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Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2009

Braves need to find out who they are

There is nothing more frustrating in baseball than a mediocre, .500 team. Teams like that tease you one week by making you think they are going to be good, and then they turn around and show why they are mediocre and not able to turn the corner with a bad week.

The Atlanta Braves are the epitome of a mediocre, .500 baseball team. Look at what they have done so far this season. They are good one week and then bad the next. They can have a good series and then look pitiful in the next series.

Remember when they swept the then-first place Toronto Blue Jays in late May, only to then lose four in a row as they started a series in San Francisco and Arizona? How about when they swept the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks ago, only to turn around and lose two of the next three games in Washington to the lowly Nationals?

It’s really easier to watch a bad baseball team than a mediocre one. With a bad team, you’re going to expect them to be bad night in and night out. But with a mediocre team, such as the Braves, you never know what you’re going to get.

But give this team credit. Before the All-Star break the Braves finished a tough 20-game stretch with an 11-9 record. It was easy to assume the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Phillies could put an end to Atlanta’s season.

The Braves did just enough, however, to keep their head above water as we enter the second half of the season. And with the NL East also being mediocre, it gives the Braves a chance.

They start play Thursday six games out of first place and also six games out of the wild-card lead. The Braves have right at two weeks before the trade deadline to determine whether they will be buyers or sellers, and the next 11 games could answer that question.

Last year, the Braves wondered the same thing at the All-Star break. They were 6.5 games out of first place. But a series in Philadelphia cleared things up. The Braves blew two big leads that weekend. Atlanta was up 9-3 on July 26 and lost 10-9, and the next day, they led the Phillies 5-0, only to lose 12-10. After those two frustrating losses, the Braves knew they couldn’t compete in the NL East and two days later Mark Teixeira was traded to the Anaheim Angels.

Let’s hope the answer is as clear this season as well. If the Braves languish around .500, they may still think they have a shot. They’ll have eight games at home, starting with four against the New York Mets and then four against the Giants. Then Atlanta goes to Milwaukee for a three-game series. That will take the Braves up to four days before the trade deadline, and they should know then if they need to buy or sell.

Getting Jeff Francoeur out of the way last week was necessary and inevitable. I’m still not sure if trading him to the Mets was the best answer, but it shows how desperate the Braves were to give Francoeur a fresh start.

Ryan Church will get his chance to help the Atlanta lineup. He’ll probably join Matt Diaz in a platoon in right field, and while platoons are not preferable, statistics show a Church/Diaz combination should produce more than Francoeur did in the Braves’ lineup.

Maybe that can make a difference, but the Braves still look like they need another bat. And then you worry about the price. Would even adding Oakland’s Matt Holliday make that much of a difference? I’m not certain. It might take even more than that.

The Braves have a history of bouncing back after trailing at the break. They were 9.5 games behind the Dodgers in 1991 but came back to win the division by a game. Then two years later, Atlanta was nine games behind the Giants and had a remarkable run in the second half to win the division by a game.

Like those teams, this Braves’ squad has great pitching, and that’s what still gives you hope. But sooner or later the Braves are going to have to show up some consistency, or else we’re just going to be teased again by a team hovering around the .500 mark.

Talk Braves baseball with Bill today on The Bill Shanks Show: 3-6 p.m. on WFSM Fox Sports 1670 and online at www.foxsports1670.com