Braves Rebound

After a three game losing streak (getting swept by the Phillie 5/25-27), the Bravos took 2 of three from the Brew Crew in Milwaukee. Unfortunately for the Braves, their recent stumble (losing 6 of their last 10) has cost them a couple games in the standings to the New York Mets. The Metropolitans are 33-18 and lead the 30-23 Bravos by 4 games in the NL East.

The Mets are flat out good - even without Pedro Martinez. When you've got Shawn Green (who was just put on the DL) hitting 7th, you're a pretty good ball club (Green was hitting .314 before going on the shelf).

The Mets are an All Star team. Reyes, Lo Duca, and Chavez are all hitting over .300. Carlos Beltran (a career .281 hitter) is hitting .294 and flashing plenty of leather in the outfield. David Wright is back on track after a terrible April (21 RBI in May vs. 6 in the opening month). Oh yeah, don't forget a left handed hitting first baseman who has over 400 career homers (Carlos Delgado) who is just a sleeping giant at the moment.

The pitching for the Mets is pretty nice too. Future Hall of Famer (and former Brave) Tom Glavine is solid, Oliver Perez has figured out how to pitch this year (2.69 ERA, 64 IP, 47 H). John Main is pitching the best ball of his short career (6-2, 2.79 ERA) and Orland "El Duke" Hernandez has pitched quite well in 6 outings thus far. Did I already say they have Pedro working his way back for the post season run? Oh, and don't let me forget that the Mets waved a magic wand over Jorge Sosa (former Brave) to get him 4 wins in 5 starts.

The Mets are good. The Braves can't afford to go through rough patches like they have in the recent past. I didn't even mention the Mets bullpen - which is scary good with rookie Joe Smith (1.59 ERA, 26K in 22.2 IP), Pedro Feliciano (0.96 ERA in 18.2 IP), and the best closer in the game (my opinion) Billy Wagner (1.57 ERA, 12 for 12 in Saves).

Chipper Jones has been sitting for a week with a sore right hand. Pete Orr got a pair of starts at the hot corner in the Milwaukee series. He made an error in the field and went 1-7 at the plate. Pete has the lowest batting average (.189) on the club.

Bullpen Down 1 for the Rest of the Way

No, I'm not talking about Mark Redman. Lefty Mike Gonzalez has to shut it down for 12-14 months so he can have, and rehabilitate from, ligament transplant surgery according to ajc.com.

Gonzalez, who came over from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the off season in exchange for Adam LaRoche (there were minor league players swapped in the deal as well), pitched in 18 games for the Braves this season with a 1.59 ERA.

This could, with emphasis on could, mean that Joey Devine could be around for a while longer. Since I have been less than accurate in recent predictions I'm giving the politically correct "cautiously optimistic" line.

So, the Braves bullpen is down to one left-hander - Macay McBride. Look for the Bravos to try to get another lefty in the mix down in the 'pen. Hmmm...Mark Redman is still available? He gave up 38 hits in 21.2 innings and posted an ERA of 11.63 during his 6 games with the Bravos this year...but wait! He did have an ingrown toenail.

Pete Orr has never been on the disabled listed during his Major League career.

Smoltz Wins #200

John Smoltz won his 200th career game tonight. He's now tied for 107th place on the All Time Wins List for Pitchers. Now the question everyone in baseball seems to be asking now - is Smoltzy a Hall of Famer?

1. He has 200 career wins; 196 of his wins were as a starter.
2. He spent 3.5 years of his career in the bullpen where he saved 154 games.
3. When he was a closer he led the majors in saves once, ranked 2nd once, and had 4th most once.
4. He's a 7-time All Star (2 of them as a reliever).
5. He won a Cy Young Award.
6. He has 2,838 career strike outs.
7. He has a career ERA of 3.27.
8. He is 15-4 with a 2.65 ERA and 4 saves in the post season.

John Smoltz is a Hall of Famer. You need not compare him to other Hall of Famers to justify his inclusion. What he has done speaks for itself. Pete Orr is not, however, a Hall of Famer...at least not yet.

Joey Devine Back in the Bigs

Reliever Joey Devine, believed to be the closer of the future for the Atlanta Braves is back in Atlanta today after the Bravos cut loose Mark Redman.

OK, So I Was Wrong

Yesterday, the Braves sent catcher Brayan Pena down to AAA Richmond in order to activate pitcher (and I use that term loosely) Mark Redman. The move makes my speculation Bobby Cox planning to use Salty at 1B totally wrong. There I admitted it.

Pete Orr is back to being the #3 catcher.

Things Just Sorta Work Out

The Braves released Craig Wilson today. The first baseman was hitting .172 in 58 at bats this season. Wilson, a career .262 hitter, had been platooning (kinda) with Scott Thorman. The move has to be a result of Wilson's lack of hitting, but more directly the debut of the highly touted Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Salty is the catching prospect who the Braves have been excited about for the past couple years. With the quick rise of Brian McCann it has crowed the stock behind home plate.

I'm thinking the switch hitting Salty will get a pretty good amount of PT at 1B. The Braves activated Brayan Pena from the DL today after cutting loose Wilson. The Bravos still have to pay the rest of his $2 million salary this season.

The Braves have three players listed as catchers on the roster now - the combined salary of the trio is $1.43 million (McCann $666,667; Pena $380,000; Salty $380,000). It appears that none of them will be leaving anytime soon - unless the injury bug strikes. I don't recall the last time that the Braves had three catchers on the roster - for any prolonged period of time. If you count Pete Orr as a catcher - which they say he can be if the Bravos were ever in need - then the Braves have 4 backstops.

Pete Gets His Shot

With Chipper Jones taking a couple days off after doing a face plant on Friday night when he and and the Pirates 3rd baseman Jose Bautista got in each other's way. He bruised his writs or something. This opened the door for Pete Orr to get a start at the hot corner. Prior to Saturday night, Orr had played only 2 innings in the field (1 at 2nd and 1 at 3rd).

Orr batted 8th in the lineup in both games. Saturday, Orr ripped an opposite field double, but went hitless the rest of the night...ending it 1-5. Sunday afternoon was not any better as Orr went 0-3 with a walk. He did, however, drive a ball to deep right, but it was caught.

I watched Saturday night's game on the edge of my seat as Chuck James took a perfect game in the 6th and a no-hitter into the 7th. Sunday's game was one that I'll be looking forward to forgetting as the Pirates punded out 18 hits on their way to a 13-2 pounding of the Bravos.

If Jones needs another game off, it could be Orr again on Monday vs. Jason Bermann and the Washington Nationals.

The Old Switcheroo

Welcome back to the NL East Ryan Langerhans. It's been a while since we've seen a double backstabbing.

The Oakland Athletics traded Langy to the Washington Nationals. The Nats, apparently, have coveted thy neighbor's outfielder for sometime, but the Bravos didn't want to trade him within the division. In exchange for Langy, the A's got Chris Snelling, who came to the Nats in a December trade with the Seattle Mariners....and what division are the M's in? Yup, the AL West.

This is certainly not substantiated, but all evidence points to some backdoor deal between Billy Beane (Oakland GM) and Jim Bowden (Washington GM).

The San Franciso Chronicle agrees with the above:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/05/03/SPGKPPJ6811.DTL

To be honest, who really cares?

We're talking about guy who's hitting .061 in 49 AB this season and guy who has less than 50 career hits. Besides, the Braves got what they want out of the whole thing - cash....to help that tight payroll.

As I was writing this, Pete Orr reached base in the 8th when he layed a bunt down the first base line. The hit brings his average to an even .300 for the season.