Everyday BJ?

AUGUST 13: Do we know if the mid-season eye surgery is Uggla’s decision, or did the team strongly encourage it? We may never know.

Gwinnett has had such a revolving door of players this year, the roster has constantly turned over. I’m not too impressed by Leonard. He’s tall, and a decent first and third baseman. Doesn’t strike me as a second-baseman.

Interesting Bradley column on the poor Uggla/Upton at bats with McCann on third.

Perhaps it was the wet field, but it looked like BJ could’ve caught Cole Hamels ball in left center. Tough play, but that’s why the Braves are paying him $75 million. The pitcher gets a triple off a ball in the left-centerfield gap. This is the outfield that John Schuerholz boasted that no ball would get past. Bet Jordan Schafer would’ve caught it. When Hamels scored I knew winning the game would be tough. Took all my might not to Tweet.

Stumbled across a poorly-written (but long) Yahoo Sports article on whether the Braves should keep McCann. I commented on the article, in response to one of the first few comments. Gattis may have hit a rough stretch and has surrendered a few key passed balls, but in the long run should be well worth not having to empty the bank for McCann, whose body is a ticking time bomb. The Braves would find it hard to make an offer somewhere in the range of what the Yankees can pay.   

I see Fredi wasted no time inserting Pastornicky and Schafer…surely in response to Bradley’s column.

AUGUST 14: The Sports Illustrated article about all the factors that went into playing RGIII was interesting. So many people could blame Shanahan, the doctors, and Griffin no matter what decision was made. Likewise, fans are quick to put blame on personnel decisions immediately or in hindsight. Over the years you have mentioned how unfair and unreasonable this is. Currently Braves fans continue to berate the Uggla and BJ signings, but rarely mention the success of the trades with the Angels and Diamondbacks. Same with the Schafer signing.

It was almost like the Braves remade their team overnight. You can’t say they are afraid to make a bold move in the middle of the season, even with their huge lead in the standings. Yesterday Mark Brad ley hit the nail on the head, writing about Uggla and BJ failing to drive in McCann from third with one out. The big lead gave the Braves the chance to lose Uggla for an extended period of time. After suffering through several years of anemic hitting, having eye surgery right now can only have an upside for Uggla and the Braves.  

Further remaking the lineup, BJ sat and Schafer played. Perhaps we’ll see more of this platoon the rest of the way, easing BJ’s obvious frustration. A few games ago BJ battled with two strikes, working to make contact on every pitch instead of swinging for the fences. But the next night he was back swinging away, a completely different approach. I don’t understand.

Pastornicky filled the bill at second base. I saw where Janish came in to replace him late in the game. The Braves have now won the last four times Medlen started the game. Another quality start.