Apr 03 2009
Happy days again? Promise of ‘09 gives Braves hope
Editor’s note: We’re finished with spring training game recaps – the big news from Thursday’s 2-1 win over Houston’s Triple-A team being Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan each throwing a solid inning. Today, we kick off a three-part look at the Braves and baseball in general, leading up to Sunday night’s season opener at Philadelphia.
Today: The promise of 2009.
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
ATLANTA — Forgive Braves’ fans if they’re a little jumpy right now. Their patience has been stretched like a bungee cord.
A 90-loss season where the handwriting on the wall appeared in June. A historic penchant for losing one-run games on the road. A starting rotation that one-by-one paraded to the disabled list. A bullpen torched by overwork. A franchise pillar beset by a miserable slump. The death of the beloved voice of the franchise.
It didn’t let up once the 2008 season mercifully ended. Jake Peavy. A.J. Burnett. Rafael Furcal. Ken Griffey Jr. All four pursued. None landed. Follow that with the longest spring training ever, thanks to the World Baseball Classic, and you understand why of every Major League Baseball fan base out there today, one can argue the good denizens of Braves Nation are more ready to flip the switch on 2009 than anybody.
What we’ve seen in spring training is what Frank Wren and Bobby Cox constructed through the offseason. While many of us focused, reported, and obsessed over who the Braves didn’t get, the franchise kept plugging away.
What that’s resulted in is a team built on solid – not spectacular, but solid – starting pitching, the type that’s going to give you six or seven strong innings most every night. The additions of Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez provide durable 200-inning guys, and teamed with Jair Jurrjens gives the Braves a very strong three-man front. Kenshin Kawakami could push this rotation into elite status if he makes the transition from Japanese baseball, and Tom Glavine has looked good in three spring starts.
The bullpen is deep, even if questions remain regarding the recovery of Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan. There is no denying this group, if healthy, is going to be vastly improved over the 2008 bully. And certainly, fewer of those three- and four-inning efforts from the starting rotation will help.
The offense looks good. No, the Braves won’t lead the league in homers. But this team isn’t constructed to wait on the three-run dinger anyway. We’ve seen countless times in Florida where the Braves focused on the little things: bunting a runner over, hitting to the right side to advance a runner, driving a ball into the air to bring in a run from third. These are things the Braves have to continue doing once the games count.
The lineup isn’t a Murderer’s Row in the historic sense of big boppers, but there are plenty of guys who could hit .290-.310, who will fill the gaps with doubles, who will drive in 70-90 runs. Teeming with power? No. Able to string together five or six hits in an inning? Absolutely.
At the end of the day, there are a few question marks with this team. But which team doesn’t? We’ll save that discussion for tomorrow. For now, know this:
The climb to October will be steep. But this Braves team is constructed to be in the hunt all season, and is good enough to steal a playoff spot at the finish. After everything this franchise and its legions of followers have endured the past 12 months, just being in the race come mid-September would be quite an improvement.
Opening Night viewing party…
For those of you in the Atlanta area, I’ll be watching Sunday night’s season opener with a group of Braves fans and baseball folks at Jocks N’ Jills Galleria (near the confluence of Interstates 285 and 75, on the northwest side of town). Come join us as the season begins!
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