His name is Nate McLouth, as in, ‘Get him OUTTA here’
Nate the Great draws a bead on a fly. Note that the ball is in fact behind him. (AP photo)
It’s difficult to hit any worse than .176, but Nate McLouth has done the deed. That skinny number is what he was batting when he went on the disabled list after his noggin clashed with Jason Heyward’s knee. Since returning last week, McLouth is 1-for-15, which represents a Twiggy-like .067.
(And the hit, we should note, was a flare that dropped into right field McLouth’s first game back. That gift should offset the live drive that became a double play Sunday.)
We have seen Braves struggle over the years — Andruw Jones, Jeff Francoeur, Yunel Escobar, the legendary Greg Norton — but we have never seen an everyday Brave perform worse than this. Nate McLouth is hitting .168 on the season. He has three home runs, 14 RBIs, four stolen bases. The highest his average has climbed since April 8 is .208.
He wasn’t very good in his half-season as a Brave in 2009 — a .257 average, 11 homers, 36 RBIs — but today the Braves would take that tepid yield and be ecstatic. McLouth has been so bad for so long, starting in spring training and continuing apace, that there’s no cause to believe he is a big-league starter, or even a big-leaguer, any longer.
There were whispers around baseball that the Pirates had noted a decline in McLouth’s skills and were thrilled to unload him before the rest of the sport caught on. If so, that marks the first time in two decades the Bucs have outsmarted somebody. (Not that losing Charlie Morton was any setback.)
The hope when he returned from the DL was that McLouth might get going enough to satisfy the team’s modest requirements in center field. (The Braves don’t need Willie Mays; they just need a guy who’ll hit a little bit and play D, but McLouth, who astonishingly won a Gold Glove in 2008, isn’t A. Jones with the leather. Or the arm.) Either that, or he’d catch the eye of another team in need of an outfielder. But now the Braves are stuck.
They can’t keep running McLouth out there because he drags down the team, and they can’t trade him because nobody would want him. (Remember when having a former All-Star under contract through 2011 — and with a club option for 2012 — seemed a capital idea?) They can’t promote Jordan Schafer because he just got demoted again, and their most viable trade targets seem to be left fielders.
Unless Frank Wren can swing a trade this week for a real center fielder — B.J. Upton or Matt Kemp — the Braves’ options at the position can be boiled down to two: They can promote Gregor Blanco, who’s back yet again at Gwinnett, or make a deal for a corner outfielder and bump Heyward, who’s a classic right fielder, over to center. Neither is the optimum, but both beat the status quo.
Put simply, Gregor Blanco is a better center fielder right now than Nate McLouth. Heck, Henry Blanco might be a better center fielder than Nate McLouth. And Henry Blanco is a catcher.
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727 comments Add your comment
Phil
July 27th, 2010
2:16 pm
Cox is a clown. He’s proved it 13 out of 14 times before, will prove it again come October. Thank God that clown is gone after this year.
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
2:51 pm
Why sign David Ross to an extension……….when Corky Miller is available?
JCH
July 27th, 2010
3:43 pm
Let’s See Bradley You’re about 0 for your last 30 attempts at writing a Quality Sports Column, Bring back Terrence !!!!! So You’re nick name is (unprintable)… we have the Pennant Races Heating Up, Where is some Creative Reporting, we can listen to this tripe down at the local redneck hangout.
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
3:54 pm
I find it hard to believe that Chipper Jones would retire after this year and walk away from $26 mil over the next 2 years. $28 mil owed to Chipper and Derek Lowe in both 2011 and 2012.
come on
July 27th, 2010
4:29 pm
once again boby cox will be the reason the braves will flop in the playoffs. a prime example was on suday when he pinch ran diaz for mccann and put in ross. 3 players gone right there. and he put mcout in to run and that was in the 3 spot. bobby loses games when it comes to coaching. he may be good at dealing with players, but the fact is he can’t coach. cox will cost us in the playoffs.
Freddi Gonzo
July 27th, 2010
4:37 pm
My assesment, if I were manager:
Chavez sucks, he needs to be DFA’d
McLouth sucks, send him to Gwinnett and let him pull his head out.
Glaus is streaky, always has been. He will turn it on again soon. Chill out.
None of the OF via trade are all that enticing besides Hart and he will cost too much. We do need another strong reliever in the Pen, Venters’ arm will fall off eventually being used all the time. Remember how much Moylan pitched before his injury?
Mark Bradley
July 27th, 2010
4:41 pm
Actually, Nate McLouth just was demoted to Gwinnett.
Freddi Gonzo
July 27th, 2010
5:07 pm
Sweet, my assesment is spot on. Hire me next year for Manager.
Freddi Gonzo
July 27th, 2010
5:08 pm
Was Gregory White called back up?
Mark Bradley
July 27th, 2010
5:09 pm
Gregor Blanco was not. He has to stay 10 days after being sent back.
Brent Clevlen was added to the 25-man roster.
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
5:48 pm
Mark Bradley………I’m curious, does McLouth “have” to report to Triple A in order to collect his salary? Can he refuse his assignment and become a free agent (with the Braves being on the hook for his remaining salary)?
I’m not sure how much service time one has to have before they are able to refuse their assignment to Triple A and still collect their salary.
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
6:09 pm
What are the chances of the Braves eventually calling up Scott Procter to replace Jesse Chavez?
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
6:36 pm
I will say that the interview that Nate McLouth gave in response to him being sent down……….showed that McLouth understands that he’s at fault for him being sent down. Real classy attitude.
Classy attitude or not…what matters most to me is production. I’d take the A-Hole who can produce over a nice guy who struggles ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
7:39 pm
While Tommy Hanson is slow with his delivery to the plate, McCann should have thrown out Morgan at 3rd with a good throw. Instead, it ends up in left field and Morgan scores.
I have not seen too many 1st place teams this late in the season with a defense as bad as the Braves. Gonzalez at short is above average. Prado is average. McCann is average “at best”. Chipper is below average while Glaus is just awful. Diaz/Hinske are both below average in left. Cabrera/Blanco/McLouth (before he was demoted) were “at best” average. Jason Heyward is well above average…….and has the only arm that can really throw anyone out or make runners think twice before advancing that extra base.
At some point, our overall below average defense is going to catch up with us.
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
7:51 pm
Chipper just turned a double play into runners on 2nd and 3d with no outs with that throw into right field.
Strasburg cant pitch, Bautista the long relief man has to make an emergency, the Nationals are a last place team………and we’re down 3-0 with no outs in the 2nd, lol.
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
8:04 pm
It’s like a repeat of last year. Cant beat the teams we should beat, making BUMS look like Cy Young.
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
9:47 pm
Pretty pathetic performance tonight. Bad defense, no hitting. Made a journeyman look like Pedro Martinez in his prime.
Unless the Phillies collapse, we’ll have 3 1/2 game lead going into tomorrow’s game. I have a feeling that the Phillies could be in 1st place come Monday morning.
Christopher Chance
July 27th, 2010
9:49 pm
Unless the Phillies collapse, we’ll have 3 1/2 game lead going into tomorrow’s game. I have a feeling that the Phillies could be in 1st place come Monday morning.
Harpie
July 27th, 2010
10:16 pm
At this moment in time, the Braves STINK! Come on, guys, get it together!
robloe30
July 28th, 2010
1:25 am
Mark what’a think about the situation with Chipper and Lowe being owned waayyy more than their worth? We could have Prince Fielder and Roy Oswalt for what were gonna pay them two next season. This has got to be a problem the Braves are thinking about? Lowe is really bad and Chipper is done. He’s a rally killer every time he comes up to bat. Why not bat him 6th or 7th? Will Bobby just not to that to an old buddy? After all this is a business, a very BIG business. What gives?
Christopher Chance
July 28th, 2010
3:47 am
robloe30……….I said in an earlier post that the Braves have $41.17 mil tied in in 4 players who are way over paid (Derek Lowe at $15 mil, Chipper at $13 mil, Kawakami at $6.67 mil & McLouth at $6.5 mil) for the 2011 season. In 2012, they have to still pay Chipper and Lowe at the same salaries.
I still dont see Chipper following through on his “I’ll retire if I cant play at a high level” commitment and leave $26 mil on the table, lol.
tommyo
July 28th, 2010
1:33 pm
Maybe McLouth’s earlier years were helped by PED’s.
Christopher Chance
July 28th, 2010
6:07 pm
While it’s good that Tim Hudson is on the mound today………..what matters most is whether out offense decides to actually show up tonight and somehow not make another BUM look like Cy Young, like they did last night.
Christopher Chance
July 28th, 2010
6:08 pm
While it’s good that Tim Hudson is on the mound today………..what matters most is whether out offense decides to actually show up tonight and somehow not make another journeyman look like Cy Young, like they did last night.
Christopher Chance
July 28th, 2010
6:12 pm
While it’s good that Tim Hudson is on the mound today………..what matters most is whether out offense decides to actually show up tonight.
Christopher Chance
July 28th, 2010
6:12 pm
While it’s good that Tim Hudson is on the mound today, what matters most is whether our offense decides to show up tonight.
Christopher Chance
July 28th, 2010
6:12 pm
Will our offense show up tonight?