Braves have 16 players in World Baseball Classic; I care approximately not at all

According to mlb.com, the Braves have 16 players from their 40 person roster on various WBC provisional rosters, including Chipper and McCann to the USA team. I could care less about this faux-World Cup for baseball. The players seem not to hustle as much and the fans, in the US at least, seem unenthused. Of course, this is only the second WBC, so it very well could turn itself around and become something worth watching. I doubt it. Not surprisingly, McCann doesn’t feel the same way:

“I’m pretty pumped up,” McCann said. “This is something I’ve always want to do. Ever since the [Classic] started, I’ve always wanted a chance to play, and here it is”

Of course the first one was four two years ago meaning that always for McCann is a mere four two years, but who’s counting.

Chipper on the Smoltz situation

From the AJC:

It’s easy. If the Braves would have handled this right from the beginning and gone ahead and bitten the bullet and offered him a contract, knowing that when John Smoltz sets his mind to it and says he’s coming back and is going to be back at full strength, that the second another team came into this, the Braves should have taken him aside and said ‘What do we have to do to make this work.’ John Smoltz has earned that respect. We’ve all taken less money to stay here, but the fact of the matter is that John Smoltz has nothing else to prove individually. He wants to win. Who has the best chance to win right now? Boston.

Never, even in a million years did I think this day would come for John Smoltz. I never did. He was the one guy, I honestly thought that everybody would go somewhere else before John would, just for the simple fact that his family here in Atlanta, the school, all the extracurricular stuff that he does off the field, never thought this would happen. So that ought to tell you how disrespected he feels.

A.He went through the whole scenario with me. The underlying tone was extreme disappointment — and from my end it was shock. I could see anyone one else going somewhere before John Smoltz. … After everything that’s happened to this organization this winter, the players and the fans need something good to happen. I’ve been keeping up with the news. I’ve been reading the blogs. The one silver lining we had was John Smoltz being back in the lineup this year. We could have had that dominant guy back in the lineup. But we won’t — and for what, a couple of million dollars?

Q. You worried now about how things might end with you?

A. I don’t know how it’s going to end with me. This is my last year under contract with Atlanta. And this last 24 hours certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by me. I haven’t been offered an extension. If we’re 15 games out in July or August, I doubt they’re just going to let me become a free agent and get nothing in return.”

Braves’ Players Performance in the All-Star Game, A Day or So Late

Chipper posted a decent 1-3 but he also struck out and stranded three. However, his night was spectacular compared with McCann’s, who sat for the first fourteen innings before being put in just in time to watch up close as the AL finally put it away to win their sixth straight All-Star contest (and tenth of the past eleven – the one non-win was the infamous tie).

At least McCann viewed the situation with appropriate perspective:

“It’s a long time sitting around, but I was just glad that I got in, glad to be a part of it…It’s one of those things where you can’t burn all the catchers, in case something happened,” said McCann, who made his third consecutive All-Star team. “I was basically the guy who was going to sit until [Dodger catcher) Russell couldn’t go anymore or we needed a pinch-hitter.”

No whining there.

Quotation courtesy of the AJC.

A Brief Note On Just How Awesome Brian McCann and Chipper Jones Have Been This Year

Let’s not even begin to imagine where the Braves would be without these two jolly gentlemen.

As noted just about everywhere, Chipper batted over .400 for the first two months of the season. At the break, his line is .376/.472/.614. His VORP is an astounding 55.5 (good for second best in the majors). His average is the ML’s highest, ditto for his on-base percentage, his OPS is second at an absurd 1.086, he is sixth in walks with 56 and second in slugging. He is on pace for 33 HR, his highest total since the 2001 season.

McCann hasn’t received nearly as much national press as Chipper, but he is in the midst of a remarkable season in his own right. Going into the All-Star game (his third in three seasons), he is hitting .302/.377/.563 with a VORP of 36.2, which is the 13th best in the majors. He is second in the National League in doubles, which is crazy considering he’s a catcher, and is ninth in slugging and tenth in OPS (.940). He is on pace for 32 HR, topping his career best by eight, and 93 RBI, tying his career-high set in ‘06.

The AJC points out that McCann is not only a messy dude, but that he has also been one of the league’s best catchers since his rookie year. The best catchers in the three seasons since the start of the ‘06 season:

• McCann: .300 average, 358 games, 99 doubles, 60 homers, 238 RBIs, .359 on-base percentage, .522 slugging percentage.

• Mauer: .323 average, 334 games, 86 doubles, 25 homers, 185 RBIs, .411 OBP, .467 slugging.

• Martinez: .304 average, 354 games, 88 doubles, 41 homers, 228 RBIs, .375 OBP, .462 slugging.

Fuckity Fuck Fuck

Chipper Jones is apparently headed for the DL. Good thing the rest of the team is batting so well.

Says the always sagacious Brian McCann:

“Injuries have hurt us. You take Chipper out of any lineup and it’s going to be different. We need him to get healthy for this push.”

Thank you very much. Injuries do hurt you and it will be different without your best player who is hitting .394/.485/.630. Very observant, Brian.

On the plus side, the Braves are a stellar 4-12 with Chipper out of the line-up. Subtract that 4-12 from their current 40-43 record and you get a respectable 36-31, good for a .537 winning percentage, which, if they kept pace, would put the Braves just ahead of the Phillies in the thus-far scorching NL East race.

If the Braves don’t capitalize now, when the teams ahead of them are, respectively, 2-8, 4-6, and 5-5 in their past ten games and the Braves’ run differential is significantly higher than all but the Phillies, then they are, as I’ve suspected for the past few weeks, fucked.

May I offer some advice, Chipper? Is that okay? It is? Okay, good. Here it is: QUIT BEING A FUCKING PUSSY AND PLAY. Don’t be the LT of baseball. Now is go time, not later in the season when the Phillies are up by like 10 games.

May I also offer some advice to the rest of the team, Texiera excluded? Okay, cool. Here goes:
DRIVE IN A RUN! GIVE YOUR PITCHERS SOMETHING EVEN RESEMBLING RUN SUPPORT!

Tim Hudson is 1-7 in his last 8 starts. This is not good. It is also not deserved.

True, he sucked in two of them but in the other five he went for at least six innings and didn’t allow more than three earned runs in a start. I can see maybe losing one of those games, but four? You know how many runs the Braves scored in each of those loses? Nine. Total. Or 2.25 a game, and never more than 3. That is fucking atrocious. Get your shit right, Braves.