AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 23
Friday, March 23, 2007
We’re sleep-deprived but stomach virus-free
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The creeping crud still has a few Braves back at Dark Star dehydrated and weakened, but we soldier on, sleepless but stomach virus-less, toward the finish line of spring training, the 5K preamble to the marathon that is the regular season.
Today’s stop is Clearwater and Bright House Field, which is close to perfect once you get past that typically awful corporate name. This place is a few years old and could be the blueprint for how to build a modern spring-training park, with a little second deck made of steel and a grass berm surrounding almost the entire outfield.
Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that it sits between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Niiice. Palm trees and flags are fluttering in the breeze, sun’s shining.
By the way, during batting practice Jeff Francoeur hit a couple of balls up to Frenchy’s, the thatched-roof bar/restaurant beyond the left-field fence. He was quite pleased.
I saw assistant GM Frank Wren working the CrackBerry even more than usual during batting practice today, and the Braves have a couple of their top scouts/special assistant types here, Jim Fregosi and Bobby Wine. Bobby Cox spent a lot of time huddled with them in the dugout during B.P.
In other words, I won’t be the least bit surprised if a trade goes down in the next few days. I don’t think it’ll be anything big, probably the Braves trading a spare infielder or infield prospect for a prospect in an area where they’re thin, or for a journeyman type that might be good to have at Richmond and help out in case of injury. I know that’s a broad range, but I’m just not hearing specific names. If I do, I’ll let you know.
Rafael Furcal’s ankle injury wasn’t nearly as bad as they first feared, just a minor sprain that probably won’t keep him out more than 4-5 days. So I don’t know that the Dodgers will feel compelled to offer anything of value for Tony Pena Jr. or another young Braves infielder.
You know how quickly this stuff can change, so I’ll let you know if I hear anything from the scouts, scribes or attractive hostesses in the press lounge.
Kyle Davies is pitching today… Who’d have thought two months ago that Davies might bring a 2.25 ERA into his final Grapefruit League start and still have seemingly little chance of making the opening day rotation?
Unless I’m really getting a bad read on this, I get no indication that Davies will be kept over Mark Redman or Lance Cormier. But Bobby Cox isn’t showing his cards, other than his comment a couple days ago that certainly made it sound like Redman is assured of a spot (which should have been obvious anyway, since the Braves went out and signed him to a $750,000 contract that’s far below market value for a veteran starter who can probably be counted on for 10-12 wins.)
We’re supposed to see Mike Gonzalez in relief of Davies. Gonzalez said a couple outings ago, after giving up two runs and a homer, that he was only an outing away from being ready to crank up the intensity how his arm was feeling strong.
In two outings since, he’s allowed one hit and no walks in two scoreless innings.
Davies is going against lefty J.A. Happ, a non-roster invitee who was rated the No. 8 prospect in the Phillies organization by Baseball America. Happ didn’t give up a run in his first two starts, but got whacked for six runs, six hits and two walks in just two innings of a pounding at Houston’s hands March 12 in his last start.
Phillies expected to toe the slab after Happ exits include Tom Gordon and Ryan Madson today.
Is there a Grapefruit League ERA title? I don’t know and don’t care, but the Braves are third in the NL (Grapefruit and Cactus circuits) with a 3.97 ERA, which includes a few hideous numbers for pitchers no longer in camp.
Spring stats are relatively unimportant, but it’s worth noting that four Braves starters were among the Grapefruit League’s top 10 ERA qualifiers before today: Cormier (1.29), Tim Hudson (1.80), John Smoltz (1.80) and Chuck James (2.57).
Davies doesn’t have enough innings to qualify, nor does journeyman Buddy Carlyle (0.00 ERA in 10 innings).
Langerhans among stricken: The stomach virus did to Ryan Langerhans what pitchers have not been able to _ put him on his back and cooled that bat. He ranks among Grapefruit League leaders with a .375 average, but missed his second straight game because of the bug that’s bit a handful of Braves this week.
Matt Diaz was back in the lineup Friday, told me he lost five pounds in one day (I’ll spare details) and spent the morning chugging PowerAde on the bus ride over here.
OK, game’s starting. Gonna watch a little ‘ball. Chipper just doubled to the left-center gap in the first inning….
“If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me, Her Memory Will” by George Jones
The bars are all closed/It’s four in the morning
Must have shut ‘em all down/By the shape that I’m in
I lay my head on the wheel/And the horn begins honking
The whole neighborhood knows/That I’m home drunk again
And if drinking don’t kill me/Her memory will
I can’t hold out much longer/The way that I feel
With the blood from my body/I could start my own still
And if drinking don’t kill me/Her memory will
These old bones they move slow/But so sure of their footsteps
As I trip on the floor/And lightly touch down
Lord it’s been ten bottles/Since I tried to forget her
But the memory still lingers/Lying here on the ground
And if drinking don’t kill me/Her memory will
I can’t hold out much longer/The way that I feel
With the blood from my body/I could start my own still
But if drinking don’t kill me/Her memory will.
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