Tomahawk Chops: Daily Atlanta Braves News Clippings For Tuesday, June 19th

Your one-page (somewhat) daily morning overview of Atlanta Braves news:

Minor unravels in 5th, punchless Braves lose 6-2 to Yanks | Atlanta Braves
"We haven’t battled at-bats like we were doing early on," said Gonzalez, whose team has hit .163 and scored two runs in its last three games combined. "Stick your nose in there and battle. You see it in spurts. You see it from a couple of guys, then somebody will make a good play or we’ll hit into a double play and don’t keep the line moving. "And that’s what we need. We need some tough outs, tough at-bats, aggressive in the strike zone. And we’ll do it. We’ve got the guys to do it."

Braves quotes after Monday loss to Yankees | Atlanta Braves
Fredi Gonzalez, What’s the key to getting Minor through second, third time through lineup? "Keep running him out there. We ran him back out there in the sixth just to get him through that stuff. We see it a lot with pitchers. He’s plenty good enough to get through that lineup. We’ve seen it in spurts, now we’ve got to get him to rattle off four or five starts in a row to get him through that stuff."

Atlanta Braves at New York Yankees - June 18, 2012 | MLB.com ATL Recap
"Bottom line is we need to get more consistent," Braves second baseman Dan Uggla said. "We've got to go out, compete and have the same attitude even if we are in the middle of a four- or five-game losing streak. We've got to go out with the same mentality like we just won five in a row. That's the difference between teams that get lost in the shuffle and teams that rise to the top."

Freeman aiming Tuesday return to lineup; Chipper to DH | Atlanta Braves
"It looks good," he said. "I swung off the tee today and everything. There’s still a little pain, but it’s playable pain. They told me I’m going to have to play through it the rest of this year. But it’s to the point where I can play…. Hopefully it’ll be good to go tomorrow. This is the best it’s felt [since the injury]. I can even make a fist now; I couldn’t do that two days ago."

Jurrjens suddenly has chance to rescue career, Braves | Jeff Schultz
"No matter what you achieve in your career, there are always going to be times when you go through struggles," Jurrjens said. "It was tough, but a lot of positive things came out of this journey." Does he regret his words? Not really. "I wasn’t trying to say it was the Braves fault," he said. "I knew I didn’t pitch well. Some friends said next time I want to say something, just try not to insult anybody. But I wasn’t trying to blame anybody. If somebody took it the wrong way, I’m sorry."

Jonathan Schuerholz returns to Danville 10 years later as Braves' manager | The News & Advance
"Ten years ago, I’m always thinking I’m going to be a player the rest of my life. As my career winded down, I kind of understood I was geared more toward a management position — front office or wherever it would be. I chose the field," Schuerholz said Monday night. "I’m really happy with it; I love being with the guys, I love the player development side of it. The Braves historically have been a player development club that really goes out and develops our talent because we don’t spend a lot of money in free agency. We pride ourselves on our development of our minor leaguers. I take that as a badge of honor. I really enjoy that and that makes it fun for me."

Draft's Fitzgerald begins wild ride through minor league ball | The News Leader | newsleader.com
The month began with Fitzgerald in Lewiston, Idaho, playing in the NAIA World Series with Tennessee Wesleyan. He'll end it in Greenville, Tenn., on a road trip with his new team, the Danville Braves. In between, he has helped the Bulldogs win the NAIA championship, been drafted by the Atlanta Braves, signed his contract, flown to Orlando to workout with other Braves' draft picks and started his professional baseball career in the Appalachian League with the Braves' Advanced Rookie-level team.

Former Sawyer drafted by Braves | Saugerties Times
The younger Dodig said that he had been scouted by both the Braves and the Cincinnati Reds, and participated in tryouts for both. But being selected by the Braves, a team for which his idol plays for, "is just something special." Like most youngsters growing up in the shadow of New York City, Dodig was a Yankee fan, but his favorite player wasn’t Jeter, or Mattingly, it was Atlanta Braves third baseman Larry "Chipper" Jones, the seven-time All Star, National League MVP, and National League Batting Champion. "This is just so great," Dodig said.