In the beginning of April, particularly during the ten-game winning streak, the Braves pitchers were unstoppable. Just a few big nights from the offense were needed to get this team to win games, as it was the dominant pitching that steered the team.

After the winning streak, the starting pitching began to struggle. Not .to be out done, the bullpen began to struggle. Here is a list of what the pitching staff did in the first 14 games, compared to the last 21.

STAT           FIRST 14           LAST 21

Paul Maholm hit a rough stride following his hot start.

ERA             1.77                     4.57
W                    12                          9
K/9               7.3                       8.4
BB/9             2.4                       3.0
HR/9             .4                         1.4
H/9             7.6                         9.9

The Braves have given opponents a lot of opportunities to score. They have allowed roughly 14 base runners per nine inning, compared to the 10 before that. Four extra base runners per game may not sound like much, but when you give up an extra home run per game, it will come back to haunt you.

This does not solely reflect the starting rotation. Craig Kimbrel has given up three blown saves in this span, which has contributed to the underwhelming record and inflated pitching stats.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with Craig Kimbrel. He has the same velocity as last year, he is just struggling with his location and reliance of his fastball (using it about 10 percent more this year.)

The Braves pitching will balance itself out. The record is not based on how the pitching has performed, but the following will show how the offensive woes have been masked.

STAT           FIRST 14           LAST 21

BJ Upton has yet to find his groove in Atlanta.

AVG              .254                       .237
OBP                .324                       .319
HR/G            1.78                       1.14
K/G                 8.6                         9.7
R/G                 4.8                         4.1

Sure, the bad increased and the good decreased, but it was not severe enough to warrant the record that ensued. The fact is that the pitching could no longer carry the slack for the offense. The Braves pitching will straighten itself out. It will not be as bad as it has been, but it will not be as good as it was. Expect something in the middle.

The offense is another story. Justin Upton carried the offense in April, but since his power surge has halted, so has the offense. Maybe the return of McCann and/or Heyward will give the offense a boost, but it is a scary thing to watch currently. Here’s to them figuring it out.

Evan Gattis will stay play a prominent role the Braves when Brian McCann returns.

The Braves sent Tyler Pastornicky back to Gwinnett to give Brian McCann a roster spot for the Braves for Monday’s game against the Reds. While the Braves are excited to have McCann’s bat and game calling back with the big league club, this leaves fans to wonder about Evan Gattis.

Evan Gattis won the NL Rookie of the Month Award for April, after leading all rookies in home runs (6), RBIs (16), and slugging percentage (.566) for that month. The 26-year-old had performed much better than anyone had thought coming into the season, thus minimizing the loss of Brian McCann. Gattis will not not be the full-time catcher when McCann returns, but his role will still be prominent with the Braves. » Continue reading “Evan Gattis’ Role When Brian McCann Returns”

Kevin Pate helps us look for Atlanta’s hide and seek offense.

The Braves just dropped three of four games to the Pittsburgh Pirates, owners of 21 consecutive losing seasons. In those four losses, they managed to score just four runs. Is it time to worry about the offense? Not quite.

The Braves, recently, have been the recipients of bad luck. The biggest receiver of this unfortunate luck has been Jason Heyward, who has a BABIP (batting average of balls in play) of .114. Considering that Heyward’s career BABIP is around .300, it’s safe to assume that you should expect Heyward to gain about .200 higher in average, and expect a few more of those flyouts to turn into homeruns.

The Braves walk into Monday’s game with a BABIP of .275, which is good for 23rd in the league. Despite that statistic, » Continue reading “Where is the Braves Offense?”

Did you know that three of the five Braves starting pitchers have higher batting averages than Jason Heyward? Did you realize that Heyward is 4 for 39 for an .103 average, but he has seven walks and seven runs? Did you also realize that Heyward, B.J. Upton, and Dan Uggla have more strike outs than hits, and they are all batting under.175? » Continue reading “The Hits Keep Coming…For Some of the Braves”

Here it is, Opening Day! The new Braves take the field versus National League East nemesis Philadelphia. Ready or not, Braves fans will have an infield without Chipper Jones, someone other than Brian McCann behind the plate, and no daily game of “Where on the Field is Martin Prado”.

What is the same is the old reliable Tim Hudson on the mound. At 37 years old, you can count on Hudson commanding the cutter, just as you can count on the “War Eagle” for the former Auburn star. Hudson has lead by example since joining the Braves in 2005. Do not mistake his laid back nature and often comical interviews for lack of killer instinct. Anyone that has watched the veteran compete knows that while he may have us laughing of the field, on the field there are no laughing matters. (Well, there was that time he fell off the mound versus Baltimore. As someone who frequently embarrasses myself in similar manners, if you cannot laugh at yourself, you are the only one not laughing.) » Continue reading “Braves Opening Day- Something Old, Something New”

All season we have watched a 40 year old play like he is a teenager all the while wondering, “is this the last home run,” “is this the last…” Sunday was a definitive last- Larry Wayne Jones played his last regular season home game for the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta has at least four more games, three in Pittsburgh in the regular season, and at least one playoff game.

Oddly enough, during Chipper Jones weekend, it was not Chipper Jones carrying the Braves. For some fans, this was surely disappointing, but honestly, it should be relieving. All season, those of us covering the team have told you it is not a good thing for the best player on your team to be the guy who will not be here next year. Finally, Atlanta does not need Chipper as their spark- at least not this weekend. Martin Prado, Kris Medlen, Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward, and Mike Minor were the stories on the field. Atlanta won a record 23 games in which Kris Medlen started on Sunday, Minor’s win on Saturday further highlighted his incredible second half turnaround. Prado, Freeman, and Heyward each stepped up with key RBI to give both pitchers enough run support to get the wins. All of this while Chipper went one for the weekend.

I understand you wanted the Chipper Jones heroics you have become used to over the last 19 years, but your happiness should be in that the Braves can win without him. This was something that I myself was skeptical of at several points during the season. The faces of the Braves as Chipper announced his retirement showed sadness and even doubt. Maybe, just maybe, this was something that this team was not certain of themselves, but now that they are, you may be for a Hall of Fame ending to a first ballot Hall of Fame career.

Photo courtesy of MLB. Click for this and more photos of Chipper Jones weekend.

I will admit I chalked up yesterday’s game versus the Phillies as another loss. Seriously, five runs in the first given up by Paul Maholm, and Cole Hamels dealing? I had about all I could take. I had no explanation other than the Braves look out of gas. Let’s not forget that Fredi Gonzalez choose to bench Brian McCann and Dan Uggla due to their lack of production. A move that Uggla had no problem voicing his displeasure about. Being strongly against leaving early, I decided to seek shelter from the heat and humidity in the 755 Club with friends old and new.

As we attempted to solve the Braves problems to no avail, the crowd got smaller and smaller. All the sudden there seemed to be a bright spot, Peter Moylan had made his way back to Turner Field. 11 months removed from shoulder surgery, many fans did not realize the Aussie had been called up. Seeing Moylan on the mound seemed to be our reward for having waited it out, but not so fast my friend!

Let’s fast forward to the bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, and Martin Prado up to bat. (Well, maybe I should mention Dan Uggla was to pinch hit, but was pulled when Jonathan Pappelbon entered the game in favor of Lyle Overbay. Overbay was called out on strikes, but I digress.) As he has done all year Prado delivered with a bases loaded double that set the table for none other the @RealCJ10 Chipper Jones to get the GW #mammo. For those of you who do not follow him on Twitter, Chipper hit a game winning three run homer.

There are very few times I am able to show emotion at the ballpark, but last night standing in left field in a spot honoring the achievement of the great Hank Aaron, I jumped up and down like a little kid. It was something I a cannot adequately describe, but it was one of those times that I just felt something special was about to happen, and it did. As @RealCJ10 put it, Shame on fans that left game-kudos to those that stayed! Never kno when somethin cool gonna happen, like GW #mammo!Yessir!

Marc Ryan. Leslie Koerdt, and the Opening Drive went on a Tour of Atlanta with Atlanta Journal Constitution Braves Beat David O’Brien about a six-man rotation and what happens after, Michael Bourn’s contract, and how a person could have a splinter in their hand for six years. Listen to DOB had to say.

Four days shy of two years since his last pitch in Major League Baseball, Ben Sheets gave the Braves just what they what they needed- six innings of shutdown ball. Sheets was on a pitch count of 80-100, and left the game at 88 pitches, 0 runs, 2 hits, 1 walk, and 5 strike outs. With a little help from his new friends, Sheets was given six runs in the bottom of the fifth before Juan Francisco pinch hit for his spot in the order in the sixth.

Atlanta got production from the old faithfuls in Bourn, Prado, Jones, Heyward, and Freeman and a key walk from newbie Paul Janish. In true Braves fashion the majority of runs were scored with two outs. Those runs came just in time considering Kris Medlen gave up a run in the top of the seventh.

While the outing was impressive, it was not the Ben Sheets one would recognize. The right hander with high 90s overpowering pitches was reinvented as a low 90s fastballs and lots of breaking stuff. There is something to be said for an athlete’s talent and intestinal fortitude to be able to depart from what made you successful the first time around, make it back, and most important to the Braves, win. It is only one outing, but it is a great start for Sheets and the Braves second half with a sweep of the Mets.

I am really tired of being told “this time it counts” when obviously, the only thing that counts is page views on MLB’s website. If it really counted there would not be so many true All-Stars are left out of the game. No, I am not speaking of Bryce Harper’s so called snub. (I cannot look at the teenager as being snubbed when all three Braves outfielders Martin Prado, Jason Heyward, and Michael Bourn, and Chipper for that matter, have better numbers than he does.) I am speaking of the » Continue reading “MLB All-Star Game Or Homecoming Court?”