Braves' News Tidbits

[brewersfan19]

Sad to hear that about Chipper. He has always been one of favorite players in the MLB. I love his attitude towards teh game. He is a gamer!!! I love that about him!!! Plus the number 10 is my favorite #!!! I love 19 also, just because of Robin Yount!!! My all-time favorite player!!

[DravenX]

It really sucks. Chipper is one of my favorite Braves. This injury could just be the start of end of his career.

[DravenX]

Mike Hampton is going to be behind at the beginning of the exhibition season, and the Braves are just hoping he'll be ready to go five innings by the time Opening Day is here.
Discouraging news. Hampton is about a year and a half removed from Tommy John surgery, so he should be 100 percent. Still, he's been afraid to cut loose so far. Hampton is throwing batting practice every third day, focusing mainly on his fastball and changeup. He is said to reluctant to try any breaking pitches until he builds up arm strength. "We don't want to push anything," manager Bobby Cox said. "He's got to build it up." Hampton might yet be a reliable third or fourth starter for Atlanta. However, a mediocre WHIP and poor strikeout rate should prevent him from having much fantasy value.

Source: RotoWorld

[brewersfan19]

Well, I hope it is not the start of his career ending. Hopefully with him playing 3B, he will have a better shot at staying healthy.

[General]

I doubt this is anything new; from what it looks like, Chipper has been playing with that problem for a while. I don't expect any more than 130 games out of Chipper this season, and one trip on the DL. That's as positive a year as I can visualize from our stalwart 3Bman.

[DravenX]

A former Braves official told MLB.com that Yunel Escobar refused to play second base in the minors last year out of fear of injury.
Sounds like a good way to get in the organizational doghouse awfully quickly. Still, it's understandable that he wouldn't want to play second base and face takeout slides in games without any experience at the position. Escobar is apparently willing to play second base this season. He's also likely to see time at shortstop and third in Triple-A.

Source: RotoWorld

[DravenX]

Blaine Boyer injured a finger shutting a window and may not make his scheduled appearance on Friday.
Boyer apparently messed up the fingernail. The 25-year-old is set to compete for a bullpen spot this spring after missing most of last year with a shoulder injury.

I'm sure it won't be too long before he gets out there on the mound.

[browntown653]

That's a Griffey-esque injury.

[brewersfan19]

Ouch and that sucks when you injury a fingernail or toenail. If you have never lost or bruised one, you don't realize how painful and uncomfortable it is until you do something like that.

[DravenX]

Ouch and that sucks when you injury a fingernail or toenail. If you have never lost or bruised one, you don't realize how painful and uncomfortable it is until you do something like that.

I know excatly how painful it can be. When I was a kid I use to pick off my toenail; the toe next to the big toe. I don't know why I would do it but it wouldn't be so bad until the next few days, it would be painful to walk.

The Braves have lined up their rotation in such a way that it appears John Smoltz will start Opening Day and be followed by Tim Hudson and Chuck James.
If Mike Hampton wasn't still behind the Braves' other pitchers, he'd probably be slotted in ahead of James. However, the club will probably be aiming for him to start the fifth or sixth game of the season. Kyle Davies and Lance Cormier are battling for the remaining opening in the rotation. Smoltz is expected to make his fourth Opening Day start. In the previous three, he's 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA. *Fixed a spelling error.

The Braves are expecting Willy Aybar to overcome his visa troubles and report to camp this week.
Another reserve might be jeopardizing his roster spot with such a late arrival. Aybar, though, is out of options, and it's doubtful the Braves would try to send him through waivers at the end of the spring.

What is everyone having problems with there Visa? Don't know how to manage money I suppose.

[DravenX]

After throwing batting practice Tuesday, Mike Hampton (elbow) said, "I'm still not where I need to be ... every day's a challenge."
Manager Bobby Cox was much more pleased with the outing. "I thought he was good today, real good," Cox said. "He was free and easy. Mike's not happy he's not 100 percent yet, but for me, there's been no setbacks. Today was a good day." Cox said he hopes Hampton will be able to throw five innings by the time the season begins.

Source: RotoWorld

[ATLien]

Aybar is coming to the States tomorrow, I think. Visa problems seem to have been resolved.

[General]

Finally.

[DravenX]

He should of come back early. It's not like he is an every day player or has a guaranteed spot.

[DravenX]

The Braves are reportedly leaning towards having Brayan Pena catch Kyle Davies, which would mean Brian McCann would start when anyone else was on the mound.
The Braves have often used this kind of arrangement in the past, but since McCann is a left-handed hitter, it makes more sense to arrange his playing time around the opposing pitcher, as the Braves tended to do last year. Also, McCann, the probable No. 5 hitter behind the Joneses, may not need to sit out one out of every five games. Maybe the Braves will reconsider this plan.

Yunel Escobar collected hits in all three of his at-bats Thursday against the Dodgers.
Manager Bobby Cox has been raving about Escobar in camp, but there's little chance that the Cuban defector will have a job coming out of spring training. He's going to need to see action at second base in order to be a factor this year.

Kyle Davies threw 17 pitches in two perfect innings Thursday in his start against the Dodgers.
Lance Cormier relieved him to start the third and was credited with the victory, though he gave up two runs and four hits in two innings. Davies should be the Braves' fifth starter with a solid spring. Cormier is the fallback in case Davies fails.

Source: RotoWorld