Catcher’s Blog

Tonight we go for the sweep of the Mets. Tim Hudson will face Johan Santana in the last game of the series in what looks like to be a good game. I hope we keep hitting like we have been and knock Santana out of the game like we have the rest of the Mets starters. I’m sure it won’t be as easy as it sounds, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to do it with the way we’re playing right now. Infante wasn’t that bad of a fill-in for Escobar, but we would have a better chance of winning with Escobar back in the lineup. Chipper is questionable as well, but more likely to play than Escobar. Who knows if either will actually play tonight or not. Either way, let’s keep it going.

Yesterday couldn’t have gone more swimmingly. We beat the Mets twice in one day. How sweet is that? It’s nice we cut down our lead in the standings, but we still have two more games to play before this series ends. As we saw yesterday, Braves hitters acted like they actually had a clue at the plate with the timely hitting and smart baseball that they played. Where has this team been all year long? Patience is key at the plate. Yesterday proves that we are a much better hitting team when we don’t resort to flailing at every first pitch and are patient enough to work the count to tire the opposing pitcher. Plus it seems Teixshy and KJ have figured something out, which can only mean good things to come if they keep at it.

I once said on DOB’s Braves blog before when KJ was still struggling mightily in the leadoff role that moving him down in the lineup might help him improve. What response did I receive? That I didn’t know what I was talking about and that KJ should stay put and ”work out his slump in the leadoff spot.” Well, no offense, but I think he hit the nail on the head last night when he said that he had different situations in the bottom of the lineup and while trying to be more aggressive, he feels more comfortable there. He feels like he can do some damage rather than just work the count, see pitches, and get on base. Is KJ a decent leadoff hitter? Yes, he is, but there’s only so long you can try something one way and it not work. Try a different method and it just might click. He was pressing and trying too hard to get on base in the leadoff spot. His patience is probably the only leadoff characteristic that he possesses. He is a pull/power hitter and needs to be driving in runs, not trying to score them, even though his speed is an added bonus. My point is to keep KJ in the 7th spot, especially against the Mets.

Teixshy seems to be heating up and Frenchy is not. Teixshy was hitting all day long yesterday and in both games. Let’s hope this is the start of a really hot streak to make up for the lack of hitting he’s been doing lately. Bobby finally got off his high horse and let the 370-straight-game, right fielder sit out a game. I don’t expect Frenchy to ride the pine two games in a row, but lets hope if he is indeed back in the lineup tonight that the rest helped him out.

After last night’s collision, Escobar might be out, but no one really knows for how long. If Escobar does sit a few games, who will fill in for him? I’ve read Infante is probably our only option, unless we call someone up that probably won’t match Escobar’s production that he’s contributed so far this season. Let’s hope he’s only out for a game or two, but even that will put a hole in the leadoff spot and in defense at shortstop. Just a note on this from my viewing of the incident. I found it very admirable of Chipper to stay out on the field on one knee with the Mets’ medical staff, manager, etc. until Church was up and walking while the rest of our players went into the clubhouse. Just saying. You won’t hear any of the Mets’ fans talking about this, I’m sure.

Two games down, two more to go with the Mets. JJ is on the mound and will face Mike Pelfrey. Let’s keep it going boys and take the series at the very least.

The next two series coming up are against the Mets, who are still playing well, and the Diamondbacks, who have the best record in baseball thus far. The longest homestand of the season continues with a doubleheader tomorrow against another of our division rivals in the Mets. We shall see what happens as anything is possible in this game.

Smoltz has had a setback and has discomfort in his elbow, which may result in his comeback later rather than the expected end of the month timetable he was under. Let’s hope Smoltz isn’t out too long and comes back healthy so he can help the team out. Feel better, Smoltzie!

“It could be anywhere between the [late May] timetable I discussed and a lot longer,” said Smoltz, 41, who reported discomfort following his Thursday and Saturday bullpen sessions. He said he doesn’t know yet whether he can pitch in games until the situation improves — or when it will improve.

Also, in case you missed This Week In Baseball this weekend, here’s the segment done on McFrenchy. Personally, I felt the whole thing could have been done better than it was, as the other two segments of “brothers” were done on a more personal level it seemed, but I’ll take this anyway.

Tonight kicks off Interleague play with three games against some of the current Braves’ former team, the A’s. I really don’t know much about them because I don’t really watch any other baseball besides the Braves, but I’ve read some things about them in this Talking with the Enemy over at Talking Chop. And with my curiosity, I’ve looked at what Yahoo! has to say about the team, well, from a statistical perspective anyway. (It sounded good anyway.)

Chipper will hopefully be back in the lineup tonight after sitting out last night’s game as a precaution. Some of the guys in our lineup have not faced the A’s before, but the one’s who have, have mixed BA between good and bad. Only question I have about this is, can we please not play Infante tonight for KJ, even though it’s a lefty on the mound for the A’s? In a total of 78 ABs against the A’s, Infante sports a lowly .192 BA. KJ’s faced the A’s in three ABs and has two walks with one strikeout. I’d put my money on KJ with this one, but that’s just my opinion.

Jurrjens will face Dana Eveland, who has a career ERA of 13.50 in 1.1 IP against the Braves, but so far this season is doing reasonably well with a 3.23 ERA. Jurrjens will pitch on short rest, so let’s hope he has his stuff after only throwing 69 pitches in his last start. Let’s start Interleague play off well and please let’s not have a repeat of last year’s Interleague play.

Also, there will be a McFrenchy appearance on This Week In Baseball. It’s set to air tomorrow at 12 pm EST on FOX where I live. Check your local listings to see when it comes on in your town. Be sure to catch it if you can. I know I will.

Last night was how you really win ballgames, even though Boyer decided to make it interesting in the 9th. But still, a win is a win. Tonight we wrap the series up with Chuckie going against Cole Hammels. While we have a few guys that haven’t seen Hammels, and even though his ERA against the Braves is over 4, there are some guys in the lineup that haven’t done anything against him. But the two people I see as keys tonight are Mac and Chipper. Mac has a .444 BA with 4 hits, 2 doubles, and three RBIs against Hamels and Chipper has a .333 BA with 3 hits, 1 double, 2 HR, and 3 RBIs against Hammels. So, Mac and Chipper are my two key people for tonight’s game.  

Edit: Chipper will sit out tonight’s game after tweaking his groin last night. Let’s hope this doesn’t sideline Chipper for too long. It’ll be interesting to see how tonight’s lineup does, lacking Chipper and KJ. Lineup looks like this:

1. Escobar, SS
2. Infante, 3B
3. Frenchy, RF
4. Teixshy, 1B
5. Mac, C
6. Matty, LF
7. Kotsay, CF
8. Gotay, 2B
9. Chuckie, P