AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > July > 03
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
How quickly the game turned around
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Before heading back over to Chavez Ravine for the second act in this four-game series at Dodger Stadium, a quick reflection on last night’s eventful series-opening loss for the Bravos (don’t tell me — some of you were asleep and missed it, didn’t you? What, your work schedules don’t allow for 1 a.m. baseball viewing?)
Amazing how quickly that game turned, from a would-be inning-ending strikeout by James Loney to a two-run, tie-breaking homer by Matt Kemp after Loney reached on a strike-three wild pitch in the sixth inning.
(Less amazing, but at least notable, was seeing the ancient Larry King, starlet Alyssa Milano — and I honestly don’t see the supposed sex appeal there, folks — and a coterie of other well-heeled Dodger fans walk past us ink-stained wretches waiting to get in the Braves clubhouse after the game.)
(Wait, more. They all sit in their ultra-expensive seats behind home plate that were added in recent years as the Dodgers opted for huge revenue by cutting into their once-unmatched expansive foul territory to put seats there. Look close and you’ll see frequent blog subject Scott Boras in the front row, cell phone to ear most of the time. OK, now baseball….)
Yes, the bullpen melted down in the seventh, with the recently reliable Tyler Yates and Peter Moylan both squirting gas on the conflagration, and Chipper also making a throwing error.
But you gotta wonder what might have been if Smoltz got out of the inning with the strikeout, instead of seeing his nasty splitter hit the plate and squirt past Brian McCann to the backstop.
Then again, maybe not, since I asked Smoltz and he said he would have come out after the sixth inning even if Loney’s strikeout had ended it. Which says something about the state of Smoltz’s lingering sore shoulder….
The shoulder’s still not right. It’s been tolerable and he’s pitched fairly well — not great by his standards, for sure — since straining his right shoulder at Milwaukee. But we’re on Smoltz shoulder watch again this week, since he said last night he would take the next couple days and see how it responded.
He didn’t elaborate on what that meant, as far as what he’d do if it didn’t bounce back quickly fromm this game. But to me it meant he’d either ask for more rest before his next start, perhaps even skip a turn or go on the DL. Yes, the DL is always a possibility, as much as Smoltz hates the thought of doing it.
He’s been honest in appraising his shoulder and other injuries this season, not like in the past couple years when he tried to soldier through injuries and carry the team on his aging back when he felt like he was their best option, injured or not.
He’s left games after six innings and even earlier this season, something he’d have never done voluntarily in the past. He knows the Braves need him healthy down the stretch and if they’re so fortunate as to make the postseason, and knows that his attempts to carry the team through recent summers left him at lesser effectiveness in the stretch drive when the team needed him at his best.
In other words, he knows even he’s not immune to the effects of age and injury.
Taking a quick look at his results before and after that fateful slip on a warmup pitch in Milwaukee, which is when he strained the shoulder after reinjuring his pinky earlier in the same inning, it’s obvious that Smoltz hasn’t been the same pitcher since that game.
Beginning with that game, he’s 2-3 with a 4.18 ERA in six starts. He’s recorded 36 strikeouts (six Monday) and only four walks in 32-1/3 innings in that span, but allowed 38 hits for a .286 opponents’ average.
He hasn’t lasted more than six innings in that stretch.
Now contrast those figures to the six starts before Milwaukee: Smoltz was 5-1 with a 1.30 ERA and .229 opponents’ average in that span, and worked seven innings in five games and 6-2/3 innings in the other.
He had 38 strikeouts with six walks and 38 hits in 41-2/3 innings. The strikeouts and walks have stayed consistent, but the hits have risen and the innings decreased.
He can often be seen stretching the shoulder behind the mound, or on it, during innings as games wear on now, and only Smoltz probably knows if the shoulder is sore enough that it should be rested for an extended period, if there’s a chance it could worsen.
This much is certain: The Braves’ options are limited in his absence, and none of those options are attractive. Rather than hope that Anthony Lerew figures it out or Lance Cormier can regain some semblance of the form he showed in spring training, and certainly rather than rush a starter prospect to the majors before he’s ready, the Braves need to make a move as soon as possible to bring in a starter.
Doesn’t have to be a Mark Buehrle-level guy, or a guy making eight figures next season like Javier Vazquez. It’s not going to be Roy Oswalt, who makes way too much money to fit in the payroll when three other Braves starters are going to be making eight-figure salaries next season (Smoltz, Hudson, Hampton).
But the Braves have been shaking the trees, looking everywhere for a starter who could be pried loose, preferably one who’d be here longer than a few months and who could be had without mortgaging too much of the future in the form of multiple prospects and/or young players in return.
I think they’ll find someone. It might not be good enough to satisfy the denizens, but someone who can held solidify a rotation that could be in a bad state, indeed, if Smoltz were to be gone for any extended period.
Andruw not going to bench: But you already knew that, didn’t you? As frustrated as it’s been watching the 2005 NL MVP runner-up go half a season hitting under .200, all signs point to Bobby Cox sticking with him as long as it takes for Andruw Jones to snap out of this mother of all slumps.
Now, whether Bobby will continue to see logic in batting Andruw fourth is something none of us is qualified to answer.
But here’s what Bobby said about Andruw yesterday, to give you an idea of just how deep and unwavering is the manager’s patience and support for Jones: “He’s still the best center fielder in baseball. He’s always had some parts of the season where he’s looked like that [bad at the plate]. Not this long, but….
“At the end of the year, he’s going to have 100 RBIs, 30 homers, and hopefully get his average higher. And he catches everything that goes up.”
So hold on, and put Mr. Mendoza on notice.
For the record, here’s the update: Andruw’s .199 average remains the NL’s worst (among qualifiers), and his .140 average (13-for-93) after the sixth inning is the league’s second-worst.
His .193 average (29-for-150) with runners on base is also the NL’s second-lowest.
On a more positive statistical bent: Chipper Jones’ three hits Monday raised his league-leading road average to .375, 18 points higher than the NL’s second-best, which happens to be teammate Edgar Renteria (.357).
Next behind the Braves’ duo are Alfonso Soriano (.354) and Paul Lo Duca (.349). Kelly Johnson (.340) is sixth, giving the Braves’ half of the top six road averages.
Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez (.382) leads the majors.
Yates’ June doesn’t carry over: After allowing only one earned run and six hits in 12 appearances from May 28 through the end of June, Yates was knocked around for three hits and three runs while recording just one out in the seventh inning of Monday’s 8-2 loss.
And how ‘bou Moylan? He had a 2.27 ER and .193 opponents’ average in 30 games through June 25. But in three appearances since then, he’s given up six hits and three runs (one earned) in two innings, for a .545 opponents’ average.
Oh, and one more Andruw note: The Dodgers must be wondering what happened to him (wait, we all are, aren’t we? Nevermind). Anyway, Andruw hit .326 with seven homers and 19 RBIs in 12 games against the Dodgers during the 2005-06 season.
This season? He’s 1-for-14 with no RBIs and six strikeouts in four games against them.
Wrapping up this blog: Couple more stats to throw at you, then I’m out. Chipper Jones has hit .415 (27-for-65) with 10 RBIs and a .486 OBP in 17 games since returning from the DL, and last night’s error was his first since then…. Brian McCann is 14-for-73 (.192) with 19 strikeouts in 22 games since June 5, but does have four homers and 14 RBIs in that stretch.
Alright, take us out, mighty Lizard King:
”L.A. WOMAN” by Jim Morrison (The Doors)
Well, I just got into town about an hour ago
Took a look around, see which way the wind blow
Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows
Are you a lucky little lady in The City of Light
Or just another lost angel…City of Night
City of Night, City of Night, City of Night, woo, c’mon….
L.A. Woman, L.A. Woman
L.A. Woman Sunday afternoon
L.A. Woman Sunday afternoon
L.A. Woman Sunday afternoon
Drive thru your suburbs
Into your blues, into your blues, yeah
Into your blue-blue Blues
Into your blues, ohh, yeah
I see your hair is burnin’/Hills are filled with fire
If they say I never loved you/You know they are a liar
Drivin’ down your freeways/Midnite alleys roam
Cops in cars, the topless bars/Never saw a woman…
So alone, so alone
So alone, so alone
Motel Money Murder Madness/Let’s change the mood from glad to sadness
Mr. Mojo Risin’, Mr. Mojo Risin’
Mr. Mojo Risin’, Mr. Mojo Risin’
Got to keep on risin’
Mr. Mojo Risin’, Mr. Mojo Risin’
Mojo Risin’, gotta Mojo Risin’
Mr. Mojo Risin’, gotta keep on risin’
Risin’, risin’
Gone risin’, risin’
I’m gone risin’, risin’
I gotta risin’, risin’
Well, risin’, risin’
I gotta — wooo, yeah, risin’
Well, I just got into town about an hour ago
Took a look around, see which way the wind blow
Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows
Are you a lucky little lady in The City of Light
Or just another lost angel…City of Night
City of Night, City of Night, City of Night — woah, c’mon
L.A. Woman, L.A. Woman
L.A. Woman, you’re my woman
Little L.A. Woman, Little L.A. Woman
L.A. L.A. Woman Woman
L.A. Woman c’mon
