"He probably will miss at least a day or two unless the swelling really goes down," D-Backs general manager Josh Byrnes said.
"We don't have the pressure of getting him in the lineup tonight. We will sit down with the doctors and Orlando and see what it looks like. What is the best-case scenario. What is the worst case? What are the risks involved?"
I guess a lot depends on how much of a gamer Orlando chooses to be. He can elect to sit out until he's fully recovered, or he can try and come back as soon as possible. My guess is that he'll be back quickly given the heat of the playoff race. O-Dawg doesn't strike me as the type of player who will let the D-Backs try to win the division with Augie Ojeda or Emilio Bonifacio at second.
A few weeks ago, the Braves released closer Bob Wickman seemingly out of nowhere. Wickman had struggled through an injury early in May, and wasn't anywhere near as effective this year as he was upon joining the Braves down the stretch in '06. Still, while he might not be the guy you want closing out Game 7 of a playoff series, he's a veteran arm that could help solidify a pen. And that's why the D-Backs have signed him:
"He was having a good year as a closer, and even in August, he was pitching well," Diamondbacks General Manager Josh Byrnes said. "He reached out to us, we did our research, and with our bullpen a little nicked up, we think he can help us."
Though the move doesn't have me doing back flips or anything, I think it can be helpful for Arizona down the stretch. The only issue is Wickman's attitude. Part of the reason he was released by Atlanta is because he had been portrayed as a disgruntled employee. Seeing as that he only needs to be a good citizen for a few months, I'm guessing he won't even have enough time to become a problem.
Closers are very rarely let go when they struggle. Taken out of the role? Yes. Sent on a rehab assignment? Sometimes. Closers generally just don't get designated for assignment ... especially in the thick of a playoff race. But that's just what the Braves have done with Bob Wickman, according to a mention on ESPNEWS (and the AJC Braves Blog).
Wickman gave up a two run, walk-off home run to Adam Dunn on Wednesday. And apparently, that was the final straw (I didn't know the Braves were collecting straws when it came to Wickman). Honestly ... I don't know why they let him go. I'm baffled. I checked his stats expecting him to have had a horrible last few weeks. But his ERA has actually gone down in the month of August (he's only given up two earned runs since the first of the month.) I expected blown save after blown save ... but there's just three since July 1st.
However, Buster Olney of ESPN is on my screen telling me to "forget about the stats", that the Braves had been aggressively shopping him for a few weeks, and that they just see something in the way he's throwing (especially on the road: a 7.71 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP). I guess. And I should probably know better than to question Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz with their track record, as Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan will likely split the save opportunities. Maybe they just plain saw something that they didn't like. But to let your closer go when you're in the thick of the wild card hunt, and especially when Octavio Dotel is on the shelf, and bullpen arms are at a premium these days ... I'm not sure what kind of message that sends. I don't get it.
Update: Okay, maybe I'm starting to get it now ... check out what Andruw Joneshad to say after Thursday night's Braves loss, slamming Wickman for sometimes complaining about pitching in non-save situations:
"We need guys who want to pitch," Jones said. "If you don't want to pitch you shouldn't be here."
And voila, he's not here anymore. I'm still shocked.
Major League Mongering will look at players rumored to be on the move between now and the July 31st pseudo-trade-deadline.
If you thought the Braves were finished after landing Mark Teixeira from the Rangers yesterday, you were wrong. Dead wrong. Sources are saying that not only have the Braves landed the best hitter available, they're also on the verge of acquiring one of the best relievers available.
In addition to reaching a preliminary agreement for Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira, the Braves are close to a deal for Royals closer Octavio Dotel, according to major-league sources.
In exchange for Dotel, the Royals would receive right-hander Kyle Davies, according to the Kansas City Star. Davies, 23, is 0-1 with a 4.50 in two starts for Class AAA Richmond after going 4-8 with a 5.76 ERA in 17 starts with the Braves.
The deal isn't official yet, but it's likely going to be soon. Apparently both teams have already agreed to it, but the Braves are waiting until they finalize the deal for Teixeira before making this one official.
If this deal does go through, I think that the Braves will have cemented their status as the biggest winner of this season's trade deadline. Not only have they added a huge bat to the lineup that also provides insurance in case Andruw Jones leaves, they've also gotten a lefty reliever they sorely needed, and now one of the best bullpen arms available.
Dotel has converted 11 of his 14 save chances with Kansas City this season, and can help the Braves shorten the game by going to him and Rafael Soriano before getting to Bob Wickman in the ninth.
They may be in third place behind the Mets and Phillies right now, but with these moves I won't be surprised if they're on top of the division come season's end.
As for the Royals, Dotel had talked recently about how he'd like to stay in Kansas City, but it just didn't make sense for the Royals. On a team where money is tight, it's counterproductive to pay veterans a couple of million when you have a younger guy just waiting to take his spot in Joakim Soria. They'll also be getting Davies and the Royals are always in need of starting pitching.
The Braves' bullpen was so lousy in 2006 that they felt that they had to make bold moves to shore it up for 2007. One of those moves was to trade their starting first baseman for a Pirates closer to turn him into a set up man. It worked for a while. But now, the Braves have to go to plan B as Mike Gonzalez is out for the season, after it was learned that he's going to have to have his elbow ligament replaced.
"This is the worst news you can get," Gonzalez said.
A first MRI in Atlanta found no serious problem, but the Braves and Gonzalez remained concerned after an unusually sharp drop in the velocity of his pitches. "I hadn't thrown 82 (miles per hour) since high school," Gonzalez said. "I was feeling something uncomfortable. You just don't drop 10 or 15 miles per hour."
No date has been set for the surgery, but Gonzalez said he expects to have the procedure next week. "I'm not down in the dumps or anything," Gonzalez said, adding he is bracing for a long rehabilitation.
Whatever happens with Adam LaRoche (and it should be noted that LaRoche was hitting .196 coming into play on Friday night), the trade was still the correct thing to do for Atlanta. Increasingly, teams win with bullpens. And I don't care how many straight division titles the Braves had won, they're never going to win with a bullpen like they did coming into '06. So the Gonzalez for LaRoche trade, especially with Scott Thorman waiting in the wings to take over for LaRoche, was a chance worth taking.
But this is a hit for the Braves. They should still be all right with Rafael Soriano and Bob Wickman at the back end of the 'pen. However, great bullpens win ball games, and the Braves, without Gonzalez, have merely a good bullpen.
Jayson Stark of ESPN fame is coming out with a new book called "The Stark Truth", which chronicles the most overrated and most underrated players in baseball history. If you're a Braves fan, you might want to skip over this at your local bookstore.
Why, because there's a whole excerpt on Andruw Jones, and not on the underrated side ... in fact, Stark calls Jones the most overrated center fielder of all time:
He peaked at 493 putouts in 1999. He was still slurping up 461 in 2001. But by 2005 he was down to 365. In 2006 he was at 377. I tried looking at his total chances per game. Still way down. We're talking about 100 or so balls a year he wasn't getting to that he used to. A hundred. I thought: that can't be right. A friend suggested maybe it was a function of the Braves' pitching staff. Maybe they were just throwing fewer fly balls than they used to. Great point. So I checked. Fortunately, there's a stat that measures that, too -- zone rating (the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical zone).
So I called up the 2006 zone rating of all qualifying major league center fielders on ESPN.com. Guess who was last on the list? Yessir, Andruw. He also finished last in 2004. And fifth from the bottom in 2005. I kept checking. As recently as 2001, he led his league in zone rating. So obviously, we had a definitive trend on our hands. I then went back to the scout who started all this to report my findings. "I first noticed it two or three years ago," he said. "Just from sitting there, scouting, watching balls dropping in that should have been caught. I'm not talking about balls that needed to be dived for. I'm talking about balls that should be caught."
Jones' defense isn't the only aspect of his game dissected in a negative way, just the most eye-opening. Jones' best offensive season is devalued as well after the jump:
As well as Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez have been in Bob Wickman's absence, you could be forgiven if you thought that Bob Wickman might not return to the closer role when he returns from the disabled list today. But Bobby Cox has come out and said that Wickman will indeed to return to the ninth inning when he comes back. The reason? Simple:
Braves manager Bobby Cox didn't hesitate when asked Monday whether Wickman would resume closer duties today when he's scheduled to come off the disabled list.
"Yeah, why not?" Cox said. "He's good."
And there you have it. Who needs saber metrics when you can simply point out that he's good. And Bob Wickman was pretty good before he started having injury problems. And speaking of injuries, John Smoltz saw his season flash before his eyes Monday night as he dislocated the second joint on his right pinky on an innocent looking rundown play. The sight of it almost made a teammate throw up.
The right pinky of Smoltz's pitching hand was bent upward at a grotesque angle. The veteran, overcome with anger, frustration and fear, fired his glove at the ground and clutched his hand. Nearby, first baseman Scott Thorman felt queasy. "Anytime you see your ace go down, it's devastating," the rookie said. "And his reaction ... I felt sick when I saw it."
Luckily, x-rays were negative and Smoltz might not miss a start.
"It could have been [much worse]," said Smoltz (5-2), who had his finger taped afterward as he discussed the ramifications of the injury. "I feel like I'm on top of my game right now, and I don't want something flukey to take me out or miss something or cause me to alter my mechanics or something. So I'll have to see day-by-day what this does. I don't need my pinky for any specific pitches, and hopefully I can get the swelling out."
The day started out on a down note when it was announced that Bob Wickman was placed on the DL with an upper back strain. The Braves figured that Mike Gonzalez would close games in the ninth inning. Instead, it was Andruw Jones who closed out the game for Atlanta. But Jones doesn't get a save, just a walk-off three run dinger to beat the Phillies 5-2. Jones victimized Antonio Alfonseca with the walk-off, who he was previously 1-for-11 against with six strikeouts.
"He's got my number," Jones said. "I just went up there looking for a breaking pitch. He did throw it, and I didn't miss it."
The amazing thing about the Braves fast start is that they've done it almost without Jones, who was hitting .170 on April 19th. Since then, he's gone 14 for 35 with 11 RBI's in the last ten games including Monday night.
As far as Wickman goes, the depth in the Braves bullpen will be tested. But that Adam LaRoche for Mike Gonzalez trade is looking better and better. Gonzalez was the winning pitcher against Philly, working a 1-2-3 ninth by cutting through the heart of the order in Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Pat Burrell. Gonzalez relieved Tim Hudson, who had another strong outing ... this time with a heavy heart. Previously on The Fanhouse: Tim Hudson Grieves for Two
Call it the Curse of the Cy. Tim Hudson was featured in our first Cy Young watch, and he certainly pitched up to the billing for the first eight innings against Florida. Not only that, Hudson finished off the game by getting three ground balls in the ninth with a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately, they were three ground ball singles to load the bases ... and he had to leave the game in the hands of Bob Wickman, who had saved 24 of his 25 chances as an Atlanta Brave.
But after a Joe Borchard single, an intentional walk, and a bloop single by Alfredo Amezaga later, the game was tied. And it set up a more unlikely ending than the Endy Chavez drag bunt walk off just one night earlier: A Brian McCann passed ball which scored Miguel Olivo with the winning run.
"I just dropped it," McCann said. "I'm not going to make any excuses. I have to catch it."
It really was a ball that should have been caught, no doubt about it. The whole sordid inning prevented Tim Hudson from going 4-0, and he even got some sympathy from the other team!
"I feel bad for Hudson that he doesn't win the game," Olivo said. "But that's baseball."
For the first time in practically a year and a half (technically a year and three days), the Atlanta Braves have returned to the tip top of the N.L. East with their late inning 3-2 victory over the Mets. Who knows how long they will stay there ... but beating the defenders of the division two out of three certainly makes a statement. The statement, in case you thought I was just throwing out the "statement" cliché, would be that they now have the bullpen to shut down people in the late innings in Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano, and Bob Wickman. Meanwhile the Mets have to do at least a little bit of worrying about theirs, as it was Aaron Heilman who gave up the lead in the eighth to Atlanta on three straight doubles to help give them their victory.
The bad news for Atlanta is that Mike Hampton's recovery might not be as quick as first thought, as a sore throwing elbow curtailed his bullpen session today...
"We shut down due to discomfort in his elbow," Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell said. When asked if Hampton was frustrated, McDowell said "Probably so. I think anybody would be."
With starters five deep in Smoltz, Hudson, James, Redman, and Kyle Davies who pitched well today, the Braves aren't going to miss Mike Hampton all that much as long as their bullpen keeps pitching as well as they have been. Mike Hampton will merely make a good team better when (if?) he makes his grand return in 2007.
While the D-Backs reeled in some good news by adding Bob Wickman to the bullpen mix, they got some bad news that All-Star second baseman Orlando Hudson has a torn ligament in his left thumb. Hudson jammed his thumb stealing third base in the 7th inning against the Padres on Tuesday. The D-Backs expect to lose Hudson for several days, but aren't sure what the extent of the injury is.
A few weeks ago, the 
Closers are very rarely let go when they struggle. Taken out of the role? Yes. Sent on a rehab assignment? Sometimes. Closers generally just don't get designated for assignment ... especially in the thick of a playoff race. But that's just what the Braves have done with 
Major League Mongering
The Braves' bullpen was so lousy in 2006 that they felt that they had to make bold moves to shore it up for 2007. One of those moves was to trade their starting first baseman for a Pirates closer to turn him into a set up man. It worked for a while. But now, the Braves have to go to plan B as Mike Gonzalez is 
Jayson Stark of ESPN fame is coming out with a new book called "The Stark Truth", which chronicles the most overrated and most underrated players in baseball history. If you're a Braves fan, you might want to skip over this at your local bookstore.
As well as Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez have been in Bob Wickman's absence, you could be forgiven if you thought that Bob Wickman might not return to the closer role when he returns from the disabled list today. But Bobby Cox has come out and said that Wickman will indeed to return to the ninth inning when he comes back. The reason? 
The day started out on a down note when it was announced that Bob Wickman was placed on the DL with an 
Call it the Curse of the Cy. Tim Hudson was featured in our 
For the first time in practically a year and a half (technically 
