He gets on base, plays good field and plays every day. If they had two more like him then they'd be on to something.
I think this the kind of move that happens as your assessment of the team's quality becomes more and more obvious. As for Maybin, he's making $7 million.
Not at all. Just my opinion on why such a move hasn't happened yet, not on whether it would be a good move.
Other than the obvious, winning more than expected, perhaps if the team is competitive and some of the young guys develop?
And, yes, you seem to be among the minority on that.
No, because he's citing health reasons for the retirement.
I agree the move was a bit strange. Not sure about any promises.
They say no. Wood says it's simply a matter of not being able to locate on the outer part of the plate.
If they are still trying to trade him then the best way to increase his value would be to play him in spots where he can produce.
Yes, he traveled with the team to Miami, then the Kimbrel trade happened.
Under. Starting pitching was supposed to be the strength but it's been spotty. That only makes the obvious lack of pitching depth worse. End up with Sugar Ray and Donnie Veal trying to get important outs.
Disagree. See below. Could be wrong, though.
By people do you mean ownership? I'm thinking his problems with LM started when bad contracts hurt the bottom line.
I don't know that fans backed him. Also don't know which writers you mean. But I'm sure he had supporters because it's not as if the Braves were bad. But in terms of the structural problems, yes, anyone who said they weren't there clearly were mistaken.
Thanks for the questions. Please come back next week, same day and time, for another Braves mailbag.
Haven't gotten an update in a week or so, because Braves officials seem as tired of replying as we do of asking. They said weeks ago that it would likely be around the All-Star break before he's playing games at Triple-A. I'll try to get an update today, but frankly not expecting anything new.
Peraza hasn't played at 3B at all and haven't heard discussion of him moving there. He doesn't profile as a 3B. Middle infield or possible CF, I could see him playing. But not 3B.
See above (or is it see below?).
OK, I won't bother with the veteran leadership thing, if you don't want to hear that. Sorry, but it's fact. That's why he's here, that and fact he's still a dangerous pinch-hitter vs. lefties.
No consensus. A couple of weeks ago, it was that he's not throwing his fastball enough. Some believe his velocity is down a few ticks, though a lot of pitchers have reduced velocity in first month of season for variety of reasons, so I wouldn't say for sure that's a big issue. He's a little heavier than in past, though still looks to be in real good shape. I don't know, man. If anyone did, he'd have fixed it by now.
If you watched him pitch in Washington, don't know why you or anyone else would ask if anything's physically wrong with him. He pitched great (could have gotten out of 3-run first without any runs scoring if Maybin catches fly ball). Every time a pitcher struggles for a start or three, or five, people automatically ask if he's hurt. If we knew he was hurt, he would not be pitching, because the team would also know he's hurt if we (reporters) knew. And no, he's not hurt.
Stults gave up three runs in six innings of his last start, against the surging Nationals in D.C. So I'd say if he has more starts like his last one, he'll stay in rotation for forseeable future.
