Catcher’s Blog

Braves finally announced their tough decisions later last night after the game. Among the cuts were Josh Anderson, Brent Lillibridge, Joe Borchard, Clint Sammons, and Jeff Ridgway. The five backups kept for the bench were Brayan Pena, who still could be traded before the day is out, Corky Miller, Ruben Gotay, Martin Prado, and Gregor Blanco.

The only decision that needs addressing is who makes the bullpen as the spot starter/longman, Jeff Bennett or Buddy Carlyle. Bennett is said to have an edge thus far, but I expect him to get the job over Carlyle since Bennett has faired a lot better in Spring. This won’t have to be decided until Smoltz comes back from the DL next Sunday on April 6. Chuck James is also starting on the DL, but is getting prepared to start if Smoltz cannot go the 6th for whatever reason. But lets not even think about that right now.

I’ve decided not to finish the Where We Stand series because it’d be kind of pointless now. I still might finish the bullpen’s part, but the bench has already been decided and I’ve already covered the two that are still vying for the last spot after Smoltz returns. If I decided to this again next year, it will be done in a more timely manner and will get finished if I indeed start it. I hate not finishing it, but what’s the point now? There is none. I’m sorry, I’ll try better next time. I just ran out of time and hope to do a better job next year, if I even do it. Also, I will try to finish the Nickname page this weekend.

Today the Braves face the Indians yet again for the last time this year at 1 pm. Hampton gets the start today and will face Jake Westbrook. Maybe we’ll fair better than last night. After today, we head up to D.C. for the Opener against the Nationals tomorrow night at 8 pm. Opening Day is only a day away and it still seems like an eternity. Baseball season is almost here, folks.   

One of the out-of-option guys was sent on his way to Pittsburgh, who we’ll be seeing on Monday, for a minor league pitcher. Tyler Yates was not proving he was worth keeping in this year’s bullpen and thus was traded to make room for one of the other out-of-option guys who have seemingly faired better than Yates this Spring. The minor leaguer we traded Yates for was the young 22-year-old, Todd Redmond, who hasn’t pitched but three times above A ball. DOB and many others see another trade happening before the week is up.

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Sorry for the lack of posting the past few days. I finally got my laptop back this past Monday. I’ve have spent the past two days re-installing things and trying to get my laptop back to what it was before it was fixed, for the most part. Everything was wiped from the laptop and that really sucks. Putting everything back on here that I previously had was a pain and a half. I’ve about got my laptop back like I had it before it was wiped, but I still lost a lot of stuff. Most of the stuff for the site was saved because it was on the server and not my computer.

I do have to re-write what I had written for the prediction post though, which I’m not too sure will get done at this point, but I might write a shortened version or something before Saturday. I started writing part 5 of the Where We Stand series on my desktop computer and will continue to write it, hopefully to have that finished pretty soon. I still have to do the bench as the last installment, but at least it won’t be as much to write, now that there have been a good bit of cuts.

Still planning on making a new design for the site because I’m not completely sold on the other one that I did. Still not sure when that will be finished, but I will try to get it done before the season is too much into full swing. Not promising anything, but I’m hoping to get a good bit done the next few days that I have off from college since I’m unable to go to Saturday’s game.

The Braves made their second round of cuts this morning. Some of the players cut were in the running for a spot on the roster, but were taken out of the running. The following players cut were Javy Lopez, who opted to retire instead of accepting a minor league assignment, Brandon Jones, Jo-Jo Reyes, Ryan Drese, Jorge Campillo, Francisely Bueno, and Jordan Schafer, who hasn’t played above A level yet.

The backup catcher roll was still too close to call between Brayan Pena, Clint Sammons, and Corky Miller. It also appears that Jair Jurrjens is going to be the man getting the 5th rotation spot now that Jo-Jo Reyes was cut, but there’s still less likely candidates Jeff Bennett and Buddy Carlyle to consider. It appears the Braves might take both Martin Prado and Brent Lillibridge up north with with them on their roster, as Omar Infante, along with Mike Gonzalez, has been placed on the 15-day DL and will probably be out until at least May. This is not a certainty, but is most likely what will happen.

With a week left in Spring Training, there will be even more battling going on. It’s going to be interesting to see how everything turns out in the end. Seven more days to go!

This game looked to be a great match-up against Cleveland and C.C. Sabathia, but Smoltz was scratched this morning after feeling shoulder soreness. Smoltz says it’s just the Braves being cautious and that it is just a Spring Training game. Smoltz also said he could start the season on the DL. I think we all really hope that doesn’t happen. Jeff Bennett will get the start instead as he tries to keep his name alive for one of the remaining bullpen spots. The game is on FSN and the boxscore is already up with not many regulars in the lineup. Still should be a good game to watch.

Also, I’m pleased to announce that the site now has its own domain name. The subdomain still works, but it forwards over to here the domain. I would suggest changing your links just to be on the safe side. It won’t hurt anything to keep the link to the subdomain for now though.

Braves play Tigers in a really good match-up with Tim Hudson taking the mound against Justin Verlander. While it is only a Spring game and both starters probably won’t go more than five innings, it will still be a great game to watch. The game is on TV on SportSouth, so make sure to catch it if you can.

Tomorrow Smoltz takes on C.C. Sabathia and the Cleveland Indians at 1:05pm, which will be another good game to watch. This game will be on TV on FSN. It’s good to get to watch the Braves and get ready for the regular season, which is just days away from being among us.

Boxscore is here.