For all the numbers Braves closer Craig Kimbrel is racking up, how about this one? He went triple digits.
Kimbrel threw a 100 mph fastball to Justin Upton in the ninth inning Friday night, according to the radar gun at Turner Field. His 0-1 four-seam fastball went for a ball, but it must have had the desired effect. Kimbrel threw two more sliders, 10 mph slower, and on the second one, Upton grounded out just in front of the plate.
Kimbrel stranded two runners and collected his National League rookie-record 38th save of the year, with what is believed to be a first for Kimbrel: 1-0-0.
“That’s pretty cool,” Kimbrel said about it Friday afternoon. “It felt the same.”
That’s probably because he’s regularly at 98, 99 mph. But to reach one tick harder puts him in elite company, especially for a Brave.
Based on one tally in the Baseball Almanac, Kimbrel is the first Brave to hit 100 mph at Turner Field since Rafael Soriano did on May 4, 2007. According to that report, former Braves closer Billy Wagner hit 101 on the Turner Field radar gun, in 2003 with the Astros.
Baseball Almanac’s study was not comprehensive, and speed of pitch is not kept as an official statistic, so triple-digit sightings are often left up to word of mouth, individual reports and legend.
It might be a little of all three that had former Braves closer Mark Wohlers registered at 103 mph in spring training for the Braves in 1995. John Rocker probably flirted with 100 mph as a Brave. And former Brave Tom Glavine thinks John Smoltz might have gotten there when he was closing.
Jones bats third
After hitting three home runs in seven games, Braves veteran Chipper Jones found himself back in a familiar spot Saturday night — the three hole.
Jones had batted sixth in the four games before that since Brian McCann returned to the lineup from his oblique injury. Jones hadn’t hit sixth since 1997, and then it was only for two games. From the sounds of it, though, he ought not get too comfortable in his old spot.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Jones was there Saturday because he gave McCann a day of rest after catching six consecutive games and because the Braves were facing the left-hander Wade Miley.
“He’s such a pro I don’t think that bothers him,” Gonzalez said of where he bats Jones in the order. “Six or seven. You get a really good matchup, maybe hit him fifth behind [Dan Uggla]. You can go so many different ways with it.”
Jones doesn’t care so much about where he’s batting in the lineup as what those homers mean about how he’s feeling physically.
“It’s nice to walk up to the plate and feel somewhat healthy in my legs,” Jones said. “When I can go out and turn on fastballs and hit them to right, stay behind them and hit them to left — three homers this homestand, one to left, one to center and one to right — that’s when I’m covering both sides of the plate. That’s a good feeling to have.”
Lineup watch
September is approaching, and Gonzalez stuck to his plan of splitting the Tim Hudson-David Ross battery combination for the stretch run.
McCann caught Hudson in a 5-4 win over the Giants on Wednesday. Ross started Saturday night, catching Brandon Beachy, when Gonzalez gave McCann a day off.
“Rossy was catching well with him, but we were going to wean him off, coming into stretch run, because you want Mac to catch Huddy in the postseason,” Gonzalez said.
Hudson was 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in an 11-start stretch with Ross catching.
Gonzalez said Jason Heyward would be back in the lineup Sunday against right-hander Josh Collmenter, with Jones getting the day off. Gonzalez said Heyward could see more playing time with another four right-handers coming up in the Cubs series, which begins Monday.
