Atlanta Braves weeks five and six: What have we learned?
Atlanta Braves right fielder Jason Heyward (22) hugs first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) next to second baseman Dan Uggla (26) after hitting a home run against the Chicago Cubs during the seventh inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Cubs 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Well, that was not a fun losing streak. But, what better way to bust a slump than play the Chicago Cubs?!
The real world got in the way of things last week, but let’s see how this goes, as we will see what we’ve learned over two weeks as opposed to just one.
Braves fans far and wide are tired of Dan Uggla. This is nothing new since the former all star came up north from Miami, as his struggles have been well documented by…everyone…but I can’t recall a time where the tension was this high. Uggla is hitting .184/.248/.272, and since the end of last week, Uggla has found himself riding the pine, giving way to Ramero Peña and Tyler Pastornicky. Braves fans have all been clamoring for the call up of Tommy La Stella from Gwinnett, but as Brad pointed out earlier, that might not be what’s best for the Braves right now.
What is the answer at second base? Unfortunately, we have come to our first huge question mark of 2014 – what the crap is happening at second base? Our pals over at Tomahawk Take took a look at the so called “second base experiment,” and what they found wasn’t pretty – Uggla is hitting .184, Peña is hitting .205 and Pastornicky is hitting .125. Those numbers are not good. We’ve seen how cold this offense can get, and while second base isn’t all of the problem, it’s certainly the anchor holding things down. Yes, it was good to see the bats come alive in the finale against Chicago, but this is a tough month (arguably the toughest of the year) and things haven’t gone well.
Speaking of a tough month, the Braves began the toughest month of the schedule in the worst way possible. Being swept by the Miami Marlins (ouch) and the San Francisco Giants (they’re solid, but had no business winning all three of those games) and barley snagging a win away from the St. Louis Cardinals (and boy, can I not stand the Cardinals), this was not the way to prove that you belong with the top dogs of 2014. Now, the Braves go out to San Fran for three, to St. Louis for three, then host the Brew-crew. Hopefully the Cubs series was enough to get things going. However, it should be noted that, even with the awful play, the Braves started the year so hot, they currently have a 2 game lead over Miami. Now that is insane.
Let’s get things going on the right foot out west tonight, and show that that series in Atlanta was a fluke.