Braves stuck in neutral
By Brian Edwards
ATLANTA -- Since winning 14 consecutive division titles, Atlanta has fallen into utter mediocrity since the start of the 2006 season. From 1991-2005, there were three givens in life around these parts – death, taxes and the Braves in the playoffs.
Well, those days are done. Death, taxes and Chipper Jones are all that remain.
The Braves are 19 games under .500 since April of ’06. To be exact, they are 266-285 without a playoff appearance. In MLB parlance, that’s the definition of mediocrity.
During this stretch of wretched play, the Phillies have won as many World Series (that would be one) titles as Atlanta won during its dynastic era. Bobby Cox’s team beat Cleveland to win it all in 1995, but then the Jim Leyritz Curse happened.
In the 1996 Fall Classic, rookie Andruw Jones belted a pair of homers in Game 1 and the Braves pounded the Bronx Bombers. They went back to Atlanta with a 2-0 lead and had a 6-3 advantage with two outs in the eighth inning of Game 3. Then Leyritz rocked Mark Wohlers to turn the series.
Although Atlanta would return to the postseason nine straight times after the ’96 WS, it really never recovered. It certainly never threatened to win another World Series, getting back only once (1999) to be swept by the Yankees.
After beating Cincinnati 7-0 to avoid a sweep Thursday afternoon, the Braves raised their record to 31-34. With the Phillies losing to Toronto, Atlanta climbed to within 5 ½ games of the division lead. That’s not so bad, especially with 3 ½ months left in the regular season, right?
Wrong. Way wrong!
The Braves optimist will jump for joy over Tommy Hanson’s six scoreless innings Thursday. The same optimist will say, “we’re still in it.”
Let me tell you where this optimist lives. Not in Atlanta, but in Delusionville instead.
As constructed, this Braves team resembles the looks of nothing but pretender. Sure, there’s Chipper and his .300 average and clutch hits when his body isn’t ailing from one injury or another. And yes, the newly acquired pitchers Derek Lowe (7-4, 4.08 ERA) and Javier Vasquez (3.41 ERA) have been solid. And obviously, there’s no ceiling to how good Hanson is and will be, while Jair Jurrjens (5-5, 2.89) also continues to impress.
But there’s a reason I left out Vazquez’s ledger (4-6). It’s not impressive but it’s not his fault. And herein lies the problem – hitting or a lack thereof.
We mentioned Chipper and there’s also Yunel Escobar, the impressive young shortstop whose batting .284 with seven homers and 35 RBIs. There’s also Brian McCann, who has become a perennial All-Star and is hitting .323.
But that’s it. The once-blossoming career of Jeff Francoeur has gone in the toilet. The local native, who came to the Braves straight out of high school instead of going to Clemson to play in the outfield and in the secondary, burst onto the scene as a rookie and played brilliantly, landing a spot on Sports Illustrated’s cover with the moniker, “The Natural.”
Francoeur was briefly sent to the minors in 2008 when he finished with an abysmal .239 batting average with only 11 homers. This year hasn’t been much better, as Francoeur is hitting .251.
There’s been basically zero production from the outfield over the last 200 games. The production from first base hasn’t been much better. Isn’t first base a position you expect to get at least 20 home runs from? The Braves’ Casey Kotchman’s career high for dingers is merely 14.
If Atlanta was going to make any sort of move to announce itself as a contender this year, early June was the prime opportunity. The Braves had the Pirates coming to town for a four-game set after stealing Pittsburgh’s best player just days before in a trade. After that, there were extremely winnable series’ on the road in Baltimore and Cincinnati.
After winning the first two games against Pittsburgh, the Braves have lost six of their last eight games at a time when ground could’ve been gained on both the Phillies and Mets.
Sure, there’s still time. Yes, a 5 ½-game deficit has been overcome in September before. But those thoughts are dreams for the Braves optimist. In reality, this team is nothing but mediocre. And that’s been the case going on four years now. Put the Braves on your fade list and keep ‘em there. Things aren’t getting any better for baseball in Atlanta anytime soon.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
Sportsbook.com has a prop bet for whether or not Washington first-round draft pick Stephen Strasburg will sign a contract with the Nationals by the end of the 2009 regular season? “Yes” is the minus-200 ‘chalk,’ while bettors backing “No” can collect a plus-150 return (risk $100 to win $150).
Sportsbook.com has updated its future odds and the Red Sox and Yankees are the co-favorites to win the 2009 World Series. The AL East rivals both have plus-450 odds, while the Dodgers are listed with a plus-500 number. The next-shortest odds belong to the Phillies, who are plus-800 (risk $100 to win $800 if Charlie Manuel’s squad repeats).
Arizona RHP Jon Garland will get the ball Friday against Seattle. Dating back to his days with the White Sox, Garland owns an 8-3 record and 3.63 career ERA versus the Mariners.
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