Braves' News Tidbits

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News from the 2nd of April.

Mike Hampton (oblique) threw an impressive simulated inning during batting practice on Sunday.
"He threw great," manager Bobby Cox said. "Everything — change-up, hard sinker, curve. Really, really good." Hampton is scheduled to make a start in extended spring training on Saturday and then make four or five rehab starts before returning to the Braves in early May.

Lance Cormier (shoulder) will throw a side session on Monday in Philadelphia.
Cormier, who had a Braves-best 1.15 ERA during spring training, hasn't thrown off a mound since feeling tightness in his shoulder on March 26. If he feels any soreness on Monday the Braves will have Kyle Davies take his start on April 8.

Brian McCann went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a double Monday against the Phillies.
McCann was the only Brave to have any luck against Brett Myers until Edgar Renteria homered in the eighth. With the potential for another 90-RBI season as the Braves' No. 5 hitter, he's far and away the NL's No. 1 fantasy catcher.

Chad Paronto pitched a scoreless 10th Monday for the to earn a save in the Braves' 5-3 win over the Phillies.
OK, what were the odds of Chad Paronto earning the first save of the 2007 season? Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano and Bob Wickman all pitched scoreless innings in relief of John Smoltz. Wickman finished the bottom of the ninth, but the Braves weren't willing to let him go two innings after not doing so all spring. It was the first career save for Paronto in 125 appearances as a major leaguer. He'll be lucky to earn even one more over the rest of the season.

Edgar Renteria hit a game-tying homer in the eighth and a go-ahead two-run blast in the top of the 10th to lead the Braves to a 5-3 win over the Phillies on Monday.
Renteria tried and failed to sacrifice twice before the homer off Ryan Madson in the 10th. The first homer came off Brett Myers. Renteria's career high for homers in a season is 16, so don't expect more outbursts like this. He will, however, contribute enough in all five categories to be of use in shallow mixed leagues.

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News from the 3rd of April.

Lance Cormier (shoulder) will test his injured shoulder during a bullpen session on Tuesday.
If Cormier is pain-free during the session he will start Sunday against the Mets. Kyle Davies will take the April 8 start if Cormier still feels any tightness in his shoulder.

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News from the 4th of April.

Lance Cormier felt pain in his shoulder while playing long-toss on Tuesday and is likely headed to the disabled list.
Cormier would go on the DL retroactive to March 28. Kyle Davies is expected to be recalled from Triple-A Richmond to take Cormier's April 8 scheduled start.

The Braves are expected to recall right-hander Kyle Davies to start Sunday's game against the Mets.
Davies, who had a 2.84 ERA during the spring, will take Lance Cormier's spot in the rotation.

Braves placed RHP Lance Cormier on 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 31, with a sore right shoulder.
The Braves are hopeful of getting Cormier back on April 15. Kyle Davies will be called up to start in his place on Sunday.

Tim Hudson limited the Phillies to one run and two hits over seven innings on Wednesday night.
Hudson walked four and hit a batter, but they didn't hurt him at all. The run scored on a Carlos Ruiz homer. It's an encouraging start following a spring that fits the same description.

Brian McCann hit a game-tying, two-run homer in the ninth and Scott Thorman hit a go-ahead blast in the 11th as the Braves came from behind to beat the Phillies 3-2 on Wednesday.
Thorman didn't start, instead sitting in favor of Craig Wilson against the lefty Cole Hamels. The homer came in his second at-bat after entering the game. Even if he's limited to start against righties all year long, Thorman could hit 20 homers this year. He won't do enough elsewhere to be a big asset in NL-only leagues, but he could be an $8-$10 player.

I heard about Cormier today while watching the game against the Mets because I knew he beat out the job over Davies and was curious why Davies was in there pitching. I hope Cormier makes a full recovery and gets back soon because they will need him if Davies keeps putting runners on base. Davies needs to keep the ball down. He threw a high fastball to Green and he did not miss it. He should know not to be leaving a fastball up. Chip and Joe was just taking about it earlier.

McCann is McCann. He has great power to both sides of the field and has proved over and over again he can hit the ball the other way for a hit which he did yesterday against the Mets to bring home Chipper from 2nd. I look forward to him having a great year this season.

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News from the 5th of April.

Kelly Johnson's first hit of the season was a two-run homer Thursday off Adam Eaton.
Johnson is 1-for-14 with two walks through three games. Expect the Braves to be pretty patient with him as long as he plays steady defense at second base.

After Macay McBride and Chad Paronto combined to walk five batters in the ninth, Rafael Soriano retired the only batter he faced for a save in an 8-4 game against the Phillies on Thursday.
It was 8-2 before McBride and Paronto struggled. Bob Wickman was warming up alongside Soriano at the time, but manager Bobby Cox chose Soriano to get the final out. Soriano got a routine flyout on the only pitch he threw.

Chuck James allowed one run over five innings to win Thursday as the Braves completed a sweep of the Phillies.
James only walked one, but he threw 92 pitches through five innings, making it an easy decision to remove him for a pinch-hitter in the top of the sixth. James is well worth using in mixed leagues.

McBride and Paronto did not look sharp but with what they mess up we have 3 other solid guys to back them up. As long as they both can get back on track and get things rolling again the bullpen will be unstoppable.

I'm happy with James outing only allowing 1 run. We need guys to get to at least the 6th inning maybe 7th.

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News from the 6th of April.

Mike Hampton (oblique) will throw a bullpen session this weekend.
"After I threw the other day [Monday], it's taking a little more time to get back to as good as I was feeling before I threw," Hampton said. "The next day there was a little inflammation, which I guess can be expected." The Braves will determine if he is ready to begin a minor league rehab assignment following this weekend's bullpen session.

Eric Campbell, who played mostly second base in the Hawaiian Winter League, was back at third for Single-A Myrtle Beach on Thursday.
Indications are that he's going to stay there. The Braves wanted to try Campbell at second because they thought it might speed his arrival to the majors.

Like many Braves fans I am ready for Hampton to make his return to the rotation. They definitely need him with Cormier on the DL.

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News from the 7th of April.

Mike Hampton (oblique) will throw a bullpen session on Saturday.
If Hampton is pain-free after the session he will likely make a minor league rehab start sometime next week. He is on pace for an early-May return to the Braves rotation.

John Smoltz allowed two runs over six innings to outduel Tom Glavine and hand the Mets their first loss of the season on Saturday.
Glavine, hurt by errors on routine plays from Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green, gave up five runs -- two earned -- in 5 1/3 innings. The Braves and Mets are now tied atop the AL East at 4-1.

With the help of the new bullpen, Smoltz should be able to rack up the wins this season since last season the bullpen blew a lot of his games. I don't know what the Braves will do if Smoltz decides to retire after '07. I hurts me even to think about it.

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News from the 8th of April.

Blaine Boyer strained an oblique in a workout at Triple-A Richmond on Saturday.
Manager Bobby Cox said he didn't know how long Boyer would miss. "You know how long those can take," he said. He'll likely stay in the minor leagues until he builds up enough endurance to throw two innings.

Kelly Johnson delivered his second homer of the season on Sunday, a solo shot off Mets starter Orlando Hernandez.
Johnson is just 3-for-20 so far for the Braves, but two of his hits were homers and he's also drawn four walks. He also hasn't committed an error yet at second base, so as long as his defense remains sure-handed and his secondary average high, the club will stick with him.

Kyle Davies yielded two runs and struck out eight Mets in 6 2/3 innings while not factoring into the decision of a 3-2 Braves' win today.
Both runs came on back-to-back solo homers by Shawn Green and Ramon Castro in the second. Davies gave up just two hits and three walks outside of those two at-bats, although he was bailed out of a jam with two runners on base in the seventh. The right-hander has the potential to be a useful starter in NL-only leagues, but he could head right back to the minors once Lance Cormier comes off the DL.

Jeff Francoeur delivered the go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning of a 3-2 win over the Mets on Sunday.
The Braves were down 2-1 entering the eighth, but Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, and Francoeur all hit doubles in the inning to allow Atlanta to take the lead. Aaron Heilman gave up all three hits and was charged with the loss. Rafael Soriano picked up the win in relief, with Bob Wickman recording his third save.

I'm not really worried about Boyer right now. I would like it if Johnson can get his average up a bit. The 2 homers are good and all but they need a little more out of him in the leadoff spot. I talked about Davies in the gameday thread but he didn't look too bad but he needs to keep the ball down if he wants to succeed. Francoeur came through again with a key hit to give the Braves the win in the final game in the series. He might get some key hits to give the team some wins and leads but he is capable of much more.

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News from the 9th of April.

Mike Hampton (elbow) has a Monday appointment scheduled with the doctor who performed his Tommy John surgery 18 1/2 months ago.
"Especially knowing what a productive, competitive member of our pitching staff he was before he got hurt, this is bad news," general manager John Schuerholz said. Hampton hasn't pitched in a game since Aug. 19, 2005. There is no timetable for his return.

Lance Cormier (shoulder) had a pain-free throwing session prior to Sunday's game.
"Today was definitely the best it's been [since the March 26 injury]," said Cormier, who threw the ball with some zip from about 90 feet. "I didn't let it go, but ... I kept it on a line, not floating it." Cormier should resume throwing off a mound later this week, and baring a setback, should be activated from the disabled list around April 19.

Eric Campbell went 2-for-4 with a walkoff homer for Single-A Myrtle Beach on Sunday.
If Campbell spends all year at Myrtle Beach, he may fall short of last year's total of 22 homers. However, that'd be mostly due to the ballpark. The power is there for him to eventually hit 30 homers per year in the majors.

Mike Hampton has a torn flexor tendon in his elbow that will require surgery, knocking him out for the season.
Hampton will need 6-9 months to recover from surgery, so he should be ready for next year. This means either Lance Cormier or Kyle Davies is now going to have a permanent rotation spot. Odds are the Braves will need considerable innings from both to get through the season.

I didn't know I was this behind.

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News from the 10th of April.

Andruw Jones hit his first homer of the year and walked twice in Tuesday's victory.
The homer was his 343rd, moving him into sixth place for homers hit before the age of 30. Hank Aaron and Mel Ott both had 342. Jones turns 30 on April 23, so he's running out of time to add to the total.

Jeff Francoeur led the Braves attack on Tuesday with a three-run homer and a two-run double.
Francoeuer has an RBI in five straight, though this was his first multi-RBI game of the year. He stil hasn't worked a walk in 29 at-bats this year.

Tim Hudson tossed seven innings and combined with Mike Gonzalez and Chad Paronto on a shutout of the Nationals on Tuesday night.
Hudson allowed three hits, walked one and struck out seven. He has a 0.64 ERA after two starts, and he did face a real team in week one, going seven innings against the Phillies. He can't be left unowned in any mixed leagues.

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News from the 11th of April.

Mike Hampton had successful surgery to fix the torn flexor tendon in his elbow on Tuesday.
Hampton will miss the remainder of the season, but should be fully recovered in time for the 2008 season.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 3-for-4 with his first two homers and a walk Tuesday for Double-A Mississippi.
Saltalamacchia, repeating at Mississippi after a disappointing 2006, is 7-for-20 with a couple of doubles and three walks. He remains a top prospect even if he's no longer Atlanta's catcher of the future.

Chipper Jones went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer off Jerome Williams in Wednesday's victory.
Andruw Jones later delivered a three-run blast off Ryan Wagner. It's the 56th time the two have homered in the same game.

Chuck James pitched shutout ball for six innings Wednesday in a defeat of the Nationals.
The Braves won 8-3 tonight and will go for a three-game sweep on Thursday. James allowed five hits, walked three and struck out five. He's given up one run over 11 innings through two starts. There's no way he can be left unowned in any mixed leagues.

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News from the 12th of April.

Willy Aybar is still unable to hit left-handed due to his injured hand.
Aybar is eligible to come of the disabled list any time, but it appears he is still at least a week or two from returning.

Brandon Jones went 3-for-4 with a homer Wednesday for Double-A Mississippi.
Jones is hitting .414 and slugging .759 in 29 at-bats, though it hasn't been all good. He's sporting an 8/1 K/BB ratio and he's been thrown out in two of his three steal attempts. With a big season between Double- and Triple-A this year, Jones could get a chance to compete for a starting job in left field next spring.

John Smoltz pitched eight innings and allowed two runs Thursday in a loss to the Nationals.
Smoltz didn't figure to be in for such a challenge tonight with Jason Bergmann on the mound for the Nats, but it was a scoreless game until he got wild in the eighth. He hit Chris Snelling for the second time leading off the inning. A sac bunt, a walk and a wild pitch followed. Smoltz than gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Ronnie Belliard and Ryan Zimmerman. He's 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA after three starts.

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News from the 13th of April.

Mike Hampton (flexor tendon) informed the Braves that he plans on returning to the team for the 2008 season.
"Oh, [heck] yeah," manager Bobby Cox said. "He wants to pitch winter ball. He's planning on it." Hampton will be in the final year of his eight-year $121 million dollar contract next year.

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News from the 14th of April.

Mark Redman was rocked for seven runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Marlins to take a loss tonight.
Redman gave up six hits, two walks, and hit a batter in the outing. He departed with two runners on base and two outs in the third, but his ERA was spared any further damage by Oscar Villarreal. Redman looked poor in his last outing too, and there's no reason to expect anything more than fifth starter production.

Chad Paronto is likely to go on the disabled list Saturday after injuring a leg muscle in Friday's game.
Blaine Boyer is hurt, so Pete Moylan and Joey Devine could be the top candidates to join the Atlanta pen in Paronto's place.

Matt Diaz made his first ever appearance at first base in Monday's game against the Marlins.
The extra eligibility does little for his fantasy value, but maybe it will help a couple of people out there. Diaz has been limited to playing against lefties in the early going, but with Ryan Langerhans cold, the potential is there for him to earn extra at-bats.

Lance Cormier (shoulder) was pain-free after his first bullpen session since injuring his triceps.
Cormier is likely to make a couple minor league rehab starts before being activated from the disabled list. The Braves will bounce Mark Redman or Kyle Davies from the rotation when Cormier is healthy.

Braves purchased the contract of LHP Steve Colyer from Triple-A Richmond.
How ironic that the Braves are calling on Colyer because one of their other lefties is experiencing command troubles. Colyer has walked 33 in 51 2/3 innings as a major leaguer and he finished with 48 base on balls in 58 1/3 innings in the minors last season. The 28-year-old has a major league arm, but don't expect him to stick.

Braves recalled RHP Peter Moylan from Triple-A Richmond.
Moylan had a 4.80 ERA in 15 innings for the Braves last season. The 28-year-old from Australia will work in middle relief.

Braves optioned LHP Macay McBride to Triple-A Richmond.
McBride walked 11 batters in 2 2/3 innings over his last four appearances, so this had to happen. He'll be back as soon as he gets straightened out.

Braves placed RHP Chad Paronto on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin.
Paronto was injured during Friday's game against the Marlins. He could return in two or three weeks.

Saturday's game between the Marlins and Braves was postponed due to rain. No makeup date was announced.
Kyle Davies will be pushed back to Wednesday, as the Braves want Tim Hudson to stay on regular rest and start Sunday.

Andruw Jones said he had a cortisone shot in his right shoulder before Friday's game.
The shoulder popped out when he swung at a pitch thrown by Washington reliever Chad Cordero the previous night. It's not the first time Jones has had it happen to him, and he was scheduled to start before Saturday's game was rained out.

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News from the 15th of April.

After Saturday's rainout, the Braves will start Tim Hudson on Sunday against the Marlins and push Kyle Davies' next start back to Wednesday.
The Braves plan to start Chuck James on Monday at Washington, John Smoltz on Tuesday at Washington, and Davies and Mark Redman vs. the Cubs on Wednesday and Thursday. The Marlins plan to use scheduled Saturday starter Scott Olsen today.

Joey Devine struck out three in two scoreless innings Saturday to earn his first save for Double-A Mississippi.
The Braves decided against promoting Devine when they called up two relievers on Saturday, but the 23-year-old should return to the majors if he can maintain this kind of performance for a month or two. He's allowed one run and posted a 10/1 K/BB ratio in 6 1/3 innings.

Chipper and Andruw Jones both homered in the Braves' 8-4 win over the Marlins on Sunday.
Chipper's was a three-run blast off starter Scott Olsen in the third, while Andruw belted a two-run homer off reliever Rick Vanden Hurk in the fifth. It was the 57th time the pair had gone deep in the same game, which is the most among any current pair of teammates.

Tim Hudson surrendered just one run over seven innings to record a win in the Braves' 8-4 victory over the Marlins on Sunday.
Hudson scattered six hits and four walks in the outing, thanks in large part to inducing three double plays. Although he's given up just two runs in three starts, Hudson's impressive stat line should be taken with a grain of salt considering he's faced the Marlins and Nationals in two of those outings. He'll have a bigger test against the Mets later in the week.

Braves suspended infielder Willy Aybar for three games for going AWOL on Saturday and Sunday.
Aybar has been on the DL since hte start of the year with a sore wrist. The Braves haven't been impressed with the 24-year-old since he showed up late for spring training and then missed a day last month with an illess that he failed to report. His future in the organization is in some doubt.

Braves transferred LHP Mike Hampton from the 15- to the 60-day disabled list.
The move opened up a 40-man roster spot for Steve Colyer. Hampton will miss the season after surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon.

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News from the 16th of April.

Jeff Francoeur walked twice on Monday, giving him five in the last five games.
The increased patience could pay off eventually, but Francoeur has just two hits and one RBI during the stretch. Fantasy owners would just as soon not see him draw walks in RBI situations.