Schafer To Have Surgery On Wrist

Jordan Schafer first injured his wrist in the Braves’ first home game of the season. He wasn’t the same afterwards – and was eventually demoted to AAA in favor of Gregor Blanco before the Braves traded for Nate McLouth

He’s worn a cast on it for the last month in hopes that it will heal without surgery, but that’s a no-go. He can hit off a tee now without pain but once the ball has any momentum behind it he feels a fairly decent amount of pain. To that end, Schafer will undergo surgery on his left wrist and sit the rest of the season out.

I’m glad to hear there’s an issue, because frankly Schafer’s performance this year was somewhat disappointing and this at least explains why he may have struggled. Wrist issues are going to mean it’s difficult to drive the ball – resulting in little power after the initial injury. He’s going to get a new look next year in spring training to win a spot in the Braves’ outfield and that’s OK by me. We’re going to need a youth movement going forward to be competitive offensively and we could certainly use some young speed and good defense that comes with the Schafer package.

Best of luck to Jordan – heal up soon.

Atlanta Should Be Proud of Kawakami

He’s won only five games this season. He’s lost nine. He has a 4.13 ERA. He’s not a power pitcher. He’s not a big name. And he holds down a spot in the Braves’ crowded rotation.

But Kenshin Kawakami is still a VERY good pitcher and deserves to be in ANY rotation in the majors. Why? Let’s take a look. He’s allowed 3 runs or less in 17 of his last 19 starts. He’s averaging 5.5 innings per game. At 3 runs or less, the Braves should be in it every night when he’s on the mound.

But he’s not getting much run support. While Kawakami is on the mound, the Braves only score 3.0 runs, on average. That’s compared to 6.2 for Tommy Hanson, 5.4 for Jurrjens, 5.0 for Lowe, and 4.9 for Vazquez. With a 2 run disparity, on average, every game this year, I’d argue it’s not Kenshin’s fault that he doesn’t have a, say, 9-5 record.

With a little more run support from the offense, look for Kawakami to put up a better record in the second half of the season. He’s a mighty fine pitcher to have in the rotation’s four hole. And before someone suggests it, I don’t want Hudson in the rotation instead of Kawakami. Hudson should pitch out of the ‘pen and give the Braves even more depth in an already ridiculously stacked pitching staff. We should be more proud of Kawakami.

Maybe we should even start a group – Kawakami’s… ok I can’t come up with anything that rhymes. A little help?

Smoltz Signing With Cardinals

John Smoltz is expected to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals today as soon as he clears post-release waivers from the Red Sox. He is expected to join the rotation as their fifth starter.

Smoltz signed with the Red Sox this spring hoping to make a comeback from shoulder surgery and the Braves got some serious flack for not matching his contract from a lot of people (including myself). In the end, it looks like Frank Wren went the right direction as Smoltz had a disappointing sting with the Sox, going 2-5 with an 8.32 ERA in 8 games started. There was some banter for the Braves to bring him back in the bullpen, but with the Braves anticipating the return of Tim Hudson from the DL, they passed on Smoltz.

Smoltz will join the Cardinals’ rotation – and I’m sure he hopes to not post an 8.32 ERA in additional outings. We’ll hope he can return and perform – and that he’s not just doing the Brett Favre “I will not retire” dance.

McLouth to DL, Prado’s Status Unknown

It’s been a few games in the making, but the Braves finally put Nate McLouth on the 15-day disabled list today for a sore left hamstring.  He aggravated the hamstring against Los Angeles last week and, after missing three games, returned to the lineup on Friday against the Phillies.  Running out a double, it was apparent that he was far from 100% and was given a few more days of rest.  A treadmill session this morning indicated that there was still an issue.  Reid Gorecki has been called up from Gwinnett to take the spot on the roster.

In other injury news, Martin Prado was taken to Piedmont Hospital yesterday after experiencing a sharp pain in his head while swinging in the batting cages.  He first felt this during Saturday’s game, which he left prior to the completion.  CT scan results were negative and it’s currently unknown on a timeframe for his return to the lineup.

These are two particularly big injuries for the Braves as McLouth and Prado are a large portion of what has spurred recent success for the team.  Is this something to be concerned about in the coming weeks or can the Braves fill in the gaps?

The Braves Are Back

Back in the day when the Braves were on national television every night, were owned by a flamboyant cable television tycoon, featured a bevy of superstar names, and won the division every single year… there was no shortage of national press aimed in the Braves’ direction. These days, however, the Braves tend to fly a bit under the radar. Maybe that’s why so few in national sports media seemed to have noticed…

The Braves are back.

Do you remember the days when the Braves threw top-of-rotation starters at opponents just about every single night? Those days are back. Remember the days when Atlanta combined timely hitting and superior defense with that pitching to down opponents with regularity? Those days are back.

The Atlanta Braves now hold the best record of any team in the National League since the all-star break (17-9). Since the break, the Braves are 3rd in the league in runs scored, 2nd in homeruns, and 4th in team batting average. Atlanta also leads in the league in “second half” team ERA (3.03).

In fact, Atlanta holds the best record of any team in the NL since June 28th (26-14). That’s a .650 win percentage. To put that in perspective, a .650 clip over a 162 games would translate to 105 wins. That’s how well the Braves have played over the last 40 games. And we’re not talking about an insignificant sample size. As a friend pointed out to me Tuesday night as we sat at “The Ted” and watched the Braves bang around the Nats… 40 games is a full quarter of a season.

Yet, as of August 13th, the ESPN Power Rankings say there are 13 MLB teams better than Atlanta. Really? I’ll take that bet.

The Braves have substantially upgraded fully HALF of their lineup, and baseball’s top prospect, Jason Heyward, might make his big league debut in September. Also, to what is already the league’s best pitching staff, the Braves will soon add Tim Hudson, who is slated to return from his “Tommy John” rehab later this month.

So while the Baseball Tonight folks yap endlessly about the Yankees, Red Sox, and Pedro’s return to the mound, the Braves will look to continue taking care of business. Though, another series win against the Phillies this weekend would certainly make the Braves harder to ignore. And I’m confident that another series win is the only thing on the minds of these resurgent Atlanta Braves.

Braves fans, are you excited yet?

Braves Offense Now One Of The NL’s Best

I recently Tweeted that I felt the Braves now have one of the top 3 offenses in the NL, to which someone responded “Top 3 lineups in the league? Really? I mean I love the braves too, but that’s a reach”.

I understand his sentiment, but my opinion is based on more than giddy optimism or wishful thinking, though I couldn’t explain my reasoning very well under the constraints of 140 characters. To explain my position, let’s look at what this Atlanta lineup has done lately.

The offense scuffled a bit recently for about a week in Florida, and in Atlanta against the Dodgers, averaging 3 runs per game over that period. Against tough pitching, and without their RBI leader, Yunel Escobar, for most of that stretch, Braves bats responded poorly. But both before and after that quiet week, the Bravos have gone a long way to prove that their offensive woes are in the past. Over their last 4 games, Atlanta has touched up Padres and Dodgers pitching for a total of 28 runs.

And before that one-week offensive slump?

For the month of July, only two National League teams scored more than the Braves’ 139 runs: The Cubs (141), and the Phillies (153). Atlanta was also 2nd in team batting average (.284), and 3rd in homeruns (32). It’s also worth noting that both Chicago and Phili play in far more hitter-friendly ballparks than do the Atlanta Braves.

“OK, sure… they had a good month of July, and they’ve scored big in their past few games, but you’re forgetting about the first three months of the season.”

No, I haven’t forgotten. But if you’re going to reference Atlanta’s early season offense, you might as well be talking about last year’s team. This lineup has changed more from the one we saw through the first 2-3 months of the season than many teams change over a full winter of off-season adjustments. The mid-season extreme makeover of this Atlanta lineup is worthy of its own cable television show. They have replaced Jordan Schafer, Kelly Johnson, Jeff Francoeur, and Casey Kotchman… with Nate McClouth, Martin Prado, and Matt Diaz/Ryan Church, and Adam LaRoche. They have literally upgraded no less than HALF of the lineup, in-flight.

In short, this isn’t the same team we saw in April or May, or even in June. Not even close. Since the all-star Break, the Braves are 2nd in team average and homeruns, and 3rd in runs scored.

To put the ability of the present Braves offense in perspective… the following numbers are the current statistics of each member of Atlanta’s lineup, projected over 550 at-bats. The one exception is Adam LaRoche. Rather than project his season totals, I used his average post-all-star break performance as point of reference. I have also taken special considerations into account where Anderson and Diaz/Church are concerned, which are explained below.

These numbers aren’t ’09 season totals predictions. They are simply intended to put each player’s performance in perspective.

Every single hitter in this lineup, with the exception of Ryan Church, is a threat to go deep. But even more impressive… take another look at those batting averages, on-base percentages, and doubles/triples numbers.

What’s more, Chipper Jones and Brian McCann are clearly capable of better than what they’ve done so far in 2009. Also, it didn’t go without notice that Braves’ GM, Frank Wren, has spent the last few days observing the Mississippi Braves in person. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why. Jason Heyward, arguably the top prospect in all of baseball and current member of the Miss. Braves, may make his big league debut this month or next.

To what was one of the top three lineups in the NL in July, the Braves have added notorious second-half assassin, Adam LaRoche. And the lineup may become better still with the possible 2009 arrival of Heyward.

Don’t look now, but the Atlanta Braves are no longer offensively challenged. They may have dug too deep a hole to earn a postseason berth. We’ll just have to wait and see. But if the wheels don’t fall off other areas of strength this season (such as holding the lead in the 9th), the Braves could at least make things interesting before it’s all over.

What do you think? Do you like what you’re seeing from this offense?

*Garrett Anderson: After missing most of the spring and the first month of the season, May was an adjustment period for Anderson. His projected numbers are based on his performance since June 1. *Adam LaRoche: LaRoche’s numbers were based on his average post-all-star break performance. *Diaz/Church: The numbers for the Diaz Church platoon are based on Diaz’s performance vs. left-handed pitching, combined with Church’s performance vs. right-handed pitching.