Braves' News Tidbits

[General]

Making a third straight start with Andruw Jones out of the lineup, Ryan Langerhans walked all four times he was up and scored twice on Thursday.
Langershans didn't take advantage of Jones' absence the previous two games, going 1-for-7 with four strikeouts. He's batting .188 with no homers since the All-Star break, though that has come with 12 walks in 48 at-bats.
Edgar Renteria ended an 0-for-22 slide by going 3-for-5 with two RBI against the Nationals on Thursday.
He doubled his RBI total for the month. Renteria's OPS had been down to 806, leaving him in danger of falling below 800 for the first time since the second game of the season.
Oscar Villarreal limited the Nationals to one hit in five scoreless innings to win Thursday in his second career start.
Villarreal's previous start came as a rookie in 2003. The 24-year-old hadn't been a very good reliever since April, so it seems doubtful that he'll have a lot more success as a starting pitcher. Today's performance will earn him additional opportunities, though. He could stay in the rotation even after Kyle Davies returns.


Double-A Mississippi's Brandon Jones underwent shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the season.
Jones, 22, was hitting .264/.328/.445 between Single-A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Mississippi. He's one of the candidates to become the Braves' long-term left fielder.



Andruw Jones is back in center field tonight after missing three games with a sore left knee.
Unless Bobby Cox makes another late change. Ryan Langerhans returns to the bench with Jones back.

[General]

Tim Hudson evened his record at 10-10 after picking up a win by holding the Marlins to one run in 7 2/3 innings of work.
Hudson struck out just one, but he also yielded just six baserunners. Hudson was removed in the eighth after a long delay over umpire Jerry Layne being hit in the head with part of a shattered bat. He was at just 96 pitches and cruising, so he probably would have finished the game otherwise. Hudson has posted four straight quality starts and has a great matchup against the Pirates next time out.

[General]

Adam LaRoche hit a two-run homer off Marlins starter Scott Olsen tonight.
He also walked and singled while scoring twice. The homer was his 25th after totaling just 20 in 29 more games last season. That he's hit a decent .268 with five homers against lefties has helped LaRoche's totals during his breakout season.

[General]

Jeff Francouer collected three hits, including a two-run homer, against the Marlins today but the Braves still lost to the contest 4-3.
He also singled and doubled, but the rest of the Braves' lineup combined for just two hits in the defeat. Francoeur has done a better job of handling breaking balls as the year has gone on, though he's still going outside of the strike zone far too often. He's batting .237 so far this month.

Marcus Giles, who missed a third straight start with a bruised hand, was again used as a pinch-hitter on Sunday.
He grounded into a double play in his lone at-bat. Giles may be back in the starting lineup tomorrow against the Pirates, so he can be left active for this week's games.


Double-A Mississippi's Joey Devine struck out five in two hitless innings of relief Saturday.
Devine has allowed one run in five innings since moving up to Double-A. It's unlikely that he'll join the Braves in September, but his recent performance makes him look like a better bet for the future. He could contribute out of the pen in 2007.



Chuck James surrendered two runs -- one earned -- and five hits in six innings Saturday in a win over the Marlins.
James is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA over his last three starts. He'll likely be a solid play in NL-only leagues throughout the remainder of the season.
Brian McCann had three hits and three RBI in Saturday's defeat of the Marlins.
Each of McCann's hits drove in a run. He currently ranks first among catchers with a 967 OPS, second with 16 homers and fourth with 62 RBI.

[General]

John Smoltz fanned 10 over eight innings in the Braves' 3-0 win over the Pirates on Monday night.
Perhaps Smoltz would have gotten to go for his second shutout of the season in a 1-0 game. With the three-run lead, manager Bobby Cox removed Smoltz after 109 pitches and turn to Bob Wickman to close it out. Smoltz, who had all kinds of trouble with poor run and bullpen support early on this season, is 7-1 in 10 starts since the beginning of July.

Martin Prado went 2-for-4 with a two-run double to lead Atlanta's offense Monday in his first game since being recalled.
There won't be much for Prado to do once Marcus Giles is healthy, but it looks like he could get a couple of more starts this week. Those in daily leagues could pick him up for the next two days.

[General]

Tony Pena hit a pinch-hit home run Tuesday for his first career long ball.
Pena had been 0-for-11 since his July 29 recall, and this hit -- Atlanta's sixth pinch-hit home runs of the year -- lifts his BA all the way to .095. He has zero fantasy value at present.

Danys Baez had control issues and bad luck in suffering the loss Tuesday.
Baez, 5-6, issued back-to-back walks followed by back-to-back RBI singles to turn a 2-1 Braves' lead into a 5-2 deficit. Manager Bobby Cox said when he went to relieve Baez, the ball was actually wet because Baez was sweating so profusely. There will be plenty of people sweating in Atlanta if this continues.

Oh, and John Thomson is throwing off the mound again. Hurry back.

[General]

Danys Baez required an emergency appendectomy late Wednesday and will be placed on the disabled list.
Baez, who struggled mightily in his last appearance on Tuesday, could be back in two or three weeks. Ken Ray and Chad Paronto will share setup duties while he's out.

[DravenX]

Might as well put everyone on the DL and contract out.

[General]

Adam LaRoche had four extra base hits on Wednesday to spark Atlanta to a 5-3 win over the Giants.
He had three doubles and a triple, scoring one and driving in three in a perfect night at the plate. LaRoche has been on fire since the break, batting .368 with 14 homers and 38 RBI, taking him up to .290 with 80 RBI for the season. He could be on the verge of a monster 2007, especially now that he's hitting lefties as well as he does righties.


Bob Wickman recorded his 10th save in 10 tries as a Brave despite giving up a run to the Giants on Wednesday night.
Wickman had pitched shutout ball for 15 games and 14 1/3 innings since arriving in Atlanta, before finally getting scored upon, surrendering a leadoff home run to Eliezer Alfonzo.

Chuck James was solid for seven innings Wednesday as he won his third straight decision.
He gave up six hits, two runs and two walks while striking out five. James, now 7-3, has only given up as many as four runs in a start once this month.
Andruw Jones homered twice to pace the Braves to a wild 13-8 win over the Giants.
He had a solo jack and then added a two-run homer, giving him four multi-dinger games this season and 34 for his career. The three RBI gives Jones 106 for the year and 1,000 for his career. Chipper also went deep, marking the 55th game that the Jones boys have both homered in a game. The Braves are 49-6 when that transpires, so clearly that hasn't happened enough this season.

Chipper Jones scored three, drove in three and homered for the third straight game on Tuesday.
Jones is up to .325 with 75 RBI for the year now. He added his sixth steal, and looks to be over his oblique strain, making him a solid play for the remainder of the season.

[DirtyKash]

Wickman had pitched shutout ball for 15 games and 14 1/3 innings since arriving in Atlanta, before finally getting scored upon, surrendering a leadoff home run to Eliezer Alfonzo.

is that Edgardo's little brother or summat?

[General]

Could be. Fonzie's dead, aint he?

[General]

After being told that a valve in his heart may not be operating properly, Marcus Giles is heading back to Atlanta on Sunday to undergo a cardiovascular evaluation.
Giles explained that he was told this specific valve is used to prevent blood clots and other foreign substances from entering the heart. He said his may not have closed, as it usually does shortly after birth. "It's a great thing to discover it," Giles said. "The main thing is getting it taken care of right away." If Giles needs to have surgery, it's a common procedure that may keep him out of action for a week. Pete Orr, Martin Prado and Willy Aybar can all fill in for him.


Hope he's OK.

[General]

Marcus Giles doesn't have the heart problem doctors previously suspected. His condition may be related to acid reflux.
"He checked out fine," manager Bobby Cox said. "He was pretty worried. All the indications were a partially open valve. ... Scared him to death, which it should." Cox didn't know when Giles would be back in the lineup. The second baseman was expected to join the team in New York following his tests Sunday in Atlanta.

[General]

Chuck James pitched one-hit ball for eight innings and combined with Macay McBride on a shutout of the Mets on Monday.
David Wright's second-inning single was the Mets' only hit of the game, and he was thrown out trying to take second on the play. James had the worst start of his career against this same Mets club on July 30, giving up seven runs in one-plus innings. He's now 4-1 since that game, and he hasn't given up more than two runs in any of his last six starts. He's turned into a solid play in shallow mixed leagues.

Edgar Renteria went 2-for-3 with a two RBI and two walks in Monday's win against the Mets.
If someone other than the pitcher had been on second, he would have had another RBI on his second-inning single with the bases loaded. With a .244 average and one homer since the beginning of August, Renteria hasn't done a lot to help fantasy owners lately. Still, he's already given a fair return on the investment.

[brewersfan19]

Maybe he will be a one of your pitchers of the future.. Sometimes a little light bulb goes off and they all of the sudden get it.. Whether it hitting, ptiching, whatever... It is good to see someone turn their fortune around.