By Scott Coleman

– Braves Contributor

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Jun 10, 2011 – The Atlanta Braves will head into hot and steamy Houston for a 4-game series against the Astros, who currently have the worst record in Major League Baseball. Let’s take a look at their team:

Offense:

Despite their 24-39 record, the Astros actually have a pretty decent offense. They’re ranked seventh in the National League in runs scored and are right in the middle of the pack in team batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and stolen bases.

The club is led by Hunter Pence (.315/.358/.488, .373 wOBA, 138 wRC+) and it’ll be interesting to see how the outfielder performs in the series. Pence has been linked to the Braves earlier this year in trade rumors and a big series could stir up the pot once again. Michael Bourn isn’t a great hitter (.275/.343/.368, .338 wOBA, 114 wRC+), but he’s incredibly fast and currently has 26 stolen bases. First baseman Brett Wallace (.317/.389/.457, .370 wOBA, 136 wRC+) is having a fine season as their fifth hitter and Jason Bourgeois has played well in limited playing time.

Veteran slugger Carlos Lee and his monster contract aren’t having a very good year (.262/.316/.402, .315 wOBA, 98 wRC+) and infielders Clint Barmes (.221/.325/.344, .307 wOBA, 92 wRC+) and Chris Johnson (.228/.271/.398, .287 wOBA, 79 wRC+) have both struggled as well. Catcher J.R. Towles  (.210/.297/.352, .291 wOBA, 82 wRC+) doesn’t bring much to the lineup and neither does Jeff Keppinger.

We’ll likely see something similar to this for the Astros lineup:

Michael Bourn – CF
Jeff Keppinger – 2B
Hunter Pence – RF
Carlos Lee – LF
Brett Wallace – 1B
Chris Johnson – 3B
Clint Barmes – SS
J.R. Towles

Pitching Matchups:

Tim Hudson Vs. Aneury Rodriguez, 8:05 (SportSouth)

Aneury Rodriguez has struggled this year in Houston. His ERA is 5.28 and his FIP and xFIP aren’t very far off (4.97, 4.77). He doesn’t strike out many, walks a few too many and relies heavily on fly ball outs. You won’t make it very far with that combination. He’ll throw a fastball in the low-90′s and an above-average slider as hit out-pitch, and he’ll occasionally break in a changeup against a left-handed batter.

Mike Minor Vs. Jordan Lyles, 7:05 (SportSouth)

Jordan Lyles, a right-handed rookie pitcher acquired from Texas in a recent trade, will be making the third start of his career on Saturday against Atlanta. He’s currently 0-1 and despite a high ERA of 4.91 his FIP of 2.49 and xFIP of 4.25 show he’s been a little better than his numbers indicate. Lyles features five pitches and will throw a low-90′s fastball, cutter, curveball, slider and solid changeup.

Tommy Hanson Vs. Brett Myers, 2:05 (SportSouth)

The veteran right-handed pitcher, Brett Myers, isn’t having a good season. He’s 2-5 with an ERA, FIP and xFIP of 5.02, 5.33 and 4.23 and his strikeouts are down compared to previous years. After years of being a hard thrower, Myers now features a fastball in the high-80′s, a solid slider, curveball and changeup. 

Derek Lowe Vs. Wandy Rodriguez (SportSouth)

Left-handed pitcher Wandy Rodriguez has struggled this year, but he’s a capable pitcher who can shut down a lineup on any given night. His ERA, FIP and xFIP (3.41, 3.93, 3.50) indicate he’s pitched better than his 3-3 record and he’s striking out just over seven batters per nine innings. He’ll throw a fastball in the upper-80′s, slow curveball and a nasty changeup, especially against right-handed batters.

Recap:

The Braves should win this series. They’re playing well despite injuries and the Astros might be the worst team in baseball. We’ll miss Houston’s best starter, Bud Norris, and they’re likely about to start looking ahead to next year as they sit 13.5 games out in the NL Central. 

Read More: Michael Bourn (CF – HOU), Hunter Pence (RF – HOU), Clint Barmes (SS – HOU), Tim Hudson (P – ATL), Brett Wallace (1B – HOU), Atlanta Braves

Julio Teheran had a huge game on Thursday and is the Braves Prospect of the Day. Here’s his stat line from earlier tonight:

8IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, 11K

Teheran, who is widely regarded as the top-pitching prospect in baseball, is now 6-1 this year at Triple-A Gwinnett and lowered his ERA to 1.98 with his stellar performance. The start was arguably the best of his young career.

Despite two mediocre spot-starts with the Major League club earlier this year, Teheran has all the talent and ability to become an ace for the next decade. Armed with a fastball in the mid-90′s, devastating curveball and solid changeup, Teheran has the potential for more and more double digit strikeout performances as his career progresses. He’ll likely remain in the Minor Leagues for at least another month or two while he continues to gain valuable experience before becoming a stalwart in the Braves’ starting rotation.

—
FROSTBURG — Greg Ross used his potential and hard work to go from being a thrower to becoming a more complete pitcher in his two years at Frostburg State University and is now hoping to pitch his way into major league baseball after signing with the Atlanta Braves.

The hard-throwing 6-foot-3, 205-pound righthander from Towson, was taken in the 18th round with the 566th pick of this week’s amateur draft and could have exclaimed at Thursday’s press conference at the college’s Lane Center that he is going to Disney World.

Scout Gene Kerns, who signed the Bobcats pitcher, said Ross will begin his career on Sunday with the Braves’ team in the Gulf Coast Rookie League that plays out of Atlanta’s spring training facility in Orlando. He then could possibly move up to the Danville, Va., team in the Appalachian League later in the summer.

While a lot of other people were watching the draft on the Internet, Ross said he was just sitting by the phone for the two days hoping to get a call. Then on the second day, after not being taken in the first 10 rounds, the call he was awaiting came. But it was his Frostburg State coach Guy Robertson, who beat Kerns to the phone by a few minutes, to inform his pitcher that he was drafted by the Braves.

Ross had received significant interest from at least eight teams watching him and had attended a pre-draft workout by the Washington Nationals.

“I was hoping I had a chance to be drafted and thought I could go after the 30th round,” said Ross about hearing the news. “I never expected to be taken in the 18th round and I guess Gene (Kerns) liked what he saw. It was very exciting and I know I had a glow on my face when I got the news.

“I grew up as an Orioles fans, but I always liked the Braves and was a big fan of Greg Maddux,” said the FSU All-American. “They always have winning teams and Turner Field is a great place. It was just great to be drafted and I am hoping to move up quickly.”

Ross capped his Frostburg State career by being named to the American Baseball Coaches Association All-America team along with earning second-team honors from D3baseball.com. The hard-throwing righthander was also named the ABCA Mid-Atlantic Pitcher of the Year and was the Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

Frostburg State finished with a 28-14 overall record and won the CAC championship in the school’s first year in the conference. The Bobcats advanced to the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Tournament before having their season end with a 7-2 loss to top-ranked Marietta (Ohio).

Ross had an impressive final year at FSU with an 11-2 overall record with one save and an earned run average of 1.49. The senior pitcher threw 90.2 innings with a school record 112 strikeouts and held opponents to a  .192 batting average. He had 11 strikeouts in a CAC Tournament win over Wesley (Del.) and broke John Helmick’s school record with the second of his 10 strikeouts against Marietta in the season finale. His 11 wins is second highest in school history.

In his first year at FSU after playing two years at the Community College of Baltimore County Essex Campus. Ross had a 4-1 record with 5.19 ERA. He had 53 strikeouts and 34 walks in 59 innings.

At Essex, Ross earned NJCAA Region XX Division II honors his second year and was also named to the All-Region XX Tournament Team. He played at Loch Raven High School and was a second-team All-District selection as a shortstop along with being a pitcher.

For Robertson the 2011 MLB draft will always be a very memorable time.

“I was watching on the Internet and it was exciting to see the name of an FSU player pop up on the board,” Robertson said, who couldn’t wait to get to the phone to congratulate his young pitcher. “It was my first opportunity to be in a situation like this and nobody deserves this more than Greg Ross.”

Robertson said Ross started making the move from thrower to pitcher about the middle of his junior year with the Bobcats.

“Greg always had the potential with his outstanding arm strength, and he has a great work ethic,” said the Frostburg State mentor. “His two years here were all up-hill as he went far beyond where he started with God’s gift and a lot of tenacity. When Greg was on the mound this year, all his teammates knew they had a good chance to win and he made everybody on the team better.”

Ross is only the third Frostburg State player to be taken in the MLB draft. Current Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth round of the 1974 draft and advanced as high as Triple A in the minors. John Elder was selected by the New York Mets in the 1978 draft.

The veteran Kerns remembers scouting Riggleman for the Kansas City Royals and was happy to hear from Robertson that Frostburg State had another possible draft prospect.

“The Atlanta Braves have always been a very pitcher-oriented organization and we usually draft a lot of pitchers,” said Kerns. “I recommended that we take Greg Ross between the 15th and 20th rounds and the people in control listened and we were still able to get him in the 18th round. You never know what will happen in the draft.”

The veteran scout said Ross fit the profile of what he looks for in pitchers.

“I’m a scout who looks for good mechanics and I like to see pitchers pitch with ease and not a lot of extra effort,” said Kerns. “Greg has good mechanics with a good fastball, average slider and good motion on his change-up.

“It’s all up to him now,” adds the Atlanta scout. “He just needs to go down there, do his best and listen to his coaches.”

Steve Luse writes about sports for the Cumberland Times-News. Write to him at sluse@times-news.com

Chipper Jones(notes) said that if teammate Jason Heyward(notes) can muster “80 percent” of his own capabilities while playing with an injured right shoulder, then he should be on the field — because the Atlanta Braves need him there.

Jones is 39 years old, with 17 years of major league experience, 441 home runs and 10 trips to the disabled list (so far) on his Cooperstown résumé. Heyward is 21, coming off a spectacular rookie season — but one in which he played through several nagging injuries.

So, it’s easy to see why Jones thinks he can offer guidance.

Though he was eligible to come off the DL on Tuesday, Heyward reportedly has not swung a bat in more than two weeks and isn’t ready to hit from a tee yet. Heyward has said he doesn’t want to try to play until the pain is gone.

But that’s not good enough for Jones, whose comments as reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution go to show that you don’t have to be in high school in order to get pressure from your peers:

“I think where Jason might have erred was the comment that he made, ‘I’m not coming back until it doesn’t hurt anymore.’ That has a tendency to rub people the wrong way,” Jones said.

“What Jason needs to realize is that Jason at 80 percent is a force, and Jason at 80 percent is better than a lot of people in this league. And that there are a bunch of his teammates that are out there playing with discomfort and not healthy, and still going at it.”

Holy cow, Chipper’s going to hurt Heyward’s other shoulder if he twists his left arm anymore. Or make him fall on his face and break his nose because of the guilt trip. As a respected team leader, Chipper’s voice will be heard inside Atlanta’s clubhouse on any topic he so chooses.

Hopefully, Heyward ignores him this time.

Jones wants to appear as trying to influence Heyward by having him put team before self. But it comes off as disingenuous: Chipper knows his days are numbered (he’s been talking about retiring for a while) and his chance to win another World Series might come down to, well, this year or never more.

Heyward has many more summers to go. And he knows it.

“I thought I could play with it some; I had some stretches this year where I was where I thought I should be,” he said. “But the wear and tear of every day and how hard I play, and swinging the bat every day, made it worse gradually. It’s a little frustrating, but while I still have time — this is only year two of my career — so I most definitely need to take care of it.”

Heyward’s first duty is to himself. But even looking at it from the team point of view, what Chipper wants Heyward to do is reckless. Heyward was batting .214/.317/.407 in 161 plate appearances, and went 4 for 41 with one extra-base hit in May, before being shut down. At best, those stats are 80 percent of the worst guy on the a major league bench. That’s not what Jason Heyward can do. That’s not what the Braves want.

And where does Chipper get that Heyward is at “80 percent,” anyway? That’s how you pull muscles, by yanking stuff out of your keister. By using Chipper’s logic, and health history, can we trust that he knows how to manage even his own injuries? How much you want to bet that Chipper trying to play through injuries of his own made them worse? He probably cost his team with ineffective at-bats, and with bad defense, because he was too proud to say he was hurt and shut it down.

While they’re hanging near the top of the NL East, the Braves came into Wednesday ranking 24th in runs scored in the majors, and 21st in OPS. They do need Heyward’s bat, but not the one he was swinging before he went on the disabled list in late May.

Chipper Jones has loads of experience but, in this case, lacks wisdom.

Big BLS H/T: Evan Brunell at CBS Eye on Baseball and Jeff Sullivan at SB Nation.

Follow Dave on Twitter — @AnswerDave — and engage the Stew on Facebook

Related: Jason Heyward, Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves, injuries

(Sports Network) – R.A. Dickey tries to pitch the New York Mets to a series
win over the Atlanta Braves this evening when the National League East
combatants play the rubber match of a three-game series at Citi Field.

Jose Reyes’ eighth inning error proved costly in the Mets’ Friday night loss,
but the talented shortstop atoned for his mistake on Saturday, as his three-
run triple highlighted a five-run seventh inning and helped lead New York to a
5-0 win.

Dillon Gee (6-0) scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings to get the
win, while Justin Turner and Jason Pridie each drove in a run in the pivotal
frame for the Mets, who have won two of their last three.

“I think the confidence factor is pretty high right now, just knowing that the
guys keep picking me up each time I go out there,” said Gee. “You have to give
credit to the guys that play defense behind me.”

Jair Jurrjens (7-2), the NL’s Pitcher of the Month for May, got the loss as he
was charged with four runs — three earned — on six hits with six strikeouts
over 6 1/3 innings for the Braves, who had a two-game winning streak stopped.

Tonight, New York will turn. Dickey, who is a miserable 2-6 on the season with
a 4.39 ERA. Dickey was brilliant in not giving up a run over the first seven
innings of his last start on Tuesday against Pittsburgh, but the wheels came
off in the eighth, as he allowed three runs and was saddled with the loss. The
knuckle-balling right-hander did strike out a season-high 10 batters in the 7
2/3-ining effort.

“Anytime that you know you’re capable of better, it hurts,” Dickey said. “And
it’s tough. But that’s the nature of the beast.”

Dickey is 0-2 in six games (three starts) against the Braves with a 5.56 ERA.
He actually threw a scoreless inning of relief against them earlier in the
year.

Getting the call for the Braves tonight will be right-hander Tim Hudson, who
is 4-4 on the year, but 0-2 over his last four starts. Hudson did not get a
decision on Monday against San Diego, despite allowing just one earned run
over six innings to lower his ERA to 3.75.

Hudson has faced the Mets 20 times and is 13-6 against them with a 3.41 ERA.

Atlanta took two of three from the Mets earlier in the year.

The Sports Network

Jair Jurrjens tries to continue his impressive start to
the season this evening when the Atlanta Braves continue their three-game
series against the New York Mets at Citi Field.

Jurrjens, the National League’s top pitcher for the month of May, became just
the fourth pitcher in major league history to allow two earned runs or less
and pitch at least six innings in each of his first nine starts on Sunday
against Cincinnati. He held the Reds to a run and six hits in eight innings,
to improve to 7-1, while lowering his major league best earned run
average 1.51.

Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies set the record last year when he did it in his
first 12 starts. Like Jurrjens, Randy Johnson (2000) and Lefty Gomez (1937)
did so in their first nine outings to the season.

“It’s an honor,” Jurrjens said. “It’s not easy to be a starting pitcher in
this league. I went out there and knew the bullpen needed a rest. I just made
sure I kept my pitch count down and stay deeper in the game.”

Injuries limited the right-hander to just 20 starts a year ago, but a victory
this evening would surpass his total from last year and tie him for the NL
lead along with Pittsburgh’s Kevin Correia. Although, two other seven-game
winners – Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo and St. Louis’ Kyle Lohse – are also
slated to take the hill this evening.

Jurrjens threw seven scoreless innings to beat the Mets back on April 16 and
is 8-2 lifetime against them with a 2.54 ERA in 11 starts.

New York, meanwhile, will counter with an equally impressive righty in Dillon
Gee, who is 5-0 with a 3.83 ERA. Gee won his third straight start on Monday
against Pittsburgh, as he limited the Pirates to three runs and five hits in
seven innings.

Gee defeated Atlanta earlier in the year and is 1-1 in two starts against them
with a 2.84 ERA.

Atlanta rallied for a victory in Friday’s opener, as Eric Hinske’s solo, tie-
breaking home run off Francisco Rodriguez with one out in the ninth inning
boosted the Braves to a 6-3 win.

“I was thinking I’m going to try and ambush him, get something to hit over the
plate. It worked out,” said Hinske, who entered the game in the fifth inning
when Jordan Schafer was forced to leave after bunting a ball off his face.
“Sometimes you guess right and it’s part of the cat and mouse game.”

Freddie Freeman added a two-run double to cap the ninth inning uprising, as
the Braves topped the Mets for the 10th time in the last 12 meetings.

The Mets, who held a 3-1 lead going to the eighth inning, lost for the third
time in four games. Jose Reyes committed a critical error in the eighth, which
allowed the tying run to score.

Derek Lowe pitched six effective innings and Craig Kimbrel locked down his
17th save of the year. Kimbrel now has more saves before the All-Star break
than any rookie in NL history. Johnathan Papelbon holds the overall rookie
saves mark before the break with 26.

Jonny Venters (4-0) fanned a pair of batters in the eighth to get the win.

“We’ve got to continue to work together to get through these and add on some
runs,” Mets manager Terry Collins said.

Schafer reportedly has a broken nose, but he underwent more tests after the
game to see if there was any other damage.

While Rodriguez (1-2) suffered the loss, he has converted his last 16 save
chances, his longest streak in a season since equaling that mark to began the
2009 campaign.

Atlanta took two of three from the Mets earlier in the year.

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