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Monday, July 16, 2007
Davies can’t seem to get it done anymore
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Either Bobby Cox was fooled again Monday night or he figured, “Maybe if I say this enough times, it’s going to come true.” Sort of like asking Santa for a Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model BB rifle, even if everybody tells you it’ll take your eye out.
Kyle Davies couldn’t take an eye out Monday. That’s not counting the people who may have gone blind watching him.
Five batters: three walks, two singles, two runs — and, see ya. Cox went out to get him before a sixth batter, and without a weapon, no less.
Asked later if Davies had an injury, Cox said, “Just home plate.”
Cox can usually stomach more than five batters. But when Davies walked Adam Dunn on four pitches with the bases loaded, it tested the will of a man who generally acts as a nice coat of Teflon between struggling players and the public. After all, this performance came after Cox said of Davies before the game: “He’s very close to becoming a really good pitcher.”
Which is sort of a really nice way of saying, “He ain’t there,” no matter how many times you say, think, pray or spin otherwise.
That is the Braves’ pitching rotation right now: John Smoltz (when healthy), Tim Hudson, Not There.
Davies: not there. Chuck James: not there. Mike Hampton and Mark Redman: not here or there. The shining light? At 4-2, it’s Buddy Carlyle a reclamation project by way of … Asia?
Two years ago, Davies was the future. Now he’s a head case. In 2005, he was one of three area products who saved a battered roster (along with Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann). He went 7-6 in 14 starts.
But last season, he suffered a torn groin. This season, the injury is to the north. How else does one explain holding San Diego to a run on four hits in six innings last week, and then looking like a broken-down Len Barker the next? No Braves starter had suffered the humiliation of being pulled before recording an out — for reason other than injury — since Barker. That was 22 years ago, also against Cincinnati. He lasted 11 pitches (walk, walk, single, double).
Davies made 22 pitches. But he wasn’t twice as good. The Reds scored only twice, but Davies can thank Andruw Jones for keeping it close (for a while) in a game the Braves would eventually lose 10-3. Jones made a diving catch on a sinking liner by Javier Valentin to save two runs after Oscar Villarreal came in.
Villarreal struck out the next two batters. He looked like he might be the answer to a question. Then Ken Griffey Jr. hit a three-run homer in the second. Next?
There’s no telling what will save Davies, or if he can be saved. At 23, he’s got time. But rare is the pitcher who visits both ends of the spectrum so often.
“I’m frustrated,” Davies said. “I want to be consistent. I know I’m a whole lot better than this.”
Francoeur believes Davis is “feeling it,” as in pressure.
“The Kyle I was seeing before is the one who wasn’t timid,” he said. “He went after guys. A few times this year, I’ve seen him a little timid. I had never seen him like that. I think he feels a little pressure. There have been times when he’s gone out there and been great for three or four innings. Then maybe he walked a guy and he started getting buried, worrying about different things. The Kyle I knew before might give up a couple of hits but he wouldn’t worry about it.”
Even Cox is losing patience. Davies went 0-4 with an 8.06 ERA in a span of five starts, then looked strong against Detroit, only to implode in his next start in Los Angeles (five runs in two innings, after being given early leads of 3-1 and 6-3). “It [ticks] you off,” Cox said then. “You get six runs in the first three innings, you’ve got to win.”
This time he didn’t blow a lead. He just helped bury a team that tonight will look to rookie Jo-Jo Reyes. We can’t be certain if Reyes also is close to being a really good pitcher. But if he gets an out, he’ll be ahead of the recent curve.
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