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Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Extreme fighting and infield options
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Another sunny day, another full house to see Los Bravos here in Kissimmee, just down the road a piece from The Entertainment Sector, but a world away. There’s a rodeo arena next door, the Silver Spurs Arena, which used to be pure old-school until they enclosed and air-conditioned it a few years back.
Anyway, there’s Extreme Fighting at the arena this week, folks, and I’m considering going just for the people watching. But probably not.
We got Lucinda Williams tonight in Orlando, but for today we’ve got us a Chuck James vs. Jason Jennings pitching matchup. It’s a multi-Pena lineup for the Braves, with Brayan behind the dish and Tony at shortstop.
Talked to a scout before the game who had spoken with a Cubs official this week and heard they (Cubs) are looking for a utility man. Chris Woodward’s name was mentioned, but I don’t know whether the Braves are considering moving him or not.
He hasn’t played a game yet because of his strained calf, but Bobby Cox said this morning that Woodward might play tomorrow.
The only reason I would think it might be possible is the performance of Martin Prado this spring. He does look ready to fill a utility role, and a couple of Braves coaches (and Bobby Cox) have said so repeatedly. But he hasn’t played any shortstop in his career.
I just asked John Schuerholz this morning whether Prado is a super-utility type guy and he said no, he’s an every-day second baseman. When I asked if that meant he thought Prado was too good to be a utility guy, he said yes, to him (the GM) he was too good for that role.
Don’t know whether that means they wouldn’t consider it, or whether he just meant for the long-term he’s not a utility guy. We’ll see. But again, that important consideration to note: Prado hasn’t played shorstop. At all.
Since Willy Aybar has played little shortstop, the Braves wouldn’t have an experienced backup for Edgar Renteria if they kept Aybar and Prado as their utility infielders. Thus I don’t see that happening. They signed Woodward with expectation of him backing up Renteria, among other duties.
Tony Pena Jr. is out of options and certainly would be a very strong defensive utility guy at three positions including shortstop, but does he hit enough? He’s a .252 career hitter in seven years in the minors, with 25 homers in 2,572 at-bats.
Anyway, it’ll be interesting these next couple of weeks.
Talk about embarrassing… The dude singing the National Anthem forgot the words and stopped about 15 seconds in. He apologized to the crowd, then re-started from the beginning. This time the fans helped him along by singing the words with him.
Chad Paronto’s foot wasn’t broken last night when he got hit by the hot grounder and left the game. No report from Braves other than that, and he didn’t make this trip. But it’s not expected to be something that keeps him out.
I still believe Paronto and Tyler Yates will have the last two spots in the bullpen, with the Big Three _ Wickman, Soriano, Gonzalez _ plus Oscar Villarreal and Macay McBride. By the way, for those who watched last night, how good did McBride look? Outstanding. Him and Soriano look ready to start the season.
When McBride throws like that, using three pitches the way he did last night vs. the Astros, you can see why Bobby says he could be a starter. He hasn’t gotten right-handers out in the past, but if he pitches like that he will.
Frenchy flirting with .400… Jeff Francoeur came in batting .385 (10-for-26) with two homers, five RBIs and only three strikeouts, then got a hit in the first inning just now. He still hasn’t drawn a walk, but no one’s going to complain the way he’s going now.
Talked to him before the game and he said a couple of adjustments he made to his swing since last season, staying lower and keeping his weight back longer, are letting him to see the ball longer and on a better plane (at least I think that’s how he put it; I spilled some coffee on that page of my notes and am having trouble deciphering them).
Pork chops, mashed potatoes and broccoli were on the menu in the dining room today, and all were fresh and well prepared. You don’t know how good that tasted after the limited rotation of lunches we get at The Sector, including tuna salad that put one other Braves writer in a very bad state late last night.
Came across a really good CD this week… For fans of rootsy/Americana rock, a group from North Carolina called the Bill Noonan Band. Their debut CD, “Catawba City,” is solid. Good lyrics, great slide and steel guitars. Tough to compare the sound to anyone in particular, but I hear some mellower Skynyrd in there, some Neil Young, some Tom Petty. But it’s about equal parts country and rock. Worth giving a listen to. Try “Get Off My Land,” the sixth track.
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