Francoeur Back From Minors & More DL Misery

Jeff Francoeur is back from the minor leagues after three days, 13 at-bats, and 7 hits.  He’s coming back to Atlanta today after a rash of injuries sent two pitchers and one position player to the DL.  Manny Acosta, Jeff Bennett, and Omar Infante all went to the 15-day DL yesterday and Francoeur’s short stint in the minors is over.

Francoeur was hitting just .234 before he got sent to AA Mississippi for some work on his swing.  He struck out looking last night - proof he’s at least being more patient down there.  He’s had success too - he’s 7-13 (.538) with two RBIs and a triple.  He’ll join the team in LA tonight for a game against the Dodgers.

Hopefully the short stint cured Francoeur of his slump.  But was it too short?  Did he need some more time to become comfortable with himself once again?  Obviously we’re glad to see him back but the Braves need solid offensive contribution for some time from Frenchy.

What are your thoughts?  Glad to see him back already?

As far as the other heading goes, it’s amazing to see how many new Braves go on the DL every week. It’s like opening the paper and finding a surprise….a surprise similar to finding out that you’re foot’s under a concrete block, you know the good kind. This rash of injuries is probably worse than 2005 when we had the first round of Baby Braves when guys like Mike Hampton, Time Hudson and Chipper Jones were gone for long stretches of the season.

The following is a list of people, how many times they’ve been on the DL and a little information about their stints:

1. Chuck James  (2) -James had some rotator cuff problems last year stemming from a partially torn muscle. The problem was probably caused by his delivery and the fact that his pitches are almost all shoulder and little to no body momentum.
2. John Smoltz (3) - Recently headed to the DL with the problem that started in spring training. Rotator cuff and bicep inflammation and a torn labrum.
3. Mike Hampton (1) - Where would we all be without our favorite DL dweller? Mike Hampton strained a pectoral muscle warming up in the cold weather early this year against Pittsburg and aggravated the injury in a rehab start. They are being more careful with him this time, but hope that 23rd time’s the charm for Hampton, let me also clarify that we are not counting on him, just anything we get out of Hampton would be a bonus.
4. Rafael Soriano (2) -Had a few appearances before going down with elbow tendonitis, came back in time to blow a save in Cincinnati and save another game before going down again.
5. Peter Moylan (1) - Going in for a TJ
6. Tom Glavine (2) - His return to the Braves was fairly short lived. Glavine strained a hammy in Washington and then tore a flexor tendon in his hand. No surgery required, but these are Glavine’s first two DL stints of his career.
7. Martin Pardo (1) - Out for six weeks and just returned last week with a thumb sprain when he slid into a base the wrong way.
8. Omar Infante (2) - Broke his hand in a fall ball game when he was hit by a pitch. He strained his hamstring in June but did not go on the DL, came back and pulled it again and is now on the “dreaded list” for the second time this season.
9. Brayan Pena (1) - Mild-back sprain, I think there were so many injuries around this time that I forgot what happened. The Braves released him as soon as he was healthy, unfortunately.
10. Buddy Carlyle (1) - Neck strain when he was run into at Washington.
11. Matt Diaz (1) - Still out with a partially torn knee ligament he sustained when crashing into the unpadded part of the outfield wall making a catch.
12. Mark Kostay (1) - His back acted up, an injury he sustained last year and had surgery for. This year he was out about five weeks with the injury while he was doing well.
13. Manny Acosta (1) - I know most of the Braves fans are probably happy about this, but remember that on regular rest and when he not being pressed to pitch every day, Acosta is one of our most effective set-up guys and pitched three scoreless innings in the 17 inning game against Houston before going down with the hamstring while running the bases.
14. Jeff Bennett (1) - Partially separated shoulder sustained against the Astros on Saturday.

So there you have it, 20 DL stints, many to guys that are stars and not just role players. The fact that we are just six games out is more than amazing and we should just stop and think how good a job Bobby Cox has done keeping this team together.

Is Frenchy Fried?

In August of 2005, Jeff Francoeur was put on the cover of Sports Illustrated after a torrid start, it was one of the most amazing starts to a career and his month-long streak was far more impressive than what Jay Bruce did in the first week of his big league career this year. “The Natural” was the title that was given to him by the popular sports magazine and the baseball community silently gave him the title shared by Charles Dickens’ classic Great Expectations.

Closing in on three years later, Francoeur’s line is: (.239, 8, 41); inspiring attention in a very different way. I will take my turn explaining what is up with Francoeur in two ways:

1. It is important to remember that outside of the first month of his career, Francoeur has not been the type of hitter that Fred McGriff would endorse. He does not work counts well, he is inconsistent with most aspects of his game, yet the guy has a great deal of potential that I think everyone can see. Players that do not work counts well generally are held back from stardom because they swing at pitches that great hitters lay off from. Francoeur has done incredibly well for a player that averages 33 walks per 670 plate appearances during his career. This lack of patience is something that would absolutely crush an average player and the fact that he hit .293 in 2007 shows the talent that Francoeur has. This season he looks too slow though, his bat speed and his outfield play make it seem as though there is no quick fix to this issue because he has potentially lost agility in the offseason with the weight he added to his frame. What has surprised me is that the strikeout totals have not shot up above his career averages, leading me to believe that there may be something else with him.
2. I identify Francoeur as an inconsistent hitter that can go prolonged periods of being hot or cold. Players that endure prolonged streaks strike me as having some makeup problems that can be linked to confidence in themselves and with their swing. Francoeur is from this area and to have people from his home getting on him for struggling has got to be difficult, plus to have the onus of being “The Natural” can really hurt the development of a twenty-four year old outfielder. It wouldn’t be hard at all to imagine how difficult it is to deal with failure after some of the successes that he has enjoyed early on in his career.

Now is the time for Jeff Francoeur to mature as a hitter and show that he can get through his problems both mentally and with his approach. This has the potential to be a season long slump because it is becoming a combined issue of physical and emotional nature from my view. If he breaks out of this slump this season, it will because he is doing something new as his approach has been thoroughly exposed in 2008. Great hitters adapt and improve over time; we will see how great Francoeur really is or if we all had greater expectations.

- Dan

Braves Victorious in First of Interleague Play

After falling behind in the 2nd inning, making it even in the 6th, and going ahead by one run in the eighth, the Braves provided a wild and weird victory over their American League visitors, the Oakland A’s.

And let’s just pause to say that we at BravesBlast.com do not necessarily have an opinion one way or the other on interleague play. It can be a welcome addition to a 162 game schedule. Especially if fans are treated to rivalries (Mets/Yankees) or to teams that “everyone” wants to see, i.e., the Cubs or Red Sox.

But Oakland?

Oakland in Atlanta?

All right. Back to the matter at hand.

This was a shaky start to the normally dependable and pleasantly surprising performance of one Jair Jurrjens. It could be argued which new player has made a greater impact; he or Escobar. But the Braves on Friday vividly illustrated the key to success, at least in my mind, to reaching October. And it can be summed up in one word: balance. I don’t care what kind of pitcher you are, you just aren’t going to be hot every time you are on the mound. So your offense needs to step up. And who cares if you are scoring 7 or 8 runs, if your bullpen is hemorrhaging runs like a sucking chest wound?

So Jair steps in, gives a shaky 2-3 innings, and finally gets his head right, pitching through 5 and (mercifully, for him) getting a no decision. Not trying to gripe, here, but he should be thrilled with a no decision. I know the box score only illustrates 2 runs on 8 hits from Jurrjens, but he also gave up 3 walks and got himself into trouble a couple times. Not to mention a botched throw to McCann at the plate.

And speaking of Brian McCann……(and if things keeps going like they did on Friday, Atlanta, as well as MLB enthusiasts the nation over will be speaking of McCann a lot), our stocky man-child behind the plate was extraordinary. Dude tags out a runner after receiving a rocket courtesy from Jeff Francoeur, hits two doubles and a single, with one RBI, and raises his average to .319.

What more can you ask from a backstop, eh?

And I’m with Rue. Andruw who? I mean, I liked the guy just fine. But would I trade him for Kotsay now? Nope.
So we bring in Kotsay to the plate twice on Friday. The first time, in a surreal twist of fate, he faces the pitcher we traded him for; Joey Devine, striking out. The second time, he hits the go-ahead run in with a double, bringing his own seasonal average to .304. Andruw Jones’s average right now? .176

And the bullpen? Outstanding.

And what a treat it was to observe Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde/Closer Manny Acosta absolutely slam the door on the A’s in the 9th.

So right now, the Braves home success continues. Maybe we can show a little more “southern hospitality” to the A’s and send them packing.

Francoeur’s Foot Woes

It’s been visibly noticeable that Jeff Francoeur hasn’t had the usual speed and mobility in right field the last couple of games, letting balls drop that would normally be no problem for him to take care of.  Problems became much more apparent in Tuesday night’s game against the Nationals when Jeff pulled up while jogging back to first on a foul ball.  Bobby Cox came out to talk to him about it and Frenchie stayed in for the rest of the game.

Word is that, since the start of Spring Training, Jeff has had some on-and-off pain on the top of his right foot where the foot meets the ankle.  Frenchie is stubborn however and doesn’t want to let this affect his playing time.  Jeff has the longest active consecutive game streak in the National League at 347 as of last night’s game (he’s second in MLB to Grady Sizemore who is at 378), but this isn’t as important as seeing him healthy down the stretch and into future seasons.

There’s no current indication as to the cause of the pain, but Jeff is speculating that it is remnant issues from the broken leg he suffered in high school playing football.  We’ll look to see any further updates on the issue and hope that Jeff can stay healthy for the remainder of the season.

Smoltz Smokes Nats

Dear Mr. Smoltz,

Thank you so much for your good work on Saturday, April 12th. Can you please keep this up all year? We would all appreciate it.

Sincerely,

The Writers and Staff at BravesBlast.com

Coming off of their much needed victory last night, the Braves dove right in to claim another from the Nationals at Washington today. An initial 91-minute rain delay did nothing to soggy the Braves offense.

In fact, they wasted no time at all scoring four runs in the first inning, with a little help from Jeff Francoeur knocking the first of his two homeruns for the day. When all was said and done, the kid From Parkview had a career-best seven RBI’s. You know things are going well when all nine starters bat in the first inning.

Francoeur’s second homer came in the sixth, with one runner on base. Not to be outdone by his childhood friend, Francoeur’s high-fives hadn’t ended when Brian McCann knocked a single shot some 400 feet.

Smoltz had a (for him) shaky first inning, goofing a throw to first and throwing a semi-wild pitch. But after regaining his classic composure, it was nothing but the Smoltz we know and love. Resourceful, professional, and keenly intelligent. I truly don’t think we Braves fans know how good they have it having a stabilizing and consistent force of nature like Smoltz in the line-up. Plus, it was pretty evident his shoulder was bothering him the entire game.

His line for the day? 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K. The one earned run attributed to Smoltz came in the 4th.

The Nats starter, Scott Lannan lasted through the 4th and the Braves went through three of their relievers by game’s end.

Finally, I am starting to feel good about our bullpen! With very respectable outings by Bennett and Boyer, Manny Acosta zipped it up in the 9th. The one stinker in all this, and the one guy I have truly been pulling for, was Ohman. Lasting less than an inning, he really didn’t do anything to counter the criticism Frank Wren took for acquiring him from Chicago.

So, yeah. Excellent series so far. Can you smell a sweep?

________________________________________________________________________________

Smitty’s Random Notes:
(A stream of consciousness recall of unrelated observations for the short-of-attention span)

» Sorry, Willie Harris, but I totally don’t miss you.

» Tough-guy Hustle Award goes to Matt Diaz for his aggressive and heads-up base-running.

» Still looking for Teixeira’s bat to wake up. The defense is there; let’s get something going at the plate.

» I still believe in you Ohman. I want to believe.

Braves Lose 12 Inning Marathon 12-11

Last night was - with no exceptions - the craziest ballgame I’ve ever been to. The BravesBlast crew gathered in our seats before the pregame ceremonies and stayed there until the final out over five hours later. Tom Glavine looked good. He sure threw a lot of balls - high pitch count really quickly - thus he only got through 5 innings. But the crowd was glad to have him back. We got the lead early - but the bullpen squandered that. Manny Acosta was horrible - hardly the calm and collected reliever we saw in spring training. He gave up four runs and two home runs in two innings, and all of a sudden it was 9-4, Pirates lead. Let’s hope the bullpen doesn’t lapse to last season.

Then came the bottom of the ninth - and we rallied. Started by the second string once again - who drew a series of walks, we somehow pulled alongside the Pirates on a lazy two-out pop fly by Brian McCann. Chipper kicked it into gear as soon as the ball was hit and when the ball inexplicably dropped in short center field, he was already crossing the plate with the tying run. McCann stood on first base with a look of disbelief on his face (that was proudly displayed on the big screen).

At this point, we brought in Soriano. He looked good and kept the Pirates scoreless after giving up a double. The Braves took him out as his spot in the batting order was coming up. Now by this time, the Braves had used so many relievers that Blaine Boyer was the only one left in the ‘pen.

Boyer was spotless in the 11th, striking out two.  We went to the 12th.  Boyer was back on the mound, partially because he was gorgeous in the 11th, partially because there were no more relievers.  Heck, Jair Jurrjens showed up in the bullpen and spent a little time warming up.  He’s supposed to start Wednesday’s game.

But Boyer allowed two base runners and then gave up a shot to right field that just cleared the fence - putting the Pirates up 12-9.  But nobody left - everyone who stuck through the 9-4 deficit in the 9th figured we could pull out of a 12-9 in the 12th.   And we almost did.

Francoeur’s solo shot (which I called, by the way) made it 12-10.  Then Diaz knocked in a run to make it 12-11. And with a runner on base and two outs in the 12th, Corky Miller (the only bench player left to pinch-hit for Boyer) popped a ball to center field.  This time they caught it.  And we had to go home.

Sure, we got an L in the W/L column.  But it didn’t feel like a loss.  It felt like a team ready to fight no matter what the odds this season.  It felt like our team was ready to do battle. It’s baseball season!

Rue’s Scorecards For The Night:
ATL  PIT  Extra Innings

Braves’ Offense Rolling

Contrary to popular belief, and by popular belief I mean the all-time great former Mets’ GM Steve Phillips’ NL East preview on ESPN.com, the Braves are alive and well and clicking. The Braves, after losing to those Mets today, are sitting at fourth in the Grapefruit League in runs scored. Among teams in the NL East, the Braves finished ahead of all four rivals. Of course, this number doesn’t take into account the Phillies’ playground stadium. The Phillies’ spring training stadium-Bright House Field-does have a short fence, but on the right side of the field as opposed to the left at Citizens’ Bank Park.

Getting back to the team at hand though, the Braves should have little to worry about offensively from their starting nine. Yunel Escobar is hitting a cool .400 this spring after last year’s .326 (319 ABs); more importantly for Escobar, he slugged .557, second only to Chippers’ .658. Of course, this is spring training we’re talking about and stats don’t translate to the regular season, but Escobar’s work ethic and hitting discipline has never been questioned since he was drafted by the Braves.

Other surprises included included Martin Prado (.318 in 66 ABs, most on the team) and Gregor Blanco (.400 in 35 ABs), both of whom have a chance to make the team. Prado more than Blanco, but at this point I think Bobby’s seen enough from Anderson and Blanco offensively to make the decision based on defense and whether they will be proficient in all three outfield spots.

As far as the rest of the cast goes, Francoeur is projected to have a breakout year by many “experts” and fantasy gurus. McCann is healthy again and could potentially put up the numbers he put up in 2006. Teixeira hit just .188 but, again, this is Spring and isn’t really a preview of things to come. He’s been warming up as of late, anyways. Most of the players seem to be getting into form quickly, but to be successful this year, the Braves need to do better against left-handed starters. The team should have little problems manufacturing runs and may even be better with Tex in there from the get-go.

Drese Sinks Braves vs. Tribe

For most of the day Friday, the Braves pitching staff looked solid.  Using a strong start by Jeff Bennett (in substitution for John Smoltz) and two hitless innings from Blaine Boyer to finish the game, the Braves allowed only 4 hits and 0 runs in 8 innings of work.  Unfortunately for the Braves, all 9 innings count.

That other inning of work for th Braves went to Ryan Drese who struggled to find control for his entire outing.  Facing 11 batters in his one inning, Drese issued 6 walks, 1 hit and 6 earned runs, creating the 6-4 loss for the Braves.  At one point, Drese issued 5 consecutive walks, certainly cementing his place in the minor leagues to start the season.

In a game of few highlights for the Braves, Jeff Francoeur looks to have bounced back from being beaned in the face early in the week, going 2-3 and scoring a run.  As we enter the last week of the preseason, it’s good to see everyone getting into regular season form.

Frenchie Back In Action

Just three days after being beaned in the face, Jeff Francoeur is ready to get back in the lineup, stating that he expects to play in Thursday night’s game against the Tigers.  The swelling in his face is gone and the cuts to his lip are healing as he got back to preseason business on Wednesday, taking a round of batting practice and some outfielding practice.

It’s good to see that this doesn’t appear to be affecting Jeff’s previous injuries, which could have sidelined him for the season or possibly his career.  In 2004, Francoeur was hit in the face with a pitch in the minor leagues, breaking an orbital bone in his face as well as other jaw fractures.  That injury left him with two titanium plates implanted into his face.

We’re glad to see Frenchie back into preseason action, he’s a critical part of the Braves plan for the season.

Francoeur Beaned, Braves Win

There was a scary moment in today’s 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals - it included the young face of the franchise going down after being hit in the face by a ball.  Jeff Francoeur’s lip was busted, but an x-ray showed no bone damage, so we can breathe a sigh of relief.  He’ll probably sit out til Wednesday or Thursday.

Tom Glavine pitched five innings today, allowing two runs and six hits - he looked good.  Jeff Bennett also pitched two innings and looked great - he only allowed one hit and kept his balls down for lots of ground outs.  Solid pitching from the Braves today.

Yunel Escobar is still swinging a ridiculously hot bat - hitting a two-run homer today and  going 1-3 on the day.  He’s on fire.  Chipper Jones added his first homer of the spring for the Braves’ third run of the day.

Next up we have Mike Hampton going back to the mound.  Since Hampton has been more fragile than John McNamara’s temper lately, we’ll hope he can keep any pieces from falling off when he’s pitching against the Cards tomorrow.

Handicapping The Outfielders

We all know that Jeff Francoeur and Mark Kotsay have their positions locked down. Francoeur remains the face and future of the Braves’ outfield, and Kotsay is the veteran bridge until Jordan Schafer is deemed ready for big-league play. Over in left field we’ve got a slightly different situation. Matt Diaz platooned last year with Willie Harris and put up some decent numbers of his own (a .338 average, a .368 on base percentage, 12 HRs and 45 RBIs).

The question this year is whether Diaz gets his own starting gig in left or platoons with another player. The lead candidate for the possible platoon, at least prior to the start of Spring Training, was Brandon Jones. He’s left-handed, and he has had success in the minors. This spring though, he’s seemed anxious at the plate, striking out too frequently (7 times in 24 at bats).

Some would argue that even had Brandon Jones not written himself out of the playing situation that Diaz deserves to play a full season by himself. He’s certainly a capable offensive player - and even though Terry Pendleton says he wouldn’t teach anyone to start batting the way Diaz does, something has to be working.

Here’s an interesting statistic.  Since the start of 2006, out of all players in the majors with at least 650 at-bats, the players with the highest batting averages are as follows:

This suggests that Diaz is among one of the better hitters in the game. Now most of his starts come against left-handers, but he’s not half bad against the right-handers either.  In 2007, he went 51-146 with 6 HRs for a .349 avg against left-handers. Against right-handers, he went 37-110 with 3 HRs for a .336 avg. His OPS (on base plus slugging) was .932 against lefties and a respectable .813 against righties. I think Diaz is ready for a full-time job, and I believe Cox thinks he could handle it. We’ll see how it unfolds, but right now I think there’s a higher probability he finds himself in left permanently.

We recently had a question to the mailbag about whether or not Josh Anderson could outplay Mark Kotsay for the center field job. I don’t think that’s even a possibility at this point - Kotsay may not have the range Andruw had (or Anderson has), but he has a great arm and the Braves will give him his opportunity. I know some of us are concerned that he’s going to hurt his back playing hard, but he’ll get the starting job out of spring training. I think Anderson will be one of the four players coming off the bench heading out of spring training.

I’ve written enough - but those are our outfielders. Diaz, Kotsay, and Francoeur should be our starters, and we’ll go from there. I expect Anderson will be the main backup, with maybe Jones playing another role. But he needs more development time. A little more patience wouldn’t hurt him.

Braves Destroy Indians 11-4

The Braves’ offense beat the Indians to a pulp tonight as Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira led the offense to a nine-run fourth inning outburst.  McCann went 2-3 and knocked in three runs, while Teixeira went 3-3 and knocked in two runs, while scoring three runs himself.  The supporting role included Chipper Jones, Martin Prado and Jeff Francoeur with an RBI each.  Blaine Boyer even got in on the action with an RBI and a run scored of his own.

On the mound, the Braves started Buddy Carlyle, who looked decent early, but gave up three solo home runs when he seemed to think he was throwing batting practice.  Besides Boyer beating up on the Indians’ pitching staff, he pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.  Tyler Yates got an inning in as well, where he walked two and struck out one.

Good to see Teixeira and McCann come out of their slow starts for a night and knock in some runs.  Both were very confident and solid at the plate.  We’ll need to rely on these guys all year to be competitive offensively.

In other news, Hampton pitched a successful simulation game, in which he pitched four innings and 59 pitches.  And he refrained from hurting his groin, breaking his elbow, or creating some other freak injury nobody has ever had before.  Good news is he had good movement on his curveball during the session.  He should see action early next week.

Next up is Chuck James in his spring debut against the Tigers.  He’ll pitch two innings and test his rotator cuff.  We’ll bring you the latest on that, too.