Unlikely Heroes for an Unlikely Season

Having been lambasted for the majority of his first season in charge, especially after the John Smoltz and Tom Glavine debacles, Frank Wren is all of a sudden looking like a baseball genius. Having assembled a roster for only $84.4 million in a division that includes the New York Mets carrying a $134.4 million payroll and the reigning NL champ Phillies signing a cheque for $141.9 million, the Braves GM has seen his Costco club accumulate the joint most wins in the National League so far in 2010. This hasn’t been done on the back of Chipper Jones and Brian McCann’s bats or the pitching of Derek Lowe, the success of the 2010 Atlanta team has been built on unlikely heroes and shock stars.

The most unlikely of all the Braves heroes but the one that has maybe contributed more than any other to the teams winning ways has been Brooks Conrad, who made his debut with the team last year as a 29-year-old rookie. Conrad is a throwback to a time long before the major league stadiums he plies his trade in where even a twinkle in an architect’s eye, a time before steroids and million dollar contracts. Conrad served hard time in the minor leagues, not playing a major league game until 2008 with the Oakland A’s. He still has no interest in those funny pieces of cloth most other players call batting gloves, preferring instead to just load his bottom lip with gum or, maybe more appropriately, tobacco. Whichever his favored chew happens to be, it is working. In Oakland he played 6 games with that Athletics team collecting only 3 hits in 19 at bats. He contributed significantly more for the Braves in ’09, most famously receiving a classic “silent treatment” following his first big league home run. His previous lack of big league experience has been forgotten this year with the utility infielder being the Braves biggest producer in the clutch, especially during May and June as the Braves put together their run to first place in the National League East. Whether it was hitting the walk off grand slam against Cincinnati on May 20^th or dropping down a game winning squeeze bunt on June 12^th in Minnesota, Brooks has continued to find himself right in the middle of Atlanta’s most dramatic moments of 2010.

Conrad has not been alone in bringing life to the Atlanta offense through the first three months of the season, with two of the teams other big producers not making it regularly into Bobby Cox’s starting team. While Brian McCann has struggled with the vision problems that have plagued the last two years of his life someone had to take up the catchers job and nobody could have imagined David Ross would achieve the success he has. Having split the first seven years of his career between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds the Georgia native landed with the Braves as McCann’s back-up for the 2009 season and was an instant upgrade from Corky Miller or Clint Sammons, compiling a very respectable .273 batting average in 54 games. So far in 2010 he has surpassed the standard he set for himself last year and done it in a far more important role with a .281 average and obscene .409 on base percentage. Ross has been the insurance for Mac that the Braves have lacked the previous 3 or 4 years. Unlike the back-up catcher former American League Rookie of the Year Eric Hinske was not assured of a place on a major league roster at the conclusion of 2009. Coming off the back of 3 World Series trips Hinske seems to have become baseballs equivalent to a four leaf clover, one that Wren found impossible to ignore. While his career may not have blossomed in the manner many hoped when he burst onto the scene in 2002 with the Toronto Blue Jays but he has developed a knack of being around, and contributing to, winning teams in more ways than can be measured in statistics. The Wisconsin native brings with him the attitude and temperament that is often found in successful ball clubs, the relaxed confidence of a player that knows success. If you watch any Braves game Hinske is repeatedly first to either a celebration or a commiseration, with all his experience in the bigs he knows most situations and his consoling arm or joyful hug has instilled a similar attitude in the young Braves players that has won the former Arkansas Razorback three consecutive American League rings. Add to that his .309 Batting Average and five home runs for only $1 million and Eric has been the kind of cheap producing winner that has defined the General Managers grand plan.

While the big stories have been those at the dish the 2010 season has turned up some unexpected pitching superstars for an Atlanta team that was built on its pitching. With Jair Jurrjens nursing a hamstring injury for the majority of the season and Kenshin Kawakami and Derek Lowe nursing chronic cases of inconsistency the 5 ace rotation was suddenly down to 2. If you include Tommy Hanson suffering some problems on a worryingly regular basis then Tim Hudson was left as the Braves only reliable starter only nine months removed from his return from Tommy John surgery. Because of the rotation depth Kris Medlen began the season as one of the Braves most dependable relievers, having grown into that role during the 2009 season. Following Jurrjens’ lengthy trip to the disabled list Medlen was asked to do slightly more than relief pitching, but not much. The young Californian was asked to simply keep the Braves in games while taking up maybe five or six innings. In his nine starts since his promotion to the rotation he has done much more than been efficient, he had been outstanding. Including his spell in the bullpen he has put together an outstanding 3.15 ERA while already pitching more innings this year than he did in all of 2009, another unexpected player who has taken the unexpected responsibility and grown into one of the most important pieces in the Braves armoury. Unfortunately for Kris he is facing some uncertainty over his future with the impending return of Jair Jurrjens from the DL JJ has been pencilled in to make his first start back on Wednesday, Medlen’s next scheduled start. The idea of Kawakami retaining a spot in the starting 5 and Medlen not has been widely accepted as ludicrous, but, with the Japanese hurler being one of the few Braves paid big bucks ($7,333,666 to be precise) it is very possible that KK may stay and see out his contract in the rotation. This Braves team has not been built on money but the talent of its young players supplemented by some scrappy veterans, if they are to stay true to their philosophy Medlen MUST continue toeing the rubber as a starter every five days.

One man who simply has to stay in the bullpen is the 25-year-old rookie sensation Jonny Venters. The Kentucky native arrived unheralded after putting together a 1.35 ERA in just 6.2 innings at AAA Gwinnett, he was called up to replace Jo-Jo Reyes after Jo-Jo exhausted chance number 37 with the Major League team. Venters first appearance was somewhat overshadowed by Ubaldo Jimenez’s no-hitter at Turner Field on April 17^th but what Jonny did that night laid the foundation for what has grown into a rookie year comparable to any other rookie reliever, and that includes Nationals darling Drew Storen. Of players with more than 10 innings pitched Venters’ 1.44 ERA is second to only Billy Wagner (1.19) and he is third in stirkeouts for relievers with 36 in 31.1 innings pitched. While lowering his ERA Venters has only increased the trust that Bobby Cox has in him with Jonny now having been used more than any other reliever, quite a heavy climb for a man no one spoke about in Spring Training. While a lot of talk early in the year centred on 21-year-old Craig Kimbrel being the heir apparent to Wagner as the Braves closer-in-waiting it has been Venters who now looks favorite to succeed the potential hall-of-famer when he hangs it up following this season. Whether he becomes the Braves fireman in 2011 and beyond or not Venters is displaying all the pitching ability that would make him an integral part of any Atlanta success for many years to come. Billy Wagner commented that after facing Venters he’d seen "some of the best hitters walking back to the dugout, like someone killed their dog,"

The players that have formed the nebulous of the Braves success so far in 2010 have all marked a huge swing in the organisations philosophy, even Bobby has caught on. This is has become a scrappy team that plays hard and, most importantly, wins. The calling of squeeze plays coupled with the extraordinary amount of walk off wins the Braves have accumulated in the season’s first three months just go to show the heart and never-say-die attitude of a team that even Chipper Jones acknowledged has, in the last few years, carried “guys who wanted to be somewhere else”. Well not anymore. This version of the Atlanta Braves is one built for success. Tim Hudson said it best in a recent USA Today article: "Our fans haven't had a lot to cheer about the last three, four years, we're giving them something to be proud of. I'm not saying we have it all figured out, but we know we're pretty good. We also know we're having a whole lot of fun."

Building for Yesterday and Tomorrow

What began as a team built to win now has quickly become one built to win yesterday and tomorrow, just not today. While dinosaurs like Troy Glaus and Chipper Jones (yes a Chiposauraus) have ensured the middle of the line-up has exactly zero production something strange has been happening elsewhere; the Braves have got younger and better. Over the first 6 weeks of the season there have been four young men making debuts, to make that even better is the fact that 3 of those actually project to be long term members of the team. It is very difficult to have any discussion about the new breed of baby Braves without starting by talking about the Kid, Jason Heyward.

Nothing in my limited lexicon can explain the impact that the 20 year-old from Henry County has had not just on this team but on the city of Atlanta. Watching Opening Day at the usually cavernous Turner Field was an experience usually reserved for cities like New York and Boston, the Ted was filled by a loud crowd filled with hope and expectation. And Heyward delivered. Since his first major league swing demolished a Carlos Zambrano fastball J-Hey has kept delivering for a team that so far hasn't delivered. As well as his raw talent he has shown an incredible ability to adjust to the highest level of competition. In his last ten games he has improved his batting average from .234 to .291; he has also hit 4 homers in that same period. Without any doubt Heyward is the present and future of this Atlanta team desperately in search of an identity.

Heyward will need some help to fashion this new Braves ball era and there is plenty coming through the organisation. As has become the Braves trademark the majority of their young talent sits on the mound and not at the plate. The most talented of this year’s debutants is highly touted reliever Craig Kimbrel. The flame thrower out of Huntsville, Alabama has been described as many things, most impressively “the right handed Billy Wagner”. With a fastball that sits in the mid to upper 90’s he has the kind of stuff that gives hitters fits and has done so in his 1.1 innings so far this season. Beyond his ability Kimbrel has the attitude to be successful for many years at the major league level. Backed by his heater and despite his somewhat diminutive stature he has shown an ability to be aggressive to even the best hitters. Hopefully he can spend the 2010 season shadowing the veteran Virginian, Wagner, and learn how elite closers get to be elite.

Kimbrel was preceded in the Atlanta bullpen by 25-year-old rookie Jonny Venters who joined the Braves ‘pen as the final nail in Jo-Jo Reyes’ major league career, and quickly showed he was a much sharper nail. So far he has completed 11 innings in eight games and compiled a 1.69 ERA and looked every bit a big leaguer. Regardless of whether or not Kimbrel becomes a dominant closer he will be no use if the team can’t get him leads and that will increasingly become Venters job. He kind of came out of nowhere but has now become a central piece of the over burdened relief corps and been as quietly effective as anyone could have imagined.

The least heralded and least used of the debutants so far has been shortstop Brandon Hicks. A gold glove in waiting Hicks has never really adjusted to the wood bats of pro ball having hit just .179 at triple-A Gwinnett this year. Hicks is the least likely to succeed especially given the relative solidity of Yunel Escobar as the Braves long term short, but that doesn’t mean he should be counted out. There is always the possibility that Hicks is just one adjustment away from being a solid hitter but projects much better as a career pinch runner. Although we do keep playing Brooks Conrad so anything is possible.

When you add the likes of Heyward and Kimbrel to the young players who made their debuts last year we suddenly have a core of all-star potential players. Those from last year include Cy Young in waiting Tommy Hanson, who has already confirmed himself as the Braves staff ace, and future starter Kris Medlen. The two Californians have shown the ability to be true quality pitchers, despite Medlen working primarily as a reliever for his first two big league years. However with the over-priced Kenshin Kawakami’s contract finally ending at the end of the year the Braves will have a spot free in the rotation and, in my opinion, the team is better off inserting Medlen as the fifth starter and spending the KK money on a genuine hitter. The world has seen what Phil Hughes has achieved for the New York Yankees this year with the prior knowledge that he would be a starter and, even if he is not as talented, Medlen could be equally as effective with the correct preparation. While Tommy hasn’t been great this year he has still compiled a 2.83 ERA while struggling to find the consistency he displayed last year. Hanson is much more than simple statistics, there are times watching Hanson when he just over matches professional hitters, his curveball has an embarrassment inducing quality that only elite pitchers possess. My praise for Hanson and Medlen is without once mentioning that last year’s standout Jair Jurrjens is himself only 24 and has just as much chance as Hanson to win a Cy. The most successful years in the organisations history was behind three great pitchers, the question is are these three great?

It is also worth remembering two of the Braves best current players are both 26-years-old. Second Baseman Martin Prado and Catcher Brian McCann should be solid .300 hitters for at least the next five years or so. The good news for all Braves fans is that Atlanta seem to have loaded up for years of success in the near future, the bad news is it is not near enough for 2010, sorry Bobby.