Fat Lady Warming Up Her Mic For The Braves

Previously published in Baseball Digest Daily on July 29, 2008.

ATLANTA – At All-Star break the Atlanta Braves were poised to make a run. Their schedule allowed them a realistic opportunity to create a tight, four-way race in the NL East.

Being in the hunt for a playoff spot would put the Braves in the position most analysts expected them to be in throughout this season. Being in the hunt could also convince Braves GM Frank Wren to stop accepting calls inquiring about a Mark Teixeira trade.

On July 16 with the Braves sitting 6.5 games behind first and the last-place Nationals coming to town, it wasn’t time for the Fat Lady to sing just yet.

A lot has occurred since the Braves laced up their spikes and took the field after All-Star break and most of the news is bleak.

The underachieving Braves lost the first series after break to the overachieving Nats, allowing one of the worst offensive teams in MLB to score 29 runs at Turner Field.

Scurrying out of Atlanta with their tail between their legs, the Braves went on the road where they regrouped and won a three-game series against the division rival Florida Marlins.

Although the Braves lost just one of those games, their biggest loss occurred during their Game 3 win when All-Star third baseman Chipper Jones strained a hamstring hustling to beat out a throw to first base.

Taking the momentum from their road series victory in Florida, the Braves continued on to the City Of Brotherly Love for their much anticipated series against another NL East division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies; a series they would have to play without Jones who was still nursing his hammy.

Citizens Bank Park is known as a hitter’s ballpark and is an intimidating place to take the mound, even for seasoned veterans. That didn’t seem to faze Braves rookie phenomenon Jair Jurrjens who started Game 1 and hurled eight innings of shutout ball, leading his Braves to an 8-2 win for his 10^th victory of the season.

In Game 2, capitalizing on the hitter’s park theory, the Braves scored nine runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 9-3 lead and were primed to win back-to-back road series for the first time all season.

The Phillies had other plans. They answered with seven in the bottom of the fifth to take a 10-9 lead and steal that game from the Braves.

The Braves bats stayed alive for most of that Phillies series. Offensively, they averaged nine runs per game, scoring a total of 27 runs in the three games . . .  but that wasn’t enough; not when your bullpen squandered every lead they are handed.

The Braves blew dominating leads of five and six runs during Game 2 and 3, their bullpen collapsing both times and causing the Braves to surrender the most important series of the year. They were clearly in position to return home in the thick of the NL East playoff race.

Instead, the Braves returned home for seven games against tough opponents, the Cardinals and red-hot Brewers, and will be playing without their All-Star cast.

Brian McCann suffered a concussion during Game 3 from a collision at the plate and is listed game-to-game while Jones and No. 1 starter Tim Hudson were placed on the 15 day DL beginning July 28^th.

This is deflating news. Even the most optimistic should consider throwing in the towel.

There is a window of opportunity in sports and the Braves window is slamming shut. After this past week of blown opportunities, GM Wren is expected to not only answer the phone when it rings, but also place a few calls of his own.

With the deadline looming just hours away, Teixeira should be packing his bags. And as for The Fat Lady . . . it’s time for her to warm up her mic.

Braves Need Early Win Streak To Save Teixeira

Previously published in Baseball Digest Daily on July 16, 2008. 

ATLANTA- Now that we’ve taken a few days to come down from the adrenaline rush furnished by the longest game in All-Star history that included appearances from Atlanta Braves Chipper Jones and Brian McCann, it’s time to take a look at the importance of a strong Braves start to begin the second half.

As the Braves come out rested after the break, two issues seem to be of interest. One, closing the gap on the NL East leaders and two, GM Frank Wren seems to need a reason to keep clean-up hitter Mark Teixeira past the July 31 trade deadline. These issues seem to go hand-in-hand. In a recent interview, when asked about the possibility of trading the Georgia Tech grad, Wren responded, “A lot depends on how our club is performing.”

Teixeira said in an earlier interview that he is taking it one game at a time and knows it’s just part of the business. Maybe so, but this part of the business may be taking a toll on the player. After hitting .287 with 9 HR’s and a slugging percentage of .617 for a productive month of June, his numbers have dropped considerably in July. Through 13 games this month, his average was .250 and he had one HR and a slugging percentage of.438.

After many picked the Braves to be the front runners in the NL East, they experienced an underachieving first half going 45-50 which included a dismal 5-22 record in one-run games. The Braves began the second half 6.5 games behind the division leading Philadelphia Phillies and NY Mets who shared the top spot. But with the upcoming schedule for all these teams, things could change drastically.

The first three series after the All-Star break offers an incredible opportunity for the Braves to get right back into the race. They opened against the last place Washington Nationals at Turner Field on July 18. The Braves pitchers own the second best ERA in the NL going up against the Nationals who have one of the softest line-ups in MLB. The Nats are last in the majors with a team batting average of .239 and their lackluster roster does not have a single player with double digits in HRs.

This appears to be a dream second-half opening series for Atlanta who is expected to win the series on their home field.

Tim Hudson (10-7) did come out and get the win in the first game of that series, a one-run 7-6 victory, but Jair Jurrjens (9-5) struggled in game two, giving up five earned runs and taking the loss, 8-2.

With the game two loss, the Braves squandered an opportunity to move closer to the Phillies who lost to the Marlins that same night. But Atlanta can still salvage the Washington series with a win in game three on Sunday before they go on the road.

While the Braves host the Nats, the Phillies are in hot, humid Florida against the Marlins before going to New York for a three game series against the Mets. Those two match-ups are sure to restructure the top three spots in the NL East.

After this weekend’s Nats series, the Braves visit the Marlins for three games and then head north to play the Phillies in what could be the most important series of their season. In this cluster of division rival games, something has got to give.

With the top three teams in the NL East going head-to-head all week, every Braves victory would gain a full game on one of those rivals, moving them closer to a playoff position and right back in the race. If they are able to close the gap prior to next weekend’s Philly series, their performance in the City of Brotherly Love could define their season. After being swept at home by the Phillies earlier in the year, returning the favor would put the Braves in contention and probably keep Teixeira in Atlanta.

It’s no secret that Teixeira has become a hot topic of trade rumors throughout the league. It’s pretty obvious the Braves need to step it up a notch and find a way to win to get back in it by the end of next weekend’s Phillies series or they will likely be playing the rest of the season without Teixeira.

It’s crunch time for the Braves. If they respond and come out of the gate with a flurry, the NL East may suddenly find itself in a tight four way race for first, The Fat Lady may not be singing for quite some time and the Jimi Hendrix hit, “All Along The Watchtower” will continue to fill the air at Turner Field even after July 31, when Teixeira steps to the plate.

Demoted Francoeur Joins Dontrelle Willis

Previously published in Baseball Digest Daily.

DETROIT – This year, star MLB players are learning there are no guaranteed positions on the rosters. Despite receiving enormous salaries and long-term contracts, All-Star players and fan favorites are being forced to trade chartered flights to MLB cities for trips to away games on a bus.

Dontrelle Willis (29 million over three years) discovered that in June when the Detroit Tigers sent the All-Star left-handed pitcher to their Single A affiliate in Lakeland. Willis was given that assignment after posting an 0-1 record with the Tigers over four starts, lasting a total of 11.1 innings. He experienced severe control problems in those games, walking 21 (almost two per inning average) and posting an ERA of 10.32.

Still battling control problems in Lakeland, Willis is finding it difficult to recapture the form that put him on the NL All-Star team in 2005 when he pitched for the Marlins.

MLB’s latest victim of demotion is the Atlanta Braves’ Gold Glove winner Jeff Francoeur. After batting a miserable .121 over an 18 game span, Bobby Cox relegated the starting outfielder to AA affiliate Mississippi, the same team Francoeur played for before his MLB debut in 2005.

Former Georgia Tech player Jason Perry made his big league debut Friday night after being called up from the Brave’s Triple A Richmond team to replace Francoeur. In his first major league at bat, Perry got behind with a 1-2 count before fouling off several pitches then finally ripping an RBI triple deep in the right field gap, giving the Braves their first lead over any opponent in the last 47 innings.

Over the past two and a half seasons, Francoeur has started 408 games and was settled in as a regular for the Braves until the surprising news came after the Braves lost to the Phillies on Thursday. He was held hitless in four at bats that game, swinging at the first pitch in his last three at bats for routine outs.

Francoeur who hit .293 last year has clearly struggled with his swing most of the season. In addition to taking extra swings in the batting cage with his coaches, he visited an eye doctor in late June and began wearing a corrective lens in his right eye hoping to break out of his slump.

Nothing improved his performance at the plate; in fact his average before the corrective lens was .246 and dropped even lower to .234 over the next few weeks. His mechanics were horribly out of synch during Thursday’s Philly game; Cox had finally seen enough and demoted Francoeur.

The Tigers responded to the Willis move that occurred on June 10th by winning 15 out of the next 18 the rest of the month of June. After the Francoeur move Thursday, the Braves came out of the gate with a vengeance to break their losing streak, defeating the Houston Astros 6-2.

A strong message comes with these two transactions by the Braves and Tigers. No position is guaranteed to any player, All-Star or otherwise. The name of the game in pro sports is “win” and when teams aren’t winning or players aren’t producing, changes are made even at the cost of moving high-profile players like Dontrelle Willis and Jeff Francoeur.

Jair Jurrjens Making Early Run For Rookie Of The Year

Previously published in The Detroit Free Press and Baseball Digest Daily on May 28, 2008.

ATLANTA – The last time Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox said, “This kid can pitch, he’ll be around here for a while.” he wasn’t kidding. The year was 1988, Cox was the GM for the Braves and the “kid” he was referring to was John Smoltz, a young, hard-throwing pitcher who had just been obtained in a trade with the Tigers. Since then, Smoltz, who still pitches for the Braves, has blossomed into a sure Hall of Famer, posting 210 wins, 154 saves and over 3,000 strike outs.

In May, 2008 as manager of the Braves, Cox made a similar statement, “This kid can pitch, he’s gonna’ be a good one”. This time the “kid” Cox is referring to is another acquisition from the Tigers, 22 year-old starting pitcher, Jair Jurrjens. After eleven starts this year, the rookie pitching phenomenon, is taking the National League by storm. After being part of an unpopular trade that sent hometown favorite, Edgar Renteria to the Tigers, Jurrjens is now being referred to as the most impressive rookie pitcher the Braves have had in over a decade.

The Braves were at home on Memorial Day Monday and Cox, again showing confidence in Jurrjens, put the rookie right-hander on the mound against the first-place Diamondbacks and their ace Brandon Webb (9-1). Going into Monday’s game, Jurrjens had a 5-3 record with an impressive 2.64 ERA. At that time, Jurrjens ERA was 4th best in the league and better than Webb’s (2.69).

Against the Diamondbacks, Jurrjens, out-pitched Webb during the Braves 7-3 win, but was pulled with a 5-3 lead because of a blister developing on his throwing hand, just one out shy of recording his 6th victory of the season.

During his post game interview Monday, Cox said, “Jurrjens pitched incredibly good. He’s a young kid; he’s pitched a ton of good innings for us this year.”

Yes he has and his record should indicate that. In two of his past outings, the rookie walked away with no decision after giving up no runs in one game then only one run in another. It is safe to say both of those outings deserved to be victories as well as Sunday’s game if he were left in for one more out. Jurrjens record could easily be 8-3 right now which would only rub more salt in the wounds of Tiger fans as they watch their team’s starting pitching staff struggle throughout the year.

Jurrjens who has not given up more than four runs in any of his outings this season, is way ahead of Smoltz’ pace, thus far, as Smoltz struggled his first year as a rookie in 1988 then went on to win 12 games in his second year, posting an ERA of 2.94. Jurrjens’ performance is creating a buzz around Atlanta and talk about the possibility of him taking home the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year award.

While Renteria is having a respectable season hitting .279, the Tigers sit near last place with one of the statistically worst starting pitching staffs in baseball, it’s hard not to notice what contributions Jair Jurrjens could be making for the Tigers at this point of the season. This season, only one of the Tiger’s starters has more than three wins and with the Tiger starters having ERAs between 4.58 and 6.66, they could use a young right arm like Jurrjens’. While the top four starters for the Tigers have given up at least seven home runs each, Jurrjens has given up just a total of two long balls in his 11 outings.

Many Braves fans hated to see Renteria get traded and were bitter and questioned the move. Over the years, Bobby Cox has shown he has a knack for recognizing talent, and the Braves manager liked the potential he saw in shortstop Yunel Escobar. When Jurrjens’ name came up in trade talks, he jumped on the opportunity to land the great prospect, even at the expense of Renteria, his all-star shortstop.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Escobar was hitting .310 compared to Renteria’s .279. Both players each had 4 home runs, 4 errors and almost an identical number of RBI’s.

Clearly the Braves have not lost any offense from the transaction and have made a huge gain in their starting rotation. With John Smoltz on the mend from typical aches, pains and injuries of a 40 year-old pitcher and Tom Glavine turning 42 years-old this season, Jurrjens success coupled with the evolution of Escobar is making Braves fans forget about the loss of Edgar Renteria.

With solid starting pitching hard to acquire in Major League Baseball, this trade appears to be an excellent move by the Braves. Time will tell if the Renteria/Jurrjens trade will haunt the Detroit Tigers and their fans, like the Smoltz trade of the 80’s. In the meantime, in Atlanta, the team and fans are reaping the rewards.