FOX Sports South.com checks in with play-by-play announcer Chip Caray to get the latest on the Braves.
FOX SPORTS SOUTH: Kris Medlen after a 1-6 start has won four of his last five starts. Do you think we’re seeing a Medlen who’s a little more like the player who had that amazing run last season?
CHIP CARAY: I don’t know if we’ll ever see a run out of anyone like that, but I think Kris has stuck with his game plan. He is what he is and what he is a very good pitcher.
The run support situation obviously was a sore spot for him for a while. He wasn’t getting any runs and that’s where pitcher’s wins are sometimes deceiving. You can pitch great and have a losing record if your team isn’t scoring a lot of runs for you.
I give him credit. He knows what he is and I think he’s had much better command of his fastball and he’s getting ahead of hitters and he’s getting balls on the ground. Even when he makes a mistake like throwing to the wrong base or missing on a slider and giving up a tying home run, he doesn’t wilt under pressure. He bends but he doesn’t break. I think that was really the hallmark of the way he has pitched as a starting pitcher for this ball club.
FSS: He’s certainly a guy who isn’t afraid to make fun of himself. I think that’s what has endeared him to Braves fans.
CC: He’s a happy-go-lucky guy and baseball is what he does, but it’s a very, very minor part of who he is.
One of the greatest areas I have the most respect for Kris is being a husband and a father first, watching him show us pictures of his new son, the stories he tells about his experiences as a new dad, the time he spends with his wife and just enjoying the major-league lifestyle.
More importantly, he’s able to compartmentalize it when he goes between the white lines to pitch. When he’s between the white lines is a very serious, very fierce competitor who wants to win and expects and demands standards of himself and that’s why he’s so good.
The bar was raised so dramatically and impossibly high for him last year that by comparison and it’s going to be very difficult for him to be as good as he was last year. I’m not saying he can’t. I think that’s unrealistic.
FSS: The bullpen has continued to be the best in baseball despite the losses. Have you been surprised that they’ve been able to move on without Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters and be so strong?
CC: I’d say I’m pleasantly surprised.
When you lose two caliber players of the left-hand relievers in Venters and O’Flaherty that the Braves have lost, you automatically assume there’s going to be a major drop off.
There are a couple of blips in the radar here and there but Luis Avilan has stepped up and done a terrific job and Jordan Walden, what a find that turned out to be for the Braves.
They had a surplus of starting pitching and traded Tommy Hanson for Walden and he threw 96, 97, 98 mph Wednesday night against the Royals and just blows people away, left-handed and right-handed. That’s a pretty nice complement to Craig Kimbrel before he gets to the ninth inning.
The Braves are doing a pretty nice job of piecing together the bullpen. Manager Fredi Gonzalez and pitching coach Roger McDowell have done an excellent job getting their pitchers in situations where they can thrive.
He’s pitched Alex Wood in some low-leverage situations to get his feet, although Wednesday night’s game didn’t work out as well as you would have hoped, I think Alex has done an excellent job too. As he continues to grow and mature and be effective he’ll probably move up in the bullpen pecking order.
It’s a good bullpen and it’s a product of the farm system, you have good arms and you make astute trades and you have a chance to overcome injuries and the Braves have been able to do that.
