The Braves' Collapse

Wow. That's the first word that comes to mind when thinking about the Atlanta Braves' recent tailspin into last place of the National League East. I cannot remember a time when they played this badly. Of course, I'm only 25 and I know they were pretty pathetic before I was seriously into baseball, but here's a team that has won a record 14-consecutive division titles. They just find ways to win, regardless of injury problems, changes on the roster, their schedule, lineup changes, experience, etc. They don't find excuses to hide under while they shrug their shoulders and lower their expectations. They hold the expectations high, regardless of the obstacles in a season. They were 27-23 not too long ago and within 3.5 games of the first-place New York Mets. Since that time, they're 3-17 (.150 winning percentage) and 30-40 overall. I've lost track of how far back of first they are, but it's at least 14.5 games now. Is it impossible for them to go on a run and win another division title? No, it's not possible. They were 10 games back of San Francisco back in the day in mid to late July and they came back and won the division title. So, no, it's not impossible, but they'll have to make some changes, start winning some games, and fast!

So, what's wrong with the Braves this year? I can't point to one thing. What I could do is point to several things that have plagued Atlanta this season, especially in the past 20 games. First off, they don't have a legitimate lead-off man. Marcus Giles is a heck of a ball player and an excellent 2-hole hitter, but he's not a lead-off guy. He's been floundering around .230-.240, which has ranked him near or at the bottom of the league in average for a lead-off hitter. Why they don't lead-off Edgar Renteria, as I've been saying for a month or so now, is beyond me. He's been hitting .320 or better all year and rarely strikes out.

While Edgar has been a stud for the Braves, they do miss Rafael Furcal's speed. The Braves don't have a speedster on the base paths anymore. Renteria can steal around 15 bases. Giles could still 10-15. Chipper and Andruw Jones could steal up to 10. Jeff Francouer could steal 10-15. Overall, as a team, they don't have bad speed, but they do not have that one consistent base stealer that can wreak havoc once he reaches first base.

The Braves also strike out way too much. Outside of Edgar Renteria and catcher Brian McCann, the other six position players strike out their fair share of times. Last I saw, the Braves had the third most strikeouts of any team in the National League and were on a pace to beat their own team record for most strikeouts in a season. That's one record that a team does not want to break.

Atlanta's hitters have also been way too inconsistent, outside of the before-mentioned Renteria and McCann. Giles, Chipper, Andruw, Ryan Langerhans, Jeff Francouer, and Adam LaRoche have all been extremely inconsistent with their bats. Giles, Langerhans, Francouer, and LaRoche are all hitting around or below the .250 mark. They'll have 3 for 3 days, but also 0 for 4 days with 3 strikeouts and 5 runners left on base. There's rarely a time when three Atlanta hitters are swinging the bats well in a game. One or two might, but rarely has there been a time when coach Bobby Cox could count on Renteria, McCann, and either Chipper or Andruw in a game. Left-fielder Matt Diaz has been the third most consistent hitter for the Braves and he's backed up either Ryan Langerhans or the newly brought up Matt Thorman from Triple-A Richmond.

Speaking of inconsistency, that word is accurate when referring to all the Braves' pitchers. This goes for the starters, middle relievers, set-up men, and closers. John Smoltz has been fairly consistent, but not as effective as he was last year. He's typically given up 3 runs in six to seven innings of work. That should be good enough to win games or at least, keep the Braves competitive, but with their inconsistency at the plate and their horrendous bullpen, Smoltz will need to start allowing 2 or fewer runs in his starts. Tim Hudson began the season inconsistent, but has leveled off some in recent starts. But again, even when he allows 3 runs, chances are, he may be in line for a loss by game's end. Horacio Ramirez has thrown fairly well since he came back from injury, but is still limited in the amount of innings he can go. John Thomson was dreadful for the past month or so until he was put on the disabled list recently. Jorge Sosa has thrown better the past month or so, but only has 1 win to show for it. Former closer Chris Reitsma had blown 4 of 12 save opportunities and had an E.R.A. over 8.00 before he was placed on the DL. Recent closer Kenny Ray started his closer campaign successfully saving his first four ball games, but has since then blown one and not pitched nearly as effective as he had early in the season. Oscar Villareal may have 7 wins to his name, but that's just from being at the right place at the right time, as his E.R.A. is over 5.00. Youngsters McKay McBride, Chad Paronto, Tyler Yates, and Josh Stockman have shown flashes of spark, but with having little to no experience at the big league level, have also shown flashes of being rookies.

One problem I've noticed lately is how the Braves get down early and it's difficult to come back with their offense struggling the way it is. It's either that, or they take the lead one inning and give the lead right back up the very next inning. They've had difficulty falling behind early and in maintaining leads. It's like they've lost the confidence in knowing how to win ball games.

Another problem for the Braves is bad luck. They seem to start series with teams who are either just starting to get hot or are in the midst of a hot streak. Two series ago, Atlanta got swept by the Florida Marlins. Florida went on from there to sweep the Toronto Blue Jays. That happened earlier in the year when the played against Arizona and Los Angeles.

Finally, the last problem I can think of is the fact that no more than one component of the Atlanta Braves' team seems to click on a given night. One night, their defense might be on top of its game, but the hitting is not, so they lose 2-1. Another night, the pitching may be on, but the offense is not and they lose 1-0. The next night, the hitting might pick up, but the relievers throw nothing but gopher balls and they lose 10-7. They night after, they may do everything well, except play defense, and they lose 5-4, because of a late-inning error. They have just seemed to find ways to lose the past three weeks. It's like the direct opposite thing from what Michael Jordan was known. The guy just knew how to win. It didn't matter how well he played, at the very end, he found a way to pull his team on top. With the Braves lately, it's just the opposite. Regardless of how well they play, they seem to find ways to lose.

It's not just one component that's holding the Braves down and one little change isn't going to do the trick and take the Braves from worst to first. There are a lot of things that have to change if they want to be competitive and have a chance to make the playoffs, let alone win the division. Consistency in their hitting and pitching is at the very top of the "to do" list. If they continue to play inconsistently, as they have been, then they might as well start trading away some ball players and bringing up some kids from the minors to get them some playing time, because if they keep playing the way they are right now, they're not going to win too many more ball games.