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
J-Smoove
July 26th, 2010
10:09 am
If the Braves are able to move Nate in a trade, hopefully Wren can hide Chavez in Nate’s luggage!
Joey
July 26th, 2010
10:09 am
That’s good Jeremy!
Joe blow
July 26th, 2010
10:09 am
Vick supporter go back to jail.
robdawg08
July 26th, 2010
10:10 am
Don, to take it a step further… Cox is a HOF manager for 3 reasons and their names are Greg Maddux,John Smoltz,and Tom Glavine. Heck, give me 3 aces and I beat you every time whether its baseball or poker…
Ptolemy XIII....The Boy King
July 26th, 2010
10:11 am
He can go!
wawel78
July 26th, 2010
10:12 am
I’m still amazed so many people are ripping KK when his numbers are very similar to both DLowe and Hanson.
If the argument is Chavez is 12th out of 12, that’s fine but I turned the game off when he came in b/c I felt Bobby basically conceded the loss at that point.
RM
July 26th, 2010
10:12 am
Trade McOut for a bag of socks!
wawel78
July 26th, 2010
10:12 am
oh and good teaser last night Bradley. I was excited to read this one when I woke up this morning!
Craig
July 26th, 2010
10:12 am
According to the AJC yesterday, we have quality pitchers in the minors and maybe someone like Minor is ready to come up. At this point, I would rather take my chances on Minor as the 12th man or even KK over Chavez. If losing Medlen gets us a quality CF then lets do this now and be done with Nate. I fear the Phillies are getting their stride back and we have to maintain momentum before we play another series against them.
ICEMANcometh10
July 26th, 2010
10:13 am
Wasn’t he (McOut) doing well in Gwinnett?
He has that “um not very good” look on his face every time he bats, It is very ANNOYING then he gets an EASY out………………………..damn bat, I mean glare or was it those tacos I ate during batting practice?
Joe blow
July 26th, 2010
10:13 am
ptolemy XIII, I thought Obama was….the boy king……..lol
Mike
July 26th, 2010
10:13 am
A couple years ago I spent a fairly pleasant evening talking with one of the Braves coaches about why Kyle Farnsworth could not become a dominant Braves closer. The coach told me Farnsworth could not stand the pressure and that he would never be a dominant closer anywhere, which proved to be true. The guy is a classic underachiever. I think the same thing might be true with Nate McLouth. He was okay in Pittsburgh where baseball is just the off season before Steelers football. But put McLouth into a Braves atmosphere where we expect to win, the guy just chokes. He might be a nice guy and let’s wish him well during his journeys, but those journeys need to be somewhere else … And .. yes .. to everyone who says we need to budget some time off for Troy Glaus!
Supes
July 26th, 2010
10:13 am
Did someone just compare Glaus to McOUT??? U are aware that Glaus has a major league career twice as long (just about) and has a WS MVP right? What has McOUT ever done??? Had one good season for Pitt and was an All-Star b/c you have to take 1 player from every team. Just damn, the baseball IQ around here not very high!
Mark,
Thank you for calling it like it is. In general the ATL media is so soft and are afraid to write this type of material for the fear of retribution from Cox and Co (getting freezed out by the players, coaches, etc)
Of course, Cox will keep trotting McOut and giving him playing time, either starting or in critical AB late in games (b/c Defensive replacements and btw…cabrera may not be quite as “rangy” but darn he sure throws the ball to 3rd and home, while Nate refuses to throw for the fear of exposing a noodle arm, so he’s not as supreme as defensive OF as everyone thinks he is, but defensive guys are also required to HIT)
The only way Cox will stop using McOut is to have that option taken away from him, ala Jeff F. Wren has to step up and do something quick, before Nate has another critical AB and costs us another game with his failure at the dish.
as far as Chavez…Chris Resop can’t come back soon enough.
Don’t expect Kimbrel and Marek here until Rosters expand in Sept. (or an injury to another key reliever).
We are missing the big O in the pen, hopefully he comes back soon.
Don’t expect Kawagarbage to pitch in anything meaningful for the rest of the season…what a waste payroll wise. He’ll be traded for sure in the off-season, don’t expect him moved now unless Wren can pull off a miracle.
Also, one last point on Troy vs Nate…Troy carried us for a period of about six weeks…what has NATE done this year to really contribute…1 walk off HR. That’s it! So he’s a failure in all accounts compared to Troy.
robdawg08
July 26th, 2010
10:13 am
KK might make a decent reliever. he got into trouble usually in the 6th inning as a starter. He can’t be worse than Hugo Chavez…
minnie mendoza
July 26th, 2010
10:13 am
This is a really tough game….get off Nate’s back…my batting average may not have been the best but it made me famous and now Nate will be famous…just like I am…the “mclouth line”…
Mr. Thomas Anthony "The taxman Cometh" Jones, SR.
July 26th, 2010
10:14 am
Mark Bradley always is looking for the negative! His negativity spills over to ther players who have to read his garbage. Every player the Braves trade always players better (Sheffield, Gant, Furcal, etc because they do not have to read Brading asinine comments. Trade Bradly and the braves win the National Leagus pennant this year. Guaranteed!!!!
Joe blow
July 26th, 2010
10:14 am
78 well said.
robdawg08
July 26th, 2010
10:15 am
Not much difference in 0 for 4 whether its Nate or Glaus. They both went 0-4 and suck. previous glory matters not. It’s 2010 and not 2000.
DawgDad
July 26th, 2010
10:17 am
Seriously, people, the Braves aren’t going to win anything with Matt Diaz or Omar Infante playing every day in center field. They give up far too much defensively as center fielders to justify their offensive contributions. Look, the jury is still out as to whether Gregor Blanco is too big a drop off defensively.
Braves would do good to find a center fielder that can play plus defense and hit .250 the rest of the way. He’d look like an all-star in this lineup, if they can get consistent production out of first base.
What is so frustrating about today’s baseball players is too many fall in love with the home run and forget about what it really takes to win. Andruw Jones, Jeff Francoeur, Nate McLouth could all have been good center fielders TODAY for the Braves, but they lost focus on developing the fundamental tools they ultimately needed to stay in the lineup.
Supes
July 26th, 2010
10:17 am
On a championship team, you are going to need all 25 guys to contribute…and that’s key down the stretch.
that’s why you can only hide weakness like Nate, Chavez and KK on the roster for so long…until you are forced to use them in games.
Dorothy Davis
July 26th, 2010
10:18 am
Are the Braves ——Crazy? Trade Medlen for Cody Ross? I would rather see them trade Chipper Jones for Ross. We need Medlen to make it to the series. Enough said. But please give Nate away…he is free for the taking and I doubt if there is any takers.
Guthro
July 26th, 2010
10:19 am
Blanco was terrific in this year’s short stint with the Braves. McLouth is a disaster at the plate, not much better in the field. Appears to have lost his nerve altogether. Seems even to be afraid to throw the ball. Why not send him to Gwinnett till he regains his swing and his aggressiveness, and bring back Blanco as the fourth outfielder?
Joey
July 26th, 2010
10:20 am
Remember when NASA sent the chimpanzee to outer space before man? I wish the Braves would try one of those smart, lab chimpanzees at managing a game. The pure numbers would give us better odds against the chimp starting Nate or using up 3 relievers in one inning like Bobby would do.
Nacho Daddy
July 26th, 2010
10:20 am
Ryan Langerhans in left, Mark Kotsay in center, Jeff Francoeur in right …the good old days.
Go Bravos
July 26th, 2010
10:20 am
Bring Blanco back!! He was hitting over .300 plus he brings alot of fire and energy to this team.
Dorothy Davis
July 26th, 2010
10:21 am
To DawgDad: Seriously, I am a 78 yr. old woman and I could hit and play center better than Nate. So why not use Diaz and Blanco? Could it get any worse? No Way!
Paddy
July 26th, 2010
10:21 am
disboot3000…don’t believe being sent to AAA needs to be in Nate’s contract. Believe that is already covered for all ML players in the UPC, under length of service.
hmmmm
July 26th, 2010
10:21 am
Are y’all really bashing Glaus? Really? Do you not remember when he was the guy carrying this team? We would not even be close to first place without him.
old man
July 26th, 2010
10:21 am
1. The trade value for McClouth is nil. Send him to AAA for the rest of the year to figure out what the problem is. Eyesight? Personal/Family issues? The odds he will return to his form of 2 years ago are small, but still enough compared to the zero we would get in as trade. Kelly Johnson came back, maybe Nate will. For now, we cannot afford to have him on the roster.
2. Are the issues with Blanco and Infante as outfielders arm strength? Or tracking speed? I know you prefer your best arm in center, next best in right, and left if for the weakest arm. Heyward in center is intriguing. In the abstract, he would be the best CF on the team. He gets a great jump, does not fear the wall; has speed, has the arm, has the smarts.
3. Medlen for Ross is ridiculous. Ross vs. any combination of Infante/Melky/Blanco has minimal upside, compared to what we give up.
4. If the bat we are offered in a good deal is a rightfielder, move Jason to CF. He’s the closest thing we have right now to an Andrew Jones in the field. Don’t settle for a .260 guy who is going to hit at most 10 more dingers this year, lose someone like Medlin, all so we can avoid playing someone like Blanco or Infante.
5. The was Martin is crushing the ball of late, what about batting him 3rd, when either Omar of Gregor play, let them leadoff?
5. I would have to see the proposed trade, but I’m inclined to think we stand pat.
Don
July 26th, 2010
10:22 am
Yesterday’s loss was regrettable.
But, of course, it was not Booby’s fault.
It must have been the “Tooth Fairy” who used both McLouth and Chavez with such terrible results.
QUESTIONS:
(1) Was anyone surprised when McLouth hit into a double play in the final inning with the scored tied and the bases loaded and the leading runs in scoring position?
(2) Was anyone surprised when Chavez then allowed the winning run to score without getting anyone out in the bottom of the inning.
(3) How in the world can Bobby Cox justify continuing to use McLouth when he did not produce in the last half of last season, when he hit in the .170s all of this season, and especially when nothing really changed in AAA after he came off the DL?
(4) Does Cox continuing to use a relief pitcher on and on who everyone knows in ineffective – remind you of what he has done in so many past seasons?
(5) How can a manager become OBSESSED with using players on and on and on who everyone’s grandmother knows are not producing? Does the name Greg Norton ring a bell.
kjoy04
July 26th, 2010
10:23 am
McLouth gotta go! Willie Harris and a few other past players did’nt get half the oportunities that this guy is getting. See where I’m going with this!
Nacho Daddy
July 26th, 2010
10:24 am
Willie ! Willie !! Willie !!!
hmmmm
July 26th, 2010
10:25 am
Shut up about Bobby Cox. A month ago y’all were saying he was the second coming of Jesus. The man is using certain people is hopes for a trade, and the other night Chavez pitched really well, so Bobby was seeing if he could do it again.
Keith
July 26th, 2010
10:26 am
Well, Goodbye to Nate! He is not contributing, and it is time to replace him with Infonte as the first string everyday centerfielder. Besides Infonte can play anywhere in the outfield or infield depending on who is hurt or not contributing. Trade Nate and let him become a superstar for another Major League Team.
Joey
July 26th, 2010
10:26 am
Please don’t go there kjoy, Al and his bullhorn will be at the Ted next week. . .
braves guy
July 26th, 2010
10:26 am
whos to say we have to trade anybody? Whats wrong with having Gregor Blanco in that spot. He’s a much better defensive center fielder and really makes things happen at the plate. He may not put all the huge numbers in the homerun or RBI category but lets face it he’s apest at the plate. He’s got better speed than anyone in our lineup right now. While he was up for the month McClouth was out he added a lot of versitility to bottom of the order. What other options do they really have because no club in their right mind is going to give up a decent player for McClouth.
Nate McOut
July 26th, 2010
10:27 am
I’m on a major league contract. They can’t send me down unless I agree to it, and I have NO trade value AT ALL so they’ll have to put me on waivers and just eat that loss.
pete
July 26th, 2010
10:28 am
You are a 78 year old woman that does not have a clue about baseball
Bobby Coccyx
July 26th, 2010
10:28 am
He’s a good kid.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 26th, 2010
10:30 am
LMAO Henry Blanco would probably be an improvement at this point. Sh-t, bring back Otis Nixon.
frank james
July 26th, 2010
10:31 am
With McLouth it is a big contract over Blancos. That is why Blanco was sent down. Remember we want to believe it is still a game but to the ones that matter it is a business. But it is a time for a change of scenery for McLouth. He has had his chance.
"WE WANT BLANCO, WE WANT BLANCO"
July 26th, 2010
10:32 am
I’m totally against trading Medlen or Jair for a OF, I don’t care who it is!! Just bring Blanco back.
Nevada Roy
July 26th, 2010
10:32 am
Speaking for the 100+ bloggers who have been saying the same thing for weeks, we hope your article will bring action by the Brave’s powers-that-be! Just look at the 4+ pages of responses the article received in two hours.
McLouth’s problem is not unique in sports or life. After experiencing prolonged failure, he lacks the mental toughness to correct himself and get back on track. His facial expression tells it all. No amount of coaching or practicing can do it; he is the only one that can. On the big stage, at the big moment, he just can’t handle the pressure
wiley
July 26th, 2010
10:32 am
Yeah he is a better left or right fielder but you cant argue with Diaz’s bat….Nate is not that good defensively either…he is ok…no longer above average in any of the things that are required for a major league baseball player.
kjoy04
July 26th, 2010
10:32 am
Just stating the facts as I see it!
Andrew
July 26th, 2010
10:35 am
I want Mclouth gone just as much as the next guy, But honestly……….Who the heck wants him???
ppaddy123
July 26th, 2010
10:36 am
I wouldn’t release McLouth. I would send him down to AA and have him work on his swing. I doubt anyone would pick him up while he’s DFA’d. Bring Blanco back up. He did a good job in the 8 hole and he plays good defense. This Braves team has the flexibility with their bench to move guys around. It’s helped to keep everyone “game ready” by playing different positions. Personally, I don’t the Melky has gotten enough praise for his work. he started the season very slow, but he’s now hitting about .260. He’s played all the outfield positions. Dude’s a ball player. I think that describes this team in general…….no prima donna’s………..BALL PLAYERS!
jerry
July 26th, 2010
10:36 am
Mark, why don’t you ask TP what McClouth’s problem is? It might be more enlightening than throwing out a lot of numbers that everybody knows already.
The Wad
July 26th, 2010
10:37 am
The situation is real simple. McClouth, Chavez, and Kawakami have to go right NOW! Glaus has to sit right NOW! Anybody in their place will be an improvement. Medlen should be untouchable for any trade. It really is that simple. We can win with this team as it is curently constituted if Cox will play the correct people at the correct time. It really is that simple………….
"WE WANT BLANCO, WE WANT BLANCO"
July 26th, 2010
10:39 am
McLouth is on a major league contract. They can’t send him down unless he agrees to it. Frank wren can ask him to go down and hope he’ll be willing.