I’m back from a fun weekend trip to Atlanta to see all 3 games of the Braves’ series against the Astros. As a result of the trip, I haven’t had the chance to put any of the stat pages together or do any meaningful analysis. I’m also going to be out of pocket for a few days at work, and I’m still trying to recover from the trip a little bit in terms of sleep. So, it will probably be next week before I do a full update.
My plan for this week is to post pictures from the trip either Tuesday or Wednesday, and I’ll do a two-week stats post at the start of next week.
For now, a few quick hits about the weekend series and other related events:
- We were at the ballpark for about 8 hours on Sunday, sitting through the rain delay and the entire record-long game. It was nice to see an exciting game in person, but I couldn’t have asked for anything like that. Friday and Saturday were nice trips to the park, but Sunday’s game was worth sitting through some of the stinkers I’ve been on hand to witness.
- By now, I’m sure you’re aware that the Braves have recalled a “betrayed” Jeff Francoeur from AA Mississippi. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that he tore up the Lookouts’ pitching over the weekend, but I was fairly shocked by the quick call-up, especially since Frank Wren was gushing about how clear it was that Jeff had improved. That’s pure baloney, and I’ll be shocked if Jeff produces any better than his 2007 rate stats for the rest of the year. He hasn’t shown any improvement in three years, and while the Braves could have handled the situation much, much better, Jeff has a lot of learning left to do. The Braves have made a mistake by marketing him as a star ever since he was called up 3 years ago, and his immature remarks upon being sent down suggest that he believes he’s a star also. I’m just hoping he won’t be one of the league’s worst regular outfielders from this point forward and that the Braves will adjust their marketing strategy to get his head out of the clouds.
- Congratulations are in order to the Braves’ two All-Stars, Chipper Jones and Brian McCann. Both are clearly deserving, and there probably weren’t any snubs on the team. Tim Hudson and Jair Jurrjens are having very solid seasons, but I won’t feel bad seeing them get a few extra days off. Chipper and Brian could use the rest, too, but at least McCann is a reserve. When David Wright wins the fan vote for the last player in, he will give the NL a solid replacement option when Chipper comes out of the game.
- Now six games out and still stuck in fourth, when is the chatter going to start about the Braves becoming sellers for once? They haven’t been (potentially) on this side of the market since I was too young to remember. I’m not so naive as to think they’re more than a very long shot to make the playoffs this year, so it would make sense to at least explore some options.
Good night.
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