Glavine Says He’s Ready

With five scoreless innings for AAA-Gwinnett last night, Tom Glavine notched his first minor league win since 1987.  Afterwards, he expressed his opinion that he was ready to start again in the Majors as soon as next Tuesday against the Cubs.  Bobby Cox, however, has said that Glavine will make one more minor league start for Class-A Rome on Tuesday before being considered to come back to Atlanta.

Glavine will likely fill the fifth spot in the rotation that has been a struggling point for the Braves since being filled by the combination of Jo-Jo Reyes and Kris Medlen.  Between the two, they have compilied an 0-4 record across 7 starts with a 7.64 ERA.

Though Glavine is still working a little rust out of his control since returning from elbow and shoulder surgery that ended his 2008 season, he is still likely a better candidate for the spot in the rotation.  Honestly, it can’t get much worse.  I think we’ll be seeing him back in Atlanta by mid-June definitely.  What’re everyone’s thoughts on Glavine?

Medlen Called Up

Kris Medlen, a right handed starting pitcher from AAA Gwinnett, is being called up to the big leagues. Medlen will make his major league debut Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies. He’ll replace Jo-Jo Reyes in the rotation – Reyes will be moved to the bullpen and a reliever will be moved from the roster. The Braves have not yet announced who that will be as of the time of writing.

Medlen, 23 years old, is 5-0 with a 0.96 ERA for AAA Gwinnett. He received the call over Tommy Hanson, whom I’m sure we’ll see in time. Hanson is 1-3 with a 1.99 ERA. Medlen will do quite alright, hopefully. He’s currently in the middle of a 21 inning scoreless streak. Bobby Cox assessed Medlen as a player with “three plus pitches” and “quick as a cat.” Medlen has apparently picked off a handful of runners already this year.

Medlen reacted with “I’m completely and utterly shocked.” Apparently he thought Hanson was first in line for the bigs too. We’ll see Hanson with time – but no need to rush him when we’ve got stock like Medlen waiting for prime time.

Lowe Outduels Santana, Braves Win

This is why we signed Derek Lowe.

While the Braves’ offense faced Johan Santana, Lowe went to the mound in the brand new Citi Field to ensure the Mets continued the trend of offering Santana little or no run support. Santana, for his part, was very good – he held the Braves to seven hits and two unearned runs in 6 1/3 innings. But the Braves’ offense backed Lowe’s great start with enough productivity to take advantage of the Mets’ errors. What was a tie game turned into an 8-3 win for the Braves – and Lowe improved to 5-1 on the year.

Santana has had some bad luck against the Braves. Despite being arguably the best pitcher in baseball, he’s 0-4 against the Braves in six starts (Braves have won 5 out of 6). The Mets are paying Santana a LOT of money and though he’s been effective, he’s not walking off with the win against the Bravos. After yesterday’s outing, Santana’s ERA is a ridiculous 0.78, by the way. Interesting tidbit: The Braves are the only team in baseball Santana has faced without winning.

This is why Derek Lowe is the ace of the staff – he’s a big game pitcher. “I love facing guys like that – especially Santana,” Lowe said, “He’s going to beat you more than you beat him. But it’s fun to pitch in those games, when every pitch could be the game.”

Interestingly enough, Lowe offered some high praise after the game for Jair Jurrjens. “We have our best pitcher going tomorrow,” Lowe said – referring to the young Curacao native. I’ll also point out that New York’s beloved “Larrrry” was sitting out of last night’s game.

Star of the road trip: The Braves are 5-1 on this 8 game road trip so far, and you have to pin a lot of it on Casey Kotchman, who has 10 RBI in the past 5 games. Kotchman is hitting the ball well and showing us why the Braves thought he’d be a good fit at first base.

Braves vs. Mets

This week in New York, how will Atlanta match up against division rivals, the Mets? After a strong showing in Philadelphia (who doesn’t like to be the World Champ’s Kryptonite), how will the Chipper-less braves match up against the Metropolitans?

Today, Derek Lowe pairs up against Johan Santana. The Mets have had strong showings behind Santana this season, and the Braves are 1-5 when Jones isn’t playing. Keep an eye on Martin Prado, though, because his numbers are more impressive than you may think. And today the Mets are without Carlos Delgado. What do you expect to see?

Garret Anderson Is A Bitch

Yeah, you just read that. Garret Anderson is a bitch.

If you missed it, Garret Anderson turned down a minor league rehab assignment (as is his right) and I think we as fans have every right to be pissed off about it.

Before I rant, the official position is that Anderson has every right to turn down said assignment. He doesn’t feel he’s missed enough time to warrant a trip to the minors for a rehab stint. The Braves are believed to be surprised with the decision. Anderson is currently missing time nursing a calf injury after originally missing time with the same injury.

That said, the man pisses me off. Haven’t missed enough time to warrant a rehab stint? How about you look at it the other way, Garret? You haven’t played enough to warrant a stint in the big leagues. 25 at-bats. Seriously. And when you HAVE played, let’s be honest – you’ve only batted .231 with 3 runs scored. No homers. No RBIs. Those are minor league stats. And it’s not like we’d have shipped you off to Mississippi or anything – you’d have to drive 45 minutes north to Gwinnett to play with the Triple A ballclub.

Get a life, Anderson. You’re not the Braves’ star player. You’re not even a fan favorite working his way to stardom. You’re an injured veteran who needs to prove he can contribute to the team. You haven’t PLAYED the time necessary to demand time in the majors – when you have played, it’s been sub-par, and don’t even get me started on easy pop flies into foul territory. I didn’t even know you could be charged with errors on foul balls until you managed to figure out how to do so. Prove you care about the Braves – put that ego away, go to Gwinnett, play with Tommy Hanson and the boys, and stop whining.

Quit being a little bitch. Heal up fast, too. We didn’t pay you to sit on the bench – we’ve got plenty of talent to do that.

Sincerely,

Braves fans everywhere

The Braves Are A Sleeping Giant

OK, maybe “sleeping” isn’t the right term. To be more accurate, they’re a giant hobbled with left-eye irritation, a pulled calf, a strained quad, and a bruised thumb. But a giant nonetheless.Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com recently conjectured that the NL East will be a dogfight to the very end. He could be right. I can easily see that being the case. Why? Because the Mets, Phillies, and Marlins are all severely flawed in the pitching department. The Braves, on the other hand, have excellent pitching and no glaring weaknesses.

“Are you kidding me? No glaring weaknesses? What about the offense?!”

Scoring runs has been a challenge for this Atlanta team. No doubt about it. But is that an indication of a roster with no punch, or is there another explanation? The Braves were hobbled with injuries to the starting lineup throughout the month of April. Chipper Jones missed time with a bruised thumb (that has also affected him when in the lineup). But the periodic nagging Chipper ailment is fully expected. It’s been the infirmities of other Braves run producers that have kept this offense on the ropes.

Brian McCann is currently disabled with irritation and poor vision in his left eye. After several unsuccessful attempts to fit the Braves All-Star catcher with contact lenses to correct the problem, he is now giving glasses a try for the first time on a baseball field. If eyewear doesn’t do the trick, Lasik surgery will be the likely remedy, though it could cause him to miss an additional two weeks in recovery.

McCann, whose bat has been sorely missed in Atlanta, has expressed guarded optimism that glasses will be the solution to the problem. He is eligible to return from the disabled list May 8th, when the Braves open a series 3-game series in Philadelphia.

But Atlanta was deprived of his talents weeks before he was officially disabled. Prior to being placed on the disabled list, McCann was in the midst of a slide (undoubtedly caused by his vision problems) that saw the Silver Slugger Award Winner’s batting average plunge to an unsightly .195. McCann has not been comfortable at the plate since the first series of the season.

In effect, the Braves have been without their best hitter – not named Chipper Jones – nearly the entire season to date. And McCann is not alone. Atlanta’s new Left-fielder, Garrett Anderson, has also missed most of the young season – due to calf and quadricep strains. Anderson hit .293 with 15 homeruns and 90 RBI last season for the L.A. Angels. He also excelled in the clutch, hitting .338 with runners in scoring position. His absence has been felt, especially given McCann’s inability to contribute thus far. And the fact that Matt Diaz is hitting .218 while assuming most of the Left Field playing time in Anderson’s absence doesn’t help either.

To make matters worse, with two key run producers out action, opposing hurlers are pitching around Chipper Jones with regularity. With no considerable threat in the lineup behind him, there’s simply no reason to let Chipper beat you. Therefore, not only have the Braves been without McCann and Anderson, but Chipper’s bat has been – in turn-largely neutralized.

And then there is the ripple effect. With the middle of the order rendered impotent, other portions of the Braves’ lineup are pitched to more carefully and are seeing fewer “hitter’s pitches”. It is also common under these circumstances for other hitters in the lineup to begin pressing too hard in an effort to compensate for the missing pieces. These things have a way of snowballing.

The struggles of Kelly Johnson and Matt Diaz have also contributed to the Braves’ offensive woes. But both have proven they are capable of far better production, and will likely come around.

It is foolish to assume, based on April results, that the Braves don’t have enough offense to take command in the East. When they get a healthy Brian McCann and Garrett Anderson, and have the middle of their order fully intact, then and only then will we be able to gauge the quality of this Atlanta lineup.

If this team is reasonably healthy, and each member of the starting lineup is performing up to realistic expectations, it is a realistic goal for this team to finish near or at the top of the league in team batting average, doubles, and hitting with runners in scoring position.

Oh, and Braves’ pitching, which is already quite good, only figures to get better. The sole problem in the starting rotation thus far, the rotation slot held by Kenshin Kawakami, will be substantially upgraded. Either Kawakami will begin pitching much better very soon, or he will be replaced by someone who will (namely Tommy Hanson, or maybe even Tom Glavine). Either way, the problem will be fixed. Also, Tim Hudson is expected to return, either to the rotation or (temporarily) the bullpen, in August or September.

In short, there’s plenty of offense here to support the excellent pitching the Braves now enjoy. They need only get a couple of sticks (McCann’s in particular) back in the lineup. The rest will likely fall into place.

The Mets’, Phillies’, and Marlins’ problems run much deeper. While each of these teams have plenty of talent, and figure to be winning teams in 2009, each appears to lack the pitching depth needed to convincingly trump the rest of the division.

That’s my 2 cents. What do you think of the Braves chances once we get through some injury issues?

Mike Hampton’s Back In Atlanta

A familiar face is on the mound tonight in Atlanta. Or is it really all that familiar at all? Mike Hampton was officially on the Braves’ roster for about 6 seasons, but barely made an appearance on the mound.

I remember shuddering when I’d see his name on the projected starters list, once he finally recovered enough from his bevy of injuries enough to convince people he was ready to pitch. More often than not though, that still didn’t mean he would actually take the start. Whether it was a strained pectoral muscle in warmups, or a sprained ankle, or a fingernail scratch on his cheek that just stung a little to much to have to work that night, we never really saw Mike Hampton on the mound all that often.

Tonight, when he takes the start at Turner Field, Mike Hampton will be wearing a Houston Astros jersey. I must say, the only thing that I’d like to see more than Hampton on a different team is Hampton walking away from Atlanta with the loss. Maybe I’m just being harsh, but I feel like he owes us that at this point.

Kawakami to Miss Start

Kenshin Kawakami’s scheduled start on Saturday against the Astros will be skipped after he complained of soreness in his right shoulder.  Kawakami missed one of his Spring Training starts with similar discomfort, but bounced back in his next start without experiencing any pain.  That pain was in a different location however than the current area around his right A/C joint.

Because of the off day yesterday, the Braves have the option of moving everyone up in the schedule by one game without making anyone pitch on short rest.  As a result, Jair Jurrjens will make the start on Saturday and Jo-Jo Reyes on Sunday.  Kawakami will now instead make his start on Tuesday against Johan Santana when the Mets come to Turner Field.

Hopefully this is just a result of the increased pitching demand on Kawakami’s arm and that he will adjust in time.  Before signing a three-year, $23 million contract with the Braves, Kenshin spent 13 years pitching as part of a six-man rotation.  Adjusting to a five-man rotation is giving his body a day less of rest than he has been accustomed to in his entire career.  It will be interesting to see how this pans out, but I’m hopeful for the best.  Do you think this is cause for concern or just early problems adjusting to the changes?