Apr 04 2009
Bullpen, outfielders hold keys to Braves’ season
We’re done with spring training game recaps – the big news Friday was Javier Vazquez’s four perfect innings in the Braves’ 3-1 victory over Detroit at Turner Field. Today, we continue our three-part look at the Braves and baseball in general, with a look at the question marks and critical areas for Atlanta entering Sunday night’s season opener at Philadelphia.
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
ATLANTA — Look around outside the sphere of Braves Nation, and there isn’t a lot of people lining up to jump on the Braves’ bandwagon.
Sports Illustrated landed in my mailbox Wednesday, telling me the Braves will finish third in the National League East. Other media outlets have picked Atlanta as low as fourth. MLB Network led one of their talk shows Friday by wondering out loud if anything can be drawn from the Braves’ strong pitching in spring training.
The glass certainly shouldn’t be viewed as half-empty, not with most of the key needs filled and enough talent in place to lead one to believe this team could win 86-90 games in the ultra-tough NL East.
But there are areas of concern when looking objectively at this team, areas that could keep this team from contending in September.
Can the bullpen stay healthy and pitch effectively?
For all the work done to bolster the Braves’ starting rotation – and certainly, adding Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami amounts to bolstering – it’ll all be for naught if the Braves’ bullpen performs like last season. Atlanta’s relievers were among the worst in the NL, particularly after the All-Star Break, when the overwhelming workload of entering games early coupled with the loss of Peter Moylan and Rafael Soriano combined to doom the bullpen.
The Braves were wretched in holding leads. One has to think things will be better in 2009. For one thing, there won’t be anywhere near as many four- and five-inning efforts from the rotation. Soriano and Moylan are healthy – both made the opening day roster. Mike Gonzalez is ready to go as closer, after missing the first two and one-half months of 2008 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
With the loss of Soriano and Moylan last season, and with Gonzalez out until mid-June, the Braves juggled bullpen roles with mostly bad results. This year the roles are more defined. This bullpen will be better. It has to be, because last year was so bad, and because the Braves need the lock-down potential possessed by the guys who sit behind the right-field fence.
Can The Kid do his thing in center field?
Last season, Jordan Schafer hit .316 in limited Grapefruit League play, strutting through the clubhouse at Lake Buena Vista after a blistering showing in the Arizona Fall League.
Then came the fall from grace – a 50-game suspension for alleged HGH use. Schafer bounced back with a strong finish at Double-A Mississippi, and he carried that over into winter ball in Mexico and then into Braves’ camp.
The 22-year-old has earned the right to start in center field. He’s a game-changer with his speed, his defense, his baseball prowess. There are concerns that Schafer’s strikeouts will hurt him in the majors, and there are questions on how he’ll handle things if he struggles out of the gate.
But by all reports, a more mature, a more focused Schafer showed up at Lake Buena Vista this spring. The kid appears ready to handle the inevitable ups and downs he’ll experience as a rookie. I don’t think anything short of a total meltdown or disaster would send him back to the minors and put Gregor Blanco in center.
Schafer is the man. Let’s see how he does.
No power? No problem?
A lot has been made of the Braves’ lack of power in the lineup. Nobody in this bunch is going to hit 30 homers. Only Chipper Jones and Brian McCann figure to approach 25.
But without going out and landing an Adam Dunn to put in the middle of the lineup, the Braves have constructed a batting order that features really good hitters who can fill the gaps with doubles, and who figure to drive in plenty of runs.
Atlanta’s lineup will have to generate runs, will have to do the little things, in order to be successful. One thing that’s going to help is the strength of Atlanta’s pitching staff. This team, even without huge power numbers last season, still finished in the middle of the pack in the NL in runs scored.
Will the real Jeff Francoeur stand up?
What we’ve seen from Francoeur this season has been a consistent, smooth, improved batting approach that’s resulted in plenty of balls driven to all fields, the ability to work counts and lay off the breaking balls down and away, and a more relaxed Francoeur that closely resembles the fun-loving kid with whom we all fell in love with during his first three seasons.
Francoeur has massive natural talent, and I’m not worried about his lack of power this spring. The real litmus test will be when Frenchy goes through an 0-for-10 or 2-for-20 stretch. Will he press? Will he start tinkering with his stance again? Will he begin to press? Will the fans turn on Frenchy as they did last season?
Time will tell. A rebound of any type from Frenchy will help this team tremendously. A repeat of 2008 makes me shudder just typing those words. For all the keys to this team in 2009, Francoeur’s end result is critical to whether the Braves play on past the first weekend in October.
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