Meat and Potatoes 6: Weekly Braves Analysis April 3-8
More Atlanta Braves News, Notes and Links.
Down on the Farm
- There were also a number of minor league roster happenings this week. Rome, Carolina, Mississippi, and Gwinnett all set their rosters. A number of minor leaguers were released this week, some rather surprisingly. Do yourself a favor and follow those links to check it all out; our own Ben Chase has put together a heck of a body of work previewing our 2016 system.
- Minor League action in the Braves system got underway on Thursday. The Braves had some standout performances, from farm hands including the aforementioned Mallex Smith, RHP Lucas Sims, SS Dansby Swanson, and 3B Austin Riley. Sneakily, Jhoulys Chacin also made his season debut in Gwinnett that night. He went 7+ innings, surrendering only 5 hits and 0 ER, while striking out 7 and walking 2. Let’s hope he brings some of that mojo with him upon rejoining The Show in the coming week.
- Here is a recap of Thursday’s minor league action.
More Atlanta Braves News and Notes
More from Tomahawk Take
- Atlanta Braves 2012 Prospect Review: Joey Terdoslavich
- Braves News: Braves sign Fuentes, Andruw’s HOF candidacy, more
- The Weakest Braves Homers Since 2015
- Atlanta Braves Sign Joshua Fuentes to Minor League Deal
- Braves News: New Year’s Eve comes with several questions about the 2023 Braves
- The Braves had a run in with the ‘new’ slide rule in the early goings. Nick Markakis set an automatic double play into motion when he made contact with the Nats’ 2B Daniel Murphy and while sliding through the bag and not maintaining contact with it. This happened a few times during the week. A quick personal note on this: why did all of the players called for this look surprised when it happened? How could they possibly not fully understand a rule that got so much attention when it was changed? Anywho, we covered this with some commentary from Jeff (with videos) and from Fred (with an deep dive into what the rule actually says). Check it.
- Amateur Draft bonus pool allocations were announced, as well as those for international signings. It should be a big summer for the Braves future, as we’ll have some early picks and likely a huge haul on the international scene. Alan has the detailed scoop here.
- Pining for some offensive upgrades in the early goings? Well, there was some fresh speculation about a swap between the Cubs and Braves involving Julio Teheran and Javier Baez or Jorge Soler. Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider wrote as much, subscription required. The season-ending injury to young OF/Catcher Kyle Schwarber would assumedly make such a move more challenging on the Cubs end. Even the wisest experts are mostly guessing at what the Braves have in mind for Teheran, of course. Just the same, Atlanta has done more than enough to establish its willingness to wheel and deal for the future. Julio is likely still on the table for the right return, but his team-friendly contract is also a big asset for the mid-market Braves.
- Former Tim Hudson will be in the announcing booth soon! More here.
Braves Links
- We have an in-depth look at the Braves 2016 payroll now that the smoke has cleared a bit. Alan has the nuts and bolts here.
- Our own Dan Horton continued his excellent series, “Leaving Fulton County” with a piece on historical Braves bench clearings. With video. You know you want to click.
From our friends at Talking Chop
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Fredi Gonzalez, Erick Aybar and lineup construction
- Some quotes and insight concerning Matt Wisler‘s first start against the Nats, here.
- On RP Daniel Winkler‘s early 2016 form, here.
- The Braves seem intent to be patient on Mallex Smith, explains this piece.
- Fredi Gonzalez is sticking to a ‘hot-hand’ approach in choosing starting catchers, apparently.
I could go on… so much to say now that we have real action… but let’s shut ‘er down. See you next week! Let me know what I missed in the comments, as always.