What's colder than cold? Not the Braves. . .
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What's colder than cold? Not the Braves. . .
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
It has been five years since the Braves were in first place in the National League East this late into the season. That was the year they won their 14th and final consecutive division title, the end of an era of phenomenal pitching talent (Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine) and home-grown position players (Rafael Fucal, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones).
But beware - the feeling here in Atlanta is that those days might soon start again.
"There was a real confidence in the Atlanta clubhouse before turning to a series against the Philadelphia Phillies," Braves beat writer David O'Brien writes in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "There was a swagger based not on where the Braves once were, but where they are."
Atlanta is coming off a three-game sweep of the Pirates, a team that more than a week ago kicked off this recent run of putrid offense by the Phillies by holding them to one run in the final game of a two-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
The Braves have won 10 of their last 12 and enter today's Memorial Day match-up, which pits righthander Tommy Hanson against righthander Joe Blanton, a half game behind the Phillies in the National League East.
Yunel Escobar, who has hurt the Phillies in the past, is starting to hit. Rookie out fielder Jason Heyward sealed yesterday's win with a two-run triple in the eighth. Troy Glaus has hit five home runs in May and leads the NL with 25 RBI in the month.
The feeling inside the Phillies clubhouse is that their recent run of offensive impotence is bound to lift. But as bad as the club's offense has been at times over the last few seasons, it has never been this bad.
They haven't reached double-digits in hits in any of their last 12 games, their longest stretch since April of 2000 and one that has been equalled only seven times since 1980. Only the Mets (16 games) and Braves (13) have gone longer stretches without reaching 10 hits this season.
The Phillies have gone eight straight games with fewer than four runs, tied with the Mariners for the longest in the majors this season, and their longest stretch since 1997, when they went 11 games.
Most noticable has been the absence of power.
They have not hit a home run in six games, their longest drought since 1999, when they went homerless for seven games in July and six games in September (the longest in the majors this season is nine games by the Cardinals).
If you are looking for historical precedents, the one set by the Phillies is actually favorable -- that was the last time they were shut-out three times in a row, which occurred during a stretch of 14 straight games in which they managed fewer than 10 hits.
They went to the World Series that year. Of course, they went on to lose, and finished the regular season hitting just .249.
They also played in a weak division that year, their 90 wins good enough to finish the regular season with a six-game lead over the second-place Pirates.
The difference this time around is that the NL East is the most competitive division in the league, with five teams separated by no more than four games.
By no means are these dire straits. Last Memorial Day, the Phillies led the NL East by just a half a game, and they had yet to endure their worst stretch of the season, a June run in which they lost 15 of their 26 games.
The Phillies have earned the benefit of the doubt. The last two years, they have endured similar struggles at the plate. However long this run continues -- and it has continued in the past for longer than 10 days -- they have shown that it will end some day.
At the beginning of the year, there was significant hope that this year would be different, that the addition of Placido Polanco and the emergence of Jayson Werth and the return of a healthy and productive Jimmy Rollins would allow them to put together six months of quality offensive baseball.
That hope could still be fulfilled, provided Rollins returns from the disabled list next week and Polanco shakes the elbow soreness that has plagued him since he was hit with a pitch during the Phillies' most recent series in Atlanta.
In the mean time, the Braves are both hot and confident, a bad combination given the current state of the Phillies' line-up.
I live in the ATL and when the Phils come down here they usually play well at Turner Field, especially Howard. The Braves won't play much better than what they are playing right now, and the Phils won't play worse. So I am not worried about the Braves.— JayDuce- It all starts with Victorino. Yes, he's hitting homers and driving in runs, but he's not working counts and getting on base enough. He sets the table, and it's pretty damn evident that everyone else hits better with men on base. However, the finger can't solely be pointed at him, because it is pretty obvious they all feed off of each other. They need to get back to working the count, like the beginning of the year.— beegal99
- How can you finger Victorino? Is Utley getting on base? How about Howard? Werth? NONE of them are hitting. Even in the perfect game, it was Valdez, Castro and Ruiz that hit. Jimmy Rollins is going to be under a ton of pressure when he gets back because all any of them can say is how much they miss him in the line-up. If he's the sole reason for the slump, they better pray this calf problem doesn't flare up all season or they may find a way to miss the playoffs.— kmon
- The Phillies need a spark; time to call up Mayberry and put him in leftfield and also call up Wise to give them some speed off the bench, while moving Brown to Triple A. If possible, unload Francisco, Dobbs, and Ibanez to get some real bench help. Of course, they desperately need the return of a healthy Polanco and a healthy Rollins and time for Utley to man up and admit he is hurt and needs time off. As for Howard, while losing weight has helped his defense, perhaps he needs to fatten up for power. The teams looks flat and complacent, which can happen after three consecutive Eastern Division titles and two consecutive trips to the World Series. Of course, the Braves managed to win 14 division (Western and then Eastern) titles in 15 years.— chuckw
- What's colder than cold?? My wife.— phillyjeffsr
- Give them a break, lineups featuring Valdez,Schneider,Castro...this is not the team that was built for this year. The injured will be back including the pitching and they will start over and go on a tear just wait and see.— Trot
- Chase is obivously hurt because he does not have any "snap" to his swing and is not turning on pitches. Howard is prone to this kind of ineptness but Chase really is the engine of this team. Werth was/is continuing to try and swing for the fences every at bat. Simply hitting for contact is the only way out of this slump, small worked in the first game of the Marlins series and it needs to be implemented against the Braves or the Phils will find themselves in the Basement of a Division they were supposed to win comfortably. I think the Phils offense has been used to stealing signs for sometime and without the signs the offense looks lifeless. This slump is a team wide slump and the only players hitting are not the regulars which adds to the sign stealing theory. How can such a powerful offense look so inept? This needs to be investigated by someone!
- I'd love to see them move Francisco, Dobbs and Ibanez chuckw, but who would take them? The Phillies will have to pay their salaries (especially Ibanez) anyway. I don't think anyone will give the Phils much for those guys either. Trot, Valdez finally started hitting, Schneider hasn't played every day since Ruiz came back and Castro can hardly be blamed. It's the regulars that aren't hitting. If they can't hit when guys are filling in due to injury or just a day off, the Phils have bigger problems than I thought.— kmon
- Did anyone stop and think that the Braves have played the Pirates SIX TIMES over the last week? That will help any decent team have a significant winning streak. The Phillies are still suffering with injuries and not near full strength. Soon, they will be and the hot summer months will see the Phillies break away from the Braves and everyone else. This series will mean very little in a few months.— matty177
- phillyjeffsr - none of us are surprised at that.
- Continuing to believe that the guys returning from IR are going to be the cure-all is a good way to miss the playoffs. Fix what's wrong NOW.— n62
- Chase is starting to hit the ball hard, which is a good thing. Shane has NEVER been great fro the top 2 spots in the lineup as he has no plate discipline. Its painful to watch him sometimes. I know Jimmy is the same way, but over the years he has made it work. And this team is battling injuries as well. Once everyone gets back healthy the team will be fine. One thing that has been great over the last few years is lack of injuries. It is catching up to us this year. Get used to it, we were fortunate.— ESFjellin
- Some may tend to overthink the offensive woes...stealing signs, Howard's fat contract, etc. Phillies regulars have a lot of mileage on the treads, physically as well as mentally. At some point you need young blood to provide a lift, such as what Heyward gives Atlanta or Davis gives the Mets. When is the last time the Phillies' farm system developed a solid position player? Meanwhile...outfielders, play deep today. Boom Boom Blanton on the mound.— dasher
The Phillies are a very good team. They would be as good as the last two years, but for the fact they are hampered by injuries. Despite that, they are much better than the last 10 days. Slumps happen. Law of averages also happen. Guaranteed, the uninjured players will start to hit. Some team, hopefully Atlanta, will suffer the inevitable recovery of the offense.- That good news is that since the Phils are so cold Bobby Cox won't have his pitchers throwing at them. Remember that in their first matchup this season they threw at PP in his first at bat and hit him in the elbow. He was hitting about .400 at the time. You know what has happened since. They also plunked Werth who was on fire at the time. I'd like to see us rifle a few shots into the Braves dugout and shake up that old creep. Heyward's toward needs a buzzing, too...— gooftroop
