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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Braves-Phillies: Should be interesting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Philadelphia _ Yes, the sun does still shine occasionally in Pennsylvania. I can assure you of that, as we sit typing with the bright sun coming through the windows of my downtown Philly hotel room.
Don’t have much time because I’ve got to get to the ballpark and find out about Teixeira’s back, Soriano’s shoulder, Friday’s starter, etc. Oh, and to cover the opening game of this three-game Braves-Phils series.
Noticed a lot of continued chatter on the previous blog about the ongoing struggles of Andruw Jones and how he’s been treated by a certain member of the Los Angeles media.
Well, if I can get your attention a moment, I’d like to provide the statistics produced by another center fielder in his past 20 games. Mark Kotsay, who replaced Andruw in center for the Braves.
In his past 20 games, Kotsay has hit .368 (28-for-76) with five doubles, a triple, two homers and 15 RBI. He has five walks, six strikeouts and a .407 OBP and .539 slugging percentage in that period since April 17.
So far, his surgically repaired back has been fine (while several other Braves’ backs have not been). I’m not saying Kotsay is going to remain healthy and play 150 or more games this season, just saying that so far, he’s been very solid.
And the strong throws that don’t hit the pitcher’s mound … that’s been refreshing.
By the way, I do believe Andruw will start hitting, at least better than he is now. But so far, wow, it really is shocking how bad he’s been.
He’s hit .170 with one homer and five RBI. No, not in the past two weeks. Those are his SEASON totals. He’s 19-for-112 with one homer, 17 walks, 38 strikeouts and a .543 OPS.
In his past 19 games, he’s 9-for-57 (.158) with no homers, two RBI, 20 strikeouts and a .248 OBP.
For the season, he’s 1-for-27 with runners in scoring position, with 15 strikeouts.
And going back to Aug. 12, 2006, when he really started to struggle and the power started to slip, Andruw has hit .217 in his past 237 games, with 39 homers, 129 RBI, 118 walks, 207 strikeouts in 835 at-bats.
He has a .321 OBP and .423 slugging percentage (.754 OPS) in that 235-game stretch.
Emulating the big club: The Braves snapped their seven-game road losing skid with a win in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader at Pittsburgh, leaving them with a 5-14 road record that’s the worst in the majors.
Meanwhile, their Class A Rome club has a 5.15 road record, worst in the South Atlantic League. And get this: The Rome team is 2-11 in one run games (the big Braves are 1-10 in one-run games).
Speaking of yesterday’s win against the Pirates and woeful right-hander John Van Benschoten, the dude with the long last name and the 1-12 career record and 8.84 ERA was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis immediately after losing to the Braves.
Hoss vs. Howard: Chipper Jones has a .308 average and seven homers in his past 18 games against the Phillies.
Philly’s Ryan Howard had seven homers and 21 RBI in 18 games against the Braves in 2007, and has a .337 average with 17 homers and 47 RBIs in 48 games against the Braves throughout his career.
But one of them comes into this series struggling mightily. It’s not Chipper.
Howard is hitting .171 with seven homers, 19 RBI and a jaw-dropping 54 strikeouts in 140 at-bats, including, .148 with two walks and 29 strikeouts in 69 at-bats against lefties.
But be warned: Howard struggled like this at the start of last season, too. Not quite as long or deeply, but pretty close.
The big man hit .198 with four homers and 17 RBI his first 26 games last season through May 5.
But then he went on a tear, batting .300 with 14 homers and 39 RBI in 33 games from May 6 to June 27, with a DL stint in that span unable to slow him down.
The Braves just have to hope he waits a few more days, at least, before beginning a similar tear. Because you can count on it happening at some point, and soon.
Meanwhile, the Braves are lucky enough to be facing the Phils a week or so since Pat Burrell and Chase Utley came back from the hitting stratosphere they inhabited for the first five weeks of the season.
Burrell is 4-for-24 with no homers and 11 strikeouts in his past eight games, after hitting .330 with nine homers and 21 strikeouts in his first 30 games.
And Utley is 4-for-28 with no homers and two RBIs in his past eight games, after hitting .369 with 13 homers and 26 RBIs in his first 31 games.
Leading the league: I had to laugh when I ready someone on the previous blog saying the Braves’ problem is their pitching. I mean, how do you figure? Other than not getting enough innings out of a few starters, there hasn’t been much to complain about with the injury-riddled pitching staff.
The Braves have a league-low 3.49 ERA (Arizona’s 3.69 is next), and Braves starters have a 3.31 ERA that leads the league by nearly a half-run over St. Louis starters (3.80).
Braves pitchers (starters and relievers) have allowed a league-low .230 opponents’ average.
The relievers, despite going without Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan most of the season, rank seventh in the league with a 3.78 ERA, one spot behind the Mets.
If you want to look for the biggest culprit in the one-run record and the overall record, look to the lineup. The Braves lead the NL with a .284 overall batting average, but rank 11th in the NL with a .239 average in the late innings of close games, as defined by Stats Inc.
(Braves pitchers have limited opponents to a .224 average in close-and-late situations, tied for fourth-best among NL staffs.)
Atlanta hitters’ .249 average with runners in scoring position is better than only four NL teams, and their .208 average with RISP and two outs ranks 13th in the 16-team league.
Meanwhile, the Braves lead the league with a .293 average with no runners on base.
OK, gotta get to the ballpark. First, I’d like to reiterate that Ipod shuffle is the coolest invention of my lifetime. It can’t stop global climate change, but it’s otherwise perfect. I was reminded of this when this lineup of songs played in succession while I was in the hotel gym this morning: “Just Like Honey” by The Jesus & Mary Chain, “If That Ain’t Country” by David Allan Coe, “Space Oddity” by David Bowie, “Wang Dang Sweet (you know the rest)” by Ted Nugent, “Bring Da Ruckus” by Wu-Tang Clan, “Hot Fun in the Summertime” by Sly & The Family Stone, and “Decoration Day” by Drive-By Truckers.
”JESUS ON THE RADIO (DADDY ON THE PHONE)” by Tom T. Hall
Mama likes to listen to the grand old gospel time
Daddy is a cowboy drinkin’ beer and wine
Mama’s in the kitchen standin’ there all alone
She got Jesus on the radio and daddy on the phone
Daddy says come on down to Tootsie’s and have yourself a beer
Mama’s in the kitchen standin’ there in tears
My mama love my daddy but it’s breaking up our home
She got Jesus on the radio and daddy on the phone
Mama don’t like drinkin’ and she don’t understand
Daddy’s had a hard life, a deeply troubled man
It’s honky tonk and gospel that’s breaking up our home
She got Jesus on the radio and daddy on the phone
Daddy says come on down to Tootsie’s and have yourself a beer
Mama’s in the kitchen standin’ there in tears
My mama love my daddy but it’s breaking up our home
She got Jesus on the radio and daddy on the phone
I came home one evening there was mama on her knees
Big old tears of gospel joy running down her cheeks
She says you don’t have to worry son we are not alone
I got Jesus on the radio and Jesus on the phone
Daddy says come on down to Tootsie’s….
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