The Atlanta Braves are absolutely killing it at home this season, having only dropped one series at Turner Field all season long, and as of last Monday, sporting the best home record in the Majors with 49 wins to just 19 losses.
The Braves recently traded for a slugging former all-star first baseman that can slide right into the cleanup spot and let all-star catcher Brian McCann relax a bit in the five-spot of the order.
Rookie pitcher Mike Minor has stepped in seamlessly to the rotation spot that Kris Medlen had been mastering all season long before requiring Tommy John surgery to fix his pitching elbow.
Rookie sensation Jason Heyward has found his stroke from the first two months of the season and appears to be on cruise-control towards the National League Rookie of the Year award.
Martin Prado and Omar Infante are living up to their all-star billing this year and have just each other to contend with for the NL Batting Title.
So why are the Braves slumping? How has Atlanta managed to watch an 8-game division lead disappear into a one-half of a game deficit to the Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the NL East? The warning signs were there the whole time, it is just many folks were choosing to ignore them and instead beat the drum of “this is a magical season!”
It just might be a magical season, but if the Braves want to send retiring manager Bobby Cox and retiring closer Billy Wagner out as World Series champs, several adjustments need to be made. Quickly.
The Atlanta Braves have close to thirty last at-bat victories this season and while that means you can never count this team out of ANY game, it is a bit alarming for anyone out there not owning TUMS stock. Several times over the last few weeks it appeared that the team was looking forward to the late innings in a “well, we missed our chance with the bases loaded in the fourth, we’ll get ‘em in the eighth” approach and that simply cannot happen. The Braves don’t have the big bopper in the lineup that past lineups had, such as Fred McGriff, Andres Galarraga or Gary Sheffield, capable of putting three on the board in a hurry. Derrek Lee was this type of player three years ago, but you get the feeling that his skills have diminished a bit that the Cubs were willing to let him go for a trio of unproven minor league pitchers. This team MUST take advantage of ANY opportunity that presents itself regardless of the inning. Sometimes if a team has too much success, it will condition itself to maybe not try as hard until it is in that situation. I relate it a bit to Rafael Furcal, the former Braves shortstop. The speedy infielder had a bit of power and when he hit one out, it seemed he tried for the next five at-bats to cream another ball out and not just pound the ball and get on base.
Another flaw with this team is that, as excellent as it is at home, it is just as bad on the road. Well, not JUST as bad, but with a loss in the series-opener to the Pirates in Pittsburgh earlier this week, the Braves fell ten games under .500 on the season in road contests. At 30-40, the Braves have the worst road record of any team currently in a “playoff position if the season ended today.” The Yankees and Rays of the American League both play very well on the road, as do the Reds on the NL Central. While the Braves would host three games in a first round, best-of-five series should the team hold on to the NL East lead, what if the Phillies, who are SO hot right now ala Hansel in Zoolander, catch and pass the Braves. Then Atlanta would have to hold off the hard-charging San Francisco Giants for the RIGHT to go on the road for three in a best-of-five first round series. Atlanta must treat the road games with the same approach the team takes for a match-up at the Ted. If that means bringing sweet tea into the lockerroom, whatever, do it.
Finally, the pitching has been stellar with Tim Hudson and Jair Jurrjens on the bump but the other parts of the rotation need to pick up the slack. At the beginning of the season, the rotation was clearly the best in baseball. Derek Lowe was getting run support and winning games and Kris Medlen was stepping up to replace Kenshin Kawakami after the second-year Brave started to struggle with a 1-9 record. Then Medlen got hurt and Lowe dropped seven of his last nine decisions. Jurrjens’ return has helped to offset the drop in production from Tommy Hanson and Lowe. The rotation right now is getting quality starts from the rookie Minor but Lowe and Hanson are wild cards right now, leaving just Jurrjens and Hudson as the sure bets. It isn’t quite along the lines of Spahn and Sain and pray for rain, but it could get dicey in the playoffs.
The bottom line with the Braves right now is to keep dominating at home and try to at least split the road games. If Atlanta can beat up on some of the divisional opponents left, perhaps the two remaining series with the Phillies won’t mean anything other than playoff seeding as both will have clinched a playoff spot. The Braves will continue to ride this homestand for a series with the Nationals after the Cardinals leave town but then the team goes on the road for nine games before wrapping up the season with six games at home. Those odds seem to favor the Braves in a chase for the playoffs, but a few more road wins from the struggling pitchers would go along way to the folks not owning TUMS stock. Speaking of that, can you pass me a TUMS? The Phillies just won again, for seemingly the 900th time this month.
No comments:
Post a Comment