The Braves opened the season with 12 wins in their first 13 games, then went 42-40 the rest of the way until the All-Star break. Entering the figurative “second half” of the season, they have the third-best record in the National League and a six-game lead in the NL East, the largest division lead in the majors.
Their offense has been erratic, a boom-or-bust unit that leads the NL in home runs (114) and strikeouts (826), and ranks second in walks (329). But the pitchers have been steady and carved the majors’ second-best ERA (3.29), which includes a top-rated 2.62 bullpen ERA — despite the loss of setup men Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters to elbow surgeries.
At the break, Braves general manager Frank Wren spoke with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the team’s performance and goals going forward. This is the second in a two-part interview that began in Thursday’s AJC.
How important is it for this team to win the division? Or, if you slip to a wild-card berth, how important would it be to at least advance past the Wild Card game?
"That's our goal. I don't think any of us are looking to build a wild-card team. We're looking to win the division. And I think we saw, up close and personal, how tough that wild-card scenario can be (loss to St. Louis in 2012 Wild Card game). Our goal is to win the division. It has been since the very first day we set foot at Disney this spring, and that's still the goal. And fortunately, our guys have played well enough in the first half that they've put us in the best position in our division. Now we've got a second half to maintain and improve and play even better baseball."
Given that you’ve maintained first place as long as you have, and the lead you have, could anything short of getting to the NL Championship Series be satisfying? Or is that tough to say because of so many variables in postseason play?
“You know, there’s so many things that can happen. We need to play better in the second half than we did in the first half, because I think other teams will play better. So I think we need to play better, and we need to stay healthy. As everyone knows, we’re probably as banged-up as we’ve ever been at the break, and the break (came) at the right time. Some of the nicks are not DL nicks, but they were pretty substantial injuries, enough that the break couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Are you encouraged by the team’s performance in the past couple of years?
“Yeah. I think we bounced back from a real tough September 2011 to play good baseball in ’12. And in ’13, like I said, we haven’t clicked yet – I don’t think there’s been a time where I said, ‘OK, here we go’ – and I’m still waiting for that to happen. And if that happens, this team has a chance to be a good team. Right now, we have a good team. But we have a chance to be better than that.”
Do you believe the acquisition of the Uptons (Justin and B.J.) is going to ultimately pay big dividends for the Braves?
“Yeah. I think we’ve already seen dividends. It’s no secret that it’s been a tougher start for B.J. But we’ve seen historically, so many guys that change teams, (first season with new team) it’s a new environment that’s a challenge. And regardless of, this is a great place to play and he loves playing here. There’s still the whole newness of it that’s a challenge for players. And I’m hopeful that he’ll get it turned around and feel comfortable this year and perform like he has many years in the second half. And I’m confident that he will over the course of the contract.”
What do you seen in Alex Wood’s future, this season and beyond?
“We’ve always seen him as having a chance to be a real solid left-handed starting pitcher. We see him being in the starting rotation in the near future for us. Within the next year or so, we think he can be another of our good young starters.”
Are you pursuing now or do you think you will this winter pursue contract extensions with some of your arbitration players or even some who’ve not reached arbitration yet?
“That’s something that I wouldn’t comment on. We’re always contemplating our future contracts and future roster construction, but I wouldn’t comment on who would we talk about (long-term) contracts with.”
Has Evan Gattis shown you that he can be an every-day starting catcher?
“Yeah, he’s shown us that he’s got a good feel back there. Defensively, he’s done a tremendous job. He’s done a good job calling games, a great job blocking balls. I think as he plays more. He’ll even get better at some aspects of the game. But I think we all feel comfortable with him back there catching.”
Do you have more payroll flexibility this July as the trade deadline approaches than you’ve had at this point in some recent years at this point? So that if you need to add a player with a significant salary, you could?
“To me, that’s a strategic question I don’t like to answer, because I don’t necessarily like teams I’m dealing with to know what our flexibility is. I’m not going to comment on what we have payroll-wise. But I will say we’re in a position to make deals.”
Despite the free-agent contract that you gave B.J. Upton, is it still the organization’s philosophy to build through the draft and trades, rather than free agency?
“That’s always our preference. We try to supplement with the free-agent market, and our preference is to do it as little as possible. We always prefer to have our own players.”
Any other thoughts about the team as you prepare for the rest of the season?
“The one thing, if there’s one overriding thought that I’ve had about the team, it’s that it’s been a total team effort. Whether it’s the 25th man on the roster, everybody has contributed and put us in the position we’re in. David Carpenter and the job he’s done. Alex Wood. And we’ve gotten contributions from beyond our 25-man roster. We’ve had to go 33-35 deep, and everybody that’s come up – (Jose) Constanza, (Joey) Terdoslavich, every guy – has done a great job of contributing to a win or two, at least.”
