Ruzious

It's kinda convenient that Bautista is coming abourd today, because Atl's best 3rd baseman - Camargo - is likely playing SS, because Dansby Swanson is out with a sore wrist. But when Swanson returns, I think it'll be very foolish if the Braves put Camargo on the bench.

Walked, singled, doubled, and homered, didn't strike out. His OPS is now up to .958. His career high OPS was .897 in 2008. Obviously this is unsustainable and the season is very young, but this is a fun story - even moreso than Flaherty's.

Those bleeps stole my thought! He's 18 short of the 1,000 career runs milestone. I guess when you've been around as long as he has and been as durable and good as he's been, there's always some milestone coming up around the corner. And he grew up in Georgia - probably has family there that get to see his accomplishments - that's a great situation he's created and thrived in.

I'm guessing he'll want to continue with the Braves. Even though they have lots of prospects, they only have one real good OF prospect - Christian Pache - who's hitting ability is questionable - and who's value is in playing CF. And the Braves will have a ton of money to spend next year - not that I think Nick will command a whole lot at his age and with his lack of HR power for a RFer. Of course, it depends on how he finishes the season, but I'd guess 2/15 would be his cost right now.

Wow, if Nick keeps this up, maybe he will reach 3,000 career hits. What stuck out to me was his 19 walks vs 12 K's through 29 games. Last year, in 160 games he had 76 W's and 110 K's. Other than Joe Mauer, nobody has his kind of W/K ratio unless they're pitched around a lot (Bryce Harper).

It's not that they should have kept Nick. It's that they should have found better players to play RF. Hopefully, Hays will be that guy later this season.

Speaking of ComargO and the BravOs, Braves are excited about actually playing well to start the season, have money, and could be interested in Manny as a 3rd baseman. Comargo and a pitching prospect (Braves have tons) probably makes sense. Comargo's another player who can play SS or 3rd base. Because of the presence of Albies and Swanson, nobody paid much attention to Comargo, but I think he's a legit talented young infielder who should be starting in the majors.

Comargo gets no respect, but he's the guy who should be playing every day. He did very well last year as a rookie, and he's showing he's likely gong to do better this year.

Hey, he has a cool baseball name and looks the part. You really expect him to play well, too? That's asking a bit much, don't ya think?

I watched him a bunch when he played with the Braves. He's a bit below Flaherty defensively at each position - you can get by with him at 2nd and 3rd. Braves had hopes for him offensively, but he never lived up to those hopes. He fell below ordinary players like Adonis Garcia and Rio Ruiz at 3rd base.

It hurts to look at Josh Hader's stats. Best young lefty reliever in baseball?

It's only the 4th inning, but he's doing it again. Edit - I jinxed him - he gave up 3 straight singles with 2 outs in the 4th - the first hit an infield hit. Still, 9 SO's and 0 walks through 4 innings isn't bad.

I really don't understand why they did that, but it's just a minor league deal. Remember, Flash was signed mainly because Johan Comargo was injured, and he's back on the active roster now. And the Braves have super-looking prospect Austin Riley dominating AA. So I don't see much use for Bautista and really doubt he can still play 3rd base at a reasonable level. I really like Comargo - he's a vacuum-cleaner with enough range to play SS, and he hits better than expected. It's a blast to see Flash doing so well - realizing there's no chance he can keep it up all season. His walks have been a result of batting 8th in the NL and being hot. When there have been runners on base for him and 2 men out, he gets pitched around, so the other team can face the pitcher. He was even intentionally walked twice in one game. What a hoot!

Right, if his velocity has increased to 93, it'll be time to raise him up on the list. It's not a surprise that he's dominating at Delmarva.

20 SO's to 1 W and 3 hits. Very sss, but I think it's obvious based on what he did last year and this that he needs more of a challenge.

Wilkerson showed virtually no power the year before (2016). He had 4 homers in 402 at bats and slugged all of .341 at 24 years old - almost all in Frederick.

Seems like he's been around so long but still just turned 21 - amazing. My guess is that public positive talk form Buck is exactly the right thing for him at this stage of development. Looking forward to following his progress this season.

It's very important to see how the Rule 5 pitchers do. Araujo definitely belongs on the roster. Cortez has shown enough to make the roster with his 8/2 SO/W ratio - even though he has gotten hit. Mesa right now hasn't shown enough, but he should get more chances to impress - I would not write him off at this point.

And apparently we're over-blowing the situation by pointing this out.

You guys do understand I was kidding, right?

Nah, one walk in 39 plate appearances this Spring. Buck, talk to him - tell him he's going down if that doesn't change right away. Oh, and most importantly - tell the media. If he so much as cracks a smile, tell them he's a goof off.

As can o corn said, I have no problem with Buck being tough on him. Doing it in front of the media is what I question. But my last post was on the negativity shown by posters here - inferring from Buck's comments or their own reasons that they should be negative about Mountcastle. Seems to me there's a lot to be optimistic about him.

But isn't the facts that he just turned 21 and has hit better in the minors than Schoop cause for optimism - rather than pessimism?

Most definitely, but my boss didn't tell that to the media. He was nice enough to keep it to himself. Then again, the media wasn't particularly interested in me.

That's the problem though - Mountcastle comes out looking like a blockhead to the average person reading what Buck said.