It Wasn’t A Lack Of Power…..

Written by Kent on July 22, 2009 – 7:32 am

….it was the “Axis Of Feeble”

If you’re one of the many fans or national sports media types who still aren’t taking the Braves seriously, there is something you need to know… You are mistaken.

You observe that the Braves have little more thunder in their lineup than they had through the first 3 months of the season, and you see no reason why they’re offensive woes won’t extend into the figurative “second half”. The trouble is… your premise is flawed.

You think the Braves have failed to score runs consistently for most of the year because they have lacked “impact power”. But the truth is that a lack of power was not the primary source of their offensive impotency in the first half. The REAL problem was having not one, not two, but THREE near-automatic outs in the lineup.

You can score plenty of runs without a single 30-homerun hitter. Just ask the ’98 Yankees. If you don’t have 2 or 3 huge bats in the middle of the order, that’s just fine, but you need to have a well balanced lineup full of quality hitters. The problem was… the Braves didn’t have either. There were three “Shaq”-sized holes in their lineup.

For the first 2-3 months of the season Jordan Schafer, Kelly Johnson, and Jeff Francoeur formed an axis-of-feeble. Like a black hole, they sucked the life out of this Atlanta offense. This underachieving trio killed rally after rally, and prevented many others from ever being sparked in the first place. It even managed to turn two of the league’s best starters, Jair Jurrjens and Javier Vazquez, into losing pitchers for a time.

While Atlanta now has more homerun power than many think, and will likely top their first half homerun total by a wide margin, the Braves don’t have multiple mashers in the middle of their lineup. That means that, to some extent, walks, singles, and doubles have to come together in combination in order to score sufficiently and reliably. But when you have THREE members of your lineup who are virtually guaranteed to pull the plug on any potentially productive inning… how can you ever score runs consistently?

You can’t. And they didn’t.

But the Braves plugged one of those holes when they replaced Schafer with all-star Center Fielder, Nate McLouth, in June. And now, in July, they have plugged the other two holes as well. Martin Prado ripped the starting second-base job out of Kelly Johnson’s hands with his recent all-star caliber play. Then, Frank Wren and Co. replaced the floundering Francoeur with the capable right-field platoon of Matt Diaz and Ryan Church (for whom the Braves dealt “Frenchy” to the Mets).

Atlanta’s offense isn’t likely to be among the game’s very best from now until the end of the season. However, I believe this Braves lineup will surprise the naysayers in the second half. Their detractors have failed to recognize the TRUE problem. Therefore, they have yet to notice that it has been fixed. But they will be forced to take note if the Braves continue to climb the ladder in key offensive categories. Atlanta recently jumped from 11th to 8th (out of 16 teams) in the National League in runs scored, and now has the 4th best team batting average in the NL. In my view, smart money says they’ll finish higher than 8th in runs scored by season’s end.

Every single position in the Braves batting order is likely to hit for a solid average, and is capable of delivering 15 homeruns or better. Three positions can deliver 25 or more homeruns. And six of the eight positions are manned by players capable of thumping 40 doubles in a season.

Frank Wren and Bobby Cox now have the lineup they envisioned at the start of spring. There are no 30 homerun bombers… but solid hitters with pop throughout the lineup, 1-8. And more often than not, that will be enough to win behind this Atlanta pitching.

The axis-of-feeble is gone, and better days are ahead.


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McLouth To Hit Third

Written by Colin on June 5, 2009 – 8:05 am

Chipper Jones hits third for the Braves. He’s always hit third, and he prefers third. But even Chipper is willing to admit he may get more RBI opportunities with Nate McLouth in front of him. “Bobby wants to do what’s best for the club,” said Chipper, “and if he thinks Nate might get a couple of hits hitting in the third hole because I’m behind him, then so be it.”

Nate’s excited about it too – calling Chipper “one of the greatest switch-hitters of all time.” McLouth has been hitting third for the Pirates this year and will be hopefully more productive than he was in Pittsburgh as he’s surrounded by better players – some decent leadoff talent in Escobar and Johnson (who’s been tearing it up lately), and with Chipper and McCann behind him. We’ll see what happens.

In other news, notice the Braves orchestrated the rain to allow yesterday’s game to be rained out. After making tons of money off ticket sales for Tommy Hanson’s Saturday debut, they hope to cash in on Sunday’s game now as well. Ok, maybe I’m going a little far, but a conspiracy theory never hurt anybody.


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Braves Trade For All-Star McLouth

Written by Colin on June 3, 2009 – 7:42 pm

The Braves traded for All-Star centerfielder Nate McLouth today, sending three prospects to the Pirates. McLouth will provide a much needed solid power bat in the middle of the lineup, adding punch to the outfield as well as speed. The Braves part with Gorkys Hernandez (came from the Tigers with Jurrjens), Charlie Morton, and pitcher Jeff Locke.

McLouth is hitting .256 this year. Last year he finished with a .276 average, 26 home runs, 94 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases. He’ll provide some protection for Chipper and McCann – which is something they need to remain productive.

With this activity today, the Braves appear to be making a move to make a run this season – and they’re not afraid of committing early. We’re only 4 games back in the NL East and have the pitching to take us a long way – even without Hudson coming back later this year. It’s good to see the Braves make the moves necessary to get some more offense ready to go. I’m impressed – this isn’t something we’re used to seeing the Braves do. What are your thoughts? Is McLouth the answer or do we need to make additional moves?

One thing is certain in my mind – Jeff Francoeur’s on the hotseat. We’ve got a LOT of outfield talent coming up and if he doesn’t produce, he’s not around forever.


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Posted in Roster Moves | 6 Comments »

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