Sports Page Atlanta

For the second time this year, and the second time in his career, Tom Glavine is headed to the 15-day disabled list. Glavine was taken out after just three innings Tuesday night vs. the Cubs with a strained elbow. He flew to Atlanta after the game to have an MRI on his elbow.

This marks the second time this year that Glavine has visited the DL. In April, he was out for almost a month with a strained hamstring. No roster move has been made yet to take Glavine’s spot, but SP Charlie Morton could get a look, with Buddy Carlyle and Jeff Bennett also being considered for the starting rotation.

Another game, another meltdown from the hapless Manny Acosta. The defacto closer for the Braves came in in the 8th, down only one, and promptly surrendered four runs. Sure, they were unearned, because of two errors…one of which was committed by, you guessed it, Acosta. On May 30, Acosta’s ERA on the season was at a season-low 2.54. Since then, it’s ballooned to 4.36…in just 3.1 innings. It doesn’t take a MENSA member to realize that that’s not good.

Enough is enough. There is no reason why Acosta should be pitching in the major leagues right now. Acosta has given up 11 runs over his last six appearances, earning losses in three of those games blown saves in two others. That’s no joke, and it’s not a typo. I’m not sure why Acosta was handed the closers role in the first place, and there’s no reason for him to pitch meaningful innings at this point. Get him out of there.

The Braves season took a HUGE hit on Wednesday when it was learned that former Cy Young Award winner John Smoltz will have season-ending surgery on his ailing right shoulder. The news comes just two days after Smoltz blew a save in his first, and only, relief appearance since 2004.

The news also puts the career of Smoltz in question. He has been on record as saying that he will retire rather than going through another surgery, but quickly backtracked on those statements at a press conference this morning at Turner Field. If arthriscopic surgery reveals serious shoulder damage, Smoltz could be forced to retire.

Yes, if you feel that this Braves season feels a little familiar, you are not alone. Not since Bill Murray had one AWFUL day in Groundhog Day, has something been so familiar to you, me, and most Braves fans. In one inning yesterday for the Braves, two pitchers were taken out due to injury, Blaine Boyer and Tim Hudson. However, unlike the M.O. for the Braves this season, both seem to be okay, and won’t miss much, if any, time.

Tim Hudson left with a strained hamstring one pitch into the seventh inning. However, Hudson told reporters today that he felt fine this morning, and that he shouldn’t miss his next start. In fact, according to Jerome Jurenovich of Braves Live, Hudson said that other parts of his body hurt more than his hamstring. That’s welcoming news to a starting staff that has seen John Smoltz move to the bullpen, Tom Glavine go on the DL for the first time EVER, Mike Hampton hurt his…well…he’s just Mike Hampton, and Chuck James get called up, give up HR’s, get sent down, get called up, give up HR’s, get sent down (someone call Bill Murray).

Blaine Boyer left in the seventh inning as well, with a knee injury. He underwent an MRI Monday in Atlanta, and should be fine.

So, that’s welcoming news to a team that desperately needs to keep things afloat at home. No team can play as great as the Braves have played at home all year, and no team can play as poorly as the Braves have played on the road all year. Whichever one of those trends fades first will tell the tale of the 2008 Atlanta Braves.

Going into yesterday’s game, Mark Kotsay had his second consecutive day off due to back spasms, and it appeared that he may have been heading to the disabled list. Three hours later, things changed immensely.

Matt Diaz, on a pop fly down the left field line, slid into the wall and banged his knee against exposed concrete underneath the padded wall. Why do ball parks not place padding from the top to the bottom of the wall? Well, lunacy for one, but that’s another entry for another time.

If the Braves were to disable Kotsay along with Diaz, that would leave Omar Infante as the presumptive starting CF. If not Infante, then who? Bring up Brandon Jones for LF and play Gregor Blanco in center? Certainly a possibility considering Blanco’s early season success. But, the bigger story in this whole situation is Jordan Schaffer. This situation is screaming for the big league debut of Wonderboy. What? A 50-game HGH suspension? Crap.

So, what now? Kotsay needs to play. We all expected him to take days off to rest the back, after all, he did only play 56 games last season. But, if he’s able, he needs to suck it up right now. We all were teased with his early season surge, and the Braves absolutely need him in the lineup, in whatever spot Bobby decides to hit him, immediately.

The Braves ended their 7-game road losing streak, with an 8-1 win over the Pirates on Monday afternoon, after dropping the first game of the double-header, 5-0. Tim Hudson (War Eagle!) played the role of the stopper on the staff, going seven strong innings en route to the win, while Brian McCann and Mark Kotsay each tallied 3 RBI.

So, now that the pesky road losing streak is out of the way, maybe this can be the start of something good for the already road-weary Braves. They are a league-best 14-4 at the Ted this season, but are a league-worst 5-14 away from Hot-lanta. The key to the Braves fortunes this season may lie in which one of these trends (and that’s all they are at this point) disappears first. No team can play at either one of those paces all season, can they?

The Braves simply can’t hit on the road. They are capable of it, they just don’t. And, initially, I couldn’t figure out why. Now, it’s easy. They are pressing. It’s in their heads. Every single one of them is tight at the plate, over-swinging, trying to do too much, etc. When I played, I had to write, “Don’t think, just do” in the bill of my cap to keep me from over-thinking. The Braves should do the same. Baseball is a sport built on instinct and muscle memory. They know how to play. They’ve done it their entire lives. For the Braves to kick this habit, they need to stop thinking about baseball, and just play. I know many will think, “it’s easier said than done,” but it’s not. It’s just a game, play it.

When the Braves sent Edgar Renteria to Detroit in the off-season, no joke, I was a bit concerned. Renteria was nothing but spectacular for the Braves during his tenure in Hot-lanta. The trade brought minor-leaguer Gorkys Hernandez and recent call-up, Jair Jurrjens, who hails from the island of Curacao, to the Braves. As a lifelong baseball fan, I was a bit embarrassed to admit that I knew nothing about either of these two. I soon came to learn that Jurrjens supposedly had the stuff to be in the starting rotation right now. Boy, does he. After another solid outing vs. the Padres on Tuesday night, Jurrjens isn’t just an end-of-the-rotation guy, he’s a bona fide stud, and the Braves are lucky to have him.

In his first six starts for the Braves, Jurrjens is 3-2, with a 3.05 ERA. Even more impressive, Jurrjens, who isn’t known as a strikeout pitcher, has punched-out 28 batters this season, while only walking 13, four of which were intentional. Those stats are quite impressive, but they aren’t nearly as important as the impact Jurrjens has brought to the staff considering the rash of injuries. John Smoltz has been to the DL twice and Tom Glavine has been once (for the first time ever), both of whom joined Mike Hampton, who is President of the Disabled List Home Owners Association. Jurrjens first month wasn’t just a “nice bonus,” it was sorely needed, and has kept the Braves afloat during the first month of the season.

The kid has proven that he belongs. The next step? Proving he can be an ace…and he’s well on his way.

Team Roush Fenway Racing driver, and Unidilla, Ga. native, David Ragan, finished the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega on Sunday in the fourth spot, the best finish of his young NASCAR Sprint Cup career. Ragan, the driver of the #6 AAA Ford, started sixth in the race, and picked up 160 points in the Chase For The Sprint Cup. Ragan sits in 16th place in the Cup standings, just 353 points behind points-leader Jeff Burton.

I know it will come as a shock to nobody, but Mike Hampton’s rehab from eleventy-billion injuries over the last two plus years hit yet another minor snag Wednesday, as the oft-injured lefty pulled himself out of a AAA rehab start for Richmond in the fourth inning in Durham, N.C. Hampton said that he felt his left pectoral muscle, which caused his most recent journey to the disabled list before his first start in 2 1/2 years, twinged a little bit, and that he’d rather be safe than sorry. That bodes the question, is Hampton playing it too safe?

There was a lot of hype surrounding Hampton’s first start of the season. Then, it all came crashing down just a few pitches into his warm up session in the bullpen. Pectoral strain. Another trip to the DL. More frustration for Hampton, the Braves, and us fans. I had more than a few people tell me that, following Hampton’s late scratch early in the season, that if they were coaching, they would more-or-less force Hampton to play. It seems like Hampton’s injuries are a bit ticky-tack. I, for one, am not going to sit behind my keyboard and pretend to know how Hampton feels and what he should do. However, I am fed up with it. And, I have a sinking suspicion that the Braves might be getting to that point too.

If Hampton can’t play, he can’t play. The constant false sense of hope that his never-ending rehabilitation gives the Braves is hurting them in a sense. As much as the Braves say that they aren’t depending on him, they are to some degree. Considering the rash sense of injuries, they need him now. And, he is again letting them down. It’s now time for Hampton to “blank” or get off the pot. He’s either a baseball player, or he’s not. And, from the outsider’s point of view, it appears that he doesn’t want to be a baseball player anymore.

Disclaimer: I would like to reiterate again, that I am the most pessimistic person on the planet.  I’m the kind of guy that goes to Auburn games thinking that we will lose to directional Louisiana schools (oh wait, that only happens to Alabama).

The injury bug has riddled the Braves early into the 2008 season.  I mean, REALLY bitten the Braves.  It all started with John Smoltz starting out the year on the DL, and really grew steam with the injuries to Mike Hampton, Tom Glavine, Rafael Soriano, Yunel Escobar, Chipper Jones, Peter Moylan and, perhaps, Smoltz again.  So, I pose this question…is there reason to be concerned?

The answer is no.  This Braves team was constructed with depth in mind, especially to the starting pitchers, where the injury bug has bitten the organization the hardest.  Of course, the Braves didn’t expect Moylan’s elbow to become an issue, and certainly didn’t think that Escobar would forget the fundamentals of bunting, but they are prepared for this.  Moylan perhaps being gone for the year definitely hurts, but the bullpen was strengthened sufficiently in the off-season to compensate for that.  Don’t forget, Mike Gonzalez comes back in a month or so.  Escobar should be back.  But, if he’s not, Martin Prado has shown that he is legit.  Don’t forget, Omar Infante is down in extended Spring Training and will re-join the team soon.

The rest of the injuries don’t concern me in the least bit. The Braves planned accordingly for these things to happen.  Did they expect them to happen all at once?  Probably not.  However, the fact that the Braves are still hovering around .500 and have had this many injuries is a good sign for this team.  They are legit.  They will be back in the playoffs.  And, for reference on how much that means coming from me, please refer back to the disclaimer above.  Good day.