Tagged: Jason Heyward

What to do with McLouth

Nate McLouth was eligible to come off the D.L. a week ago, and will soon begin rehab starts. What most Braves fans are wondering is how Fredi Gonzalez will handle the McLouth-Schafer situation. Looking at the surface it doesn’t seem to be a debate. After all McLouth leads Schafer in a lot of statistical categories including AVG, OBP,  and SLG. However, the reality of the situation is much deeper.

Since his call-up Schafer has been a hit with most fans, who like myself, never gave up on him after the potential he showed during his 2009 campaign. He was shown some of the flashes of the lead off hitter that this team has needed since Furcal departed. He has 165 less at-bats than most of the starters, but his seven stolen bases leads the team (Heyward is second with three). It’s more than that for Schafer though. During a pregame radio interview Eric Hinske raved about Schafer’s ability to throw off pitcher’s timing by causing havoc on the base paths. He went as far as saying that Schafer is responsible for the current winning streak the Braves are on. Other players agree and cite his great defense as another factor in his game.

In contrast Nate McLouth has become less than a fan favorite among Braves fans. While his .238 batting average this season has been a huge improvement over last season’s .190, fans are less than thrilled with his ability to hit in the clutch and his tendency to not coming up firing when a ball is hit his way in the field. While I have noticed that McLouth has seemed to have more fun this season, there are still sometimes when I see him and it seems like he would rather be anywhere else.

When Nate does come back there may be a chance for an outfield that consists of both him and Schafer. That is until Martin Prado and/or Jason Heyward return. Then, there will have to be an odd man out and I can assure you that it won’t be Prado or Heyward.

How About Something Positive?

I have an admission to make: I have become a huge twitter junkie (@jakesbravesblog). I have found a close knit group of people who share my love with Braves baseball. Even though I have only met a few of them face to face I feel that I know them personally. To be honest though, getting on twitter lately has been somewhat depressing. People are taking sides in the Chipper-Heyward debate. David O’Brien tweets daily reminders on how bad Uggla has been. Others choose to complain about attendance.

I know what some of you are thinking: “What have the Braves done lately for us to be positive about?” Well I’m glad you asked. Below are three things positive going on with the Braves right now designed to help you relax and step back from the ledge.

Pitching: Remember when some experts predicted the Phillies to have the best pitching staff of all time? Well, we’re in June and they don’t even have the best pitching staff in their division. It truly is unbelievable to think that even with the career season Cole Hamels is having that his 2.83 ERA is higher than two other Braves starters. What Jair Jurrjens has done this year in Atlanta is nothing short of spectacular. His 1.75 ERA trails only Josh Johnson for best in the majors and right handed batters are hitting .215 against JJ. Hanson has certainly found his groove allowing no more than two earned runs in his last three starts. Hudson and Lowe have both been inconsistent, but have shown flashes of brilliance at times this season. Hudson had a one-hitter against the Brewers, and Lowe had a near no-no against the Phillies. But the rotation is only part of the story. My favorite part of this season has been watching Jonny Venters pitch. The guy has been nothing short of phenomenal! I could go all day into his numbers, but here’s some of my favorites: a minuscule .049 ERA including  ZERO ERA at home. He’s allowed just 17 hits in 36.2 IP. Long story short: Everyday Jonny is filthy! I didn’t particular love watching the Braves win with only two hits last night, but a win is a win. The pitching staff has kept this team in games this season and that’s something to be happy about.

Brian McCann: Mac has had a normal Brian McCann season this first half. You know, he’s hitting .302 and driving in runs left and right. Same ol same ol. I think Brian has been so good for so long that we get used to how good he is and don’t appreciate it enough. Brian is finally getting the recognition he deserves as it looks as though he’ll finally get to start this year’s All-Star Game.

Three Games Back: Would I rather be up three games in the East? Of course! However, when you consider what this team has been through this season it feels good to know that we’re still in the hunt. Put it this way: had I told you before the season began that on June 8 Uggla would be well under the mendoza line, Heyward would’ve spent the last two weeks on the DL and Lowe would have an ERA over four. You probably would’ve predicted that there would be more than three games between the mighty Phillies and the Braves. Uggla isn’t going to slump forever, Heyward will come back eventually and this club’s brighter days are still ahead of them.  The Phillies’ offensive woes have proved that they aren’t immune to losing games too.

I hope this helped. I’ve noticed in the blogger community and even in the professional sports writting community that it seems hip to write more negative things, but I don’t mind not being hip. I watch the Braves because I am a fan and I want to see them do well. If I wanted to focus on what this club can’t do I would probably quit watching.

Some Braves Need Your Help

Vote-for-Prado[1].jpgWell fans here we are again. It’s early June and all we can hear when we watch a baseball game is how we need to go online and cast our votes for the All Star Game. Well don’t expect any different from me. When looking at the latest All Star voting results I feel like it is my duty to touch on this for just a second. Look, I get why Chase Utley is a popular guy. He’s a hard worker and a really good ballplayer as well. However, this season he has not been the best NL position player by any means. But the NL isn’t the only problem. In the American League Miguel Cabrera is batting .358 with 17 homers, so he has to be leading the league in 1B right? Nope, try third. Come on guys when you vote there is a button that says “compare stats” and it lays out all the numbers for you.

But hey this IS a Braves blog right? So what Braves need your help? How about these three guys:

Martin Prado: Here is a guy who is leading the league in batting average right now and has more multi-hit games than anyone in the NL.  However, in the latest polls he was trailing Utley and Rickie Weeks. Take a tip from Peter Moylan (see picture above) and VOTE FOR PRADO.

Troy Glaus: I’m not saying that Pujols shouldn’t start for NL, but with the past month and a half that Troy has had I do feel like he should be in consideration for a reserve spot. Glaus went on a tear in May batting .330 with 6 homers. In June he has not let up. In the six games in June he has hit 3 homers with an .882 slugging %.

Jason Heyward: Jay-Hey is killing the ball, and he has been all season. The two time Rookie of the Month has been as advertised. Even though he has let up as of late he is still one of the most impressive outfielders the NL has to offer this year and he needs your help getting him to LA. At last check he was 5th overall for NL outfielders.

 

Too Early to Get Excited? One more thing. I can’t leave here without mentioning the great offensive play we’ve seen from the Braves as of late. Although it is early, I did find something interesting when looking at research this week. In six of the past eight seasons the team that was leading the NL East on June 1 won the division that season. Like I said it is early, but I’m still excited about what we’ve seen from the Braves so far this season.  

Glavine to Have His Number Retired

glavmadsmoltzsmaller.jpgThe Braves announced today that they will retire Tom Glavine’s number as well as inducting the southpaw into the Braves Hall of Fame. The story is found here . Speaking as someone who was a devoted Braves fan in the nineties I can say that this will be well deserved. I think that being a kid I was a little spoiled with the starting pitching the Braves had with the Smoltz-Glavine-Maddux trifecta. I think that if I had the opportunity to experience that now maybe I could be a little more appreciative of what was going on in Atlanta. However, that’s a moot point because there will never be another rotation like that in Major League Baseball. Congratulations to Tommy and I can’t wait to see the number 47 on the walls of the Ted. 

Get Used to This: Jason Heyward hit third in tonight’s Braves lineup against the Brewers. Get used to it! At the age of twenty Heyward could potentially be batting third for the next 15-20 years. Look, no one is a bigger Chipper Jones fan than me. But Larry’s time as our three-hole hitter has gone. Listen up Bobby: when (or should I say “if”) Chipper’s groin feels better swap Chipper’s and Jason’s spots in the lineup. You can’t keep the team’s HR, RBI, and OBP leader batting sixth.

Glaus Finally Heating Up: Troy Glaus has finally started showing the power that we kept hearing about all offseason. Glaus has homered in each of the last two games and seemed to be more comfortable. I was pretty vocal in my distain for the Braves’ offseason activity, and the nine game losing streak didn’t help. But, if Glaus can come around maybe we can salvage something positive for this season.

Let the Season Begin

Thank God the season finally starts today. For the first time in my life as a fan I have really followed spring training this year. Most years I just keep an eye on the win-loss record during spring and I catch an occational game on TV. This year however, with Jason Heyward trying to earn a spot on the MLB roster I decided to really follow each play of the spring. And what a spring it was! So with all that being said, here are the biggest stories of the spring and my thoughts on them:

Jason “The Phenom” Heyward: Jason Heyward may never get a hit in the regular season, but he sure looked good in the spring. Especially in batting practice where he spent his time peppering cars over 450 feet away. Heyward hit .305 with a HR and 5 RBIs. Most impressive to me though was the fact that he walked ten times. For a 20 year old hoping to make a team, that kind of patience is very impressive.

Nate McLouth Slumps: Nate has had a real rough spring. In his first 38 at bats he only had one hit. He finished the spring with a horrific .118 BA with only two extra base hits. At the beginning of spring I was less worried about the slumps of McLouth than I am now. During the offseason I was pretty upset about the Javier Vazquez trade, but as the spring has gone on the more relieved I am to have Melky Cabrera to plug into that leadoff spot. I do think that McLouth will eventually find his swing again, I just hope that he finds it soon because the games in April count just as much as the ones in September.

Huddy’s Back: I’ve never let it be a secret that I am a huge fan of Tim Hudson. But I was a little nervous this time a year ago that Hudson may never be the same again. I know it’s only spring, but Hudson sure has done his part to ease all of our nerves. In his 24 innings pitched he had a 1.50 ERA with 20 strikeouts and only walking four. I hope that this continues into the season, but based on the spring I think we can go ahead and label Hudson the staff’s ace.  

Offense We Need You: The one thing that I was most relieved to see this spring was the Braves swinging the bat nicely. Apart from McLouth, the starters all enjoyed a pretty good spring at the plate. This is the biggest question mark going into the season. Although the games didn’t count it was very impressive to see McCann bat .500, Glaus bat .385, Prado bat .383 and Chipper bat .310. What I liked the most though, was the fact that the Braves walked a lot this spring. Patience at the plate is something that has been severly lacking the past few seasons, so maybe that will change this year.

A Whole Lot of Questions

Recently the MLB beat writers throughout the league did the top ten questions that their teams have this offseason. You can read Mark Bowman’s entry on the Braves here. This offseason has brought many question marks for the Braves. Those questions will dictate the success of this team in 2010. So here are some of those questions and how they could either benefit or hurt the club.

Will the Javier Vazquez trade ever make sense? I like many of you was very upset when I turned on my XM radio on December 22 and learned that Javier Vazquez had been traded to the Yankees for Melky Cabrera, Arodys Vizcaino, and Mike Dunn. My initial response was to jump on my computer and blast Frank Wren on my blog. However, I decided to cool off and wait until I saw what kind of return the Braves would get with the money freed up in the deal. We still do not know exactly who the Braves will acquire with the extra money, but I decided to address the Vazquez trade anyway. This trade could be a terrible thing for the Braves or it could be one that opens up possibilities for great things. Here’s my take:

The trade is BAD for Atlanta:

 -If Troy Glaus is the only player signed from now until the season starts.

-If any of our starting pitchers have a major injury this season.

-If Vazquez repeats last season’s numbers in a Yankee uniform.

The trade is GOOD for Atlanta:

-If the Braves sign another free agent who is capable of hitting 30 homeruns.

-If Vizcaino is as good as advertised.

-If Cabrera has the best season of his career.

Before I change to a different topic let me say this one last thing. This whole trade reminds me of one that went down in October of 2007. Edgar Renteria had hit .332 for Atlanta in 2007 and was one of the few glimmers of light in a somewhat dark season. So you could imagine how we all felt when we learned that he had been traded to the Tigers for two guys who had never played in the MLB before. However, looking back it became a great trade for the Braves. Renteria didn’t fare very well in Detroit and the two players the Braves got in return were Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez (if you’re wondering about Hernandez, the Braves later used him in a trade that brought Nate McLouth to Atlanta). I’m not saying that this same thing is going to happen with the Vazquez trade, but given his history of following up a good season with a bad one it is very possible.

Will our players stay healthy? In my opinion this will be the most important question that will be answered this season. The Braves biggest signings so far this offseason have been resigning Tim Hudson to an extension, signing Billy Wagner, and signing Troy Glaus (I know that this hasn’t been officially announced, but we all know it’s going to happen). The three of them made a combined 38 appearances last season. If the Braves are going to be successful this season, these three guys will be expected to handle their fair share of the work load. Only time will tell if these gambles will pay off.

There are several other questions such as will Chipper bounce back? Will Jurrjens have the same success he had the last two seasons? Will Heyward be ready for the majors at the start of the season? etc. I could go all night. All I can say is I can’t wait for spring training!  

ONE LAST THING: Jake’s Braves Blog is now on twitter. Follow me @ http://twitter.com/jakesbravesblog !