Ho hum another solid return for Chipper Jones.
The future Hall of Famer rolled out of bed (read: knee surgery) and went 2-4 with 2 RBI’s and a home run. He was the clear catalyst for the offensively challenged Braves who registered their first win of 2012.
Now the bad news: Chipper Jones won’t always be there to bail you out. In fact, barring a playoff appearance, the Braves have 157 regular season games with the legendary Braves third basemen before they’re left to their own devices.
I’m not one to rain on a parade. I still believe the Braves are one of the five best teams in all of baseball and will stand by that. It is getting pretty hard to believe even my own words after watching how badly they started the season. It’s time for this young talent to step up and take hold of this offense. Jason Heyward, although showing flashes of life, needs to do better than a .200 BA out of the gate. Brian McCann will have the numbers, but honestly, when was the last time a catcher led a team to the promised land? Go ahead, I’ve got time.
My biggest issue (among many) with this talented Braves team just happens to be the guy pulling the strings in the dugout. I don’t think Frank Wren was completely crazy for not pulling some big deal in the off-season. Would Adam Jones have been nice? Sure, if you want a guy fairly similar to Martin Prado but gets on base less. Go out and get Seth Smith or Josh Willingham? Okay, but is he really worth $7 million dollars per year for three years? Smith is under control for a few years but are you gonna risk the Coors Field splits?
So Fredi Gonzalez has the team he’s going to win with. They are very much capable of winning 92+ games. That is proven because they won 89 a year ago and with the exception of some young guys and Dan Uggla a majority of the team that won 90 games is still there.
I’ve been watching Braves baseball since I was six. Am I a fan of the way the Braves do business? Yes. But there needs to be some adjustments to the Braves way of doing things on the field. 14 Division Titles, five NL pennants and a World Series are nice. but when I see the same mistakes on the field that were being made in 1991 in 2012, there’s an issue.
