BravesNuWorld || An Atlanta Braves Blog

Jeff Francoeur has a blog here. This is a brazen move for a Braves player right now. I found out about Frenchy’s blog from this cutesy pie.

Boy Frenchy, you’ve really got it right with the headline to your most recent post. You guys really do need to start winning on the road. This isn’t really funny at all.

We want to get out on this road trip and start playing with some more consistency. Going 1-4 on the last road trip was unacceptable mainly because we won the first game. That’s just not going to cut it.

Well, sorry to tell you, Frenchy, but the Pittsburgh Pirates handed it to you. Obviously, the boys weren’t reading your blog.

There’s more from the palm reader:

Going to Philadelphia will be fun because it’s always a tough place to play. Everybody seems to be focusing on the Mets and Phillies right now. We want to show them that we’ll be right there with them for the entire season.

Yes, great series against the Phillies, Frenchy. I really loved the 5-1 loss today. Amazing offensive display tonight. Is that a new swing you picked up this week? It sort of resembles a caveman trying to hoola-hoop.

And Chuck James, yeah, he is so awesome. I wish Bobby Cox would realize his rookie season was a fluke and Mr. Two Pitch shouldn’t be in the big leagues.

I am sorry, but it is obvious I am ticked off.

Much like last year, 2008 has been a season rife with drama, a Doctor Jeckel and Mr. Hyde campaign mixed with a little A Tale of Two Cities: playing in Atlanta and not Atlanta. In 2007, inexplicably, they could not win at home, they scored a ton of runs with 2 outs, and they lost a bunch of one run games. This year, they cannot win on the road, they can’t hit with 2 outs, and they… never mind.

I miss the days when the Atlanta Braves just went out and won 65% of their games, almost blithely, walked into the post season with as much resistance as a turnstyle, and took their division title as if it was their collective birth rite. For 16 years, they were as much an autumnal staple as cranberry sauce. A Mark Wohlers fast ball would lead right into “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!” The outcomes were never ideal, to say the least, but at least we got a lot of free baseball. Aside from the heart pounding operatics of 91 and 92, the Braves made the following decade and a half look effortless (playoffs notwithstanding). On his way out of town, Adam LaRouche was quoted as saying that Braves fans were “spoiled”. Why wouldn’t they be? They were conditioned to expect winning going all the way back to when Adam was in little league and his ‘attention’ was on dandelions instead of the baseball.

I keep waiting for the sports media to discover the next peculiarity, like ‘Braves haven’t gotten a hit all year off of a Sagittarius’. Ask any Braves fan how their team is doing these days and they’ll look at you like you just asked an old buddy how his marriage is going–right before he tells you she had an affair and took all his money. Several years ago, the tomahawk seemed to abruptly stop chopping. The starting pitching has been the scapegoat for the foibles, but the Braves won division titles even before the maturation of John Smoltz and the inclusion of Greg Maddux (we spoiled fans too often forget that the Braves history is sordid with entire decades of forgettable seasons).

These days, it has been a zero sum game: it’s either over by the second inning after an early Braves knockout punch or they go right down to wire, culminating in a one run loss. The only time fans are allowed a moments respite from nail biting in close ones is when Chipper Jones is hitting. The 45 minutes in between his at bats has all the drama of an episode of CSI Miami, and as many possible suspects. Near every player has been diagnosed with some chronic problem that, without fail, seems to flare up on the road.

One consistently pleasant surprise has been Mark Kotsay. Against all odds, he has managed to remain healthy, hit for high average, and, in little over a month, all but erased Andruw Jones‘ legacy with a nifty defensive highlight reel of his own. Do any of us still believe Bobby Cox’s claim that Andruw’s glove and arm saved the Braves several runs a week? Unfortunately, each white cloud in Atlanta is stenciled in black lining; Andruw’s successor in the clean up role has been nearly as unproductive in 2008. Mark Teixeira’s power numbers have diminished and he is striking out more than usual, causing some to wonder if his mind has already left for Baltimore and if perhaps Brian McCann might better serve the clean-up role until Teixeira gets hot again. Like, Texas hot.

That is extremely unlikely, however. Bobby Cox has always been careful with the egos of his “stars”. To his credit–or discredit, depending on who you ask–the Braves’ skipper has remained unflappable, refusing to get frazzled despite some bumps in the road (or on the road, rather). Like a portrait of an old war general, the iconic flinty stare hanging in the dugout hasn’t changed, despite a touch of gray.

In a season so polarized towards black and white, a little gray would be most welcome. The Braves’ imperturbable skipper–the old general–will stay the course and try to figure out why, as guests, the Braves have been as sloppy as Randy Quaid in Vacation, and as hosts as meticulous as Martha Stewart.

Otherwise, come October, we may be watching a Miami drama of another kind lead into the Peanuts.

Ray–[BravesNuWorld]

You all see the trend? The Atlanta Braves win 4, then they lose 5. They win 6, then they lose 3?

Folks, that is your Atlanta Braves. Hey, I have to say, last year the Braves couldn’t even manage a winning streak let alone win six in a row. Last year, the Braves were two and out. Two wins and then a skid.

The Braves tonight broke a three-game losing streak against those Amazing Pirates, winning 8-1, in a worthless game that ticked me off more than made me happy. See, the game before that, the first of a doubleheader, the Braves stranded something like 12 baserunners in a 5-0 shutout. I accidentally wrote shitout and probably should have kept it like that, because shit is a good word to describe that crap on the field this afternoon.

The performance was so pathetic that the Braves made a two-hit game from Jair Jurrjens seem like it was a 12-hit blow out.

In a year the Braves have the best hitter in baseball playing on the team, they can’t seem to muster enough strength to win the games they are supposed to win. Losing a series to the Pirates? Come on!

The problem is, the game was in Pittsburgh, and the Braves have no idea how to win on the road yet. Mark Teixeira left with back spasms, about the only thing moving in his whole entire body of late. Maybe the Braves ought to just ship him out on a stretcher to Baltimore now. Can Indians pitcher Cliff Lee play first base?

When the Atlanta Braves play at home, they’re golden.

When they play in some other team’s stadium, they are woeful 4-12. Yes, that is 4 wins and 12 losses.

As Chipper Jones continues his torrent pace this year, even he seems to face struggles outside of Hotlanta. Losing two in a row to the streaking Pittsburgh Pirates is a bit discouraging on several fronts. The Pirates are an average, maybe even a below average ball club. And now the Pirates have a better record than the Braves.

Thank god for the rain out today. After winning six games in a row, the Braves returned to losing, all because they got in a bus to drive away from home.

In other Braves news, John Smoltz hoped to resume throwing today. But because of the rain, he probably didn’t. Bobby Cox reportedly doesn’t want Smoltz to return to the closer role, but Smoltz does. It could be interesting how this turns out when Smoltz is ready to come back off the DL.

Buddy Carlyle is on the DL with a strained neck. He joins Smoltz, Pete Moylan, Mike Hampton, Alfonso Soriano, Mike Gonzales and I am sure I am missing probably four other guys.

The Braves signed minor league free agent outfielder Reid Gorecki and have assigned him to AA Mississippi. He played with St. Louis last year and hit an amazing .237 with AA Springfield. This is pointless but news nonetheless.

Tonight’s game against the reeling Padres secured a few things: the series sweep; the best home record in baseball; the winning steak at 6.  Nice feathers in the Braves’ cap, to be sure.  But far more importantly, tonight’s game–in which long time chronic problems magically evaporated before our very eyes–offered Braves fans something far more valuable: reason to believe.

They found a way to win despite multiple obstacles, any one of which alone are usually enough to nail the coffin shut: losing after the 6th inning; a (gasp) one run score; an early exit from the 4th or 5th starter; and a quiet performance from Chipper Jones. 

Relatively speaking, anyway.  (He had a single) 

Could tonight possibly have been the watershed game that we have desperately been waiting for, the trend setter that will put the Braves on an inexorable path back to the post season? It may be reaching a bit to assign this single game such macrocosmic importance, but man if they didn’t finally look like the team we all miss dearly–a combination of lethal finesse and confident swagger. They capitalized on opponent’s mistakes while making few of their own. The bullpen made fantastic pitches when they needed to, and didn’t commit any fatal walks late. And Greg Norton has already made a greater contribution from the bench in two plate appearances than Mike Woodward and Pete Orr did all of last year. Combined.

It might be premature to do cartwheels over the 33rd game of the year, but if it just so happens that what we just witnessed was the beginning of what will be known in baseball parlance as the Restoration of the Atlanta Braves, then for the Marlins, Mets, Nats, and Phillies:
it’s already over.

Ray K.-[BravesNuWorld]

Sports Illustrated is taking a stab here at the future of Mark Teixeira in Atlanta. The writer, using unnamed sources, makes a few points that should alarm Braves fans:

• The source claims the Braves will not re-sign Teixeira because he can find a team willing to pay him 10 years, $200 million.
• Those teams could be the Yankees, Mariners, Orioles and Mets.

Braves GM Frank Wren doesn’t provide much optimism that Tex will stay in Atlanta. He also does not provide much support for the idea. He sounds like Alan Greenspan instead of a general manager who wants to win a pennant.

“I think we’ll have a better sense of that when the season’s over,” Braves GM Frank Wren said. “We’ll see what the market looks like, and we’ll see what it will take to sign Mark.” Wren added that the Braves want to avoid spending too high a percentage on any one player.

One baseball executive who knows Teixeira well predicted, “No chance he stays. He’s waited his whole life for this moment.”

For what exactly has Tex waited his whole life? To cash in? Or to be signed to a long-term contract? I guess both.

Right now–and I am well aware that Tex has consistently started slow only to warm up for a big second half of the season–I am not sure he is worth such a sumptuous contract. People fail to recognize that these early games can turn into the most important games of any year if you lose your division by 3 games. Just stay tuned and remember what I just said.

But the bigger problem is that without him, the Braves are left with a gaping hole at first base. There’s not anyone in the farm system who is ready to take that position by storm, which is exactly why he is here. And if Tex heads out, the Braves lose a clean-up hitter who levels fear into opposing pitchers. In fact, it seems clear that he is heading out:

“The Orioles are close to my heart,” Teixeira admitted.

“I have family in Baltimore,” he continued. “But I have family in Georgia. And I have family in New York.”

That’s great Tex. We’re glad your heart is in it here. We hope Peter Angelos treats you right.

Oh what might have become of the 2007 Atlanta Braves if they had had a healthy Mark Kotsay in center field instead of Andruw Jones, Mark Teixeira hitting behind Chipper Jones the entire year, and Jair Jurrjens throwing every 5th day instead of Chuck James…

But, no point in crying over spilt milk; it is 2008, and the Braves have gone on another win streak at home–four, so far–and are above .500 again. They dispatched of the struggling Padres tonight with another offensive onslaught, and the hottest hitter on the planet hit yet another ball over the wall in deep left center, elevating his average to an astounding .426. It is the third best start for a major league hitter in the last 50 years. The Padres changed their approach to pitching Chipper after that and didn’t throw another pitch anywhere near the strike zone. Incredibly, despite Chipper’s torrid hitting streak, most teams have been daring him to hit what they offer–some even double daring and double dog daring him. I’m not sure what dare comes next but he’d likely hit that one, too. Teixeira has been off to his habitual slow start and one would have to think that when he heats up, most teams won’t have the luxury of giving Chipper the Bondsian treatment.

The 2008 Atlanta Braves may boast their best offensive line-up ever from top to bottom, with Kotsay hitting .312 in the 7th spot.

The pitching obviously remains a concern. John Smoltz is on the DL, Tom Glavine looked all of his 42 years his last start, and Mike Hampton probably just dislocated his tongue during lunch. Rafael Soriano is still sore, Peter Moylan is out for the year, and Mike Gonzales isn’t back yet.

Yet.

When he returns–and all signs point to it happening soon–and Smoltz joins the pen to close the close games they have been squandering, the Braves might be in position to make a serious run for the playoffs. Certianly, they’d still need to pick up a quality starting pitcher at the trade deadline, but if that’s the only glaring necessity come July, they’d be doing markedly better than last year.

Ray K.–[BravesNuWorld]

Finally, the Atlanta Braves had some clutch hits in a game. Wonderful things happen when you get hits with men on base. Against the Cincinnati Reds last night, the Braves broke away from a close game to dominate the Reds in the late innings with some clutch hitting and strong pitching from the bull pen.

Jo Jo Reyes pitched surprisingly well, giving up only one run in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five. I’m not going to hold my breath, but his performance was a bright sign for the Braves.

“He can be a big shot in the arm for us, with the news of Smoltzie,” catcher Brian McCann said. “He’s got the stuff to succeed at this level.

The Braves 15 hits in the game, with Yunel Escobar leading the way with hitting 3 out of four times.

In other news, Braves reliever Peter Moylan had to end a bullpen session before the game as he tested his strained right elbow. It is looking more and more likely that he will have to get season-ending surgery.

Julio Franco, the 49-year-old baseball journeyman and former Brave, called it quits this week.

Here is another article highlighting Chipper Jones’ great start to the season.

Although we didn’t have a chance to blog about it, Tim Hudson pitched his 11th career shutout this week. That performance ended his three-game skid of sketchy pitching.

The stat showing the array of one run losses spanning back to 2006 started out as an oddity, attributable to some problems with holding and/or closing games mixed with a dash of bad luck. Then, about 2 weeks ago, when the Atlanta Braves squandered another chance to win a game late, it became eerie. Well, folks, I think it has officially become Hitchcockian.

They are now 0-9 in one run games this year and stand as the ONLY major league team not to eek out a victory in such a close affair. Sure, the bullpen is banged up and the offense only shows up every other day but this is ridiculous. ESPN analysts were marveling at the stat 5 one run losses ago. It stands to reason that this nightmarish distinction will come to an end sonner or later and the Braves will win a few contests in dramatic fashion. The question is: will it be too late it? If they lose the division by 2 games, how stomach turning will hindsight be, knowing that if they had even managed to win 20% of the close ones…

Alas, we can indulge in what-if scenarios until we are blue in the face. There is a vast expanse of a season still lying before us, unwritten. Mike Gonzales’s return to his role as set-up man now seems imminent, as does John Smoltz’s return to the closer’s role. Just like that, the 8th and 9th inning could suddenly prove to be the Braves’ most formidable. Unfortunately, things haven’t been working out ‘just like that’ in quite a while. They’ll have to take it one run at a time.

Ray–[BravesNuWorld]

John Smoltz, who is currently serving the first week on the disabled list, is reportedly going to return as the Atlanta Braves closer once his shoulder heals. The revelation reported here is a serious blow to the Braves rotation already reeling from inconsistency and injuries. Although Smoltz would solidify the closer position for a very shaky bullpen, he’d leave a massive hole in the starting rotation because he is the top pitcher the organization currently has.

Smoltz is dominating at whatever he does. When he was a closer for three years, he converted 154 of 168 save opportunities. Without him starting, it would leave Tim Hudson, Tom Glavine, and Jair Jurrjens carrying the rotation for the rest of the year. The Braves have Buddy Carlyle, Jeff Bennett and Chuck James to rotate, and they could possibly call up Jo Jo Reyes, who was a complete disaster last year.

In other words, the Braves look to be heading to where they have been the last three years: sitting home in October.

After another 1-run loss tonight to the Washington Nationals, making the Braves 0-9 this year in 1-run games, the season is looking real dismal. The Braves have lost four straight games.

Why are the Braves losing? The lineup, at face value, is as strong as any team in the league. Who is the clutch, go-to guy? Who can we count on?

The Braves performed much better with lesser teams because they had clutch hitters. Players such as Mark Lemke, Jeff Blauser, Otis Nixon and Sid Bream may not have been “Mark Teixeira’s” of this era, but they did make plays when they counted. Today, we have players who seem to be always swinging for the fences, or getting hits at the least important times. I cannot even remember the last time the Braves had a game-winning hit. When the game is close with two innings left, I could go get a soda from the fridge and return to see Brian McCann pop up for the final out of the game, and sit back down to wonder how six outs just transpired in a manner of minutes. But that’s easy to figure out because the Braves are a predictable team right now.

If it is a close game, you can expect them to give up. Why is Terry Pendleton standing for this?