AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 23
Monday, April 23, 2007
First place in spite of things
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They have been finding ways to win, folks. The Braves are in first place and have been finding ways to win late in games, getting big hits from a variety of people _ almost every time by someone not named Andruw.
They have the National League’s second-best record (12-6) entering tonight’s series opener here in South Florida, despite having only the 10th-best team batting average in the NL and ninth-best team ERA.
They have not lost a series yet, and won both series against the Mets, despite getting almost nothing so far this season from left field, getting very little from first base, and getting only a sliver of what they expect to get eventually from center fielder Andruw Jones.
They haven’t lost a game yet in which they led after six innings, and have won four of 10 games in which they trailed after six innings, despite not having their ballyhooed bullpen clicking on all cylinders yet.
Look at it this way: Even after the Mets’ bullpen meltdown yesterday, when the Braves scored six runs over the seventh and eighth innings to overcome a 6-3 deficit, the Mets’ bullpen still has a league-best 1.76 ERA that’s almost two full runs better than the Braves’ ninth-rated bully (3.71).
But Braves relievers are 5-0 and 8-for-9 in saves. Which illustrates the bigger picture I’m trying to convey here. And that is, the Braves are coming up big when it counts most. They’re coming up with clutch hits and crucial pitches, again and again and again.
And that’s the sign of a winning team. Even more than all the raw statistical data, a team that keeps winning close games, especially coming from behind to beat its rival _ the NL East defending champion _ before a crowd of nearly 56,000 iron-lunged Mets fans … that team has something going for it.
These mostly youthful Braves added another layer of confidence after their second series win of the season vs. the Mets, after taking two of three in front of huge weekend crowds at Shea and winning yesterday in a game in which John Smoltz gave up six runs and Tom Glavine had a quality start for the Mets.
A skeptic can take the other view of this and make a good case _ that the Braves are getting lucky, and eventually their luck will change.
But I really think this is more a case of, the Braves are winning games now while they still haven’t put it all together yet. And with the confidence they’re getting now, and the good vibe that’s going through the clubhouse and through the bullpen, it’s only going to be stronger when they get things going.
I mean, really get things going. When they’re getting better, consistent work from the back end of the rotation, and when Mike Gonzalez pitches like the lefty stud reliever the Braves traded for, and Andruw gets hot and carries the team for a few weeks at a time, and when they get more from Craig Wilson and Ryan Langerhans and Matt Diaz and Scott Thorman … or at least from a couple of those guys. Ok, maybe from one of them?
Anyway, this is a good team, folks. It’s not a fluke so far.
McCann is doing what he did all last year _ delivering clutch hits, hitting consistently. Francoeur has more two-out RBIs than anyone but A-Rod since the beginning of the 2006 season.
Chipper is being Chipper _ when healthy, he’s one of the top 10 hitters in the league, and so far he’s been healthy.
Kelly Johnson this past week showed exactly why the Braves believed he would be a better leadoff man that Marcus Giles _ because he’s got a much better approach at the plate, and has the power and patience to hit 20-25 homers and produce a high batting average and OBP over .400.
Now, about left field: It’s bad, man. Braves left fielders _ the platoon of Ryan Langerhans and Matt Diaz _ have a combined .143 average, 62 points below the next-worst team LFs in the National League (Washington .205) and 132 points below the NL average.
Braves LFs have a horrendous .214 OBP and .206 slugging. Worst and worst in NL in those, too. By wide margins. Extremely wide margins.
Langerhans is lost at the plate. He’s making adjustments now, already so frustrated that he’s moved away from what he was doing in spring training, shucking the toe-tap mechanism in his swing, trying to simplify, blah blah blah.
Bottom line, Langy _ who is such a good dude that everyone hates to see this _ is batting .063 (2-for-32) with 14 strikeouts and a .252 OPS (is that possible?). He has an .063 slugging percentage.
The man is 1-for-28 since getting a hit in his last at-bat in the season opener. He’s got one fewer extra-base hit and one fewer RBI than Tim Hudson, who has one of each.
Diaz is batting .244 with a homer, but hasn’t been much better than Langerhans lately. Diaz is 0-for-16 in his last four starts.
The Braves have a total of one home and two RBIs from left fielders, both from Diaz. Seven NL teams have double-digit RBIs from left fielders.
… and first base: It’s not a great deal better than LF. Braves first basemen _ Scott Thorman and Craig Wilson _ have a .180 average that’s better than only Pirates’ .092 (which means they’re better than only the guy they replaced, so far. LaRoche is off to a jaw-dropping bad start).
Braves 1Bs have two homers and four RBIs, the fewest RBIs in the league from the position.
That said, not a lot that can be done about 1B, for now. It’s way too early to give up on Thorman, a rookie they knew would probably struggle out of the gate, or Wilson, a veteran with a track record for hitting left-handers, even if he hasn’t hit much off anybody since early September.
But about left field…. Would the Braves consider going after one of the Cubs’ surplus guys? With Alfonso Soriano apparently about to move to left to accommodate rookie Felix Pie in center, the Cubs might have Cliff Floyd, Jacque Jones and Matt Murton competing for time in right.
Now, I don’t think Jacque is worth his salary anymore ($5.6 mill this season), and Murton is too young and cheap for the Cubs to let go, isn’t he? Which brings us to Floyd. I know, I know … some of you think the last thing the Braves need is another injury-prone guy.
But let me tell you. That big dude can still hit ‘em 450 feet, and he’s making a relatively low $3 mill this year. Beyond that, Floyd is one of the better clubhouse guys I’ve known, and I saw him during some bad times with the Marlins, when he was one of the few talented guys left on their post-1997 World Series fire sale team. He always was upbeat, always kept the guys loose, and like I said, he’s still got a lot of pop in that bat.
And he’s not a brutal outfielder, either. He’s slowed down a lot, but he can still surprise you with a great catch now and then.
My point is, I think he’d probably be a good platoon guy with Matt Diaz. I think Floyd playing half the time, or a little more once things get normal and the Braves stop seeing so many lefties _ they’ve seen more lefties than any team in the majors by the way, more at-bats vs. lefties than any team _ I think he could stay healthy, for the most part. And he’s a helluva bat off the bench.
Floyd told me countless times how much he’d like to play for Bobby Cox, how mch he respects Smoltz and Chipper and the way Cox trusts his players to be men and act professional, etc. He’d be motivated, for sure, if the Braves were to get him.
Whether than have or would have any interest whatsoever, I don’t know. I kinda doubt it. But I’m just throwing it out there. To me, he’d be a good pickup.
OK, gotta get down to the clubhouse here at fabulous Dolphin Stadium _ roll eyes _ where there is a 40-foot swath of outfield fence that somehow, for some reason, doesn’t have a hideous ad on it. Quick, someone sell that ad space to a casino or something.
I’ll talk to ya’ll later.
”POINT BLANK” by Bruce Springsteen
Do you still say your prayers little darlin’/do you go to bed at night
Prayin’ that tomorrow, everything will be alright
But tommorow’s fall in number/in number one by one
You wake up and you’re dying/you don’t even know what from
Well they shot you point blank/you been shot in the back
Baby point blank/ you been fooled this time
little girl that’s a fact
Right between the eyes/ baby, point blank
right between/ the pretty lies that they tell
Little girl you fell
You grew up where young girls they grow up fast
You took what you were handed/ and left behind what was asked
but what they asked baby wasn’t right/you didn’t have to live that life,
I was gonna be your Romeo/ you were gonna be my Juliet
These days you don’t wait on Romeo’s/you wait on that welfare check
and on all the pretty things that you can’t ever have
and on all the promises
That always end up point blank/ shot between the eyes Point blank/ like little white lies you tell to ease the pain
You’re walkin’ in the sights/ girl of point blank
and it’s one false move/ and baby the lights go out
Once I dreamed we were together again/baby you and me
Back home in those old clubs/ the way we used to be
We were standin’ at the bar/it was hard to hear
The band was playin’ loud and you were shoutin’ somethin’ in my ear
You pulled my jacket off and as the drummer counted four
You grabbed my hand and pulled me out on the floor
You just stood there and held me, then you started dancin’ slow
And as I pulled you tighter I swore I’d never let you go
Well I saw you last night down on the avenue
Your face was in the shadows but I knew that it was you
You were standin’ in the doorway out of the rain/You didn’t answer when I called out your name
You just turned, and then you looked away
like just another stranger waitin’ to get blown away
Point blank, right between the eyes
Point blank, right between the pretty lies you fell
Point blank, shot right through the heart
Yea point blank, you’ve been twisted up till you’ve become just another part of it
Point blank, you’re walkin’ in the sights
Point blank, livin’ one false move just one false move away
Point blank, they caught you in their sights
Point blank, did you forget how to love,
girl, did you forget how to fight.
Point blank they must have shot you in the head
Cause point blank
bang bang baby you’re dead.
