More than any game all season, the Braves showed their youth last night against the Philadelphia Phillies. There is no doubt that the young Braves are exciting, promising and fearless. They are also dumb, inconsistent and frustrating.Yunel Escobar (25 years old) and Kelly Johnson (26) personified this youth movement in the opening game against the Phils. The two combined on a brilliant double-play to get Tim Hudson out of a bases loaded, one out jam. Escobar dove to his left to make a diving stop and flipped the ball to Johnson who made a fantastic turn to complete the twin killing. It was exciting, promising and fearless.
The two also made a pair of dumb, inconsistent and frustrating plays that spoiled Atlanta's chance of winning. With the bases loaded and one out, Yunel Escobar made a stupid mistake of not immediately tagging on Jeff Francoeur's line drive to the outfield (the rule is always tag up at third because you will always score if it drops). Escobar compounded the mistake by attempting to retreat and still tag up on the play. He was thrown out at home by 15 feet, killing the rally.
Kelly Johnson made the final, critical mistake in the 9th by one-handing a simple big league fly ball that would have won the game for Atlanta. The ball hit the palm of his glove, fell to the turf and allowed Eric Bruntlett to score the tying run.
Bruntlett was in scoring position because of the mistakes of Blaine Boyer (26) who walked two batters in the 9th and allowed Bruntlett to move into scoring position with a stolen base without the slightest effort to hold him close. It is easy to forget, but while Chipper, Glavine, Hudson and Smoltz offer the Braves veteran leadership, the Braves are a very young ball club. Look at the names and ages of the guys the Braves are counting upon this year:
Yunel Escobar (25)
Kelly Johnson (26)
Brian McCann (24)
Jeff Francoeur (24)
Gregor Blanco (24)
Omar Infante (26)
Jo-Jo Reyes (24)
Jair Jurrjens (22)
Blaine Boyer (26)
To put it all into perspective, the Braves tonight will likely have a battery of Reyes (24) and McCann (24), Escobar (25), Johnson (26) and Blanco (24) up the middle, and Blanco, Infante (26) and Francoeur (24) in the outfield.
Fifteen players on the Braves 25-man roster were born in the 1980s. Tonight's opponent, the Phillies (who just happen to be in 1st place in the N.L. East), have just six.
Is it any wonder the Braves struggle on the road and sometimes give games away at home? Is it any wonder the Braves struggle in one-run games?
The fact is that the Braves are basically rebuilding with a handful of solid veterans keeping them in the playoff hunt.
Posts
3 comments:
How old are the Marlins or Arizona or Tampa Bay? There's still time to turn it around, although not having Smoltzie around is going to make it a lot tougher.
Nevermind, I looked it up. The Marlins also have 15 guys born in the 80s. Tampa has 14. The D-Backs, however, have 17 guys plus two more born in '79.
This is interesting, especially the D-Back team. The Marlins are not contenders even if they are playing well right now. Tampa is a great story as well, but not a serious contender. The Braves are supposed to be contenders in the National League - they were picked by Jayson Stark for goodness sake.
The D-Backs are a fascinating team. They have veteran pitching in their starting rotation (Webb is 29, Haren is 27, Johnson is 62 (actually 44) and Doug Davis is 33), but young guns in the line-up. I can't decide if they are legit or not. Last year was so weird - getting outscored, but making the playoffs? They play in a weak division, so they'll probably go to the playoffs again. They did beat the Cubs in three games, so I guess that deserves legit status.
Would I trade McCann, Francoeur, Escobar and Johnson for Upton, Drew, Jackson and Reynolds? No way. Would I trade Hudson, Glavine, Jurrjens, Reyes and Campillo for Webb, Haren, Johnson, Owings and Davis?
In a heartbeat.
Post a Comment