Braves' News Tidbits

[General]

The Braves are calling Chipper Jones' injury a sprained right ankle.
He grabbed his knee when he went down and the trainer was looking at his knee while he was on the ground, so we imagine there's a little more to it than an ankle sprain. Maybe he both sprained the ankle and hyperextended the knee. It'd still be a good idea to pick up Wilson Betemit in NL-only leagues.

[Bear]

Man, I hope Chipper Jones injury is not bad. What a loss he would be to the Braves!

Hats off to John Smoltz. He really pitched well today and could have had the win on most days like this pitching that well.

[love_that_reefer]

Braves are used to being without Chipper and as General pointed out they have Betemit who did a great job last year filling in. Chipper will bounce back as always.

[General]

Chris Reitsma blew a save and took the loss against the Giants Sunday when he surrendered two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
After entering the score 5-4, Reitsma nearly had Lance Nierko struck out to begin the inning. However, Reitsma didn't get the call he wanted on a pitch off the outside corner, and Niekro hammered the next pitch, a hanging slider, into the left-field bleachers. After a Pedro Feliz single, a sac bunt and an intentionally walked, Randy Winn flared a single into short right to end it. Second baseman Pete Orr might have had a chance to catch the ball if he had gotten a better read, but he broke left, rather than back, initially. Reitsma has had difficulties in two of his three appearances so far, but it's going to take at least a few more poor outings before the Braves think about removing him from the closer's role.

[General]

John Smoltz yielded four runs in seven innings versus the Giants on Sunday but wasn't involved in the decision.
Smoltz struck out four and walked two while yielding six hits. Today's outing was an improvement from his season opener against the Dodgers, but he still has some work to do. He'll square off against the Padres next week.

[Kingdom]

Brian Fuentes for Kelly Johnson and a Dale Murphy bobblehead, who's with meh!?

[General]

Add a can of Coors Light and we've got a deel.

[Kingdom]

Ok, but only for you.

[redsfan28]

The Braves bullpen blows more than the Reds' does.

[General]

Chipper Jones will be placed on the disabled list, though an MRI on Monday showed no further damage to his knee and ankle.
"Tremendous relief," Jones said. "When you see the pictures and they show you that your ligaments are intact, it sets your mind at ease." Wilson Betemit will be the Braves' third baseman for the next couple of weeks

[General]

Marcus Giles, originally expected to sit out a game with a sore right quad, is starting second base on Monday night.
Pete Orr finished Sunday's game at second after Giles left.

[General]

Blaine Boyer, who didn't pitch until the end of spring training due to a sore shoulder, was placed on Triple-A Richmond's disabled list.
It looks like Boyer rushed his comeback. The Braves should just be happy if he's 100 pecent for the final four months of the season.

[Kingdom]

****in' kenny ray fo sho fo sho

screw everyone besides ray and villarreal at this point. demote remlinger, devine, and all that other bullshit.

[General]

Oscar Villarreal was credited with his third relief victory after being charged with his second blown save Monday against the Phillies.
Villarreal gave up the tying run after entering the game to begin the seventh inning. He also took a blown save in one of his previous victories, though that one wasn't as much his fault. Don't expect the wins to keep piling up like this. Most of his value comes from being second in line for saves in Atlanta

John Thomson held the Phillies to an unearned run in five innings and went 2-for-2 with a two-run double Monday night in his return to the rotation.
Because both Mike Remlinger and Oscar Villarreal gave up runs in relief, Thomson was denied a victory. Still, he showed why he never should have been sent to the pen in the first place. If he continues to throw like he did tonight, he's going to be quite an asset.

Chris Reitsma bounced back from Sunday's blown save to pitch a perfect ninth with a two-run lead tonight.
Reitsma has three saves in four opportunities. Oscar Villarreal isn't making up too much ground on him.

Jeff Francoeur went 0-for-4 on Monday night to fall to 2-for-32 on the season.
He's also yet to walk, though he was hit by a pitch once. The Braves will be pretty patient with Francoeur, but if the 22-year-old keeps flailing away at every pitch thrown within two feet of the strike zone, then the time will come at which he'll have to be sent down.

Wilson Betemit went 2-for-4 with an RBI as the Braves' third baseman and No. 8 hitter tonight.
Betemit has been very productive in every opportunity he's received since the start of last year, but Bobby Cox keeps batting him eighth. Ryan Langerhans, who had been hitting eighth, moved up to the third spot in place of Chipper Jones tonight. Betemit should do a fine job while playing regularly in place of Jones, but if he's locked into the eighth spot, big numbers are unlikely.


Braves placed third baseman Chipper Jones on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right ankle and twisted right knee.
The Braves didn't immediately say who would be replacing him on the roster, and since they have Tuesday off, it's a mystery why they're making the move now rather than waiting until Wednesday to see how he is then. Perhaps they just want to resist the temptation of bringing him back early. Even in shallow mixed leaguers, Wilson Betemit should have some value over the next couple of weeks

[General]

Macay McBride pitched a scoreless inning Monday in his first rehab appearances with Double-A Mississippi.
McBride, recovering from a lower forearm strain, could be about a week away from rejoining the Braves

Marcus Giles is only about "70 percent" healthy due to a sore right quad.
Giles would have sat out Monday's game, but with Chipper Jones on the DL the Braves needed his bat in the lineup. "It's more of a scary thing than a pain thing," Giles said of his sore quad. "I don't want it to blow out. I'll definitely have to be smart with it and be careful."

The Braves expect Chipper Jones to be ready to play as soon as he is eligible to come off of the 15-day DL.
"I hate to lose him for one day," general manager John Schuerholz said. "But with the way that injury looked when it occurred, to have this result from the examination is very positive and very encouraging."

Braves purchased the contract of RHP Peter Moylan from Triple-A Richmond.
It's a nice story how Moylan got signed after pitching for Australia in the WBC, but there's nothing to suggest he belongs in the majors right now. He walked five in 1 2/3 innings in the WBC, three in four innings during spring training and three in four innings while at Richmond. That he's a sidearmer who throws hard makes him an interesting project, even at age 28, but we doubt he'll help the Braves now

Braves optioned RHP Joey Devine to Triple-A Richmond.
Devine probably would benefit more from ironing out his difficulties in the majors than pitching in Triple-A, but the Braves don't have the depth to get by with him in low leverage situations right now. It shouldn't be too long before Devine gets his next opportunity,