Troy Glaus: The unlikely linchpin of an unlikely Braves team
Troy Glaus hit this two-run double in June, but not many since. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Troy Glaus was awful in April, and so was his team. Troy Glaus was terrific in May, and the Braves were likewise. He was OK in June, and the Braves made do. He has been bad again in July, and that’s a troubling sign.
Glaus in April: Nine RBIs, two home runs and a batting average of .194.
Glaus in May: Twenty-eight RBIs, six home runs and a batting average of .330.
Glaus in June: Nineteen RBIs, six home runs and a batting average of .237.
Glaus in July: Five RBIs, no home runs and a batting average of .200.
He was the reason the Braves sprang from fifth place to first in the space of two May weeks. Bobby Cox redid his batting order to get the four men with the best on-base percentage batting first through fourth, and Glaus brought them home. Just when we’d decided he was the worst acquisition of Frank Wren’s tenure, Glaus went out and became the National League’s player of the month.
But now it’s two months later, and Glaus bears scant resemblance to the colossus of May. He has four extra-base hits (all doubles) in July, with more strikeouts (14) than hits (13). From May 1 through June 19 he had 16 multiple-RBI games; he has had none since.
For this offense to hold up over the final 62 games, Glaus has to hold up his end. It’s unfair in a way: Nobody (except maybe Wren and Cox) expected great things from Glaus, and suddenly he became the linchpin of a surprisingly efficient offense. Generally speaking, your linchpin isn’t a 33-year-old coming off shoulder surgery signed at a bargain-basement rate, but that’s the way this careening season evolved.
Glaus wasn’t supposed to be The Man but, with Chipper Jones and Brian McCann off to slow starts, that’s what he became. To stay ahead of the Phillies, the Braves will need more of the Glaus of May. Otherwise opponents will pitch around Chipper and McCann and, as happened in April, nothing much will happen.
Troy Glaus had, we must all agree, one of the greatest months in Braves’ annals. But for this season to extend into October, he has to show he wasn’t just a one-month wonder. He has to get hot again, and soon.
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317 comments Add your comment
Ted M
July 29th, 2010
11:49 am
The Angels are shopping Bobby Abreu
Jesse Stone
July 29th, 2010
11:50 am
No, he’s not the bat we needed. He’s the teammate and steady effort player we needed.
bvillebaron
July 29th, 2010
11:52 am
Chief Nock A Homa:
Well I for one think that you can never have enough pitching; others of course disagree. The predicate for my comments also was that I think this would be a great idea IF the Phils get Oswalt and if the Royals were willing to deal Greinke. The former may well happen and the latter is probably only a pipe dream on my part. No bigger Braves’ fan than me, but I think that the Braves would could use more starting pitching for the stretch run if the Phils can march out Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt 3 out of every 5 days for the rest of the season, irrespective of what “bat” the Braves may acquire (hopefully not as a result of another Texeira “rental” fiasco).
P.S. to Navigator: Kind of hard to believe that Chipper doesn’t like LaRoche when they go hunting togeher every off season.
jeff
July 29th, 2010
11:53 am
What is up with this?
The Braves acquired second baseman Michael Noboa from the Diamondbacks for a player to be named later or cash, MLBTR has learned.
Michael Jordan
July 29th, 2010
11:54 am
If the Braves want to win the World Series they need to come talk to me. I can hit a curve ball now.
Jesse Stone
July 29th, 2010
11:55 am
MJ- No chance. MLB has proven that they feel very strongly about habitual gamblers in the game of baseball
CSpin
July 29th, 2010
11:57 am
Well said, Jesse Stone. I’ll agree w/ that. Should and could be both though.
Navigator
July 29th, 2010
11:59 am
Darnell: Not only are you showing your ignorance, but you also should have learned something in school other than hate. Linchpin has nothing to do with lynching, and Mark Bradley used the correct word which describes leadership and anchoring of a social group.
droopydawg
July 29th, 2010
12:00 pm
I love the woe-is-me posts we get here. The Phils win 6 in a row, the Braves lose 3 of 4, and all of a sudden we have a terrible team and the Phils are an unstoppable force. I seem to remember this team righting the ship after losing 9 in a row, which was also during the time the Mets and Phils were ascendant. Lets cool off a bit and wait to sulk at least until we lose first place. I also seem to remember that after a bad season last year (all year, not just April and late July like this year) that we almost ended up in the playoffs because of a great September.
Relax, people. Only children have a hard time putting things like this in perspective without throwing a temper tantrum.
droopydawg
July 29th, 2010
12:01 pm
Navigator: pretty sure DARNELL was a troll post.
droopydawg
July 29th, 2010
12:01 pm
Is gullible still in the dictionary? If so, you probably should have learned that in school.
Phils sign Oswalt to one year deal
July 29th, 2010
12:02 pm
Here come the Phils.
ChippersLoveChild
July 29th, 2010
12:08 pm
“I really doubt that Prince Fielder is the long term answer to any NL team’s (teams without the DH) needs. Prince is doing okay for now, but like his father before him, Prince is in serious danger of eating himself out of a fine MLB career.
It’s actually pretty sad but unless Prince decides to play Nose Tackle for an NFL team in the near future I think he will be out of sports and will be showing a serious drop-off in his baseball skills due to his pronounced lack of physical fitness.”
The only people that make comments like this are guys that haven’t seen Fielder play consistently. The guy is a horse and has played in 300 plus straight games… If he were “eating himself out of a career” his durability would be an issue already. Get a clue.
Ted M
July 29th, 2010
12:10 pm
droopydawg it’s not a woe is me thing, it’s just that there are only 52 hours left for the Braves to make a trade. Its now or never and even tho the Braves are a good team there are a lot of holes in their lineup.
Shane
July 29th, 2010
12:11 pm
All this hand wringing is comical.
And for all those demanding a trade or move be made you’ll be the same ones criticizing the move if even one prospect is traded away.
Shane
July 29th, 2010
12:12 pm
The only people that make comments like this are guys that haven’t seen Fielder play consistently. The guy is a horse and has played in 300 plus straight games… If he were “eating himself out of a career” his durability would be an issue already. Get a clue.
Fielder is a fat slob who will eat himself out of the league and end up broke and penniless. Just like his daddy.
Ben There
July 29th, 2010
12:13 pm
BuckheadBrave
Totally agree with your 11:10 post.
Gotta win now.
Ted M
July 29th, 2010
12:13 pm
I don’t think we should seel the farm either but the Dodgers just Scott Podsednik cheap…real cheap.
Ted M
July 29th, 2010
12:14 pm
so what if he’s a lefty
Shane
July 29th, 2010
12:15 pm
Here come the Phils.
So what? They have to catch us. Im not scared of them one bit. So they got Oswalt. He is no better than Hudson or JJ.
We are still up 3.5 games ( 4 in the loss column )
The Phils have been hot and we haven’t. That could turn around just as quick and the lead is right back out to 7 games.
ChippersLoveChild
July 29th, 2010
12:17 pm
“Fielder is a fat slob who will eat himself out of the league and end up broke and penniless. Just like his daddy.”
Well Boras is his agent, so he won’t end up broke… Angry because he got Venters suspended? Don’t throw at him and there won’t be an issue.
Fred
July 29th, 2010
12:17 pm
I said before the All Star Break that Glaus was going to fizzle. Now he has. I hope the will bring Freeman up. As a friend/roommate with Jason Hayward I don’t think we need to worry about the young man’s ability to handle the pressure of a penant race. Besides, we need to get on with the next generation at BOTH corners.
Ted M
July 29th, 2010
12:17 pm
ha “seel” sell
Ted M
July 29th, 2010
12:18 pm
Glaus will get hot again. It won’t be as dominate as May but hot nonetheless.
Ted M
July 29th, 2010
12:22 pm
Mark are you in Washington knocking back beers as you wait for the game to start.
Joshua
July 29th, 2010
12:28 pm
I have to agree with bvillebaron that acquiring Grienke would be excellent. I have been secretly wishing that the Braves would swoop in and snatch up Roy Oswalt. The reason I say this is two-fold. Yes, we have solid starting pitching and a great bull-pen, but other than Hudson we really don’t have that top shelf dominating starter. During the course of the regular season when we are on a 5 day rotation, more often than not we get to see favorable pitching match ups. But what happens when we get to the post season and have to win long series against elite teams that have the formidable front end starters types that always seem to dominate the Braves? Secondly, without Oswalt, I don’t believe the Phillies can catch the Braves. If he plays for the Braves (which he obviously would prefer) then how do the Phillies hope to catch us? Then we have an incredible staff that is probably the best starting rotation in the league to go along with the best bullpen in the league, and the Phillies have no chance at winning the division and likely not a wild card either. Ahh wishful thinking.
K with a K
July 29th, 2010
12:32 pm
What about Chris Young from the D-Backs…is he an option for the Braves? Righthanded,pop,centerfielder,always hits well in Atlanta,speed??? I am not sure if he is in the D-Backs long term plans.
RJB in DC
July 29th, 2010
12:38 pm
For everyone dreaming about Dunn, I wouldn’t hold out much hope for that. The Nats are not under pressure to dump salary. So if they elect to trade him, they are going to want serious pitching talent–as well as someone who can immediately start at first base.
bvillebaron
July 29th, 2010
12:42 pm
Thanks Joshua
bvillebaron
July 29th, 2010
12:44 pm
Atlanta Sports Fan:
Guess you thought the Texeira trade was a good move at the time too, huh?
POAD
July 29th, 2010
12:56 pm
WOW MARK I had no idea how much Glaus’ game has made the Brave good or bad. Those are some crazy stats. Still not worried that the Braves will fall apart. I would love to have a back and forth race to the pennant. Like back in 90 & 91.
Keith
July 29th, 2010
1:01 pm
Well, the blame game is started in ATL. Glaus is the just the first of many that the city and team will blame for a lack luster season. Let’s face it, the Phils and Mets will both pass the Bravoes very soon. The Bravoes are back to ordinary with no real gusto. There pitching is above ordinary, but the offense has cooled off! Bye Bye season and bye bye Bobby Cox finally. Maybe they can find a good manager and build a true winning team in the future.
Jack G.
July 29th, 2010
1:01 pm
Mark, You are right on.
However, could Glaus be having some nagging injury thast is slowing him down. I seem to remember his having to sit out a couple of games with a bum knee. Maybe it is effedting his swing.
As for not wanting to bring up Freeman in a penant race, it might be a good move to let glaus rest up.
Freddi Gonzo
July 29th, 2010
1:02 pm
Oswalt is scary for sure, but he isn’t the same guy as before. He has had back problems and some pretty terrible outings this year….. Maybe it’s not as bad as we all think if the Phills get him.
Freddi
Cracker Jacket
July 29th, 2010
1:05 pm
TP needs to do more than eat sunflower seeds in the dugout! If they make him mad …he would walk off just like he did as a player!
Kyle
July 29th, 2010
1:08 pm
Today needs to be the last day Troy, Melky, and Nate wear a Braves uniform no matter what you might get in return for them.
frank james
July 29th, 2010
1:15 pm
His front side is flying open and his bat is dragging bad. Just an observation. I don’t see how we can keep Infante on the bench.
Glory Glory
July 29th, 2010
1:15 pm
Trade Him
WTF
July 29th, 2010
1:23 pm
Lowe needs to go
Feddie Freeman
July 29th, 2010
1:29 pm
Call me up I tell you…………
frank james
July 29th, 2010
1:35 pm
Play Diaz everyday. He is a hitting machine right now!
Phils sign Oswalt to one year deal
July 29th, 2010
1:36 pm
Diaz hits a two run shot. Game tied.
WTF
July 29th, 2010
1:37 pm
Diaz bails out Lowe for now
Phils sign Oswalt to one year deal
July 29th, 2010
1:38 pm
“So what? They have to catch us. Im not scared of them one bit. So they got Oswalt. He is no better than Hudson or JJ.
We are still up 3.5 games ( 4 in the loss column )
The Phils have been hot and we haven’t. That could turn around just as quick and the lead is right back out to 7 games.So what? They have to catch us. Im not scared of them one bit. So they got Oswalt. He is no better than Hudson or JJ.
We are still up 3.5 games ( 4 in the loss column )
The Phils have been hot and we haven’t. That could turn around just as quick and the lead is right back out to 7 games.’
All I did was post about the Phillies getting Oswalt. You’re the one making a stink about it. Grow up.
Phils sign Oswalt to one year deal
July 29th, 2010
1:39 pm
“Diaz bails out Lowe for now”
Lowe’s only given up 2 runs. If you can give up less runs, by all means run out on the field and prove it.
Crickets….crickets……chirp……..
FromtheBARstool
July 29th, 2010
1:44 pm
Braves tie it up and no errors so far.
FromtheBARstool
July 29th, 2010
1:45 pm
Just win Braves.
Still@theBAR
July 29th, 2010
1:46 pm
Go Braves tied the game.
POAD
July 29th, 2010
1:47 pm
Great the Braves Tied it up and no errors so far. Just win Braves Just WIN.
WTF
July 29th, 2010
1:52 pm
Lowe gives up two more