From the blog
An excerpt of the Daily DOB blog at AJC.com by David O’Brien:
The Braves need consistency from the rotation. The back end of the rotation.
“Eric Stults has been unimpressive — not terrible but not good — in both his starts. Trevor Cahill was awful in his first start. The Braves will not pull the plug on Cahill without him getting at least several more chances, since he didn’t pitch in a game for nearly two weeks before his Braves debut and since they’re paying him $5.5 million this season. (The D’backs are paying the other $6.5 million of his – gulp — $12 million salary.) But Cahill will have to show improvement before much longer. As will Stults, who, with a $2 million salary, can easily be dropped from the rotation and moved to a long-relief role.”
Defending
The Braves entered the weekend tied for second in double plays at 14, one behind the major-league leading San Francisco Giants. The Braves turned five Saturday.
By the numbers
979
Where Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar was picked out of 1,530 players in the 2011 amateur draft. He is the lowest selection of his draft class to reach the majors and has made three catches in the first two weeks that has the league talking about his defense while he plays left field as a reserve.
He said it
“He didn’t sit down the whole game. … He’s always fired up. It doesn’t matter if we give up a couple of runs, he’s up there yelling, ‘get some runs,’ and then we get some runs, ‘play defense’ — he’s always screaming in the dugout, always keeping us loose, always keeping us fired up. Obviously he comes in, gets the energy back up with his go-ahead homer in the eighth inning.” — First baseman Freddie Freeman on new teammate and clubhouse leader Jonny Gomes after Friday’s victory.
Fan mail
An excerpt of a letter to the Braves that also came to the AJC:
“I have sat in the “really,” really good seats at the stadium, the ones where you feel like you could reach out and touch the players. I have also sat in the “really,” really not so good seats at the stadium, the ones where you feel like you could reach out and touch a helicopter. They don’t have a lot in common, but what is exactly the same is the quality of the Turner Field staff in both locations — each and every one of them. You do not find stellar customer service in many places, and it is guaranteed at Turner Field. The ushers, the ticket checkers, the Braves girls, the security, the parking attendants, Mark Owens, the elevator assistants, the guest services staff, the beer pourers, the waffle cooks — they “all” have a smile, a kind word, a ‘Welcome to Turner Field, Today is Going To Be Amazing’ attitude.”
— Elizabeth Riordon Johnson
