Series Review: @ Philadelphia 4/5-4/8

Philadelphia- Over the course of the season Jack's Broken Bat will review each individual series and in some cases individual games. Our initial season review covers the season opening series against the division rival Phillies.

In taking two-of-three from the defending World Champions the Braves served notice that they are not going down quietly this year. The offense showed up in every game, posting 19 runs in the three game set. The starting pitching that was the achilles heel of the team last year provided three quality starts. Derek Lowe set the tone early going eight strong innings of two hit shutout baseball. Jair Jurrjens, trying to build off a very impressive rookie season, followed Lowe's outing by throwing 5.2 innings of shutout baseball while allowing 4 hits and 7 total baserunners. New acquisition Javier Vazquez made his Braves debut in game three, yielding three runs in six innings while striking out five and in combination with a heavy hitting Braves offense giving Atlanta a solid shot to sweep.

The backend tandem of Soriano and Gonzalez looked good if not sharp during the series, giving solace that the late inning collapses of the Danny Kolbs, Jorge Sosas, and Chris Reitsmas are long gone. The middle relievers left much to be desired, however. Eric O'Flaherty had a solid outing in game two, netting four outs and holding the fort down. He was unable to follow up this solid performance in the rubber match as he was responsible for starting the inning from hell. O'Flaherty, Blaine Boyer, Jorge Campillo, and Peter Moylan struggled mightily in the seventh inning, walking a combined 6 batters while giving up 8 runs. This being Moylan's first outing since recovering from Tommy John surgery, his struggling out of the gate can be expected a bit. Hopes are that these bad outtings by the rest of the pen can be chalked up to a bad day or the cold weather affecting their control.

As mentioned, the offense was solid. Led by All-Star backstop Brian McCann, who belted two homers in the series, and rookie-sensation Jordan Schafer who provided two bombs of his own, the offense put up at least four runs in each game and launched 8 homers. For a team that was supposed to lack power coming out the spring, they certainly put up their fair share of dingers in Philadelphia. Schafer provided immediate dividends for the coaching staff's faith in him with a 3-10, two homer, series, providing hope that center field will not be a black hole for offense and specifically slugging this year.



New CF Jordan Schafer launches his first career homer off of Brett Myers


All told, the Braves were able take 2 of 3 and rightfully should have swept if the middle of the pen could have found the strike zone at all. Next up: the Nationals come to town for the home opener with Derek Lowe on the hill again.

Anderson to Tigers: Immediate Reaction

ATLANTA-Over the years John Schuerholz established certain GM's with which he had special relations with. And by special relations I mean in the sense that he continually went back to these individuals when he felt he needed to rape and pillage a team of it's assets for $.25 on the dollar. Schuerholz guy was Jim Bowden, the now disgraced former GM of the Nationals. Deion Sanders for Roberto Kelly, Mike Kelly for Chad Fox, and Neagle, Rob Bell, and Michael Tucker for Mike Remlinger--a key bullpen arm for years--and Bret Boone come to mind. Low and behold Frank Wren has found his beotch--the esteemed General Manager of the Detroit Tigers Dave Dombrowski.

In a little over a year Frank Wren has lied, stolen, and swindled his way into Double D's heart from his perch in the Wren's Nest, coming away clean with last year's unquestionable staff ace in kid sensation Jair Jurrjens and now flipping a spare part in Josh Anderson for a potentially dominating bullpen arm in RHP Rudy Darrow.

Josh Anderson came into the spring competing for the starting center field job with top prospect Jordan Schafer and Gregor Blanco. In limited major league duty Anderson had proved quite capable, compiling a .315 average and showing outstanding speed and range. Had he performed even adequately this spring instead of throwing up a decidedly unimpressive .283 OBP he was expected to win the job outright while Schafer would go to AAA Gwinnett for further development (and the all-important stalling of his arbitration clock) where he would also be joined by Blanco. As it stood, Anderson was out of options, looked to be nothing more than a spare part, and was likely to be designated for assignment or outright released at the end of the spring. His ability to hit for average was his lone asset, as his speed was often negated by his inability to take a walk (13 walks in 203 PA), a real deficiency considering he was likely to be the team's leadoff hitter. At best, he was Juan Pierre without the fat contract and with less speed, albeit he carried a little more pop in his bat. The Braves should not have gotten anything of value for him unless he was being over-valued based on his inflated average (Absolutely unsustainable. His career BABIP is .379. Color me skeptical.). Luckily, Wren had Dombrowski on speed dial.





One of these men will be breaking camp with Atlanta. Josh Anderson is not that man.


For a guy who would be very lucky to have made the roster out of spring training Wren managed to nab an incredibly high upside arm. Rudy Darrow is a 5'10", 180 lb RHP out of Nicholls St. Coming from an odd sidearm slot at 94-95, he reminds me a hell of a lot of one Joey Devine. At 25, it's time for him to step up a level and prove himself after two rock-solid full minor league seasons. Though stymied by surgery early on, Darrow has put up a career 2.52 ERA in the minors to date, with 101 K's in 103 innings, 37 walks, and one (1!) homerun. Darrow figures to start the season in AA Mississippi where he, as well as Stephen Marek, could be one of the first bullpen arms called up in the event of injury.

Video of Darrow's delivery:
Rudy Darrow/Justin Smoak - Arizona Fall League - 2008-10-31

In my book, this is one of the more impressive trades Wren has pulled as he took a spare piece who was unlikely to make the roster and garnered a potentially great bullpen arm.

Outlook 2009

ATLANTA--After a long layoff, the Powers That Be are finally back and gearing up for another season. While we're not at liberty to discuss the nature of our two-month disappearance, we can tell you that we were not in LA and were not caught defecating on the car of one Paul Kinzer.

The march towards 2009 officially began last week with Camp LeoRoger, a yearly tradition that this year features many of the new faces brought in this offseason. Last years make-shift rotation that featured 10 different starters is revamped with the addition of workhorse pitchers Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez. Both can consistently deliver quality starts and perhaps more importantly are almost locks to make 32 starts and toss up 200+ innings a year. Also joining the rotation is Japanese free-agent signee Kenshin Kawakami, who features an arsenal consisting of a low-90's fastball and a hammer curve. Kawakami once won the NPL's equivalent of the Cy Young, but given the often tough transition from NPL to MLB (Igawa, Kei), he'll likely be a solid if not spectacular third starter, which is exactly what the Braves need him to be. Jair Jurrjens will look to build off the success of his rookie year and provide solid pitching from the number 4 spot. The fifth starter battle will come down to a host of candidates including Charlie Morton, Jo-Jo Reyes, James Parr, Jorge Campillo, and uber-prospect Tommy Hanson. Of course, all of that could be shot to hell if the Braves sign Tom Glavine's corpse and run him out there every fifth day.

The bullpen will be largely unchanged, with Mike Gonzalez entrenched at closer, Rafael Soriano setting up (provided he can stay healthy), and Blaine Boyer as a primary middle relief man. Peter Moylan, a rock in the bullpen in 2007, should be a great help in the late innings if he returns strong from shoulder surgery. The rest of the bullpen will be comprised of parts and pieces from last year and the minors. Likely candidates include Jeff Bennett and Buddy Carlysle, who have both been terrific as mop-up men and spot-starters the last two years, worthy leftovers of the Reyes/Morton/Parr rotation battle, The Arsonist--Manny Acosta, and a slew of capable young talent in Steven Marek, Kris Medlen, Phil Stockman, and Anthony Lerew. The LOOGY battle should be interesting in that all available candidates currently on the roster have either proved nothing or proved that they are terrible. One of Eric O'Flaherty, Jeff Ridgeway, and the unilaterally despised Boone Logan will be the guy called on to attempt to minimize the damage caused by Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Carlos Delgado, Adam Dunn, and to a lesser degree Jeremy Hermida. All in all, the bullpen should be substantially better this year given the return of Moylan and the (hopeful) higher contributed innings by starters. No starter broke 200 innings last year, with Jurrjens 188 setting the bar. With the addition of two workhorses, Blaine Boyer and The Arsonist will no longer have to live in fear that their arms will detach themselves out of spite by the All-Star break.

The infield is unchanged from 2008 inspite of numerous trade rumors swirling around the middle of the infield. Escobar is still a Brave despite being dangled in Peavy trade talks for a month, and with Rafael Furcal spurning the Braves for the Dodgers while giving Frank Wren a firm middle finger salute, Kelly Johnson is at 2nd Base rather than left-field. Other than Kotchman at 1st, the infield can once again be expected to provide a bulk of the offense, with everyone but Kotch providing OPS+ over 100. Having Omar Infante as a backup to Chipper in the likely event he's out for 20 to 30 games is a luxery if he is able to perform to his numbers last year.

The outfield is a mess with no clear cut starters in left and center field. Not that having a clear cut starter in RF is a good thing given Jeff Francoeur's stellar 2008. Center field figures to be a battle between Gregor Blanco, Josh Anderson, and top-prospect Jordan Schafer. Schafer lit up the Grapefruit league last spring only to be sent back down and serve a HGH suspension. If he lives up to his potential, he should undoubtably be the starter as his ceiling is miles above anything Anderson and Blanco can provide. Blanco's real strength is in his OBP and ability to work a count, but he's purely a singles hitter, isn't an efficient basestealer, and is probably the least effective defender of the three. Anderson is a very effective basestealer and has hit well in his short time in the majors. He's likely to be the starter out of spring training until Schafer proves he is ready. Atlanta is actively pursuing Junior Griffey to (hopefully) platoon with Matt Diaz in LF. Diaz has proven he can rake in the majors if he's healthy, and Griffey still mashed righties last year inspite of his knee injuries. A platoon of Diaz and Griffey is probably the best way to go given the FO's inability to see the value in Bobby Abreau, Adam Dunn, or anyone else that carries any kind of offensive ability. Jeff Francoeur needs to revert to his 2006/2007 "not great, just mediocre, but you think I'm doing a hell of a job" form in order for the Braves to contend in 2009, which--to me--is scary as shit.

Given the massive overhaul of the rotation, the Braves stand a chance in 2009. The outfield will have to excede any and all expectations, but with the same pitching and defense concept that won in the early 90's, Atlanta should be fighting to the end. PECOTA has the Braves sitting in the 85-90 win plateau with this offseason's moves, which is not out of reach. As long as they can pull through in 1 run games for the first time since 2006, the playoffs are not out of reach.