Welcome back everybody, and a pleasant Merry Christmas to you all! Today's report card will be issued to the Atlanta Braves. Let's take a look at how they did in 2009.
Atlanta Braves:
Record: 86-76 (Third place in the National League East, seven games behind Philadelphia).
Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Martin Prado (.307)
Home Runs: Brian McCann (21)
RBIs: Brian McCann (94)
On-base Percentage: Chipper Jones (.388)
Pitching Leaders:
Wins: Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez (15)
ERA: Jair Jurrjens (2.60). Bullpen- Mike Gonzalez (2.42)
Strikeouts: Javier Vazquez (238)
Innings Pitched: Javier Vazquez (219.1)
WHIP: Javier Vazquez (1.03)
Saves: Rafael Soriano (27)
Highlight of the Season: After being left for dead after a sweep at the hands of the Reds on September 4-6, the Braves (who were eight games back after being swept) went 16-9 to nearly make their first playoff appearance since 2005.
Lowlight of the Season: After losing to Washington at home 2-1 on October 1, the Braves were eliminated from the postseason for the fourth year in a row.
The Lowdown:
The Braves, from 1991-2005, were a model of consistency that every team tried their hardest to emulate. During that time frame, as many of you already know, they won an incredible 14 consecutive division titles, a remarkable feat that has not been accomplished by any other team in professional sports. Since 2005, however, the Braves have struggled to regain that consistency, as they have missed the postseason every year since then. During this time, the team has lacked a sense of direction, as it has not been clear as to whether or not they want to go in a youthful direction, or continue to stockpile themselves with veterans to get back to the mountain top. The result of this has been a bizarre mixture of young talent with moderately expensive free agents. The promotion of John Schuerholz from General Manager to club president in 2007 has no doubt hurt this team, mostly because current GM Frank Wren has not done nearly as great of a job maintaining Atlanta's success since then.
Offense:
The Braves featured several people who hit well for average this season, including the three biggest contributors, Matt Diaz, Martin Prado and Yunel Escobar. Diaz and Prado each hit over .300 (.313 and .307, respectively), while Escobar just missed the .300 barrier, coming in at a .299 average. The team did not hit for that much power in '09, as they collectively hit only 149 homers, which was good enough for 22nd in MLB. They were led by hard-hitting catcher Brian McCann in the power department, as he went deep 21 times and drove in 94. However, the most surprising thing to come out of Atlanta's lineup was the power outage from Chipper Jones.
Although his on-base percentage was still high (coming in at a .388 clip), he hit only 18 home runs and drove in 71 in just 143 games. His batting average was also an uncharacteristically-low .264, which was his lowest since 2004. The overall lack of power on this team still enabled him to finish second on the club in homers to McCann, but his power totals have been on a gradual decline since 2008. Since he will be 38 next year, this is perhaps just a sign of him getting older.
Collectively, the team finished 17th in runs scored (735) and tied for 11th in on-base percentage (.339) and in batting average (.263). With their lack of power, this offense is nothing more than merely average.
Final Grade: C+
Pitching:
Atlanta received strong pitching performances in 2009 from the arms of Jair Jurrjens and Javier Vazquez, who recorded 14 and 15 wins, respectively, to go along with ERAs under three (Jurrjens- 2.60, Vazquez- 2.87). Vazquez's performance was aslo buoyed by his high strikeout total; his 238 Ks were the second-highest in the National League, trailing only San Francisco's Tim Lincecum. Derek Lowe also put together a fair season in the Braves' rotation, as he also won 15 games, but his high ERA of 4.67 left him as only the third-best starter on the team, in my opinion. The Braves also received a fantastic rookie pitching performance from Tommy Hanson, who will be mentioned later in the "Wild Card" section of the post.
The Braves' bullpen was fantastic this past season, as three pitchers recorded ERAs under three in over 75 appearances (Peter Moylan- 2.84 ERA in 87 games, Mike Gonzalez- 2.42 ERA in 80 games, Rafael Soriano- 2.97 ERA in 77 games). Eric O'Flaherty also put together a great season in the bullpen, as he recorded a 3.04 ERA in 78 appearances himself. Moylan, Gonzalez and O'Flaherty all spent time in the set-up role as well, with each of them recording 15 holds or greater. Gonzalez even received some opportunities to close out games, as he recorded 10 saves during the season. He ended up finishing second on the staff in that category to Soriano's 27.
Overall, the Braves' pitching staff put up an impressive team ERA of 3.57, which was the third-best in all of baseball, trailing only the Giants and Dodgers. As a result of this, they surrendered the fourth-least amount of runs in MLB, giving up only 641 of them. They weren't letting many base runners on either, as they only surrendered 530 walks (tied for 10th-lowest in MLB), and held their opponents to a .254 batting average (sixth-lowest in MLB). Even though nobody is mistaking Vazquez, Jurrjens and Lowe for Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine, this staff's final numbers would have certainly made those three legends proud.
Final Grade: A+
Wild Card: Tommy Hanson
The 6-6, 220 pound righty from Tulsa, Oklahoma made his major league debut in the starting rotation in 2009, and he did not disappoint, as he put together a fine rookie season. In 21 starts, he went 11-4, with a 2.89 ERA in 127.2 innings. His WHIP was also a very impressive 1.18 during that time span as well. While he did receive some Rookie of the Year consideration, he ultimately did not win it, as the Marlins' Chris Coghlan took home the trophy. Despite not winning the award, nothing can tarnish the fantastic season put together by Hanson, and the Braves certainly have to be excited about him going into 2010.
Final Grade: A
Overall:
This was a pretty good team this past season, but they were nowhere near being on Philadelphia's level. Also complicating things were the Florida Marlins, who practically matched the Braves, piece-by-piece, during the '09 season. They are good enough to match the talent level of other middle-of-the-pack National League teams, but are they good enough to take it to the next level in 2010? We shall see.
Final Grade: B
Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Minnesota Twins!
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