What has happened to Braves’ starting pitching?
Derek Lowe has been feeling the heat lately. (Jason Getz/AJC)
So now that the euphoria over the Braves’ acquisition of Michael Bourn has somewhat subsided and we’re back to watching a team that teases you one week and then gets slapped around by the Washington Nationals the next, here’s a question:
What the heck happened to the starting pitching?
Derek Lowe is a mess — an even bigger mess than he was before. In his last five starts (1-4), Lowe has allowed 23 runs (22 earned), 42 hits and nine walks in 26.1 innings, which computes to an earned run average of 7.86. (The Braves were certainly open to moving Lowe at the trade deadline but nobody would touch his annual $15 million salary, nor even a significant part of it.)
Jair Jurrjens, 12-3 with a 1.87 ERA before the All-Star break, is 0-1 with a 6.26 ERA in four starts since.
And this may be the worst of all: In the first half (92 games), Braves starters were 39-25 with a 3.23 ERA and allowed opponents a batting average of .236. In the second half (19 games), starters are 5-8 with a 5.19 ERA and opponents are hitting .281.
One stat that seam heads like to pay attention to is “OPS” (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage). Opponents’ OPS against Braves starters in the first half was .643. In the second half, it’s .831.
I’m not a huge numbers guy. But this stinks.
(One addendum: I don’t want to throw Tim Hudson under the bus. He is actually 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA since the All-Star break after going 8-6 with a 3.57 in the first half.)
For as much as the Braves look to have World Series potential on paper, they’re not going anywhere — maybe not even to the postseason — with this kind of pitching.
Unlike the team’s offensive problems for much of this season, the pitching woes can’t partially be attributed to injury problems (at least nothing that has been reported). They’re all healthy.
There’s a lot to like about the Braves’ lineup. But if they need to start winning games 9-7, they’re in trouble.
By Jeff Schultz
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195 comments Add your comment
A Hit...
August 3rd, 2011
9:46 pm
Hey Chipper get your arse back in there ya here..
A Hit...
August 3rd, 2011
9:47 pm
hear^^^
Skeezix
August 3rd, 2011
9:52 pm
Where have all the loud mouths gone? Those,who at the beginning of the season, were blasting FG for staying with Kimbrel as our closer?
OldTimer
August 3rd, 2011
10:17 pm
Give JJ and Hanson a couple of weeks off and they’ll be fine.
Lowe on the other hand needs to be taken behind the barn and have his ass handed to him.
jimi
August 3rd, 2011
10:25 pm
You have the braves most valuable player, the catcher hurt. Can there be a correlation ?
I think so. He calls the game, he hits and wins the game. We need him back as soon as
possible.
George R. Malone
August 3rd, 2011
10:51 pm
Lowe is no longer a major league pitcher. Either waive him or send him to the bullpen as a middle inning pitcher. He is killing the team. Chipper no longer earns his money. He needs to retire. 2.60 batting average and hurt all time is killing the team. His salary is a joke as is Lowe’s.
Wright
August 4th, 2011
12:01 am
Its just the curse of loserville, get over it.
walk
August 4th, 2011
12:53 am
lowe isnt a bad pitcher to have as your worst guy though. because he still at least has good games. the problem is that he is getting paid too much.
Bud Wiser
August 4th, 2011
6:20 am
Well, they got a good deal with Bourne, trading off Schaefer (overrated, over-hyped, fast but under skilled – you can’t steal first base you know).
Unfortunately, they won’t be able to get a bag of peanuts and a beer for Lowe now.
NickGranite
August 4th, 2011
6:29 am
The guys who think we should have gotten rid of Chipper a few years back seem to have forgotten he was signed to an extension after he won the national league batting championship at a .364 clip. Now what would Atlanta Braves bloggers on here be saying if we dumped a Brave icon like Chipper after he won the batting championship?
JJC
August 4th, 2011
7:12 am
I think Lowe is hitting the sauce pretty hard. Time to get him some help for that condition before he can help the BRAVES.
wins-by-a-link
August 4th, 2011
7:30 am
Bring up one of the young arms, Put Lowe in BP for use as long relief (mop up) also bring Roy Clark back to run the organization and show FW the highway along with his buddy FG.
phil
August 4th, 2011
8:31 am
It’s this kind of negative reporting that makes me a negative blogger…
I blame jeff.
David
August 4th, 2011
8:45 am
Jeff I know you can’t speak for Mark, but as reporters have you guys actually spoke to any players?
It is incredible how damn lazy you guys are! By the way, that beard does not take away from you being bald.
Ellabell 1
August 4th, 2011
9:20 am
A lot of our pitching problems are not just our pitchers. Bobby Jr. apparently doesn’t know when a pitcher has got it or when he has lost it.
MJC
August 4th, 2011
9:56 am
I think it is about time for Lowe to “discover an injury” and go on the DL for a while so the Braves can bring up Teheran or Minor.
THE BIG R
August 4th, 2011
11:07 am
PITCHING STRUGGKING RIGHT NOW BUT WILL BOUNCE BACK, JUST IN A LITTLE FUNK RIGHT NOW UNLIKE THE YEAR LONG HITTING FUNK . TERRY PENDELTON PROBABLY SHAKING HIS HEAD DOWN AT FIRST BASE
Gatorman
August 4th, 2011
11:13 am
The stress of pitching without runs or pitching behind most of the time takes it toll. I’m surprised our illustrative Mr. Schulz didn’t already know that.
red34
August 4th, 2011
11:16 am
Send Lowe to the bullpen.. send down proctor… and bring up Teheran, or Minor. to start..
Barry
August 4th, 2011
11:27 am
Yea I wasn’t all that excited about the Lowe signing from the start. He’s a washed up vet that doesn’t have much left. Not to say he’s tired but he can’t seem to pitch sharply anymore. I think JJ has hit some bad luck and going through a little pitching slump…he’ll be alright. At least Hudson and Hanson are pitching pretty good or we would be out of the Wildcard lead in a hurry. Arizona is only 2.5 games back now folks. Braves just need to hold on until McCann can get back in the lineup. I’m not really counting on Chipper to contribute much the rest of this year. I mean the guy gets hurt the first game back after coming off his previous stint on the DL!!! I hear talk from radio media about Chipper playing next year. Are you kidding me? He can barely stay on the field and play this year! It’s not a knock against Chipper but it’s obvious age has caught up to him.
Papadawg
August 4th, 2011
11:38 am
First thing I questioin is their stamina and off season training programs then I question the Braves about where the heck is all this fantastic minor league pitchers who we just couldn’t trade.
John
August 4th, 2011
11:40 am
Dropping Lowe down to middle relief may make some sense, but they won’t do it because of his salary and his reputation for pitching well in clutch situations.
DawgDad
August 4th, 2011
11:51 am
Lowe got a shot (cortisone?) in him arm or elbow last year right before his stretch run. I have a sense he’s hanging on until late August and then will take another shot. Take it too early and it’ll wear off before or during the playoffs; too many shots and he risks permanent damage.
I like this team better today than I did before the all-star break. The infusion of Bourn will pay off, as it did yesterday, but nothing has been done to offset the loss of Chipper and McCann and Wren did not add the desperately needed right-handed bat in the middle of the order. Braves lost one game solely because Boscan was playing; Wren should have picked up an MLB-experienced backup catcher.
Hanson and JJ will recover. Early run support would aid the cause. Too early to give up on Heyward; what will we do when Freeman is hitting .223 next August, throw him away, too?
In the end, you have to admire where this team is in the standings while spending oodles of money for precious little value in return from Lowe, Chipper, KK, and McLouth.
JMac12203
August 4th, 2011
11:53 am
I have tried to tell you this was going to happen. Their rotation in general, and JJ in particular, pitched way above their abilities over the first half of the season, and now they are in correction mode. The Braves wasted many well pitched games before the break, and now they cannot get those back. The wildcard spot is fading daily as the Braves continue to lose. They needed to make some big changes before the trade deadline, but FW sat on his hands, or maybe his bosses sat on their money. Regardless, I will be somewhat shocked if this group makes the playoffs this season.
falconfan58
August 4th, 2011
12:17 pm
Pitching has really not been all that good this year. JJ has been inconsistent after the all star break for the last two years. Hansen is just a thrower and not a real pitcher. He handicappes his self with his windup and throwing motion. Sent him to Seattle or Toronto and get a real pitcher. Lowe is just old like Glavin became and not able to produce on a consistent basis–even Maddux retired. Hudson and Beachy are the only two real pitchers in the current starting lineup. BRING UP THE ARMS LIKE THE BRAVES DID BEFORE THE STREAK BEGAN.
Sid
August 4th, 2011
1:03 pm
Can we get anything for Lowe now?
smallmouth6
August 4th, 2011
2:54 pm
Chipper: KEEP PLAYING. The folks who don’t like you didn’t like Uggla either.
Buck Nasty
August 4th, 2011
3:11 pm
What happened to the Braves starting pitching? Nothing. It was overrated to begin with…on the other hand Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt, and Worley…now THAT’s a pitching staff…and the main reason why the Braves are getting smaller and smaller in the Phillies’ rear view mirror…Auf Wiedersehen, y’all…
Tom
August 4th, 2011
3:40 pm
They let JJ go to long between starts around the all star break. That threw him off. They should have managed that better. Lowe’s time might be up if he can’t turn it around. Rest of the group will be fine.
Coach (2011 Fredi G. a go!)
August 4th, 2011
8:36 pm
And people wonder why Frank Wren has hung onto Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino and Randall Delgado.
Duh!
vermont 39
August 5th, 2011
12:14 am
What negative fans…easy to see why the seats are empty…stop whining and start rooting!!!
Coach13
August 5th, 2011
11:47 am
What really sucks is that Uggla’s hot streak is going to be wasted. Not sure why the starters would be tired, the bullpen has logged the most innings in all of baseaball, and it’s not even close. They aren’t and never were going to pass the Phillies so just win the WC. Bring up some of the younger arms if need be and give some guys some rest.
Big Dude
August 5th, 2011
1:14 pm
Braves had a chance to trade D. Lowe a couple of years ago but succumed to his pouting and kept him. Now they are paying the piper. Boy, am I glad football is here!
BravesFanForever
August 5th, 2011
2:01 pm
I maintain that Lowe’s biggest problem is that he only has one effective pitch and if it is not working or if he doesn’t spot it just right, none of his other pitches work either because of this, and he gets hammered. I’ve said this for years: He needs an off speed pitch. Everything he throws seems like it’s all about the same speed.
Not every pitcher can be on all the time. Not every pitcher has their #1 pitch for every game. That’s why the best pitchers have alternatives whether it’s their #2 pitch or even pitching strictly on guile. Greg Maddux had a huge assortment of pitches, had tremendous control, and had guts. If he lost any one pitch or had a little trouble with command, he could still get by. None of his pitches were best in the league, but he had so much going for him that he could get outs even when he wasn’t at his best.
Clearly there is no comparison with Lowe and Maddux–not by a long shot.
You know as much as people thought that Phil Neikro was strictly a knuckleballer, he won his 300th game throwing everything he had but the knuckleball–that is until the very last batter who he struck out on some mean knuckleballs (it was a complete game shut out).
Lowe does not have much once he loses that sinker ball–it is a good pitch when it’s on–but when it’s off, he gets hammered! You would think that pitchers would know that they are “incomplete”. If I was Lowe I would have spent my entire career trying to come up with alternative pitches that could complement the #1.
BravesFanForever
August 5th, 2011
2:07 pm
There is no such thing as “wasting wins”, “wasting good hitting”, “wasting good pitching”. Whatever happens happens. A team cannot control how players play any more than they can control wins. 162 games is a pretty good barometer of a team’s success. It’s pretty hard to fake a decent season. Maybe the Braves aren’t as good as the Phillies. But you know, all bets are off during the playoffs.
Just making the playoffs is the key. We all know it’s a crapshoot otherwise the team with the best seasonal record would win every time and wild card teams would have no chance. We all know the truth.
The Braves have just as much of a chance to win it all as San Francisco did last year. They were NOT the best team in 2010. In fact, I would say they may have been the weakest team going into the playoffs. They got lucky like just about every team has in the last 20 years. So, just make it to the playoffs, cross your fingers, and hope everything works out.
allan
August 5th, 2011
7:36 pm
Not sure if someone has already mentioned this or not. Our great pitching went south when Coach Gonzalez, started subbing catcher ‘David Ross’, for McCann, and then had to put him in full-time when McCann went on the DL. Why do I think this? Who is the Only pitcher that is pitching and winning his normal amount of games, since the pitching slide? Tim Hudson, who Ross always catches.
Maybe I’m reaching, but it sure seems to fit?
M10
August 6th, 2011
9:33 pm
Hanson sucks its plain and simple we should TRADE him.
Phillies fan
August 7th, 2011
2:55 am
They came back to Earth. You should write another article about the Braves winning the division, Phillies are about 8-0 since you wrote that beauty. Just a tad bit delusional down there in Atlanta.
Anthony
August 7th, 2011
8:34 am
at least you have a good bullpen…hahaha. #Phillies
Jojo
August 7th, 2011
3:02 pm
can Bourn pitch?????
ChillyMutt
August 8th, 2011
10:10 am
Lowe is just throwing batting practice.
KK
August 8th, 2011
4:34 pm
We need KK
Runnin With The Dawgs
August 8th, 2011
10:38 pm
I REALLY like the way Kimbrel is coming along. If he keeps on like he’s been going maybe we’ll see him in the starting rotation next year. I think he’ll hold a starting spot down better than some we’ve got. “GO BRAVES”!
Millermoose
August 8th, 2011
11:20 pm
Yes, the starting pitching is struggling, but the relievers are not helping except for Venters and Kimbrel. Proctor and Sherrill are TERRIBLE and need to go to Gwinnett right away. When the hitters get a big lead, there is no one to close down the opposing team and assure us the game is over.
realistic braves fan
August 9th, 2011
4:50 pm
The awful part is since the all star break braves are 13-10 Phillies are 18-5.
The good part is we are still leading the wildcard race and play Phillies last series of the year. Hopefully they will sit all there starters again so we can get 3 wins in our last 3 games just like last year. Go figure i might be cheering on the Phillies to blow out the National League.