Of concern: The Braves’ playoff rotation is no longer a given
Jair Jurrjens after yielding one of three homers Tuesday. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)
The good news: The Braves will enter September not having to worry about making the playoffs. The less-good news: They’ll enter September with growing cause to worry over what might happen in the Division Series.
More to the point: Is Derek Lowe looking more and more like your Game 2 starter?
To recap: Jair Jurrjens hurt his knee and has been substandard — 33 baserunners in 18 1/3 innings, 11 earned runs — since exiting the disabled list, and Tommy Hanson is on the DL with a torn rotator cuff (but doesn’t need surgery). You’d have to figure Jurrjens will find himself over this next month, but what if he doesn’t?
Tim Hudson in Game 1: Any team could live with that. But the Lowe of 2011 hasn’t much resembled the Lowe of 2010. (Lest we forget, he was the Game 1 and Game 4 starter in last season’s NLDS.) His ERA in July was 5.86. His ERA in August — he’ll start tonight, so this is subject to change — is 5.18. Three of his past four starts have actually been good, but he’s 8-12 on the season with an ERA of 4.63.
By way of contrast, Brandon Beachy and Mike Minor both have lower ERAs than, er, Lowe. Both are rookies. Would Fredi Gonzalez choose Beachy and/or Minor over a 38-year-old who has made a dozen postseason starts?
September figures to be mostly for show standings-wise — the Braves trail the Phillies by 7 1/2 games but lead the Giants by 9 1/2 — but not pitching-wise. The Braves must see what’s left of their formerly formidable rotation. The ideal scenario, duh, would be to have Jurrjens, Hanson and Hudson work the division series against Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum/Randy Wolf, but it’s unclear who’ll be ready/able by Game 1.
By Mark Bradley
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140 comments Add your comment
Philly Phanatic
August 31st, 2011
10:28 am
An earlier comment about the payroll difference induces a Braves fan to give up watching baseball when compared to the Phillies I agree to a point. I can remember 5-6 years ago getting on a buddy who’s a Yankees fan and I would tease him about with the Phils payroll vs. the Yankees, the Yankess were paying twice as much per victory. With the success comes higher payrolls. The Braves are loaded with young arms and current young players like Freeman, Kimbrell, Venters, Bourne, Prado who it’ll reach a point where they’ll be free agents and they came up with the Braves system except for Bourne so they are primary targets to keep and other teams will be bidding. It’s an unfair landscape and we all have Mr Senile up in NY to blame.
Henry D.
August 31st, 2011
10:29 am
The Braves are now officially in coast mode. They know they can’t catch the Phillies and they know that they are pretty much safe for the wildcard. I don’t know if this attitude is left over from Bobby Cox or if they got so comfortable knowing they had the “Big 3″ to keep them afloat, but everytime someone starts talking about having something locked up, this team just quits producing like they think they are good enough to kick it back in high gear when they need to. Remember the Division lead they had last year? Everyone started talking about how they had the Division locked up and noone could catch them and what happened? They went in the tank and blew a 7 game Division lead. And whatever happens, please, PLEASE do NOT re-sign Alex Gonzales. He has ersonally lost at least 10 games this year with the number of times he has come up with 2 or 3 runners on base and either pops up on the infield, strikes out on a ball that is 2 feet outside or hits into a double play,
NagoyaBrave-Falcon-Hawk-in-that-order
August 31st, 2011
10:29 am
So can’t wait till next year when we have Beachy & Medlin, Minor, Teheran, and Hudson as our guys. Put DLowe on the downlow in the bullpen. Let’s start now Fredi! Pitch these kids and let all but Hudson warm the bench, cause they’re old, they’ll need something warm to sit on come October.
Rev Buddy Greene
August 31st, 2011
10:32 am
Mark were u sitting near me at the Ted last night?Before the game started i was talking about who would start against marcom./grenkie in 1-2 in milwaukee…We decided that Tim Hudson is obvious for game 1 but game 2 was a toss up….after getting a few innings in we all agreed that JJ was not the answer in Miller….I am thinking it may be Beachy then Lowe in game 3.
what people are not mentioning is when JJ dealing early in the season he admitted he had lost velocity on his fastball…the same exact thing mike gonzalez said b4 Bobby sent him to dr Andrews
NagoyaBrave-Falcon-Hawk-in-that-order
August 31st, 2011
10:32 am
Henry D- Gonzales is our old school shortstop. How many incredible plays have you seen this year? I would, though, have him bat before The Wizard of Oz. Alex earns his keep. He’s the most reliable shortstop we could dream of having come playoff time. The bat? Oh, it’s the glove, just wait and see.
Bobby Coccyx
August 31st, 2011
10:36 am
They’re all good kids
PMC
August 31st, 2011
10:40 am
wait, so Philly lost to a team that can’t hit a lick in San Francisco last year and those bums are talking crap? Really??
Matt from MN
August 31st, 2011
10:49 am
I’m really beginning to wonder about Fredi Gonzalez as a manager. Why in the world would you use Craig Kimbrel when you’re down by 7 runs?
Mark Bradley
August 31st, 2011
10:49 am
I wasn’t sitting next to you, Rev. Buddy.
slidezz
August 31st, 2011
10:53 am
Rookie power go with youth Tough rocko’s D. Lowe you should be the long man
Youth has served the Bravo’s all year so roll the dice baby
Furman Bitcher
August 31st, 2011
10:55 am
Matt Kimbrel needs the work after being off for 4 days
slidezz
August 31st, 2011
10:56 am
I would love to see Fredi run Beachy out to the hill in game 2
Steve Bartkowski
August 31st, 2011
10:59 am
I am concerned about JJ. He’s not making adjustments, the hitters have. He’s not hitting his spots. The combination is killing him. I would start Beachy 2nd or 3rd, and consider Minor or even Therhan before JJ or Lowe.
Martini&Rossy
August 31st, 2011
11:00 am
say yea….
The Blue Indian
August 31st, 2011
11:01 am
Mark, your journalism frustrates the crap out of me sometimes. At times, your articles can be great. But it seems like the majority of the time, especially lately, your articles are always “in the heat of the moment.” Write something that contradicts popular thought! If the AJC pays you to generate page clicks or whatever, then go for it. But one reason why I absolutely admire DOB is that he generally goes against the grain in his reporting. Why can’t you do the same??
coach13
August 31st, 2011
11:04 am
Hudson, Minor, Beachy, Delgado. Don’t dismiss Tehran from a start. Delgado, Tehran, and Viscaino all have electric stuff and haven’t been seen much by major league hitters. Give JJ a chance but if he continues like this you can’t pitch him. Tell Lowe to buy a ticket
chris riviello
August 31st, 2011
11:08 am
the phillies are goanna kill the braves we have the best bull ben in the country and our line ups strong to.
ab initio
August 31st, 2011
11:08 am
“The good news: The Braves will enter September not having to worry about making the playoffs.”
The Giants are tanking. That’s the only reason the Braves are in the playoffs. They’ll be one series and done.
And why the hell is Alex Gonzalez “still” on this team? And Heyward?
chris riviello
August 31st, 2011
11:12 am
yea well i like the phillys and the phillies will probaly go to the nlcs and world series
Bill
August 31st, 2011
11:16 am
Forget the Braves, college football starts tomorrow. The Braves just don’t have what it takes to win a pennant. If Washington continues to kick your butt consistently then you have no chance of being a winner.
FSURob
August 31st, 2011
11:18 am
Regardless of the rotation order he sets, I hope Fredi will go with a 4 man rotation. Bobby got away from that and started using the 3 man, short-rest rotation. It’s been folly and a major reason we haven’t made it out of the division series in a decade.
mmck
August 31st, 2011
11:20 am
Ok, so we use the month of Sept to decide which pitchers can help us win in October… Can we at least make sure to get some, or all, of the young pitchers on the post season roster? If Teheran, Delgado, or Minor don’t start in October, have them ready to come out of the bullpen in the 3rd or 4th inning when DL, JJ, or TH start giving up a lot of runs! I’d hate to lose in the first round because we gave up 5-6 runs a game and had all the young bucks sitting at home waiting until 2012.
markie mark
August 31st, 2011
11:22 am
@chris riviello….Best Bullpen? maybe you need to look at our bullpen era again….
papadawg
August 31st, 2011
11:25 am
Playoff rotation? I really don’t think they’re playing good enough to be in the playoffs
Datominator
August 31st, 2011
11:26 am
Wasn’t Leo’s reputation built mainly on being lucky enough to have three Hall-of-famers on staff and Ted Turner’s deep pockets to grab viable back-end guys? Not saying the guy was a bad coach, but I would think a lot of pitching coaches would look pretty good with the benefit of those factors, as he himself has indicated. In interviews with Maddux/Smoltz, it almost seems like they feel they knew what they were doing and kind of blocked Leo out at times, without wanting to come right out and say it. I think McDowell has been fine, apart from his temporary insanity in San Fran (and you KNOW he was being baited hard – who goes out and hires Gloria Allred because some coach cursed at them?)
Nova Scotia Steve
August 31st, 2011
11:26 am
I’ll remind everyone here the Braves are 24 games above .500.
Tanking or not the Giants/Cards/Reds or whoever would have to play near .580 or .600 ball to contend with the Braves. It’s not an easy thing to do.
Give the Braves some credit for being in the position they are in with 29 games left to go….However I am concerned with the rotation…not panicking just concerned.
Hanson and Jurrjens are the key to our play-off. We need at least one of those guys to return to form. I don’t expect much out of Hanson for the remainder of this season so the pressure lies directly on Jurrjens – and maybe he feels it.
I think you’ll see the rotation bare down and put in a string of solid starts when we face the Phillies/Cards next week. Just need a leader to step up
IE Hudson, Lowe
dtanner
August 31st, 2011
11:26 am
someone mentioned leo mazzone in an earlier post,about him being so great,hell you give me smoltz,glavine and maddux in their prime i would have looked like a genius also,remember leo did’nt look so bright at baltimore
excueses excuses
August 31st, 2011
11:27 am
LOL…tell your own team to learn how to sell out your own stadium on 100+ home games like the Phillies’ and invest those $$$ into great players ok? jealousy jealousy that what it is
chris riviello
August 31st, 2011
11:29 am
there unstoppable
bro
August 31st, 2011
11:31 am
Fredie G needs to remember that this game is about winning and not about playing your veterans like Cox always did. Prime example: Last year Cox played Lee at first when he could have put Freeman on first. Lee was hurt when the Braves got him from Chicago–because he was a veteran–and stayed hurt and mostely unproductive. Cox lost a lot of games because he was always a players manager and not a team manager. You have got to bite the bullet at times and go with the young guns. Anything would be better than a sore knee pitcher. And why leave him in until the team knows they are out of the game. MANAGE FREDDIE–DON’T FOLLOW THE OLD GOOD GUY RULE.
chris riviello
August 31st, 2011
11:32 am
markie mark the phillies bullpen is way better then the braves. the braves are good but the phillies are way better maybe u should take a look at our bullben stats
chris riviello
August 31st, 2011
11:33 am
thank you excueses excuses
chris riviello
August 31st, 2011
11:34 am
Enter your comments here
dawg-bone
August 31st, 2011
11:34 am
Wren H has good points and season tickets so he has a right to bitch…Wren lover, where are your season tickets?..in front of the TV.
I think Wren has done a good job but I don’t agree with everything he does…
as for Wren Lover..I’ll save that for my wife.
chris riviello
August 31st, 2011
11:35 am
and i would like to see the braves beat the brewers
braves 2012
August 31st, 2011
11:39 am
as much as i hate to say it…..we need lowe more than anything of them. he is a sinker ball pitcher….which would be great in play-offs……this team really won’t prevail without lowe pitching great the rest of the way OR a rookie pitching above his own level… beachy is a great game 3 pitcher though.. in atlanta…home crowd…he would be fine
dawg-bone
August 31st, 2011
11:41 am
d tanner..Leo didn’t have crap to work with in Baltimore…u can’t make chicken salad out of chicken crap..
I’d take Leo back in a heart beat..all the Braves did when he was here was WIN!..thats what its all about.
SG10
August 31st, 2011
11:43 am
Braves pick up Matt Diaz? – reported on ESPN. I would have much preferred Infante but Diaz is okay too.
The Blue Indian
August 31st, 2011
11:45 am
The Braves just acquired MATT DIAZ!
Welcome back, Matty!!!!
Space Monkey
August 31st, 2011
11:46 am
Datominator: Leo did not just pluck Smoltz, Glavine, and Avery out of the air. He helped mold them into the pitchers they became. Also, don’t forget about Millwood, Burnett, Wright, and other pitchers he helped develop or reclaim off the scrap heap. The conventional wisdom now is that Leo lucked into Hall of Fame pitchers. The truth is that he helped build two of them. Maddux, well…Maddux was a gift from the baseball gods.
CJammin
August 31st, 2011
11:47 am
@Phillies, Class of the NL East
You do realize the Braves and Phillies are tied head-to-head don’t you? Yeah the Nats have our number for whatever reason, but that has nothing to do with the fact that the Braves are the second best team in the NL and have proven they can take the Phillies. I wouldn’t act so cocky. The Braves have owned Halladay and Lee this year.
dawg-bone
August 31st, 2011
11:49 am
Diaz is under contract for next year at 2 million..who did Braves give up…..
honest_abe
August 31st, 2011
11:49 am
frank wren is the man! besides getting peanuts for yunel he’s been fantastic.
got to go with the young kids. hope they go 6 strong and then turn it over to our bullpen. it’s the only way we can compete with milwaukee. jj’s fastball looks like a changeup. lowe isn’t dependable.
huddy, beachy, minor.
STEELY DAN MAN
August 31st, 2011
11:51 am
WOW ….. I love Matt Diaz …… But Infante even more !!!!!!!!!!!
dawg-bone
August 31st, 2011
11:52 am
Diaz hitting 258 and no homers this year..not much help !!!!!!!!!
Mark Bradley
August 31st, 2011
11:53 am
In a related development, the Braves have acquired Matt Diaz for a player to be named. I do not believe, however, the Braves are counting on Diaz to pitch.
STEELY DAN MAN
August 31st, 2011
11:54 am
Matty Diaz is more relieved and happy about being back w/ the Braves …. than the Braves & We are !!!!
Brave Hokie
August 31st, 2011
11:56 am
I agree with FSURob
If the Braves can’t squeeze out a winning record versus the sorry a$$ Mets or Expos, forget about Oct baseball…
Reason
August 31st, 2011
11:58 am
The Braves are looking more like a bunch of beat up losers. They are done for the season and forget the playoffs.
They can’t beat the bad news bears.
Mark Bradley
August 31st, 2011
11:58 am
Matt Diaz in 2011: No homers, 19 RBIs, a .259 batting average.