Matthew McConkey is from Tennessee and has covered the Braves in various forms throughout his career. He created the Braves Baseball Franchise Historical Page for The Baseball Almanac.com and researched and wrote Never Say Die: The 1914 Braves. McConkey also covered the Atlanta Braves from 2000-2003 for Diamond Cutters Baseball Fantasy Magazine.
4/25/2016
The First 17 Braves Games At A Glance
Through the first 17 games of the 2016 baseball season, the Atlanta Braves find themselves last in their division, worst record in the National League along with the major’s worst win/loss record…but it’s just APRIL! The season is only 3 weeks old for God’s sake, it’s not the end of the world.
But what has happened to the Braves in these 17 games? Well, let’s look.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves are 1-3 in 1-run games.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves have won only 1 game at home. Just the one.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves are scoring 3.5 runs/game…while the pitching has allowed 5.2 runs/game.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves are batting .319 with runners in scoring position. One of the bright spots.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves starting pitching has given up 50 earned runs…while the bullpen has 34.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves pitching ace Julio Teheran is 0-2 with a 5.64 and has given up 23 hits and 14 earned runs in 4 starts.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves starting pitching has earned 1 win…the other 3 wins belong to the bullpen.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves Freddie Freeman has struggled mightily batting .190 w/a .329 on-base percentage.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves best hitters are Adonis Garcia at .305 w/a .388 on-base percentage and Nick Markakis at .303 w/a .410 on-base percentage.
Through the first 17 games of the season the Braves have scored 59 runs…opponents have scored 89.
Contact: matthewmcconkey78@gmail.com
4/18/2016
Should Gonzalez Be Fired?
Yeah, the Braves are off to a rough start. 3-9, winners of their last 3 sweeping the Marlins. Things actually look better. Heck, even Opening Day wasn’t too terribly bad was it? But the Braves have been on a bad streak to open the 2016 baseball season. So bad in fact that the MLB message boards I frequent have been all a flicker calling for the firing of Gonzalez.
Now, I wasn’t onboard with Fredi Gonzalez being the replacement for Bobby Cox by no means. I wasn’t thrilled about it. Most people weren’t. I think the Braves front office could have done better. With who? No clue. I couldn’t hazard a guess. Even now I couldn’t tell you who I would like to see manage the Braves. Pendelton, perhaps?
I think the Braves are in a strange situation this season and going forward. Strange in the sense that Gonzalez is probably the best they are going to have for the foreseeable future. Good managers don’t grow on trees. In the last 2 baseball seasons, the baseball world saw Mattingly go to Miami, Maddon to Chicago and Baker to Washington while the Braves are set on Gonzalez being their guy. I really wished that the Braves would have paid up and got someone that has a pedigree of winning with teams like the before mentioned managers I just spoke of. I think a Mattingly, Baker or Maddon would have been huge for the Braves.
I’m not saying that the manager is the one responsible for the way the team boots the ball, strikes out at the plate, or allows 4 or 5 runs in 5 innings. Managers do not physically play the game. But good managers know how to win. Even with the not so good teams the Braves had in the early 90’s, Cox found a way to win with what he had. ’91 ring any bells?
The problem that I have with Gonzalez not being able to win with the team he’s got is that I’ve seen Cox do more with less. I hate comparisons, but it is what it is. Obviously the Braves got better as they went in the 90’s, but Bobby had already established himself as an elite manager and people respected and listened to him. I don’t see that with Gonzalez. So I wonder, as do most Braves fans, how long is the front office going to allow Gonzalez to keep on trucking? Maybe the Braves need to clean house like Washington did last season (2015) and get back on track, especially with all this “promise of a better future” they’ve been peddling us for what seems forever now.
As the Braves are building the future, prospects and a new ball park, one has to wonder if Gonzalez is a part of that future. I don’t think he is…but then again, what’s their options? He might be there for a long, long time. I’m certainly not advocating for them to fire Fredi, but I’m not going to let it hurt my feelings if they show him the door.
Contact: matthewmcconkey78@gmail.com
4/11/2016
Why Braves Fans Need To Get Over The Simmons Trade
When I first heard the news that Andrelton Simmons was traded to the Angels I wasn’t that all too shocked. Most people in Atlanta were, as were Braves fans across the nation. But not me. I was indifferent to the entire trade. Not that I didn’t care, but rather saw it kind of coming…eventually.
Simmons being dealt aggravated most Braves fans because he was a fan favorite but what made it worse I think for the Braves faithful was what the Braves got back in return: Pitching prospect, Sean Newcombe who the Braves can control for 6 plus years, pitcher Chris Ellis who has 6 plus years of contractual control and veteran short stop Erick Aybar who is a free agent after the 2016 season.
Basically the Braves sent packing a seasoned glove, a gold glove, to the Angels for prospects hoping that the kids they traded Simmons for was the right thing to do in the long view. I think it was, too. Let’s be honest here, I loved Simmons at short. He saved runs, hits, was always a treat to watch in the field. But at the plate? I always cringed when he came up with runners on or in a situation where the Braves needed a big hit.
From 2013-2015, Simmons was awful when it came to hitting. And you can say that Simmons’ value wasn’t at the dish. You may be right about that. But if I’m paying this player that much money he’d better be able to field and hit. Simmons is a one talent guy. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, but the Braves could have used a better hitter in the line-up.
At a glance, Simmons in the years of 2013-2015 hit .228 with runners in scoring position, with the bases loaded .233 and with runners in scoring position with 2 outs .176. That ain’t good production in three years for any player no matter how beloved they are by the fans. Had the Braves had a dominate offense the possibility is there that Simmons’ low production at the plate could have been looked over.
Erick Aybar isn’t exactly the answer in Atlanta, either. He is a place holder that can play decent defense and can hit and get on base and drive in runs. This trade with the Angels wasn’t about trading shortstops. It was about the future. The Braves will probably let Aybar walk after this year if they don’t trade him in the middle of the season. The idea is perhaps to get something out of him because they’re not going to resign him…I don’t think. The Braves have young fielders, Dansby Swanson and Ozhaino Albies, waiting in the wings to play the shortstop position in the future if everything goes according to the Braves plan.
The trading of Simmons was more about the pitching they got in return from the Angels than it was about just switching shortstops. Fans should know this. If Sean Newcombe, who I think looks a lot like Jon Lester, and Swanson or Albies can play defense like Simmons and hit better than he could, then the trade will be one of the best the Braves had made in a long time.
Although the Simmons trade still lingers on with Braves fans, I think as the season goes it will ease. And if the future that the Braves are banking on comes to fruition, then the trade will be just another footnote in the long, long list of Braves transactions over the decades.
Contact: matthewmcconkey78@gmail.com
4/04/2016
Why Players Never Say Publically ‘Our Team Is Going To Be Bad This Year’
No matter how bad a team will be or look at the tail end of Spring Training, no player or coach that is interviewed will ever come out and say, ‘our team sucks’ or ‘we’re not going to be very good’. Instead we, the fans and sports writers, get sayings like, ‘we’re going to be competitive’ or ‘we’ve got a bunch of good guys that know how to win’. Seems like these sayings are ingrained in baseball players at young ages. Maybe it’s because they’ve heard these types of sayings on loop somewhere.
This dodge of the truth about how a team is really going to look infuriates some people. Not me. I think its incumbent upon the front office management, the coaching staff and the players to be upbeat about the season ahead, no matter how grim it might actually be. No fan wants to hear those above mentioned people say how bad their beloved team is going to be—even if we know it to be true.
There’s something to be said about being positive. I know how the Braves are going to look this year. Most of us that have followed the Braves know. I know what kind of season to expect. It will surprise me if they win 70 games. So it doesn’t make me angry when Freddie Freeman or Jason Grilli says it’s going to be a ‘good season’ for the Braves. Or when Fredi Gonzalez tells the media that his team is going to be ‘fun to watch’. It’s their job to tell us that.
I don’t want my team’s staff to look at the camera and say, ‘we’re going to suck so don’t watch us on TV or come to the games because we’re not where we need to be’. They get paid in part to be positive for the team and their fans. Who’d want a negative coach? Or player? Not me. Even if the team sucks I want those guys out there trying and not mailing it in. Watching a team just going through the motions is enough for me to stop watching all together.
So while the Braves might not give us many wins this year, they’ll be fun to watch.
Contact: matthewmcconkey78@gmail.com
3/28/2016
The Braves of the Future
If you’re like me, you’re excited about the potential, potential, of these guys that the Braves have gone out and gotten through trades during the last year. They’ve been some good ones. High prospects. Number one draft picks even. But I’m getting tired of hearing about them.
The Braves are trying to sell the fans on the future. They’ve got a new stadium going up. They’ve restocked the farm system. They’ve got a potentially great team for the 2017 season and beyond. All that’s great but I’m really tired of hearing about how good the farm system is. If you haven’t heard, the Braves have the number one farm system in baseball according to ESPN’s Ty Law. The Braves are excited about this. Fans are on the fence. Last year the Braves had ranked sixth overall with their farm system. Sixth ain’t too shabby considering all the baseball teams in Major League Baseball.
This year the Braves boast seven of the top one hundred baseball prospects. That’s good, respectable. Remember last year when the Braves talked about how good Jose Peraza and Christian Bethancourt were going to be. Now, they are not even affiliated with the Braves anymore. I think this slew of young talent the Braves have traded up and down and across the country for is going to only produce two maybe three really good players. How good? I don’t know and neither do the Braves. That’s why they’re prospects-prospectively good; which means the Braves front office hopes.
Personally, I think a team at the MLB level is only as good as their farm teams. I believe that teams should pull more kids from the minors and play them instead of trading for high end free agents. I mean why have a farm if you’re only going to pull just a few and then trade the rest or let them be career minor leaguers?
I’m glad the Braves have restocked their farm system. And on paper it looks good. But baseball isn’t played on paper. They’ve got some untested talent, some good names on those minor league rosters. However, are names alone going to be good enough to make it in the show-to make an impact in a season or two? Time will tell.
In all the Braves prospects, I feel that there’s only three that are going to make an impact. Three? Yeah…but my three youngsters that I feel will make a big impact for the Braves maybe this year, next or in the future are pitchers Sean Newcombe, Aaron Blair and John Gant. I’ve watched these guys for some time and they’ve continued to grow and get better.
What about the talk of the town, Dansby Swanson? I’m not completely sold on this kid just yet. I don’t see what everyone is talking about. There’s potential for sure. But I’m not on the Swanson band wagon. I’m still wondering why the D’Backs let him go in the first place. If he’s so good and is going to be a player that will make an immediate impact, why didn’t the D’Backs hang onto him and have him help build a good team out west? The D’Backs appear certainly committed to winning, right? Personally I don’t see the upside to Dansby. I don’t believe there’s going to be one and I don’t see him being what the Braves think in the end.
So in closing, I’d like for the Braves front office to stop talking about the farm system and how good it is. I understand that for a team to be good you have to build from within. I got that. It’s a proven method. Just stop selling the fans on the future, a future that may or may not even happen.
Contact: matthewmcconkey78@gmail.com
