AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2006 > April > 12
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Bullpen upstarts impressive
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Day 2 of the home schedule, wherein we resume to solve the problems of the Braves, with the world’s woes next on our agenda.
Has anyone else noticed Jeff Francoeur is off to a bit of a slow start? We kid … but seriously, a lot of folks aren’t entirely shocked by this development, considering how the young and undeniably talented Frenchy finished his mostly resounding rookie campaign.
As pointed out here many times, his .300-14-45 production in 70 games as a rook overshadowed the fact that it was split almost evenly between a stellar first six weeks and fairly alarming slide in the last six.
That slump has continued right into the new season, and here are the latest numbers, hot off the calculator (Frenchy-philes, you may want to cover your eyes):
In 45 games since Aug. 21, Francoeur has hit .193 with four homers, 17 RBIs, a .247 OBP, .560 OPS and 42 strikeouts in 166 at-bats, with five errors.
This after hitting .379-10-30 with a .394 OBP, 1.128 OPS and 23 K in 124 ABs, with one error, in his first 33 games in the majors.
That’s no mere bump in the road, folks, that’s a big ol’ trend, and it’ll be interesting to see when and how Francoeur gets it turned around.
Sending him to the minors isn’t the answer, at least not yet, in my opinion. But he needs a few days off, a few days to work in the cage, talk to Terry Pendleton, talk to Chipper on the bench, whatever. Just to cool his jets and relax, if that’s possible for the hyper-energetic kid that everyone loves and most everyone is pulling for, I’d imagine (unless they have something against nice, pleasant local kids).
By season’s end, I’d suggest his numbers will be in the .265-.275 range with 20-25 homers and 70-80 RBIs. A bit below my earlier projections, but still quite decent for a 22-year-old who came into the year with only a half-season above the Double-A level.
Couple other pertinent matters: How awesome have the last two episodes of “The Sopranos” been? I mean, I was losing faith during those first three episodes of the new season, which I thought were the worst back-to-back-to-back during the show’s long run. But these last two weeks have completely restored my faith in the best show on television (slightly ahead of “The Shield” and a cut or two above “24”).
The old Tony appears to be back, judging from the beatdown he gave the bodybuilder. Good stuff. Reason enough to pay for HBO.
Listening to some Ryan Adams, some Willie Nelson & Ray Price, and some Arctic Monkeys (silly name, very good band) as I prepare for my first evening at Turner Field, after getting Monday night off (mercifully) following the long trek back from San Francisco. Last week feels like a distant memory now, what with this great weather in Atlanta and all.
Anybody have any reports on the improvements they made at Turner Field? Were they even noticeable? Was the parking as nightmarish as a couple people told me? Hey, opening day is like that. I’d suggest you folks get their early tonight, too, because the turnout’s probably going to be decent for the 40th anniversary and all.
Back to our regularly scheduled blog for a moment: It’s not been mentioned enough how well a few members of the ‘pen have performed. Lance Cormier and especially Chuck James and Kenny “Death” Ray have been oustanding in the early going.
James (.059) and Ray (.077) rank among the NL relief leaderes in opponents’ batting average, and Oscar Villarreal (3-0) was only major leagur with more than one win before today, albeit two of those wins coming in blown-saves by Oscar himself. He’s still pitched quite well.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Aussie, Peter Moylan, can do in his first-ever major league stint. If he sticks, Braves will have two highly improbable stories in their bullpen with him and Death Ray.
Oh, and the Braves had more relief wins (four) and more blown saves (four) than any other NL team before today.
