Chattanooga Baseball Diary

@UpsideProspect This was put together on August 11, 2025 with the BA and MLB rankings added next to mine in parentheses on the 8/12/25 (posted in the BravesQuest thread on @Volquest_On3 ).

@ChoppinBravos If he could get up toward a 50-55 BB pace for the season, I could see him being a 25-30 HR guy. The raw power is there (74.3 mph bat speed)

@NoogaBaseball He has looked really adjusted this spring I think if he is gonna do it this is the year. If we revisit this at the deadline and he pi told me Harris had 12HR, 15SB and > 800 OPS I wouldn’t be shocked at all.

Here are the presumptive Atlanta Braves lineups with each players OPS + PA over the last two seasons ( by handedness). vs RHP (OPS / PA) Acuña - .873 (457) Drake - .808 (351) Olson - .823 (1006) Riley - .765 (698) Yaz - .785 (833) Smith - .733 (455) Ozzie - .654 (774) Harris - .693 (782) Dubón - .634 (585) Bench- Eli - .650 (206) Mateo - .542 (162) Farmer - .555 (301) Heim - .589 (675) Eventually Murphy - .646 (415) HSK - .669 (469) vs LHP Acuña - .813 (177) Drake - .818 (95) Olson - .813 (403) Riley - .751 (218) Ozzie - .764 (295) Harris - .708 (329) Farmer - .759 (241) White - .764 (107) Dubón - .681 (241) Bench- Yaz - .539 (199) Mateo - .702 (129) Smith - .620 (77) Heim - .638 (249) Eventually- Murphy - .747 (186) HSK - .724 (192) They are going to be fine against LHP and there are reinforcements coming in HSK/Murphy who have hit LHP well even when playing injured. As for RHP…that’s a whole lot of sub .700-750 OPS’s across the board vs RHP. If AA can somehow add someone that can handle RHP it would be huge. There is a good argument that career numbers out weigh a two year sample size but I am tired of talking about “the back of the baseball card” and adding 2023’s league wide outlier to that card. Yes I have too much time on my hands to do this.

@ChoppinBravos I hope that Harris can put the late-July/August pieces with this springs newfound eye/plate discipline and start to live up yo the promise he showed in beating out Strider for ROY

Harris’s has a career 95 wRC+ vs LHP and 111 vs RHP. He has pretty even career splits. Harris isn’t a bat this team needs to be counting on until he shows he can be relied on. The same for Ozzie at this point unfortunately. Both of which being why this team needed Profar’s bat and needs to find a way to replace it and Dominic Smith is not the answer. Ozzie has been good against LHP in his career he just wasn’t last year. He has to get back to that bc even when he’s been good he doesn’t provide much against RHP.

@ChoppinBravos I think the overall numbers are a bit anomalous, but especially those 2 guys. That said, it wouldn't hurt a bit to add another bat that can mash RHPs

@ChoppinBravos Harris was so, so bad compared to his talent level that you can safely throw out the idea that he's somehow better against LHPs than RHPs. That simply doesn't compute. Ozzie has been far better against LHPs consistently, but he should still be better than he has been in '24/'25

Hmmm, maybe throwing from an extremely over-the-top arm angle isn't a great idea? I actually just looked up Trey on @RobertStock6's site yesterday (linked here) and saw this 99th-percentile value (guessing it might be a true 100th-percentile situation even) app.stockyardbaseball.com

Fully zero people were clamoring for it, but anyway, here's my rough guess for how innings will break down for the 2026 @braves. Guaranteed to be incorrect w/ injuries (though a smidgen of that is built into my thinking); Please feel free to poke holes and tell me where I am grossly off. This was also the 49,320th post in the BravesQuest thread following the Volquest move from Rivals to On3. Once the season ends, @grok, feel free to give me a letter grade for this.

I am generally a nice person, but I would be very intrigued to see if the @Braves legal team can somehow void the 2027 portion of a certain contract for fraud. @MLBPA, let's make an example here and let it happen!!!

@YouTube Sal Stewart ABs at the 2:09 and 11:01 marks

@YouTube 19 whiffs told a much, much different story than this stat line; His spring results this year are far more in line w/ reasonable luck for how he has pitched

Since Didier is making some serious noise in pushing for a roster spot, I went ahead & started setting up my YouTube channel. Here's video I captured of his AA debut last April. Didier Fuentes Double A Debut for the Columbus Clingstones youtu.be/mer80O4Wc8c?si… via @YouTube

@LethalPlatypus1 Key is simply trying to get something of value out of Elder whenever we finally pull the plug there. I really can't see him on the roster still in July with the other SP guys we have control of.

@NoogaBaseball I really want Didier in day one because it opens up the same pick Drake got for us. Didier stuff is clearly more electric but Ritchie is a better overall pitcher. Both I feel are already better than Elder.

I honestly think he should make OD roster. Would give us a shot at another Comp pick.

With those @krystal sized dogs, that part would be a cinch. The beer could get tricky as a 41 year old.

@TJStats Looks like a good candidate to dive deep into the Stuff models on perhaps, @RobertStock6

Didier Fuentes has now retired 27 of the 28 batters he faced this Spring! With the lone mistake being a HBP, the young righty has been virtually unstoppable this spring with a 60.7 K%. That fastball is wicked and the new slider looks to be an amazing addition. He looks so good!

@BeaneaterB Gonna have to request a cease and desist on calling him Diddy. Big-time NO for that as a nickname.

Okay, there’s earning a spot, and then there’s forcing yourself onto a roster. Diddy is absolutely doing the latter. If you carry a 6th SP at the start of the season you’re going to have a hard time justifying anyone other than Diddy.

Players to win a World Baseball Classic, World Series and MLB MVP: Buster Posey Shohei Ohtani Ronald Acuña Jr.

@Robdawg2017 @680TheFan @RealMattlanta @kingcfb Touché

@NoogaBaseball @680TheFan @RealMattlanta @kingcfb $15 million does (S.Murphy)…

Bold Braves take 👀 Mauricio Dubon as the everyday shortstop by June? “I think Mauricio Dubón—you guys are going to be screaming for him to be the everyday shortstop by the middle of June.” - @RealMattlanta @kingcfb

@Robdawg2017 @680TheFan @RealMattlanta @kingcfb $20M doesn't ride pine

@680TheFan @RealMattlanta @kingcfb Kim is the primary DH then ? AA ain’t sign him for $20+ million to just do interviews with 680…

@Braves I haven't dug as deep manually with my human brain as I still hope to do to validate historical examples of MLB elbow bone spur surgery recoveries, but @grok seems to suggest that the chances are good of decently quick recoveries for Waldrep and Schwelly. x.com/grok/status/20…

@Braves Call me an Anthopolous homer all you must, but this is why he was so adamant about only going for a SP if they could start a playoff game for us.

If the @Braves avoid further SP injuries, there is going to be a serious glut by sometime in July. Sale Strider Holmes Ritchie Lopez (to the 'pen imo) AJ Smith-Shawver Schwelly Waldrep Fuentes Murphy (Owen, not Sean nor Dale; Calling my shot that he'll be ready for a cup of coffee by July) 11/12. Elder/Suarez (except that Suarez being only the 2nd LHP, maybe he'd slot higher than 12th)