Opening roster guesses

[zitothebrave]

Thread for everyone to take a stab at what our opening day lineup, bench, rotation and bullpen looks like. Odds are that everyone will be wrong because of injuries, big spring trainings, and the inevitable insaniry of Fredi.

ANyway I'll take a stab at the real beast including the order of the rotation.

RF - Jason Heyward
SS - Simmons
1B - Freddie
LF - Justin
3B - Johnson
C - Gattis
CF - Bossman
2B - Uggla

I think that Simmons will have a hot ST earning him a spot near the top of the lineup, I think Fredi will give Uggla the 2B job but bat him 7th/8th until he proves he belongs. May be wrong on that one.

Rotation

Medlen
Minor
Beachy
Julio
Wood

Ok I'm being optimistic here. Hoping that Fredi and Frank use their brains and that everyone is healthy. I have a sneaking suspicion that Freddy takes the last spot and Wood goes to the pen but I hope that sanity prevails and Wood starts the season in the rotation and either he or Beachy moves to the pen when FLoyd is healthy depending on performance/health/whatever.

Bench

Doumit
Laird
Pena
Cunningham
Schafer

That's my ideal bench to start the year, hopefully we don't have too much clog in the bench with either Pena/Pastor or Doumit/Terds. The bench as I have it has enough defensive depth Cunningham and Schafer can cover the OF, Cunningham working on 2B basically I'd consider the defensive replacements being Cunningham and Pena, then you have Schafer as PR and Doumit as your first PH. Schafer can also play solid D and Pena can be a PH. Simmons's 150+ lock makes things interesting.

Bullpen (where odds are everyone gets at least one wrong)
Kimbrel
Walden
Avilan
Carpenter
Varvaro
Gearrin
Obispo

[Jay212033]

Lineup:
Heyward - RF
J. Upton - LF
Freeman - 1B
Gattis - C
Johnson - 3B
B.J. Upton - CF
Uggla - 2B
Simmons - SS

Bench:
Laird - C
Doumit - OF/1B/C
Pena - IF
Schafer - OF
Gamel - 1B/3B

Rotation:
Medlen - RHP
Minor - LHP
Teheran - RHP
Wood - LHP
Beachy - RHP

Bullpen:
Varvaro - LRP
Vasquez - LRP
Butcher - LOOGY
Carpenter - MRP
Avilan - SUP
Walden - SUP
Kimbrel - CP

[GovClintonTyree]

Jay, I think you nailed it. Vasquez was hitting 95 in winter ball and Buchter is the next EOF. I think they'll swap Beachy and Wood since the lefties would still be separated by a day.

Looking at that roster, it occurs to me: Nobody develops, scouts and finds guys on the scrapheap like we do. Unfortunately, nobody except the Yankees blows the big money signings like we do. And we can't outspend our mistakes. BJ and/or Dan really need to pull it together this year.

[nsacpi]

Lineup:
RF-Heyward
LF-Justin
1B-Freeman
C-Gattis
3B-Johnson
SS-Simmons
CF-BJ
2B-Uggla

Rotation:
Medlen
Minor
Beachy
Teheran
Wood

Bench:
Laird
Pena
Pastornicky
Doumit
Schafer

Pen:
Kimbrel
Walden
Carpenter
Gearrin
Garcia
Avilan
Buchter

[stpeteirish]

Pena and nPastornicky are redundant players. Pastor gets optioned although he'll spent plenty of time with the big club. So Gamel gets the last spot if healthy. Next man in is probably Terdo if he shows some ability to pinch hit. Bench doesn't look very good in that department.

[stpeteirish]

I'd be very surprised to see Gearrin make it, he did nothing to earn a spot last year, but he'll get another shot in spring training and if he blows this one its goo-bye. Varvaro and Vazquez will almost certainly make it. Kimbrel, Walden Avilan and Carpenter are the other four, unless hurt.

Just guessing, but I think Freddy G will pitch well enough in March to earn his roster spot, probably as a starter instead of Wood, which pushes Wood to the pen and Buchter to Gwinett. That will be a temporary thing.

[Dalyn]

Minor
Medlen
Wood/Beachy
Teheran
Garcia

Kimbrel
Walden
Avilan
Beachy/Wood
Carpenter
Buchter/Martin (if Wood goes to the bullpen instead of Beachy)
Varvaro

Heyward RF
Justin LF
Freeman 1B
Johnson 3B
Gattis C
Simmons SS
BJ CF
Uggla 2B (Will work "well" #8 with his owl eyes)

Laird, Doumit, Pena, Cunningham, Gamel

[The Chosen One]

Fredi - Manager

[Dalyn]

Fredi - Manager

Putting Garcia #5 pretty much already said that in big bold letters.

[zitothebrave]

I'd be very surprised to see Gearrin make it, he did nothing to earn a spot last year, but he'll get another shot in spring training and if he blows this one its goo-bye. Varvaro and Vazquez will almost certainly make it. Kimbrel, Walden Avilan and Carpenter are the other four, unless hurt.

Just guessing, but I think Freddy G will pitch well enough in March to earn his roster spot, probably as a starter instead of Wood, which pushes Wood to the pen and Buchter to Gwinett. That will be a temporary thing.

Gearrin gets more flak than anyone . Last year he wasn't great, but the previous 2 he was. He had a fluke bad year against RHB. Which isn't the norm for him as he's basically considered a ROOGY by nearly all accounts. GEarrin is the perfect utility reliever when he's used right (situationally) he is fine, he's not an 8th inning man though, he's the guy you bring in to get one or 2 outs when you pull a starter or have a struggling reliever and against 2 righties he usually does that.

[nsacpi]

Gearrin gets more flak than anyone . Last year he wasn't great, but the previous 2 he was. He had a fluke bad year against RHB. Which isn't the norm for him as he's basically considered a ROOGY by nearly all accounts. GEarrin is the perfect utility reliever when he's used right (situationally) he is fine, he's not an 8th inning man though, he's the guy you bring in to get one or 2 outs when you pull a starter or have a struggling reliever and against 2 righties he usually does that.

Gearrin lost effectiveness after a brutal period of overwork in May. He eventually was sent down to the minors but did not pitch there due to shoulder tendinitis. If he has recovered he should be in our pen.

The Garcia signing worries me a bit. He fits into a certain pattern--Livan, Durbin, Proctor. An older guy with a used up arm trying to get by on guile. For some reason, the Braves seem to feel they need someone like that in the pen. Last year the guy they brought in for that role (Ayala) did a decent job. But I think the pen would be fine without an eminence grise. It would be a shame if we lost Gearrin (who is out of options) so that Garcia could make the team. It would be an even bigger shame if Garcia displaced Wood from the rotation. I have an uneasy feeling. Garcia is the kind of pitcher they have shown a weakness for.

[tvsportscaster]

Lineup:
Heyward - RF
J. Upton - LF
Freeman - 1B
Gattis - C
Johnson - 3B
B.J. Upton - CF
Uggla - 2B
Simmons - SS

Bench:
Laird - C
Doumit - OF/1B/C
Pena - IF
Schafer - OF
Gamel - 1B/3B

Rotation:
Medlen - RHP
Minor - LHP
Teheran - RHP
Wood - LHP
Beachy - RHP

Bullpen:
Varvaro - LRP
Vasquez - LRP
Butcher - LOOGY
Carpenter - MRP
Avilan - SUP
Walden - SUP
Kimbrel - CP

I think Jay has nailed it with the exception of Garcia will be the 5th starter and Wood will be the second lefty in the bullpen ahead of Butcher

[stpeteirish]

Gearrin lost effectiveness after a brutal period of overwork in May. He eventually was sent down to the minors but did not pitch there due to shoulder tendinitis. If he has recovered he should be in our pen.

The Garcia signing worries me a bit. He fits into a certain pattern--Livan, Durbin, Proctor. An older guy with a used up arm trying to get by on guile. For some reason, the Braves seem to feel they need someone like that in the pen. Last year the guy they brought in for that role (Ayala) did a decent job. But I think the pen would be fine without an eminence grise. It would be a shame if we lost Gearrin (who is out of options) so that Garcia could make the team. It would be an even bigger shame if Garcia displaced Wood from the rotation. I have an uneasy feeling. Garcia is the kind of pitcher they have shown a weakness for.

Why would it be a"shame" if we lost Gearrin? He's got a wide open path to a bullpen job for like the third time. If he pitches poorly again he should get waived, and waiving him if he has another bad year doesn't bother me. At some point you have to perform. ROOGY's have to be able to handle sporadic workloads. If he's not a ROOGY then what is he?

Garcia will make, not make the team on his own merits, his contract dictates that. Since Gearrin is out of options any one of 12 guys could "cost" him his job. It really depends on Gearrin, if he's called up he has to perform, regardless of who else is on the team.

[nsacpi]

Why would it be a"shame" if we lost Gearrin?

In 2011 and 2012, Gearrin had a FIP under 3.00 in the majors. His numbers in AAA during those years were even better. He is a good pitcher, especially if used mostly against right handed hitters.

In 2013, he pitched well until late May. By then he had been run into the ground. Our manager saw fit to pitch him in 30 of the 56 games the team played in April and May, a pace that extrapolates to 101 appearances over a 162 game season. Not surprisingly he lost effectiveness and went to the DL with shoulder tendonitis and did not pitch again after early July.

It is pretty horrifying to look at what Fredi did to Gearrin last year. There was one stretch in April where he pitched in eight games over ten days. Over those ten days his pitch count was: 24, 16, 20, 0, 10, 12, 0, 26, 9, 6. This of course does not include pitches thrown warming up.

To make sure his arms really was cooked, Fredi also had him pitch both games of a double header in June for a total of 39 pitches.

[zitothebrave]

Gearrin is a popular whipping boy for this board for some reason. I don't get it really, as you pointed out he was great in 11-12. Even his bad season wasn't that terrible. The key with him though is mainly positioning him against RHB. And not being used as a whipping boy.

I'm not opposed to running arms into the ground, quite frankly GEarrin and co are replaceable. You don't run Kimbrel or Venters into the ground because you'll need them in the playoffs for big outs but Gearrin and co can be somewhat replaced by guys in AAA.

[nsacpi]

Gearrin is a popular whipping boy for this board for some reason. I don't get it really, as you pointed out he was great in 11-12. Even his bad season wasn't that terrible. The key with him though is mainly positioning him against RHB. And not being used as a whipping boy.

I'm not opposed to running arms into the ground, quite frankly GEarrin and co are replaceable. You don't run Kimbrel or Venters into the ground because you'll need them in the playoffs for big outs but Gearrin and co can be somewhat replaced by guys in AAA.

Yeah, there should be a designated sacrificial lamb each year in the pen to save the other arms. That should have been Varvaro last year. Gearrin is someone who I would want on the post-season roster. Varvaro less so, and as a matter of fact he was left off the post-season roster last year even though he was healthy at the time.

[Braves1976]

In 2011 and 2012, Gearrin had a FIP under 3.00 in the majors. His numbers in AAA during those years were even better. He is a good pitcher, especially if used mostly against right handed hitters.

In 2013, he pitched well until late May. By then he had been run into the ground. Our manager saw fit to pitch him in 30 of the 56 games the team played in April and May, a pace that extrapolates to 101 appearances over a 162 game season. Not surprisingly he lost effectiveness and went to the DL with shoulder tendonitis and did not pitch again after early July.

It is pretty horrifying to look at what Fredi did to Gearrin last year. There was one stretch in April where he pitched in eight games over ten days. Over those ten days his pitch count was: 24, 16, 20, 0, 10, 12, 0, 26, 9, 6. This of course does not include pitches thrown warming up.

To make sure his arms really was cooked, Fredi also had him pitch both games of a double header in June for a total of 39 pitches.

Exactly. Well said!

[Braves1976]

The Garcia signing worries me a bit. He fits into a certain pattern--Livan, Durbin, Proctor. An older guy with a used up arm trying to get by on guile. For some reason, the Braves seem to feel they need someone like that in the pen. Last year the guy they brought in for that role (Ayala) did a decent job. But I think the pen would be fine without an eminence grise. It would be a shame if we lost Gearrin (who is out of options) so that Garcia could make the team. It would be an even bigger shame if Garcia displaced Wood from the rotation. I have an uneasy feeling. Garcia is the kind of pitcher they have shown a weakness for.

My thoughts exactly again! It seems I'll be your echo today.

[Braves1976]

On the topic of roster guesses, I noted that the Royals DFA'd Emilio Bonifacio and we've had past interest in him. I wouldn't mind him for our final bench spot to replace Schafer. Bonifacio would also give us more infield options since he can play second, short, third and outfield. Also, I doubt that Gamel makes the team out of spring training. I expect him to need at least some time in AAA this year.

[NinersSBChamps]

Lineup:
Heyward - RF
J. Upton - LF
Freeman - 1B
Gattis - C
Johnson - 3B
B.J. Upton - CF
Uggla - 2B
Simmons - SS

Bench:
Laird - C
Doumit - OF/1B/C
Pena - IF
Schafer - OF
Gamel - 1B/3B

Rotation:
Medlen - RHP
Minor - LHP
Teheran - RHP
Wood - LHP
Beachy - RHP

Bullpen:
Varvaro - LRP
Vasquez - LRP
Butcher - LOOGY
Carpenter - MRP
Avilan - SUP
Walden - SUP
Kimbrel - CP

Over 1200 strikeouts for the 1-7 hitters.