Know Your Foe #4: Rockies head east to face Braves on first leg of road trip

by Russ Oates on Apr 16, 2010 12:00 PM MDT in Know Your Foe

ATLANTA BRAVES (5-4, t2 NL East)

Friday-Sunday: Three-game series @ Turner Field

Rockies' 2009 record against Atlanta: 4-4. The Rockies won the first and fourth games in both series, but collapsed in the middle.

2010 Braves so far: 2-1 series victory over Cubs, 1-2 series loss to Giants, 2-1 series win over Padres

Probable Pitchers

Friday, 16 April 2010 @ 5:35 pm MT

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2010 - Jason Hammel	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	0	7.0	6	4	4	0	3	4	5.14	1.29

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2010 - Derek Lowe	2-0	2	2	0	0	0	0	12.0	9	6	6	2	10	6	4.50	1.58

Derek Lowe has two wins, but he certainly went about it the hard way. In his first start of the season, he allowed three runs in the first inning and then two in the third. The offense bailed him out as the Braves exploded for 16 runs against the Cubs on Opening Day. He picked up his second win against the Giants back on Saturday, but walked seven batters. Time for the Rockies to make Lowe see the wrong end of a game.

Saturday, 17 April 2010 @ 5:10 pm MT

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2010 - Ubaldo Jimenez	2-0	2	2	0	0	0	0	12.0	15	3	3	0	4	13	2.25	1.58

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2010 - Kenshin Kawakami	0-1	1	1	0	0	0	0	6.0	5	3	2	0	1	1	3.00	1.00

Kawakami is the Braves' fifth starter, so he didn't make his first start of the season until last Sunday.

Sunday, 18 April 2010 @ 11:35 am MT

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2010 - Greg Smith	1-1	3	2	0	0	0	0	12.0	10	7	7	3	4	13	5.25	1.17

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2010 - Jair Jurrjens	0-1	2	2	0	0	0	0	8.1	11	10	8	0	4	3	8.64	1.80

Jurrjens' last start was ugly. He allowed right runs (all earned) in 3.1 innings of work against the Padres on Monday.

Expected Lineup

Pos	Player	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	BABIP	wOBA
LF	Melky Cabrera	0.088	0.205	0.118	0.323	0.029	0.107	0.155
2B	Martin Prado	0.459	0.524	0.649	1.172	0.189	0.552	0.496
3B	Chipper Jones	0.150	0.292	0.300	0.592	0.150	0.133	0.296
C	Brian McCann	0.346	0.514	0.692	1.207	0.346	0.318	0.502
1B	Troy Glaus	0.235	0.297	0.324	0.621	0.088	0.304	0.282
SS	Yunel Escobar	0.243	0.282	0.297	0.579	0.054	0.273	0.268
RF	Jason Heyward	0.303	0.410	0.667	1.077	0.364	0.389	0.452
CF	Nate McLouth	0.150	0.370	0.150	0.520	0.000	0.273	0.268

Bench

Pos	Player	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	BABIP	wOBA
OF	Matt Diaz	0.136	0.136	0.136	0.273	0.000	0.200	0.133
1B	Eric Hinske	0.375	0.444	0.750	1.194	0.375	0.600	0.493
2B/3B	Omar Infante	0.235	0.278	0.294	0.572	0.059	0.333	0.272
C	David Ross	0.250	0.400	0.250	0.650	0.000	0.500	0.321

Closer

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2010 - Billy Wagner	0-0	5	0	0	0	1	1	5.0	3	2	2	1	2	10	3.60	1.00

Recent Transactions

Lefty Jo-Jo Reyes was placed on the 15-day DL and lefty Michael Dunn was recalled from Triple-A Gwinett. Dunn arrived with the Atlanta organization along with Melky Cabrera in the deal for Javier Vazquez.

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Comments

with the pitching matchups it will be tough

but hopefully the rox win 2 of 3 again

TULO = 2010 MVP!

Troy Tulowitzki: "When people think of the Rockies, I want them to think of a winning organization."

LETS GO WINGS!

by TuLoRocks2008 on Apr 16, 2010 1:09 PM MDT reply actions

Hammell and U-Ball SHOULD win theirs

But the Braves seem to be a pretty solid offensive team at this point in the season. Of course Heyward has no business being the 7th hitter as hot as he has been early.

I like our chances to start out strong on the road trip and to have another day game to complain about the lineup “mistakes” Hurdle is making killing our defense and evaporating any chance of victory…wait, we DIDN’T bring back Hurdle? Could have fooled me.

TULO MVP 2010, Gold Glove 2010-2024 (The last 3 on merit rather than skill) HOF 2029 on the fact he breaks Bond's HR record in 2017 while voluntarily submitting blood tests for HCG

Yay for Floyd Little HOF . Now lets get Sharpe, Davis, Atwater, Smith, Gradishar, Tom Jackson and all the other Broncos greats in there.

User name pronounced Air-Ah-Miss Originally from my days in the SCA, became a gamer and forum tag because it is odd and it is a name I like

by Arimaris on Apr 16, 2010 1:52 PM MDT up reply actions

Hello everybody

I’m an author over on the Braves SBN blog Talking Chip and check by Purple Row every once in a while. Real nice blog you have here.

Would you guys be interested in a scouting report? It would just be things like “who’s hot, who’s not, MVPs and LVPs so far, etc.” would you be interested in seeing this? If you aren’t, it’s no big deal.

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Apr 16, 2010 1:13 PM MDT via mobile reply actions

Should we trust a Scouting Report from someone who misspells his blog name? :)

I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want a scouting report. Unless you inundate this thread with Talking Choppers.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Apr 16, 2010 1:29 PM MDT up reply actions

I want to see who Braves fans have as their Rookie of the Year so far.

"Because I am a Rockie." - Todd

by phishbate on Apr 16, 2010 1:30 PM MDT up reply actions

haha, sorry about that

I was posting from my phone and my fat fingers messed up. Yeah, we’re Talking Chop, not Chip lol.

Okay, I’ll go work on one.

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Apr 16, 2010 1:31 PM MDT up reply actions

Don't work too hard

The season is young enough that we can essentially tell who is hot/not by their season statistics that Russ posted above.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Apr 16, 2010 1:33 PM MDT up reply actions

Sounds good!

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Apr 16, 2010 1:34 PM MDT up reply actions

Scouting report on the Braves:

Pitching
Derek Lowe was nicely covered. He was awful on Satuday night in San Francisco, but to his credit came up with huge pitches whenever he would get in a jam.

Kenshin Kawakami, who is nicknamed “The Dragon Slayer”, seems to always pitch well against the big named pitchers in baseball (in ‘09, he defeated Halladay, Lincecum, Kershaw, Hamels, Carpenter and Santana). I personally think Jimenez is the most under-rated pitcher in baseball and it’ll be a huge task for Kawakami to match him. Kenshin has a variety of pitches and works off his fastball, but can throw any pitch in pretty much any situation. He is a constant victim of a lack of run support and it seems like the Braves’ bats always go to sleep when he pitches.

Jair Jurrjens battled a sore shoulder in the early weeks of Spring Training and appears to not be 100% if his first 2 starts are any reflection on that. Jair, who had a ridiculous (and a bit lucky) 2.60ERA in 2009, struggled with his command in both games. As Russ said, Jurrjens got rocked on Monday and is coming off the worst start of his career.

Offense:
Who’s Hot: Martin Prado, Brian McCann and Jason Heyward.
Who’s Not: Whoever the hell is in the Outfield not named Jason Heyward.

From the lead-off spot in the order, the Braves’ hitters are 2-for-39. They’ve gotten absolutely no production from the very top of the order.

The Braves are a very patient team at the plate, seeing the 3rd most pitches per AB of any team in baseball. There aren’t too many free swingers on the team either besides Matt Diaz and Troy Glaus.

One of the strong points in our offense is our bench, which has been very good so far. Hinske, Infante, Conrad, Ross and Diaz make up on the best in baseball.

Defense:
The Braves have played solid defense so far in 2010. Brian McCann is decent behind the plate. Both Martin Prado (2B) and Yunel Escobar (SS) are both playing very well up the middle. Troy Glaus, who shifted over to 1B, has been solid as well. Chipper has definately lost a step at 3rd base and doesn’t have great reaction time anymore.

The OF defense is above-average. Heyward gets great jumps in RF and has a cannon. Nate McLouth is a talented CF, and despite not always getting a great jump on the ball, he can still make the flashy catch. Melky Cabrera and Matt Diaz can both hold their own in LF.

That’s about it.
I’d expect all 3 games to be close and I see the Rockies winning 2 out of 3, but it could really go either way.
Hope you enjoyed the preview.

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Apr 16, 2010 2:09 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs

Thanks for this, I think it'll be a close series too.

By the way, Josh Fogg will always be “The Dragon Slayer”, Kawakami better find a different nickname.

"Because I am a Rockie." - Todd

by phishbate on Apr 16, 2010 2:18 PM MDT up reply actions

Very nice

Thanks, and I agree that it will be a tight series, which should make for good baseball watching:D

A free man counts tomorrow and yesterday and both of them are his; hunger and there's no master to feed you, but walk long steps and no master says go slowly.

by bleedspurple on Apr 16, 2010 3:00 PM MDT up reply actions