Home Opener Thoughts

I’m not trying to manufacture drama here, but I do need to say, last night reminded me even more why baseball is still America’s pastime passion and why the game is important.  Sure, the Braves lost, but that’s not the point.

What did I love about last night?

The feeling of walking up into Monument Grove at 4:30, hours before the game started and seeing the crowd of Braves fan. Looking at those statues of Aaron, Spahn, and Niekro…it felt like…history.  Looking at the Phil Niekro statue. Knowing that, like his fellow Grove-mate, Warren Spahn, he’s not going to be with us forever.

The smell of the ballpark food.

Batting practice. Where any slob (myself included) can, for a moment, be a big league outfielder.

The Braves showing the ultimate salute to one of their own. Asking Javy Lopez to throw out the first pitch. You gave us your best years, Javy. And, most recently, you gave us everything you had. Yeah, it wasn’t enough, but we love you for the effort.

And catching Javy’s pitch? In a beautiful and timeless role-reversal: One John Smoltz.

Tom Glavine. Not only was he wholeheartedly cheered when announced in the roster, but at his first pitch, the stadium stood and screamed encouragement and approval.

But how about the game itself?

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Second Round of Cuts, Javy Retires

The Braves cut Javy Lopez and six other players today from their Spring Training roster, prompting Javy to announce his retirement and end his comeback bid.  Bobby Cox revealed that Javy lost the battle for the backup catcher position because his arm wasn’t strong enough.  Cox spoke with the catcher about starting the season in the minors, but Javy decided against it and announced his retirement.

Fans will be disappointed to see Javy go - his seasons in the late 90s with Atlanta will be remembered as his prime, when he consistently made the All Star team and put together a reputation based on his offensive firepower.  He’ll retire with a .287 average, 260 home runs, and 864 RBIs.  Javy, thanks for the great seasons from 1992 through 2003.

Also cut from the roster today were outfield prospect Jordan Schafer, Brandon Jones, Ryan Drese, Jorge Campillo, Francisley Bueno, and of course the woeful Jo-Jo Reyes.  None of these are very surprising - they all need more work before they can compete at the big league level.  We’ll hope the bad spring won’t discourage Jo-Jo Reyes, who has potential but cannot for the life of him put together a decent string of outings.  We’ll see Schafer here next year (or towards the end of the year) for sure.  Brandon Jones is talented but needs more patience at the plate before he’s ready.

On we move through spring training - we’ll have more on cuts as they come.

Javy For Backup Catcher?

All you ladies out there have certainly been following the backup catcher battle with some interest this year.  Hard-hitting catcher and all-around good guy Javy Lopez is trying to make a comeback to win the backup role with an increased focus on his defense this offseason.  Standing in his way are Corky Miller and the young Clint Sammons, along with Brayan Pena.  But can Javy prove he’s still able to play at the big league level?  Has his focus on defense improved him to the point where he’s extra valuable for the Braves?

Here’s the deal - offensively, there’s nobody with more power.  Javy is only hitting .200 after a slow start, but he has two home runs and has gotten more playing time than any other catcher save McCann.  The other guys are hitting for better average, but they don’t have the power potential Javy has.  Mid-season when we need a pinch hitter, I’m sure Bobby would prefer to have someone with a bit of punch - and Javy is that guy.  He just has to calm down, not try so hard, and his average will come along too.

Defensively, Javy isn’t there yet.  Brayan Pena has caught three runners stealing, Clint Sammons has caught two, and Miller has caught one.  Javy hasn’t gunned any runners down.  But neither has McCann - proof that the Braves may be more focused on the game calling and batting aspect than protecting the base paths.  And Javy has game calling experience that none of the younger guys have.

As far as fan preference, there’s no contest.  In our recent fan poll, Javy pulled 75% of the vote, Sammons pulled 16%, Pena pulled 9%, and nobody voted for Corky Miller.

If I had to go with someone today, it’d be Javy.  The Braves need the powerful bat off the bench and he’s got it.  He’ll continue to work hard to improve offensively and defensively, and he’s the clear fan favorite.

If all goes well, we’ll be able to welcome Javy back to Atlanta soon.

Jurrjens, Smoltz Hit Hard Saturday

The split-squad games aren’t turning out so well for the Braves thus far. Saturday half the team faced the Tampa Bay Rays in Smoltz’s spring debut. The other half faced the Houston Astros.

vs. Rays:

Smoltz started the game - his first this spring - in fine form, keeping the Rays scoreless over four innings. Then things got weird. He gave up five runs in the fifth inning. The Braves answered with three in the 7th, but gave up five more in the 8th. Despite a 7 run 8th inning for the Braves, the Rays scored another run to top the Braves 11-10.  Rafael Soriano also had his spring debut in this game, allowing two singles to start the sixth and then retiring the side.  Corky Miller contributed a grand-slam from the offensive side of things.

vs. Astros:

Jair Jurrjens, our favorite #5 pitcher, came out yesterday and showed us he’s human.  After a 1.00 ERA before his start, he gave up four hits and four runs in 2 2/3s innings.  The rest of the game wasn’t much to write home about either, as Drese gave up five runs in two innings and Jorge Campillo gave up six in just two-thirds of an inning’s work.  Offensively Javy contributed two RBIs and Jordan Schafer put one RBI up, but they were 1-3 and 1-5, respectively.

Next Up:

Tom Glavine starts for Atlanta against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday at 1:05 PM.  Here’s hoping he stays out of first-inning trouble.

Braves Beat Cards 3-1

The Braves beat the Cardinals Monday behind a very strong outing by Jair Jurrjens, who gave up one hit in four scoreless innings. He walked one, struck out one, and continued to keep most of his pitches low in the zone on his way to his second win of the preseason.  And the hit he gave up?  He immediately picked the runner off first. The Braves didn’t have a particularly strong offensive day, but in the first, Jordan Schafer doubled and Mark Kotsay singled him in for an RBI to get the Braves on the board early.

The rest of the afternoon was semi-uneventful.  Royce Ring and Ryan Drese each had a scoreless outing, and Matt DeSalvo gave up an earned run in the 8th.  Brian McCann added an RBI of his own in the bottom of the first.

Jordan Schafer looks good this spring - his .389 average shows his consistency and ability to bat.  On the other hand, Javy Lopez had a good day - hitting a solo home run in his only at-bat.  He’s had some issues - hitting only .214 so far this preseason.  I read earlier today on AJC that he’s showing up around 7 AM to take early batting practice and says he’s thinking too much.  I think we’ll see Javy make some adjustments in the next week or so.

Cox offered some praise for Jurrjens after the game with the following comment:

“He’s very impressive. For his age and his limited amount of experience, he’s a professional pitcher out there.”

Next up, we have Tom Glavine pitching against the Nationals tomorrow night at 7:05 PM.  Moylan plans to pitch an inning as well.

Braves 10, Dodgers 3

The Braves squared off against the Dodgers - and then teed off in a 10-3 win yesterday.  We’ve got a few observations here and there as a lot of players got some playing time.

Jair Jurrjens started and looked very sharp (though he gave up one run).  He kept his balls low in the zone and induced 5 ground outs and got one called K.  He worked both sides of the plate and was very impressive in my opinion.  Buddy Carlyle also looked strong in his outing.

His first time up, Javy absolutely tore into a pitch low in the zone and knocked it out of the park in left for a two-run homer.  He had two throws down to second - one that was a little to right field, and another that went straight into center because neither of the infielders covered second.  At least the second throw looked good.

Brandon Jones and Josh Anderson looked good - but Jones didn’t hustle after botching a catch in left and didn’t hustle down the line on an infield ground ball.  I’d prefer to see him sprint down the line even if he knows he won’t make it.  I’m sure he’ll have opportunities to redeem himself though.

We tagged the Dodger pitching staff up pretty good in the bottom of the fifth.  Any time we can put a 7 spot on the board, it’s a good time for all involved.  Speaking of having a good time - Chipper seems to be happy to have Teixeira hitting behind him.  Francoeur is a bit anxious still at the plate but he’s developing into a fine young ballplayer.

Braves win, good game.  Great start to the season for us - we can’t wait to be sitting at the ballpark for the home opener.

Notes from Spring Training

Since we’re not on-site yet (full time jobs and classes are regrettably taking up most of our time), we have to report everything second-hand for now, but here’s a bit of a digest of the goings-on at Disney’s Wide World of Sports from major news outlets.

• Tom Glavine is fitting in - and everyone loves having him back.  His wife and kids are down in Florida with him, and today even USA Today ran an article on him being back. I appreciate even guys who haven’t played with him like Hudson giving him the respect he deserves.  That said, I have spoken to a few fans who don’t want to see him in a Braves uniform since he dirtied himself by playing with the Mets.  But that opinion is only shared by a small minority.

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Tags: Jair Jurrjens, Javy Lopez, Johan Santana, Mike Hampton, New York Mets, Spring Training, Tom Glavine
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