Official Atlanta Braves Thread

[Fiz]

do i really need to explain how he can't stay healthy and pitchers that can't do it in the minors can't do it in the majors

or how his delivery just screams TJ

[Fiz]

Not to mention literally every braves pitching prospect is ludicrously hyped.

[Johnny Rockets]

Not to mention literally every braves pitching prospect is ludicrously hyped.

That is the case for most teams I think. Minor League pitchers are like the backup QB on a football team. Hyped up based on what they could do and not what they have done.

[BF91]

do i really need to explain how he can't stay healthy and pitchers that can't do it in the minors can't do it in the majors

or how his delivery just screams TJ

He has had some injury issues in the past, but you're the only person I've ever heard talk bad about his delivery. If you can show me where other people have an issue with his delivery, please do. I'll admit I'm wrong. As far as I can recall though, neither Baseball America nor John Sickles have had anything negative to say about his delivery.

And yes, Braves pitching prospects are highly hyped, all pitching prospects are. You're obviously a Braves fan, so you're going to hear more about Braves prospects than another team's. Its hard not to hype our players when we've got Kevin Goldstein writing stuff like this:

[Randall Delgado] is ranked below top prospects Julio Teheran and Arodys Vizcaino, but it almost makes him forgotten about when in most organizations, he'd be number one. The 20-year-old has a loose arm with projection left in him, mid-90s heat with control and sink, and he's dominating the Carolina League, with a sub-one WHIP and more than a strikeout per inning. The Panamanian's ceiling is at least a two, and while many teams don't have a single pitching prospect with a ceiling higher than a three, the Braves have a trio of them.

and this:

After cruising through the Sally League with a 1.14 ERA in seven starts while limiting the league to a .168 batting average, [Julio Teheran] moved up to the Carolina League [Wednesday] night, striking out 12 of the 26 batters he faced. A true potential ace, Teheran's 93-97 mph fastball is enough to dominate on its own, but it's rare to find a teenager with an advanced changeup, and Teheran's breaking ball has also made progress this year. It's not ridiculous to think he could be in the big leagues before he turns 21, that is to say before opening day 2012.

So part of it is the Braves hype machine doing its job, but part of it is that we've got some damn good talent in the minors. Goldstein has no ties to the Braves, but he doesn't seem to have an issue giving our guys credit where it's due.

[Fiz]

journalists are lazy and are too obsessed with mid nineties braves to realize that the only pitching prospect they've had do anything in the last 15 years (not counting wainwright or marquis, who wasn't anything special in atlanta) is Tommy Hanson. Because of this, every braves pitching prospect gets overrated, and Teheran is now overrated as hell. this is an A ball pitcher who weighs 160 pounds with just over 100 innings with chronic shoulder problems already.

here's from an angry person on another board who made me see the light on teheran.

Julio Teheran isn't hitting the majors, he was promoted to High-A after pitching pretty well as a Low-A repeater. Given the player's ugly injury history (shoulder problems are long-term death for pitching prospects) and the general A-ball pitcherness, it is far from assured that he will hit the majors ever yet alone be good when does.

The funny thing is that Myrtle Beach is the Carolina League version of Petco on steroids (even Jason Heyward was mortal there), so there's a decent chance he's going to put up a 1.5 ERA for two months and gets traded for Roy Oswalt or Cliff Lee or someone. When he moves back to normal parks the Astros/Mariners will wonder what happened and people will chalk it up to Braves pitching prospect voodoo.

[BF91]

He's in Myrtle Beach, and the Pelicans stadium is a pitcher's park, you're not telling me anything new. What you fail to realize is that his park limits home runs, but is going to have no effect on his other stats like strikeouts and walks. He's 19 and has a 4.75 strikeout to walk ratio this year. That's with a 2.51 FIP and a 42.9% ground ball percentage. He's not getting helped out by his ballpark as much as you think.

I can't argue this as well as some of the people over at Braves-Nation can, they're much more into prospects than I am. Feel free to come over there and discuss Teheran and the rest of our prospects all you'd like.

[Fiz]

i can barely handle one messageboard full of mindless homers.

and the park may not have an effect on s/bb ratios, but you know what does? Low A ball.

[Fiz]

i mean jesus low A ball is full of people as good as like Johnny Rockets

[Fiz]

Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com writes that Chris Resop, who is currently pitching with Triple-A Gwinnett, will "probably" be in the majors within the next two weeks.

He holds a June 15 out-clause in his contract, so the Braves can either promote him to the major leagues, trade him or give him his outright release. Resop, 27, is 4-1 with a 2.07 ERA over nine starts with Triple-A Gwinnett this season. He tallied a 5.89 ERA over 16 relief appearances with the Braves last season.

Source: Jon Paul Morosi on Twitter

oh my god just cut him he's terrible

[Fiz]

trade teheran for berkman, move some poo around, then have my ideal lineup

1 - 2B Martin Prado

2 - SS Omar Infante

3 - RF Jason Heyward

4 - 3B Troy Glaus

5 - C Brian McCann

6 - 1B Lance Berkman

7 - CF Eric Hinske (screw it just go with me here)

8 - LF Chipper Jones

9 - Tim Hudson

sets the record for worst OF defense in history of the game

[Johnny Rockets]

i mean jesus low A ball is full of people as good as like Johnny Rockets

You really think I have a chance? I would love to play A ball !!!!

<<<< streches, then goes to batting cage to resume dream with new found vigor.

[BF91]

i can barely handle one messageboard full of mindless homers.

and the park may not have an effect on s/bb ratios, but you know what does? Low A ball.

You're right, let's automatically disregard his success because he's in A-ball. Nobody has ever pitched well in low-A and gone on to have a successful major league career. Why, to even aknowledge that a level such as "low-A" exists is nothing short of idiotic!

Listen, I'd understand if you were warry of his production until he hits AA, plenty of people do the same thing and I can't say I blame him. Fact of the matter is that he is a very talented pitcher, considered to be one of the top international signings of his class as a matter of fact, with big league "stuff", and results on the field. He has had some shoulder issues that the organization has handled with kid's gloves, and rightly so.

For some reason you seem determined to dismiss the guy despite the fact that he's shown nothing but success on the field. Are there factors that might inflate his numbers some? Of course there are, especially if he's as polished as some scouts think he is. Doesn't mean he's not just plain good though.

[Fiz]

you're drawing a really unfair line between "determined to dismiss" and "not yet optimistic"

fact of the matter is that to me, a player two years away with serious red flags in an organization that needs another starter, either in the rotation or in the outfield (oh god the outfield) is trade bait.

And I know the money thing is an issue but there are a lot of rumors floating around that Liberty Media sees the writing on the wall here (attendance is up 23% this year) and are willing to shell out some dough.

[Fiz]

You really think I have a chance? I would love to play A ball !!!!

<<<< streches, then goes to batting cage to resume dream with new found vigor.

<<<<< feels his gut tear