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Sunday, August 31, 2008
September calls coming
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Good afternoon and Happy Labor Day, denizens. I say that today (Sunday) because this is probably going to have to be good for tomorrow (Monday) too. Day game, travel to Florida tonight, day game tomorrow means I’d better go on and wish it now. This blog will probably be it for the next two days, so soak it up - ha - and when I’m otherwise occupied, some topics to discuss amongst yourselves….
(And no my nails are not like butter.)
SEPTEMBER CALL-UPS: The Braves made it official this morning, or at least most of the way. Five guys are coming up in this wave. And I imagine one more pitcher will be added once Mississippi is finished with the Southern League playoffs.
Among the returning faces will be shortstop Brent Lillibridge, who was on a seven-game hitting streak coming into Sunday, including two-hit games in his last two against Norfolk. That bought him to .222 on the season, which gives you an idea of the struggle it’s been at the plate. Lillibridge has played 16 games in the majors this year, going 11-for-53 (.208) with five doubles and a homer. Lillibridge had a hit flurry July 12, 13 and 18, going 7-for-12 around the All-Star break.
Corky Miller is coming back to give Bobby Cox a third catcher and because Cox made a promise to him when they designated him. Need I remind you he hit .093 (5-for-54) in 26 games up here. But he got it going in Richmond, hitting .339 with five homers, three doubles and 12 RBIs in 16 games. He won International League player of the week for Aug. 18-24, batting .556 (10-for-18) with three homers.
The intriguing call-up of the bunch is James Parr, the lone new face coming up for the first time. (The others returning are Jeff Ridgway, the left-handed reliever who allowed two homers in 4 1/3 innings pitched in a stint and Charlie Morton, who “returns” in a paper-pushing move.)
Parr is a 22-year-old right-hander from Albuquerque, a fourth round draft pick in 2004, who just made the 40-man roster for the first time. He’s pitched in AA Mississippi and AAA Richmond this season, combining to go 13-7 with a 3.52 ERA, with 125 strikeouts and 51 walks in 150 2/3 innings. He has a .242 opponents’ batting average. In 10 games for Richmond, including nine starts, Parr was 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA.
Parr won International League pitcher of the week for Aug. 18-24 when he went 2-0 in two scoreless six-inning outings against Toledo. He struck out nine, walked three and allowed just four hits in those 12 innings.
We’ll have to see how Bobby plans to use him but I’d guess it might be like how Jeff Bennett was worked in last year: relief appearances at first, then a spot start here or there to see what he’s got. He’s never spent any time with the big club, not in spring training either, so some time to adjust to the atmosphere wouldn’t be bad either.
Both Matt Diaz and Rafael Soriano were transferred to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Miller and Parr on the 40-man roster. The Richmond guys will not come until after Monday’s game by the way. The Braves won’t mess with the celebration the Richmond Braves have going.
SO LONG, RICHMOND: Monday’s the big day. After 43 seasons in Richmond, the Braves will pack up and head for Gwinnett. Wish I could be there. And hey, it’s not just because the BF lives in Richmond. I bet it’s going to be a truly touching time to be at the Diamond. Shoot, I got sad when the Braves left Macon, largely because it meant there would be truly nothing to do in town. At least Richmond’s got other things going for it and perhaps a AA team coming before long.
But with guys like David Justice, Ralph Garr, Javy Lopez and others expected to make appearances today and tomorrow at the Diamond, I’m sure it’ll be a pretty cool experience. I hope some of the locals will jump on here and tell us how it was.
SKIP TRIBUTE: Tomorrow, September 1, the Baseball Hall of Fame will start accepting votes to put broadcasters on the ballot for the Ford C. Frick award. Fans will decide three of the 10 names on the ballot, which will be chosen by former Frick award winners and five historians appointed by the Hall. What better way to honor Skip Caray, I say, than to log on and nominate him for the prestigious award that he probably should have been considered for long ago.
Voting will go throughout September. Log onto baseballhall.org.
HAMPTON: It’s August 31, last day a player needs to be part of an organization to be put on a postseason roster. Translation, last day a contending team would likely come after Mike Hampton to help them with a playoff run. There’s still a chance somebody could trade for him to make a couple starts in September but he wouldn’t be eligible for the postseason. The Braves haven’t had anybody express interest yet and are content to have him the rest of the way, continuing to get better with each outing.
Hampton went eight innings in his last start Wednesday night.
POWER OUTAGE: How bad has it been? Until Saturday night’s three-homer outburst, the Braves had only 10 home runs in August. With two days to spare they avoided having their fewest home runs in a month since April 1995 when they had 11 in a short month coming off the strike. Otherwise, the last time they had 10 or fewer homers in a month was in April of 1990. These numbers are courtesy of SABR’s David Vincent.
The Braves have 13 homers now heading into today’s season-finale in DC. This is after hitting 27 in April, 22 in May, 28 in June and 22 in July. Of course, those were the day when Mark Teiexeira was around.
LINEUP WATCH: Both Chipper Jones and Brian McCann got scheduled days off today but it was good timing for Chipper who’s got a bit of a head cold/allergies. He thinks he’ll be back in the lineup for the opener of the series in Florida though.
Not sure what to expect with weather down there. Any South Floridians on the blog, feel free to let me know. But it’s gorgeous here in DC today. Wow.
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