Rain Delay

Maybe no DL for Boyer?

Sidelined with shoulder problems this spring, Braves reliever Blaine Boyer looked strong today in a 10 pitch,1 inning outing against the Dodgers in the Braves 3-2 loss. He pitched the 8th inning for the Braves getting the Dodgers 1-2-3.

He could pitch right now from what I've seen,Cox said after Boyer retired all three Los Angeles Dodgers he faced in the eighth inning of his belated Grapefruit League debut.

[..]

They weren't just any hitters, either. Boyer, coming back from shoulder problems, struck out Jeff Kent on a wicked curveball, then induced Nomar Garciaparra and Bill Mueller to ground out on a fastball and change-up, respectively.

That's how I wanted it, though," Boyer said. "I didn't want to go against their B team. I wanted to go against the best they have to see what I've got.

"I felt strong and I thought I was compact with my mechanics. It almost felt like I hadn't missed a beat."

Cox gave a similar assessment.

"Blaine looks like he hasn't missed a lick at all despite all this waiting," Cox said. "His control was excellent with all three pitches. That's as good a curveball as I've seen him throw."

Looks like we may have dodged a bullet there. That gives me a little bit of hope as far as the bull-pen is concerned. Though it's been mentioned in the Thomson trade rumblings that the Braves are looking for both Firstbase help (which leads me to believe that not everyone believes in Adam LaRoche who's stll having a terrible time hitting Leftys.) and Bull-Pen insurance.

King Felix to miss next start..

If you didn't hear on today's broadcast, King Felix is being scratched from his next start with a case of the shin splints.

Hernandez has developed a mild case of shin splints, and the Mariners want to make sure their 19-year-old No. 5 starter doesn't get any worse. He's been scratched from all running exercises for the time being, although he can do regular arm and upper body work.

The Mariners have discussed putting his leg in a boot, but as of Sunday morning, that hasn't been deemed necessary.

The injury is not considered serious.

Just a reminder that Rain Delay is moving here.

 

Foppert sent to Tacoma

Not that it should be a surprise to anyone, but Jesse Foppert was sent down after was arguably his worst spring outing in that 20-8 debacle against the A's.

''I can't say that it's unexpected,'' Foppert said as he packed up his gear and headed for the walk to the other side of the building that houses the Mariners and their minor league clubs in Peoria, Ariz. ''I know they want me to be a starter and their five starters are already set.''

Not to mention you can't find the plate without a map.

'I just haven't been comfortable with the way I've been throwing,'' he said. ''I'm not happy with the way the ball has been coming out of my hand. I'll have some time to work on it.

Well lets hope that Jesse regains his form in Tacoma and work out is control and consistency issues. 

A's pin a 20 spot on M's..

Honestly I wasn't sure if I was actually going to spend the time writing up this game wrap. The fact the A's tagged 20..that's right, 20 runs on the M's was pretty depressing. But I'm a trooper and I'll move forward with this, even as crappy as it was.

Mariners: 8  A's: 20 (Box Score)

• Where do you start really? Well I guess, we could start with Jesse Foppert. He didn't even so much as record an out. As the A's put on 5 runs on 1 hit. I didn't help that Jesse lost total sight of the plate, walking 3 in his 'no' innings of work. Even if Rafael Chaves came out to the mount with the directions to the plate via Map Quest would Foppert been able to find it. I'm pretty sure he just pitched his way back to Tacoma.

• Joe Borchard, seems to be turning heads and turning things up a bit. With Jeremy Reed out for 6-8 weeks, the M's have a gap to fill. Joe seemed to try and make his case yesterday, going 2-4 at the plate, collecting 5 RBI's in the process. Further examination of the box score, shows that Borchard even picked up a stolen base. Pretty good for a guy who has 15 total SB's for his career.

• The M's paraded 7 pitchers to the mound. Julio Mateo, is the only one who didn't give up a run. This was his first appearance of spring. Please, someone give him a cookie.

• Jose Lopez and Ichiro were the only two Mariners to pick up more than one hit.

We can't ignore that Foppert is the story here.

After his last good outing, I was going to give him a bit of a break. Figuring he'd turn it around, he'd have to. Saying that Foppert has been inconsistent this spring is a giant understatement'. More than likely he's punched his ticket for Tacoma, he's lucky they don't send him to Everett. He's going to have to work double time, to get back in the good graces and back to the Major's that's for sure.

When asked what happened, Grover could only mutter:

"He could not find the plate," Hargrove said. "We took him out as early as we could."

Up Next: The LA Angels. Francisco Cruceta gets the start, we should also see: Clint Nageotte, Jeff Harris, Scott Atchison and Emiliano Fruto. Jeff Weaver takes the mound for the Halos.

Just another reminder: Rain Delay is moving here. Though I'm having trouble accessing the server at the moment.(Time: 9:15a pacific). Hopefully this will resolve itself soon.

Edit part Deux: Server is up and running again.

Coach or Play?

It looks at though Braves Catcher Eddie Perez is going to have to make a tough choice. Play or Coach? It all depends on what his shoulder tells him, he hasn’t played a game yet nor has he been able to throw until just recently. As it is, he’s in camp as a non-roster invitee. One way or another, be it as a coach or player, he does know where he’s going.

His ticket is already stamped for AA Mississippi.

"One more month, it's that simple," said Perez, 37, who had surgery in October and has improved significantly during spring training. "In one month, if I feel good, I'm going to play. If I don't, I'm going to coach."

He wants to catch and play some firstbase when he gets there, but again it all depends on his shoulder. They (the Braves) want him to give the M-Braves new manager some help. Jeff Blauser former short stop for the Braves is taking the helm of the M-Braves this year, it only makes since, Jeff and Eddie played together.

"They have a lot of Spanish-speaking kids [on the Mississippi team]," said Perez, who is bilingual and popular in the clubhouse among players from all backgrounds.

Either way in my opinion it’s win-win for Eddie. He can play, good let him play and let those kids in Mississippi soak in all the veteran has to say. I think one guy that can and will benefit from this is Salty, who begins the year in AA as thier starting catcher.

Nats swat Braves, 4-2

Not a lot of bright spots in this game, though Frenchy is till on a tear since his return from the World Baseball Classic.

Braves: 2 Nationals 4

• One of the stories this year with the Nats, as you well know was Soriano's reluctance to move to Left Field. Well he started his 3rd game at Left, and he let a Langerhans double go right over the top of his head. Bravo!

• Huddy got clobbered, well ok not clobbered but got hit pretty hard. He worked 6 innings,      allowed 5 hits, 4 runs (all earned), though he did strike out 6 and only walked 2. Huddy collected the loss in this one.

• Frenchy is on a tear, he went 3-3, scored a run and collected an RBI. If your wondering here's his line so far this spring: .692/.385/.714. So I guess we can all put the whole "Will he be ready for Opening Day?" question and flush it right down the toilet. He just needs to ride that wave into the season.

• Braves First basemen, went a collective 0-5. In case you were wondering LaRoche and Jurries were the ones getting time in yesterday’s loss. I'm still of the thinking that Jurries is the one that should be LaRoche's platoon mate.

• Remlinger, Cormier and Rietsma in relief posted 3 scoreless innings.

Even though he had a rough outing, Huddy says he’ll be ready for opening day.

"I'm happy where I am right now," he said. "I'll be ready for opening day. I'm just here to get in shape and get my delivery down."

There have been rumor’s floating around about the Braves starting to shop John Thomson. Most notable team that’s been brought up is the Mariners. As much as I’d like to ship “Big Red” off to some where far, far away, I don’t think Seattle is the answer. This being a Braves and Mariners blog, throws me into a quandary. So you can more than likely understand why I don’t want him in Seattle.

The only thing I can see, if this trade was to happen, and that’s a mighty big if. Is we’d get medocire bull-pen talent. Two names are being brought up Gil Meche and Julio Meteo. I’d rather not see either one of those guys on the hill in Atlanta.

Up Next: The Indians of Cleveland. John Smoltz is scheduled to take the hill for the Bravos. (This game is already underway in the 6th inning. Yeah, I know I’m a bit behind today.)

Reminder: This incarnation of Rain Delay will being going away. We're moving here . Same Mariner and Brave goodness has a new home. By opening day, we should be fully moved in over there. I've already started posting in both places. So it's ready to go.

Cranky elbow leaves Kelly Johnson on the outside

Braves OF Kelly Johnson had elbow surgery in the off-season, this elbow has kept him out of games since the middle of the month. He's found himself squeezed out of a back-up spot in the Braves outfield, by new comer Matt Diaz.

"It's extremely frustrating," said Johnson, who hit .333 with one double and one RBI in nine games before the pain in his throwing elbow forced him to the bench. "Bad timing. Really, really bad timing."

The Braves haven't made it official yet, but Matt Diaz is the clear favorite for the fourth outfield job. Diaz is hitting .358 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in a team-high 53 at-bats.

Last year as a rookie, Johnson was Atlanta's starting left fielder for much of the summer. The Austin, Texas native bounced back from a 1-for-30 start by going 10-for-24 with 11 RBIs to win NL Player of the Week honors for June 13-19.

He struggled after the All-Star break and lost his job to Ryan Langerhans late in the season, when Johnson's elbow hindered his swing extension. He finished with a .241 average, nine homers and 40 RBIs in 290 at-bats.

His swings not a problem now, but he can't throw without pain.

The emphasis is not mine. Kelly was one of those guys that Bobby believed in, not matter how bad he was struggling at the plate or in the field, Bobby gave him every chance in the world. Though Langerhans IMO was just as ineffective as Johnson was at times.

From what I've seen Matt Diaz is a solid player and should work well in the Atlanta out field. Looking over the Baseball Prospectus site PECTOA has forcasted Matt for a .280/.328/.449, whereas Kelly Johnson came in a bit lower than that, .269/.348/.445. Its a crappy set of circumstances for Johnson, hopefully his cranky elbow will calm down and let him play. Richmond might be just the right place for Johnson once his elbow eases up.

Just as a reminder, Rain Delay is moving here very soon. I've already started posting over there, so feel free to adjust your links and bookmarks. I was going to wait until opening day, but I just can't wait that long. And I know it's not that far off.

Reed goes down with a broken hand..

Running down a fly ball in last nights win over the D'Backs Jeremy Reed breaks his hand.

Seattle outfielder Jeremy Reed broke a bone in his right hand while unsuccessfully trying to catch a fly ball against the center field wall in Peoria Stadium Thursday night.

Reed flew to Seattle today to have his hand examined by Dr. Carleton Keck of the Seattle Hand Group.

The preliminary diagnosis is that Reed suffered a fractured scaphoid bone in his right wrist.

He has had problems with his left (throwing) hand in the last two seasons, but this is the first time he's had a problem with his glove hand.

Reed was running full tilt to the wall in pursuit of a double hit by Johnny Estrada off Seattle starting pitcher Felix Hernandez.

Well, isn't that just spiffy.

Splitsville Thursday

Two games for the Mariners yesterday, as the 'B' squad took on the Cubs and the 'A' team taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Lets start with the win, which would be the AZ game.

Mariners: 4  D'Backs: 2 (Box Score)

• There's a couple stories for this one. Ichiro returns to the M's after his WBC Title run, and King Felix getting some face time on TV.

• Lets start with, The King. What can be said about Felix that hasn't been said already. He looked masterful in his 5 innings of work. It was a 76 pitch master piece, allowing 4 hits, 1 run and 8 strikeouts in 5 innings. 5 of those SO's were called 3rd strikes. Felix was dialed in last night, the Royal Curve was particularly nasty last night. Not a single D'Back knew what to do with that pitch. Most of them would watch helplessly as hit would hook in for a strike. The Royal Hook wasn't to be out done, as the Changeup he's been working on was equally as nasty. This was a pitch, that he'd throw at any point in the count, and get it over for a strike. Another amazing outing fit for a King.

• Ichiro returned to the M's lineup, high socks and all. In his return to the line up and the lead off spot. (I still say they give him a shot at 3rd in the order.)  He went a modest 3-3 with a RBI for the night. Honestly, it looks like Ichiro is ready to go.

• The Lineup that was on the field to start the game last night, is most likely the starting lineup you'll see come April 3rd against the LA Angels. It was also announced last night, that Grover picked is opening day starter: Jamie Moyer. Not that it's too much of a surprise for anyone. I'm just wondering if Moyer can keep up his undefeated record at home, where last here he was 10-0.

• Jose Lopez looked good going 2-3 with a triple.

• This just in: King Felix is a BEAST!

• Beltre collected an RBI, Lawton went 2-4 and Sexson had a double. Though with the way Ortiz you and I could've collected a hit. I'm so glad he's not a Brave anymore.

With Grover announcing that opening day belongs to Jamie Moyer that means the rotation is pretty much set for the start of the season. It looks like this:

1. Moyer
2. Pineiro
3. Washburn
4. Meche
5. The King

Up Next: The M's welcome the World Champs to Peoria today at Noon. Opening Day starter Jamie Moyer gets the start. We'll also get a look at, J.J. Putz, Eddie Guardado and George Sherrill. Former Mariner Freddy Garcia get the start for the ChiSox.

VS the Cubs under the fold.

Braves trim the roster again.

Well with Opening day just around the corner, it was time for another roster cut.

Here are todays cuts:

AAA - Richmond
Cesar Crespo
David Kelton
Anthony Lerew
Chad Paronto
Wes Obermueller
Michael Ryan
Travis Smith

AA - Mississippi
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Sean White

A - Myrtle Beach
Steve Pyzik

We all knew that Salty would get sent down sooner or later, though I didn’t think he’d be around as long as he did. While he was here, he made a lasting impression on Cox and company.

"Pretty dang good impression," Braves manager Bobby Cox said of the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Floridian. "He threw well, his catching's good, and he's got some swing — from both sides.

"He's one of those guys who, every time he walks to the plate, you feel good."

I still think we'll see a at the least, a September call up if all goes well in AA. Even if he doesn't see the big club this year, he'll end the season in Richmond.