Braves Getting Behind Dale Murphy For Major League’s Hall Of Fame
posted November 17, 2011ATLANTA — Bobby Cox, Phil Niekro, Pete Van Wieren and many of the most respected figures in Atlanta Braves history have long said they believe Dale Murphy belongs in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

With Murphy scheduled to be on the Hall of Fame ballot just two more times, Braves president John Schuerholz has intensified the efforts to campaign for one of his organization’s most beloved figures. Schuerholz has sent a letter to Hall of Fame voters and other members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America asking them to take a closer look at Murphy’s credentials.

Murphy won back-to-back National League Most Valuable Player Awards in 1982 and ’83 and was just one of six players during the 1980s to record 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season (’83). He won five Gold Glove Awards, four Silver Slugger Awards and earned seven All-Star selections.

Murphy’s supporters have continued to point out that he led all Major League outfielders during the 1980s in home runs (308) and RBIs (929). He ranked second among outfielders during this span in hits (1,553) and extra-base hits (596).

But Murphy’s candidacy has seemingly been hindered by his .265 lifetime batting average, which was damaged during some unproductive years late in his career. He hit .289 from 1982-87, and batted .238 from ’88 until the end of his career in ’93.

Murphy was included on 12.6 percent of the ballots cast this past year. This was .9 percent higher than he drew in 2010. Players need to receive at least five percent of the votes to remain on the ballot the following year.

This will be the 14th time that Murphy’s name has appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot. If not elected after 15 years, players are removed from the ballot and their candidacy rests in the hands of voting conducted by the Veterans Committee.

Below is Schuerholz’s letter:

Dear Hall of Fame Voter:

As you prepare to vote for the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2012, please accept this letter in support of Dale Murphy.

The Atlanta Braves organization is extremely proud of Dale’s outstanding accomplishments during an extraordinary 18-year Major League career, 15 of which were spent with the Braves.

Not only on the field, but off the field as well, Dale represented himself and the city of Atlanta with the class and professionalism consistent with the ideals of Major League Baseball and the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Even today, he continues to be one of our game’s greatest ambassadors.

On the following two pages, please review Dale’s remarkable accomplishments produced over what the Braves family feels is a Hall of Fame career. On behalf of our organization and Dale individually, I thank you for your consideration.

____________

Source: MLB.com

It’s been a big month for Atlanta Braves rookie closer Craig Kimbrell. Just days after setting the Major League record for first half saves by a rookie, Kimbrell learned he would be heading to the All-Star Game.

Kimbrell was added to the roster on Sunday night, replacing San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain, who is ineligible to play after pitching on Sunday. He is the fifth member of the Atlanta Braves to earn an All-Star invite, joining starter Brian McCann and back-ups Chipper Jones, Jair Jurrjens and Johnny Venters.

Kimbrell set the MLB first half record for saves by a rookie with 28, breaking Jonathan Papelbon’s previous record. He hasn’t allowed a run in 14 straight appearances, going 10-for-10 in save opportunities during that span.

He leads all Major League relievers with 70 strikeouts. Kimbrell beat out teammate Tommy Hanson, who was also hoping for a late invite to Tuesday’s All-Star game in Phoenix, Arizona.

By Scott Coleman

– Braves Contributor

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Jun 9, 2011 – The future has a much different outlook for the Atlanta Braves after this week’s MLB Draft. In previous years the club would have selected a bunch of 17- and 18-year-old high school kids and immediately sent them down to Danville for rookie ball, but this year could and probably will be different. Much, much different.

With 27 of the Braves first 30 selections being college players, including first round pick Sean Gilmartin, quite a few of those guys have the potential to move quickly through the Braves system in the next 18 months.

Among those players, Gilmartin could follow Mike Minor’s path through the Minor Leagues. The 2009 first round pick made his first four starts of his professional career at Rome (A-Ball) and then started the 2010 season in Mississippi (Double-A) before moving up to Gwinnett and eventually Atlanta in August. While Gilmartin likely won’t see the big leagues until 2013, he has the best chance of any of our recently selected prospects to do so in the shortest amount of time.

Outside of Gilmartin, there is a bevy of college pitchers — most of which project to be relievers at the Major League level — who could also move quickly to the higher levels of the system. Vanderbilt relievers Mark Lamm and Navery Moore could both move through the system quickly if they’re able to pitch effectively in the back-end of the bullpen. In addition, Cody Martin, a right-handed starter and reliever out of Gonzaga, could also move quickly should the Braves decide to keep him in the ‘pen.

Selecting all of these relievers in the earlier rounds of the draft can only mean one thing: the Braves are looking for an all-homegrown bullpen in the near future. Not only does it keep costs down, but it also avoids having to bring in a washed-up veteran in the mold of Scott Proctor or Scott Linebrink.

In addition to the recently added pitching depth, the Braves will now have an interesting dilemma in the infield. Last year the club signed Edward Salcedo, who projects to be a shortstop or third baseman, to the largest signing bonus in franchise history and also used their first two picks of the 2010 draft on Matt Lipka and Andrelton Simmons, who are both projected to be middle infielders. With both their 2nd and 3rd round picks of this year’s draft (Nick Ahmed, Kyle Kubitza) being left-side infielders as well, it will be interesting to see how the Braves handle this newly found abundance of infielders.

As far as immediate contributors go for the Major League club, Mark Lamm probably has the best chance to reach Atlanta in the least amount of time. He’s polished, throws hard, and the team could always use another talented reliever. Sean Gilmartin could also make an appearance after not too long, but with the starting pitching depth the Braves currently have, it’s tough to see him cracking the starting rotation for at least two or three more years.

All things considered, it appears to be a strong draft for the Atlanta Braves.

Stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta and check out Talking Chop for complete coverage of the Braves 2011 draft.

Read More: Scott Linebrink (P – ATL), Scott Proctor (P – ATL), Mike Minor (P – ATL), Edward Salcedo (SS – ATL), Sean Gilmartin (PH – ), Matt Lipka (SS – ATL), Atlanta Braves

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Read More: Mike Minor (P – ATL), Edward Salcedo (SS – ATL), Sean Gilmartin (PH – ), Tyler Pastornicky (SS – ATL), Matt Lipka (SS – ATL), Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves built their foundation on selecting high school pitchers and developing them into stars at the Major League level. It has been that way for more than two decades now. That trend was completely obliterated after Tuesday’s action at the MLB Draft. Out of the 30 players drafted so far, three have been high schoolers. Three. 

Sean Gilmartin has already been covered so let’s take a look at some of the notable picks for Atlanta in rounds 2 through 30.

Nick Ahmed, SS – 2nd Round, UCONN

Ahmed originally came into this past season a bit under the radar playing up at UCONN, but he received a lot of exposure with two first round picks (Springer, Barnes) as his teammates. He plays solid defense at shortstop and has plus-speed, though he’ll have to improve his hitting if he hopes to make it in the Major Leagues as more than a bench player. 

The decision to take a shortstop in the second round came as a bit of a surprise. The club already has Tyler Pastornicky, Andrelton Simmons, Edward Salcedo and Matt Lipka in the system and all four of those players could become starting shortstops one day in the Majors. Perhaps the club plans to change his (or someone else’s) position in order to accommodate Ahmed.

Kyle Kubitza, 3B – 3rd Round, Texas State

This pick was a pretty big surprise. While talented, Kubitza was unranked by just about everyone in the industry and was projected as a 6th or 7th round player. Still though, he fits in nicely to the system and the Braves could certainly use some depth at the hot corner. He’s just a junior in college so it could cost a little extra to convince him to sign with Atlanta.

J.R. Graham, RHP – 4th Round, Santa Clara

Of the 29 picks the club made today, Graham is easily one of my favorites. The righty is less polished than most of the college pitchers taken in the early rounds and he’ll likely need quite a bit of coaching and development in the Minor Leagues if he hopes to make it to Atlanta, but the kid throws hard. His fastball sits in the mid-90′s and if he can continue developing his curveball and changeup he could really become an impressive prospect.

There are a few concerns about his ability to hold up on the mound and he may be destined to be a late-inning bullpen guy, but hey, you can never have enough talented bullpen arms available.

Mark Lamm, RHP – 6th Round, Vanderbilt

He spent five years at Vandy and predominately served as a set-up man this past season. He throws hard and the Braves have likely seen a ton of him in the last few years (Mike Minor was from Vanderbilt as well) and he has the potential to be in the Major Leagues in a year or two. Again, you can never have enough home grown, capable bullpen arms in your farm system and the Braves know this.

He also had this to say on Twitter:

Thanks for all the kind words everyone! It is seriously a dream come true. Been @Braves fan since I can remember. #TomahawkChop

I like him already.

Chase Larsson, OF – 9th Round, Cameron University

This kid was the best hitter in college baseball last year.

Well, the best hitter in NCAA Division II baseball. He led the country in home runs (29) and RBIs, though his defense does have some major questions. There are also question marks regarding his ability to translate his game from aluminum bats to wooden bats, but if he’s able to make the adjustment both at the plate and in the field, he could be an interesting prospect to follow.

Seth Moranda, IF – 11th Round, Buchanan HS (California)

Look! It’s high school player!

Navery Moore, RHP – 14th Round, Vanderbilt

We already selected Vandy’s set-up man, so why not go after their closer as well? Moore joins J.R. Graham as one of my favorite selections from Tuesday’s draft and he has a similar profile. He throws hard a hard, mid-90′s fastball and has been described to have a true closer’s mentality on the mound. Once a highly regarded prospect, he underwent Tommy John Surgery and it has limited his innings in college. Teams might have been scared away from the durability issues, but Moore could be a closer in the Major Leagues one day.

He also gets points for having the name “Navery”.

Troy Snitker, C – 19th Round, North Georgia

Yes, Troy Snitker is the son of Brian Snitker, the current 3rd base coach of the Braves. Let’s all hope his decision making is slightly better than his father’s as he rounds third base.

Just kidding, Brian.

But seriously…

Looking Ahead To Wednesday:

The 2011 MLB Draft will conclude tomorrow. Don’t expect too many big names at all; The latter rounds are mainly used by clubs to try and scoop up high school players who are highly unlikely to sign because of their college commitments.

Stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta and Talking Chop for complete coverage of the Braves 2011 Draft.

The Atlanta Braves have traded veteran right-hander Rodrigo Lopez to the Chicago Cubs in a deal for minor league left-hander Ryan Buchter.

Buchter, 24, will be assigned to the Braves’ high Class A team in Lynchburg, Va. He was a combined 4-0 with one save and a 3.38 ERA for the Cubs’ Class A Daytona and AA Tennessee teams this season.

The 36-year-old Lopez signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in the offseason. He was 6-1 with a 2.59 ERA in nine games for Triple-A Gwinnett.

Lopez is 75-82 in nine seasons in the major leagues, including a 7-16 record and 5.00 ERA with Arizona last season.

PHILADELPHIA – Derek Lowe took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Atlanta Braves won their sixth straight game, beating Philadelphia 5-0 on Friday night despite Cliff Lee’s 16 strikeouts for the Phillies.

Shane Victorino singled to start the seventh for the first hit off Lowe, and Placido Polanco followed with a double. The right-hander then came out of the game with an apparent leg or foot injury.

Lowe (3-3) appeared to hurt himself in the top of the seventh after singling and going to second on Chipper Jones’ single.

Brian McCann had a pair of doubles and an RBI, and Alex Gonzalez had three hits and an RBI for the Braves.

Lee (2-3) set the major league high for strikeouts this season, coming within one of the franchise record. The big league mark for a nine-inning game is 20.

Trailing 3-0, Lee was pulled after throwing 117 pitches, 87 strikes, in seven innings.

Braves batters finished with 18 strikeouts, tying a club record for a nine-inning game. The last time it happened was May 22, 2006, at San Diego.

Lowe, who threw 97 pitches, limped off the mound after striking out four and walking one.

Despite not allowing a hit to that point, the Braves had relievers warming up in the bullpen at the start of the seventh. Facing Victorino to open the inning, Lowe got two strikes on the Philadelphia batter when he trotted off the mound toward second base, apparently trying to walk off his injury. Victorino broke up the no-hit bid with a clean single to left on the next pitch.

Atlanta trainers visited the mound before Philadelphia’s next batter, Polanco, and manager Fredi Gonzalez lifted Lowe after Polanco doubled to center to put runners on second and third.

Left-hander Eric O’Flaherty came on in relief and struck out the side to end the threat. Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel each worked an inning to complete the two-hitter.

Lowe was trying for his second no-hitter. As a member of the Boston Red Sox, he stymied Tampa Bay in a 10-0 win on April 27, 2002, at Fenway Park.

Lee struck out 16 of the 30 Braves he faced in a dominating performance marred by four straight hits in the third inning that resulted in three Atlanta runs. The 16 strikeouts were one shy of Art Mahaffey’s 17, set on April 23, 1961, for Philadelphia against the Cubs.

The last Phillies pitcher to have 16 strikeouts in a game was Curt Schilling, who did it on Sept. 1, 1997, against the Yankees. Philadelphia’s Chris Short struck out 18 on Oct. 2, 1965, against the Mets in a 15-inning game.

The Braves scored three two-out runs in the third on four straight hard-hit balls off Lee. Gonzalez doubled off the top of the wall in left and scored on Jones’ line single to left that went off the glove of a leaping Jimmy Rollins at shortstop.

Jones scored on McCann’s double off the wall in left-center, and McCann came around on Dan Uggla’s double down the left-field line.

Lee struck out 12 of the next 16 batters before being lifted for left-hander J.C. Romero at the start of the eighth.

Polanco, who fouled a ball off his foot during the at-bat against Lowe, left the game with a bruised right big toe and was replaced by Wilson Valdez. X-rays on Polanco’s toe were negative.

Atlanta’s Martin Prado extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an infield single in the first.

Prado and Gonzalez had RBI singles in the Braves’ two-run eighth off Danys Baez that put Atlanta up 5-0.

Philadelphia’s Raul Ibanez, who was 8 for 11 entering the game after snapping an 0-for-35 skid on Tuesday, went 0 for 3.

NOTES: Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said before the game that 2B Chase Utley would begin an extended spring training assignment Saturday in Dunedin, Fla. Utley has been out all season with right knee tendinits. … RHP Kyle Kendrick will start for Philadelphia on Saturday in place of Roy Oswalt, scratched due to back soreness. Oswalt returned to the Phillies on Thursday after spending eight days with his family in tornado-ravaged Mississippi. … Kendrick will be opposed by right-hander Julio Teheran, the top prospect in Atlanta’s system, who will make his major league debut. Right-hander Jair Jurrjens, originally listed as Saturday’s starter, is being pushed back to Sunday.