The Braves have opened their 2013 spring training season with a couple of nondescript offensive performances, losing to the Tigers 2-1 on Friday, the Yankees 8-3 yesterday, and to the Pirates 9-2 today.
Offense was a concern coming into spring training, what with the retirement of Chipper Jones and the departures of Martin Prado and Michael Bourn. In the first three games, though, manager Fredi Gonzalez hasn't seen a whole bunch of bright spots so far to make some roster decision easier.
On Friday, the Braves were held scoreless until the ninth inning, as they collected only six hits and got caught stealing multiple times on the basepaths to shut down even those opportunities
On Saturday, the Braves went down to a Yankees team benching most of its expected regulars. Today, the Braves fell to a pitcher with an ERA over 7 last year.
The Braves are entering a new era, hoping to build around the Upton brothers as well as holdovers Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman and younger players like Jordan Schaefer. Over the next few weeks, Fredi Gonzalez will have to hope that some more of these younger players are able to come in and fill the holes left on offense from last year's team. Hopefully, they can begin averaging more than two runs per game.
Comments