Atlanta Braves news: The pitchers are speaking up and speaking out

BRAVES NEWS

Dickey pitches eight strong innings in victory over Nats

The Braves ended their season series with the Nationals on a winning note as they picked up a 3-2 win over the Nationals. R.A. Dickey gave up an early dinger to Ryan Zimmerman, but he cruised after that. Eventually he handed the baton off to Arodys Vizcaino, who had a much better night on Thursday than he did on Wednesday.

Dickey trying to instill winning culture while he’s here

Even though this has definitely been an up-and-down season for R.A. Dickey, you have to figure that it’s been nice for the young Braves pitchers to have a vet like Dickey in the clubhouse who’s willing to impart his knowledge of the game. Dickey recognized that that was probably his main role when he signed with the Braves, and he recently told David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he wants to make sure that the younger players don’t get used to the current state of losing that the Braves are in right now.

“When I signed here, I understood the business of the game, and I knew where we were as a team,” Dickey said. “I had hoped, and we all have pushed, for greater results, but at the end of the day I think there are a few of us that understood this is a process. And my job in that process is to try to help as much as I could people who I interact with, and provide the team with some stability on the mound, posting up every fifth day, in an effort to get 200 innings and 32 starts. So from that standpoint I feel like it’s been a successful year.

“Now, I think we all are disappointed, for sure. Especially the young guys. You don’t want them growing up in this culture thinking that what’s happening to us this year is OK. You don’t want that, so you have to be diligent about that, and intentional about making them feel, this is not it. They can look over there (to the Washington Nationals dugout) and see what it should be like, across the diamond in this series.”

Minter wants it all in this baseball world

We can’t say for sure that R.A. Dickey has been directly rubbing off on A.J. Minter, but it’s clear that Minter isn’t satisfied with losing. In fact, he told the AJC that his goal isn’t just to be happy and complacent as a major leaguer — he wants to be the absolute best that the game has to offer.

“The goal isn’t to just make it to the major leagues, the goal is to help this team win a World Series and be the best pitcher in major league baseball,” Minter said Thursday, a day after pitching a perfect sixth inning with two strikeouts against the heart of the Nationals order to protect what was a 2-1 Braves lead at the time.

“That’s the ultimate goal. I want to dominate hitters. I want to go out there and compete. It’s fun.”

Talking Chop interviews Allard

MInter wasn’t the only pitcher who was talking with people who cover the Braves. In fact, Eric got the chance to talk with top pitching prospect Kolby Allard. If you missed it, then you should definitely take a look at this interview. Plus, it’s Jim Powell-approved, so you know it’s good.

MLB NEWS

Texas unveils latest rendering of new ballpark

The Rangers are following in the Braves’ lead of discarding a perfectly good and relatively young ballpark in favor of a shiny new ballpark that will take upwards of a billion dollars to be built. They should be moving into the new ballpark by the time the 2020 season rolls around, so if you want an early look at their new stadium then here’s your chance.

Terry Collins may “retire” after 2017 season

It’s appearing more-and-more likely that the Mets will be searching for a new manager after their disastrous 2017 campaign. Terry Collins has been on the hot seat for most of the season and there are reports that he’ll probably retire once the season is over. I say he’ll retire, but I think that’s just a nice way of saying that he’ll leave on his own terms before the Mets get a chance to kick him out. Either way, the Mets will have a new face in the dugout next season.