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Friday, July 25, 2008
Braves fighting for survival
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Philadelphia — Welcome to ground zero….Or something like that. Here it is, the city of brotherly love (hmph), six days from the trading deadline, the Braves are 6-1/2 games behind the Mets and they have three days of must-win baseball ahead.
Or at least two.
With apologies to our forefathers, Philadelphia seems a hardscrabble town — is that the right word? At least it does from a cab ride on the way in from the airport. Granted I’ve seen it more on “Cold Case” than in person since 2001.
But it’s a fitting place for the Braves to face some hard truths.
(Just me? Or was it some kind of sign that I have a huge three-way mirror in the bathroom of my corner room in this sweet high-rise hotel? It’s a weekend of self-evaluation. Well, wait. Maybe shouldn’t have said that.)
The Braves have three games against the Phillies to prove to Frank Wren they’re still hanging in there in the division and worthy of hanging on to the trade market’s biggest name: Mark Teixeira.
They’ve got to do it against a team that just dropped two of three to the Mets, and comes in riled up after falling a game back into second place in the NL East. And the Phillies, lest some of us have blocked it out completely, have beaten the Braves seven in a row this season and eight of nine.
Did I mention the Braves have to face Cole Hamels tomorrow? A guy who has beat them twice, coming one out shy of two complete games, while allowing only a run? That’s 2-0 with a 0.51 ERA.
Oh and yes, this little nugget still looms — they might have to do it without Chipper Jones. Word on that to come. My hunch is he doesn’t play tonight, maybe not tomorrow, but I can’t see him sitting out this entire series. At least some pinch-hitting?
We should also find out if Tim Hudson’s elbow is sound and if so, whether the Braves might go ahead and run Mike Hampton out to the hill tomorrow. Look, (don’t e-mail me, ahem, I know how you feel about him) I happened to think it’s a darn good idea. Jo-Jo Reyes has been struggling - he’s lost his last five starts while putting up a 7.65 ERA and a .353 opponents batting average. Hampton doesn’t need any more chances to pull something preparing to get back. He says the arm is solid. Get him back out there before anybody else has any more time to think about it. And if something pops, Reyes can come right back up - he wouldn’t have to wait 10 days.
But we’ll see how it plays out.
Meanwhile, numbers against the Phillies this season? You know they aren’t pretty. Braves are 1-8, scoring three runs a game, hitting .230 and giving up a 5.63 ERA. The only Phillies starter they beat - Brett Myers - is just back from the minors but not pitching in this series. And they’d better not sit around and wait for great chances late in games either.
The Phillies’ bullpen is leading the majors with a 2.84 ERA, while going 22-15 and converting 26 of 34 save chances.
The only Braves starter to beat the Phillies this year is supposed to throw a bullpen today — Tom Glavine. He’s still hoping for a mid-August return.
As for trade scenarios, they seem to be on hold until this weekend plays out. Wren really can’t and shouldn’t pull the trigger until he has a feel for how this series goes. It’s almost like a Division Series though, isn’t it? (Back in the days when we were all involved in those.) Game 1 could make a huge difference: Kyle Kendrick vs. Jair Jurrjens.
In Jurrjens’ last game against the Phillies he gave up three homers in a loss. He’s given up only eight homers all year. He’ll have to be sharper than that, especially in a hitters’ park.
As for the rumored scenarios, Jayson Stark did give some credence to the idea an NL West contender might be the best fit for a Teixeira deal, when he declared Arizona the frontrunner in positioning for Teixeira. The Arizona Republic said D-backs officials downplayed a potential deal, saying they haven’t spoken to the Braves in days. Then again, all it takes is picking up the phone again.
In the meantime, I’m off to Citizens Bank Park for the first time. The crusty old backup beat writer has only been to the Vet. So do fights break in the stands at Citizens Bank Park, too?
By the way, you know you’re in a northern town when your hotel room AC is blowing 64 degrees. Gracious. Oh, and Jeff Francoeur’s dad was on my plane coming up from Atlanta. Can’t hurt to have that kind of support around this weekend.
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