Atlanta Braves news and links: So far, four good for Newcomb

BRAVES NEWS

Newcomb has yet another good start as Atlanta beats San Diego

Sean Newcomb has four big league starts under his belt now, and every one of them have been pretty good. This time, he passed his first test in a road ballpark with flying colors as he threw six shutout innings against the Padres. The bullpen held the lead and the offense pushed three runs past the plate in order to pick up the shutout win over San Diego.

Braves interested in trading for Archer, Gray, or Quintana

Remember back in the offseason when the Braves were linked to starting pitchers like Chris Archer, Sonny Gray, or Jose Quintana? Well, we’re entering the segment of the season where the trade deadline is looming, which means that those names are being bandied about again. Dave O’Brien of the AJC reported that the Braves are interested in dipping into their prospect well to pick up one of those starters — and they’ll definitely have to do so since the price for either Gray or Archer is probably the same as it was before.

Couple of players could return soon

Ladies and gentlemen, the much-anticipated return of a significant figure in the Braves organization is officially upon us. That’s right, folks — Bartolo Colon is set to return tonight! The veteran will finally return to the rotation and is set to start tonight’s game against San Diego. Oh, and by the way, some guy named Freddie Freeman could be back in the lineup next week. No big deal there.

Weigel opts to have Tommy John surgery

Last week, news broke that pitching prospect Patrick Weigel had an elbow issue that required him to make a visit to see Dr. James Andrews. Well, yesterday Weigel himself announced that he had undergone Tommy John surgery. Naturally, this is bad news because this means he’ll be out for the remainder of this season and the vast majority of 2018. In fact, Weigel ended his tweet with #2019Ready, so we probably won’t see him until then. Hopefully the recovery goes well!

MLB NEWS

The Good Phight: Phillies should go after Archer, too

Elsewhere in the NL East, our friends over at The Good Phight definitely noticed the aforementioned news about the Braves being interested in acquiring a starting pitcher The crew over there figures that if the Rays are trying to sell Archer, then the Phillies should also try to get in on whatever deal could be made.

Like the Phils, Atlanta is a team in the midst of a lengthy rebuild. At 36-39 and 8.5 games out of first place in the NL East, they do not harbor hopes of making the postseason in 2017. But a move for a starter like Archer, Quintana or Gray would not be about this season. It would be about the next few seasons, when expectations are the team will be ready to compete for the postseason once again.

It would make sense for the Phillies to consider something similar...The Phillies have a glut of position prospects but no impact arms in the upper minors or at the Majors. Using those prospects to buy an ace-type arm makes a lot of sense, as long as that pitcher is going to stick around for a few years, and the team is reasonably confident he can be a true stopper.

Yankees bullpen costs them another game

Remember when the Yankees were flying high? All of a sudden, the Baby Bombers have lost 11 out of their last 14 games, with their latest loss following a familiar theme — they’re in position to win, but their bullpen blows it for them. As a result, the Yankees are now out of first place in the AL East, and the Red Sox are currently sitting alone in first in a very competitive division.