My preseason take on the Braves was that they probably wouldn't be as good as the Phillies, but that the gap between the two clubs wasn't as large as people figured, and that while the Phillies would probably out-pitch the Braves, the Braves -- thanks in part to Chase Utley's knee injury -- might actually out-hit the Phillies.
Are The Braves Going To Hit?
Well, it's been only 10 games but the last-place Braves haven't out-hit many teams at all. Let alone the first-place place Phillies. The one bright spot has been Jason Heyward, who's proving again that when he's healthy he's the best young hitter in all the land. And the Braves have four other hitters -- Brian McCann, Martin Prado, Chipper Jones and Alex Gonzalez -- who have been decent, at least. Chipper's performance, while far from vintage Chipper, is encouraging considering that he missed the last few months of last season. And is, you know 53 years old.
Atlanta's offense has been torpedoed by three completely different players: Dan Uggla, Freddie Freeman and Nate McLouth.
Uggla, who’s earning $9 million this season and has always hit before, presumably will hit again.
Freeman’s a 21-year-old rookie who has not always hit before. He did paste the ball in Triple-A last season, but was just decent the season before that in Classes A and AA. His professional track record is excellent, but not impeccable.
McLouth, meanwhile, is the Braves’ center fielder this season mostly because they couldn’t be bothered to find someone better. Or maybe because they figured McLouth couldn’t possibly perform this season as poorly as he did last season. Considering that he’d been a pretty solid hitter in the previous three seasons.
Uggla will hit. Freeman will hit, but if he doesn't start hitting fairly soon he might wind up back in Triple-A, proving to the organization once again that he can hit. And McLouth ... Well, the Braves finally gave up on McLouth last October, when he batted only twice in the Braves' Division Series loss to the Giants.
It says here the Braves will hit. But they might hit better with a different center fielder.
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