Braves' Bats, Defense Hinder Jair Jurrjens' Chance for ROY

About a week ago, when John Kruk said that Geovany Soto was easily the Rookie of the Year in the National League, he clearly didn't do his homework. Whether the snub was intentional or not, Jair Jurrjens and the Braves should feel disrespected about not even being part of the conversation.

After Tuesday night's loss against the Mets put Jurrjens' record at 11-9 with a 3.28 ERA, I took a closer look at the 22-year-old's performances this season and wondered why, with that ERA, his record isn't better.

First, I remembered that he's playing on a team that's faded (putting it lightly). Second, he's now the ace of the staff, since Hudson, Smoltz, and Glavine have been lost for the season.

The Mets' Mike Pelfrey pitched well tonight and got the win, but to be honest, he's been very inconsistent. He's been great at times and absolutely awful at others.

Thanks to a lack of run support, shoddy defense behind him, and scorekeepers' rulings, Jurrjens has endured quite a run of tough luck in his first full season in the majors.

Tonight's scorekeeper at Shea Stadium really should lose his job for giving Fernando Tatis a single on an 80-foot groundball that Chipper Jones bounced to first baseman Greg Norton. A single, really? Even the Mets' analyst, Keith Hernandez, wished he got such gifts in his day. Jones' throw was poor, but Teixeira or Kotchman probably makes that play, and Tatis is out by a full stride. Instead of Jurrjens giving up five runs, the Braves would have been out of the inning down only 2-0.

Anyways, let's look at Jurrjens' lines from his nine losses this year, as well as a couple of key no-decisions:

1) April 8 @ Colorado (L). 4 ER, 9 H, 3 K, and 2 BB in 7.0 innings. 98 pitches.
   Braves lose 4-3.

2) April 15 @ Florida (L). 2 ER, 4 H, 5 K, and 3 BB in 6.0 innings. 101 pitches.
  Braves lose 4-0.

3) April 30 @ Washington (ND). 1 ER, 2 H, 3 K, in 7.0 innings. 84 pitches
  Braves lose 3-2 in 12 innings.

4) May 12 @ Pittsburgh (L). 3 ER, 3 H, 5 K, and 3 BB in 5.0 innings. 69 pitches.
 Braves lose 5-0.

5) May 16 vs Oakland (ND). 2 runs (0 ER), 8 H, 3 K, and 3 BB in 5.0 innings. 101 pitches.
 Braves win 3-2.

6) June 21 vs Seattle (ND). 3 runs (0 ER), 3 H, 4 K and 2 BB in 6.0 innings. 99 pitches.
 Braves win 5-4.

7) July 3 vs Philadelphia. (L). 4 ER, 8 H, 6 K, and 1 BB in 7.0 innings. 120 pitches.
 Braves lose 4-1.

8) July 19 vs Washington (L). 5 ER, 8 H, 5 K, and 1 BB in 6.1 innings. 98 pitches.
 Braves lose 8-2.

9) July 30 vs St. Louis (L). 3 ER, 7 H, 4 K, and 3 BB in 7.0 innings. 116 pitches.
 Braves lose 7-2.

10) August 4 @ San Francisco (L). 4 runs (3 ER), 9 H, 1 K, and 3 BB in 6.0 innings. 107 pitches.
 Braves lose 4-2.

11) August 15 vs San Francisco (L). 2 ER, 8 H, 9 K, in 7.0 innings. 104 pitches.
 Braves lose 5-1.

12) August 20 @ NY Mets (L). Actual line 6 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB in 5.0 innings. 88 pitches.
 Scorekeeper mistake should reduce ER and hits by one each.
 Braves lose 6-3.

Only one of Jurrjens' 11 wins came when he gave up more than four ER (June 5 against Florida in a 7-5 win), so it can't be argued that he gotten bailed out a lot by his offense and earned a win he didn't really deserve.

By my count, every game in which Jurrjens has gotten the loss, the Braves have scored three runs or less, two of them being shutouts (Florida and Pittsburgh). The Braves averaged a pathetic 1.5 runs per game (14 runs total) in Jurrjens' nine losses.

There were six games this year where Jurrjens gave Atlanta a quality start (three ER or fewer in at least six innings) that the Braves' rookie got either a loss or a no-decision.

Looking at things subjectively, I'll agree that Soto will probably get the Rookie of the Year in the National League with the All-Star season he's been having. However, he's been hitting with runners on base in front of him most of the season and hasn't been forced to step up the way Jurrjens has.

I think Soto's numbers would look very different if the Cubs' three best hitters (Soriano, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez) were all absent from the order for weeks or months at a time.

You can't help but feel for Jair Jurrjens, though. He's been the Braves' only durable starter, as a 22-year-old rookie, no less. He's been remarkably consistent, yet hasn't been picked up by his offense or defense on many occasions, when he's pitched well enough for a win.

For his sake, I can only hope that the lack of offensive support and porous defense behind him changes his luck for the better in 2009.