2013 Atlanta Braves Season Thread

[Falconsfan567 34,951]

February 11 - Pitchers And Catchers Report

February 14 - Full Squad Reports

SPRING TRAINING SCHEDULE

Friday February 22 - Tigers at Braves - 1:05 PM

Saturday February 23 - Yankees at Braves - 1:05 PM

Sunday February 24 - Braves at Pirates - 1:05 PM

Monday February 25 - Marlins at Braves - 1:05 PM

Tuesday February 26 - Nationals at Braves - 1:05 PM

Wednesday February 27 - Braves at Tigers - 1:05 PM

Thursday February 28 - Braves at Phillies - 1:05 PM

Friday March 1 - Nationals at Braves - 6:05 PM

Saturday March 2 - Braves at Astros - 1:05 PM

Sunday March 3 - Tigers at Braves - 1:05 PM

Monday March 4 - Braves at Mets - 1:10 PM

Tuesday March 5 - Braves at Yankees - 7:05 PM

Thursday March 7 - Tigers at Braves - 6:05 PM

Friday March 8 - Braves at Astros - 1:05 PM

Friday March 8 - Blue Jays at Braves - 1:05 PM

Saturday March 9 - Braves at Yankees - 1:05 PM

Sunday March 10 - Marlins at Braves - 1:05 PM

Monday March 11 - Braves at Nationals - 1:05 PM

Tuesday March 12 - Cardinals at Braves - 1:05 PM

Wednesday March 13 - Braves at Marlins - 7:05 PM

Thursday March 14 - Braves at Cardinals - 1:05 PM

Friday March 15 - Mets at Braves - 1:05 PM

Saturday March 16 - Yankees at Braves - 5:05 PM

Sunday March 17 - Braves at Mets - 1:10 PM

Monday March 18 - Phillies at Braves - 1:05 PM - ESPN

Wednesday March 20 - Pirates at Braves - 1:05 PM

Thursday March 21 - Nationals at Braves - 6:05 PM

Friday March 22 - Braves at Phillies - 1:05 PM

Saturday March 23 - Braves at Blue Jays - 1:05 PM

Saturday March 23 - Astros at Braves - 1:05 PM

Sunday March 24 - Braves at Nationals - 1:05 PM

Monday March 25 - Mets at Braves - 1:05 PM

Tuesday March 26 - Braves at Tigers - 1:05 PM

Wednesday March 27 - Braves at Nationals - 1:05 PM

Thursday March 28 - Astros at Braves - 1:05 PM

Saturday March 30 - Braves at Mississippi Braves - 3:05 PM *Game in Pearl, MS

[AEFalcon 598]

Man, can not wait!! Just around the corner. Looking forward to Spring Training news and reports. i know we have some big FAs that will get plenty of chatter which they deserve howeverr I'm eager to see how Teheran pitches and Gattis hits.

Will not make or break team but I'm hoping E Mejia has a good spring. He has played well in minor leagues without a lot of recognition. I hope he makes the team has a back-up 1st baseman, Right-handed hitter with power off the bench.

Fingers crossed that Beachy and McCann return healthy when they are ready.

Good foundation of a n exciting team Go 2013 Braves!!!!!

[Falconsfan567 34,951]

Man, can not wait!! Just around the corner. Looking forward to Spring Training news and reports. i know we have some big FAs that will get plenty of chatter which they deserve howeverr I'm eager to see how Teheran pitches and Gattis hits.

Will not make or break team but I'm hoping E Mejia has a good spring. He has played well in minor leagues without a lot of recognition. I hope he makes the team has a back-up 1st baseman, Right-handed hitter with power off the bench.

Fingers crossed that Beachy and McCann return healthy when they are ready.

Good foundation of a n exciting team Go 2013 Braves!!!!!

Here's how the Braves current opening day roster looks.

SP Tim Hudson

SP Kris Medlen

SP Mike Minor

SP Paul Maholm

SP Julio Teheran

RP Cory Gearrin

RP Luis Avilan

RP Jordan Walden

RP Eric O'Flaherty

RP Jonny Venters

RP Craig Kimbrel

C Gerald Laird

1B Freddie Freeman

2B Dan Uggla

3B Juan Francisco

SS Andrelton Simmons

LF Justin Upton

CF B.J. Upton

RF Jason Heyward

3B Chris Johnson

OF Reed Johnson

By my count that's 21 of the 25 opening day roster spots accounted for. How will the bench shape out?

[AEFalcon 598]

Here's how the Braves current opening day roster looks.

SP Tim Hudson

SP Kris Medlen

SP Mike Minor

SP Paul Maholm

SP Julio Teheran

RP Cory Gearrin

RP Luis Avilan

RP Jordan Walden

RP Eric O'Flaherty

RP Jonny Venters

RP Craig Kimbrel

C Gerald Laird

1B Freddie Freeman

2B Dan Uggla

3B Juan Francisco

SS Andrelton Simmons

LF Justin Upton

CF B.J. Upton

RF Jason Heyward

3B Chris Johnson

OF Reed Johnson

By my count that's 21 of the 25 opening day roster spots accounted for. How will the bench shape out?

The next safest guy I would think would be Mr Do Everything, Play Entire Outfield. Hit anywhere in the lineup. Jose constanza. He is can't miss in my opinion. Must have him on team.

Just kidding FF567...sorry couldn't resist.

next safest I think is Janish as defensive specialist, back-up IF that can play SS very well. & a back-up catcher...who ever that turns out to be.

[CrimsonFalcon 3,505]

Probably see Schafer and Pastornicky as back ups and possibly Gattis.

[Mega Flare 5,544]

This is the most excited I've been for a Braves season in a long time. Admittedly, the Falcons haven't something to do with that.

[ATLBrave 3,260]

Honestly think we will see Mejia on the opening day roster if he shows well in Spring. I wouldn't be surprised to see Gattis move back to C and him take another year down there, if he isn't a key piece of replacing McCann at the beginning of the year.

[dvt5045 82]

SS Andrelton Simmons

RF Jason Heyward

LF Justin Upton

1B Freddie Freeman

CF BJ Upton

2B Dan Uggla

3B Juan Fransisco

C Gerald Laird

OF Reed Johnson

OF Jordan Schafer

IF Tyler Pastornicky

IF Chris Johnson

C Evan Gattis

SP Kris Medlen

SP Mike Minor

SP Tim Hudson

SP Paul Maholm

SP Julio Teheran

CL Craig Kimbrel

RP Eric O'Flaherty

RP Jonny Venters

RP Jordan Walden

RP Luis Avilan

RP Cory Gearrin

RP Christian Martinez

That would be my opening day 25 man roster with Pastornicky and Gattis being sent down to AAA Gwinnett when McCann and Janish are healthy. I still think we look into acquiring a left handed bat off the bench. That's a division challenging 95+ win team easily, assuming it stays relatively healthy.

[Falconsfan567 34,951]

The next safest guy I would think would be Mr Do Everything, Play Entire Outfield. Hit anywhere in the lineup. Jose constanza. He is can't miss in my opinion. Must have him on team.

Just kidding FF567...sorry couldn't resist.

next safest I think is Janish as defensive specialist, back-up IF that can play SS very well. & a back-up catcher...who ever that turns out to be.

Paul Janish will probably start the season on the DL as will McCann. But when healthy Janish will be on the roster.

[Falconsfan567 34,951]

Honestly think we will see Mejia on the opening day roster if he shows well in Spring. I wouldn't be surprised to see Gattis move back to C and him take another year down there, if he isn't a key piece of replacing McCann at the beginning of the year.

I'm hoping that Gattis is the starting catcher at Gwinnett and gets a full season to work on his catching skills. And I hope Mejia's strong winter league and last season at Gwinnett carry over into this spring and he earns a spot on the bench.

One guy I almost keep forgetting that the Braves have is Blake DeWitt. You've got to think he's got the upper hand on a bench spot because he can play infield and outfield and he's a left-handed hitter.

[Falconsfan567 34,951]

SS Andrelton Simmons

RF Jason Heyward

LF Justin Upton

1B Freddie Freeman

CF BJ Upton

2B Dan Uggla

3B Juan Fransisco

C Gerald Laird

OF Reed Johnson

OF Jordan Schafer

IF Tyler Pastornicky

IF Chris Johnson

C Evan Gattis

SP Kris Medlen

SP Mike Minor

SP Tim Hudson

SP Paul Maholm

SP Julio Teheran

CL Craig Kimbrel

RP Eric O'Flaherty

RP Jonny Venters

RP Jordan Walden

RP Luis Avilan

RP Cory Gearrin

RP Christian Martinez

That would be my opening day 25 man roster with Pastornicky and Gattis being sent down to AAA Gwinnett when McCann and Janish are healthy. I still think we look into acquiring a left handed bat off the bench. That's a division challenging 95+ win team easily, assuming it stays relatively healthy.

I don't want Pastornicky or Schafer anywhere near my team. How bad do you think Schafer has to be for the worst team in the league to get rid of him?

[Unknøwn 10,652]

Constanza will win that OF spot over Schafer IMO. The Schafer move was just for depth. Janish will definitely be the backup middle IF with Johnson/Francisco handling the corner spots with Freeman. Johnson has some experience at 1B both in the minors and MLB so he'll likely be Freeman's backup.

[CrimsonFalcon 3,505]

Fredi has already made out his lineup regarding the Uptons.

Simmons

Heyward

Justin

BJ

McCann

Freeman

Uggla

3B

[Falconsfan567 34,951]

Fredi has already made out his lineup regarding the Uptons.

Simmons

Heyward

Justin

BJ

McCann

Freeman

Uggla

3B

Yeah and it's a stupid *** lineup. We finally have the right personnel to go lefty/righty all throughout the lineup which Fredi has always wanted to do and now he's not going to do it? SMH! There's no way on this green earth BJ should be hitting cleanup ahead of McCann and Freeman.

[CrimsonFalcon 3,505]

Yeah and it's a stupid *** lineup. We finally have the right personnel to go lefty/righty all throughout the lineup which Fredi has always wanted to do and now he's not going to do it? SMH! There's no way on this green earth BJ should be hitting cleanup ahead of McCann and Freeman.

I agree, but that line-up does have potential IMO.

[ATL Fan in the DMV 1,242]

The 2007 version of BJ Upton could hit cleanup for me any day...but the version since? Heck no.

Fredi needs to get it together and hit BJ 5th or a shade lower.

[Falconsfan567 34,951]

The 2007 version of BJ Upton could hit cleanup for me any day...but the version since? Heck no.

Fredi needs to get it together and hit BJ 5th or a shade lower.

5th or 6th is a good spot for BJ. We're not going to get BJ to hit .300 again. That just isn't realistic in my opinion. But there's no excuse for him to be hitting in the .230s and .240s like he has the last 4 years. He should easily be a .270-.280 hitter.

[Mega Flare 5,544]

[Ransack 2,780]

If anyone is interested Yahoo does an advanced statistical breakdown of how well each batter has hit in each slot in the lineup over the course of their career. It's pretty interesting to see. BJ Upton hits really well in the 2nd slot. Heyward is a monster hitting 6th. Fun stuff to look at.

[Falconsfan567 34,951]

If anyone is interested Yahoo does an advanced statistical breakdown of how well each batter has hit in each slot in the lineup over the course of their career. It's pretty interesting to see. BJ Upton hits really well in the 2nd slot. Heyward is a monster hitting 6th. Fun stuff to look at.

That's not really good because you're comparing a different number of at-bats. Most of Heyward's at-bats in the 6th slot came in the first 2 months of his career when he was hitting everything in sight because pitchers had no clue how to pitch him yet. As you can see it's only 62 games started in that slot compared to 140 starts in the 2 spot and 101 starts in the 3rd spot. So of course those numbers won't be off the charts like they are in the 6th slot because it's twice as many at-bats.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=heywaja01&year=Career&t=b

But for BJ the 2nd slot is the spot he has the most at-bats in and he has solid numbers in that spot. But I really am not a fan of saying a guy has to bat in a certain spot in the lineup because he has better numbers in that spot because it's such a fluky thing.

[usmcdirtybird 4,215]

When Mac is healthy. I love the versitility of this lineup. almost any piece can hit from 2 to 7. that is a heck of a lineup. Add our pitching and bullpen. Dodgers will be the team everybody will say in the World Series but us Phils, Nats and Giants can hurt the dodgers. It will be a great year for Baseball in the NL.

[dvt5045 82]

When Mac is healthy. I love the versitility of this lineup. almost any piece can hit from 2 to 7. that is a heck of a lineup. Add our pitching and bullpen. Dodgers will be the team everybody will say in the World Series but us Phils, Nats and Giants can hurt the dodgers. It will be a great year for Baseball in the NL.

Pretty sure the Nationals are the favorites to win the NL, the Dodgers are not even really favored to win their own division(Giants). I'm not worried about the Phillies either. That team is too old and declining fast and they didn't do anything this offseason to really improve them all that much at all.

Also I was looking at our biggest ? and besides the SP it's definitely 3B. I was thinking if maybe Fransisco and or Johnson are still struggling by June how awesome if Chipper came out of retirement to finish the season.

SS Simmons

RF Upton

LF Heyward

C McCann

CF Upton

3B Jones

1B Freeman

2B Uggla

What a lineup!

[Falconsfan567 34,951]

Pretty sure the Nationals are the favorites to win the NL, the Dodgers are not even really favored to win their own division(Giants). I'm not worried about the Phillies either. That team is too old and declining fast and they didn't do anything this offseason to really improve them all that much at all.

Also I was looking at our biggest ? and besides the SP it's definitely 3B. I was thinking if maybe Fransisco and or Johnson are still struggling by June how awesome if Chipper came out of retirement to finish the season.

SS Simmons

RF Upton

LF Heyward

C McCann

CF Upton

3B Jones

1B Freeman

2B Uggla

What a lineup!

Yeah I don't know why everyone keeps talking about the Phillies. Their run ended last year just as the Braves run ended in 2006. Those 2 years were very similar IMO. Both old teams that had a lot of injury issues. We all thought the Braves would get back to winning in 2007 and they actually started out 2007 24-12 but then the injuries started piling up again and we were done.

[Born Again Georgian 1,916]

Pretty sure the Nationals are the favorites to win the NL, the Dodgers are not even really favored to win their own division(Giants). I'm not worried about the Phillies either. That team is too old and declining fast and they didn't do anything this offseason to really improve them all that much at all.

Also I was looking at our biggest ? and besides the SP it's definitely 3B. I was thinking if maybe Fransisco and or Johnson are still struggling by June how awesome if Chipper came out of retirement to finish the season.

SS Simmons

RF Upton

LF Heyward

C McCann

CF Upton

3B Jones

1B Freeman

2B Uggla

What a lineup!

Seems like a pipe dream to me, but that would be awesome. One **** of a line up... Oh well.

[Ransack 2,780]

That's not really good because you're comparing a different number of at-bats. Most of Heyward's at-bats in the 6th slot came in the first 2 months of his career when he was hitting everything in sight because pitchers had no clue how to pitch him yet. As you can see it's only 62 games started in that slot compared to 140 starts in the 2 spot and 101 starts in the 3rd spot. So of course those numbers won't be off the charts like they are in the 6th slot because it's twice as many at-bats.

http://www.baseball-...year=Career&t=b

But for BJ the 2nd slot is the spot he has the most at-bats in and he has solid numbers in that spot. But I really am not a fan of saying a guy has to bat in a certain spot in the lineup because he has better numbers in that spot because it's such a fluky thing.

I said it's fun to look at. Spare me the lecture.