AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2006 > April > 11
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Patience, Frenchy, patience
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No game tonight, as the strangest schedule in recent memory continues its course. Seven games in seven days on West Coast, home opener next day without a day for travel, then a day off after the opener of a three-game series. Hey, works for me.
Now, a couple of quick hits on matters Braves Nation is mulling:
Do you folks realize Braves relievers already have an NL-high four blown saves (in seven opps)? Villarreal is 0-for-2 in saves, but has a 3-0 record. Go figure. By the way, the Braves had the third-most blown saves in NL last season, when they converted only 38 of 62….
Frenchy to Richmond? No. Ain’t gonna happen. Bobby Cox kept Kelly Johnson in the lineup after a 1-for-30 start, and that was at the START OF HIS CAREER.
Francoeur’s batting .061 in eight games, but he’s got a bit of a body of work, albeit only a half season.
Cox isn’t going to demote him just because he fears what a slump might do to his psyche, etc. Fans who know Cox should know that. He’s the king of patience (Cox, not Frenchy. Frenchy is not the king of patience; he’s the king of swinging at first pitches).
Francoeur is ultra confident and knows he’s going to be a very good player for a long time. He also knows he needs to be more patient. But folks, he had a hit robbed last night and another in San Francisco. (I don’t remember the others that Cox cited, but I do know those two. Point is, it hasn’t been quite as dreadful as the stats - and 2-for-33 is, no question, pretty dreadful.)
When he starts struggling in the field, we’ll know something’s wrong. Oh, wait. Uh, when he stops being upbeat and energetic, we’ll know something’s wrong? Yeah, that’s it.
Anyway, his error and bad throw notwithstanding, he doesn’t need to go to Richmond - or Pearl, Miss. - or anywhere else. Maybe to the bench for a games, however. I see nothing wrong and plenty right about having him take a game or two - or three - off and work with T.P. in the cage, talk to Chipper on the bench about patience. There’s no more patient hitter than Chipper, and he’s conveniently situated on the bench for a while. So use him.
Francoeur has swung at first pitches 60 percent of the time (21 of 35), while no one else in the majors was as high as 55 percent before today.
Francoeur’s .146 OPS is lowest among NL qualifiers, as is his .061 average, his .061 slugging percentage and his .086 on-base percentage. But other than that…
Hey, the kid can rebound and hit .260-.275 with 20-25 homers and 90 RBIs. Maybe. Point is, he’s going to be good. But he needs to get more patient, really does, and stop giving pitchers every advantage….
Against right-handers, Francoeur is 1-for-26, while the ever-improving Ryan Langerhans is 10-for-20 with two doubles, two homers, seven RBIs against righties….
Tim Hudson’s start is alarming, giving that his last two seasons have not met previous career standards, either. His strikeouts have been in decline and walks and hits on rise, and the trend continues so far this season. His .359 OPP average is fifth-highest in NL.
In 30 starts since last April 29, Hudson is 13-10 with 3.92 ERA and .262 opponents’ batting average, with 116 K/67 W in 195 innings. Yikes….
Adam LaRoche is 2-for-5 against lefties with two doubles, two strikeouts and one walk; Brian Jordan is 0-for-4 with two walks against lefties….
LaRoche leads the league with 12 strikeouts, but on other hand, he’s also 3-for-5 with two doubles, a homer and two walks in late-and-close situations. Gotta look at the good and bad with him.
