AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > May
May 2007
Successful surgery … blah blah blah
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just got the e-mail from the Braves with the update on Mike Gonzalez’s “successful” Tommy John surgery today in Birmingham at the House of Elbow & Shoulder Surgery, otherwise known as James Andrews’ clinic (sometime I’ll give you guys the description of that cutting-edge, cash cow of a clinic, which I got from someone who went there to observe Alex Fernandez’s surgery with the Marlins years ago).
Anyway, glad to hear things went well. Of course, the next time we get an e-mail saying surgery was “unsuccessful” will be the first time.
Can you imagine, “Joe Flamethrower had unsuccessful surgery on his right elbow today. I mean, really bad stuff. Total failure. Dr. James Von Wealth said he had no idea of what he was getting into until he cut into the elbow and realized he would need assistance, which wasn’t available. He tried to fix it anyway, but might have actually made things worse. We’ll know in a few months.”
OK, anyway … the Cubs series. Folks, the Braves couldn’t have timed this trip better. As poorly as things went in that Philly series last weekend, the Braves took to the road to face a Milwaukee team that is in free-fall and a Cubs team that’s right there with them, having lost 14 of 20 and eight of their last 10.
The Little Bears have hit .229 with five homers while posting a 5.22 ERA in their past 10.
They Braves don’t even have to face former Friend of Leo — just kidding — Jason Marquis. Which may or may not be a good thing. The ex-Braves (and ex-Cardinals) righty is 5-2 with a 2.93 ERA and .211 opponents’ average in his first season with the Cubs, but he’s 0-2 with 14.40 ERA in three starts vs. the Bravos.
And let’s take one more moment to reflect upon that seven-run inning yesterday, which had the stuff that could be a catalyst for bigger things for the Braves. OK, minute’s up. Moving on….
Before I forget, Rosebud: No, not Citizen Kane. Burger. I can confirm that the colossal, dripping, artery-clogging cheeseburger at Rosebud Steakhouse in Chicago is indeed one of the greatest food items ever prepared, or at least ever consumed by me.
I saw it rated as a top-20 burger by the food dude in GQ magazine last year (I carry around that now-tattered list, trying to check them off as I move throughout the continent), and I’d have to concur with his rating after waddling back from Rosebud, which is two blocks from the team hotel, where I’m staying this time.
And since the GQ writer got it right with No. 1 — the mouth-watering burger at Le Tub in my old stomping grounds of Hollywood, Fla. — I should have known the Rosebud rec would be solid.
Anyway, while dinner digests I thought I’d knock out this blog, to carry us through the game tomorrow. Rosebud, when staying near Michigan Ave., I’d highly recommend it.
Andruw’s tatt is really big: The center fielder had the massive spider-web tattoo on his left arm finished finally (at least I think it’s finished; god I hope it’s finished). Andruw doesn’t just go to any old tattoo parlor like you or I (personally I like Liberty Tattoo on Ponce in Atlanta, if they’d like to gimme a free one next time for the plug).
No, ‘Dru has the guy from Miami Ink (the shop that’s the focus of the TV show on some network not on my favorites programmable cable-remote thing) do his work in Atlanta. The spider web now starts a few inches below his elbow and goes all the way onto the top of his shoulder, with a bunch of symbols and stuff I don’t understand drawn into the design.
(Andruw also hooked Peter Moylan up with the guy, and Moylan got his pitching arm tattoo, which was already substantial, expanded all the way down to his wrist. He’s The Illustrated Aussie. His daughter’s name is in the middle of the design. (Did I mention Pete’s Australian. Why do all people from that country seem cool?)
I noticed some scarring on Andruw’s tatt yesterday in the clubhouse and asked him, and he said he slept without it covered when it was still fresh, and the scab got pulled off somehow. Anyway, he’s gonna have that part touched up.
By the way, I think he started to heat up at the plate about the same time he got the tatt finished. Or maybe not, but it sounds like a good story that way, so I’ll not check with him, because if he says no, that he got the tatt three weeks ago it’ll ruin the story. This way, we’re all better for not knowing for sure.
For the record, Andruw is 8-for-23 (.348) with two doubles, two homers, five RBIs and one strikeout in his current six-game hitting streak, after going 11-for-73 (.151) with one homer, 12 RBIs and 26 strikeouts in his previous 20 games.
He had 20 strikeouts in 41 at-bats over his last 11 games before this little streak, and now he’s got one strikeout in six games. I’m thinking a homer binge might be near. Or another tattoo.
Difference in clubhouse digs: In going from a series at Milwaukee’s Miller Park to one at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, the Braves will experience radical change in clubhouse size and amenities, not to mention less cheese and sausage products.
Miller Park had a huge clubhouse, leather couches, big screen TVs, DVDs, and amenities your kids would love including big canisters of jawbreaker candy on each card table around the clubhouse, and a video-game room with the Golden Tee golf that Frenchy, Smoltz, McCann and others must have about worn out over three days.
Now, we’re at Wrigley, where the visitor’s clubhouse is virtually the same as it was 30 years ago, maybe even the same as it was 70 years ago (I don’t know if they’ve remodeled it along the way). It’s cramped, too hot, with no rooms for the players to go for privacy (away from us) other than a tiny food room and the training room. And the TV’s are like something in a truck-stop gas station, where the attendant watches horrible overnight TV with an antennae that brings in only the 2-1/2 fuzzy stations he can get out in the middle of Anywhere Rural.
One could hurt himself walking down the long, rickety stairway from the clubhouse to the long, dank, horrible-smelling tunnel/hallway that leads to the visiting dugout and the field (yes, there’s a urinal there to your right, no door, no room, just a urinal in the hallway behind the dugout, left over from an era when ladies wouldn’t have walked this tunnel). It’s like a wine cellar in that tunnel, only it smells like mold and mildew, which it should since it’s full of mold and mildew.
But the park is incredible. Wouldn’t trade the stink and mildew and crumbling concrete for modern newness. But that’s just me. I like decrepit, I guess.
Daytime raking: The Braves are 10-8 in day games despite a league-high 5.82 ERA (giving up 13 runs three times in 15 days in day-game losses at Pittsburgh and Boston and home vs. Philly tends to inflate the ‘ol day ERA).
The Braves are in the NL’s top five in day-game hitting, lead by Matt Diaz at .404 (19-for-47), though all but one hit was a single. Salty’s hitting .389 (7-for-18) with a homer and four RBIs in seven day games. Willie Harris is 6-for-16 (.375) with three extra-base hits in seven day games.
However, The Man of Daylight Ball has been Edgar Renteria, batting .370 (27-for-73) with five doubles, four homers and 15 RBIs in 17 day games. Wow.
Couple more stats: Kelly Johnson has been on base 90 times, which was tied with Hanley Ramirez for fourth-most in the NL before Thursday. Todd “Homers Ain’t For Me Anymore” Helton led with 101, followed by Jose Reyes (94) and Chase Utley (93)…. Scott Thorman’s .200 average (18-for-90) in May was tied for fifth-worst in the NL before Thursday’s month-ending games. SD’s Khalil Greene (.170) was the worst, Philly’s Pat “Wasn’t I Supposed to Be a Star By Now” Burrell (.179) was second-rankest…. Cubs’ Alfonso “Wise Investment” Soriano has one homer in 86 at-bats at Wrigley this season. No, seriously, one homer. And hasn’t homered at Wrigley or anywhere else in 73 at-bats over his past 18 games…. Mark DeRosa, too nice and cool to deserve this fate, is hitting .231 with two multi-hit games and one homer in May. Then again, he’s rich. And his wife’s gorgeous.
Let’s hear from the late, great Zevon:
“ACCIDENTALLY LIKE A MARTYR” by Warren Zevon
The phone don’t ring
And the sun refused to shine
Never thought I’d have to pay so dearly
For what was already mine
For such a long, long time
We made mad love
Shadow love
Random love
And abandoned love
Accidentally like a martyr
The hurt gets worse and the heart gets harder
The days slide by
Should have done, should have done, we all sigh
Never thought I’d ever be so lonely
After such a long, long time
Time out of mind
We made mad love
Shadow love
Random love
And abandoned love
Accidentally like a martyr
The hurt gets worse and the heart gets harder
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Big void until Chipper’s back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alright, let’s do a quick in-game blog sort of update here, to give you good folks and blog denizens a clean canvas upon which to compose and/or spew. We love it all here, and are guilty on both accounts ourself.
And I can’t help but wonder how Willie Aybar, were he not in rehab in some undisclosed location, sure could have helped the Braves this past week with Chipper out of the lineup. Orr and Woodward just ain’t getting it done in Hoss’ stead. At all.
Anyway, the ball absolutely rockets out of here (Miller Park) when hit to right field. (How’s that for a non-existent transition? Hey, it’s a noon start, getaway day, etc.)
Prince Fielder hit a couple of bombs up in the second deck in this series, and Kelly’s third-inning homer was a blast, too. By the way, that’s seven homers and 28 RBIs for the leadoff man (through five innings) and we’re not quite a third of the way into the season.
How many teams do you think would like a leadoff guy to hit .280 with 21-22 homers, 75-80 RBIs and a .380 OBP _ and in his first full season….
Oh, and those who tried to convince us that Hudson was reverting back to last year’s poor form based on his past two starts, I guess you’ll have to find a way to dismiss today’s performance, which has been pretty solid so far (through five innings, it’s a 1-1 game).
Come on, face it: Hudson is back to being an ace, having a fine season. At least acknowledge and enjoy the things that have gone very well this season. He’s one of them.
Smoltz update: He played catch for five minutes this morning, no problems with the right pinky and a little soreness in the shoulder, but nothing unexpected after he left last night’s game with tweaks in both areas.
Smoltz said everything went well today, but he won’t know for sure about his next start until he throws his bullpen session Friday. But he said worst-cast scenario, he’d move it back two days. And he doesn’t think that’ll be necessary. He thinks he’ll be ready to go as scheduled Sunday at Chicago.
Willie can play third: Like many of you, I thought Bobby might give Willie Harris a start at third base today and have Diaz in left. No, Orr’s back at third base, Diaz on the bench.
Though Harris/Diaz has been a platoon in left that’s worked extremely well since Ryan Langerhans was traded, Diaz has shown he hit lefties and righties.
And since today’s a righty _ a bad righty, Dave Bush _ I wondered if we might see Harris at third. He played it plenty this year at Richmond and Bobby played him there in spring training. I asked Bobby, when I was talking to him alone in his office this morning, whether Harris was good enough to play third up here.
He said yeah, sure, like there was no question. But if you’ve been around Bobby, you know you don’t follow that, when he’s in certain moods, with a question such as, “So why don’t you play him there instead of Orr, who’s hitting way below .200 and butchered a ball last night?”
See, there’s a craft to covering Cox. You don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. You can see from his reaction to certain questions, when it’s worth it to follow with another, and when you’re only going to p%$# him off and ruin any chance of getting anything else in the interview by following up with the obvious question.
In other words, he knows what you’re getting at, and if he wants to answer the question he’ll answer it after you ask the first one. And if he doesn’t, he’ll let you know with a look, a tone … whatever. It’s quite clear.
Again, if you’ve not been around him in these settings, you won’t know what I’m talking about and I don’t expect you to. Suffice to say, those few of you out there who have been in his office in those settings, you know exactly what I’m saying.
And it’s not about him being intimidating or whatever. He’s really not. Well, he is until you get to know him, but not so much after that.
But it’s really about not poisoning the rest of a conversation by getting him in a bad mood with a question you know he’s not going to answer with more than a terse, one- or two-word answer you can’t use anyway.
But I just wanted you to know, I agree with you on giving Harris a start while Chipper’s out, with a bad right-hander on the mound.
And Diaz can play first base: I also think it might be wise to give Diaz a start at 1B with a lefty on the mound, unless the Braves are showcasing Thorman and trying to prove he can hit lefties.
So far, he can’t. Thorman is 7-for-35 with nine strikeouts against lefties.
That’s not the kind of showcasing you want to do, in the event you’re trying to trade someone (and I haven’t heard anything that suggests they are, so that’s not what I’m insinuating. They’re probably playing him every day to see if he can hit lefties, since he didn’t get many chances with Craig Wilson on the team).
By the way, between Thorman’s .239-6-25 (before today) and Wilson’s black-hole numbers while he was here, Braves 1B ranked 15th in the NL with a .213 average, had the second-most strikeouts (56), the lowest OBP (.270) and the third-lowest slugging percentage (.372).
Chipper update: Nothing new. As I said yesterday, they’re waiting until Friday to decide whether he can play or needs to be DL’d.
By the way, Chipper leads the NL with a .625 slugging percentage, ahead of home-run leader Prince Fielder (.610) and cranial circumference leader Barry Bonds (.608). And Hoss is also second in OPS behind Bonds.
Punchless pinch-hitters: I don’t know where some of you get off saying the Braves’ bench is lacking. So their pinch-hitter were hitting .213 with no homers and a lowly .238 slugging percentage in 80 at-bats before today.
Well, the Brewers, Padres and Nationals didn’t have a pinch-hit homer before today, either. So there.
OK, that’s not much of a defense. Nevermind.
Wickman at Wrigley: Looking ahead, it’ll be interesting to see how a well-rested Bob Wickman does at Wrigley. In nine career appearances there, he’s 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA and three blown saves in five opportunities. He’s allowed 13 hits and 12 walks in nine innings at the old ‘yard.
Chipper, by the way, also struggles at Wrigley. He has a .201 career average in 45 games there, though he does have nine homers in 169 at-bats.
Take us out, Shooter….
“IT AIN’T EASY” by Shooter Jennings
When I was just a young boy,/my daddy came to me, said son
Out in this world there’s a lot of things/that’ll make you feel like your supposed to be.
You don’t have to read the good book,/ to be a good man just the same.
And forget about the money,/ money ain’t brought nothing to your daddy but pain.
It ain’t easy.
It ain’t eeaasyy…
But you’ll be alright
Now it’s 15 years later, and I’m out on the road,
And it’s been 4 years to day he died,/ and they won’t even play us on the radio.
And I think I’ve found my way alright/ without him here to catch me now and again,
I just keep on moving along, keeping my mind on my song,/and trying to figure out love.
And it ain’t easy.
It ain’t eeaasyy.
But I’ll be alright.
Any other fool, any other fool would throw this away.
Any other fool, yeah.
I wanna take a minute to thank you,/ for all the things that you done
Yeah you gave me a light in the dark of night,/ when there was no place to hide, no where to run.
And it ain’t easy.
It ain’t eeaasyy…
It ain’t easy, it ain’t easy.
But you’ll be alright.
We’ll be alright.
It ain’t eeeeaaaassssy….
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Smoltz vs. Sheets tonight, and Cormier’s return set
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Little late with the blog today, so we’ll dive right in with a couple of newsy items while I try to digest the jalapeno-and-pineapple pizza I had for lunch, and the peanut-butter cup custard that was dessert.
(Hey, not a big dessert guy, but they’re somewhat famous for custard here in brat-land … and speaking of brats, there are plenty of them turning on the rotisserie thing in the press dining room as we speak, with bottles of “secret sauce” nearby to slather on them.)
OK, back to the news as we prepare for Smoltz vs. Ben Sheets here at Miller Park on an overcast, humid night. Not huge news, but significant:
Lance Cormier return set: As expected, Cormier is scheduled to join the rotation for the June 5 doubleheader vs. Florida.
Bobby Cox confirmed it today, and said the report on Cormier’s start yesterday for Triple-A Richmond was as solid as the numbers: 6-2/3 scoreless innings, four hits, two walks, four strikeouts.
In four rehab games, Cormier is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA, with 17 hits, five runs, two walks and 14 strikeouts in 16-2/3 innings. That includes the game before he reinjured his triceps and had to pretty much shut ‘er down for a few weeks.
Buddy Carlyle will probably start the other game in the DH vs. Fla, Cox said.
Chipper update: There isn’t much of one, other than Bobby said they hope to avoid putting him on the DL but probably won’t decide until Friday. Cox hopes he’ll be ready to play in the series at Chicago this weekend.
As I write this, I’m watching Chipper take grounders at third during batting practice. He’s said all along that he can field and throw fine, just holding that bat against that bone bruise in his right hand at the base of the thumb … that’s the problem.
Uh, oh, now he’s got a bat and he’s leaning against the cage, watching guys hit. Someone take the bat from him and lead him to the dugout….
Anyway, the Braves would rather wait to make a decision if there’s a chance he can play this weekend. If I had to guess, I think he’ll play, not DL. But neither would surprise me, really.
Bobby won’t pinch-hit him until they make a decision, because if they DL him they want to be able to retro it to Thursday, so he could come back on June 8.
First-place but free-fallin’: The Brewers are still in first place in the woeful NL Central, despite losing 12 of their past 15 games before tonight and six in a row (twice as long as the Braves’ longest losing streak, by the way).
In their past six games, the Brewers have hit .200 and scored a total of 13 runs, with six of those coming in one game, an 8-6 loss to Maddux at San Diego.
They’ve scored two runs or fewer in four of their past six games.
Meanwhile, Prince Fielder’s homer yesterday was his league-high 16th and his franchise-record 10th in May. (THIS JUST IN: That prodigious shot off Smoltz was frigtening. That’s 17, and 11 in May… Now, back to the original blog.)
Damn, that kid is a boulder off the ‘ol block, with a butt and legs to match dad Cecil’s, but not as much of a load up top.
Harris still hitting: Those waiting for Willie Harris to come back to earth are still waiting. The speedy left fielder is fifth in the NL with a .383 average (23-for-60) in May.
Harris has killed right-handed pitching. He’s hit .418 (23-for-55) against righties since being brought from Richmond, only the best average in the majors by anyone with 50 or more plate appearances.
Meanwhile, platoon partner Matt Diaz led the NL with a .436 average (24-for-55) before tonight’s game.
Yes, the Braves’ hottest two hitters play the same position.
Since May 5, Diaz has hit .451 (23-for-51) with two homers and eight RBIs. Since May 5, Harris has hit .365 (19-for-52) with five doubles, a triple, 13 runs, five stolen bases and a .450 on-base percentage.
More on the two-out thing…. Both Braves’ runs in Monday’s win came with two outs, Andruw’s homer and Kelly Johnson’s RBI single.
Jeff Francoeur leads the NL with 23 two-out RBIs, and Johnson is third with 20. Andruw Jones is tied for seventh with 14.
The Braves still lead the NL with a .281 average with runners in scoring position and two outs.
Andruw coming around? Andruw has homered in consecutive games and gone 4-for-14 with no strikeouts — repeat, no strikeouts — in his past four games.
This after striking out 20 times in 41 at-bats over the previous 11 games.
He hit .158 (12-for-76) with one homer and 28 strikeouts in the first 21 games of May before this four-game strikeout-less streak.
By the way, Andruw hit fourth yesterday for the first time since Bobby dropped him from the cleanup spot in Boston. He’s hitting fifth tonight, with McCann in the cleanup spot.
By the way, the team’s worst slump right now, before tonight, belongs to Jeff Francoeur. He’s 1-for-22 with one walk and two RBIs in his past six games.
Ok, gotta get to work on my notebook. Gonna do a lead note on Soriano, if you want to check the website in a couple hours. I had my longest conversation so far with him this afternoon. Intense dude. Wants to start or close next year. I’d bet on him being the closer.
And now, speaking of hardasses. A ditty from Mr. Ness….
“BAD LUCK” by Mike Ness (Social Distortion)
Some people like to gamble/But you, you always lose.
Some people like to rock ‘n’ roll,/you’re always singin’ the blues
You gotta nasty disposition,/No one really knows the reason why,
You gotta bad, bad reputation,/Gonna hang your head down and cry…
chorus: You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
Thirteen’s my lucky number,/To you it means stay inside.
Black cat done crossed my path,/No reason to run and hide.
You’re looking through a cracked mirror,/No one really knows the reason why.
Your enemies are gettin’ nearer,/Gonna hang down your head and cry…
chorus: You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
Some people go to church on Sundays,/others they pray at home.
You tell them that there ain’t no God,/that they’re better off standin’ alone.
You’re always scratchin’ at the eight ball,/No one really knows the reason why.
You get to the top and then you fall,/Gonna hang down your head and cry.
chorus: You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
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It’s only May, but an important week for Braves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fifth inning here in Milwaukee, gonna crank out a quick blog after seeing how well the discussion was going on the old one. Didn’t know if there was enough interest on the holiday to do one, but it appears there is.
Let’s rack up some responses here on the first day of this road trip, a trip that’s about as important as one in May can be. Braves simply must have a good week in Milwaukee and Chicago to stem the tide after being swept by the Phillies at home.
And they’re facing a Milwaukee team that’s struggling far worse than the Braves are, even though the Brewers are still in first in the awful NL Central. Brewers have lost 12 of 16 before today, after starting out 24-10.
They have the same record as Atlanta (28-22) entering this series….
That was a nifty high-wire act by Chuck James in the second, striking out Weeks to get out of bases-loaded jam unscathed after giving up three hits in the inning. Braves had only one hit (Andruw Jones homer) until getting three hits and a run in the fifth, lead 2-0 in bottom of fifth….
Biggest crowd I’ve ever seen here at Miller Park, place is nearly full on an absolutely beautiful 69-degree, sunny Memorial Day. Had breakfast at an old-school diner-type place called Ma Fischer’s on Farwell Ave., where the waitresses were all wearing Brewers jerseys or T-shirts and the food was outstanding. Comfort food, the good stuff.
Milwaukee gets a bad rap from some folks like me who never bother to get out of downtown, which is kinda like going to Atlanta and seeing only the downtown area _ before the aquarium and other recent upgrades. Nobody who lives in Atlanta went downtown for anything other than to see games, and it seems similar here.
Anyway, Atlanta’s a beautiful city once you get out in the neighborhoods, and so is Milwaukee. Honestly. The area along Lake Michigan at the marina, and on Lafayette Hill, with all the bistros, bars, record stores, bicycle shops, etc. - very cool.
Anyway, to baseball. Talked to a scout who told me he was told Bobby was going to play Salty at first base today, or had considered it. Don’t know why he decided against it, but he did.
I have a feeling they’re trying to get Thorman going, see what they’ve got with him because they’re probably going to have to make a decision sooner than expected with Thorman. Maybe that’s not until end of the season, but perhaps they feel they’ll need to decide then whether he’s the 1B for the future.
The reason they might have to decide is Saltalamacchia. He’s looked very impressive, and the Braves will seemingly either have to move him to 1B or trade him this winter, because there probably won’t be any reason to have him back in the minors next year and he’s certainly too talented to serve as a backup catcher in 2008.
Salty’s hit .323 (10-for-31) with a homer, five RBIs, four walks, four strikeouts and an .869 OPS since arriving from Double-A. Most impressively, he has four two-hit games in the nine games in which he’s had at least two at-bats, including 2-for-2 game in Boston when he didn’t even start.
McCann’s not moving from catcher, from all I’m told and every single indication I’ve seen or heard in conversations with various Braves people. They signed him to a six-year extension in May and plan for him to be their long-term catcher.
Chipper’s scratched again: You know by now that Chipper’s hand hurt again in B.P., so he was scratched again. I talked to him this morning and he said the inflammation was down in his troublesome right hand at the base of his thumb, but the bone bruise was still painful. But he said he was going to play.
That changed when he tried to take batting practice and stopped in mid-session because of the pain. If he doesn’t play in this series, I’d guess the Braves will consider retroactively DL’ing him to Thursday (May 24), the day after his last game played. In that case, he’d be out until at least June 9.
Chipper’s 1.017 OPS was second in the NL to Barry Bonds (1.103) before today. There’s no question the Braves’ lineup is a far lesser thing without him.
Not hitting at home: I’m doing a note today about all the Braves, especially young ones, who are hitting far better on the road this year than at home. Francoeur, McCann, Kelly Johnson, Thorman … all hitting much better on the road.
The team began this game with a .243 home average that was the third-lowest in the NL, while their .281 road average was second-best in the NL, and their 33 homers and .469 slugging percentage were the NL road leaders.
Andruw goes deep Andruw Jones’ fourth-inning homer was his 350th career homer, eighth of the season and second in as many days, after hitting just one in the first 23 games this month.
It was not shocking, considering he came in with three homers in 12 at-bats vs. lefty Chris Capuano, and six homers in 74 at-bats at Miller Park before today.
Davies still erratic: He’s only 23. He was hurt last year. Did I mention he’s only 23? Keep reminding yourselves of those things.
Because otherwise, Kyle Davies’ performance would raise major red flags. Perhaps it does anyway. But he’s still a work in progress. Or you could argue, in regress on days like yesterday.
Since May 5, 2006, Davies is 3-8 with a 7.99 ERA and .335 opponents’ average in 18 starts, with 118 hits (15 homers), 50 walks and 56 strikeouts in 83-1/3 innings.
Here’s what the Braves have gotten from the last two spots in the rotation: 2-10 with 7.27 ERA in 18 starts by four pitchers — Davies, Mark Redman, Anthony Lerew, Buddy Carlyle — with both wins by Davies (2-3, 5.51 ERA in nine starts).
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Homestand going up in smoke?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’ll be a rapid fire blog today, folks, which might be fitting, considering all the wildfire smoke floating around town this morning. Is it just me or does it seem to be worse in the morning?
Is it the worst when you open the door to get the morning paper (or do you folks still do that, oh bloggers?) or is that just when it seems the worst because it’s your first big sniff of the day?
The Braves had optional hitting outside this morning and I at least began to wonder if any Braves had problems with asthma and would be bothered by the smoke. I asked Bobby Cox and the closest I got was Jeff Francoeur who has only a small opening in one side of his nose. You remember how he got hit in the face with a ball several years ago and had to have surgery to repair his orbital bone? Apparently this was one of the repercussions. He hit inside in the cages this morning, which was probably a good idea.
OK, on to baseball matters, such as they are…
CHIPPER: The Braves have to beat the Phillies best starter today to avoid their first sweep of the season, and they had to do it without Chipper in the lineup for the third consecutive day. Cox had Jones in the original lineup but Jones took some swings in the cage and declared himself not yet fit.
He said he was better and hoped to be back in the lineup Monday, but didn’t feel good to go. It’s been four days since he got that cortisone shot in his right hand following Wednesday’s game.
SHEETS: As for Ben Sheets - he is tentatively scheduled to pitch on Tuesday of the Braves three-game series in Milwaukee. Sheets had to come out of his last start with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand. Ned Yost pushed him back a day from his regular rest, hoping he would be ready to go Tuesday. The Braves would catch a huge break if not. Sheets has a 7-3 record with a 4.83 ERA against the Braves. And don’t let the 4.83 ERA fool you. You’ll remember his 18-strikeout three-hitter against the Braves in May, 2004. The Braves got him for five runs last August but he’s still won four in a row against them.
CARLYLE: Cox said he would keep Buddy Carlyle up with the team and use him out of the bullpen for a while. With the upcoming off day Thursday, the Braves won’t need a fifth starter again until June 5 the day of the doubleheader against the Marlins. They might need two that day if they want to keep everybody on regular rest. Lance Cormier is slated to pitch his last rehab assignment Monday in Richmond.
MCCANN: Lot of howling on the blogosphere in the last 24 hours about Brian McCann and how his ring finger must still be affecting him at the plate. I wondered the same thing. He’s hitting an unMcCann-like .143 (2-for-14) on this homestand, which has dropped his season average to .278.
Unlike you guys (ha), I can just walk up and ask him about it, and so I did this morning. Here’s his response to when I asked him if his finger had been bothering him: “No. It’s 100 percent.”
Now Brian is not one to complain or to make excuses, so maybe he’s sugarcoating here. But I’m inclined to believe him, since the last time I asked him that question not long after he hurt it the first time, he at least hinted that it wasn’t feeling so great.
“I’ve been in a funk,” McCann said. “It’s just one of those things. Maybe I got into some bad habits with it, which is something that’s going to happen. I’ve just got to play my way through it.”
He wasn’t playing Sunday because it was a day game after an almost-night game, and with left-hander Cole Hamels on the mound, might as well get Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the lineup anyway.
COX: You guys must have seen in 20 places on this website how Bobby Cox got ejected for the second consecutive game yesterday and how he is two away from breaking John McGraw’s ejection record. After writing two separate stories about it yesterday - a blog and a story for 1A - I’m declaring Bobby will behave himself today. Otherwise, I’m dealing with carpal tunnel. His next win is 2,200 for his career. Maybe Cox will finally get that today.
There’s plenty more I could talk about, but I figured I’d leave that up to you guys. Here I give you a clean slate to have at it. Have a good Memorial Day everybody. Hug a veteran (Dad, I’m very proud of you….)
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Smoltz was right, some of us wrong
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since I’m sure you’re all sick of talking about John Smoltz and his steadfast march toward Cooperstown, we’ll change the subject today to … wait, what’s that? You’re not tired of discussing Smoltzie and his 200th win?
OK. Can’t say that I blame you. So a few more thoughts on last night’s performance by the Braves’ bearded icon against the dastardly Mets. Seven shutout innings, on top of his seven shutout innings Saturday at Fenway Park.
Ten hits, one walk and 12 strikeouts in 14 scoreless innings against arguably the best two lineups in baseball.
Not a bad way for the 40-year-old to notch Nos. 199 and 200, huh? Looks like he might have a win or two — or 20, or 40… — left in that scarred right arm.
Raise your hand if you thought Smoltz was making a bad decision when he pleaded to go back to the starting rotation after the 2004 season, after three seasons as an elite closer. Come on, get ‘em up. My hand is up.
We were wrong. Dead wrong. He said all along that his elbow would hold up better from the rigors of 220 or more innings spread over a regular every-five-days starting routine than it would in the unpredictable and full-intensity nature of the closer role.
And he was right.
Not only has he been even more valuable to the team as a starter than he would’ve been if still in the bullpen — it’s a lot easier to lead a team when you’re in the dugout with them, when you’re on the mound orchestrating every five days, when you’re with the other starters — but he’s also held up better than any of us probably imagined he could.
He’s not just having an All-Star season, he’d be among the leading candidates for the Cy Young Award if voting took place today. It doesn’t, and he’ll have to keep it going, avoid one of those three-game skids like he had last summer that cost him any chance at the Cy Young award.
But the important thing is, he and Tim Hudson, when they’re going like they are now, give the Braves as good a shot as anyone of winning in the postseason. Two dominant starting pitchers on top of their game, and a third who’s solid, give you a chance to win against anyone in any postseason series.
The Braves have enough offense to go as far as their starting pitchers and vastly improved bullpen can take them once they get to the postseason. Not that the postseaon is at all a given, because it’s not.
The Phillies are playing good ball, finally, and could be a factor down the stretch, and the Mets certainly are going to be a tough team to beat for the NL East title. No guarantee whatsoever that the wild card would come from the NL East, especially if the teams beat each other up all summer.
But so far the Braves are 11-4 vs. the Mets and Phillies, including 5-1 vs. a Phillies team that comes to town for three games beginning tonight.
The Braves obviously need to step it up against the lesser teams. And need to get the kind of pitching they’ve got from Kyle Davies in his past three starts, and hope that Lance Cormier and/or Chuck James can be steady over the rest of the season.
If they’d just get good-not-great pitching from Davies, James and Cormier, on top of what they’re getting from Smoltz and Hudson, the Braves will be in the postseason. Period. Regardless of what Andruw Jones does the rest of the season.
(Although I probably should say, they do need Chipper to be healthy at least most of the time, especially if Andruw keeps struggling).
OK, a few Smoltz numbers for ya: Since returning to the rotation to begin the 2005 season, he’s 37-18 with a 3.18 ERA in 79 starts, with 440 strikeouts and 126 walks in 535 innings.
Since Sept. 16, he’s 11-2 with a 2.11 ERA in 15 starts, including 14 quality starts (six innings or more, three earned runs or fewer) and 12 starts in which he allowed two earned runs or fewer. The Braves scored no runs while he was in the game in both losses in that period. They are 13-2 in those 15 Smoltz starts.
He’s been especially stellar at Turner Field since returning to the rotation, going 22-9 with a 2.75 ERA in 40 home starts, with 240 strikeouts and 66 walks in 288 innings. The Braves scored two runs or fewer while he was in the game in all nine of the losses.
Since July 1, Smoltz is 13-3 with a 2.43 ERA in 16 home starts, with 102 strikeouts and 26 walks in 111 innings. He’s reeled off eight consecutive home starts with two earned runs or fewer, including six with no earned runs.
Wow.
Oh, and for the season, Smoltz’s .161 average allowed with runners in scoring position remains the best among NL starters.
Speaking of surges, how ‘bout Diaz? I’d like to remind you once more that both Tampa Bay and Kansas City gave up Matt Diaz for next to nothing. Amazing.
After surpassing expectations with the Braves in 2006, they were going to sell him to a Japanese team. The Braves are glad the deal fell through.
The left fielder is hitting .347 with with four homers in 98 at-bats this season, including 19-for-40 (.475) with two homers in 17 games since May 5.
For the year, he’s 22-for-63 (.349) with three homers and a .524 slugging percentage against lefties, and 12-for-35 (.343) with a homer against righties.
He and Willie Harris have given the Braves an extremely productive left-field tandem since Ryan Langerhans was traded to Oakland, and they’ve been the Braves’ highest-average hitters in May.
As left fielders, Harris is hitting .385 (20-for-52) with five doubles and a .429 OBP, and Diaz is hitting .329 (26-for-79) with four doubles, four homers, nine RBIs and a .532 slugging percentage.
They’ve helped the Braves overcome the 3-for-40 left-field performance of Langerhans early on to give the Braves a .287 average and .340 OBP from the position for the season, with four homers and 15 RBIs.
The NL average is .273 with six homers, 25 RBIs and a .355 OBP.
Oh, and with runners on base, Diaz is hitting .342 (13-for-38) with a .395 OBP.
Speaking of driving ‘em in: Jeff Francoeur, the erstwhile free-swinger with the sub-.300 OBP, continues to show a much-improved approach at the plate.
Here’s two numbers that I think bode well in his development: He’s 10th in the NL with a .364 average (20-for-55) with runners in scoring position, and ninth with a .367 average (29-for-79) with runners on base.
Braves vs. Mets, following up: The Braves (Mark Redman) lost 11-1 to the Mets in the home opener at Turner Field. Since then the Braves are 6-2 with a 3.04 ERA vs. the Mets, allowing three runs or fewer in six of those eight games.
Since April 7, the day after thrashing the Braves in the home opener at Turner, the Mets are 2-6 with a .249 average and 26 runs in eight games vs. Atlanta, and 23-11 with a .282 average and 174 runs in 34 games against everyone else.
Glavine vs. Braves Tom Glavine is 0-2 in three starts vs. the Braves, and 5-0 in eight starts against everyone else. The Mets provided him with a total of two support runs in 11-1/3 innings while Glavine was in those two losses to the Braves and Smoltz.
Glavine is 3-11 with a 5.35 ERA in 18 starts vs. Atlanta since going to the Mets, easily his worst record against any opponent.
He’s 2-3 in his last nine starts against the Braves despite a 2.56 ERA in that span. The Mets scored two runs or fewer while he was in six of those starts.
Soriano is a menace: To opposing hitters, that is. And the Braves love it. He’s given them exactly what they hoped he would as an intimidating setup man and closer option when needed. (And tell me, don’t you think he’d be one of the best closers in baseball right now?)
When Soriano walked a batter last night, it was the first walk for Soriano in nine May appearances. He’s allowed one hit and one walk with nine strikeouts in 9-1/3 innings this month, and coverted 4 of 4 save opps.
For the season, opponents are 2-for-47 against him in late-and-close situations (they’re 0-for-25 against Tyler Yates in those situations, by the way).
Since giving up three runs twice in a three-appearance stretch in early April when he appeared overused, Soriano has been the closest thing in baseball to unhittable.
In 14 appearances since April 22: 14-1/3 innings, no runs, two hits (yes, two), four walks, 16 strikeouts, .044 opponents’ batting average.
Sheer dominance.
Now, sheer brilliance. One of my all-time favorites….
“IS ANYBODY GOING TO SAN ANTONE” by Charley Pride
Rain dripping off the brim of my hat/it sure is cold today
and here I am’a walking down sixty-six/Wish she hadn’t done me that way
Sleeping under a table at a road side park/A man could wake up dead
But it sure seems warmer than it did/Sleepin’ in our king size bed
Is anybody goin to San Antone/or Phoenix, Arizona
Anyplace is alright as long as I/Can forget I’ve ever known her
Wind whipping down the neck of my shirt/Like I ain’t got nothing on
But I’d rather fight the wind and rain/than what I’ve been fighting at home
Yonder comes a truck with the US mail/People writing letters back home
Tomorrow she’ll probably want me back/But I’ll still be just as gone
Is anybody goin to San Antone/or Pheonix Arizona
Anyplace is alright as long as I/Can forget I’ve ever known her
Anyplace is alright as long as I/forget I’ve ever known her
(whistle to fade)
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No sweep, but tonight there’s Smoltz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As I was saying, I didn’t think there was much of a chance the Braves could sweep the Mets (ahem…). Not with Oliver Perez going in the middle game. What, you guys haven’t noticed he dominates the Braves?
Anyway, moving on, onward and upward, and all that. Tonight, Smoltz vs. Glavine, with the bald-on-top dude going for win No. 200. My guess is he gets it, simply because not many are better at answering the bell for these dramatic moments than Smoltz, and this couldn’t be scripted better for him.
He gets win No. 200, at home and against his good friend. Sure beats going for it in Milwaukee next week, don’t you think?
So I’m not going to return to the suggestions of how to treat Glavine tonight, or opine on whether it’s time to put past disagreements with him aside and appreciate what he did for the team while he was here, etc. That’s your call.
Will say, however, that Smoltz and Bobby Cox both have strongly suggested the fans at Turner Field should, for once, give Glavine warm applause instead of booing him like some villain.
“He’s as tough as they come,” Cox was saying yesterday, about Glavine pitching through ankle, knee, rib cage injuries, and the blood-clot scare. “Let alone talking about his arm….”
Cox loved that Glavine never complained about aches and pains or asked to skip a start over a sore, but not debilitating, elbow or shoulder. He never worried about pitching at less than 100-percent health, about what it might do to his ERA, etc.
Then Bobby dropped a modern reference on us that really surprised me.
“He never gives in,” Cox said. “You get him in Extreme Fighting and get him in that choke hold, he’s never going to tap out. He’s going to keep going.”
Huh? Extreme Fighting? Choke hold? Tap out? He knows more about the sport than I do, that’s for sure. Wow. Wasn’t expecting that.
Anyway, asked whether Glavine should get an ovation instead of the 50/50 (at best) boos/cheers he gets at Turner Field, Cox said, “He absolutely deserves a three-minute standing ovation here, for what he’s brought to this town.”
OK, I’ll stop. Because again, I hate being told how to respond to athletes or politicians or anybody else. It’s your money, you bought the ticket, you’re free to respond however you see fit.
And I also don’t want to be a hypocrite, because I gotta tell you, I’d boo Roy Williams for the way he left Kansas. And I know he did a hell of a lot for the university, winning the right way and all. But I’d still boo him.
That said, I still think the Glavine thing is more about his union ties more than a decade ago, and to me that seems like it should be secondary to all the nights he put the team on his back and helped make the Braves a model franchise.
But maybe I’m missing something. I do know, as I’ve said before, that his exit to the Mets wasn’t over a few dollars, as many of you believe. It was a large gap between the offers made by the Braves and Mets initially, and a lot of pride stung and bad water flowing under the bridge before the Braves made a comparable offer to the Mets’ proposal, by which point it was probably too late.
But I’ll leave it at that. Don’t want to rehash, and I’m sure you don’t.
Again, if you boo it’s not an indictment of Atlanta as a sports town or anything else. Don’t let anybody tell you it is. But I will say, it’d probably impress folks watching on TV and in the opposing dugout if you cheered, just this once, on this special night.
Then go back to booing the next time he’s in town, if you like.
Baseball’s a strange game: And here’s just another small example of that. The Braves have hit .212 in their past six home games, but are 4-2 with a 2.17 ERA in those games.
They have hit .301 in their past five road games, but are 1-4 with a 5.27 ERA in those.
Or maybe that just underscores the overwhelming importance of pitching, rather than the fact baseball’s a strange game.
About Andruw’s slump-busting: Apparently it’s still a work in progress. He followed up his encouraging 2-for-3 night with no strikeouts Tuesday by going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts last night.
Since May 2, he’s hit .155 (11-for-71) with one homer, 12 RBIs, seven walks, and 25 strikeouts in 19 games. He has one RBI in his past five games, and was hitless in four of those games.
After the sixth inning this season, Andruw has hit .191 with nine hits and 21 strikeouts in 44 at-bats, with nine walks.
For some comparison, recent arrival Jarrod Saltalamacchia has six hits in just 11 at-bats after the sixth inning, with no strikeouts.
Edgar Renteria is a National League-leading 24-for-57 (.421) with five strikeouts after the sixth inning, and Kelly Johnson is 16-for-50 with 10 walks and nine strikeouts after the sixth inning.
Renteria is 46 points ahead of the league’s next-best after the sixth inning, San Diego’s Brian Giles (.375). Colorado’s Todd Helton (.367) is third.
Moylan is the real thing: With so much attention focused on the “Big 3” Braves relievers - Wickman, Soriano, Gonzalez - and when they might all be healthy and firing on all cylinders at the same time, Peter Moylan’s performance has been overshadowed.
That’s a shame, because it’s been stellar, mate. The amiable and heavily tattoed Aussie sidearmer gave up three runs in his first appearance, while still wiping sleep from his eyes after scrambling to get here from Richmond.
But since then, Moylan has given up just one run and eight hits in 21 innings, a stunning 0.43 ERA and .125 opponents’ average over those 14 appearances.
Speaking of Smoltz… He rises to the occasion for big games and within games. With runners in scoring position, he has held hitters to a .164 average (9-for-55), the best among National League starting pitchers, just ahead of the Mets’ John Maine (.167).
The Braves have two of the top five home ERAs in the league with Smoltz (1.93) and Hudson (2.00). Brad Penny (1.43) and Roy Oswalt (1.76) lead the league.
Baseball is strange, Pt. II: Last season the Braves hit .280 at home and .261 on the road. This season? The Braves are tied with the Mets for the league lead with a .281 road average.
But at home, the Braves are hitting a mere .244 (13th in the NL).
Jeff Francoeur is hitting .343 on the road, 10th in the NL, but hitting just .259 at home. A complete and utter reversal of last season, when he hit .343 at home and .217 on the road.
Edgar Renteria is fifth in the NL in road average (.358) and Chipper (.345) is tied for seventh.
Braves ain’t hitting lately, period: The Braves have scored 44 runs in their past 10 games, but 22 of them came in two games, a 14-0 win at Boston on Saturday and an 8-1 win vs. New York on Tuesday.
They have scored three runs or fewer in six of their past 10 games, and are 3-7 with a .265 average and 4.71 ERA during that stretch.
Damn, we need some music….
”HELLO WALLS” by Willie Nelson (and popularized by the great Faron Young)
Hello walls (Hello, hello.)
How’d things go for you today?
Don’t you miss her/Since she up and walked away?
And I’ll bet you dread to spend another lonely night with me,
But lonely walls, I’ll keep you company.
Hello window, (Hello, hello.)
Well, I see that you’re still here.
Aren’t you lonely/Since our darlin’ disappeared?
Well look here, is that a teardrop in the corner of your pane?
Now don’t you try to tell me that’s it’s rain.
She went away and left us all alone/ the way she planned.
Guess we’ll have to learn to get along without her if we can.
Hello ceiling (Hello, hello.)
I’m gonna stare at you a while.
You know I can’t sleep/So won’t you bear with me a while?
We gotta all stick together or else I’ll lose my mind.
I gotta feelin’ she’ll be gone a long, long time.
(Hello, hello wall.)
Braves can sweep Mets. No, really….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So you’re wondering if perhaps, just maybe, there’s any chance the Braves could actually sweep the Mets in this series and take over first place in the NL East. Glad you asked.
Yes, there is. Now I’m gonna look silly nine hours from now if they get blown out in Game 2 of the series tonight. But here’s why there’s a chance, maybe even a good chance, the Braves sweep the Mets.
(Considering how poorly the just-completed road trip went for the Braves, especially three losses in four games at RFK Stadium to the Nationals, I’m kinda shocked myself that I’d be writing about them sweeping the Mets. But stay with me a second.)
OK, tonight the Braves get Oliver Perez, and we all know the lefty’s had their number for almost every meeting over the past couple of years. Perez was only beating the Braves for a while there, now he’s pitching well against everyone.
Perez is 5-3 with a 2.90 ERA in eight starts this season, and he’s received the second-best run support among NL starters - 7.25 runs per nine innings pitched, behind only Dontrelle Willis (8.14).
But he’s lost two of three road starts, and his opponents’ road average (.247) is good, but not nearly as strong as his stingy .174 at Shea Chipper.
The problem for the Braves, of course, is that Perez is 4-2 with a very impressive 2.32 ERA in his past seven starts against them, with 49 strikeouts and 15 walks in 50-1/3 innings.
He was tough against them in two of three starts starts at Turner Field in that stretch, but the Braves lit him up for six runs and three homers in 5-1/3 innings of a Sept. 26 game here last season.
So they know they can hit him.
Which brings us to Chuck James, who’ll oppose him tonight. Chuck’s been inconsistent, and only lasted longer than 5-1/3 innings in two of his nine starts (kid’s gotta start going deeper into games, even with this improved bullpen).
But at home, Chuck is 5-1 with a 2.18 ERA in his past nine starts dating to last season, with 52 strikeouts and 20 walks in 53-2/3 innings. He’s been solid in two of three home starts this season, including six shutout innings vs. Washington.
On the other hand, he’s been torched a few times against the Mets in his young career. He’s 1-2 with a 7.02 ERA in five games (three starts) against them, and gave up 10 hits and six runs (three homers) in 5-1/3 innings of his only start against them this season.
Beltran is 4-for-5 with a homer against him, Reyes 5-for-8 with a homer.
So maybe they don’t have a good chance tonight. Nevermind.
(Just kidding. They’re due against Perez. Keep in mind, I told you I didn’t believe Jorge Sosa was as good as he’d pitched this season and the Braves were confident they could beat him, which they did.)
Then there’s Glavine vs. Smoltz: Or Smoltz vs. Glavine, as most folks in Atlanta would prefer it stated. I just usually go with the visiting pitcher first, force of habit.
Tomorrow night, Smoltz goes for win No. 200. We’ll address this more in tomorrow’s blog. But how ‘bout the way the circumstances have made this an even bigger game than it would have been with Smoltz going for No. 200 against anyone?
I mean, Braves vs. Mets, Smoltz against his pal Glavine, and game’s in Atlanta. Good stuff. And the weather’s supposed to be just about perfect for ‘ball. I’d be surprised if there aren’t 45,000 on hand for that Thursday night game.
Both 40-something pitchers are surging. Smoltz is 10-2 with a 2.27 ERA in 14 starts since Sept. 16, including his seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball at Boston on Saturday.
In his past 15 home starts (since July 3), Smoltz is 12-3 with a 2.60 ERA, 97 strikeouts and 26 walks in 104. Old man loves pitching in front of the home crowd, absolutely thrives on it.
Warming up again: Kelly Johnson and Brian McCann are in lockstep, both of them slumping for much of May, both breaking out of it and catching fire again at same time.
Kelly is 5-for-11 with five extra-base hits and five RBIs in his past two starts, after going 13-for-67 (.194) with five extra-base hits and six RBIs in his previous 15 starts.
McCann is 7-for-13 with four doubles, three RBIs in his past three games, after going 6-for-35 with one extra-base hit and three RBIs in his previous 11 games.
Andruw likes facing Mets: The Mets series came at a good time for Andruw Jones, who showed signs of snapping out of his long skid with two hits in the series opener last night.
When he went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI last night, Andruw also snapped his eight-game streak of at least one strikeout per game (17 strikeouts in those eight games).
He still has only one homer, 12 hits, a .169 average and 25 strikeouts in 71 at-bats over his past 19 games, but the Mets sure wouldn’t know he’s slumping.
Against the Metropolitans, Andruw has hit .348 (8-for-23) with five doubles, five walks and seven strikeouts this season, a .500 OBP and .565 slugging percentage.
He’s doubled in each of his past four games against them, going 7-for-13 (.538) with five doubles and three consecutive two-hit games in that stretch.
Davies is Dave Kingman. Sort of. Kyle Davies’ homer last night made the Braves pitcher 2-for-37 (.054) with two homers, 16 strikeouts and one walk in the past two seasons. That’s an .079 OBP and .216 slugging percentage.
Oh, and the numbers that are more important: Davies is 2-1 with a 1.83 in his past three starts. And that doesn’t include the start vs. the Dodgers when he pitched well until giving up the Wilson Betemit homer.
Perhaps the pride of Stockbridge is turning a corner. The Braves can only hope so, because they need back-end starts to step up. Davies and Lance Cormier, if he can recapture his spring form, could do a lot to solidify the Braves’ playoff hopes.
Looking for a starter? It’ll be interesting to see if the Braves make a play for a young veteran pitcher like, say, Rich Harden of the A’s. He’s coming off the DL soon (sore shoulder), and his salary for next few years ($2 mill this year, $4.5 next, $7 mill option for 2009) makes him affordable for a team looking for a potentially strong middle-rotation or better starter.
Unless the Braves really think they can count on Cormier, and are sure Davies is turning a corner, they need to consider trading for a starter. They’ve got a lot of position-player prospects with plenty of trade value that a team like Oakland would be interested in. And you can’t hang onto them all forever.
Braves have multiple prospects at the middle-infield spots, and they also have the man named Salty. With as many teams as the Braves have been scouting this season, it’s hard to get a handle on exactly what they’re looking for. But they have scouted a lot of Toronto games, and a few other teams with possibly available pitchers.
Stay tuned. It’s still real early for those kinds of moves. But getting closer.
Braves desirable destination: Sports Illustrated players survey question in this week edition was, “If you could play for any major league team other than your own, which one would it be?”
Leaders with 10-percent of the vote were San Diego, NY Yankees, and the Braves. Boston got 8 percent, St. Louis 7 percent.
SI said, “More than 18% of players 27 years old or younger voted for the Braves.”
San Diego has weather, Yankees have championships, and Boston and St. Louis are considered the most passionate baseball markets in the sport. Players I’ve talked to usually cite Bobby Cox as the reason they’d like to play for the Braves.
One last Mets note: Three of their six road losses this season have come in four games at Atlanta. The Mets are 13-3 everywhere else on the road.
”Smoking Cigarettes & Drinking Coffee Blues” by Marty Robbins
I guess I’ll take a walk tonight, I know that I can’t sleep
And I wont go to bed at all, I’d just lie there and weep
Instead I’ll make our favorite spot, that’s what I think I’ll do
I got those smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee blues
Smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee all night long
Wondering how a love so right could suddenly go wrong
I’d take the next bus out of town, but I gotta be near you
I got those smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee blues,
Sitting at the table where I called my baby’s name
Wondering where our love went wrong, wondering whose to blame
Listening while the jukebox play the songs that make me blue
Another cup of coffee and a cigarette or two
Smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee all night long
Wondering how a love so right could suddenly go wrong
There’s a lot of other people know the misery I go through
I got those smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee blues
Busy month for the boys in Blue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let me see if I can get this straight. Since I left the Braves in Pittsburgh and handed the baton back to DOB, here is what has happened:
1.Craig Wilson got released.
2.John Smoltz dislocated his pinky, turned 40, and recovered from both.
3.Mike Gonzalez went on the disabled list with mystifying elbow problems.
4.We learned that Willy Aybar is in rehab.
5.The team got sold.
6.Anthony Lerew went on the disabled list.
7.Macay McBride is back.
8.Mark Redman is, ahem, back.
9.Martin Prado got called up.
10.Salty appears to have won himself a regular spot on this roster.
11.Scott Thorman became the pretty-much every day first baseman.
And………
12.Andruw Jones got dropped from the cleanup spot.
Am I missing anything? Good grief! Stuff is going on. And now here we have the Mets in town for three games.
It’s a good time to be in the news business, good people. Read on.
So with all that semi-sorted out, where does that leave us? The Braves have lost back-to-back series to the worst team in baseball - Washington Nationals - and the best - the Boston Red Sox. And now the Mets come in winners of nine of their last 12 games, with David Wright hitting this time and Jorge Sosa in the rotation now and pitching like he just couldn’t for Atlanta last year.
So what should Braves nation feel good about today? I got you something….
Yes, the Mets lineup is daunting. Yes, their rotation is better than advertised. OK fine, but is it truly theirs? Or is it the best that $116 million can buy? Aren’t the Mets awfully mercenary-ish?
Sure, Braves fans wish their team could spend a little more than $80 million - and maybe Liberty Media will grant them that wish - but in the meantime isn’t there something special about the Braves being so homegrown?
The Mets lineup has two players who came up through their farm system - Jose Reyes and Wright. Well, three, while Moises Alou is hurt, if you count Endy Chavez. Chavez came up with the Mets but broke into the majors with Kansas City and played with Montreal/Washington and Philadelphia before coming back to the Mets this year.
Yes, Reyes and Wright are awfully good, but they are but two bats in the lineup. Are any others homegrown? Carlos Delgado, nope. Shawn Green, no. Carlos Beltran, Paul Lo Duca, Damion Easley? No, no, no.
The Braves, on the other hand, start six home-grown products - Kelly Johnson, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, and Scott Thorman.
The Braves have got two more in the rotation in Chuck James and Kyle Davies and a third, if you ask me, in John Smoltz, who has been a Brave so long it’s hard to remember that he was traded from Detroit to the Braves as a minor leaguer. (We’re TBA in the fifth spot with Lerew on the DL.)
The Mets rotation? Such as it is at the moment? Nobody homegrown. Mike Pelfrey was a product of the Mets farm system, but he’s back in it at the moment.
So yes, Andruw Jones is scuffling, Braves fans (and he’s been lighting up this blog for two days) but he’s yours. Scott Thorman may not be the long-term answer at first base, but he’s yours too. Think there’s a reason why Kyle Davies gets a benefit of the doubt sometimes over Redman? He’s yours. Ever wonder why it was fairly magical to see Salty’s first major league game? Yours, yours, yours.
You can look at this one of two ways: 1) Man the Braves’ hands are tied financially, or 2) Man they have a good scouting department and farm system. With the Braves, you’ve gotta think it’s a little bit of both, and you’ve also got to give credit to a lot of the latter.
And speaking of Braves scouting prowess, I should mention word I got yesterday that retired Braves scout Bill Wight had passed away. He was 85 and living in California. He scouted for the Braves for more than 30 years, beginning in 1967.
You might not recognize his name but here’s why you should remember it.
Just a few of the players he was credited with signing include Dale Murphy, Glenn Hubbard, Bob Horner, Dusty Baker, Jeff Blauser, David Justice, and Kent Mercker.
Wight is mentioned in the display in scout’s alley at Turner Field for his report on a high school pitcher from Las Vegas named Greg Maddux. Wight estimated his draft value at $40,000. Check it out perhaps, if you’re at the game tonight.
Meantime, enough with the talking. Let’s get this thing going. Next up: Braves-Mets.
It’s bad, but it ain’t that bad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that we’ve all had a week to moan and complain about everything wrong with the Braves, perhaps a step back and a realistic appraisal is in order.
First, let’s remember that the Braves still have the third-best record (26-18) in the National League and are only 2-1/2 games behind the Mets. So if they win two of three in this week’s series with the Mets at Turner Field, they’ll be 1-1/2 games behind them.
Considering the Braves won two of three in each of the previous two series with the Mets, including the one at lovely Shea, and considering Jorge Sosa is pitching one game and John Smoltz another in this series, it’s not too hard to imagine the Braves winning this series, too.
Folks in Atlanta — and those who saw him in Tampa Bay, too — know that Jorge Sosa isn’t likely to continue cruising along as he has so far. He’s just not that good, and the Braves know him better than most teams.
Glavine has pitched very well against the Braves since those first couple of seasons away, but Smoltz is going for win No. 200 in front of the home crowd in Thursday’s matchup with his pal, and I don’t see Smoltz losing that game.
Now, Oliver Perez is another story. The Braves, for whatever reason, can’t hit him like everyone else does.
On the one hand, you could say they’re due to have a big game against him. On the other, they’ve been due for some time. So why should this matchup with the lefty be any different?
So I like the Braves’ chances in two of three games in this series.
Moving on to other matters….
Andruw’s nadir: Gotta assume things can’t get any worse for Andruw Jones, who was 0-for-5 with five strikeouts in Sunday’s series finale and has never looked much worse than he did striking out with two on base to end that 6-3 loss.
But talk about past due … would Andruw, even as bad as he’s looked, surprise anyone if he went on one of his two-week binges about now? I mean, I know he’s really, really looked bad, but doesn’t change the fact that he’s capable of carrying an offense when he gets hot. And he’s gotta get hot soon. Doesn’t he?
OK, I don’t blame you for not hanging your hat on that proposition.
But still, I’m not going to be shocked if he starts raking soon. He’s not going to have a season like he envisioned, I’d say it’s safe to assume now that we’re a quarter of the way through and he’s hitting .212 and on pace to shatter the franchise strikeout record (his record) by about 40 K’s
But he’ll finish with 30 or more homers and probably about .250 or higher average, maybe even 110-120 RBIs. Really, I know that doesn’t look likely right now, but study his hitting over the years and it seems reasonable.
For now, consider this epic slump: He’s hitting .212 with 51 strikeouts in 156 at-bats, including 17 strikeouts in his past eight games. He’s hitting .196 against righties (fifth-lowest among NL regulars) with 35 strikeouts in 102 at-bats for the season.
He’s hit .191 (13-for-68) with 19 strikeouts at Turner Field (fifth-lowest home average among NL regulars).
In his past 17 games, he’s hit .138 (6-for-59) with one homer and 23 strikeouts. In his past eight games, he’s 4-for-33 with one walk, one extra-base hit and 17 strikeouts.
Oh, my.
As for the Braves … They have lost six of their past eight games primarily because of a 5.59 ERA in that stretch, although they’ve also had a lack of key hits early in games, waiting too long to put together anything.
In the weekend series at Boston, they lost two of three despite hitting .345 and scoring 20 runs. Of course, 14 of those runs came in the only game they won.
The Braves had an ugly 6.45 ERA in the series, and that’s with Smoltz and Hudson making two of the starts. Smoltz was his usual outstanding; Hudson was not.
Francoeur going strong: Those who thought Frenchy would fall off by now are probably surprised. He really does look like a much improved hitter over last season, and I don’t think there’s anything flukey to his results so far.
He’s hitting .310 with seven homers and a team-high 34 RBIs, plus a .360 OBP and .866 OPS. The OBP is more than 60 points higher than last season, and his splits have been remarkably improved in a couple of areas.
He’s hitting .297 in 111 at-bats vs. right-handers, after hitting .248 against them last season. And most stunning is the fact he’s among NL leaders with a .343 average in 24 road games, after ranking near the bottom of the majors with his .217 road average last season.
Diaz getting overlooked: Francoeur is 16-for-42 (.381) with two homers and six RBIs in his past 10 games, but he’s not the Braves’ hottest hitter. That’d be Matt Diaz, batting .489 (22-for-45) with two homers, six RBIs and a .521 OBP and 1.187 OPS in his past 19 games.
By the way, since the beginning of the 2006 season, Diaz has hit .332 with 32 extra-base hits (10 homers), 40 RBIs and a .367 OBP in 160 games and 388 at-bats. Not bad for a castoff from the Devil Rays and Royals.
What were those teams thinking when they dumped him for practically nothing?
Chipper not slowing down: Since June 24, Chipper Jones has hit .351 (120-for-342) with 30 doubles, three triples, 31 homers and 77 RBIs in 91 games. With a .434 OBP and 1.162 OPS in that span, and more walks (51) than strikeouts (49).
Think about this — Andruw Jones has more strikeouts this season (51) than Chipper has in 342 at-bats since late June.
OK, gotta get on this plane home.
Andruw hitting sixth … when the rain stops
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Quick One (that’s a good Who album, by the way) while we wait for the expected rain to hopefully pass through so we can get this delayed game going….
Gotta hand it to these New England baseball fans — this place was packed yesterday on one of the most miserable days imaginable for baseball. Then again, these folks pay so much for tickets, most of them wouldn’t dream of buying and not using them.
News of the day: Anthony Lerew is on the DL with a sore elbow (officially ulnar neuritis), which certainly came as no surprise considering his early two-inning exit and then the ill-advised comment he made after Saturday’s Game 1 loss.
Minutes after manager Bobby Cox said Lerew was healthy and was only taken out of the game because he didn’t have good command, Lerew tells us his elbow’s been sore for a month after starts and that he was getting by in the minors by not throwing between starts.
He said he threw a bullpen after his first major league start two weeks ago vs. San Diego (the game when he threw so well), and that might have affected him since (he’s been bad in two subsequent starts).
The Braves filled his roster spot by calling up infielder Martin Prado, who got to Boston about 8:30 a.m. today and is in the lineup at second base and batting leadoff for this afternoon’s series finale, with Kelly Johnson’s getting a rare day off.
Bobby likes to do that — thrust a guy into the lineup and not give him time to think about it too much. And he likes to rest guys after they’ve had a good game, rather than bench them after a bad game so it doesn’t look like they’re being disciplined.
So Kelly Johnson, after breaking out of his May slump with a 3-for-6 gave with a double, triple, homer and five RBIs in the nightcap of yesterday’s doubleheader, is on the bench for today’s game.
Bobby made it pretty clear that Prado, batting .301 with no homers and 12 RBIs in 136 at-bats at Richmond, might not be up here too long. But for now, he’ll be a bat off the bench and get a start or two (he can play three infield positions and even played some left field in winter ball).
Andruw hitting sixth, and not scratched: We were all curious to see if Andruw Jones would be in the sixth spot in the lineup, where he was for the nightcap until he was scratched a half-hour before the game last night.
The answer is yes, he’s batting sixth today. And to his credit, Andruw didn’t complain or say it was unfair or anything else. And when I said something to him about it probably being a temporary thing, he said, “You never know. Those guys might be hitting better than me and he’ll keep them there.”
Brian McCann hit fourth in Saturday’s second game and broke out of his own slump by going 3-for-6 with three doubles and two RBIs. Jeff Francoeur is hitting fourth today (McCann, the lefty hitter, is seventh today, behind Andruw).
Francoeur is hitting .302 with seven homers and 33 RBIs, including .407 (11-for-27) with team-highs of six extra-base hits and 20 RBIs with runners in scoring position and two outs.
“It’s really no big deal,” Andruw said this morning. “You’re playing the game, that’s what it is. You go out and play the game to help the team…. If the team is playing better without me batting fourth, that’s the way you have to go.”
He is hitting .219 with six homers and 30 RBIs, including .200 (20-for-100) vs. right-handers with four homers, 14 walks, 33 strikeouts and a .302 OBP.
In two-strike counts, he’s hit .141 (12-for-85) with one homer, 14 walks and 46 strikeouts.
In 13 day games before today, he’s hit .213 (10-for-47) with one homer and five RBIs.
He hit .261 in April with five homers, 19 RBIs and 26 strikeouts and a .402 OBP in 88 at-bats. In May he’s hit .159 (10-for-63) with one homer, 11 RBIs, 20 strikeouts and a .243 OBP.
Yikes, yikes, and more yikes.
Is he pressing because of pending free agency?
“It ain’t no big deal. Free agent, no free agent, I just go out and play the same way that I play always,” he said this morning. “I’ve struggled before, before I busted out, in a good year, the year I hit 50-something [homers]. So it’s really not a big thing.
“You look at a lot of guys who have bad years, they start good and finish bad, so you’ve always got a chance to start bad and then pick it up. Normally I hit good in May. This is the first time I’m not hitting good in May, so hopefully when it’s past I’ll get in a groove and put up good numbers.”
Does he feel like he’s close to going on a tear, any signs of that?
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” he said. “In the game of baseball, you can’t project. It’s the way you feel at the plate and the way the guy is going to pitch you. You might go out there and get guys who make a lot of mistakes to you, then get guys who don’t make mistakes. We’ll see.”
So has he come to any conclusions about why he’s struggling to this degree and for this long this season?
“I’m just getting good pitching,” he said. “I’m getting pitched really tough. They’re pitching me different than they pitched me before. So I just have to make my adjustment to what they’re doing.”
Couple of things: Elias rates the Braves’ interleague schedule as the toughest in baseball this season. To date, their interleague opponents are a combined 100-66. The Braves’ opponents, as of today’s standings, include two first-place teams (Boston, twice, and Cleveland), a second-place team (Detroit), and a four-place team (Minnesota)…..
Also from Elias, we hear that yesterday’s doubleheader — 13-3 Red Sox win in first game, 14-0 Braves in nightcap — was only the second doubleheader in 60 years in which the teams split and each won by 10 or more runs….
The Braves’ 12 extra-base hits in the nightcap were the most by a visiting team at Fenway since Angels had 13 in a 20-2 win in 1980….
Chipper is 6-for-17 with two homers and three RBIs in four games since returning from his four-game absence for after his collision at Pittsburgh. He needs two homer to tie Dale Murphy’s Atlanta record (371)….
Last night’s 14-0 Braves win was the worst shutout for the Red Sox since 1990.
A little tune for a rainy Sunday….
“A BIBLE AND A GUN” by Steve Earle
There’s a full moon out tonight/And its shining down on me
And in that purest light/Any fool could see
That this highway is paved with sorrow/And every mile is lined with pain
And when the sun comes up tomorrow/You’ll be just as far away
Now I hear her whisper soft and low/Through every mile I run
As I travel through this world of woe/With a Bible and a gun
If a man was made to suffer/I’m a mighty man I know
From one heartache to another/I’ve been burnin down this road
I’ve got one eye on the mirror/And one eye on the line
The end keeps growin nearer/The past slips behind
I don’t mean to hurt nobody/I don’t mean to do no wrong
But somethin out there’s got me/And its pulling me along
Darkness is my shelter/Emptiness my light
And stranger, heaven help you/If our paths cross tonight
On to rainy Beantown for slumping Bravos
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since they couldn’t win, or split, a series at RFK against the lowly Nationals — surging, yes, but nonetheless lowly — maybe the Braves will continue to surprise by going into the cauldron of Fenway Park and sweeping the Red Sox.
But I wouldn’t count on it. (Did I mention they’ve dropped four of their last five to the Pirates and Nationals? Yikes.)
Even if the Sox might be looking past the Braves a bit, as indicated by their decision to push knuckeballer Tim Wakefield back from his regular turn Sunday to face the Yankees next week, and even if Josh Beckett is on the DL instead of facing the Braves in the series opener … the Sox are still highly formidable.
Braves should have pitching advantages in the second and third games with John Smoltz and Tim Hudson — “Smoltz and Hudson and pray for floodin’” anyone? — but the Sox have that lineup that’s at least the equalizer. That is, unless the Braves find their hitting shoes wherever they lost them (.217 average and 16 runs in five games).
A Sox lineup the likes of which could make Anthony Lerew squirm tonight if he spends much time studying their stats and realizes there simply aren’t a lot of places to get outs in that 1-through-9 crew.
Boston has baseball’s best record and won 21 of its past 28 and 12 of 15 entering tonight’s rainout … er, series opener. (Did I mention the forecast calls for, last I checked about 100-percent chance of rain tonight, all night. At least it’ll be cold, too, to create a mid-May night of sheer misery).
I hate to say it, but I envision a looong Saturday, because the teams must get these games in. Braves only come to Boston once, so the powers that be with do whatever is humanly possible to get these three games in, whether that means playing a doubleheader Saturday or whatever.
Problem is, very good chance of more rain Saturday, at least until late afternoon.
Never seen ‘em before: Looks like the Braves, who a week ago thought they’d face Beckett, Dice-K and Wakefield in this series, will get three pitchers they’ve never seen _ 29-year-old rookie Devern Hansack tonight, Dice-K (vs. Smoltz) on Saturday, and 25-year-old rookie lefty Kason Gabbard on Sunday.
Don’t know if this is good or bad for the Braves, considering how so many obscure pitchers seem to handle the Braves the first time they face their aggressive hitters. Not that Daisuke Matsuzaka, aka Dice-K, is obscure. Overrated, yes. But not obscure. ESPN has seen to that.
Hansack, replacing avulsion-fingered Beckett (great name for a band, or a horror movie, don’t you think? Hello Cleveland! Give it up for … Avulsion Fingered Beckett! OK, I need coffee…), gave up one hit, one run and three walks while getting just two outs in a May 8 relief appearance at Toronto, his only appearances in the bigs this season.
He’s 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA in two September-callup starts last season, including five scoreless no-hit innings vs. Baltimore in a rain-shortened game.
Gabbard would be making his season debut, if the Sox don’t change their plans again. He was 1-3 with a 3.51 ERA in seven games (four starts) last season for the Sox, including 1-2 with a 3.10 ERA in four starts.
Gotta like the Braves’ matchups of with Smoltz facing Matsuzaka and Hudson against Gabbard. Then again, I thought the Braves would win five or six of the seven at Pittsburgh and D.C., so what do I know?
Lerew vs. Hansack tonight? I haven’t a clue. I know Davies pitched great at Fenway on a raw night a couple years ago in his debut, but it’s not a stretch of the imagination to envision things spiraling on Lerew against that lineup and with that Green Monster looming over left field. Especially consider how poorly he pitched at Pittsburgh.
But enough doom and gloom, how ‘bout Edgar? This will be Edgar Renteria’s first return to Fenway Park since the Sox dumped him one year into a four-year, $40 million contract.
Boston traded him to the Braves after the 2005 season for Andy Marte, the Sox also agreeing to pay about $11 million of the remaining $29 million that Renteria was owed.
So far, this would go under the “severely one-sided” category of trade evaluation.
Since the trade, Renteria has hit .301 with 49 doubles, 20 homers, 93 RBIs, 19 stolen bases and a .366 OBP in 187 games for the Braves, with only 16 errors (he made a career-high 30 in his one season with the Sox in 2005).
He returns to Fenway on a tear — Renteria has hit .357 with with 11 extra-base hits (four homers), 14 RBIs, 21 runs, a .394 OBP and a .955 OPS in his past 22 games. Unfortunately for the Braves, Chipper and Willie Harris are the only other hitters who are doing anything positive on a consistent basis lately.
By the way, oft-injured Marte, who was later traded to Cleveland, has hit .217 with 18 doubles, six homers, 31 RBIs, 44 strikeouts, a .274 OBP and 10 errors in 63 major league games (203 at-bats) since the Braves traded him to Boston.
Music from one of the great, underrated singer-songwriters:
“FRAULEIN O.” by James McMurtry
Last time I saw you
it could’ve been Christmas eve
it could’ve been someone’s birthday
it could’ve been make believe
for all I know
it could’ve been make believe
Last time I saw you
you had the room upstairs
I never knew for certain
what went on up there
no I never did know
what went on up there
‘Course you had that boyfriend
with the Chevrolet
he never met Will Rogers
I’d be willing to say
yeah it’s safe to say
he never met Will Rogers
I guess it must have been a thousand years
since I changed my number
does it mean a thing
when the phone don’t ring
and I don’t call back
can’t help but wonder sometimes
I never got to know you
like I wanted to
you never seemed to notice
how I looked at you
for all I know
you never even noticed
Now that crowd’s all scattered
to here and yon
everybody graduated
or they just moved on
for all I know
they just moved on
I guess it must have been a thousand years
since I lost your number
gonna rest my soul
by this fishing hole
gonna watch that pole
‘till that float goes under
Last time I saw you
it could’ve been Christmas eve
it could’ve been someone’s birthday
it could’ve been make believe
for all I know
could’ve been make believe
Gonzalez on DL, Smoltz to start Saturday, and more….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The perplexing saga of Mike Gonzalez continued today when the Braves put the left-hander on the 15-day DL after he experienced what he said were spasms in his pitching arm following Tuesday night’s game.
The Braves recalled Macay McBride from Richmond to take his roster spot, and now the question will be just how serious Gonzalez’s problem is. Whatever the MRI reveals on Thursday in Atlanta, this is not good, obviously.
But before we delve into that, let me give you the good news: Smoltz is starting Saturday at Boston. He threw a bullpen today and said there were no problems with any of his pitches, just two days after he grotesquely dislocated the pinky finger on his pitching hand while tagging out a Nationals runner.
The man’s a freak, is all I can say. If we all had his powers of recovery, doctors would be broke.
The other good news for the Braves: Chipper is back in the lineup, after a four-game absence. Had his swollen right palm and thumb X-rayed last night (nothing broke) and said he felt a lot better taking early batting practice early this afternoon. So Hoss told Bobby Cox, “I’m in.” And voila, he’s in.
That is, if we play the game, It’s raining pretty steady for the past hour here, and tarp’s on the field, regular outdoor BP cancelled. Too early to tell if we’ll play, but I’d say it’s a good bet we’ll start late if we do.
Now, back to the unusual case of the lefty reliever.
Gonzalez told everyone - manager, pitching coach, trainer, media - during and after Tuesday night’s game that there was no pain in his arm.
He said he was frustrated and “dumbfounded” and had no explanation for why his fastball was a relatively pedestrian 82-83 mph during the eighth inning before he was pulled with two outs after facing three batters and giving up a triple and a long sac fly.
According to Bobby Cox today, Gonzalez then went to “do something with his hair” - after he talked to us, the media - and that’s when he had spasms. At least that’s what Gonzalez told Cox when he went into the manager’s office.
Cox and head trainer Jeff Porter had been concerned by his lack of velocity and the fact he shook off the catcher’s sign for several breaking balls. They visited the mound once after he gave up a leadoff triple, then decided to pull the plug and take him out after the sac fly.
Cox said he was doing it out of concern for the pitcher’s health, and Gonzalez said afterward that, while he was frustrated, he understood and appreciated the gesture by his manager.
Anyway, a day later we learn that much more happened after we left the clubhouse. Now, why would he have no pain, then spasms? No idea. I can’t recall a case like this. But someone mentioned that Steve Avery had little if any pain in his elbow before things went south for him.
But I’m not speculating or comparing the cases, or saying this could be the start of a long struggle for Gonzalez. I have no idea, apparently like everyone else. The Braves are as confused and frustrated by this as Gonzalez is. Well, maybe not quite as frustrated as the pitcher himself, but you get my point.
This guy’s been pitching so well lately, having whittled his ERA to 1.10 before giving up the run last night. He had run off 14 consecutive scoreless appearances, including 10 in a row since his sore elbow three weeks ago that led him to ask for an MRI for “peace of mind.”
That MRI showed no damage other than inflammation, which subsided with a few days of rest and anti-inflammatories. Since returning April 23, he had allowed six hits and two walks with nine strikeouts in 10 scoreless innings before last night.
His velocity had been inching back up into the low 90s, with occasional 94 readings. Not quite the 95-96 mph stuff he had with Pittsburgh last year while converting 24 of 24 save opportunities, but close and getting closer.
Now this. It’s so strange to have a guy lose that much velocity when he’s not been overworked - he hadn’t pitched since Friday - and especially when he says there’s no pain whatsoever.
And Gonzalez was adament about how he wouldn’t like about his elbow or arm, that he wouldn’t pitch with pain and try to be Mr. Macho without telling anyone about a problem. He said he learned that lesson last year, when he missed the final five weeks of the season with elbow tendinitis.
There was concern at the time in Pittsburgh that he might have a ligament tear, but a sophisticated MRI (more advanced than the usual version, this one involved the injection of dye into the joint to reveal even the smallest tears, etc.) showed no damage.
He was examined twice before the offseason, and given a clean bill of health long before the Braves traded Adam Laroche to get Gonzalez in Janauary. Again, I’ll point out that it would have been extremely difficult for a pitch to compile a 1.10 ERA in 17 appearances (before last night) with a bum elbow.
So we’ll see. Won’t know anything more until he’s examined in Atlanta on Thursday and has yet another MRI.
McBride a starter? The Braves have McBride back, and I’m told he’s made significant strides and has been throwing strikes at Richmond. He’s been making starts down there - five of his seven games were starts — and the Braves have continually said it’s only because they wanted him to get more innings than he would as a reliever, more innings on a regular basis to work on his command.
However, he went five innings and about 90 pitches in his last outing at Richmond on Monday. I asked Bobby today about that conspicuously large workload, whether the Braves were still just starting him to get innings and not thinking about making him a starter.
“Not right now, I don’t think,” said Cox, the man who originally brought up the idea with us in spring training.
McBride’s numbers at Richmond: 1-2 with 3.13 ERA in seven games (five starts), eight earned runs in 23 innings, with 26 hits, seven walks and 24 strikeouts.
Alright, I gotta get writing on these stories and more for the paper, including player reaction to the sale if it goes through tonight, which it should, perhaps very soon.
First, some music: This song’s for an ex-wife. At least for me, it is.
“WAITING FOR A SUPERMAN” by Wayne Coyne
I asked you a question
But I didn’t need you to reply
Is it getting heavy?
But then I realize
Is it getting heavy?
Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be
Is it overwhelming
To use a crane to crush a fly?
It’s a good time for Superman
To lift the sun into the sky
Cause it’s getting heavy
Well, I thought it was already as heavy as can be
Tell everybody
Waiting for Superman
That they should try to
Hold on best they can
He hasn’t dropped them, forgot them or anything
It’s just too heavy for Superman to lift
Smoltz recovering quickly, but Andruw’s batting average….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just sat down in the pressbox here at charming RFK Stadium after a cab ride through this artery-clogged city, and now I’m watching Saltalamacchia practice throws from behind the plate to Glenn Hubbard at second base. Strong arm on that kid Salty, for sure….
Anyway, today’s blog. Where do we go. Let’s just dive in on a bunch of topics. And pardon any typos _ haven’t even read this over once. Will after I get back upstairs.
Oh, wait. First off, I should tell you that Salty has taken off the catcher’s gear and is now at first base, fielding ground balls hit by coach Brian Snitker and throwing to second base. Gotta say, he looks pretty good over there. Real good, actually….
OK, now back to cranking out this blog before the clubhouses open at 3:35.
Smoltz update (this part of blog rewritten after initial post): John Smoltz walked into the clubhouse at about 4 p.m., having come directly from the golf course after spending his 40th birthday with friends at an exclusive D.C.-area course. The good news: He said the right pinky he dislocated in Monday’s game was doing very well, much improved after a night of icing.
He’s optimistic about Saturday’s start vs. Boston, but won’t know until after he throws Wednesday or Thursday. Won’t pitch unless he can throw his changeup, the one pitch that requires significant pressure from the pinky.
I think it’s close to 50-50, but knowing Smoltz and the high-profile series, plus his record against Red Sox (1-0, 1.09 ERA, 4-for-4 saves, 27 K in 24-2/3 innings) and desire to stay on his regular schedule, I’d lean toward believing he’ll start. How’s that for definitive?
The finger barely looked swollen today, with almost no discoloration. The man’s got amazing recovery powers, apparently. He said he chipped and putted today with a splint on it.
And speaking of chipped (what a transition)….
The news was not as good on Chipper: Bruised palms (base of the thumb) still hurting, especially right one, and he’s out of lineup again and going to have it X-rays to make sure it’s just bruised.
Now back to the original blog, the part that wasn’t rewritten after initial post.
Andruw’s woes: Still waiting for him to get hot, with nearly a quarter of the season completed. He’s hitting .235 with four homers, and his decent 22 RBIs and solid .374 OBP aren’t enough to offset the least-productive first quarter he’s had in some time.
Andruw is 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts in his past three games, and 7-for-47 (.149) with 15 strikeouts, one homer, eight RBIs in 13 games (including consecutive game-winning hits to the opposite field, after which he reminded us both times that he’s a pull hitter, period).
But here’s the stat that might be most alarming. We all know Andruw’s capable of carrying the offense for two or three weeks at a time when he’s not, but consider how long he’s been hitting for a very low average:
Are you ready for this? In 87 games since Aug. 7, he’s hit .228 (69-for-302) with 21 homers, 61 RBIs, 58 walks, 73 strikeouts, one stolen base, a .367 OBP and an .867 OPS. Folks, that’s .228 for more than half a season by the 2005 MVP runner-up.
But it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets hot tonight or tomorrow, because he’s due and because he usually kills the Nats, moreso than any other team. Before this series, he had hit a robust .315 with a stunning 28 homers, 74 RBIs and an 1.117 OPS in his past 72 games against them, including 12 homers, 29 RBIs and an 1.166 OPS in his last 27 against them.
Then again, it’s been a while since we’ve seen that kind of hitting from Andruw against anyone on a sustained basis.
So far, it’s not been the free-agent year that he envisioned, safe to say.
Leadoff falloff: Can’t put all the blame on Andruw for the Braves’ May offensive swoon, because the only starters who are hitting are Chipper (who’s missed the past three games; no word yet whether he’ll play tonight), Willie Harris (had his first start without a hit or walk last night, by the way), McCann and, to a lesser extent, Edgar.
But next to Andruw, the chilliest spot in the lineup this month has probably been Kelly Johnson in the leadoff position. And it’s been such a sharp downturn that it’s made it more noticeable.
His overall numbers are still strong, including the third-highest leadoff OBP (.410) in the league. But Johnson is just 10-for-52 (.192) with no homers, six RBIs and a .276 OBP in 13 May games, after batting .478 with three homers, 10 RBIs and an absurd .607 OBP in his last 13 games in April.
Various numbers of interest: The two Braves with the most at-bats with runners on base are Jeff Francoeur and Andruw, with 63 each. Francoeur is hitting .381 (24-for-63) with a .452 OBP and 10 strikeouts in those spots, and Andruw is hitting .222 (14-for-63) with a .420 OBP and 18 strikeouts…. Chipper’s still third in the NL in OPS (1.047) behind Bonds (1.239) and Helton (1.059)…. Ryan Langerhans, who once again hurt the Braves by not making contact last night (his missed suicide bunt led to the tag of Kearns that dislocated Smoltz’s finger), is a majors-worst 0-for-34.
Warning, music talk: If you don’t like music, skip the rest of the blog.
No lyrics today, just wanted to put up my favorite early season CD acquisitions, most new, some older, and all purchased in past two months: Kings of Leon “Because of the Times,” Arcade Fire “Neon Bible,” Graham Parker “Don’t Tell Columbus,” The Ponys “Turn the Lights Out” (all those who like straight-ahead rock, get it), Amy Winehouse “Back to Black,” Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration (two CDs full of Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, Isaac Hayes, etc), Elvis Perkins “Ash Wednesday” (got a lot of Tom Waits in him), Arctic Monkeys “Favorite Worst Nightmare,” Jarvis Cocker “The Jarvis Cocker Record,” Bright Eyes “Cassadega,” Black Rebel Motorcycle Club “Baby 81,” and Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts “Let’s Just Be.”
Buy ‘em, download ‘em, or if you must, steal ‘em (Just kidding. Don’t ever steal. Help the artists out and buy some product.)
Time to start another streak?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coming to you from our nation’s capital, where the new ballpark being built might just be the only thing to ever come in under budget in this town. It’s supposed to be open next season, and looks like it will be ready.
After that debacle Sunday at Pittstown, Braves should have a very good chance of getting back on a winning streak with Smoltz and Hudson going in the first two games of the series vs. the Nationals.
Do you guys realize how great a run that old man Smoltz is on? (He joins us 40-somethings tomorrow, his birthday, so we can call him old now.) Since late last summer, there hasn’t been a more reliable starter, at least not one I can find.
He’s 9-1 with a 2.42 ERA in 12 starts since Sept. 16. And going back to July 1, Smoltz is 17-5 with a 3.26 ERA in 26 starts, and 161 strikeouts in 173-2/3 innings. The team is 20-6 in those games. The man’s a freak.
And if you think Smoltz has been a frequent victim of bad run support, consider the plight of his opponent tonight, Jason Bergmann.
This is unbelievable. Really. Bergmann still hasn’t won in 14 career starts (0-4), but lately he’s done just about everything possible from his end.
He was bad in his first start this season, giving up four runs in 3-2/3 innings vs. Arizona. But in six starts since then, Bergmann has a 2.41 ERA and miniscule .159 opponents’ average, with 31 strikeouts and 14 walks in 37-1/3 innings.
And he’s 0-2 in those six games. I’ll repeat: 2.41 ERA, .159 opponents’ average, 0-2 record.
In four of those six games, he pitched six or more innings and allowed one or no runs. And he won none of them!. Included was an April 12 game vs. Smoltz in Atlanta, when Bergmann allowed one stinkin’ hit in six scoreless innings … and got no decision in the 2-0 Nationals win.
As the insufferable Stuart Scott would say, “I ain’t gonna say nothing, but that ain’t right.” (Why am I quoting Stuart Scott? Surely this is an even more troubling sign that all the extreme weather going on across the nation.)
Not a betting man…. But if I were, I’d probably consider plunking down a dollar or two tomorrow night, when Hudson faces Jerome Williams. Hudson is 4-1 with a 1.83 ERA, including a 1.57 ERA in three road starts. He’s got a 1.30 ERA in five career starts vs. Washington/Montreal, including four games in which he’s pitched seven or more innings while allowing one or no runs.
Williams? He’s 0-4 with a 6.11 ERA and more walks (17) than strikeouts (15) in 28 innings. However, it is worth noting that after going 0-4 with a 7.77 ERA in his first four starts, he threw six scoreless innings of one-hit ball vs. the Mets on April 28, his most recent start.
Then again, that was before the Mets shaved their heads (but seriously, Mets fans, I remember when our high school football team shaved their heads. The operative words there being “high school.”)
Who is disguised as Frenchy? The transformation of Jeff Francoeur isn’t just indicated by his dramatic increase in walks, but also his improvement vs. right-handers and hitting on the road.
Last season Francoeur hit .217 on the road, fourth-worst among NL regulars. This year? I know it’s early, but he’s hitting .357 (25-for-70) away from home, sixth-best in the NL behind D. Lee, Fla’s Willingham and Cabrera, Jose Reyes and Todd Helton. Eighth on the list is Hoss (.349), who isn’t playing again tonight, by the way (this addendum to blog was added late, at 5:30 p.m. — Chipper’s thumbs are still sore. And doesn’t that injury sound strange? I’d just say left or right, even if it’s both, just go with one. OK, now back to the blog already in progress….)
Last season, Francoeur hit .248 (120-for-483) with 103 strikeouts and a .278 OBP vs. right-handers. This year, he’s hitting .297 (27-for-91) with 22 strikeouts and a .343 OBP. Again, I know it’s early. Very early. But still….
He’s really raking vs. lefties, of course. Hitting .333 (18-for-54) with four homers, a .400 OBP and .993 OPS against them this season, after hitting .292 (49-for-168) with nine homers, a .335 OBP and an .853 OPS last season. (Braves have seen a whole lot more lefties this season than they faced last season.)
Oh, and Francoeur also has the NL’s eighth-best avg. with men on base (.381).
Leadoff dropoff: He’s still got the third-highest leadoff OBP (.414) in the NL, one percentage point behind Jose Reyes. But Kelly Johnson’s in the third cycle of a season that’s seen him go through three distinct periods: cold, sizzling, and cool.
After hitting .150 through April 16, then blazing at a .478 clip (22-for-46) with three homers, 10 RBIs and a .607 OBP in 13 games over the final two weeks of April, Johnson is now batting .204 (10-for-49) with no homers, six RBIs and a .278 OBP in his first 12 gamers in May after the weekend series at Pittsburgh.
He hasn’t had a multi-hit game since April 29, and has 10 strikeouts with one walk in his past eight games. This after drawing 10 walks with four strikeouts in the previous eight games.
Willie C.’s the name, hitting (apparently) is the game: And at one point do I, and many of you, start to believe Willie C. Harris might actually be quite good? Right now, I’m wondering how in hades this guy hit .238 with a .306 OBP in 369 career major league games (899 at-bats) before this season.
I mean, he’s hitting .471 with five doubles and a .550 OBP in 13 games since the Braves brought him up to replace Ryan Langerhans. Granted, it’s only 34 at-bats. But he just keeps getting two hits a game, or more. And he made a very nice throw in Pittsburgh to cut down a runner at the plate.
Don’t really know what to make of his success, to be honest. Good guy, though. Very happy to see him doing so well. You know there’s a street named for him in his hometown in Cairo, Ga.? Really, I’m not making that up.
They named and dedicated it _ Willie C. Harris Drive, I think it is _ after he scored the winning run for the White Sox in their World Series clinching win over Houston.
Oh, and speaking of that new Nationals ballpark … Stan Kasten, Nats boss and once the most powerful man in Atlanta sports not named Ted, was able to get in one good, long-lasting jab at the media by making the pressbox even higher than the top-of-the-park pressbox at Pittsburgh.
But that’s another story, and I know no one cares about the inconveniences faced by hacks (I don’t blame you; if I were you I wouldn’t, either. But trust me, we’re more sympathetic figures than Kasten _ love ya, Stan, but seriously, what’s with sticking it to the press by sticking us in the clouds? Your team better get better, and in a hurry).
”AMANDA” by Bob McDill (and sung best by Waylon Jennings)
I’ve held it all inward God knows I’ve tried
But it’s an awful awakening in a country boy’s life
To look in the mirror in total surprise
At the hair on my shoulders and the age in my eyes.
Amanda, light of my life.
Fate should have made you a gentleman’s wife.
Amanda, light of my life.
Fate should have made you a gentleman’s wife.
It’s a measure of people who don’t understand,
the pleasures of life in a hillbilly band.
I got my first guitar when I was fourteen,
and I finally made forty: still wearing jeans.
Amanda, light of my life.
Fate should have made you a gentleman’s wife.
Amanda, light of my life.
Fate should have made you a gentleman’s wife.
Pink on the ballfield
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Happy Mother’s Day, and if you’ve forgotten to call your mom, or hug her if she’s near by, maybe all the pink bats and wrist bands worn in the Braves game today will remind you.
As I just left the visiting clubhouse in Pittsburgh, Jarrod Saltalamacchia - who’s getting the start today at catcher - was getting bullied into wearing pink, mostly pink, catching gear.
Andruw Jones started it with taunts of “Salty if you love your mother, you gotta wear it.” Other voices around the clubhouse chimed in. Eventually Salty went over and reluctantly pulled the pads out of the box and had a look. A few more taunts later, he was carrying it out to the field for batting practice.
And who thought peer pressure was tough only in the seventh grade? But hey, it’s for a good cause, helping to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research. (www.komen.org/mlb if you’re so inclined.)
So it’s Sunday and I’m blogging anyway, not to be outdone by DOB’s latest weekend efforts. And on a beautiful, little bit chilly morning in Pittsburgh, a couple thoughts come to mind.
The Braves can’t seem to lose - even with Chipper Jones on a shelf for a couple games, closer Bob Wickman on the disabled list, and with their fourth, fifth and sometimes frankly third spots in their rotation being trouble spots.
Chuck James flirted with a no-hitter last night against the Pirates. Kyle Davies pitched a dandy on Friday (seven innings, one hit in a 4-1 win) and if Anthony Lerew pitches today anywhere as well as he did his first major league start against the Padres, the Braves are in business.
The Braves have won a season-high five in a row and they finally picked up a game on the New York Mets, who lost to Ben Sheets and Milwaukee Saturday 12-3. The Braves entered Sunday’s game with a 1 ½ game lead on the Mets, their biggest lead since they were up 2 games on April 11.
The Mets have won seven of their last 10. From the looks of it, this NL East race is going to be hot. And stay that way.
I asked Jeff Francoeur about the Mets yesterday and his response reminded me that this is a new age of Braves baseball. The streak of 14 division titles ended last year and so did pressure to focus on winning the division. This batch of young players is hungry for the playoffs, whichever way they get there. If using the Mets to get ahead of the rest of the National League pack, so be it. Francoeur actually acknowledged the W word: Wildcard.
“At the end of the day you want to win the division but if you can get that big lead too in the wildcard (standings) it’s huge,” Francoeur said. “I think for me and a lot of these guys, we just want to make the playoffs. It’d be great to win the division. No doubt. But we want to get to the dance. And we feel we have a good team, whether we win the division or the wildcard, where we can make some noise later.”
Francoeur isn’t conceding anything to the Mets, but he’s also taking a realistic approach if you ask me. Use the race with the Mets to get in position for the wildcard too. Win, win.
What do you guys think? Can the Braves two-out hitting frenzy and solid bullpen and Tim Hudson and John Smoltz domination get the Braves past the Mets, their killer lineup and better-than-advertised pitching staff? Or might it ultimately be moot in a way.
Dissecting LaRoche’s numbers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings from the Steel City. And you know how I know it’s the Steel City — besides the way everybody knows? The local TV station I just turned on in my hotel room was broadcasting live from Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp.
Then they got to the fact that President Bush was in town today.
They eventually mentioned the Pirates were at home tonight playing the Braves, but that was only during the weather report. Poor Pirates, a team which my cab driver reminded me hasn’t had a winning season since 1992.
Good news, though, is the weather is beautiful today in Pittsburgh. Highs in the upper 70s, a few clouds. And I’ve just had a glimpse of the inside of PNC Park for the very first time, from the front door of my hotel! I could see over the Allegheny River clear past the outfield stands to the press box overlooking home plate.
It’s a beautiful thing. And to think this is the city I used to ask Thomas Stinson to cover when I was on the beat. Ah, he has family here. And Three Rivers was no, well, PNC.
So Pittsburgh….That means Adam LaRoche is on the brain. And it brings me to a question for the blogosphere. And I’ll get to that in a second. But first, a look at LaRoche’s dreaded numbers:
Entering this weekend series against the team he was traded from in January for reliever Mike Gonzalez, LaRoche is hitting .168. It’s the second-worst batting average in the major leagues among players who play every day (have 3.1 plate appearances per game). Richie Sexson is hitting .165 for Seattle. God bless him.
And LaRoche’s average is actually on the rise. He’s raised it 35 points in May. He’s had hits in five of his last six games, including a three-hit game against the Brewers on May 5.
LaRoche has struck out 35 times, which is fifth most in the National League. He’s got 3 home runs, which at this pace would give him 15 at the end of the year. That’s less than half his total of last year - the breakout year of his career when he hit .285 for the Braves with 32 home runs and 90 RBI.
When the Braves traded LaRoche to Pittsburgh, he was greeted as a stud, a savior. In Atlanta he was supposed to contribute yes, but here in Pittsburgh, he’s supposed to be The Guy, or one of the top two or three of them anyway.
Just like it happens with players who come to Atlanta and can’t handle the expectations (Dan Kolb anyone?), might LaRoche be struggling with the expectations here?
He got booed at PNC Park not too long ago, during a 7-1 loss to the Cubs. Here’s what LaRoche told John Perrotto, of the Beaver County Times, via our notes group afterward: “Nobody likes to get booed, but I fully understand the fans’ frustration with me. They were expecting a lot more out of me than this. And they should expect more because I am better than this.”
I don’t think there’s any question there. This start is flukey bad. But now we get to my question. Dare I say it out loud, and about a guy as great as LaRoche? …..Was last year flukey good?
LaRoche is playing only his fourth full season in the majors. He’s 27 years old and in the prime of his career. Those are some of the reasons detractors had for not wanting the Braves to trade him. That’s not to mention the fact that he’s a terrific guy, laid back, funny, and great with a quote, I might add.
But is he a 30-90 guy? Or is he something else? He had 20 home runs, 78 RBIs the year before. He hit 20 one year in the minors. But he’s got that long, loopy unorthodox swing. Have pitchers figured out its holes?
And now in Pittsburgh there’s nowhere to hide. And the situation is much different than Atlanta, last year notwithstanding. Pittsburgh was 15-18 entering this series, 8 ½ games out of first place in the N.L. Central.
So yes the deal looks pretty darn good for the Braves at the moment. Gonzalez has been stellar in the eighth inning role in Bob Wickman’s absence here lately, and he leads the Braves staff with a 1.17 ERA.
The Braves love prospect Brent Lillibridge, whom they also got in the deal (which included sending minor league outfielder Jamie Romak to Pittsburgh). He’s hitting .268 with two homers, 19 runs scored and nine RBIs in AA Mississippi.
But what I want to know is if this deal is going to look good for the long haul. Is it going to be one of those trades where we say how in the world did John Schuerholz see all that coming?
There it is. I’m throwing it out there like a piece of raw meat for the masses. Have at it, if you will.
I’m about to go walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and watch some ball.
Sunshine, Huddy vs. Boomer, and in-game bloggin’!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Absolutely beautiful day at the ‘yard here, folks. San Diego is in town, but you’d think we were in their town, it’s so perfect _ sunny, 82 degrees, low humidity … come on.
Actually, it’s better than San Diego, because the marine layer of fog would just be burning off at noon out there, and it’d be too cool to sit in the stands in shorts and T-shirts like so many early arrivers are here at Turner Field.
(And some are in less than T-shirts, if you know what I mean. What a way to make a living _ I just wish I was sitting out in the stands, instead of here in the pressbox.)
But anyway, to the game. Braves have a very good chance for a 3-games-to-1 win in this series with Tim Hudson facing big ol’ Boomer, David Wells, this afternoon in the finale.
Can you believe this: A win would give the Braves their first three-game winning streak since April 11, when they beat Washington to move to 7-1.
Since then, the Braves are 14-11 and have won back-to-back games three times, and that’s it. Then again, they haven’t lost back-to-back games since April 12-13, which is pretty impressive when you consider what they’ve gotten most nights from the back end of the rotation.
It can’t be overstated how important the bullpen has been lately, specifically Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez. It’s the work of the ‘pen that’s allowed the Braves to keep games close and give the lineup time to stage its improbable rallies and string together all those two-out hits.
I’ll repeat, the Braves can’t expect to keep getting all these two-out hits and staging all these late-innings rallies. I mean, they’re 7-9 when trailing after six innings (not 7-10, as the Braves’ own notes indicated; Elias confirmed it’s actually 7-9). That just doesn’t happen.
And the two-out hitting? The Braves are hitting .295 with two outs, 12 points better than the majors’ next-best (Mets, .283), before today. The Braves are hitting a whopping .303 with runners in scoring position and two outs, a full 20 points better than the majors’ next-best (Yankees).
But while the two-out hits almost certainly can’t continue at this pace, the Braves’ bullpen can continue to dominate. In fact, they’re just doing now what the team expected when they made the trades for Soriano and Gonzalez in the offseason.
I mean, they made those moves to have a bullpen that could shorten most games to six or seven innings, and that’s exactly what they’re doing lately. Which has been even more important, given the early exits by some of their back-end starters.
Check this out: Soriano in his last 10 appearances has allowed just two hits and three walks with 12 strikeouts in 10 scoreless innings. Utter domination. He’s 3-for-3 in save opps in the past eight days.
I told you this spring this dude is the real deal as far as attitude _ fierce, no-nonsense, great scowl, rarely seen smiling. That works just fine when you’re this good. (If you stink, you look silly trying to be hard. He doesn’t stink. He doesn’t look silly. I still don’t like to make eye contact with him.)
Gonzalez? He’s nice as can be in the clubhouse, but a live wire who looks ready to come to the plate and beat someone for making him throw a bad pitch. Early on his command issues and sore elbow sent up some red flags around Braves Nation, but not anymore. He’s rounding into the kind of form he demonstrated for most of his 24-for-24 save season with the Pirates in 2006.
He’s got a 1.17 ERA for the season, and in his past 13 appearances Gonzalez has allowed nine hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts in 12-1/3 scoreless innings. In his past eight games, it’s six hits, zero walks and eight strikeouts in eight innings. Great stuff.
Wickman threw a bullpen session yesterday without pain in his back, and Bobby Cox said today that the big man should be ready to come off the DL on Tuesday, the day he’s eligible, without benefit of a minor league rehab assignment.
So the Braves’ bullpen should be at full strength for the Boston series next weekend, if not sooner.
Alright, gonna stop here for now, because, yes, today’s is in-game blog day. Wheeee! But seriously, let’s make this worthwhile. Tons of posts today, folks. Tons of freakin’ posts.
Let it rip, and tell your boss to haul a@& if he doesn’t like the fact that you’re on the computer. The Braves are on. Tell him or her to chill. The sun’s shining, Huddy’s facing Boomer, and baseball is good for the soul.
Speaking of good for the soul, George Jones is playing at some fairgrounds about an hour north of Atlanta on Saturday. And Son Volt on Friday at Variety Playhouse. Good series for me to miss, in Washington this weekend.
I’ll be catching up with the boys in Washington and Boston. Might have to see the Possum in the interim.
Alright, blog away, denizens of the Braves/Man in Black. Let’s bring this thing to its knees. Circuit overload is our mission.
SECOND INNING For those who missed update on last blog, Renteria’s out of the lineup again with lingering flu symptoms. Doing better today than yesterday, but still sick. He played Tuesday with the flu, had the big double and triple, and looked like he might pass out when he got to third on the triple and was bent over trying to gather himself.
How ‘bout Boomer? David Wells is my age, much richer, but not in nearly as good a condition. Andruw stayed with that lollipop curveball Wells threw him in the first and pulled it to left field for an RBI single. Then Frenchy doubled to drive in another.
Braves let him off the hook, though, leaving two in scoring position in the first, when McCann struck out and Woodward popped out. We’ll see if that haunts them.
Did I mention it’s gorgeous out here, and some folks are sunning themselves? Well, worth mentioning again.
SECOND INNING (pt. II) Well, I was just about to say how impressive it was that the Braves were making Boomer throw strikes, got those two-out walks by Kelly J and Diaz (who’s batting second today in Renteria’s place). Then Chipper pops out to the catcher and they leave two stranded for the second innning in a row.
Gotta love when they crank Led Zep “Rock n’ Roll” on the PA system, like they’re doing now between innings.
END OF THIRD INNING OK, nothing happened in that inning, other than Boomer getting a hit. He’s my age (43) and not in nearly as good a condition as me, but Wells is rich and can still get a hit off Tim Hudson. And he lives on the beach in San Diego. So I’ll stop being critical.
Who am I kidding, we’d all love to be David Wells.
Anybody got an update on the Boulder High School situation? When I left the house, they were in lockdown mode. Nobody here had an update and my Safari and Firefox servers are occupied with you all and the game tracker.
FOURTH INNING Ok, Mike Cameron’s bat just flew into the stands, and the fan who caught it was wearing a pink shirt and capri pants. The fan was a guy. What up?
FOURTH INNING But you know what, he looked like he had enough money to have purchased them in Capri, where he probably has a summer home. So I’ll shut up.
Meanwhile, things aren’t going well now for Huddy. Back-to-back doubs by Cameron and Kouzmanoff and it’s 2-2 now. Huddy’s pitched well lately, but you know how long it’s been since he won? April 20.
He’s pitched eight strong in each of his last three starts, with no wins.
FIFTH INNING It didn’t go out, but Andruw Jones really got a lot of that ball to end the fifth inning. He skied that thing to the warning track. Between that and his five hits in three days (so far), might be reason to believe the noted pull hitter could be about to go on a tear. Perhaps this trip? The Green Monster next weekend?
SIXTH INNING After that Huddy scare in the top of the inning (liner off his glove and part of glove hand), Braves are doing some hitting in the bottom of the frame (like saying “frame,” jargon we can’t, thankfully, get in the paper. But it works here. Toe the slab, bottom of the frame, can of corn _ no, I’ll draw the line at that. Hate ‘can of corn.’ Hate it.)
McCann single, Woodward double … OK, and there goes Wilson. Striking out. BossLady, you’re right. He ain’t looking good.
Pinch-hitting for Huddy, who’s thrown 80 pitches. Don’t know if the hand’s sore or if Bobby just doesn’t want to pass up this scoring opp. Willie Harris at the plate…. walks.
Loaded for Kelly Johnson, who’s not hitting like he was a week ago, but still has come up with big hits in critical situations, like last night. Let’s see.
SIXTH INNING I swear, I typed that last line, hit the save button, and the next pitch he hit to right field to clear the bases. Wow. Another big hit. He keeps doing it.
And Wells is gone now. Braves up 5-2, the bullpen getting ready.
SEVENTH INNING Paronto walking on the edge a bit there, but they can live with one run in. Double-play ball, that’s why he’s here.
Gotta like your chances now, though I see Yates warming up and not Gonzo. I’m sure because Gonzo’s been used the past two days. Too bad, with lefty Adrian Gonzalez due up. He’s a stud.
MIDDLE OF EIGHTH INNING Fine inning by Yates. When he’s on, he’s outstanding.
Can’t believe it: Kings of Leon playing on the P.A. system while they scan the crowd for the video board! Great stuff. The in-game entertainment person is really on his or her game today. Keep it up, please. All season.
Someone just held up a good sign: “We Rillie Like Willie”
NINTH INNING Gotta love Soriano’s entrance. Just a deliberate walk to the mound, head down the whole time. Fires a few hard warmuup tosses. Does the sign of the cross behind the mound, then gets to work.
Helluva catch by Frenchy running back at the warning track for the second out. Folks are on their feet now, pretty good day-game crowd out here, everyone standing as Soriano faces Termel Sledge.
Gas inside at the legs, nearly hits him. Then more gas and a swing, no contact, 1-1. Another swing-and-miss, 1-2, everyone making noise now. Pop up to McCann.
Game over. Three saves in three perfect ninth innings in three days for Soriano.
To the clubhouse. Later. Nice spending the day with the denizens of Braves/Man in Black.
Eyeballing Maddux vs. Smoltz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As the great James McMurtry would say, we’re gonna have us a time at the ballyard tonight. Maddux vs. Smoltz, one a future first-ballot Hall of Famer and the other almost a lock to make it to Cooperstown eventually, in my opinion.
But you know what? I bet tonight doesn’t live up to last night’s pitching matchup between the two youngsters just up from Triple-A, Anthony Lerew and the Padres’ Jason Germano.
Folks, those guys were both outstanding. The numbers don’t lie. They really pitched well, and Lerew obviously earned himself another start or two in the rotation, with a chance for perhaps much more. We’ll see, though.
Anyway, it’ll be fun seeing Maddux and Smoltz got at it on Atlanta soil. And it is too bad that the game didn’t get picked up by ESPN, but we didn’t know for sure that this matchup was going to materialize until late last week.
While ESPN can shift games, they usually do it a lot earlier than that. Besides, I don’t even have a clue how the broadcast rights thing works on non-Sunday games (ESPN has its pick of those, and can move games to night games if it wants on Sunday).
But anyway, too bad it’s also not on TBS going nationwide. But this is the last year fans nationally will even see the Braves on TBS, unless they happen to be picked up for the national broadcasts TBS will do. But the Braves will probably be just another team for them after this year.
Wonder what effect that’s going to have on their status as a team with a national fan base? The days when the Braves drew huge crowds on the road, and huge throngs in their hotel lobbies, might be ending.
By national fan base, I mean the way teams such as the Yankees, Cubs and Red Sox draw wherever they go. The Braves built such a huge audience over the years because in a lot of non-major league places — like me growing up in Greenville, N.C., Memphis, and southern Kansas — the Braves were the only team that folks could follow on the tube without paying for special packages, etc.
Didn’t mean to wander down that road. Where were we?
Oh, yeah, the bullpen: The Braves are starting to get exactly what they envisioned from power reliever Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez, whom they acquired because they wanted to dominate the seventh and eighth innings and have options to close in case Bob Wickman was injured or needed a breather.
Soriano blew away a couple of San Diego hitters in a perfect ninth inning Tuesday night for his second save in a week, and in his past nine games the intimidating Dominican has allowed just two hits and three walks in nine scoreless innings, with 10 strikeouts.
Gonzalez, who’ll be returning to Pittsburgh this weekend, will be doing so in something very close the form he showed while coverting 24 of 24 save opps for the Pirates last season. He told me yesterday he’s getting real close to that level, though not quite there yet. But he’s healthy and throwing harder than before the recent elbow scare, and the big thing - he’s throwing strikes.
The lefty has recording 12 consecutive scoreless appearances, and in his past seven appearances he’s allowed six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in seven innings.
If Wickman’s ready after his 15-day DL stint, which I think he will be (or shortly therafter), the Braves’ bullpen should be even better for having had the chance to work Gonzalez and Soriano more in the eighth and ninth lately.
And for those suggesting the Braves should trade one of them - it’s a long way to July 31, but yes, I can at least see a scenario in which they might be willing to trade Wickman, if he’s healthy and pitching well and another contender is willing to give up something the Braves really need for their stretch run, or something that could really help them next season.
But again, that’s way down the line. But yes, I can see a scenario in which it might possibly happen, but only if Gonzalez and Soriano are healthy and the Braves have at least one more guy, like a Yates or Moylan, whom they can really rely on in big situations. We’ll see how it works out.
Power outage: As Andruw noted last night, the Braves aren’t concerned about their home run dropoff lately, because they know how quickly it can change. But it’s worth nothing, the Braves have hit .230 with no homers in the past six games, going 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA in that span.
This after hitting .316 with 17 homers over the previous nine games, and going 5-4 with a 5.36 ERA in that span. Imagine what they might be capable of if they had the offense and pitching going full-tilt simultaneously.
They sure could use a little winning streak, though. After starting out 7-1, with winning streaks of three and four games in that stretch, the Braves haven’t won three in a row in their past 24 games, going 13-11 in that stretch.
They’ve won back-to-back games only twice in that 24-game stretch, and lost two in a row only once, and not lost three in a row all season.
Speaking of punchless: How ‘bout the Padres, who are 6-7 with a 3.10 ERA and - are you ready for this? - a .200 batting average in their past 13 games, and scored four runs or fewer in 10 of them.
The Braves have won eight of 11 games against S.D. since the beginning of the 2006 season.
That’s twice in three days: Not only have the Braves rallied in the late innings twice in the past three days to pull out wins vs. L.A. and S.D., but they did it at the expense of relievers who had been nearly unhittable.
The Dodgers’ Chin-hui Tsao had allowed one hit (.032 opponents’ average) and two walks in 10-2/3 scoreless innings all season before being charged with three hits, five runs and two walks in two-thirds of an inning Sunday in Atlanta.
The Padres’ Heath Bell allowed one run and seven hits in 20-2/3 innings (0.44 ERA, .104 opponents’ average) with four walks and 23 strikeouts before Tuesday, when he gave up three hits, two runs and one walk while recording one out.
Hey, dig this: I just realized that I’d placed a large glass that had a little bit of a smoothie still in it (blended yogurt/milk/protein powder and such) on the coffee-warmer device I have on my desk, a force of habit.
Anyway, I just took a drink of it, and it taste like some kind of eggcream or something you’d actually pay for in an ice cream shop in the Northeast. Wow.
Is this the way Flubber was invented?
”EYEBALL KID” by Tom Waits
Well Zenora Bariella/And Coriander Pyle
They had sixteen children/In the usual style
They had a curio museum/And they had no guile
All they ever wanted/Was a show biz child
So on the 7th of Dec. 1949
They got what they’d been wishing for/All of the time
He grew up in a trailer/By the time he was 9
He rolled off to join/The circus… telling fortunes/On the side
Hail Hail, the Eyeball Kid
Well the first time I saw him/Was a Saigon jail
Cost me 27 dollars/Just to go his bail
I said your name will be in lights…/And that’s no doubt
But you got to have a manager/ that’s what It’s all about
People would point/People would stare
I’ll always be here/To protect you and to cut down on the glare
I know you can’t speak/I know you can’t sign
So cry right here on/ the dotted line
Hail Hail, the Eyeball Kid
Well he was born with outa body/Not even a brow
I made the kid a promise/I made the kid a vow
He’s not conventionally handsome/He’ll never be tall
He said “all you got to do is/book me into Carnegie Hall”
Hail Hail, the Eyeball Kid
He’s just a little bitty thing/He’s just a little guy
But women go crazy/for the big blue eye
They say how does he dream?/ How does he think
When he can’t ever speak/and he can’t ever blink?
I said Hail Hail, the Eyeball Kid
Hail Hail, the Eyeball Kid
Give it up and throw me down/a couple of quid
Everybody wants to see/the Eyeball kid
How dies he dream/How does he think
When he can’t even speak/and he can’t even blink
We are all lost in the wilderness/ we’re as blind as can be
He came down to teach us/how to really see
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
So give it up and throw me down a couple of quid
Everybody wants to see the Eyeball Kid
Eyeball kid
Eyeball kid
Maddux … if you only knew
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With Greg Maddux in town and set to face John Smoltz on Wednesday for the first time since 1992, the Maddux stories were abundant on Monday at Turner Field.
Unfortunately, most of them are too gross and/or profane to share with you folks in this forum. Let’s just say, the future first-ballot Hall of Famer Maddux was/is legendary for his pranks and dry wit, and much of it is stuff that would bring both you and your 12-year-old son to tears in laughter.
But here’s one story I think we can use here.
It’s 1993, and hotshot prospect Chipper Jones is up with the big club for the first time. As Chipper told it yesterday, he beat out a swinging-bunt single for his first major league hit.
Jones, already aware of Maddux’s proclivity for profanity and locker-room humor, asked coach Pat Corrales to keep an eye on the baseball as it was retrieved and brought to the Braves’ dugout. Specifically, Chipper noticed Maddux on the dugout steps and wanted to make sure he wasn’t up to something.
But play continued, Chipper returned focus to the game, etc. After he got back to the dugout, the ball was presented to him.
“I came off the field, and sure enough, there was a big ‘ol loogie on it,” Jones said. “[Maddux had] picked his nose and wiped it on the baseball.”
Chipper smiled as he related the story. “If I had known then what I know now, I would probably have kept it on it. But I wiped it off.”
In other words, if he’d known how many more similar Maddux moments he would witness over the years, Chipper would’ve kept the marred ball as a memento of the true Maddux, or the side of him that most outside the game are unaware of.
I’ll leave it at that. But I will tell you, Maddux, beyond having more baseball knowledge and intuition than anyone I’ve ever encountered, is also one of the funniest guys I’ve ever been around, even if I was only on the perimeter.
If we played baseball, we all would’ve wanted him for a teammate, without question. Not just because he’s one of the best two pitchers of the past 25 years — him and Clemens, in my opinion — but because he kept a clubhouse so loose.
OK, on to a couple other matters….
Braves need rookie starter Anthony Lerew to step up tonight. Yes, I’m the master of the obvious with that statement. But the Braves really do need to start getting some good starts from those not named Smoltz or Hudson.
Chuck James’ latest early exit (3-2/3 innings last night) left him 1-3 with a 6.66 ERA in his past five starts.
Braves starters are 10-10 and rank 10th in the NL with a 4.43 ERA and 11th in innings (181). The opponents’ on-base percentages and the ERAs are already ugly or getting ugly for three of the five: Mark Redman (.429, 10.62), Kyle Davies (.371, 6.41), Chuck James (.363, 4.84).
Lance Cormier hasn’t thrown off a mound yet, so he’s not even got a rehab assignment planned yet, which means he’s at least 3-4 weeks away from returning. Probably more. And at this point, I wouldn’t know what to expect from him, he’s been out of real competition for such a long stretch.
James walked four last night, and the bullpen walked four more, which raised the bullpen walks total to a major league-high 65 in 98-2/3 innings, only 20 fewer walks than strikeouts. Not good, folks.
Where’s the offense? The Braves have hit .232 with no home runs and 19 total runs in their past five games, after batting .316 with a whopping 17 homers and 61 runs in the previous nine games.
Anyone should have known they’d run into a slump, but the problem is when all the guys who were scorching suddenly are cooling off a little or a lot, or at least most of them are.
Brian McCann is 6-for-28 (.214) with two doubles and three RBIs in his past nine games, this only a few days after his four consecutive two-hit games.
Jeff Francoeuris 3-for-18 with one double in five games, after going .457 with six extra-base hits and seven RBIs in his previous eight games.
Kelly Johnson is 1-for-9 with four strikeouts and no walks in his past couple of games, and has no multi-hit games in his past seven _ after putting up eight multi-hit games in an 11-game stretch.
Chipper Jones is 0-for-10 with no RBIs in his past four games, after hitting .341 with 18 extra-base hits (10 homers), 20 runs and 22 RBIs in the previous 21 games.
Andruw Jones wasn’t exactly surging before, but he’s 0-for-18 with one RBI and three walks in his past five games. In 17 home games, he’s hit .158 (9-for-57), second-lowest home average among NL qualifiers, ahead of only a guy in Pittsburgh named LaRoche (.136). Andruw has one multi-hit home game all season.
But enough fretting. Let’s rock:
”NEVER GONNA CHANGE” by Jason Isbell (former Drive-By Trucker)
Let this be a lesson to you girl: Don’t come around where you know you don’t belong.
They’re riding on the avenue and probably coming after you and they all look mean and strong.
Mean and strong like liquor./Mean and strong like fear.
Strong like the people from South Alabama and mean like the people from here.
Take it from me… We ain’t never gonna change.
Daddy used to empty out his shotgun shells and fill ‘em full of black-eyed peas.
He’d aim real low and tear out your ankles or rip right through your knees.
There ain’t much traffic on the highway./There ain’t much traffic on the lake.
The ATF and the ABI got everything they could take.
Take it from me… They didn’t take it from me.
We ain’t never gonna change./We ain’t doin’ nothin’ wrong.
We ain’t never gonna change/so shut your mouth and play along.
I thought about going in the army. I thought about going overseas.
I wouldn’t have trouble with a p*#@ test; only problem is my bad left knee.
My brother got picked up at Parker’s, got him a ride in a new Crown Vic.
They said that he was movin’ on a federal level/ but they couldn’t really make it stick.
Take it from me…
We ain’t never gonna change./We ain’t doin’ nothin’ wrong.
We ain’t never gonna change/so shut your mouth and play along.
You can throw me in the Colbert County jailhouse./You can throw me off the Wilson Dam
But there ain’t much difference in the man I wanna be/ and the man I really am.
We ain’t never gonna change.
Should Braves switch cleanup hitters?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In light of the Braves’ latest comeback and two-out hitting display Sunday vs. Los Angeles, I was sitting here thinking. What could possibly explain why this particular team is hitting better than any other in the majors in close-and-late situations (basically the seventh inning or later in close games) and with runners in scoring position and two outs regardless of inning?
And I don’t really have any answers beyond the obvious _ they have a bunch of good hitters, and their confidence is soaring in those situations because they see each other having so much success in those spots.
But I would caution that a few years ago, Johnny Estrada was leading the majors with RISP and two outs and the Braves were about as hot as they are now in those situations, then it all reversed and they couldn’t buy a hit in those spots for a couple of months. All I’m saying is, don’t expect it to last like this all season, because what they’re doing is extraordinary.
I mean, the Braves are hitting .303 with runners in scoring position and two outs, and the next-best team in the majors in that category is .289 by the Yankees. Next-best in the NL is the Mets’ .271 _ 32 points lower than Atlanta. Half the league is below .230.
The Braves are batting .325 in late-and-close situations, just ahead of St. Louis (.324), but the Braves have twice as many homers (eight), 11 more RBIs (34) and a .565 sluging percentage to St. Louis’s next-best .483.
In the AL, Seattle (.319) is the only team hitting better than .285 in late-and-close situations.
The Braves’ leaders with RISP and two outs are Kelly Johnson (.500, 7-for-14, 12 RBIs) and Jeff Francoeur (.423, 10-for-23, 19 RBIs) and Edgar Renteria (.400, 8-for-20, nine RBIs).
Their leaders in late-and-close situations: Johnson (.571, 8-for-14, seven RBis, Renteria (.429, 9-for-21, three homers, 10 RBIs), and Francoeur (.421, 8-for-19, four doubles).
Which sort of brings me to my next point….
Is Andruw the best choice for cleanup? He’s one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball when he’s hot, and arguably the most valuable player in baseball when the offense is in line with his peerless defense.
But when Andruw Jones is slumping the way he has been for most of the first 30 games of this season, at what point do the Braves consider dropping him a couple spots in the batting order? I know, it’s almost heresy with some to address this issue, and Andruw won’t like it at all (if he sees this, he’ll let me know it).
But I’m just saying, he’s hitting .229 going into tonight’s series opener vs. San Diego. He’s 1-for-17 in May, has a .170 average at Turner Field, and is tied for fourth in the majors with 33 strikeouts.
He’s got a solid five homers and 20 RBIs, but is batting just .176 with runners on base (9-for-51) and .200 with runners in scoring position (7-for-35, 15 walks, 13 strikeouts), and .188 (3-for-16) with RISP and two outs.
I know, it’s early. But Brian McCann has a .331 career average (56-for-169) with runners in scoring position, and led the majors with a .471 average with RISP and two outs last season.
Francoeur has a .330 career average (91-for-276) in those situations, a whopping 56 points above his overall career average.
This season Francoeur’s hitting .299 overall and .359 (14-for-39) with RISP, including .423 (10-for-23) with RISP and two outs.
Andruw’s increased walks are great and all, but how many RBIs might someone have hitting, say, .300 with runners in scoring in the cleanup spot for the Braves during the past few seasons?
With three guys in front of him all surging, there are runners on base virtually every time he comes up.
I randomly checked a bunch of great hitters’ stats, some cleanup hitters, most not, one retired, the rest active. Here’s every guy I downloaded, with his career average with runners in scoring position, compared to his overall average.
Albert Pujols, .345 (15 points higher than his overall career batting average)
Barry Bonds, .312 (13 points higher than his overall career batting average)
Derek Jeter, .309 (8 points below his overall career batting average)
Gary Sheffield, .315 (19 points above his overall career batting average)
Chipper Jones, .296 (8 points below his overall career batting average)
Alex Rodriguez, .305 (1 point below his overall career batting average)
Lance Berkman, .304 (1 point above his overall career batting average)
Jeff Bagwell, .308 (11 points above his overall career batting average)
Andruw Jones, .255 (11 points below his overall career batting average)
What do you guys think? Any validity to the idea of making a chance, or would it be too potentially disruptive or too much to ask of a young hitter?
Some music, if you don’t mind….
”ALTERED STATE” by Teddy Thomspon
So far things have been alright/No complaints, oh this is the good life
But sometimes i need more/Just to get up and out the door
I like to live in an altered state/It makes me love all the things i hate
And I’m happy to be alive/Don’t want to come off too straight
I like to put on my happy face/While i cry on the inside
Is it so hard to be happy/That I struggle to feel just ok
And I need a lift just to get through/Just to get up to normal with you
I like to live in an altered state/It makes me love all the things I hate
And I’m happy to be alive/Don’t want to come off too straight
I like to put on my happy face/While I cry on the inside
Yeah sometimes I need more/Just ot get up and off the floor
I like to live in an altered state/It makes me love all the things I hate
And I’m happy to be alive/Don’t want to come off too straight
I like to put on my happy face/While I cry on the inside
Trio at top fuels Braves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The first three hitters in the Braves’ lineup _ Kelly Johnson, Edgar Renteria, Chipper Jones _ have been arguably the most effective trio at the top of any order in the major leagues so far.
And to give you some idea of what I’m talking about, here’s a snapshot: The Braves have played 13 games in the past 15 days. In 12 of those 13 games, the Braves got a combination of hits and walks totaling at least six from the first three spots in their lineup.
In other words, those three have been on base at least six times in every game during that stretch, and sometimes a lot more. The only time they didn’t do it was Wednesday’s 4-3 win vs. Philly, when they combined for “only” four hits and one walk, but scored three runs between them and got two RBIs from Chipper.
(By the way, it was K.J., Edgar and Chipper in those three spots in every instance except one during that stretch — Chris Woodward hit leadoff in an April 23 loss at Florida and went 1-for-5; Chipper had three hits that night.)
The first three spots in the order produced five or more hits in five of those 13 games, including consecutive games April 25 at Florida and April 27 at Colorado in which Johnson, Renteria and Jones were a combined 14-for-25 with two walks, seven runs and seven RBIs (the Braves totaled 12 runs in those games).
Of course, this shouldn’t be terribly surprising, since anyone who’s watched the Braves knows how instrumental those first three guys have been to their success. Those three and the rotating Nos. 5-6 hitters, Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur, have carried the offense, with cleanup hitter Andruw Jones still trying to find his stride.
Yes, it’d be scary to think what they might have done with Andruw also crushing during this stretch. But then again, how often have you seen even four or five guys surging at once, which is what the Braves have had for much of the season.
That said, here’s what the Braves have gotten from their first three hitters, as compared to the rest of the National League:
— Braves leadoff hitters (Johnson in 25 of 28 games) rank third in the NL in average (.324), first in OBP (.459), fourth in slugging (.556), tied for second in homers (5), first in walks (27), tied for fourth in RBIs (15), fourth in runs (27). Johnson’s eye-popping .472 OBP includes .479 as a leadoff hitter, the best among major league leadoff man by a huge margin.
— Braves No. 2 hitters (Renteria in every start) are tied for third in the NL in average (.328), third in OBP (.389), third in slugging (.479), second in runs (22), and tied for third in RBIs (17).
— Braves No. 3 hitters (Chipper in every start) are first in slugging (.679), first in homers (10), first in runs (26), second in OBP (.423), second in walks (21), fifth in average (.312) and have the fourth-fewest strikeouts (17).
And, oh by the way, from the fifth spot (Francoeur 14 starts, McCann 13, Thorman 1), the Braves rank second in the NL in average (.333), tied for first in RBIs (24), third in OBP (.397), third in slugging (.546), tied for first in doubles (11) and third in homers (4).
OK, I gotta get to the ballpark now: Braves need another big night from Tim Hudson, because they don’t want to have to rely on Kyle Davies tomorrow in order to avoid losing a series. A Hudson win tonight and the series is theirs.
Strong recommendation:We’ve found a new country-music hero. James Hand, who was recommended by one of our good bloggers here during spring training. After searching record stores in 5-6 cities, I finally found a copy of his incredible CD “The Truth Will Set You Free” in Denver.
This guy is in his mid-50s and just got a recording contract, near as I can tell. And I’m not exaggerating when I say he’s the closest thing we’ve had to Hank Williams, at least in my lifetime. Sounds almost exactly like him on most songs, and writes great songs. Even wears the old-school Western suits with the piping and all. James Hand. Get it online somewhere if you like the real country, the old stuff.
Let’s go back several years, maybe a decade… for today’s music selection. From Modest Mouse, long before they became a big commercial success. This from their great “The Lonesome Crowded West” record. (Man, does this make us conjure images from rough times.)
“POLAR OPPOSITES” by Modest Mouse
Polar opposites don’t push away/It’s the same on the weekends as the rest of the days
And I know I should go but I will probably stay/And that’s all you can do about some things
I’m trying, I’m trying to drink away the part of the day/That I cannot sleep away
I’m trying, I’m trying to drink away the part of the day/That I cannot sleep away
Two one-eyed dogs, they’re looking at stereos/Hi-fi Gods try so hard to make their cars low to the ground
These vibrations oil its teeth/Primer gray is the color when you’re done dying
I’m trying, I’m trying to drink away the part of the day/That I cannot sleep away
I’m trying, I’m trying to drink away the part of the day/That I cannot sleep away
Braves enjoy off day, first place
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A quick off-day blog while contemplating how much better an off day must feel in first place, what a rough week it’s been for Ryan Langerhans, and if any of us thought Adam LaRoche and Wilson Betemit would each be batting .132 on May 3.
What in the name of Colonel Kurtz is going on? The horror … the horror …
Not all recently exiled Braves are struggling. Marcus Giles is batting .330 with two homers, 16 RBIs and a .377 on-base percentage while batting leadoff for the Padres. Damn fine numbers compared to almost anyone _ just not quite as fine as the .323-5-15 and gaudy .466 OBP of the man who replaced him, Kelly Johnson.
Johnson’s .474 leadoff OBP is the best among major league leadoff men _ by a wide margin. Seriously. Anyone see that coming?
I thought he’d do alright this year, be a mediocre second baseman and potentially solid leadoff man. But I’ll admit in my wildest imagination I couldn’t have predicted Johnson would do anything like this in his first month, after missing the entire 2006 season with that elbow injury and surgery.
Anyway, I just wrote a thing for tomorrow’s paper on five reasons the Braves are in first place and a contender again, and Kelly was No. 1. The rest included Chipper, the bullpen, Tim Hudson and the clutch hitting.
Consider this, regarding the clutch hitting: The .268 team average was merely tied for fifth in the NL before Thursday, but the .292 average with runners in scoring position and two outs was 23 points above the league’s next-best, and Atlanta’s seven homers and .531 slugging in those spots were far and away the NL leaders.
In the late innings of close games, the Braves have hit .312 (second in the NL) with league-bests of eight homers and .565 slugging.
And how’s this for a telling stat: Opponents are hitting just .195 in close-and-late situations, most of that against the Braves’ much-improved bullpen.
The hit Soriano gave up last night was just the second against him in 32 at-bats in late-and-close situations. And unheralded Tyler Yates, who was bringin’ it at 95 mph last night, has allowed ZERO hits in 13 late-and-close at-bats.
A year ago, the Braves were outhit .277-.272 in late-and-close situations. Think about it. That goes a very long way toward explaining why the record is so much better this season.
Johnson, by the way, is 6-for-13 with a double, triple, homer and 10 RBIs when batting with RISP and two outs, and 6-for-12 with a double, homer, five walks and a .647 OBP in close-and-late situations.
Maddux vs. Smoltz: Looks like it’s going to happen Wednesday in the third game of the four-game series vs. the Padres, since both are pitching Friday. Unless one gets bumped back for some reason, it’ll be a highly anticipated matchup. What do you guys think? Is it as big as Smoltz vs. Glavine? Bigger? How cool would it be to have Maddux on this current Braves staff? Why is gasoline back over $3?… Oh, sorry.
Langy’s not-so-excellent adventure: This from my buddy John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, via the notes network our paper is part of:
“He was gone before anyone learned to pronouce his nam. Ryan Langerhans’ career with the A’s lasted all of two games. He met the team in Boston on Tuesday, and on Wednesday night, the outfielder was traded to the Nationals in exchange for former Mariners outfielder Chris Snelling.
“The guy [Langerhans] actually said, ‘I enjoyed my time here.’ “
John went on to explain that Snelling was a player the A’s liked for years, but Seattle was unwilling to trade him within the division. Similarly, Langy was a player the Nationals apparently coveted, but the Braves were reluctant to trade with a division foe.
“I would say this is not something we’ve done before, but as soon as we concluded the trade with Atlanta, Washington called and it sounded like he was a guy they’d wanted for a while,” A’s assistant general manager David Forst said. “Snelling is a guy who, when he’s healthy, is an offensive threat.”
More from Shea: “Langerhans hit .068 in April with Atlanta and he also appeared out of whack offensively with the A’s, with one walk and two strikeouts in five plate appearances. He also committed an error in center in the fourth inning Wednesday when a drive by Coco Crisp hit off the top of his glove.”
Langy’s reaction to being traded for the second time in four days: “You’ve almost got to laugh,” he said. “You never see anything like that.”
OK, I said it’d be brief … Gotta save some stuff for tomorrow.
Music soothes the soul:
“ONE OF US MUST KNOW (SOONER OR LATER)” by Bob Dylan
I didn’t mean to treat you so bad/You shouldn’t take it so personal
I didn’t mean to make you so sad/You just happened to be there, that’s all
When I saw you say “goodbye” to your friends and smile/I thought that it was well understood
That you’d be comin’ back in a little while/I didn’t know that you were sayin’ “goodbye” for good
But, sooner or later, one of us must know/You just did what you’re supposed to do
Sooner or later, one of us must know/That I really did try to get close to you
I couldn’t see what you could show me/Your scarf had kept your mouth well hid
I couldn’t see how you could know me/But you said you knew me and I believed you did
When you whispered in my ear/And asked me if I was leavin’ with you or her
I didn’t realize just what I did hear/I didn’t realize how young you were
But, sooner or later, one of us must know/You just did what you’re supposed to do
Sooner or later, one of us must know/That I really did try to get close to you
I couldn’t see when it started snowin’/Your voice was all that I heard
I couldn’t see where we were goin’/But you said you knew an’ I took your word
And then you told me later, as I apologized/That you were just kiddin’ me, you weren’t really from the farm
An’ I told you, as you clawed out my eyes/That I never really meant to do you any harm
But, sooner or later, one of us must know/You just did what you’re supposed to do
Sooner or later, one of us must know/That I really did try to get close to you
“Salty” gets the call
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Salty’s in the house, and in the lineup.
Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the Braves’ No. 1-rated prospect, was recalled from Double-A Mississippi and in the lineup tonight against the Phillies, batting seventh.
He was activated after Brian McCann and backup Brayan Pena were hurt in Tuesday night’s loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Pena was placed on the DL after being tested for post-concussion symptons Wednesday.
The Braves think McCann will only be out a few days, so they didn’t want to DL him. Bobby Cox said Salty will start tonight and possibly the series opener Friday vs. the Dodgers (Braves are off Thursday).
But he also made it clear that Salty is too young and good to sit the bench, so it sounds like he’ll return to Double-A as soon as Pena is ready, likely in the minimum 15 days.
McCann reinjured his left ring finger when he was hit by the bat on a Rod Barajas swng. He tried to stay in the game, but quickly realized he wasn’t able to catch a ball with his glove hand.
He originally hurt the finger 10 days ago during a game in New York, and McCanns said this afternoon it feels worse than it did the day after the initial injury. But it’s only a painful bruise on the fingertip, and he hopes to catch Friday.
Pena was hurt when he was hit in the head by Greg Dobbs’ follow-through swing in the ninth inning.
Saltalmacchia joins the Braves on his 22nd birthday. He was hitting .309 with seven doubles, six homers and 13 RBIs in 22 games for Double-A Mississippi, with 13 walks and 17 strikeouts.
It’s a good choice to bring him up. Bobby has never been afraid of throwing guys into the fire, and Francoeur and others have shown the move from Double-A to the majors can be made without a layover at Richmond. Salty’s got all the potential in the world, and this could be a good experience for him, to see where he is and know what he needs to keep working on.
He also reiterated today that he wants to catch, he prefers that, but whatever it takes to get to the big leagues, he won’t complain about.
Also going on the disabled list: struggling starter Mark Redman, who apparently has been pitching with an ingrown toenail on his left big toe. He’ll have outpatient surgery today or tomorrow, and Bobby Cox again said he thinks Redman has got good pitching left in him and indicated he’ll get another chance as soon as 15 days.
Braves won’t need a starter for that spot until next Tuesday (May 8), and Bobby said he hasn’t decided, that they’re considering a bunch of options. Oscar Villarreal and, yes, left-hander Dan Smith, are among those options. So might be Anthony Lerew.
By the way, Ol’ Double-A Miss was 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts last night in its 9-8 win over Mobile. Van Pople had three steals and the 235-pound Salty had one.
Redman slide continues: It has appeared Redman and Kyle Davies are in a race nobody wants to win, with neither of them pitching well enough to keep one of the final spots in the rotation.
(Oh, by the way: Villarreal’s 20 strikeouts in 13-2/3 innings ranks him third among NL relievers in strikeout rate.
Redman’s 10.62 ERA and .370 opponents’ average would each be the worst among major league starters if he had six more innings to qualify for rankings. He doesn’t have enough innings because he’s been knocked out of games too early.
In other words, he’s been too bad to be ranked as the majors’ worst.
Redman has four wins and a .345 opponents’ average in his past 17 starts, including the last 12 of his All-Star season with Kansas City (Once more, can we please rescind the archaic rule requiring All-Star representation for every team? That rule just doesn’t work with 30 teams, not unless you expand the All-Star rosters, which would then seem to dilute the honor of being an All-Star).
In his past nine starts, Redman is 2-6 with a 9.64 ERA and .375 opponents’ average, with 16 walks and 22 strikeouts in 42 innings.
Meanwhile, Davies is 1-5 with a 9.96 ERA and .352 opponents’ average in his past 10 starts, with 32 walks and 32 strikeouts in 40-2/3 innings.
Bobby Cox said today he thinks the toenail probably affected Redman, that he’s been dealing with it since early in the season. (Of course, that wouldn’t much explain his bad starts at the end of last season.)
Chipper playing like an All-Star: It’s still early, but Chipper Jones is doing everything possible to earn a spot the NL All-Star team. He last made the All-Star team in 2001, the year before he moved to the outfield to accommodate the pursuit of third baseman Vinny Castilla.
He’s been back at third since 2004, and right now Chipper is producing numbers that are All-Star worthy regardless of position.
He’s batting .317 with 18 extra-base hits including a National League-leading 10 homers, 20 RBIs, 18 walks, 16 strikeouts, a .418 OBP and .692 slugging percentage. His 1.110 OPS is second in the NL to Barry Bonds’ 1.273.
Oh, and he’s played in every game (I’d bet he’ll get a day off real soon).
He’s continued the tear he started last summer, and so far Chipper has stayed healthy, other than a quadriceps strain that he’s played through for a week or so.
In 75 games since June 25, Chipper’s hit a whopping .360 with 23 doubles, three triples, 29 homers, 71 RBIs, 69 runs, a .442 OBP and a .766 slugging percentage. During that stretch he’s totaled 15 homers and 40 RBIs in 37 home games.
And speaking of All-Star candidates, Kelly Johnson’s .482 leadoff on-base percentage in the best in the majors, and his 1.069 OPS ranks sixth overall in the National League.
It’s impossible to overstate how successful the Johnson “experiment” at second base and leadoff has been. Folks, keep in mind he missed the entire 2006 season and never played second base or hit leadoff before this year.
All-Star and Comeback Player of the Year? It’s possible. But early, still.
Braves keep slugging away: Some — including me — wondered if the Braves might have let a little too much power go from their lineup when they traded 32-homer man Adam LaRoche for reliever Mike Gonzalez in January.
We were wrong, apparently. The Braves lead the majors with 38 homers and rank second with a .462 slugging percentage. The Marlins are next with 33 homers, and Tampa Bay — Tampa Bay? — leads the AL with 32.
Chipper leads the the majors with five in the past 10 days.
The not-so-rosy numbers: The starting rotation has slipped to 11th in the NL in ERA, obviously because of the back end’s struggles.
The Braves are 9-9 since their 7-1 start, and haven’t won more than two in a row in those past 18 games.
The Braves are 3-4 at home during that stretch, including losses in two games in which they hit two homers.
WARNING: Music talk is next. If you don’t want to read it, simply skip it. There’s no more baseball talk from here until end of this post. So no need to complain about not wanting to read anything other than baseball on the Braves blog. Hit the scroll button, go to the posts below, and find something else to complain about, please. Thanks.
The Arcade Fire is en fuego: Their latest album, “Neon Bible,” is as good or better than anything else I’ve heard this year, and Arcade Fire’s concert last night at the Atlanta Civic Center was even better than the album. Terrific show, best I’ve seen since Drive-By Truckers in Detroit during World Series week.
I counted 10 people in the band last night, filling the stage and rockin’ out on everything from stand-up bass to violins, tons of guitars, and a drum that this hyper-kinetic band member carried with him into the audience at one point, climbing up a slender stairwell wall while he banged on the drum, a move that looked so precarious I feared for his safety.
But if he’d fallen, he’d have been caught by adoring fans. The place was absolutely packed, and I don’t think anyone left until the last song of the second encore was over and the houselights finally came up. What a show.
Tremendous musicians, and energy level off the charts. So cool to see a band that’s really into what they’re doing, and really wants to please the audience and not put it on cruise control. I’d guess I’ve seen 300-400 concerts in my life, and I’d probably put that one in the top 20. Really, it was that good.
Oh, and speaking of the Truckers, very good use of one of their songs on the great show The Shield this week.
What’s happening on the farm?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This blog is inspired by Wayne in Utah, in honor of his “Twas the Night before Opening Day” poetry in this wee hours last night. Well, no, it’s actually in response to a question of his earlier in the day yesterday, but we are just giving him props for his creativity and how connected he is on this blog.
Wayne wants to know what’s happening on the farm, and we’re here to oblige.
(If it were easy as surfing the web like “Coach” suggests, what good are we here at the AJC? We’re obliging Wayne. Granted we’re obliging the day after, thanks to Bob Wickman, Willie Harris, Mike Hampton stuff to write yesterday, but we’re obliging. At least for the parts that we thought were the most interesting.)
Macay McBride, as you know, was sent down to Richmond to work on his control problems, and he is still working those out. He had two walks in his first relief appearance (4/16), one in his second (4/19) then no walks in three innings of his first start April 23 against Indianapolis. Saturday night in his second start for Richmond, he walked three batters, but pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings against Norfolk. He lowered his ERA to 0.96. He is to pitch again Thursday against Charlotte.
Braves director of player development (aka farm director) Kurt Kemp said Tuesday afternoon, “He’s been throwing good, working on the things he needs to work on.” Translation: he’s still working at it.
Bobby Cox has said McBride was starting in Richmond so he would maximize his innings to get his work in. Kemp reiterated that, pointing to the importance of repeating what’s you’re working on, getting some muscle memory going.
Even still, if McBride can turn it around, it can’t be out of the question to see him make a run at a rotation spot in Atlanta, especially if Kyle Davies and Mark Redman continue to struggle and Lance Cormier continues to hurt.
Cox said last night after the game Cormier still wasn’t able to resume his rehabilitation assignment - he was scratched from his second minor league appearance Friday -and he would be evaluated again today. The inflamed triceps muscle is proving tricky.
Now on to Phil Stockman, the 6-foot-8, 251-pound Aussie reliever, with the mid-90s fastball. He had surgery in January on his hamstring, and then didn’t pitch in spring training because of visa problems and a sore back. He stayed in extended spring training to start the season at least in part, so he could work out in warm weather. So he’s just getting going.
He hit a bump in the road last week. Kemp says Stockman felt something in the hamstring area, perhaps scar tissue breaking up, and also had some problems with some gluteal inflammation (do I need to explain gluteal?!). So Stockman went back on the DL Friday. Kemp said it’s probably all be related to the surgery Stockman had in January but it isn’t expected to be super serious. “They think maybe seven or eight days,” Kemp said.
Blane Boyer, who’s been on the disabled list since the day camp broke in spring training with an oblique strain, is scheduled to throw his last rehabilitation session tomorrow in extended spring training. If all goes well, he should head out to Richmond early next week. Boyer hasn’t pitched in a year coming off shoulder surgery, so I’d be surprised if he is much of a factor for at least a couple months.
While we’re on Richmond, remember how poorly the Richmond Braves played last year? With players coming up to Atlanta and back and no sense of continuity, especially on the pitching staff? Well, Richmond is leading the International League with a 15-5 record. The R Braves had their best April winning percentage since 1985 (13-4, .765).
Another note, Jonathan Schuerholz, son of Braves general manager John Schuerholz, got called up to Richmond from Mississippi to replace Willie Harris on the roster. Schuerholz, an infielder, was hitting .182 (4-for-22) in 12 games in Mississippi.
And for Bubba, thanks for one of the most backhanded compliments I’ve ever gotten. Almost as backhanded as the time a friend of mine told me in college that my hair was so……bushy. Your post made me laugh though because you’re right. I did write stiffly I’m sure, when I was new on the beat.
And don’t we love blogs now because ain’t no way you could write stiffly on one of these and get away with it. (Stiffly is not quite how Bubba put it….And notice how I’m not saying anything about a guy who calls himself Bubba? Not a word.)
And by the way, Eric, I’m a girl and that’s not ever changing.
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