Chopping Network: February 2010

June 22, 2010

Since May 1 when Jordan Schafer went on the disabled list, Atlanta won only 10 games and lost 31, for a winning percentage of .244. In that span the Braves suffered through three long losing streaks of 12, 6, and 10 games. When Schafer was in the lineup the Braves have been 15-7, a winning percentage of .682, including winning 4 of 6 on this his first week back from the injury. Could one player make so much difference?

For one thing, they have sure missed him in the number 2 spot in the lineup. None of the guys who replaced him there (Hernandez-.189, Van Every-.136, Blanco-.088, or Escobar-.209) filled the role of setting the table or moving the lead-off hitter along.

Also, none of his replacements roamed the range in centerfield as effectively which meant that a few more base hits fell in that he possibly could have taken away.

On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that while Schafer was out, the Braves faced teams with better winning records than they have when he has played. Atlanta without Schafer faced teams with a .548 winning percentage and with him faced teams with a .471 winning percentage.

Baseball is a team game; and while wins and losses are certainly the result of team performance, the numbers don't lie as they clearly reveal that Schafer is a most important cog in the Braves' machine. And this in only his second year in the big leagues.

"It just killed me, not being able to play and seeing our team playing so poorly," Schafer admitted. "Honestly, even with me out of the lineup, we're a better team than what we showed."

One thing is for sure...Atlanta is a better team with him in the lineup.

May 17, 2010

Derek Lowe and Jair Jurrjens finally looked human... plus the bullpen looks atrocious... plus the injuries continue to pile up... plus the hitting cooled off a good bit... it all adds up to a nine game losing skid for the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves were outscored 71 to 28 over the nine game span against St. Louis, Cincinnati, Arizona, and Los Angeles. The three straight sweeps over the last week cost the Braves 5 games in the standings, dropping them into third place with a 16-16 record.

It's easy to see there is lack of performance from the relief corps- they rank dead last in ERA (6.65) among the pens in the National League. Outside of Joe Nathan no one is having a good start to the season. General manager Jobo Foster has indicated he's considering bringing back Danny Herrera who is doing very good down in AAA Gwinnett (2.31 ERA, 0.94 WHIP). Some in the Braves front office are urging patience, saying that the arms in the pen are talented enough to come around. They going to need to do that and soon or some of those veterans (Linebrink and Moehler, in particular) may find themselves released, as their seems to be little market for them.

Also starting pitching is a concern as Tim Hudson (2-4, 8.46 ERA) and Tommy Hanson (1-1, 6.13 ERA) are not giving what the Braves need out of their fourth and fifth slots. If they cannot turn it around soon, Gwinnett hurlers Aaron Poreda (1-0, 1.88), Charlie Morton (3-0, 3.23) or Jorge Campillo (0-3, 2.95) are all clamoring for attention from the big club.

The injury bug bit yet another outfielder, namely Gorkys Hernandez who had replaced the injured Jordan Schafer in centerfield. Hernandez (0 HR, 2 RBI and .231 BA) strained a hamstring which will cost him at least a month on the disabled list. The Braves will be bringing up Jonathan Van Every (8 HR, 14 RBI, .314 BA, .443 OBP, .709 SLG in AA) to play center until Schafer can return.

42 year old Matt Stairs is just not producing as a left-handed pinch hitting. In 13 plate appearances he has one walk, no hits and nine strikeouts. Could the Braves be thinking of promoting 21 year old Cody Johnson (10 HR, 24 RBI, .269 BA, .349 OBP, .546 SLG) to fill that LH pinch hitter role?

Certainly Atlanta is a better ball club than the last week has shown. How they bounce back from this disastrous week may be an indicator of how good they could be. But will it be good enough to run with the horses in Florida and New York? The Marlins and the Mets continue to play above .600 winning percentage and sit first and second in th NL East.

Braves send Vazquez to Texas for Gonzalez, Main

Monday, June 28th, 2010 - The Texas Rangers traded 32-year-old reliever Mike Gonzalez and 21-year-old minor league starting pitcher Michael Main (pictured above) to the Atlanta Braves, getting 33-year-old starting pitcher Javier Vazquez in return. Braves GM Jobo Foster said the trade was made to bloster the bullpen with the reaquisition of Gonzalez, to make some financial room and to open a spot in the rotation for southpaw Aaron Poreda who, Foster says, has earned a shot with Atlanta. It is rumored that veteran starting pitcher Tim Hudson may be on his way out of the rotation if his performance does not show marked improvement.