AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > June > 27
Friday, June 27, 2008
Best ERA in the National League. No, seriously
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Toronto — It’s only a 1-hour, 40-minute plane ride from Atlanta, but this is a world away. You know that when you see dozens of folks crowded around everr TV at every bar on Thursday afternoon to watch a “football” game — and it’s the Russia-Spain game from Euro2008. What most of us back home refer to as soccer.
Then there are the “Viva Cuba” tourism advertisements plastered all over Toronto city buses (not to mention the various brands of very real, very good Cuban cigars for sale in the tobacco shop next to this Marriott).
Speaking of my hotel, as I type I’m looking at the roof of 160-year-old Church of the Holy Trinity, where Cowboy Junkies recorded their classic Trinity Session in 1988, and this year’s reworking of that album. The church roof is literally about 80 feet from my seventh-floor window.
But anyway … we’re here to talk about the Braves, so let’s do this.
If someone had told you in, say, January, that the Braves would have the National League’s best overall ERA on June 25, and also the best starters’ ERA, you probably would’ve expected John Smoltz and Tom Glavine would be having big years, and perhaps that ol’ Mike Hampton had finally made it back. Am I right? I mean, think about it.
That’s why it’s so surprising, even amazing, to see the Braves with a league-best 3.69 ERA today, and their injury-ravaged rotation with a league-best 3.88 ERA. Even the depleted bullpen, without Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan, ranks third in the NL with a 3.37 ERA (albeit with a meager 13 saves in only 23 opportunities — yikes).
They have a better starters’ ERA than the Carlos Zambrano/Ryan Dempster-led Cubs, or the Diamondbacks of Brandon Webb/Dan Haren/Micah Owings/Randy Johnson.
This with a rotation that has a total of five wins and 17 starts from the trio of Smoltz, Glavine and Hampton, who are all on the disabled list (12 of those 17 starts came from Glavine, the others from Smoltz).
People, the Braves have the best ERA in the NL, with a starting rotation currently combrised of Tim Hudson and guys named Jo-Jo, Jorge, Jair and Charlie. If anyone had told you that was possible in February, you’d have asked what they were smoking — or told them to go watch more Euro2008 “football.”
That 3.88 starters’ ERA includes Chuck James’ 8.22 in five starts when he was brought back sooner than planned from the DL because of all the other injuries, and struggled so badly he said he needed to re-learn how to pitch. Anyway….
The point of all this? Well, I guess my point, as it were, is three-fold:
That those of you who are dreaming up all these trade scenarios by which the Braves can land C.C. Sabathia or some other available starter before July 31 aren’t really paying attention to the team’s priority ladder, because starting pitching isn’t anywhere near the top;
The Braves have managed to stay in the race when no one could have imagined they would, given all their injuries;
And, perhaps most importantly, 3. This team is in danger of wasting some very commendable work by the aforementioned foursome of Jo-Jo (Reyes), Jorge (Campillo), Jair (Jurrjens) and Charlie (Morton). By that I mean, Braves hitters are wasting it. The onus is on them, more than anyone else.
We’ve talked about this at length, so I won’t go through it all again, how they need much better production from the only healthy member of their opening day outfield, Jeff Francoeur. How then need to get Mark Kotsay back in the lineup next week, hitting like he did before his back flared. How they need Matt Diaz back in a couple of weeks, hitting as he did in 2006-2007 and not as he did this season before he crashed into a wall and hurt his knee.
And how they need — OK, we’re rehashing when we said we wouldn’t — Chipper Jones to stay healthy, obviously. Absolutely need that. And they need more consistent performance from free-agent-to-be slugger Mark Teixeira, who’s working towards another 30-40 homers and 115-125 RBIs, but frankly hasn’t had a big-impact type of season so far. Just hasn’t.
They need much better work from the leadoff spot, whoever they decide to use in that role the rest of the way.
And they need to get another right-handed bat before the trade deadline, because they can’t count on all or perhaps even most of the above needs to be filled.
The Braves start a three-game series tonight against a Toronto team that lost 15 of 20 games before taking two of three this week from Cincy. The Blue Jays ain’t exactly the Boston Red Sox, so the Braves need to make this last interleague series — it is the last one, right? — a productive one.
Tonight’s game won’t be easy, with Jurrjens facing righty Dustin McGowan, who is 4-1 with a 1.73 ERA in six home starts. But he’s right-handed, and the Braves have the second-highest average and third-best slugging percentage in the NL against righties (against lefties they’re seventh in average and an awful 15th in slugging at .377, ahead of only the Nats’ .371 - did I mention they need a right-handed bat? Just checking.)
They face a lefty tomorrow, but you’ve got to like Tim Hudson in a matchup against John Parrish, a 30-year-old lefty who has spent this season in Triple-A and been recalled to make a fill-in start for sore-elbowed Shaun Marcum.
Parrish is 12-12 with a 4.63 ERA in 161 major leagues game including 10 starts, and eight of those starts were at the beginning of his career in 2000. He hasn’t started a game in the bigs since 2004, and has a 2-6 record and 6.85 ERA as a starter.
Then again, he was 10-1 with a 2.74 ERA in 15 games (11 starts) this season in Triple-A, with 90 strikeouts in 82 innings.
Tex vs. Toronto: Teixeira has a .306 career average with 15 homers and 41 RBIs in 39 games against the Blue Jays, including .324 with 14 homers and in his past 29 games. Most of that damage was done, however, at the Rangers’ ballpark in Texas; he’s only hit .200 with three homers in 17 games at Toronto’s retractable dome.
By the way, Teixeira’s got a charity golf tourney on Monday at White Columns Country Club in Alpharetta. Proceeds from the event will go to Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, a statewide non-profit organization. If you want to play or donate call 404-870-6589, or e-mail lorend@pcageorgia.org.
As for the possibility of him re-upping with the Braves, Is it a good sign that Teixeira is bothering to set up a golf tourney in Atlanta? Or does it mean anything at all? I don’t know.
Game on the Green: I don’t know what the weather’s like back in Atlanta, but hopefully it’s good for Saturday’s first Game on the Green in Smyrna Market Village. My understanding is that they’re showing the game on two huge outdoor screens there (don’t cost nothin’).
Maybe they’ll even show a shot of us typing away in the pressbox. Bowman on the giant outdoor screen - oh, my.
CD additions: Couple of you were right about the new Wolf Parade CD. I got in here yesterday, and it’s great. I’d have that on my best-of the half-year list, along with one I forgot when I made that list last week, Bon Iver’s Emma Forever. Also, for those fans of the eclectic and brilliant Bonnie “Prince” Billy, I got his new CD Lie Down In the Light yesterday, and it might be his best. One other purchase: Sloan’s Parallel Play. Great Canandian rock band.
Speaking of great Canadians, let’s take it out with a classic from The Man.
“EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE” by Neil Young
I think I’d like to go back home
And take it easy
There’s a woman that I’d like to get to know
Living there
Everybody seems to wonder
What it’s like down here
I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around,
Everybody knows this is nowhere.
Everybody, everybody knows
Everybody knows.
Every time I think about back home
It’s cool and breezy
I wish that I could be there right now
Just passing time.
Everybody seems to wonder
What it’s like down here
I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around,
Everybody knows this is nowhere.
Everybody, everybody knows
Everybody knows.
