Atlanta Braves Morning Chop and Box: ‘Not Going to Deviate From Plan’
Jun 3, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher
Christian Bethancourt(27) asks for a replay against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the seventh inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Atlanta Braves no longer known for pitching
JORDAN SMITH / OUTSIDEPITCHMLB.COM
In 1997, upon his free-agent departure from the Atlanta Braves, Kenny Lofton had this to say about his time with the Braves organization: ‘they don’t care about nothing there except pitching.’ Lofton was right; one season after his comment (in 1998) the Braves pitching staff, consisting of names like John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Kevin Millwood, and Denny Neagle, all won over 15 games for the season while the bullpen combined for a fancy 3.19 earned run average.
By the time 1998 happened, though, the Braves were already well into their reputation as America’s best pitching staff. Around the time future Braves’ general manager John Schuerholz was watching his Kansas City Royals win the 1985 World Series, the lowly Braves were beginning to shift their focus regarding the draft. For years the Braves spent most of their top picks selecting potential sluggers only to watch all of them except Dale Murphy and Bob Horner fan out in the minors. But in the late 1980s newly hired GM Bobby Cox decided it was time for a change, choosing instead to draft top tier high school pitching talent every June, and thus began the Braves reign as baseball’s best pitching staff.
Now, today, some 17 years removed from Lofton’s comment, the Braves pitching staff has yet another reputation, as ‘baseball’s worst bullpen,’ and the starting rotation…well, it isn’t much better. The relievers have combined for a team ERA of 4.71. That ranks dead last in Major League Baseball, 30th out of 30 teams.
That’s bad, real bad. And not only is it bad, but it’s uncharacteristic of this organization. For the last six years the Braves have been the epitome of good relief pitching. They ranked sixth in bullpen ERA in 2009, third in 2010, first in 2011, second in 2012 and first in 2013. Last year they slipped to 11th, but still: that was a really good run of relief.
But now…that run, along with the reputation as being baseball’s best pitching staff, is over.
[ Ed. note: more available at the link above ]