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Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Fast-starting Braves have stalled
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve always said, the bad thing about having an endorsement deal with an airline is you can’t fib about canceled or unavailable flights. Attababy, Mike.
But I digress….
So here we are on April 24, and issues that seemed so pertinent a week or two ago suddenly do not. Like, how on earth are the Braves going to decide who gets dropped from the rotation to make room for Lance Cormier.
With the way Davies pitched last night, and the incremental worsening of each of his three starts this season, it might be a case of, who’s the lesser of two evils for the final spot in the rotation _ and that’s assuming Cormier comes back in a couple weeks or so and gives them a solid No. 4 starter.
But hey, maybe Davies will surprise me and pitch great his next couple of times out, or at least pitch well.
Redman’s ERA skewed the entire rotation’s otherwise miniscule ERAs a couple weeks back, but now look: Tim Hudson (0.62 ERA), Chuck James (4.22), John Smoltz (4.26), Davies (6.19), Redman (8.62).
Yikes.
The Braves’ 4.11 ERA is ninth in the NL before today’s games, between the Cubs (3.84) and Brewers (4.17).
Atlanta starters’ 4.20 ERA ranks eighth in the NL. But the most surprising is obviously the bullpen’s 3.92 ERA, which ranks 11th in the NL, one spot ahead of Florida’s injury-riddled and youthful ‘pen (4.05).
If the Braves can start to get work like they got last night from Mike Gonzalez, who finally touched 95 mph a couple times with his fastball and didn’t give up any hits in his first inning back since the MRI on his elbow, it’ll be a big step toward getting the bullpen straightened out and lined up as intended.
Macay McBride made progress last night with three innings of no-walk ball for Richmond. Yes, he gave up five hits, but no earned runs and no walks, at this point that’s progress for him. Baby steps for the lefty reliever who walked 11 in his last four appearances for Atlanta before his demotion.
The unwelcome turnaround: The numbers aren’t encouraging, folks. After going 7-1 with a 2.88 ERA in their first eight games, the Braves are 5-6 with a 5.06 ERA in their past 11 before tonight’s middle game of the Florida series, which Atlanta must win to avoid its first losing series of the season.
They’re getting slightly better hitting than they got early, but not enough to make up the difference in runs allowed.
Hey, speaking of bad, check these road averages, and these are for the season: Scott Thorman (.190), Craig Wilson (.105), Ryan Langerhans (.056), Matt Diaz (.048).
It’s staggering how little production the Braves are getting from left fielders _ .134 with one homer, two RBIs, .203 OBP and .194 slugging.
The Langer Hands must be wringing…
One positive statistical note, Chipper Jones’ surge has him all the way up to third in the league in OPS at 1.090, behind that Giants left fielder (1.270) and Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez (1.125). Carlos Beltran (1.074) is fourth.
Huddy toes the slab Wednesday: Alright, how long can Tim Hudson keep this pace up, folks? I tell you what, count me among the convinced now. I was skeptical during spring, when he had a couple of outings that weren’t nearly as good as the numbers indicated. But not now.
What he’s done in the regular season is totally legit. He’s pitching like a true No. 1 starter now, absolutely dominating games, setting the tone and giving his team tons of confidence while leaving hitters muttering and asking each other what the hell Hudson did in the offseason to become … well, the old Tim Hudson again.
He’s 3-0 with an 0.62 ERA in four starts, enjoying one of the best stretches of his career, and Wednesday he’ll face a team he’s always dominated. Hudson is 5-0 with a 1.90 ERA in eight starts vs. Florida, including a 1.57 ERA in seven starts for Atlanta. In six of those seven, he held the Fish to one run and six hits or fewer.
But Redman goes tonight: Unfortunately for the Braves, they’ll have to turn to Mark Redman tonight, not Hudson, and hope that the lefty can help prevent a loss that would give the Braves their first losing series of the season.
As much as Redman has been bashed, he did pitch well enough to win last time out _ three runs over 7-1/3 innings of a 3-0 loss vs. Chicago. A quality start.
But he was rocked by the Marlins for seven runs in 2-2/3 innings of his previous start April 13. So flip a coin and hope it comes up, “Solid Redman” instead of “Journeyman-for-a-reason Redman.”
Right-handed hitters have an alarming .400 average (20-for-50) and nine extra-base hits against him. Yikes twice. Lefty hitters are 2-for-16 against him.
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