More from Wren the GM: On Fredi, the bullpen and the Phillies
Frank Wren likes what the guy he hired to replace Bobby Cox did in Year 1. (AP photo)
For your listening enjoyment, here’s a bit more from this week’s conversation with Braves general manager Frank Wren. (Other snippets of the Wren Zen can be found here.)
On the the epic collapse of 2011: “We have to learn from it and grow from it.”
On starting pitchers Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens, whose injuries helped undo the 2011 season: “[Tommy] feels great. We feel very good about where he is. Jair was ready to pitch a week after the season was over. And Tim Hudson [who underwent offseason back surgery] should be ready or close to ready by the end of spring training. He says he feels better than he has in two or three years.”
On whether or not a major personnel move will be warranted: “I think we’ll have more answers at the end of spring training. If everyone bounces back, then we’ve got a good ballclub that doesn’t have a major need. I’d rather be in that position [than having to fill a specific void] because when the season starts another need can come up.”
On how it was to watch St. Louis, which finished a game ahead of the Braves, win the World Series: “We felt like we matched up very well with the Cardinals, but they seized their opportunity to the max.”
On the excruciating final night of the 2011 regular season: “Once [the Phillies] tied the game in the ninth and it went into extra innings — and we’d been watching the Cardinals win their blowout — the reality was that we knew we had to win. [The Braves lost in 13 innings and were eliminated.] That was a very empty feeling. It was a tough clubhouse that night.”
On Fredi Gonzalez in Year 1 as Braves manager: “It’s a tough situation following a legend [in Bobby Cox], but I thought Fredi did a terrific job in setting the right tone. We had a tough month [meaning September], but it wasn’t for lack of trying. This year I think Fredi will be more relaxed and more himself, and that bodes well.”
On the notion that Gonzalez overtaxed his bullpen early in the season: “We played so many extra-inning games and so many close games, and that was largely a function of our offense. It’s a tough thing [regarding the use of relievers]: You’re trying to win every game you play. I think Roger [McDowell, the pitching coach] and Fredi made a conscious effort to try to rest guys the second half of the season.”
On this year’s relief corps: “We’ll have an even deeper bullpen, and our back three [Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty] is as good as anybody’s.”
On the impulse, especially after an epic collapse, to make a big move just for the appearance of motion: “You have to fight that urge. We took a realistic look at our club. We had opportunities where we could have made deals if we wanted to make deals for the sake of making deals.”
On the Phillies: “They’ve got a big hole in their lineup. [Ryan Howard ruptured his Achilles on the final play of Philadelphia's season and will miss a few months.] But they’ve got a good ballclub and they play the game the right way — they’re going to be there.”
By Mark Bradley
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284 comments Add your comment
Skeezix
January 20th, 2012
8:53 pm
I am convinced that Wren is just not very bright.
Skeezix
January 20th, 2012
8:55 pm
Reading Wren’s nonsense further convinces me that we are flying blind going into 2012.
Mister Frisky
January 20th, 2012
9:02 pm
B-Fan,It’s all cool.Talk to you down the road and a good weekend to you as well.
Felix
January 20th, 2012
9:19 pm
With all his screw ups, why does FW still have a job? That is the article that needs to be written.
ryan
January 20th, 2012
9:50 pm
Boring winter for the Braves Nats will probably land Fielder i have giving up on the Braves hot stove because it has been mostly cold .
Quick Hits: Red Sox, Gordon, Francis, Montero, Braves | Columbus Sports Radio
January 20th, 2012
10:13 pm
[...] GM Frank Wren doesn’t believe that his club has a major personnel need, writes Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Wren also believes that this year’s bullpen figures to be even deeper that last [...]
Tree rollins
January 20th, 2012
11:12 pm
Did we ever hire a hitting coach? That’s what this stinkin’ team has needed for years niw!
Tree rollins
January 20th, 2012
11:13 pm
now
GOP Cannon
January 20th, 2012
11:15 pm
I really hate to say this, but I think that this is the least entuastic that I have ever been going into an upcoming Braves season. I will always love this team, but last years collapse is something that will be with me for a long time… for us to sit on our hands and make no changes really pisses me off.
MitchC
January 20th, 2012
11:32 pm
Thanks, Mark.,
After what happened last year, I hope that the same thing that happened to the Mets, doesnt happen to the Braves, where they collapsed, and were never heard from again.
Philly should win the East again unless they really have problems. As for the Braves, they should again compete for the Wild Card. the question is whether what happened last year, will linger, and wear them down.
wins-by-a-link
January 20th, 2012
11:57 pm
To all of you dumb asses who want to blame FG or FW for the Braves short comings, Take a look at the present ownership, Liberty Media, Bought the Braves for a tax break, They don’t give a damn if the Braves win or lose. The tax break remains the same. You will never see the Braves win a championship as long as Liberty Media owns the Braves. Lets hope that the Braves will get an owner like the Falcons have, Local owner that demands a winner and will put the money into the operation that will bring a championship to Atlanta and the state of Georgia,
Quick Hits: Lincecum, Red Sox, Gordon, Francis | Columbus Sports Radio
January 21st, 2012
12:18 am
[...] GM Frank Wren doesn’t believe that his club has a major personnel need, writes Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Wren also believes that this year’s bullpen figures to be even deeper that last [...]
Bobby's Cox
January 21st, 2012
3:01 am
Wren did the right thing by not making a trade, especially one like Prado for a prospect who will take another 2-4 years to develop. What makes a good team is allowing these guys to play together for multiple years. You can’t just keep bringing in new wash ups because 1 guy had a bad year. This is a young team and these young players will have a bad season. Let the team develop, they’re not as bad as blogs make them to be.
Mitchell
January 21st, 2012
3:44 am
On the notion that Gonzalez overtaxed his bullpen early in the season: “We played so many extra-inning games and so many close games, and that was largely a function of our offense. It’s a tough thing [regarding the use of relievers]: You’re trying to win every game you play. I think Roger [McDowell, the pitching coach] and Fredi made a conscious effort to try to rest guys the second half of the season.”
The number of games last year where O’Flaherty, Venters and Kimbrel went 7-8-9 without giving up a run in a tie game and the offense couldn’t push across one run in regulation was sickeningly high.
It’s all on the offense, the blame. It was a problem from day one.
Why then do you not fire Larry Parrish? Talk about “doing nothing.” That’s it.
The aversion to any kind of controversy or confrontational, head-on thinking that characterizes this organization is so much a part of why the collapse occurred.
To sit there and watch what was happening and do nothing is unbelievable.
The players didn’t even like the guy. I heard Mark Bradley on 790thezone at the end of the season last year say players were coming up to him in April in San Francisco expressing their dissatisfaction of Larry Parrish’s coaching style.
A.) That should have been reported (it wasn’t… I like Mark Bowman but the fact that information didn’t get out suggests that the level of confidentiality between team and the media too close) and b.) that should have been all you would need as a General Manager to make a decision.
But why do anything when you can do nothing and be duly applauded by Mark Bradley without a second thought?
The real question is did he even know? Did that information not get passed on to him?
You’d have to assume it didn’t otherwise you can’t rationalize doing nothing about it.
Mitchell
January 21st, 2012
3:51 am
wins-by-a-link
January 20th, 2012
11:57 pm
To all of you dumb asses who want to blame FG or FW for the Braves short comings, Take a look at the present ownership, Liberty Media, Bought the Braves for a tax break, They don’t give a damn if the Braves win or lose. The tax break remains the same. You will never see the Braves win a championship as long as Liberty Media owns the Braves.
I won’t suggest Fredi Gonzalez or Frank Wren are free from blame but I do agree with that assessment.
Further evidence to the contrary to those who wish to repeatedly label Braves fans as “spoiled.”
Yeah, no.
HardyFalcon
January 21st, 2012
7:58 am
Frank Wren is a IDIOT, he has no clue. FL. AND the Phillies have added to their roster. Wren thinks our injured players will rebound. our outfield needs to be totally replaced
World Be Free
January 21st, 2012
8:46 am
This is still the same team that tanked the end of last season. I know I am excited.
Wren is totally clueless. He will sit on whatever talent he has hoping the fit into positions. Instead of Jack Wilson he could have signed Rentiera to not only backup but challenge for the starting shortstop position.
Frank Wren= bird brain
Packere Ed
January 21st, 2012
8:52 am
Wren is not capable and he has no money.
game over until that changes
TeheranTime
January 21st, 2012
8:55 am
Anyone else notice the inconsistencies in the interview? Frank Wren himself noted that the Braves played a lot of close games due to their offensive inadequacies. As a result, Fredi Gonzalez ran the bullpen out their at an alarming rate. Their arms were falling off! Now he feels that this team really doesn’t have any major personnel needs. Really? What about some offense- which nothing has been done to address- so that they bullpen doesn’t blow out their arms?
papadawg
January 21st, 2012
9:07 am
The Braves NEED to officially move Chipper to a utility role and sign a everyday 3rd baseman. He will not be a everyday player again.
Trojan
January 21st, 2012
9:36 am
We can expect Prado to be more productive. He was having a very good year until he was hurt. Heyward, on the other hand, is not as easy to predict. We hope and we need for him to rebound to become average.
Rich Nykerk
January 21st, 2012
9:46 am
If is only two letters but a big word.
raymond
January 21st, 2012
9:46 am
The problem with the Braves is the same one they have had for the last two years in that Chipper is too old and they are financially strapped because of his salary but they will not admit it. No one would take Chipper and pay him the money he makes with the Braves. All they want to talk about is their young pitching but they wont be here but a few years because we wont get in major bidding anymore and they will go elsewear to get paid. Forget keeping Borne or Jurgens because they are Boras clients and the Braves automatically let them go. Im so tired of this half a** approach at having a team.
Jockich Ahn Smelley, II
January 21st, 2012
10:01 am
Hey Braves, another dismal boring season! Fredi, quit trying to be like Bobby Cox–the World Champion Manager of the REGULAR SEASON….step out of the box…have an “edge”….be your own manager and leader…but let’s quit trying to be the World Champions of the REGULAR SEASON…..Yawnnnnnnnnnnn, I need a nap thinking of the upcoming season….
BullDogMike
January 21st, 2012
10:18 am
Hitting is required in order to help a pitching staff. Low batting Avg and almost no hitting in clutch situations equal worn out arms. How can Wren not attempt to get a hitter for the middle of the line up? Chipper and or J.Heyward cannot protect McCann. He will constantly be pitched around again. I hope something good happens, but preparing for an instant replay of last season.
BullDogMike
January 21st, 2012
10:24 am
One more item to mention in case anybody forgot. When owners of a team, such as Liberty Media, just use team as a tax write off, we really can’t expect them to be all that strong. Great ownership is what Braves need again.
coach joe
January 21st, 2012
10:24 am
too much negative thiought here… we haven’t even begub spring training and everyone is giving up..
we just need some offense.. we have enough pitching..Prado and and Heyward come around and we’ll be right there in September..
Go braves…..
braveshoo
January 21st, 2012
11:07 am
Hope is eternal, and I will continue to hope all the pieces fall into place and the Braves rise up and win the pennant. However, my small brain tells me that this will be a year to develop our young pitchers and hitters that will be our core for a long time; we trade JJ for some good young prospects because we wont sign him after this year; and Chipper, as great as he has been, retires so we finally have some money to fill some holes, or tie up some of our younger players longterm. Then we should hire a real manager like the Diamondbacks did last year, and we will be ready to win it all in 2013.
Erk Russell's Dog
January 21st, 2012
11:10 am
It is more than a lack of ownership spending money to blame for the Braves failures. Look at what Tampa has done in the AL East while spending less than the Braves and having to compete with big spenders like the Yankees and Red Sox.The Braves need use spring training to develop a better offensive identity for the team. For too long the Braves have been a team that depends on the 3-run homer to win. By acquiring Bourn as the lead off hitter the Braves need to re focus their offensive plan and take advantage of Bourn’s speed. Being as the Braves don’t play home games in a hitter friendly ballpark they need to be more aggressive in the running game and this could help them generate more runs. The Braves have enough pitching to compete with any one in their division ,but if they continue to use the old Bobby Cox plan of waiting for the 3 Run Homer it could be another season of unfulfilled promises.
Busch Leaguer
January 21st, 2012
11:27 am
Every team in the NL east ,except the Mets have a chance to upend the Phillies and take the division .But I still think the Braves have the most pitching depth starters and end of the bullpen to take down the Phillies .They just need to find a way to score more runs.
TeheranTime
January 21st, 2012
11:48 am
No, the the problem with the Braves is that they are still stuck in the ’90’s. They think all they need to do is to strap them up year after year with the roster the same. They think they still have the talent level that they had in their glory years. They don’t have three Cy Young Award winners on their pitching staff. The game has changed and the Braves haven’t. Chipper Jones is basically done. Brian McCann while he has been the heart of this team struggled at the end of last year. Who knows how Pastornicky will play at short. Will Dan Uggla struggle for the first half as he did last year. Will Jason Heyward play anywhere near the abilities of an everyday player? Which Martin Prado will show up? Will Jair stay healthy? Will Tommy Hanson stay healthy? Will Tim Hudson stay healthy? I would say there are more unanswered questions than there are answers.
Klaus
January 21st, 2012
11:53 am
The FO under two owners and apart from Chipper, a complete turn over of the entire team (several times over) yet they have gone no where (in the post season) in 10-12 years. You can make every excuse in the book but in no other world but in the apathetic land of the Braves would this FO still be employing these people.
Its not money alone or bad luck or injuries or any of the 50+ other excuses people make in order to wait until next year. That is all just a bunch of self denial.
90mm is enough to win but they haven’t.
Sure having the ability to pop salary up to a 110 or 115 million would help but I won’t trust this FO or Fredi with that kind of spend. When Wren had cash in Dec 2008 he pissed most of it away on crap. As an aside I stopped trusting Bobby around 2002 so giving more payroll to him was also a lesson in futility.
Until FG through McGuirk get fired this team will flounder and the excuses and the “almosts” will flow year after year.
No one expects this or any team not named the Yankees or Red Sox to be in the WS every year but this franchise is a shell of its former self and this management team is burnt out, running old play books and hoping for miracles.
They are pissing way the careers of guys like McCann, Hanson, JJ, Prado while they sit and hope for a miracle. The smart ones eventually get sick of the losing, the late season collapses and move on.
A new owner is needed not just for the money but to finally upgrade the mgt team in ATL. To eliminate figure head positions that draw millions in salary. To add fire & purpose up and down the org. To actually have some vision and a fire for winning versus a plodding one dimensional strategy for building a club.
A bunch of suits who are more worried about their slick back hair or how the image of team is portrayed then winning will not do.
The Braves are run by guys better suited to hang around a yacht club bar than running a gritty ball club. A gritty club with an actual design center will put fannies in seats not this milk toast collection of piece parts cobbled together behind an up & down pitching staff.
Until all of that changes you can throw money, amazing young pitching prospects and one off FA into ATL but you will still end up in the same place (b/c of poor mgt & leadership). Back here in the offseason scratching your head, bitching about or defending the train wreck you just witnessed.
This team plays like a bunch of accountants and they are perpetually almost good enough. In a word they are in “purgatory”.
The ATL Braves and their fans are stuck in this half way house. Not a crappy team and not a great team but one stuck in a groundhog day land where you think this is the year where things will change only to realize you have seen this movie before.
And they wonder why people stay home, pass on playoff games etc.
They do this b/c you can only handle purgatory for so long until hell looks attractive. In this case hell would be becoming a Marlins or Phillies fan
No offense.
Liberty sell this team for no other reason than to give a new mgt team a chance to show ATL fans how next gen ball clubs are run. We have seen the old Braves way movie for too long. Time to erase it from the DVR and move on.
JTH
January 21st, 2012
12:04 pm
Here’s what I read;
Wren-”Same old, same old as long as Liberty Media owns the team. No real commitment to winning but it’s my job to make it seem like there is. Enjoy the second or third place finish”
pat
January 21st, 2012
12:18 pm
We hate Liberty Media. F-U Liberty Media, die!
Old Dog
January 21st, 2012
12:25 pm
Several of you have been critical of Uggla’s 2011 stats. He did have a substandard first half but also had a 33 game hitting streak and led the team in home runs and RBIs for the year.
Jair Jurrjens (Braves) — BaseballMoves.com
January 21st, 2012
12:30 pm
[...] Source: ajc.com [...]
Mets R Best
January 21st, 2012
1:04 pm
I think Liberty Media and Frenk Wren are doing a great job!
bvillebaron
January 21st, 2012
1:06 pm
WorldBeFree:
You wanted Wren to sign Rentria? Someone is clueless in this situation, but it ain’t Wren.
Klaus
January 21st, 2012
1:11 pm
Liberty sees Frank Wren as an HR Manager for a non critical asset. I imagine Malone their Chairman has never met Frank Wren and may not even know who he is….
Klaus
January 21st, 2012
1:19 pm
We know they have no money and we know any hope of making a major move was deeply wounded when they had to take 10mm of Lowe’s salary. The remaining 5mm was spent before it hit the floor on Arb raises so in a way they had to trade Lowe to cover Arb increases despite denials to the contrary.
What many of us are taking issue with is Wren saying anything at this point. He is contradicting himself and digging his own grave should they miss the post season again.
If they do miss the post season I suspect it will be badly as-in their season is about over in late July. I don’t see this team coming down to the wire b/c the division is tougher and somehow the central and west coast teams find a way to beat the Braves.
And in case you missed it the Braves have VERY nasty interleague schedule. They have to face the Yankees twice, along with the Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles. In the case of the Yankees both series will be in NYC for some reason.
While you would think the Jays and Orioles should be winnable series the Braves tend to struggle against AL teams.
Good luck with that….
bvillebaron
January 21st, 2012
1:33 pm
BravesFanInWisc:
It doesn’t do any good to whine about the fact that Liberty Media is cheap. We all know that and that isn’t going to change. We all know this team could use a right handed full time left fielder, but the ones who were available on the free agent market were overrated and overpriced (Ludwick, Ross, etc.).
It has widely been reported that Wren tried to address this need several ways this winter. He tried to acquire prospect Will Myers from the Royals and also kicked the tires on Adam Jones. Apparently, the asking price for both was too high. While neither you nor I know precisely what went on during those discussions, if the reported asking price for Jones was Jurrjens, Prado and two of the Braves young pitching prospects is accurate, what Braves’ fan in their right mind would pull lthe trigger on that? I like Jones a lot, but he ain’t the second coming of Willie Mays or Hank Aaron folks.
As I have posted on several occasions, the most important component for a winning baseball team is PITCHING. The Braves are well stocked in that regard. They have 9 proven or top end prospects to fill out a 5 man rotation (Hudson, Hanson, Jurrjens, Beachy, Minor, Teheran, Delgado, Vizcaino and Medlen). The have one of the best (if not THE best) and deepest bullpens in the majors in Kimbrel, Venters, O’Flaherty and most likely Medlen and Vizcaino). With the exception of Hudson, ALL of these guys are young and should only improve.
I for one think the offense will be improved because (1) they will have Bourn for the whole season; (2) McCann and Prado struggled during the stretch run due to injuries or lingering effects of injuries; (3) Uggla should be more consistent now that he is over trying to live up to his contract; and (4) Heyward should be improved this year (for all those ripping him here, he is only 22, played with a nagging shoulder injury last year, wat the No. 1 rated prospect in MLB in 2010 for a reason; and, as Cliff Floyd noted on the MLB channel the other day, instead of sulking or passing 2011 off as a fluke, he has lost weight and is working hard to get better this offseason working with a REAL pitching coach. All of the other the other teams in the NL East have their own offensive issues and none of them are the 1927 Yankees.
I also think Wren’s trade opportunities this winter were limited because the current trade value of the two guys he was willing to trade, Jurrjens and Prado (never understood why he wants to trade him) is low due to injury and poor performance at the end of last year. Given that circumstance and the fact that on paper the Braves are still better than the Marlins and Nationals, it makes perfect sense to me to wait until spring trading, hope both of them show that they are healthy and see what trade oppotunities exist then or at the trade deadline. That’s exactly how I interpreted Wren’s comments in this article.
Sid
January 21st, 2012
2:03 pm
Sources say:
“Former St. Louis Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo has agreed to become defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.
The 52-year-old Spagnuolo was head coach in St. Louis the past three seasons and was fired in January after going 10-38 with the Rams. Before that he was defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, a stint that included a Super Bowl upset of the New England Patriots.”
Klaus
January 21st, 2012
2:05 pm
No moves with no money is not surprising but the JS “Letter” and Wren’s flip flopping on Pastornicky and the state of the team is what turns people off.
Both of these men should have said less since they intended to do less. I terms of the trades that never happened – being greedy or over valuing your players can come back to bite you as well.
Wren thinks he is sitting on gold and he may be but he has no money so sooner or later some of that gold will need to be sold.
Klaus
January 21st, 2012
2:36 pm
Refreshing comment from the co-owner of the Rangers. When if ever will we hear something like this from Liberty or McGuirk?
When it comes to the club’s finances, Simpson talked about a strategy to make the Rangers a “dynasty.”
“We’re writing checks to make this stuff happen, but at some point it’s got to sustain itself and we understand that,” Simpson said. “Winning comes first and then support comes. You can’t ask fans to come to every game while you’re losing and have them help you increase your revenues. You’re trying to take it to a new level, a sustainable level, where it is a dynasty franchise like the Dallas Cowboys achieved. Then in the off-years, and inevitably you’ll have some, they still support you.”
No one who owns the Braves is saying this and more importantly acting. We need to think about it before we chastise people for not going to games…
BravesfaninWis
January 21st, 2012
2:42 pm
GOP Cannon
January 20th, 2012
11:15 pm
Well said in your 11:15 post. I feel the same exact way.
BravesfaninWis
January 21st, 2012
2:52 pm
bvillebaron
January 21st, 2012
1:33 pm
I hear ya man. I don’t want Adam Jones at that price either. Hell, I wouldn’t even give up Prado and Jurrgens for him. Jones has some question marks as well.
About our pitching, the entire staff has issues. Hanson and Jurrgens can’t stay healthy, Hudson is getting older and now has a back surgery to compete against, Beachy can’t pitch out of the 5th innings most starts because at that point he already has over 100 pitches, and whoever they stick in the 5 hole is not proven at the ML level yet, that is why they are called prospects.
Our bullpen has every chance of being great, but if they are over worked again like last season, it doesn’t bode well for them. I hope to hell Heyward bounces back as I am a big fan of his, but until he does, he has to be considered a question mark. Will Uggla be strong out of the gate? That remains to be seen, he always has been a slow starter to the season.
Chipper Jones is at the end of his career and battles injuries every year, so what makes anyone think this year will be any different? As someone else said, the best position for CJ is as a DH, which means he should be in the AL. Why pay a guy that much to miss that many games when you could use that money to get younger and more production?
Look, all I am saying is that I don’t think the Braves will contend this year because the Phillies are still strong and the Marlins and Nats have gotten much stronger while the Braves did nothing. If the Braves are 4th best in their division, the WC is not even attainable. So with that being said, in the current economy I will keep my money in the bank and pass on watching the Braves on the Extra Innings package this season. That will be hard as I have been a Braves fan my entire life, but if they don’t care, then why should we fans? I can use that money on something else more productive, the Braves aren’t on that list this year. As I said before, I can watch them lose on Sports Center.
Steve
January 21st, 2012
3:09 pm
If anyone is worried about Pastornicky, just remember .. even if he doesn’t adjust well it really won’t be much of a dropoff and we saved money with him for arb contracts and such.
Think about
– AGon rarely had a clutch hit. So even though his batting average looked really bad, the reality was his contribution at the plate was far worse than his average.
– AGon had the range of .. well .. an typical kitchen oven. Extremely sure-handed is a great thing for a shortstop, but if the ball wasn’t hit within a very small window he flat out wasn’t getting to it. Even the lackadaisical Escobar had twice the range of AGon.
I am being serious. Let’s not get down on the kid if he struggles. His speed and range alone should be enough to offset what will likely be a higher number of errors. Then it’s just hitting, and he realyl can’t be much worse. Even if he stink it up, the experience will be huge moving forward.
Yeah, Rah, Mediocre!
January 21st, 2012
4:17 pm
“On the notion that Gonzalez overtaxed his bullpen early in the season: “We played so many extra-inning games and so many close games, and that was largely a function of our offense. It’s a tough thing [regarding the use of relievers]: You’re trying to win every game you play. I think Roger [McDowell, the pitching coach] and Fredi made a conscious effort to try to rest guys the second half of the season.”
How about the notion that MANYof those extra inning games were due to the fact that the Braves pathetic offense couldn’t push across a winning run in regulation and the Braves were forced to go extras?
And the way to insure that it doesn’t happen again this year? Pray! Obviously making a move to bolster the offense isn’t going to happen.
Jmart1951
January 21st, 2012
4:37 pm
One of the Braves problems the last two years is starting pitchers wearing down at the end of the year. With so many good starting pitchers to choose from the Braves starting five will all be quality pitchers. In my opinion the #5 pitching spot should pitch every 5th game. If the Braves went with a true 5 man rotation it would give our starting pitchers more rest between starts and should help them be stronger at seasons end.
I know that one reason the 5th pitcher is skipped is so that the team can get as many starts out of their #1 pitcher as they can. Our five starting pitchers will be pretty much interchangeable, in my opinion. If that is truly the case fewer starts by the #1, #2 and #3 pitchers should give them more energy in their regular starts and more strength and endurance in September.
There has not been a better opportunity to try this philosophy than this year. The Braves have so much starting pitching talent that there will be no significant drop off between the five starting pitchers. Be different, try something that I believe will give the team an edge against other pitching staffs as the season wears on.
Had enough
January 21st, 2012
4:48 pm
Well Mark you answer it.Did the braves improve in the off season.Wait I’ll answer it for you.Nope.