27 April 2007

Here is another, belated issue of Chop Links. First a couple of thoughts on the Braves. One has to be slightly concerned about the state of the bullpen at the moment. Hailed as the savior at the start of the season the trifecta of Soriano, Wickman and Gonzalez looks decidedly ropey. Soriano has a sky-like 5.23 ERA, though most of that has been accumulated in dead innings. Gonzo and Wickman both hold ERAs below 3.00 but have been less than commanding. Wickman, in particular, has looked very out of sorts in his last couple of outings. Enough moaning. It's on with today's links:

• †It's shameless plugging time again. My piece for the HardballTimes last week was about Protrade where I expand on what I wrote on this blog. At the botom there is a section about the Braves.
• Also at THT, David Gassko has a look at a statistic called Pennants Added.† Required reading for all you stat-nerds out there
• Joe Sheehan (not THAT Joe Sheehan) has been doing some work with MLB's Enhanced Gameday software.I've been talking to Joe about his methods and I'll be taking a look at some of the Braves starters at some point in the near future. At this rate this Joe Sheehan will become THE Joe Sheehan.
• Have you noticed the rise of biomechanical analysis? I like it. But every story has two sides and here is an interesting take on potential limitations.
• Great news, Cormier will be back soon according to AJC. Did I just say, great news? [Shudder]
• Both Will and I contribute to this week's NL roundtable here at good ol' MVN. Check it out -- there are questions about the Braves.
• Martin Gandy over at Talking Chop interviews Brandon Jones.
• Friend of Chop-n-Change, Marc Normandin, writes a short follow-up about Hudson at BPro (subscription not required).
• Also at BPro (subscription required) is a list of the top prospects in the game according to PECOTA. Is Salty there? Yep -- sure is.

Smoltz takes the mound tonight. Let's hope he can justify his new contract by putting in an ace-esque performance.