Braves are rollin’ on road

Even with the loss tonight one thing is for sure. This Braves team has a shot, just like the Mets, Phils and Marlins at making the playoffs and doing some damage. I’ll take my chances with Lowe, Javy, and JJ against any top 3 because I know they at least give the Braves a shot to win. They are solid, solid guys. I think the difference in the season will be finding a legitimate leader hitter with speed and finding some bullpen help. The lead off hitter is gonna have to be from outside the organization, that’s asking a lot for Schafer to grow into in one year, but I think bullpen help could be just down the road (Medlin, Hanson).

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One thing is for sure…we have no late game…left fielder. Maybe we can find a way to get Brandon Jones up here to play D in late innings…gotta dump Bennett too. I didn’t think we’d ever dump Boyer and we did, hopefully Jeff is next (AAA would be fine with me).

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I hope to Almighty God that the Ducks take the Wings out in Game 7. I know it won’t happen (God doesn’t respect my sports wishes), but I hope against hope that it will.

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chop chop,

i unfortunately have a lot at stake tomorrrow. my wife is from pittsburgh. if the pens dont win tomorrow, it is grilled cheese and tomato soup for a week.

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uga,

I’m sorry you have a dog in that hunt. I want the Caps to win. You can blame me if they do.

(I can’t stand Crosby’s punk ***.)

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Steve-

I’m happy you can find the league average stats…

But since when do we want a leadoff hitter who is “average”? A .329 OBP as the average isn’t that great…besides the fact that .220 (whatever he is now after another 0 for) isn’t great and he’s still K’ing too much on the same pitches he was K’ing on 3 years ago…he really hasn’t learned much, then again, I can’t blame HIM there as no one really has under Terry.

Besides, shouldn’t Kelly be batting 6th or 7th where he has produced (this season and last)…just makes much more sense

Kirk-

I didn’t mean it as give up on Jordan…I think Jordan will be good…BUT I also thought Jeff would be good…first thing I would do is get rid of the god awful hitting coach…then again, thats another argument for another day…

What I meant was that I hope Jordan figures things out a bit quicker because Jeff has reverted to old habits and Kelly is liable to not figure things out til September again and with Garret taking quite awhile to get right, the team can’t really afford Jordan to not get right til August, otherwise their playoff chances will be zero at that point…

Oh, and happy the Ducks won tonight…F THE WINGS!

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mfin04,

braves only left 10 on base.

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Who are you and where did you come from ? P-TOWN

you don’t know who Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore is? You must be an ignorant pissant idiot in all walks of life and not just about baseball, huh? Suck it, P-Town girly-man whiner.

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as long as it is PBR in the 16.oz can.

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Tomahawkin, I don’t know if the Braves front office was cheap, or just misguided. Was the $23M for 3 years to Kawakami a better investment than the $20M for 2 years that Washington gave to Dunn? Or was it a better investment than the $30M over 3 years that the Phillies gave to Ibanez?? Why sign Kawakami for 3 years when we have Hanson, Jurrjens, possibly Hudson, and Vazquez around longer term? And they were in the process of negotiating a deal with Lowe.

Seriously, where does Kawakami fit in this rotation next season? Jurrjens and Lowe are set. Hanson has to be there next season. Hudson may be back. Vazquez is under contract. Would you rather have Hudson or Kawakami? Would you rather have Medlen or Kawakami??

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Steve, thanks. It had more to do with the “overall” numbers. Actually, I didn’t just mean leading off the game, I meant leading off an inning.

But anyhow, KJ might be a fine hitter leading off an inning (which might actually happen 2+ times in a game in the NL the way pitchers try to get the oposing pitcher to be the last batter of an inning).

But ultimately, I don’t really care about leading off an inning, much less the game. Though, there have been “spark-plug” type guys that surely can set the tone, from their first AB of a game (Nixon, Lofton, Rickey, Raines, etc…).

What I care about, is having the teams BEST 3 hitters hitting in the 1-2-3 spots in the order. By default (for those who can count), those guys are going to get more AB’s, thus have a greater impact on the runs scored.

I’m not so certain that KJ is remotely close to the 3rd best hitter on this team.

Another one of Bobby’ great “strategies”. I firmly believe that KJ’s weaknesses are exposed at the top of the order, and given the opportunity to be a run producer lower in the order would be appreciated more for what he IS, rather than being ragged on for what he’s NOT, yet the “player’s manager” that ALWAYS puts his guys in a position to succeed, can’t seem to see.

With the LACK of running that this team doesn, Chipper and McCann would actually have more RBI opportunities with frickin Kotchman hitting ahead of them in the order. There would seemingly be more guys on base and less outs to do something about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that Casey is lead-off material, though I do think he’d make a GREAT 2-hole hitter with an actual leadoff hitter ahead of him. Doubles power, pretty decent contact. Hmm. Just imagine what all of those grounders to the right side could become with a fast runner on first ahead of him.

But I wouldn’t expect Bobby to THINK when he puts the lineup together. After all. He’s the same guy who left Bret Boone in the 2-hole for an entire season, despite him NOT being able to make contact. Perhaps, Schafer would be a perfect 2-hole hitter in the Bobby Cox “all or nothing” style of batting.

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Hmm…sorry Bill…not from the south…and I don’t pay attention to redneck military men…or men at all for that matter…you may want to check out the Navy for that….maybe that will help with your issue in wanting people to “suck it”…

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Please get over the fact that the Braves didn’t go after Dunn or Ibanez. I don’t know how many times someone has to say that. How do you even know Ibanez wanted to come here? I mean world champs or the 4th place Braves. Thats a hard decision there and Dunn. You guys complain about Anderson’s defense and you want to put Dunn out there. Great logic. Get swamped down in a big contract with a guy who is really nothing but a DH. We don’t have that position in the National League so that would kind of be a waste.

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Chipper is correct, if the umpire gets that call right at third base, game over. Braves win.

But what really got me shaking my head was on the sac fly where Beltran scored the tying run after stealing third base. Garret Anderson didn’t even attempt a throw home. The relay went to second base. Our supposed left fielder doesn’t play defense and he has a noodle for an arm.

Somebody got the scouting report wrong.

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they had 10 hits and four walks. 14 players reached base. kinda hard to strand 20.

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I can only dream of a day when there’s no Bobby CoxRobert, no Chino Cadahia MF04, no Brian Snitker JEFF321, and certainly no Terry Pendleton P-Town IDIOT!

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Col. Kilgore would be a good replacement for Bobby. We’d be going surfing in the middle of a damn war zone. Hang ten, Charlie!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeehaw!

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Jake W., that defense that Diaz and Anderson have been providing in LF has been stellar, hasn’t it? Are you telling me that Dunn is worse than those two?

I am going to venture a guess that a guy hitting .318 with a .457 OBP, 11 HRs, and 28 RBIs for the lowly Nationals might be a difference-maker in the putrid Braves lineup. And if he made an error once every 25 games in LF, I’d live with it. Particulary because Diaz and Anderson have been disgraceful in LF.

Swamped down in a big contract??? A 2-year contract would be perfect for the Braves, giving Heyward and Hernandez more time in the minors. Dunn signed for 2 years.

MFin04, the Braves were working on Lowe and Kawakami at the same time. I would say there was more reason to focus on getting Lowe and putting Kawakami on the back-burner as a fallback if Lowe signed with the Mets.

The Kawakami signing was and is a head-scratcher.

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That’s wrong, uga. Just plain wrong.

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Since nobody seems to have noticed, KJ is hitting .290 during the month of May. His OBP is .353 in the nine games played so far this month.

But still. KJ is not the prototypical lead off man and he is incredibly streaky.

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it was Bobby Abreu as the Braves were actually linked to him…the others I never really heard had any interest in Atlanta or vice-versa. (P-Town)

Abreu would have been nice, but just because his name was thrown around doesn’t mean there was ever any real interest on either side. 90+% of off-season rumors are meaningless. Coulda been, but just as likely not

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KK was pretty good last start, I wouldnt give up on him yet. Run support would do wonders for some of our starters.

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P-Town, with the current 25 man roster? Yeah. That’s what I’d do.

Escobar, Kotchman, Chipper, McCann, KJ (since he hits lefties better anyhow, then the Diaz/G. Anderson platoon, Francoeur and Schafer.

But the WHOLE dynamic of this team would have changed had we passed on Garret, and kept Josh. THEN you could have a Josh/Diaz platoon in LF (with Josh spelling Schafer in CF), and you might as well go with that platoon batting leadoff (after all, Diaz is hitting .286 with a .382 OBP against LHP, while Josh is hitting .327 with a .375 OBP against RHP).

Add to that, against RHP (which is most of the time), our outfield defense would be better. Plus, then Escobar could be moved to the middle of the order and drive in some runs.

Unless Garret REALLY pours it on (and soon), somehow ending up with 20+ HR and close to 100 RBI (sorry, didn’t mean to make you all laugh and spit your beverage of choice on your monitor), that decision to dump Josh and sign Garret is going to go down as one of Frank’s worst decisions in his tenure.

Not saying we make the playoffs with Josh on the roster. Far from it. But we’d be better off, no doubt. PLUS it would allow us to send Jordan down if neccesary. Right now, if Wren/Bobby wanted to do so, what are they gonna do? Go with Infante in CF everyday? Yeah right.

It’s too bad Schafer is struggling so much to make contact, because ultimately with his speed, he is destined to be the leadoff hitter that everybody thinks KJ can be. But until he figures it out, this lineup is doomed to be inconsistent and incapable of putting big innings together.

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We have to stop kidding ourselves; this is a very flawed team. Kelly at 2nd is awful both on offense and defense. Leftfield is manned by GA who plays neither good defense or offense, Diaz hits lefties well, but is deficit on defense. Schafer plays great defense, but is a typical rookie offensively and that isn’t good. Franceour is decent on defense, but lacks power, has poor strikezone judgement and makes way too many mental mistakes. People! that is 4 out of 8 regulars that are below average major leaguers at this time. Add a 5th starting pitcher, JoJo, who hasn’t won a start in forever and a bullpen that contains Bennett, who has proven he can’t pitch under pressure, Moylan, who is trying to work his way back into the pitcher he was 2 years ago(BUT unfortunately at the major league level) and Parr, who Bobby obviously doesn’t trust in a tight game. The only way this team stays in the race is by solving the problems by 1. Getting a complete player in left, that hits well and can play defense(cut GA, Make Diaz a pinch hitter and occasional startin against certain lefties. 2. Make a permanent change at 2nd with Infante(trade Kelly for a decent prospect and move on). 3. Replace Reyes with Morton at the least, Hanson or Medlen are much preferred but the Braves apparently are not going to start their clock yet. 4. If Franceour doesn’t get more consistent on offense, find a lefty platoon partner for him. 5. Finally, try to find one more bullpen arm that has a chance to close a game on an occasional basis. It might be Gomez, Valdez or Perez from AAA Gwinnett, but we need someone that can throw strikes and not wilt under pressure.

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And What R Ur Thoughts about K-Fer, I think he needs more seasong in AAA (Tomahawkin)

maybe I’m misremembering, but i thought you were a keep him up here kinda guy in ST

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P-Town Brave, sorry I misunderstood what you were saying. I agree with everything except about firing TP.

I believe he’s got a good track record, but I do understand why people want to get rid of him. I just believe we should also consider the good things and not just the bad. Also, I really don’t know how much Bobby is also to blame as far as the way some of them go up there hacking away

I wouldn’t be surprised if TP stresses one approach and Bobby tells them to just “go for it”!

As far as KJ,I’m not a big fan. I would trade him, but not only if it addresses a need. I wouldn’t just give him away.

I think regardless of coaches and the manager, the Braves lack accountability to each other. There is no go-to guy that can consistently give the team what they need to win. So if a player goes up there and kills a rally by hacking at the first pitch, or players fail to make contact with runners on what are the consequences in the clubhouse?

That said, they have the talent to get it done.

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If everyone else was hitting and doing their job, Schafer would be perfectly fine in CF striking out. This teams problems are magnified by no-one consistently playing/driving in runs. Our 3 biggest offensive weapons, GA, Chipper, and McCann have been “hurt” hopefully all three of them come around, and we forget about the other guys struggles. Hopefully Chipper can teach Schafer some stuff, KJ, Esco, and Kotch play averagely and we will be fine.

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We have to stop kidding ourselves; this is a very flawed team. Kelly at 2nd is awful both on offense and defense

And some of us should also stop kidding ourselves that we are playing in a division, or in a league, with any flawless teams.Every division in baseball is up for grabs and to pretend the Braves are the only flawed team that does nothing well is pure fiction.

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You are right N8 !

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N8 this Lineup is Weak…?

This Lineup Scares Nobody…Even the 91-92 Braves lineup scared teams because we ran and put pressure on pitchers…

“To the poster who mentioned the Garret/Diaz defense. Great point. Dunn certainly wouldn’t be much worse than them.”

I will Co-Sign on that as well, That is Furthermore Proof to my point that L. Media and the F.O. Went Cheap during the offseason…

I have Nuff Respect 4 Matty-D and Loaf but they scare nobody…

I guess FW thought Bobby C could do his best to run a(n) Mike Scosia-type offense in this division with a team that lacks speed…WTF?

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n8,

yea, but there are not a whole lot of diaz jerseys wandering the concourses of turner field.

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Oh and the Dunn argument…he has played a lot of games at 1st of the Nats as well. We could use some pop from our first baseman as well. So…its not like Dunn would be in left every night…he could be at first.

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kirkinga, good point.

Normally, I would agree with you. We’re still in this thing. But we have been the past 3 seasons, as well. And this core of players has done NOTHING to show that they are capable of putting a great month together to take the “lead” in the division.

They don’t (and haven’t in some time) play like they WANT to win.

The thing is, is that a team can put together a nice season by winning series after series. Which we can STILL do tomorrow, regardless of the outcome tonight.

But teams that fancy themselves as contenders, DO NOT lose games like tonight, with their Ace (or one of them) on the mound, when he pitches his ass off for them. No sense of urgency from the manager. Which bleeds down to the players.

I feel for Chipper. Because he’s really the last Brave on the roster that remembers/knows how to win. I suppose Lowe can be put in that category too, but he only plays every 5th day. Only so much he can do, and he’s been doing all he can.

One could argue that McCann and Jeff tasted some winning in 2005, in fact that team doesn’t make the playoffs without those two guys. But since they have been handed the “reigns” of this team, they’ve done nothing but lose.

Like I said. It starts at the top.

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He left 7 LOB !

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Wren should’ve just bit the bullet and nabbed both Dye with Vazquez. I’m sure I read a ton of things saying they would trade Dye if the price was right. It’s killing us in games like tonights(last nights). Umps are going to screw you with a call sometimes and relievers are can’t be perfect all the time. How do you make up for it? Clutch hits and NOT missing out on scoring opportunities. Pitchin is there, but simply going to waste more times than it should because, and I hate this, but Francoeur and Schafer seem to be the main culprets in this. AAA is where they belong, but management won’t send Jeff anywhere near there again, I’m afraid.

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Bobby Cox got out coached again. This team needs to be blown up and started over. Bad manager, AAA players, no hustle, no fire. I will watch few games this year. Really terrible product.

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Kirkinga: YES every team has flaws, but it is the teams that correct their flaws most efficently that usually ends up making the playoffs. Is it your view that the Braves should be content to hope that the players like KJ, DIAZ, GA, JoJo, Jeff F. and Bennett suddenly become players they have already proven they either are not anymore are that they have never been? The difference between teams in Baseball, Football or Basketball at the pro level is rarely huge, but the teams that identify, promote or trade for the go to guys, the clutch guys and the role players are the teams that succeed. The before mentioned players have proven their limits by their play, continuing to follow the same path is foolhardy and will lead to another year out of the playoffs. I will stand by this statement: KJ,GA,Diaz JoJo, Jeff F. and Bennett will prove AGAIN their limitations, but Bobby will play them anyway and we will fall short again.

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N8, all true what you say, so how about we wait and see where we are at the end of June? The last 3 seasons it’s been in June where the Braves dug a hole they couldn’t overcome. So if they are still within 5 games at the end of June, then I think we can say that this is a different situation and that we have a better chance than in the past several seasons.

All contenders lose games , some of them in ways that aren’t pretty. You’re going to have to show me something that says contending teams don’t give up stolen bases that lead to the tying and/or winning runs.

Contending teams do however win on the road. Contending teams do have at least solid starting pitching. Contending teams play their best ball late in the seasons.

ccrider, there are many directions teams take on their way to getting into the playoffs. Generally, whoever is playing the best ball in July-September ends up making the playoffs. The key is to stay within striking distance and then improving upon weaknesses then play great ball late in the season.

We know the Braves can pitch some and hit some. As long as that holds, they have a chance.Out of all the players you listed, Only Garret Anderson has a track record of hitting in the clutch consistently. The others have limted abilities and can get hot. The key to any team not ladden with All Stars is to play to their strengths, make the most of the talent you have.

Good pitching, solid defense, good situational hitting, those are always the key in baseball and the Braves have the capacity to do them all. But we can’t pretend that just because they aren’t doing it well in May that the season is over.

As for acquiring clutch players, I’m all for it, but which players at what cost?

I just don’t believe in coming to a conclusion about an entire season with 129 games to go and a team that has shown it can do the things necessary to compete, just not consistently enough. If the had shown no talent, no area of the game they did well then I would be more incline to buy into the gloom and doom thing. But as long as they stay healthy, and Anderson, Chipper, Glavine, Schafer(wrist) continue to heal, I’m not giving into a desire for instant gratification.

It looks like to me that this division could be won with 85-90 wins. If that is the case then we need to hold on for many highs and lows.

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Kirkinga; I agree that Good starting pitching, solid defense and situational hitting are the core to a contending team, but I can also say with confidence that KJ, GA and Diaz will all remain below solid defensively, JoJo will remain a below average starting pitcher Jeff F. will be below average offensively and make mental errors both at bat, on the bases and in the field and the Braves will lose games like tonight because of lack of depth in the bullpen. The margin of error is small for losing out on the playoffs and waiting to make changes that are obvious for another 2 months will likely be the difference between contending and Not!

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KJ is a great #2 hitter, and he hits literally 10 pts higher than Schafer…Why dont we give the kid a chance at leadoff? He strikes out alot with runners on but tends to draw walks. Sounds like an easily solved problem. The 8 spot is supposed to yield less pressure HOWEVER, lead off seems like less of a pressure spot. B/C RISP/. If he has speed (which he obviously does) why do we hide him at 8? Lead that boy off…right?

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He actually seems like he can drag a bunt for a single which seems like maybe that type of leadoff man we need, call me crazy.

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I can’t believe they lost the game tonight. Damn we had a chance to go for a sweep. Jo Jo needs a big game to pick us up.

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What a dark mood around here this evening…

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Coach, you’re right. Though that doesn’t mean it can never happen in a division where every team as serious inconsistencies. I’m not making any predictions except that if the injury bug doesn’t bite, and the Braves are within 5 games at the start of the second half, then they will compete the rest of the way.

ccrider you are 100% correct about those players being weak defenders. But so what? Winning teams don’t always have excellent defenders at every position. But the key is to have them at key positions like shortstop and CF and at the corners and the Braves have that.

Pointing out that the Braves will lose more games is hardly news.,every team is going to lose more games. All the Braves need is to lose one less game than the other teams to make the playoffs.

I disagree that we can tell how the rest of the season will go ..with certainty, after 30+ games. Teams are not locked into how they start the season. Remember a few seasons ago when the Astros were like 15 games under .500 and made the playoffs? How about the Rockies recently that made the World Series after sucking until August?

So it seems crazy to me to write off a team i9n May,that’s 2.5 games out and that can pitch. Doesn’t make sense at all.But I understand how easy it is to be gloomy about their prospects.

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I got to the blog late but one of the big plays I saw was GA missing on the shoestring catch in left field. He catches that ball and two runs don’t eventually score. I believe Diaz makes that catch because Diaz is faster and can actually dive for the ball. GA is going to kill us with his left field (lack of) defense.

Not 20 / 20 hindsight – I was yelling at the TV for Cox to get JJ out of there when Reyes came up. O’Flaherty would have been a nice move in that situation. It seems that Cox sometimes leaves a starter in too long.

I know that we can’t win every game. The poor call at third base was the killer but there were plays on defense and lack of hitting in crucial situations on offense that could have put this game away, making the 3rd base umpire’s error irrelevant.

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Ah-h-h, hot beer and cold pizza, the breakfast of champions. Leftovers and a headache from last night. Fuzzy mouth morning. GO BRAVES.

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I didn’t see the Mike and Mike (or whoever it was) interview with Clemens but I read the piece on deadspin about it yesterday. LOL he should probably just keep his mouth shut and enjoy retirement if that’s his way of convincing folks he didn’t roid up. Also liked the photo they had of him getting his hair colored. Too funny.

ncscoots, on point as per usual. A win today and a 6-2 all division road trip would be great. Hell, 5-3 is a pleasant surprise the way they were playing before this road trip. Day game today, ncscoots, don’t forget to tune in. My office can expect little to no productivity from me after lunch.

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RHR, brutal man, just brutal. Still funny though.

On an even more positive side, neither can Jeff Bennett

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