Wow are you serious? That's been a strike all night.

Here comes the dagger i'm sure.

VENTERS

so clutch

venters is money - he has such a good mix of pitches

omg i just came

small ball!

Conrad.

Really Wags? Really? Please stop making me sweat.

Great freaking win.

Medlen tomorrow. Can't wait.

bats and medlen looking good

Understatement, imo.

Nice effort out of Medlen today, great series for the Braves if we can hold.

really liking venters - bad start to the 9th, but didn't get rattled

great road trip overall

weeeeee

Now lets go home and get healthy.

6-5 on the road trip is pretty decent IMO considering this teams struggles on the road.

Heyward clearly needs a day off, may not be a bad idea to sit him Tuesday as well IMO.

Def needs a day off, but is hanging in like a champ.

go mets

..and take the Knicks with you.

What a nice roadtrip that was. If not for that weird 7th inning when Hudson pitched we could of swept them. Then Medlen had another excellent start and win.

What is Cox going to do when Jair gets healthy? I would move KK to the bullpen in Medlen's old position as long relief/spot starter and keep Medlen as the 5th starter.

And play Clutch Conrad more. Go Braves!

It's been talked about ad nauseam but I think Medlen is going back to the pen unless there's another injury. It just seems like the safe/smart move. We know Medlen can do well in the long relief role..Kawakami would be a big question mark.

And honestly I'm still not convinced Medlen would be much of an improvement over KK in the rotation in the long run anyway. We shall see.

Conrad is amazing lol

do we have to?

I just see it as playing the hot hand. Cox probably will move Medlen back, keep KK starting. KK's got the big $ contract and he's got to start winning eventually.

I would like to see Medlen keep his spot in the rotation, he's done great and absolutely doesn't deserve a demotion to the bullpen.

It's kind of strange how the logic works, but I guess when you make a mistake and pay a player too much (Lowe or Kawakami), you have to compound that mistake by giving them innings that another player deserves on the merit of your first mistake.

I don't want to imply that Kami and Lowe weren't deserving of their contracts when they signed them, just that the Braves might not have needed to lock in a solid 5th starter for big money when much cheaper options with good potential are available. (IIRC the starting 5 going into that season were Lowe/Jurrjens/Vazquez/Glavine(who didn't make a start), and before Kawakami signed, Reyes/Campillo/Medlen/Hanson could have been competing for the 5th spot and Hudson was due back late in the season)

I think that if Medlen projects as the more productive pitcher, he should get the most innings possible. It probably won't happen for many reasons already mentioned ITT, but it makes sense imo.

Medlen is proven in the long-relief role, Kawakami is not. That's the only logical reason I can see to keep KK in the rotation, but I think he would be fine in relief.

edit:

Sure it would be a joke for a long-reliever to be making as much money as KK is, but why not make the best decision going forward?

Yea I totally agree with having a blind eye towards the contracts and just doing what's best for the team. I just think it benefits the team more by moving Medlen back to the bullpen knowing he can switch back and forth as needed. I also think that having a quality long relief guy is being very underrated. Who knows how KK would respond to being moved to the bullpen...if he doesn't do well then the Braves would be in a tough spot.

Also remember that KK had a tough start to last season also but turned it around and was very solid the rest of the season. No reason to expect anything different this time around imo.

Medlen has pitched great but he's still only had like 6-7 starts this year and 11-12 in his career. I'd just rather go with the safer choice right now. It feels like Medlen is due to implode any day now lol.

meh ok i just looked at the numbers some more and Medlen does seem to have improved a lot from last year..maybe he isn't due for such a huge drop off.. Whatever we should be ok either way

I do love it when we're complaining about the 5th spot in the rotation, or the 8th spot in the batting order.

100% agree that we are in great shape either way.