Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: I do not envy Coppy’s job right now

The first half is now officially over… and the heavy lifting is about to begin.  There are a lot of tough problems to solve; there are a lot of difficult calls to make.

The Atlanta Braves did not get the boost we were hoping for to end the first half:  Houston was being Houston and the Braves missed a chance at something better than the 2-2 split in Washington.

So the team is now 42-45 and 9½ games behind Washington – a team themselves quite banged up and bullpen-beleaguered.

Worse, the Braves are about to start on what looks to be the toughest schedule stretch of the year:

• Arizona (3 games)
• Cubs (3)
• Dodgers (4, away)
• Arizona (3, away)
• Philadelphia (4, away – trade deadline at end)

Right after that, the Dodgers come to Atlanta, and August also features 7 games with the Rockies – the closest Wild Card team.

So what do you do if you’re Coppy?

Pitching

Who gets traded?  Julio Teheran?  Jamie Garcia (who is about 3 weeks too late to be moved, it seems)?  R.A. Dickey?   Wait until the end of the year?

Who replaces one or more of the above?  Do you pursue Sonny Gray (who is pretty likely to be traded by Oakland)?  Marcus Stroman?  Wait until the end of the year?

How about the bullpen?  Do you like what you’ve got?  How much do you have to ‘pay’ to upgrade there?

Infield

Remember last Winter when the Braves were concerned enough about Jace Peterson to go out and get someone who could play second and/or third base?  Yeah – Good times.

Since then, here’s everyone connected with the team who are rehabbing or who otherwise could handle the position, and/or might be ready to roll in the next week or so:

• Peterson
• Brandon Phillips
• Sean Rodriguez
• Micah Johnson
• Johan Camargo
• Ozzie Albies

That list doesn’t even count the positional juxtaposition deal with Matt Adams and Freddie Freeman.  It also includes neither Rio Ruiz nor the surgically repaired Adonis Garcia (though his return is not imminent).  So what happens here?

The most obvious move is a trade of Phillips.  Peterson will probably be stuck at AAA for the duration.  Travis Demeritte – not named above – could be trade bait.

Camargo – for the good work he’s done – could be forced to return there as well until September to leave room for Rodriguez and Johnson.  But certainly he’s earned himself a spot … possibly at third base for a while.

Garcia might be back in September when rosters expand.  Ruiz?  Might have to battle next Spring with Camargo, but will have to refine his craft in AAA in the meantime.

Meanwhile, Albies is clearly very close now… but that’s a long list.

Outfield

On the next slide, I will be talking about Ronald Acuna, but that makes one wonder about the disposition of Nick Markakis, who has a full season remaining on his contract after 2017.

Could the Royals use him?  Somebody else perhaps?

Acuña could be in line for a September call-up, but a Markakis trade could accelerate that considerably.

I foresee a very busy phone for John Coppolella over the next 3 weeks.

Good luck with that, Coppy.  Keep a charging bank on hand.

Here’s the box from Sunday’s first half finale, won by Washington 10-5.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Note on the pitching lines:

• Ctct = strikes assumed based on batter contact
• StS = swinging strikes (swings and misses)
• StL = strikes looking

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table