Catcher’s Blog

Braves come up with a series win in a very big way. They scored four runs last night and twelve today, with the Pads only scoring a total of five runs in the last two games (eight for the entire series). If we stay hot like that offensively and can get everyone healthy for the second half, we would be in good shape. Too bad I’m not counting on us playing that well the rest of the season. I hope we do, but I won’t hold my breath. Everyone is going to go through some slumps now and then and have bad games, that’s just how it is. Chipper and Mac will probably be out and about in New York tomorrow with the All-Star festivities starting. While I won’t be here to provide coverage for it, I’m sure Lauren of Braves Love will be on top of it like she currently is on most of the goings-on in the Braves world. I hope to hear (and see) good things about the two Braves’ sluggers when I return on Saturday, or hopefully before then if I’m able to get Internet access any this week. I wish Brian and Chipper both good luck in Tuesday’s All-Star game.

With the All-Star break upon us, the trade rumors will now start to fly around a bit more than they currently are as the trade deadline looms near. We will most likely hear a few here and there about random teams wanting some extra help for the long haul of the second half, but writers are saying Teixshy might be the most sought-after player right now with his Gold-Glove caliber defense and his bettering offense. A poll on AJC asks readers their opinion on this matter, if we will or will not trade Teixshy, with 58.93% saying the Braves will indeed trade Teixshy, while 41.07% say they won’t. Personally, I don’t think the Braves will trade their first baseman, especially since we’re not out of the race by any means yet and he’s too good of an all-around player to trade away. Who would play first if we did trade him? Scott Thorman? Yeah, I really don’t want to witness that again.

Also having rumors flying around about being traded is Will Ohman. Ohman has provided the Braves with a sturdy lefty relief pitcher and has been very effective in most situations all season. We could possibly trade him for something as he has trade value, but I’m not sure that we’ll trade anyone with too much effectiveness unless we get someone good in return. But while Ohman is effective in his rolls, we now have Gonzo back to fill in the lefty reliever roll, but Gonzo is our closer with Soriano still out. Although, if I had to make a choice, I would keep Ohman over Ring. Someone is going to go somewhere if Matty, Glavine, and Hampton (it would be a miracle) comes back after the break. But we shall see what happens later this week after the break.

I’m gone now until probably next Sunday. Have a good break and enjoy your time off from the world of baseball. I know I will, even though I’m sure I’ll be ready for it again before I come back.

As it has been announced, Chipper will indeed be the starting third baseman in this year’s All-Star game, and deservedly so. Mac will be one of the backups to Geovanny Soto, along with Russell Martin. Here’s one of the stories from SI.com on the whole NL catcher’s deal:

And how do the National League players snub Atlanta catcher Brian McCann, instead putting L.A’s Russell Martin in as rookie Geovany Soto’s backup? I love Martin and his game, and I’ll admit that this is a tough call. But you have to take McCann’s power over a few more walks, don’t you? Merit-wise, I mean?

Now they’re saying Mac got snubbed as a backup? Geez. He should be starting, end of story. At least he’s going period, I guess, but this makes three straight All-Star games for Mac in a row and it’s just his third full year in the majors. How awesome is that? I won’t get to watch either way because I’ll be camping at Hunting Island, SC all next week and won’t have access to a TV more than likely. Hopefully someone, somewhere will get some footage of Mac playing, if he even plays at all. Congrats Chipper and Mac, though, on receiving this chance to be in the Mid-Summer Classic at Yankee Stadium; it is very well deserved.

In other news, Frenchy has been recalled after spending three days in AA ball, after being sent down Friday to work on his swing. In this promotion of Frenchy, though, we’ve had to put more players on the DL. Bennett, Acosta, and Infante will be replaced on the roster by Frenchy, Vladimir Nunez, and Brent Lillibridge. The Braves will only play with eleven pitchers, but opted to promote another infielder because the All-Star break is only a week away. I’m sure they promoted Lillibridge because of Escobar’s recent injuries as well and uncertainty that he’ll play tonight, or in the event that he’s out a few more games than expected. Why is that when we finally get some players healthy and off the DL, we have a few more that have to be put on there from more injuries? It’s just unreal.

Trade rumors are starting to fly around about the Braves trading Teixshy. Here’s a take on this situation from John Donovan of SI.com:

With C.C. Sabathia now off the trade table after his weekend shipping to Milwaukee, we should probably turn our attention to the big slugger on the block, Mark Teixeira. Will someone be able to pry the switch-hitting first baseman away from the Braves for a pennant run? My guess: No. The Braves face the Dodgers and Padres before the All-Star Game, which means they’ll probably hit the break closer to the NL East lead than they are now (six games at the start of the week). With Teixeira, they have a chance at stealing the lackluster East. Without him, they have none.

My take is that we won’t trade him while only being six games back the week before the All-Star break. My hope is that we play well against these two West Coast teams and dwindle our way back toward the top of standings. But realistically, if we can take both series (4 of 6), that would be great. Hopefully we can feed off last night’s huge win and play some good baseball.

I wasn’t going to post at all until I finished my review post of the game I went to, which I’m still working on, but since I received this in my inbox today reminding me that Mac still needs more votes to go to the All-Star game with only two days to vote, I thought I would post it. It’s way too cute not to post.

That would get me to vote for anything that has to do with Mac. I don’t think it would matter what it was for, just because of that face, I would vote for or support it. This will always be how I think of Mac, even when I see pictures like these. There’s not a thing he could do to change my mind of his cute, teddy bear-like appeal. Well, okay, I can maybe think of a few things, but I doubt he would ever do those things, or at least so no one sees him doing those things.

vote for Mac!

I’ve already mentioned the All-Star game one time, but Mac really deserves to go this year with the way his first half is going. I know that Chicago fans are voting like mad for their catcher Soto, who is having a great year as well, but Mac has been to the past two All-Star games as a reserve. He deserves to be “rewarded” per se as the starter for his major improvement from last year, which was plagued by injuries that he won’t use as an excuse because he’s good like that. Mac is only down by 202,717 votes, which is not a low margin, but not unreachable either. With this All-Star ballot, you can vote 25 times with one e-mail and when that runs out, use another e-mail or make a free one solely for this. Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, or wherever, just vote for Mac; he deserves to go to this game. Fans should bust their butts to get him there this year. This fansite has the right idea: McCann YOU Dig It? I plan on making a bigger All-Star banner for this, so expect to see that up soon, and vote for Mac however many times you can.

Maybe now that we’ve finally mastered the art of winning an extra-inning game, we’ll be able to accomplish even more and improve on our struggles on the road and in one-run games as well. Baby steps. Today is a 1:00 pm game and is on Peachtree TV again like last night’s game. Glavine will face Mark Hendrickson and hopefully we’ll pick up another win. Let’s hope Glavine has a better outing than his last few have turned out.

Last night didn’t seem to prove that these off days are helping too much and we have one tomorrow and another on Monday. Why is that when they play the Nats, they seem to forget every fundamental ability to that they’ve learned? Maybe the Nats’ bad luck rubs off on us, but then lasts for a few games after, unfortunately. It seems to be the same thing over and over again. The starting pitching is giving us quality starts and the offense, defense, and bullpen seem to keep letting us down in some way or another, ending in a loss. I know it’s too early to panic, but something has got to give somewhere. The same guys are having to produce because the rest of the offense is not doing their part, especially with men on base and RISP.

On to a less ranting topic, Smoltz has been placed on the 15-day DL with bicep and rotater cuff inflammation. The doctors don’t think the injury will need surgery, but Smoltz says he won’t be returning before he thinks he’s ready. Even then he says that closing is another option, rather than starting because of the way his body has reacted this season so far. Placing him in the bullpen will take a lot of wear and tear off his aging body and may keep him with the team a lot longer. Hopefully he can come back to the rotation, but if it’s in the team’s and Smoltz’s best interest, then we should at least consider it. Smoltz isn’t ready to hit the panic button yet either, though, and we shouldn’t either, as bad as things have gotten and have gone lately.

There’s a nicely written and humorous article about Mac’s triple the other night, which you can see some videos here if you need a reminder, and about his speed or lack there of. Basically, it’s about how much of an asset Mac is to the team even without speed on his side and that he’s already one of the best catcher’s in the league, if not the game, for accomplishing some of the feats he’s already achieved. Of course, Mac is modest and doesn’t think he’s even comparable to catchers with more experience, such as Pudge Rodriguez and the like. But we all know he is.

The All-Star Voting has begun. Make sure to cast your vote for your favorite players, preferably Braves of course, by July 2. All the Braves starters are on the ballot this year, so if you think our Braves deserve to go to the All-Star game, please make sure to vote. You’re allowed to vote 25 times, so make it count.

Also, the default theme that I have on the site only temporary until I can find time to finish up another one. I’m not sold on this one as the main layout, so, again, it’s only the main layout temporaryily. The other theme was getting on my nerves, so I changed it. If you like the previous theme still, feel free to switch the to theme with the the theme switcher at the bottom of the right hand sidebar.