe Blanton! My fave Phillies FABF. :D |
 |
| No grimacing, Huddy! ...Wait, what am I saying. It's the end of the season. They're probably all grimacing, on or off the field. Poor tired boys. |
 |
| Game was going pretty well. This guy...this guy right here? Eric O'Flaherty lowered his ERA to 0.98. That's the lowest reliever ERA (with 75+ IP) since 1900. Amazeballs. |
 |
| I want them to stand back-to-back. :) |
 |
| My new phone wallpaper. What can I say, I like some Socks Up! I also like how he was pants down the day before and socks up for the last game. It's just not the same when he wears long pants. |
 |
| You're welcome to hit Utley like your friend did the other day. No one would mind. Promise. (Well, except maybe Utley...) |
 |
| The Braves gave out 25,000 foam tomahawks. I guess that's a good way to try to make us do the Chop? I think the only times I chopped this season were to show a kid how to do it or imitating DLowe's special chop. (I think it's overdone, frankly. SOMEONE WALKED IN THE FOURTH INNING! START THE CHOP CHANT! ...No.) (Irrelevant: I love the TV show "Chopped".) |
 |
| I will always cheer for our relievers running in. Go, Kimmeh! |
 |
| Pete Orr!! I was just lamenting I hadn't seen him all series. |
 |
| I was looking over at the dugout, squinting a little. Brother: What's going on? Me: Nothing, just trying to see who's sitting on the cooler. Brother: I can't tell... Me: Oh! I can use the super stalker zoom on this camera! [click] Me: ALISON. Look at Gonzo sitting in DLowe's spot! Alison: AAAAH! (It was Larry Parrish on the cooler, if you can't see.) |
 |
| SHUTTING IT DOWN, Kris Medlen. He was incredible. |
 |
| *pat pat* |
 |
| I like Anthony. I'll be interested to see where he is next year. |
 |
| Me: Look at that WHIP! Brother: What's WHIP, again? Me: ...You were a pitcher. |
 |
| The last at-bat of the year |
 |
| Yeah. |
 |
| This picture has a soundtrack. |
 |
| See the losing pitcher there? I defended him to EVERYONE, telling people they need to support their team. I made jokes that the only people who clapped / cheered when he came in were his wife and I, haha. In the end, I still believe our bullpen was super-strong this year and it had an incredible amount of talent. We'll see what next year brings. |
 |
| Bye boys. Heart. |
 |
| I appreciate the sentiment. |
 |
| Is this not one of the cutest Jonny faces you've ever seen?! |
 |
| Oh hey, Mike. Nice pose, EO. |
 |
| Pretty sure they can hear us talking. Hmm. |
 |
| Predicting his homer later that night? :) |
 |
| Constanza bopped his head and sang along to some reggaeton |
 |
| Step in some gum, Huddy? What is this. |
 |
| My last BP of the year, loved seeing JV flipping his glove again. |
 |
| The teef are so glowy, and the socks so awesome. |
 |
| I'm really gonna miss Kimmie's BP poses. |
 |
| So smiley :) |
 |
| Oh, he's still modeling. More pictures, yes? Yes. |
 |
| EO might be onto me... ha! |
 |
| "It looks good. Seriously, it does." |
 |
| Hey, far away pitchers... |
 |
| Wrestling! |
 |
| Jonny wins! |
 |
| ...and picks out a kid in the stands for the ball. Aww. |
 |
| I could see his calves from a million feet away! |
 |
| Tongue out? Yep, this might be enough to distract me from MedSocks! |
 |
| *pat pat* (...not really) |
 |
| :( ;) |
 |
| That's some good company to keep, if we're talking pitching skills. (I'm sorry, y'all know I love Cliff Lee. Heh.) |
 |
| BYE BOYS FOR THE LAST TIME THIS SEASON! |
 |
| For Alison. :) Also, Mr. Lee? I have no idea how you can see the girls with shades that dark. ;) |
 |
| Fraternizing! |
 |
| FRATERNIZING! |
 |
| Mike gettin some Huggla |
 |
| GO DLOWE! Some of us never stopped cheering... |
 |
| This just hasn't been his year, though. |
 |
| They don't always show this - I wish they would. |
 |
| Mac! |
 |
| Goooo Vizzy! |
 |
| Two-Bit won the Tool Race again! WTG D! |
 |
| Teheran! Where do you think he'll be next year? |
 |
| They showed Houston winning on our Jumbotron. The stadium went nuts! |
 |
| A little Bastardo for Molly. ;) |
 |
| Mattay! |
 |
| I can't... even... |
 |
| Love you, bullpen boys. Did you notice Jonny wasn't socks up? I was horrified... but I understand if he feels he needs to change something up. *sigh* |
