GDT #30: 5/4/14 Giants vs Braves 1:35 PM

[jsebe10]

1. Jason Heyward (L) RF
2. B.J. Upton (R) CF
3. Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
4. Justin Upton (R) LF
5. Evan Gattis (R) C
6. Chris Johnson (R) 3B
7. Dan Uggla (R) 2B
8. Ramiro Pena (S) SS
9. Alex Wood (R) P

Nothing on the Giants yet. Bumgardener is a very tough lefty and hopefully Wood can rebound today. Go Braves

[UNCBlue012]

Let's get a win today! This streak has honestly been brutal, but I'm thankful it's still super early in the year. Need to get the bats going with RISP. Julio had a QS last night, so I can't ask for too much more from pitching at this point.

[NinersSBChamps]

Get shut down by Cum and Slong. Maybe we can beat up Bum today.

[sturg33]

Shocked that Gattis is in there. Fredi makes no sense to me.

Would have made more sense to play him Friday, rest him yesterday, and play him today.

[Braves1976]

OK, now it makes sense why Simmons is not in the line-up. Apparently Simmons has a family matter to clear his head about. That sounds serious and sorry to hear. It hurts that we have to use Pena vs a lefty and you certainly rather have Simmons with Wood on the mound.

That said, what will it take for Fredi to drop BJ Upton down in the line-up (stop batting him second)? A crazy long losing streak?

[Lville21]

So much for shaking the lineup up....

[NinersSBChamps]

May or may not watch today.

[Jay212033]

I'm sticking to my word and I'm not watching till after the NFL draft. I really hope they win though.

[tvsportscaster]

Shocked that Gattis is in there. Fredi makes no sense to me.

Would have made more sense to play him Friday, rest him yesterday, and play him today.

He didn't play Friday because they didn't want him starting three days in a row.

[waraueagle]

Yep. 'Was hoping for a little shakeup in the lineup. I don't know why I get my hopes up with Laird calling the shots...

[NinersSBChamps]

Would be nice to get a win before the Cardinals come to town.

[NinersSBChamps]

Wood versus Vogelslong would have been a fun match up.

[The Chosen One]

Wood vs Lincecum...

[NinersSBChamps]

Need a double play here. The Braves got a break for once.

[NinersSBChamps]

How the...now you can decline penalties in baseball?!?

[The Chosen One]

Gattis may have broken the record for catcher's interference in one season.

[UNCBlue012]

Almost got a break, of course we still give up a run in the first. Cool.

[NinersSBChamps]

It feels like we are down 5 runs already.

[jsebe10]

That's Evan's 4th catcher's interference this season. Lol I've never seen 1 catcher have so many.

[UNCBlue012]

Can't believe Wood is 2-4 with how amazing he's been. Fernandez got the best of the kid.

[UNCBlue012]

2 Ks already!

[NinersSBChamps]

Going to be a long game.

[NinersSBChamps]

Upton stares at a strike three.

[tvsportscaster]

Braves in the middle of another whiff-a-thon. I won't be long for this game, watching this crap.

[stpeteirish]

Chris Johnson has been practically worthless this year. He's played in almost every game, hitting 4-7 in the order, and has 4 RBI's on the year. I could argue that both BJ and Uggla have been better, and they ain't good.

[jsebe10]

Great. Leadoff single to Antonio Banderas

[jpack1]

Why in the world did the Braves extend CJ. Guy is just not that good.

[stpeteirish]

It feels like we are down 5 runs already.

because we are down in every game, never get ahead, and if we tie it up it lasts 1-2 batters. The game where BJ hit the 3 run HR is the only game we've been ahead in this streak and the pen blew that one.

[NinersSBChamps]

This has Ben Sheets circa 2004 written all over it.

[stpeteirish]

Braves in the middle of another whiff-a-thon. I won't be long for this game, watching this crap.

why would you think that, only 4 of the first 6 guys have struck out.

[jsebe10]

Woods change up ain't worth a sh1t today.

[yeezus]

ITT: Whine-a-thon.
Jesus Christ. Where are the non-whiners today?

[Five]

Hmmm, excute fundamentals and make **** happen, what a concept.

[yeezus]

See what happens when you play fundamental baseball?
Let's go Jason.

[sentenza]

Will we start to hit sometimes this season?
So it will be very hard to make the playoffs.

[Five]

And just like that. One ****ing **** down inning please.

[jsebe10]

83 pitches through 3 2/3

[tvsportscaster]

That's three straight games now that the tie hasn't even lasted a half inning. Unbelievable. Everything with this team right now is an uphill battle. So much for keeping momentum in your dugout.

[yeezus]

Way to swing at clear ball 4, Justin.

[jsebe10]

Good bottom half boys. Lol.

[jpack1]

When this team goes bad if goes bad. Let's hope the good is as good as the bad is bad when or if it ever gets going.

[sturg33]

This team just refuses to take a walk. Once Gattis has 3 balls, he's swinging

[yeezus]

This team just refuses to take a walk. Once Gattis has 3 balls, he's swinging

Justin got up 3-0 and had 2 terrible swings once it got to 3-1.

[yeezus]

Whew. Let's put some runs up.

[sturg33]

Smoltz has been talking all series about how Giants pitchers are getting behind and pitching out of it. I truly believe it's almost an advantage at this point with this team to have 3 balls. They swing at everything when they get ahead of the count

[The Chosen One]

Darn. Dan only has warning track power now.

[yeezus]

Are you serious? Morse caught that? That's just bad luck. That dude is garbage.

[NinersSBChamps]

Good bottom half boys. Lol.

The Braves are playing like a bottom half.

[stpeteirish]

spirits are so low here there haven't even been any Wood jokes.

[sturg33]

This is one of those games where we're being severely outplayed and outpitched but we have an opportunity to steal one. I think we will

[yeezus]

Pastor42B

[jsebe10]

Lol choke

[yeezus]

Goddammit.

[jpack1]

Another unclutch performance.

[sturg33]

Heyward swung at ball 4.

He's also been popping up a ton lately

[yeezus]

Ahh good BJ to help Wood.

[stpeteirish]

swinging at ball four is a team wide problem. Fredi alluded to the team "pressing" in an interview but I think its the opposite. Nobody thinks a particular AB matters so they just go up there and piss it away. The mgr is afraid to get on the players.

Just my opinion, wonder if anyone else has one re this.

[yeezus]

Let's play baseball and let BJ run.
THANK YOU!

[yeezus]

Sac fly ties the game.
Fun. Da. Men. Tals.

[The Chosen One]

Baahahahahaha.

The nightmare continues.

[yeezus]

And Justin promptly pops out on the first pitch.

[The Chosen One]

Teamwide we aren't seeing the ball that well for some reason.

[jpack1]

They need to start fining players for swinging at terrible pitches. This is just terrible.

[sentenza]

This is so horrible!
Such chances and no runs.

[UNCBlue012]

The guys are given runs day in and day out and don't do the fundamentals. When they do, the pitchers give up homers. No idea how to actually get out of this funk.

[yeezus]

Lol wow. This team is terrified of hitting with men on base. Something really needs to be shaken up. Uggla gone, hitting coach gone, something.
Nope. Uggla will be plugged in the lineup tomorrow. We all know it. He's Fredi's boy.

[yeezus]

Sav, is not pinning this topic supposed to be an anti-jinx?

[stpeteirish]

Lol wow. This team is terrified of hitting with men on base. Something really needs to be shaken up. Uggla gone, hitting coach gone, something.
Nope. Uggla will be plugged in the lineup tomorrow. We all know it. He's Fredi's boy.

Uggla isn't the problem, its broader than that. That 3rd strike to Gattis was pathetic. Teams know we will chase bad pitches. We have to stop chasing bad pitches, take the damned walk. BJ seems to be the only guy who gets this, although with him its probably lack of confidence in his hitting since he's sucked for so long.

[stpeteirish]

weird use of IBB. Its not like the bottom of the order is up.

[sentenza]

And now SF will show us how to play this game.
Single, sac, ibb - then score

[yeezus]

Uggla isn't the problem, its broader than that. That 3rd strike to Gattis was pathetic. Teams know we will chase bad pitches. We have to stop chasing bad pitches, take the damned walk. BJ seems to be the only guy who gets this, although with him its probably lack of confidence in his hitting since he's sucked for so long.

Oh I agree, but something has to be shaken up. Uggla is just beyond pathetic. I really have never seen a major league player so bad. It's amazing. And it's not like he can field well and is hitting 8th. He's a horrible defender. He is a bad baseball player in every sense, and yet he still plays somehow. It is mind-boggling. How is it even OK for him to be allowed to be trotted out there?

[UNCBlue012]

What do you guys think: is this a team slump or is this just the team's weaknesses all showing at once?

[yeezus]

Does anyone ever ask Fredi why Uggla is still playing? I can't imagine any other player that's so terrible in truly every facet of the game would still be out there every day.

[yeezus]

What do you guys think: is this a team slump or is this just the team's weaknesses all showing at once?

We have the same weaknesses as last year, we're just terrible with RISP right now. I think in the long run we will be fine. Again, there are a lot of wacky numbers in the MLB this early. The Cards are worse than we are, but they're still good. It's just really frustrating to watch while we're in this rut.

[The Chosen One]

Oh I agree, but something has to be shaken up. Uggla is just beyond pathetic. I really have never seen a major league player so bad. It's amazing. And it's not like he can field well and is hitting 8th. He's a horrible defender. He is a bad baseball player in every sense, and yet he still plays somehow. It is mind-boggling. How is it even OK for him to be allowed to be trotted out there?

Easily a slump.

Freeman no power, Justin no powet atm, etc.

[Hawk]

Huge play.

[yeezus]

Easily a slump.

Freeman no power, Justin no powet atm, etc.

Right, nothing is going right offensively right now. Freeman will get hot again, Heyward will normalize a bit, Justin's power will come and go.
Still doesn't change the fact that Uggla has no business being on a professional baseball diamond. He's the worst player in the MLB, all things considered, and is still playing.

[stpeteirish]

Right, nothing is going right offensively right now. Freeman will get hot again, Heyward will normalize a bit, Justin's power will come and go.
Still doesn't change the fact that Uggla has no business being on a professional baseball diamond. He's the worst player in the MLB, all things considered, and is still playing.

He's not even the worst player in our everyday lineup, Johnson is.

[stpeteirish]

Huge play.

Getting Avilan back to where he was last year would be nice. But since he doesn't hit, a good bullpen just means the losses are closer.

[yeezus]

He's not even the worst player in our everyday lineup, Johnson is.

No, he's not. Johnson is a much better player. He's been slumping this season, but his numbers will be much better than Uggla's by the end of the year. And Johnson is better defensively.

[The Chosen One]

LORD BABIP

[yeezus]

Please make Uggla bunt.

[UNCBlue012]

Get Uggla off the team. He kills us. I like him; but we don't need him.

[Julio3000]

Gawd. F'ing Uggla.

[yeezus]

LMAO.
Why was he not ordered to bunt? That was the worst AB I have ever seen. God he is awful.

[jsebe10]

Disappear Dan.

[The Chosen One]

Pena is awful too.

[yeezus]

Pena is awful too.

Yeah, he is. People were very optimistic based on like 100 ABs here, but he's a terrible hitter.

[yeezus]

Doumit 2-run shot right here.

[The Chosen One]

Doumit is awful as well.

[UNCBlue012]

Love seeing the guys try so hard there. Haha

[yeezus]

I meant he'd have 2 defenders running after his pop-up. So I was right.

[sturg33]

I have never seen so many popups in my life

[sentenza]

10 runs in the last 6 games. This is good enough for the worst team.

[jsebe10]

Doumit is awful as well.

Yea he is but I fckn hate hate hate Uggla. I wish that fudge packer never got traded to this team. Every time I see his name on the lineup card I can't help but think of where we would be without piece of sh*t on this team.

[The Chosen One]

Yea he is but I fckn hate hate hate Uggla. I wish that fudge packer never got traded to this team. Every time I see his name on the lineup card I can't help but think of where we would be without piece of sh*t on this team.

Just relax, and know Pastornicky/LaStella will be playing soon at 2B.

[sturg33]

Just relax, and know Pastornicky/LaStella will be playing soon at 2B.

There is no evidence that this is true

[jsebe10]

Just relax, and know Pastornicky/LaStella will be playing soon at 2B.

Oh I'm relaxed, but it's not going to happen. 36 months of his sh1t is enough to make a man sin. Fredi will never let him go. They are like testicles, those two.

[yeezus]

Just relax, and know Pastornicky/LaStella will be playing soon at 2B.

How do you figure? It seems they're ok with rolling Uggla out there to be terrible day in and day out.

[UNCBlue012]

Game. The guys just need to regroup man. It happens, but it's frustrating.

[jsebe10]

Dagger.

[yeezus]

OK, finished with this game. Going to get some stuff done. Back-to-back sweeps.

[The Chosen One]

I blame Fredi.

[sentenza]

Good night folks!

[CyYoung31]

We will put up 4 in the last two innings.

[jsebe10]

I blame Fredi.

I blame every single position player in that duggout. Each of them from Heyward to Schafer has had an opportunity to step up and do something for this team and they've failed.

[sentenza]

We will put up 4 in the last two innings.

ok, i believe it, if you say this.
But when did we score 5 runs in a game the last time? And how often this season?

[Gary82]

6 game losing streak. Nice fellas.

[jsebe10]

Worm beater tries to pull a low and outside pitch and promptly rolls over to 2B

[50PoundHead]

Yea he is but I fckn hate hate hate Uggla. I wish that fudge packer never got traded to this team. Every time I see his name on the lineup card I can't help but think of where we would be without piece of sh*t on this team.

Those of us who even expressed any reservation at the acquisition and extension of Uggla were universally labeled as retrograde reprobates who did not believe in the power of the three-outcome player. Uggla was a stat head wet dream and there are still folks who don't post here much that were saying he continued to either be the best option or that he'd bounce back throughout the off-season.

I never liked him that much, but thought he could be a positive cog in a larger machine. There is a value in what he brought to the table at the time of his acquisition. I hated the extension because you don't extend marginal athletes past age 30 in any sport.

We're never going to get anything for him, so releasing him is the only option we have if we want to move him.

[UNCBlue012]

On a positive note, I've been thrilled with BJ's progression as of late.!

[stpeteirish]

I blame every single position player in that duggout. Each of them from Heyward to Schafer has had an opportunity to step up and do something for this team and they've failed.

Schafer's barely played. But its true, its the lack of hitting that is the problem in the past 4 games anyway. I think they just don't have any sense of urgency, they think they'll be fine. And I think they'll start hitting when they're 10 games out of 1st.

[UNCBlue012]

Awful luck there for Freddie

[jsebe10]

Justin will pop out this AB

[bravesnumberone]

Another worthless performance from this team.

[UNCBlue012]

Upton has struck out 3 times this series in situations that I don't believe should be a strike.

[jsebe10]

That is strike 3 you fckn goon!!!!!!!'n

[jsebe10]

Watched two 84 MPH change ups that did nothing, right down the pipe.

[PurpleBrave]

Just a slump fellas. A season long one. Nothing to worry about

[tvsportscaster]

6 runs in the 6-game losing streak. And they only got 7 in the last game they won last Sunday. 7 runs in 7 games just ain't going to cut it.

[jsebe10]

Just a slump fellas. A season long one. Nothing to worry about

I know I know.

[buck7580]

Is Bucknor umpiring home plate?

[bravesnumberone]

And of course none of this is the team's fault. The Marlins and Giants stole our signs, and the mean umpires call borderline 2-strike pitches strikes.

[jsebe10]

Vavaro better get the ball down. He'll be sooowwwyy

[sentenza]

How was this first pitch a ball?
Right in the middle.

[tvsportscaster]

What a difference a week makes. A week ago today, the Braves were 17 and 7 and had a 3 and half game division lead. Now in they are 17 and 13 and in danger of falling into second place.

[jsebe10]

In Wood's last 4 starts, a total of 1 run of support. Those guys should be ashamed of themselves.

[bravesnumberone]

After that utterly disgraceful week of baseball filled with gutless performances, I'll offer up this thought:

The Braves' 14-game winning streak last season started with a sweep of the Cardinals.

So I'll say what I said prior to that series when we were struggling:

I can't wait to see what the Cardinals do to this team.

P.S.: Uggla is a useless turd and needs to be gone.

[sentenza]

Did we even hit a ball out of the infield the last innings?
6 straight losses, no runs. , no hits. Nothing.
Last place next weekend.

[50PoundHead]

In Wood's last 4 starts, a total of 1 run of support. Those guys should be ashamed of themselves.

At the same time, he's throwing a ton of pitches. There's no excuse for this lack of offense, but Wood's been as sharp as a basketball these past couple of outings. It's a learning curve and he's got the talent to get back in the groove, but he's been laboring.

[jsebe10]

At the same time, he's throwing a ton of pitches. There's no excuse for this lack of offense, but Wood's been as sharp as a basketball these past couple of outings. It's a learning curve and he's got the talent to get back in the groove, but he's been laboring.

The only outing he had no business winning was his last one in Miami.

[tvsportscaster]

After that utterly disgraceful week of baseball filled with gutless performances, I'll offer up this thought:

The Braves' 14-game winning streak last season started with a sweep of the Cardinals.

So I'll say what I said prior to that series when we were struggling:

I can't wait to see what the Cardinals do to this team.

P.S.: Uggla is a useless turd and needs to be gone.

Well, the Cardinals aren't exactly setting the world on fire, they are 15 and 16 and need a win tonight to avoid a sweep to the Cubs.

[bravesnumberone]

Well, the Cardinals aren't exactly setting the world on fire, they are 15 and 16 and need a win tonight to avoid a sweep to the Cubs.

So what you're saying is we're about to make them look like the '27 Yankees. Got it.

[stpeteirish]

didn't even have an XBH today. With all those big HR swings, nuthin.

[50PoundHead]

The only outing he had no business winning was his last one in Miami.

Over 100 pitches in five innings today. I'm not saying he deserved to lose, but he wasn't sharp.

[NinersSBChamps]

Cool.

[VirginiaBrave]

I said all winter I thought this team was overrated, I thought April had proved me wrong, but not sure now. This is pathetic it looks like everybody is sleepwalking out there. Looks like the team has taken on the personality of the fan base, we'll get it going we are the Braves...better happen soon.

[yeezus]

I said all winter I thought this team was overrated, I thought April had proved me wrong, but not sure now. This is pathetic it looks like everybody is sleepwalking out there. Looks like the team has taken on the personality of the fan base, we'll get it going we are the Braves...better happen soon.

LMAO.
Where do you people come from? I tell you...

[Braves1976]

LMAO.
Where do you people come from? I tell you...

In his case, it seems Virginia. :)

[VirginiaBrave]

LMAO.
Where do you people come from? I tell you...

I could ask you the same question. I will ask this. Where do you see any thing to be positive about? This is baseball we will turn it around mentality might not come to pass, while this is a talented team it's not working right now. I see a repeat of 2006 coming if it don't turn soon.

[gtcway]

The offense suckz ballz. That is all.

[yeezus]

I could ask you the same question. I will ask this. Where do you see any thing to be positive about? This is baseball we will turn it around mentality might not come to pass, while this is a talented team it's not working right now. I see a repeat of 2006 coming if it don't turn soon.

This is a talented team and it's May 4th.
We were 17-12 at this point last year.
The Cardinals are below. 500.
The Dodgers were bad for half a season last year.
I don't understand the sky is falling mentality. It's frustrating to watch the team struggle so much. It's early, it's a long season, we were on a roll before this, several guys playing below their level, lots of wacky things happen in a month span in baseball, in both ways.
"Taking on the mentality of the fans." That's rich. Because Braves fans are so different from other fans :roll:

[Hawk]

Fredi blathering on a bit again about crooked numbers. Is he superstitious?

http://www.ajc.com/videos/news/fredi-g-on-skidding-braves-sixth-straight-loss/vCZJLY/

He says he might shake up the lineup -- but "nothing drastic".

[bravesnumberone]

Hey, we're still gonna be in first place.

[BravesfanMike]

Can't possibly go much longer with Uggla at second....can they??!!

[mossy]

Fredi blathering on a bit again about crooked numbers. Is he superstitious?

http://www.ajc.com/videos/news/fredi-g-on-skidding-braves-sixth-straight-loss/vCZJLY/

He says he might shake up the lineup -- but "nothing drastic".

What's he supposed to say? How he really feels may not be what the tells the media right?

Dropping six in a row feels terrible btw.

[VirginiaBrave]

This is a talented team and it's May 4th.
We were 17-12 at this point last year.
The Cardinals are below. 500.
The Dodgers were bad for half a season last year.
I don't understand the sky is falling mentality. It's frustrating to watch the team struggle so much. It's early, it's a long season, we were on a roll before this, several guys playing below their level, lots of wacky things happen in a month span in baseball, in both ways.
"Taking on the mentality of the fans." That's rich. Because Braves fans are so different from other fans :roll:

The mentality comment goes both ways. There are a lot of you guys that seem to look at things with the idea that just because Braves is wrote across the jersey we are going to the playoffs. The fact is it could be that the team played over its head last month and if that's the case and these days of May turn out to be the real Braves. We won't sniff the playoffs.

[cajunrevenge]

I could ask you the same question. I will ask this. Where do you see any thing to be positive about? This is baseball we will turn it around mentality might not come to pass, while this is a talented team it's not working right now. I see a repeat of 2006 coming if it don't turn soon.

Is being in first place not positive enough for you?

[yeezus]

The mentality comment goes both ways. There are a lot of you guys that seem to look at things with the idea that just because Braves is wrote across the jersey we are going to the playoffs. The fact is it could be that the team played over its head last month and if that's the case and these days of May turn out to be the real Braves. We won't sniff the playoffs.

Yeah, that's it.
Not that fact that almost the same team won 96 games last year. No. It's because it says "Braves" on their jerseys.
It's not like they've been in the playoffs for 20 straight years and we take it for granted. Even if fans do take it for granted, that means nothing for the players. And if you're assuming the players take it for granted, you're an amazing psychologist.

[VirginiaBrave]

Is being in first place not positive enough for you?

That won't be an issue too much longer if things don't change.

[yeezus]

That won't be an issue too much longer if things don't change.

:stupid:

[cajunrevenge]

The mentality comment goes both ways. There are a lot of you guys that seem to look at things with the idea that just because Braves is wrote across the jersey we are going to the playoffs. The fact is it could be that the team played over its head last month and if that's the case and these days of May turn out to be the real Braves. We won't sniff the playoffs.

Making the playoffs in something like 20 out of 25 years will do that to a person.

[VirginiaBrave]

:stupid:

Last year has zip to do with this one, my friend.

[bravesnumberone]

I doubt we're as bad as we've played the last week. If so, it was a lost cause from the beginning. We're playing like the Houston Astros right now.

[cajunrevenge]

That won't be an issue too much longer if things don't change.

And some posters said that all last season. You only forgot to say the nats were about to go on a roll. No team is as bad of hitting over a full season as the braves have been the last 6 games. These things average out.

[yeezus]

Last year has zip to do with this one, my friend.

Wrong. We won the divison by 10 games last year, meaning we have 9 games to borrow towards this year should we need them.

[NinersSBChamps]

And some posters said that all last season. You only forgot to say the nats were about to go on a roll. No team is as bad of hitting over a full season as the braves have been the last 6 games. These things average out.

Kind of like (insert Braves player here) can't be as bad as last season. That whole saying is a load of crap. If a player sucks he won't get better simply because he can't repeat a terrible season again. Same holds true for any team.

[VirginiaBrave]

Now whose ::stupid:
Wrong. We won the divison by 10 games last year, meaning we have 9 games to borrow towards this year should we need them.

[nsacpi]

Harang will be huge tomorrow.

[jsebe10]

In his case, it seems Virginia. :)

Stupid Commonwealth state!

[yeezus]

Kind of like (insert Braves player here) can't be as bad as last season. That whole saying is a load of crap. If a player sucks he won't get better simply because he can't repeat a terrible season again. Same holds true for any team.

Right, because we suck.

[AerchAngel]

Fire the hitting coach.

It can't hurt. It's not like he is earning his more than 100k salary.

[bravesnumberone]

Harang will be huge tomorrow.

Meaning he won't give up more than one homer.

[nsacpi]

Some OPS stats so far relative to Steamer projections going into today's game:

Heyward .641 (.806 projected at the start of the season)
BJ .626 (.674)
Freeman .910 (.859)
Justin .992 (.829)
Gattis .855 (.766)
Johnson .592 (.725)
Uggla .549 (.684)
Simmons .742 (.721)

So far we have four underperformers and four overperformers, but the underperformers are underperforming by a larger margin. Now a projection is not a guarantee. But it is based upon a larger sample than five weeks worth of games, so I have some confidence that going forward the performances during the rest of the season will be closer to the projections that what we have seen so far.

Our offensive performance so far has also been hurt by the sequencing of our hits (of which batting with RISP is a good short hand).

So far this season we have an overall batting average of .236 and a batting average with RISP of .214. The RISP numbers are based on a fairly small sample. Over a full season they will tend to converge to the overall average. Last year for example the differential between overall batting average and batting average with RISP was .002.

For the most part we just have to be patient and wait for performances to converge to projection and hitting with RISP to converge to overall hitting.

However, there are some things we can do. One is to look at the players that have both low performance and low projected performance. The name that jumps out is Uggla. We have discussed this exhaustively in other threads. I don't have anything new to add. I will simply repeat that it makes sense to start giving more playing time to alternatives at second. And this would make sense whether or not the team was struggling offensively.

The other suggestion I would make would be to increase Gattis' playing time slightly.

[NinersSBChamps]

Hard to believe that Freeman was above .900 OPS coming into today. Even after his horrid week.

[parkvadawg]

Honestly can't wait for the first Freeman isn't worth the money post. It's coming. Hell some on here don't think Justin is a good player

[Bdawg2309]

This team has been terrible with RISP the past few years.

[cajunrevenge]

Kind of like (insert Braves player here) can't be as bad as last season. That whole saying is a load of crap. If a player sucks he won't get better simply because he can't repeat a terrible season again. Same holds true for any team.

And your comparing a 6 game sample vs a full season sample. Even the worst teams average 3.5 runs a game.

[zitothebrave]

This team has been terrible with RISP the past few years.

OPS w/RISP, Braves vs NL average

2013 - .732 vs .713
2012 - .697 vs .728
2011 - .714 vs .723
2010 - .775 vs .760

Basically we've been right around the league average. Not ideal you'd like to be better than average but terrible is an exaggeration, aside from 2012, we were terrible then.

[nsacpi]

This team has been terrible with RISP the past few years.

.022 differential this year...meaning overall BA is higher by .022 than BA with RISP
-.002 differential in 2013...meaning we did slightly better with RISP
.016 differential in 2012
-.007 in 2011

Those numbers and those in Zito's post above show that there isn't really a systematic tendency on this team's part to have trouble hitting with RISP.

[Julio3000]

Harang will be huge tomorrow.

Harang will be huge tomorrow, and every subsequent day.

[NinersSBChamps]

And your comparing a 6 game sample vs a full season sample. Even the worst teams average 3.5 runs a game.

Too bad the Braves don't average 3.5 runs a game. If they did they would have 20 wins right now.

[cajunrevenge]

Too bad the Braves don't average 3.5 runs a game. If they did they would have 20 wins right now.

Would you take an avatar bet that they will average over 3.5 runs per game for the season?

[Russ2dollas]

There's not much we can do other than Uggla.

We just signed CJ with him struggling.

We need some guys to keep the line moving. We need OBP......do we have any other moves than benching Uggla?

[NinersSBChamps]

Would you take an avatar bet that they will average over 3.5 runs per game for the season?

3.5 is pretty attainable. They are at 3.3 now. I think they will crack that number. So I would have to decline.

[Hawk]

What's he supposed to say?

More?

[nsacpi]

There's not much we can do other than Uggla.

We just signed CJ with him struggling.

We need some guys to keep the line moving. We need OBP......do we have any other moves than benching Uggla?

The main move is what you mentioned...giving the other second base candidates more games.

Another move would be to slightly increase Gattis' playing time.

[NinersSBChamps]

Another move would be to slightly increase Gattis' playing time.

That isn't happening. After the game today Gattis had to crawl into the locker room.

[VirginiaBrave]

That isn't happening. After the game today Gattis had to crawl into the locker room.

Yeah I agree, unless the NL goes stupid and adopts the DH, Gattis' knees are going to shorten his career. Better enjoy him while he is here.

[The Chosen One]

You can see how bad Gattis' knees are just from the way he runs. He has to use more core and arms to pick the legs up instead of hauling with his knees.

[zitothebrave]

Yeah I agree, unless the NL goes stupid and adopts the DH, Gattis' knees are going to shorten his career. Better enjoy him while he is here.

He'll be fine for a few more years. What we'll see happen is the Braves brass will keep him around another year or 2, when he hits arby and starts getting expensive they'll pawn him off to the highest bidder.

[UNCBlue012]

@Buster_ESPN: This week’s power rankings: 1. Milwaukee 2. Atlanta 3. Oakland 4. Detroit 5. Giants 6. Rockies 7. Dodgers 8. LAA 9. WAS 10. STL. Fire away. Interesting. He's still on the Braves wagon.

[Millwood1Hitter]

Anyone from ESPN, including Buster, is a bafoon. I seriously doubt most of them don't even watch the game, and I doubt he even knows about our offensive struggles and losing streak. Somewhere, someplace I'm sure he is blabbering about the Yankees and how great Jeter is.