He becomes the first Brave to hit for the cycle since 1987.
Sadly it looks like the Braves have wasted the effort.
UPDATE: Kotsay singles in the bottom of the 9th for his fifth hit. He's gone over 1500 hits for his career.
Showing posts with label Braves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Braves. Show all posts
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Let Me Ask a Question
Does this lineup strike fear into anyone? Even the Kansas City Royals?
Blanco CF
Escobar SS
Kotchman 1B
Norton LF
Infante 3B
Johnson 2B
Francoeur RF
Miller C
Rookies, journeymen, and young guys in a slump. What a recipe for a fourth place finish. Casey Kotchman is in his first game as a Brave. The best player in an Atlanta uniform is Jair Jurrjens, and he's just been lifted for Blaine Boyer, he of the 8.31 ERA in the second half so far.
It's like a tale of three cities. The Braves, A's, and Twins all build from within, and are committed to making good moves and having a strong farm system. The A's trade half their starters every two years? They're the fifth-winningest team in this decade. The Twins can trade Johan Santana and lose Francisco Liriano to Tommy John surgery, and still be in the race. Why? Because they make smart moves, and every bad decision has a consequence. Atlanta isn't constrained financially; Atlanta is the 9th-largest metro area in the US. While Oakland is part of the 12th largest, they share it with the much more popular and visible Giants (and San Francisco is a bigger city, almost twice the size of Oakland). And Minneapolis-St. Paul is 16th.
Atlanta's advantage is a regional one; they draw fans from all over the southeast, with the nearest MLB teams in Washington and Miami. In contrast, the A's share the Bay Area with the Giants, and are in a state with four other Major League teams. Oakland is also per capita poorer than Atlanta. The Twin Cities are in the Great Lakes Megaplex, with Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto. Neither city is as culturally dominant in its area as Atlanta; thus the reference to Atlanta as a 'big market' as opposed to the 'small market' Twins and A's.
As I type this the Cardinals have teed off on Blaine Boyer. That guy has to have pictures of Bobby Cox and Roger McDowell. It's the only way he can stay in the bigs. Now comes news that Tim Hudson has been told he needs Tommy John surgery.
My point is this: Those teams lose good players all the time. The list of players the other two teams have lost permanently are a veritable roster of stud horses. Yet they continue to contend. The Braves have had hell this season, yet they can't do the same. Of their opening day rotation only Jurrjens has stayed off the DL. Same thing with the back three in the bullpen, and half of the opening day lineup. The reason? There's no consequence if the Braves make a mistake on a player; they have room to make a mistake because of a bigger payroll, the 10th highest in the majors. The Twins and A's don't have that luxury, being 24th and 28th. Yet they don't have Julian Tavares on the mound, currently stinking the joint up for his 10th different team.
And that's why those two can replace players better than the Braves can. There's no room for error.
Blanco CF
Escobar SS
Kotchman 1B
Norton LF
Infante 3B
Johnson 2B
Francoeur RF
Miller C
Rookies, journeymen, and young guys in a slump. What a recipe for a fourth place finish. Casey Kotchman is in his first game as a Brave. The best player in an Atlanta uniform is Jair Jurrjens, and he's just been lifted for Blaine Boyer, he of the 8.31 ERA in the second half so far.
It's like a tale of three cities. The Braves, A's, and Twins all build from within, and are committed to making good moves and having a strong farm system. The A's trade half their starters every two years? They're the fifth-winningest team in this decade. The Twins can trade Johan Santana and lose Francisco Liriano to Tommy John surgery, and still be in the race. Why? Because they make smart moves, and every bad decision has a consequence. Atlanta isn't constrained financially; Atlanta is the 9th-largest metro area in the US. While Oakland is part of the 12th largest, they share it with the much more popular and visible Giants (and San Francisco is a bigger city, almost twice the size of Oakland). And Minneapolis-St. Paul is 16th.
Atlanta's advantage is a regional one; they draw fans from all over the southeast, with the nearest MLB teams in Washington and Miami. In contrast, the A's share the Bay Area with the Giants, and are in a state with four other Major League teams. Oakland is also per capita poorer than Atlanta. The Twin Cities are in the Great Lakes Megaplex, with Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto. Neither city is as culturally dominant in its area as Atlanta; thus the reference to Atlanta as a 'big market' as opposed to the 'small market' Twins and A's.
As I type this the Cardinals have teed off on Blaine Boyer. That guy has to have pictures of Bobby Cox and Roger McDowell. It's the only way he can stay in the bigs. Now comes news that Tim Hudson has been told he needs Tommy John surgery.
My point is this: Those teams lose good players all the time. The list of players the other two teams have lost permanently are a veritable roster of stud horses. Yet they continue to contend. The Braves have had hell this season, yet they can't do the same. Of their opening day rotation only Jurrjens has stayed off the DL. Same thing with the back three in the bullpen, and half of the opening day lineup. The reason? There's no consequence if the Braves make a mistake on a player; they have room to make a mistake because of a bigger payroll, the 10th highest in the majors. The Twins and A's don't have that luxury, being 24th and 28th. Yet they don't have Julian Tavares on the mound, currently stinking the joint up for his 10th different team.
And that's why those two can replace players better than the Braves can. There's no room for error.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Wonderful
The Braves announcers are openly speculating that the team will be shopping Mark Teixeira if things don't improve and soon. While the possibility exists that he'll be gone at season's end-and it's about as likely as me swearing while I'm golfing tomorrow, knowing the history of the Braves and Scott Boras-there's no point in moving him unless there's a first line pitcher plus a solid position player involved.
And as I'm typing this, Francour just hit into a double play with the bags packed. They're down 5-2 and Campillo has been run after five. Ugh.
And as I'm typing this, Francour just hit into a double play with the bags packed. They're down 5-2 and Campillo has been run after five. Ugh.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
May I Contribute Some Sensible Analysis
Chipper Jones is currently hitting .394, though he's been sidelined for the last week or so with a strained quad muscle in his leg. Pundits around baseball have marveled that a career .310 hitter (nothing to sneeze at, mind you) could pull off three months of .400 hitting and about a .500 on-base percentage. I don't think it's strange at all, when you consider what the 21st century has held for the Captain of the Braves.
In 2002, the Braves brought in well-known Prima Donna Gary Sheffield. Chipper was moved from his customary 3-spot in the order (where he'd hit since his debut in 1995) to the cleanup spot, with perennial underachiever Andruw Jones behind him. Sheffield hit .307, with 25 homers and 84 RBI. Chipper, behind him, hit .327, with 26 homers and 100 RBI. The following year, still in the cleanup spot, Chip hit .305 with 27 homers and 106 RBI. Sheffield, in his contract year and hitting in the 3 spot, hit .330 with 39 homers and 127 RBI. Sheffield then left Atlanta for the Yankees, allowing Jones back to the 3 hole. Sheffield, by the way, has yet to hit .300 again.
In 2004, the injuries began to mount. The career-worst .248 season coincided with his return to third base, and JD Drew hitting behind him. Drew hit .305 (in his contract year, naturally) with 31 homers. He hasn't hit more than 20 since, by the way. Jones' worst season since was a .296 showing in 2005.
Chipper's cleanup protection the next two years was Andruw Jones. When he was good, he was great, and when he was bad, he was fat, lazy, and a free swinger. In the '05 season he hit .263 with 51 homers; in '06 he hit .262 with 41; and last year, in a strange contract year occurrance, he hit .222 with 26, free-falling to 8th in the order by the end of the season and swinging at throws to first base. Currently he is on the DL with the Dodgers, where he's hitting .143.
Currently, his protection in the lineup is Mark Teixeira, who's in his contract year (surprise!). Tex is hitting .271 with 15 homers this year, and 57 RBI. Strangely enough, with Tex behind him, who's not striking out at a record pace, his average is up and he's on pace to have his first 30-homer year since '04.
Chipper has spent most of the 21st century with primadonnas and free swingers and contract years hitting before and after him. Is it any surprise that with Tex behind him, and a lack of Andruw Jones dragging him down, that his average has gone up 60 points from last year?
And let me make this gripe: Derek Jeter. His career average is .316, and he's had a virtual all-star team hitting around him since he came up. He has over 200 fewer home runs, an on-base % twenty points lower, and an OPS over 100 points lower. Yet he's considered a first-ballot Hall of Fame player, while Chipper will probably have to wait a few years to get in. Why? Two reasons: One, AOL Time-Warner's budget restrictions on the Braves-they've only been to one Series since the corporation bought out Turner, and the free-spending ways of George Steinbrenner, who bought enough talent to win 4 series in the late '90s; and the propensity of the Braves to make some head-scratching decisions, which has resulted in some less than stellar guys being brought in (Quilvio Veras? Brett Boone? Marcus Giles? Michael Tucker?) and some others being inexplicably sent off (Jason Schmidt, Jermaine Dye-why, why why was he traded to Kansas City for Michael Tucker? Why?)
But Chipper's been the face of the Braves for 13 years now, and will be for several more-and perhaps as a first baseman in the future, much like Henry Aaron was at the end of his career. Now if he can just get healthy, and stay hot into the second half, there might be hope for the playoffs just yet.
In 2002, the Braves brought in well-known Prima Donna Gary Sheffield. Chipper was moved from his customary 3-spot in the order (where he'd hit since his debut in 1995) to the cleanup spot, with perennial underachiever Andruw Jones behind him. Sheffield hit .307, with 25 homers and 84 RBI. Chipper, behind him, hit .327, with 26 homers and 100 RBI. The following year, still in the cleanup spot, Chip hit .305 with 27 homers and 106 RBI. Sheffield, in his contract year and hitting in the 3 spot, hit .330 with 39 homers and 127 RBI. Sheffield then left Atlanta for the Yankees, allowing Jones back to the 3 hole. Sheffield, by the way, has yet to hit .300 again.
In 2004, the injuries began to mount. The career-worst .248 season coincided with his return to third base, and JD Drew hitting behind him. Drew hit .305 (in his contract year, naturally) with 31 homers. He hasn't hit more than 20 since, by the way. Jones' worst season since was a .296 showing in 2005.
Chipper's cleanup protection the next two years was Andruw Jones. When he was good, he was great, and when he was bad, he was fat, lazy, and a free swinger. In the '05 season he hit .263 with 51 homers; in '06 he hit .262 with 41; and last year, in a strange contract year occurrance, he hit .222 with 26, free-falling to 8th in the order by the end of the season and swinging at throws to first base. Currently he is on the DL with the Dodgers, where he's hitting .143.
Currently, his protection in the lineup is Mark Teixeira, who's in his contract year (surprise!). Tex is hitting .271 with 15 homers this year, and 57 RBI. Strangely enough, with Tex behind him, who's not striking out at a record pace, his average is up and he's on pace to have his first 30-homer year since '04.
Chipper has spent most of the 21st century with primadonnas and free swingers and contract years hitting before and after him. Is it any surprise that with Tex behind him, and a lack of Andruw Jones dragging him down, that his average has gone up 60 points from last year?
And let me make this gripe: Derek Jeter. His career average is .316, and he's had a virtual all-star team hitting around him since he came up. He has over 200 fewer home runs, an on-base % twenty points lower, and an OPS over 100 points lower. Yet he's considered a first-ballot Hall of Fame player, while Chipper will probably have to wait a few years to get in. Why? Two reasons: One, AOL Time-Warner's budget restrictions on the Braves-they've only been to one Series since the corporation bought out Turner, and the free-spending ways of George Steinbrenner, who bought enough talent to win 4 series in the late '90s; and the propensity of the Braves to make some head-scratching decisions, which has resulted in some less than stellar guys being brought in (Quilvio Veras? Brett Boone? Marcus Giles? Michael Tucker?) and some others being inexplicably sent off (Jason Schmidt, Jermaine Dye-why, why why was he traded to Kansas City for Michael Tucker? Why?)
But Chipper's been the face of the Braves for 13 years now, and will be for several more-and perhaps as a first baseman in the future, much like Henry Aaron was at the end of his career. Now if he can just get healthy, and stay hot into the second half, there might be hope for the playoffs just yet.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
On the Bright Side of, Well, Everything
At least the much-overhyped New York Metropolitans are imploding more and more daily. There is nothing more sweet to my soul than watching a media favorite-and while they're not the Yankees or Red Sox, their media attention is so much more annoying, because they never win anything!-go down in a smoking heap. I'll admit to a bit of schadenfreude over the Mets' 2008 woes, since my Braves are in a mess as well. At least we've had Chipper Jones' .400 average to enjoy so far. That, and, let's face it, if the Braves get healthy soon they can still make a move. The Mets are so dysfunctional right now, from the owners to the GM to the interim manager to the underachieving players, that it'll take a miracle on the order of Bill Buckner for them to right things.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Somehow, I Saw This Happening
27 games in, and the Braves are killing me. And by the Braves, I mean the pen.
Chipper Jones is a triple crown threat; Yunel Escobar has lived up to expectations; McCann and Francour have been solid again; Tex is coming around. Mark Kotsay has been a pleasant surprise, and Matt Diaz and Blanco have been good enough in left. Hudson, Smoltz and Glavine have been good when healthy and Jair Jurrjens has proven worthy of the price the Braves paid for him.
And the pen still sucks. Soriano and Moylan out is bad enough. Hopefully Smoltz will help-he's going back to the pen full-time when he gets off the DL. But these guys are killing the Braves right now. The team saves leader has two. Yes, you read that right. Two saves. And last week, they blew a series with the Nats all by themselves.
It's going to be a long, hard slog into third place-and that's if the Marlins don't get there first.
Chipper Jones is a triple crown threat; Yunel Escobar has lived up to expectations; McCann and Francour have been solid again; Tex is coming around. Mark Kotsay has been a pleasant surprise, and Matt Diaz and Blanco have been good enough in left. Hudson, Smoltz and Glavine have been good when healthy and Jair Jurrjens has proven worthy of the price the Braves paid for him.
And the pen still sucks. Soriano and Moylan out is bad enough. Hopefully Smoltz will help-he's going back to the pen full-time when he gets off the DL. But these guys are killing the Braves right now. The team saves leader has two. Yes, you read that right. Two saves. And last week, they blew a series with the Nats all by themselves.
It's going to be a long, hard slog into third place-and that's if the Marlins don't get there first.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Santana to Mets
Run up the white flag, fellow Braves fans. We are doomed to third place again.
Yeah, bringing back Tom Glavine was nice, but he's past 40. And after him, Smoltz, and Hudson is the same uninspring 4-5 that's been known to collapse somewhere in the vicinity of the fifth inning twice a week, and that's assuming that Mike Hampton is actually healthy this year and remembers his way to the mound.
The middle of the order looks strong again, with 3-4-5-6 all capable of 100 RBI seasons, but the top is still young (though good) and the back has a couple of journeyman outfielders. We here at the Spot were none too pleased with the trade of Renteria, who had been the most consistent guy in the lineup the last two years, though we understood the reasons.
And then there's the bullpen, the sore spot that's been dragging the team down for most of the last 15 years and comically so for the last two third-place debacles. Atlanta's bullpen is the Bermuda Triangle of Relief Pitchers: They go in, but they don't come out. No matter who they've brought in (and there have been some good players brought in) they never seem to get the job done. Sadly, last year's pen was comparatively good, but injuries and overuse-thanks to a bad 3-4-5 spot in the rotation-caused them to break down late in the year. When Pete Moylan (who we at the Spot like) is your best reliever, and you happened upon him through the World Baseball Classic, you might have a problem.
Sadly, we here at the Spot miss the days when Ted Turner was spending a boatload of money to bring guys in, and the scouting department was second to none. The front office is to blame for a lot of the results of the past few seasons, as they stood pat while the Phillies and Mets made moves to get better. I understand that AOL Time Warner put them on a strict budget, but I've got two words for the folks that use that as a crutch: Oakland A's. If they had the Atlanta budget...
But I digress. The Metropolitans have put themselves in position to challenge for the NL this year. Yeah, the rotation behind Santana is either aged or young, but they've got 18 games against the Nationals (how I despise that name. Just call 'em the Senators!) and the comically-poor Marlins, not to mention the games where Chuck James or Buddy Carlyle will be pitching for the Bravos (I'm still not counting on Mike Hampton. Sorry). Then there's the Mets lineup, which is pretty good up and down the order.
But I'll be tuned in whenever the Braves are on TV (thanks for ruining things, TBS) and listening on the radio before dark. I just can't quit them, even though the reality of third place has sunk in.
Yeah, bringing back Tom Glavine was nice, but he's past 40. And after him, Smoltz, and Hudson is the same uninspring 4-5 that's been known to collapse somewhere in the vicinity of the fifth inning twice a week, and that's assuming that Mike Hampton is actually healthy this year and remembers his way to the mound.
The middle of the order looks strong again, with 3-4-5-6 all capable of 100 RBI seasons, but the top is still young (though good) and the back has a couple of journeyman outfielders. We here at the Spot were none too pleased with the trade of Renteria, who had been the most consistent guy in the lineup the last two years, though we understood the reasons.
And then there's the bullpen, the sore spot that's been dragging the team down for most of the last 15 years and comically so for the last two third-place debacles. Atlanta's bullpen is the Bermuda Triangle of Relief Pitchers: They go in, but they don't come out. No matter who they've brought in (and there have been some good players brought in) they never seem to get the job done. Sadly, last year's pen was comparatively good, but injuries and overuse-thanks to a bad 3-4-5 spot in the rotation-caused them to break down late in the year. When Pete Moylan (who we at the Spot like) is your best reliever, and you happened upon him through the World Baseball Classic, you might have a problem.
Sadly, we here at the Spot miss the days when Ted Turner was spending a boatload of money to bring guys in, and the scouting department was second to none. The front office is to blame for a lot of the results of the past few seasons, as they stood pat while the Phillies and Mets made moves to get better. I understand that AOL Time Warner put them on a strict budget, but I've got two words for the folks that use that as a crutch: Oakland A's. If they had the Atlanta budget...
But I digress. The Metropolitans have put themselves in position to challenge for the NL this year. Yeah, the rotation behind Santana is either aged or young, but they've got 18 games against the Nationals (how I despise that name. Just call 'em the Senators!) and the comically-poor Marlins, not to mention the games where Chuck James or Buddy Carlyle will be pitching for the Bravos (I'm still not counting on Mike Hampton. Sorry). Then there's the Mets lineup, which is pretty good up and down the order.
But I'll be tuned in whenever the Braves are on TV (thanks for ruining things, TBS) and listening on the radio before dark. I just can't quit them, even though the reality of third place has sunk in.
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