The Atlanta Braves have 101 games in the bank with 61 games left to play before the end of the season and are holding onto first place in the Eastern Division. Now the speculation begins on whether they can make the playoffs and subsequently contend in the World Series. I wrote a blog at the beginning of the season outlining The Braves prospects, and this seems an appropriate time to post a review on their endeavours so far.
At the All Star Break in early July, The Braves were leading the Eastern Division by seven games over the Phillies. The Phillies have recently won 8 games in a row and now only trail the Braves by 21/2 games. The Braves have lost their last two series to the Marlins and Nationals who are both in the same division as The Braves. I’m concerned because I’m beginning to believe the team overachieved in May and June and their current form is probably more of an accurate benchmark of what they are capable of.
The glue to their offense comes in the improbable shape of Troy Glaus. He was coming off elbow surgery and very little playing time when the Braves acquired him on a very modest salary. He had very little experience playing first base and quite frankly nothing was expected from him. His figures in April merely confirmed everyone’s trepidations. But just look at his stats on a monthly basis:
April: 9 RBIs, 2 HRs, hitting average 0.194
May: 28 RBIs, 6 HRs, hitting average 0.330
June: 19 RBIs, 6 HRs, hitting average 0.237
July: 5 RBIs, 0 HRs, hitting average 0.200
His bat suddenly came alive in June and July which propelled them to first place and going into the All Star Game they enjoyed a seven game advantage over The Phillies. As Glaus’s offensive prowess has cooled off, their wins and losses columns have taken a turn for the worse.
However, it’s not all about one player and there have been pluses and minuses on the offense. Martin Prado is a revelation at 2nd Base. He has 137 hits, 13 homers, 42 RBIs, a batting average of 0.316 and an impeccable record defensively. Jason Heyward is enjoying a commendable rookie season with a batting average of 0.271, 48 ribbies, and 11 long balls. Conversely, Chipper Jones is sending “SOS” messages to his critics that his career is on the wane. Currently his batting average is 0.251 compared to a career average of 0.306 which is in danger of falling below 300 if he continues to spiral downwards.
However this is nothing compared to the downfall of Nate Mclouth who is hitting for a 0.168 average and mercifully has been sent down to Triple A to rediscover his swing. Good luck and good riddance. Regrettably for The Braves, the hapless Mclouth signed a 3 year extension to his contract for $15.75 million at the end of last season which is wasted money that they can ill-afford.
One ray of sunshine on the radar; the malcontent that is Yunel Escobar was traded for Alex Gonzalez which complemented the Venezuelan connection in The Braves clubhouse. Escobar promptly hit a grand slam in his debut for the Blue Jays and while Gonzalez executes an exquisite defense with his glove, he has failed to add to his impressive total of 17 home runs in the first half of the season. Omar Infante fulfills the utility role so well that he was controversially called up for the all star game.
Good pitching beats good hitting so let’s take a look at the season stats for the starting pitchers:
Hudson: 11-5, ERA: 2.40
Lowe: 10-9, ERA: 4.58
Hanson: 8-7, ERA: 3.99
Medlen: 6-2, ERA: 3.57
Kawakami: 1-9, ERA: 4.75
Jurrjens: 3-3, ERA: 4.37
Tim Hudson has proven to be a revelation against my better judgment while my worst fears were confirmed with Kawakami, currently making his way through a $23 million contract and is a total bust. He is currently languishing in the bull pen but hasn’t made an appearance since late June. Hanson has cooled off following early season promise and Jurrjens is just return from a lengthy stint on the injury list which could prove to be very beneficial down the stretch.
Derek Lowe has pitched predictably which ostensibly means he has pitched like a No 4 or 5 starter while receiving a pitching ace’s contract. Further on the plus side, Johnny Venters came from nowhere to claim a reliever’s spot in the bullpen and has proved to be outstanding. Billy Wagner has recovered from a couple of blimps in his closing role and is proving to all in his final season why he is a future hall of famer.
The $64,000 question is: will The Braves make it to the post season? The Phillies have just strengthened their pitching rotation considerably with the acquisition of Roy Oswallt from the Houston Astros. The Braves could do with a major bat in their line up, but it is doubtful whether they have the financial clout to pull off a lucrative deal.
$38 million is tied up with the hapless duo Mclouth and Kawakami and no team in their right mind would be willing to give up a player in a trade for either of those two. There could be a couple of modest tweaks to the squad as trade deadline approaches, but I’m not expecting The Braves to pull off a block buster of a deal. Their current line up looks like this:
- Prado
- Heywood
- Chipper
- McCann
- Glaus
- Gonzalez
- Hinske/Diaz
- Cabrera/Blanco
It doesn’t strike fear into the soul of leading major league pitchers, but teamwork and chemistry can work wonders and make up for a shortfall in quality and talent. Who am I kidding? The Phillies are on a roll and will win the division, but the Braves could still make the playoffs as the Wildcard so let the chips lay where they fall.
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Beginning in the 1980s when WTCG (now known as “The Superstation” – WTBS) began broadcasting in the Mississippi Delta, the Atlanta Braves quickly shot past the St. Louis Cardinals as this area’s favorite team. After all, the Bravos were on the tube every night during the summer and folks from nine to ninety followed the antics of Braves’ boss Bobby Cox and his band of “Berry Braves.”Cox took over the Braves’ helm in the late ’70s and has had a Hall of Fame career as the Atlanta manager. Perhaps his greatest achievement was winning 14 — count ’em — 14 straight division titles. Or maybe he is better known as the manager who leads the league in ejections. Yessirree, Bobby has been tossed from more games than any other Major League manager in history. And that includes some great ones like the Yankees’ Casey Stengel, “the ol’ perfessor;” Tommy Lasorda, who, when nicked, bleeds Dodger blue; the Orioles’ Earl Weaver, who has kicked more dust on umpires shoes than anyone; and even Billy Martin, who was hired no less than five times by Yankee majority owner George Steinbrenner.
Great comments, thank you. Winning 14 successive divisions titles is a fine acheivement, but Bobby Cox cannot execute in the post season. One World Series is scant reward when you consider he had 3 all of famers in his starting rotation: Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine. The Braves managed a paltry two hits against The Giants last night. Try something different to put the pitcher off his stride. No, they all go up there hacking away at the first pitch each one doing his imitation of Jeff Francoeur.
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