AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > May > 09
Friday, May 9, 2008
OK, Braves, now do it on the road
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pittsburgh — Yes, the Braves righted their listing ship by sweeping an entire six-game homestand against Cincinnati and San Diego, a couple of last-place teams. Now comes the real test.
Because to convince a lot of denizens here and baseball observers everywhere, the Braves are going to have to prove they can play good ball on the road and not just beat up on teams at Turner Field.
Says here the severe dichotomy won’t last. The Braves, even with their swelling ranks of walking wounded, are too good to continue losing 11 of every 15 road games (they are 4-11 on the road, worse than any team in the majors except 4-12 Washignton).
Then again, we don’t believe they will continue to win 14 of every 18 home games, either (their 14-4 home record is the best in the majors).
So they’d best get the road thing cleaned up quickly and start playing more consistent ball, not limping home from dismal road trips and expecting to get healthy by winning all or most of their home games.
And they will. We’re fairly certain of that. There are 129 games left in the season, and the Braves can only get healthier (Right? They can’t possibly put more key members on the DL at once, can they?)
So anyway, they come to Pittsburgh looking to get their road house in order (cue the Patrick Swayze fight scene … OK, didn’t get much sleep after seeing Radiohead last night).
They start a seven-game trip with four at Pittsburgh, where the Braves will look to avoid any semblance of a history repeating. We won’t go into the details of last year’s Mother’s Day Massacre, the blowout at PNC Park that served as the unlikely turning point in the Braves’ season, after which they dropped like a rock and never fully recovered.
But just because the Pirates are 15-19, don’t get any assumptions that they are ripe for sweeping, or even taking three of four from.
Because the Pirates not only have a winning record (9-7) at beautiful PNC Park — by the way I’m literally looking at the stadium as I type, from the window of my 14th-floor hotel room) — they also are 4-0 with a .331 batting average and 3.00 ERA in their past four home games, including a win against Philly and a sweep of the Giants.
(Hey, the Giants are lowly, but not as lowly as the Padres. S.F. is 14-21, two games ahead of S.D. in the West.)
And don’t look now, but our boy, Adam LaRoche, has once again flicked on the switch after his traditional ghastly April. ‘Ol Rochy is 8-for-20 with two home runs and six RBI in his past five games, after hitting .167 with one homer, five RBI and 30 strikeouts in 90 at-bats in his first 26 games.
Lot of lefties: Tonight we’ve got Tom Glavine (0-1, 4.50) going against Pittsburgh’s Ian Snell (2-2, 5.09), and Snell’s the only right-hander the Pirates are starting in the four-game series.
It’ll be interesting to see how many of the last three games of the series Mark Kotsay will start against the lefties. He’s been one of the Braves’ hottest hitters the past two or three weeks, but Kots is still hitting just .191 (9-for-47) vs. lefties, compared to .388 (26-for-67) vs. righties.
And he’s also hitting .255 with one homer and five RBI on the road, compared to .349 with two homers and 10 RBI at Turner Field. But I’m guessing he’ll play at least two of three games vs. the lefties, and he should. Too early to start any platoon in center, if you ask me. Not as long as Kotsay is healthy.
Gregor Blanco does need to play and has earned playing time. But do you folks agree that Kotsay should hit against a few more lefties to see if the early numbers were just a product of a slow start overall? Because he’s hit lefties well in the past.
Speaking of a lefty-righty disparity, Matt Diaz’s is a bit alarming. He’s 9-for-54 (.167) vs. righties and 20-for-46 (.435) against lefties. Wow.
Oh, and I’m thinking Brian McCann is squeezing a bat somewhere right now, just waiting to get to the ballpark and play tonight. Because he’s 7-for-12 with three homers against Snell. If that’s not ownership, it’s a lease with an option to purchase.
For those wondering, the Braves lead the league with a .288 average against right-handers, and their .286 average vs. lefties ranks fourth. Not much difference average-wise, but the Braves are slugging .477 against righties and just .395 against lefties, which is a very wide gulf indeed.
They have 49 doubles and 27 homers in 723 at-bats vs. righties, and only 19 doubles and eight homers in 430 at-bats against lefties. Big difference. Big.
The Braves’ home thing: In case you missed it here a few days ago, the Braves’ home sizzle actually began late last season, a reversal of the trend they followed most of the season, when they played so well on the road and struggled at home.
Since Sept. 5, 2007, the Braves are 23-6 with a .304 average and 3.13 ERA in their past 29 home games, with 174 runs scored (6.0 per game).
During that same period on the road, they’re 9-18 with a .253 average, 4.02 ERA and 117 runs scored (4.3 per game).
This season Atlanta leads the NL with a .316 home average and ranks eighth with a .252 road average. Their .287 overall average is seven points ahead of the second-ranked Dodgers.
The Braves also lead the league with a 3.49 ERA, ahead of Arizona (3.54), although Atlant’s road ERA is nearly two runs higher than the D-Backs’.
Braves starters, as hard as it might be to believe given their rash of injuries, lead the NL with a 3.27 ERA that’s almost a half-run ahead of the second-ranked Cardinals starters (3.73).
But Atlanta starters are also last in the league with 178-2/3 innings. Gotta clean that, up, obviously, or they’re going to have to have a regular shuttle for fresh relievers back and forth between Richmond and Atlanta by midseason.
Tex cooled off again: Mark Teixeira usually starts slow in April, but it looked like he was back in a groove after going 19-for-56 (.339) with seven doubles, two homers and 11 RBis in 13 games from April 17 to April 30.
Since then, the first baseman is 3-for-20 with no extra-base hits and two RBI in his past six games, though he does have seven walks and a .393 OBP in that span.
OK, enough for now. Let’s have a tune and get some lunch before heading to PNC Park.
”WHITE LEXUS” by Mike Doughty
Please show me how to live
Please show me how to have a day
I don’t wanna wake up now
Why do I have to wake up, anyway?
Like a soap star in anguish, shrill but bland
When your white Lexus comes
Around
The way
Idling in the long driveway
Try to feel nothing on command
When your white Lexus comes
The thrill
Be damned
I forgive the world right now
Still I play the chump’s role every time
My world’s the surface of the moon
My heart’s down in a diamond mine
Like the black stars of Memphis, moaning on,
When your white Lexus comes
To drive
Me out
Drive me to the edge of town
Try to feel nothing on command
When your white Lexus comes
The thrill
Be damned
Damn it to the last damned man
