Pirates Braves Spring Training Preview
By Tom Smith
Charlie Morton, Brian Burres, Brad Lincoln, Vinnie Chulk, Jeff Karstens, Justin Thomas, and Anthony Claggett are scheduled to pitch for the Pirates.
Jason Heyward has an OPS of 1.833. The phenom has a double, three walks and an OBP of .833. Ahh, spring training stats. Chipper Jones had this to say about the 20-year old rookie in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “I would be shocked if he doesn’t break camp with us,” Jones said
Joining Kenshin Kawakami on the bump will be Jo-Jo Reyes, former Georgia Tech star Lee Hyde, Eric Cordier and Juan Abreuas.
Forbes did an article that didn’t focus on Pirate finances, it was actually about athletes vehicles and Kenshin’s whip was featured.
An article on Braves new closer Billy Wagner. Best line: ”He has more hair on his chest than he has on his head.”
Former Pirate Jesse Chavez (0-1) was pelted for three hits, three runs (two earned) and one walk in the fifth inning of the Braves’ 4-2 loss to the Mets on Tuesday. The Braves beat the Mets 9-5 on Wednesday.
If you’re looking for the game on the radio today, I will be messing with this link freebaseballradio.com I have heard it will be on 1340AM. My fingers are crossed.
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Dan from Tomahawk Take took the time to answer some questions today.
RumBunter: How has Nate McLouth done in your eyes for the Braves?
Dan/Tomahawk Take: McLouth has performed pretty much how I expected him to perform, maybe a little less. He was highly recruited and early in his career was mentioned as one of the Pirates top prospects, but it took him a few years to have a good year. He’s a .260, 22 HR kind of guy and that’s workable.
Your thoughts on Charlie Morton?
He hit the major leagues with a thump, really. He was expected to be in the Braves full-time rotation last year but Tommy Hanson’s growth made Morton expendable. Morton has potential to be an Ace for the Pirates, but he needs a solid pitching coach to teach him the mechanics because the majors is a big change from the minors. You’ll know this season whether Morton is going to be the type of guy who can lead your rotation in this new decade.
How much is Jason Heyward going to dominate this year?
No one knows the answer to this question. All I can say is I hope he is as good as everyone is making him out to me. I was surprised to see how much size he has now. He’s grabbing attention in practices because he’s hitting bombs and the Braves actually had to make changes to their practice facility to protect the vehicles parked that were getting hit with Heyward’s long balls. He had a hit and a stolen base last night, but no homers 🙂
You pissed the Braves didn’t sign Johnny Damon, I mean where will the power come from this year?
Not really. I think this shows the intention of giving Heyward a spot in the outfield. I was a little upset they did not sign Johnny Damon, who had his best season last year at age 36. Damon would have helped, but the Braves offer was half as much as the Tigers. Fingers crossed on Heyward.
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HotStove.com asked Ben Duronio, The Bravesoligist a few questions including Cox’s last year in Atlanta, Chipper Jones’ hinting at retirement, the Braves’ great pitching staff, #1 prospect Jason Heyward.
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