Braves' News Tidbits

[DravenX]

I'm looking forward to his return. Don't you mean the 29th? The 20th we will be in Arizona.

[General]

Triple-A Richmond's Scott Thorman had a grand slam and a two-run homer on Thursday.
Both came off Columbus' Matt DeSalvo. Thorman, 24, is batting .305/.375/.503 in 151 at-bats. There's not much separating him and Adam LaRoche, but there's also unlikely to be any reason for the Braves to make the switch at first base anytime soon.

Personally, I'd call him up and start him against righties. LaRoche's streaky and lazy-ish play has annoyed me to no end. Might as well give this guy a shot.

[General]

Chris Reitsma blew his third save and took his second loss after giving up two runs in the bottom of the ninth against the Diamondbacks on Friday night.
A very tough loss for the Braves, who scored five runs in the first, fell behind by two runs and then took a one-run lead in the top of the ninth. Reitsma hasn't pitched as badly as his 6.50 ERA indicated. Four of the 12 runs he's given up came in a game that was already over, and he hasn't blown more than a one-run lead. Still, he's much more of a setup man than a closer. The Braves may consider making the switch to Oscar Villarreal.

Adam LaRoche went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the ninth against the Diamondbacks on Friday night.
The slam was his second in 31 career at-bats with the bases loaded. LaRoche was making just his second start since Sunday's blunder against the Nationals. He also had two hits on Wednesday, so he's quickly working his way out of the doghouse

Kyle Davies underwent groin surgery Friday and the Braves reportedly hope to have him back in two months.
"We're hoping [he's back in] around six to eight weeks, something like that," manager Bobby Cox said. "If it's sooner, that'd be great." The Braves will replace Davies in the rotation first with Travis Smith and then with Horacio Ramirez once he comes off the disabled list.

[General]

Brian McCann is listed as day-to-day with a left lateral ankle sprain sustained in a collision at home plate during Saturday's game.
Well, we'll see about that. Our guess is that McCann will end up on the DL. However, the early fear was that it may have been a season-ending injury, and that no longer appears likely. If McCann avoids the DL, the Braves may sent down Travis Smith to call up Brayan Pena on Sunday.

Brian McCann left Saturday's game in the fourth inning with an apparent left ankle injury.
McCann was bowled over by Eric Byrnes on a collision at home plate and apparently suffered a pretty severe ankle injury. He wasn't putting any weight on the leg as he was helped off. Todd Pratt took over. If McCann needs to go on the DL, the Braves are in a lot of trouble, especially since both Brayan Pena and Jarrod Saltalamacchia have struggled mightily in the minors. Pratt is no longer capable of catching more than a couple of times per week, so the Braves may have to go out and look for for help.

[Kingdom]

13-0 was it? Essentially, it was ground ball practice with Webb out there. 18 groundball outs when I had last checked the game.

[ATLien]

****!

[General]

Travis Smith took a loss against the Diamondbacks on Saturday after yielding four runs -- two earned -- in 4 1/3 innings of work.
He gave up five hits and walked one while striking out one. Smith was far from stellar, but the real culprit in the 13-0 loss was the bullpen. Relievers Lance Cormier and Oscar Villareal combined to put 16 men on base and yield nine runs in three innings of work. Smith may get another start before Horacio Ramirez returns from the DL, but he's not worth using in NL-only leagues. After the events of tonight, he might have to be traded in for a fresh arm immediately.

[ATLien]

I been tryin to vote that idiot Cormier off for a while. But nobody listens.

He sucks.

[General]

Brian McCann is optimistic he'll miss just a few days with a sprained ankle suffered Saturday.
"When they were taking the X-ray I thought I was done for the year," McCann said. "I thought it was broken. I thought my leg was broken." NL-only leaguers can keep McCann active this week. Mixed leaguers may want to go to someone guaranteed to play

[General]

Kelly Johnson, who remains on a rehab assignment followign elbow surgery, went 2-for-4 with a homer Sunday for Triple-A Richmond.
After going 9-for-19 with four extra-base hits at low Single-A Rome, Johnson is 4-for-11 in three games for Richmond. It figured that he'd be optioned to the minors once he completed his rehab assignment, but as well as he's playing now, maybe there's a chance that he'll join the Braves next week as a utilityman. It's still more likely that his opportunity will come after the All-Star break

[General]

Brian McCann (ankle) was able to walk without a limp on Monday.
"It only hurts now when I make certain movements, like side-to-side," McCann said. "Going straight ahead, it's fine. It feels a lot better." He hopes to avoid the disabled list and return to the lineup for this weekend's series against Chicago.

[General]

John Smoltz worked seven scoreless innings Monday against the Padres to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Smoltz followed up his 130-pitch outing on Wednesday by throwing 121 pitches tonight. If this keeps up, another September meltdown is a real possibility. There's no hurry, but fantasy owners may want to begin shopping him in a month or two.

Chris Reitsma worked a perfect ninth with a one-run lead to pick up his eighth save Monday night against the Padres.
Ken Ray gave up a run in the eighth to narrow the Atlanta lead and nearly gave it up altogether, but Adrian Gonzalez's deep blast with a man on was hit to wrong part of the ballpark. Reitsma may get tomorrow off after working on consecutive days, but he remains Atlanta's closer for now

[General]

Chuck James (hamstring) allowed two runs and two hits in three innings for Triple-A Richmond Wednesday in his third rehab start.
James threw 45 pitches last night. The Braves will keep stretching him out and could bring him back as a starter next month

Braves prospect Moises Hernandez allowed three runs in an inning Wednesday in his debut for Single-A Myrtle Beach.
Felix's older brother had a 1.93 ERA and a 34/13 K/BB ratio in 32 2/3 IP for low Single-A Rome. Hernandez, 21, was the Braves' compensation for the Orioles' signing of Leo Mazzone. He's never been looked at as much of a prospect, but perhaps there's a chance he'll make it to the majors as a reliever.

Horacio Ramirez (hamstring) might not come off the disabled list to start Saturday's game against the Cubs.
The Braves were expected to send catcher Brayan Pena to Triple-A Richmond when they activated Ramirez but with the ankle injury to catcher Brian McCann, but Pena may need to stay with the team to provide depth at catcher. If McCann isn't healthy by Saturday, expect Jorge Sosa to start on three days' rest and Ramirez to make another rehab start for Richmond

Brian McCann tweaked his already sore ankle while pinch hitting on Tuesday.
McCann was expected to catch a bullpen session on Wednesday to test his ankle, but the session had to be cancelled. He will give the ankle a few days' rest and test it prior to Friday's game against the Cubs

Andruw Jones hit a pair of two-run homers and walked twice Wednesday in Atlanta's 10-6 win in San Diego.
Jones went 71 at-bats without a homer before taking Chris Young deep in the first. He left the yard again in the third, although he needed some help from center fielder Mike Cameron to get the ball over the fence. Jones entered the game with just one home run in the last month. He has, however, driven in 45 runs in 46 games.

Adam LaRoche returned to action on Wednesday and drove in three runs with a double and a sac fly.
LaRoche missed the previous two games due to a stiff neck

Matt Diaz started over Ryan Langerhans versus a right-hander on Wednesday and went 2-for-5 with two steals.
Don't read much into the steals, as they were Piazza-aided. Despite being one of the hottest hitters in the league, Diaz hadn't started in six days. He's deserving of more playing time in left field, but manager Bobby Cox has been hesitant to go away from Langerhans and downgrade defensively.

[General]

Braves announced RHP Travis Smith has chosen free agency over an assignment to Triple-A Richmond.
Smith was designated for assignment on Sunday

[ATLien]

No news of Hanson?