Braves Fans Support Group... Now What?

[aukevin]

I haven't made any changes to the Braves pen yet, Grilli has been getting the job done for me with 8 saves (I'm a series ahead of the real life Braves right now). I do have Shea Simmons in the pen instead of injured, he's a pretty good mid-relief option for me. I struggled a lot with Josh Donaldson who I traded for, but it was mainly because of Directional Hitting, I've scrapped that and got back to Zone and he's coming around for me. I originally thought I was going to do something in LF, but Kelly Johnson has been great for me, and Gomes has been pretty good against lefties where I'm platooning him, so I'm leaving LF alone for now. I've been playing AJ at catcher lately but Bethancourt is coming around a little more now, but AJ has the power I like. Peterson has been pretty good for me at 2B. He and EY Jr steal bases like madmen.

My pitching with Teheran has been awful. He's 0-4 with a 5+ ERA. But on the flip side, Shelby Miller is fun to pitch with. Timing with him on his windup is good for me so I've been real good with him. Having Tim Hudson back has been good too. My last game with him against the Phillies he pitched 9 innings with just an unearned run allowed because of some crazy outfield defense by me in the first inning. I won the game in the 12th, so his great start got lost in the box score.

[Ghost Of The Year]

I still have Heyward, but he's getting such great interest in other teams trade proposals, I guess it's time to move on & cash in with the best deal I can. I didn't have a good start like the real life Braves, & I'm currently 8 games back in early May. I really can't afford to fall any further back from the Nats.

[aukevin]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ghost Of The Year

I still have Heyward, but he's getting such great interest in other teams trade proposals, I guess it's time to move on & cash in with the best deal I can. I didn't have a good start like the real life Braves, & I'm currently 8 games back in early May. I really can't afford to fall any further back from the Nats.

I would love to put Heyward in CF, but just can't do it since he was just traded. Definitely going to try and get him back in free agency though.

[LowerWolf]

I'm only 12 games in, but this is what I wound up starting with:

Lineup
1 - Young, LF/CF
2 - Simmons, SS
3 - Freeman, 1B
4 - C. Johnson - 3B
5 - Markakis, RF
6 - Maybin/Gomes CF/LF (I start Gomes when I want more pop)
7 - Bethancourt, C
8 - Peterson, 2B

Rotation
1 - Teheran
2 - Wood
3 - Minor
4 - Miller
5 - Folty

Bullpen
CL - Grilli
SU - Avilan
SU - Simmons
MR - Russell
MR - Johnson
MR - Kohn
LR - Martin

Bench
C - A.J.
IF - Callaspo
IF - Ciriaco
UT - K. Johnson

Young and Simmons have been red hot for me to start. Freeman is struggling, but he leads the team with 8 RBIs.

Teheran got rocked Opening Day, but has pitched well since. Wood and Folty have struggled. Minor and Miller have been almost unhittable. Shae looks like a future closer; he's been dominant. Grilli has been great too, but I may have to think about moving him at the deadline.

[aukevin]

I wish Shea Simmons had a slider that would break a little more. It just doesn't sweep far enough across the plate for me so I keep leaving it over the plate. My last two appearances with him have been good but the first few were terrible.

[aukevin]

Folty has finally made my franchise rotation joining Teheran, Wood, Miller, and Tim Hudson. Stults had been great for me, but just blew his shoulder out in a game that he had 12 strikeouts in.

[aukevin]

In my franchise with the Braves, I'm in the middle of June and a few of my players have been run down due to so many days played in a row, 17 straight game stretch. I've struggled a lot in that stretch. Anyway, on my Sunday game before a Monday off I thought I would rest my regulars since I was facing Matt Harvey who dominated me earlier in the season. I rested Freeman, Markakis, and Josh Donaldson (traded for at start of season). I had Teheran starting so I hoped I had some kind of chance of a pitching duel.

My lineup was:

RF Eric Young Jr
2B Jace Peterson
3B Kelly Johnson
C AJ Pierzynski
LF Jonny Gomes
CF Cameron Maybin
SS Andrelton Simmons (currently on a 0-20 stretch at the plate)
1B Hunter Morris (AAA player traded for early in the season)
P Julio Teheran

Can you believe this lineup lit up Harvey for 5 runs in the first 4 innings? I ended up winning 9-0. 7 IP from Teheran with Brandon Cunniff pitching the final two innings. Gomes, AJ, KJ, and Morris all homered in the game. Simmons got a couple hits. It was crazy. I've had such a tough stretch the past couple weeks, this game came out of nowhere with my B and C team.

Also as an added bonus, I checked my fatigue levels for the next game, all the guys I rested are back to full energy. Hope it gets them all going. Freeman has been good, batting around .320 but Markakis and Donaldson are both around .250 although Donaldson leads the team in HR and is right behind Freeman in most RBI.