Sports Page Atlanta

Ouch!

Before today’s series opener against Milwaukee, catcher Corky Miller was sent down to Triple-A Richmond, and Chuck James was brought up to start.

The Miller move was pretty obvious. In 54 at-bats, Miller only had 5 hits. An .093 batting average with a .148 slugging percentage just isn’t going to cut it in the big leagues. And with Clint Sammons coming up big in his first two games, and Brian McCann’s return imminent, there was no room for Corky.

James, on the other hand, has had huge troubles in Atlanta with an ERA of 8.22 and a record of 2-3 in five starts. Furthermore, he’s given up seven home runs in five games, has a 17:16 strikeout to walk ratio, and allows hitters to bat .284 against him.

For James though, a player with potential, it’s his Triple-A numbers that keep getting him sent up. In 13 starts in Richmond, he’s only given up three home runs, has a 67:34 strikeout to walk ratio, and has a 2.48 ERA.

Is James a big league pitcher or someone who’s too good for Triple-A, but not good enough for MLB? Some call players like that Quad-A players.

Well if tonight’s performance is any indication, james may well just be a band aid for the Braves pitching staff; one that gets ripped off once Hudson, Smoltz and the like return from injury.

James pitched 2.2 innings tonight giving up six hits, six earned runs, and allowing two home runs. He also walked four batters in those 2.2 innings. He’s clearly not ready for big league hitters.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Atlanta Braves. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.