Atlanta Braves: Will wretched road trip lead to horrible homestand vs. Yankees, Red Sox?
Can anything salvage the Braves’ rapidly sinking season?
The team lost six of nine games and all three series on a trip that ended Sunday in Boston with manager Bobby Cox, third baseman Chipper Jones and reliever Eric O’Flaherty being ejected by home plate umpire Bill Hohn in the 7th after arguing a would-be strike-three call on an 0-2 fastball to ex-Brave J.D. Drew.
Atlanta’s luck? On the next pitch, Drew singled in a run for a 5-4 Red Sox lead. Adding insult to injury, another ex-Brave — Boston’s Nick Green — nailed a 9th-inning walkoff homer off reliever Jeff Bennett for the 6-5 Red Sox win.
After a makeup game tonight with the Cubs (34-31), the Braves (32-36) finish their tough interleague schedule, hosting the AL East’s top contenders — the Yankees (38-31) and the division-leading Red Sox (42-27) — before rounding out the homestand against NL East-leading Philadelphia (36-31).
YOU TELL US: Can the Braves possibly pull off a winning homestand against the likes of New York, Boston and Philly? If so, how? At 4.5 games back in the NL East, does Atlanta still have any postseason hopes? Is it too soon to give up on the Braves or is the ‘09 season effectively over?
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79 comments Add your comment
Helluva Engineer
June 22nd, 2009
2:23 pm
They will be lucky to win one game. Braves suck. Season is over. Kelly Johnson sucks.
And I am a huge Braves fan.
Jeffrey
June 22nd, 2009
2:25 pm
Can someone PLEASE explain to me why that moron, Jeff Bennett, was on the mound yesterday during the most CRUCIAL part of the game with the game all knotted up at 5..as always, Bennett, BLEW IT, and the Braves lost the game..all Bennett has done the past few seasons is cough up leads and lose games for the Braves..countless times with the Braves either leading or at least tied, Bobby Cox, brings in Bennett, only to have that lead or tie turn into a loss..Get rid of Bennett and, most importantly, GET RID OF COX!!! to answer this blog’s question..the Braves have NO shot of winning the NL east..no longer are the teams in this division “whipping boys” to the Braves as they were for more than a decade..The Braves are done as long as Cox remains as their manager!!
Helluva Engineer
June 22nd, 2009
2:26 pm
I think DHD is drinking the blue kool aid. I am done with them. All they do is make me pis* me off and ruin my evening when I watch those losers. GA and KJ are pathetic. Especially KJ.
Helluva Engineer
June 22nd, 2009
2:28 pm
I agree Jeffrey. I was unable to watch the game but why was Bennett in the 9th? Where was Soriano and Gonzo?
Jeffrey
June 22nd, 2009
2:28 pm
Thank-goodness for the “Nats”..two years in a row!! otherwise it would be back-to-back last place finishes for the Bravos!!
Jeffrey
June 22nd, 2009
2:30 pm
Excellent questions, “Helluva Engineer”..it’s decisions made like yesterday’s that explain why the Braves “choked” away SO many games in the playoffs!! Bring back Joe Torre!! a MUCH better manager than Cox..we both saw how Torre completely outmanaged Cox in the ‘96 and ‘99 World Series..and look what Torre is doing with the Dodgers the past few years..sat down, then secured that “washed up” Andruw Jones release last season..something “disallusioned” Cox would NEVER have done!!
NYC Braves fan
June 22nd, 2009
2:31 pm
What does everyone think about trading Franceour and Diaz/Anderson/someone else for Matt Holliday? The A’s are really far back and his contract is over at the end of the year. It will add another solid bad to our line up.
Helluva Engineer
June 22nd, 2009
2:38 pm
Jeffrey…another question is why did he pitch Gonzo in Cincy with like a 7 run lead and not Sunday??
What about Berkman? I think he is signed longer than one year. Holliday would be another rental who we could not afford to sign after the season.
BravesFan
June 22nd, 2009
2:40 pm
WE dont need to make a move for someone like HOlliday who only has half a season left on his contract. Go out for a bat that we could secure for the next 2 years. make a deal similar to the McClouth trade but prefereably someone with a little extra pop.
BravesFan
June 22nd, 2009
3:03 pm
anything would be nice
NORRIS
June 22nd, 2009
3:03 pm
NYC Braves fan. You cant do that. You might as well be just giving them away. because you would only have holliday until the end of the season. After that you wouldnt be able to afford him
NORRIS
June 22nd, 2009
3:05 pm
However would love to have a bat of his calliber in our lineup. for sure…
Mitchell
June 22nd, 2009
3:14 pm
I’m not giving up on the Braves. That doesn’t mean I think they’re suddenly get on a roll and win the division, but I’m not giving up on them. I probably should though, I’d be much happier.
It’s all about Turner Field. They don’t play well there. I think I’d rather be playing these teams on the road. After all we’re 6 and 3 against the Phillies at Citizens Bank in our last three series (going back to last year) but 0 and 9 at home. The only real shot we have to just stay in this race is to beat the Phillies. We got a lotta games left against them but really the Braves are their own worst enemy.
I liked our chances going into Boston even though we tanked in Baltimore and Cincy and I predicted a series win and we should have had it. Still got a bad taste in my mouth after yesterday’s game.
I’d feel better about this homestand had we won yesterday but we still play well against the top teams and in my opinion we outplayed the Red Sox for the most part. I think it’s just going to come down to clutch hitting and mental toughness.
And if Jeff wants to say that the next seven games are going to be like away games then he better put his money where his mouth is.
wisco
June 22nd, 2009
3:14 pm
they fought all weekend! i still have hope. pitching is good, 4.5 half games back. we’re still in it. got to sit kj and give prado or infante 2b. As always, Go Bravos!
Paul Lentz
June 22nd, 2009
3:41 pm
Tommy……………..your “guess” is far from correct. The Braves season is not over. The thing that many of you forget is that no DH will be used against the Yankees and Red Sox this week. Dont tell me that Boston not having David Ortiz or the Yankees not having Hideki Matsui in the line-up isnt going to hurt those teams. I can easily see the Braves winning at least 2 of 3 from both teams. As far as the Phillies are concerned…….they arent the Phillies of last year. I think that their pitching is worse than our offense is right now. I feel that is the home stand that will PROPEL us back into the thick of things. While many of you look at this home stand from a “fearful” standpoint………I see OPPORTUNITY. The Braves starting pitching will give us a chance these next 10 games.
Larry………Jo-Jo Reyes is a BUM. Dude will be no better than a journeyman left hander who pitches long relief. I hope some team is foolish enough to believe that Reyes has talent and will give the Braves “value” for him.
Also, you have to be smoking some seriously bad sh_t if you think that Jeff Fancoeur will ever develop into a “decent Major League hitter”. Once Major League pitching figured out to pitch Francoeur, he became a “flame out”. It happens all the time. Brad Kommisk anyone?
B12 JONEAL………..what “signs” has Francoeur exhibited that he is “coming around”? In his last 6 games, he’s 3 for 20 (.150) with 1 RBI. In the month of June, he has 1 double and 1 homer in 57 at-bats, while batting .228. If you think that is “coming around”, then WHAT THE FCUK IS A SLUMP?
NORRIS………why would “giving away” Jeff Francoeur be such a bad idea? If the Phillies or Mets were foolish enough to want Jeff Francoeur, I’d give him to them for FREE. Instead the Braves paying him to kill our rallies……..another team could be paying him to kill THEIR rallies. Imagine how good it would be for the Braves to have to pitch to Francoeur if he played for the Mets or Phillies. Easy out.
Jalb3rt
June 22nd, 2009
3:59 pm
People here keep saying crap like ”we should replace KJ, JF and GA…. if you have been watching the games, than you should know that McLouth, McCann, Escobar and G. Anderson are the only ones swinging good bats, not even Chipper Jones is helping right now. And yes, i know GA doesnt have the ”pop we need”, but he is definitely helping. The two positions that Braves’ management need to concentrate in upgrading are 2B and RF, i dont know if we should be looking for someone with pop instead of just an upgrade, someone productive, because this team has a history with those kind of players with pop, they end up losing their pop when playing for the Braves just to regain it after their gone.. a la Castilla, R. Sanders etc… or not helping at all… a la Texeira! We cant afford that again!! And if we do something like that, I have a fear that we will be watching one of our three future monster sluggers Heyward, Freeman or C. Johnson debuting for another team in a couple of seasons. We should be thinking a bit more about the future instead of being so obsesse with this year, in 2010 or 2011, we will have an amazing outfield with Heyward, Schafer and C. Johnson, and pop at 1B with Freeman, pop at SS with Escobar, pop and excellence at C with McCann and lest not forget about the rotation with guys like Lowe, JJ, Hanson, Medlen, Hudson, etc… Are you people bling? Dont you know that for the Braves to be able to satisfy all the ”fans needs” to win this year, they’ll have to trade the entire farm along with KJ, JF, ”and GA” to get something other than a sac of balls and a couple of bats? I say trade people on the roster, KJ along with the ”Swinging-at-sky-high-pitches-Diaz”, JF with Norton, Blanco, Bennett and Campillo or something like that… but dont f’up the future for a stuped postseason disappointment in 09…
Paul Lentz
June 22nd, 2009
4:27 pm
I’ve seen blogs titled “should we trade chipper”, “is it time for bobby to retire”, and “is the season over for the Braves”……………However, I would like to see a blog titled “Is Frank Wren a serious candidate for Executive of the Year award”?
Frank Wren has done a really good job rebuilding the Braves. At the end of last season, the Braves starting pitching was in DISARRAY. Against a lot of public backlash……Frank Wren traded for Javier Vazquez (gave up a prospect who probably wont amount to anything and a career Triple A player)……..signed Derek Lowe (many of you said the Braves “overpaid” for him)…….Ripped off the Pirates in the Nate McLouth trade (gave up a bum, a singles hitter, and a relief pitcher prospect)……..and more importantly, didnt resign Hampton, Smoltz, and let Glavine go. Also, after the disaster that the back-up catcher position plagued the Braves last year, Frank Wren made a smart pick-up in signing David Ross to a 2 year contract.
I know that Wren has gotten a lot of backlash for “not improving the offense”. Signing Garrett was the best option, giving the financial constraints. Many of you MORONS are forgetting that the Braves are paying Tim Hudson $15.5 mil to be on the disabled list this year. If the Braves didnt have to pay him, then Frank Wren would have been able to improve the offense this past winter.
However…..there is good news on the horizon. At the end of the season, there will be no more contracts to players who are hurt. Hudson’s contract comes off the books at the end of this season. In 2007, the Braves paid $52 mil to 4 starting pitchers who pitched a combined 52 starts. This year, the Braves are paying $36 mil to 5 starters who have pitched a combined 60 starts, with 94 games still left in the season. Even when you factor in Hudson’s $15.5 mil salary this season for zero starts so far, that pushes the starting pitching payroll to $51 mil to 6 pitchers who have started 60 games, still a much better bargain than last year. If the Braves dont exercise Hudson’s option, then the Braves will have a 2010 salary allotment of $36 mil for our starting 5. That frees up so much money to improve the offense.
Frank Wren has worked wonders so far. And I’m sure that he will make a trade happen in the next few weeks to improve the offense even more.
aswingruber
June 22nd, 2009
4:43 pm
The Braves don’t need to make any more trades. Before we got McLouth, the outcry was for a solid outfield bat with power, many of you saying that was the missing to piece. Well, Wren went out and got that bat in McLouth and all that has resulted in is a 6-10 record since he came over. It’s obviously, as Carrol pointed out, that we’re more than a move or two away from being a contender. The Braves problems run much deeper than any midseason flash-in-the-pan acquisition is going to change. The last thing we need is a move that’s going to deplete our pool of prospects even more, prolonging our mediocrity as there is no one guy who’s going to turn this team into winners. At least not this year. Time to start thinking ahead.
gcsu12
June 22nd, 2009
5:07 pm
no
Robert E. Davis
June 22nd, 2009
5:49 pm
I think the Braves are at a crossroads right now. Will GM Frank Wren trade developing minor league prospects for offensive “quick fixes,” or, will he elect to stay the course with what we have and hope we improve? It’s a tough choice. Seems you’re darned if you do and darned if you don’t.
'66 Braves Fan
June 22nd, 2009
5:51 pm
I’m still not convinced Frenchy will ever figure it out offensively. Maybe another trip to the minors for awhile might help, but I don’t know. He just looks all goofed-up at the plate (so does KJ)….
Art
June 22nd, 2009
6:12 pm
trade anderson
bravesfalconhawk
June 22nd, 2009
6:19 pm
this team will grow a pair and i think the braves will be in first place at the end of this homestand…hopefully omar infante will be back soon
bravesfalconhawk
June 22nd, 2009
6:23 pm
TRADE FRANCOEUR…ITS BEST FOR HIM AND BRAVES
Chuck
June 22nd, 2009
6:55 pm
I may be me missing something, but are the majority of favorable comments coming from fans (and announcers) that are actually watching these games? The pitching has not been that good lately. And the offense has been bad all season(except for a handful of games). Bobby has been great in the regular season for 15 years but not the last two seasons nor in the playoffs (especially in the playoffs).
So … Will it be next season or 3 seasons from now when we have a contender again? It depends on what is done to vastly upgrade the offense (at least 3 more bats), and what is done to get managerS that can deal with younger players.
Bottom line: This season (like last) is a joke! Trying to do the same things with the same cast & mamngers isn’t going to work. It doesn’t matter about the next 6 games even if they are all won because from what I’ve seen, the struggling teams have it pretty easy.
We do have bright spots but not enough. And Chipper is not getting younger, and catchers only last so long.
Eric
June 22nd, 2009
8:19 pm
I think the possibility is there. Just playing in a national league park gives us hope. (Wang going Tuesday does not hurt either) I think we need to take 5 or six games or mentally we will not be in a playoff hunt. The Philly series is really important. The Mets will implode on themselves again, Marlins are a year or two away, Nationals by 2020, so it really is between the Braves and Phillies. If we go 2-7, very likely the end of the road and start the firesale. Goodbye Francouer
insanity
June 22nd, 2009
9:00 pm
Why are we not getting offense from offensive positions? Left field, right field, or first base. Left field, Anderson looks like he needs a cane to get around out there and his swing most of the time looks like an old man swinging his cane at a bee buzzing near him. Franceour, I love the guy, but it just ain’t working. Kotchman is supposed to be in the Mark Grace mold. Even Grace had more power. Forget Mark Grace, forget Casey Kotchman or whichever nub they stick over there. Where’s our McGriff or Big Cat for this team? Where is our thundering first baseman? One more position needs some criticizing, second base. Kelly could actually get away with his horrible offensive numbers if he was a superb defender, because second base is traditionally a defensive position. Lets face it though, Kelly is not a superb defender. I do like our starting pitching if we could find a way to get rid of our $8 million dollar import. Funny thing is, the team was all to eager to address what they thought was a problem in the off season by adding starting pitching. Do we have to wait till next off season for them to fix the offense? I hope not. I really think we would have a chance if we could get some thunder and lightning to scare some pitchers. Power and speed are a necessity to disrupt a pitchers rhythm. We don’t have much of either.
insanity
June 22nd, 2009
9:06 pm
One other thing, TP was a great Braves third baseman. TP is a horrible hitting coach. We got guys going to others teams coaches for help on hitting. We got others going to Chipper. Can we get a hitting coach who can do something besides put hitters in a career long hitting slump?
I Hate Traffic
June 25th, 2009
10:34 am
What I would like to know is why an army of INS agents wasn’t at the Georgia Dome last night for the soccer game to round up great multitudes of illegals in one big scoop.
I hate EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU who caused a traffic nightmare last night and made many of us miss the first 4 innings of the Yankees-Braves game by backing up I-75 for 2 freaking hours.
Seal the Border, and…
GO, BRAVES !