5 Signs the Atlanta Braves Could Be in Trouble in the NL East

The Atlanta Braves are off to a rough start to the 2012 season after being swept by the New York Mets, a team many projected to finish last in the NL East.

With the way the Braves closed the 2011 season and the porous Spring Training effort, starting 0-3 in the regular season only makes optimism harder to come by.

After only three games, the sky is already falling, due to a variety of reasons, outlined in the following slideshow. 

Here are some signs the Atlanta Braves could be in trouble in the NL East race in 2012.

Another New Hitting Coach, Still Cant Hit a Lick

The Braves are working on their third hitting coach in the last three seasons. Terry Pendleton, an MVP winner in the 1991 season, was relieved of his duties in 2010. 

His replacement, Larry Parrish, did not last a full calendar year. 

Both men fired because the Braves expect more out of their sluggers. Dan Uggla slumped during a significant portion of the season. Jason Heyward isn't as far into his development as the club would like. Brian McCann has surprisingly underachieved at the plate the past two seasons. 

After three games in 2012, the players still aren't hitting. No starter is hitting above .250 and only one everyday player, Freddie Freeman, has an average above the Mendoza line. 

Obviously, the Braves will improve from their .151 team average, but the slow start out of the gate has to raise some eyebrows and legitimate concerns regarding the lineup consisting of mostly underachieving players. 

The Horrific Spring Training

In most cases, you can throw out Spring Training records when projecting a team's future for the upcoming year. For instance, the 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks finished last in the Cactus League, yet still won their division that year. 

However, the Braves' situation is different because of the collapse that occurred in 2011. They choked in September, and in the first month of games this year, they've looked like that same team we all saw fade into an unrecoverable tailspin. 

The Braves went 10-18 in this year's Spring Training, a .357 winning percentage. The pitchers were rocked and the hitters continued to struggle. 

Jair Jurrjens Falling Back to Earth

We all knew Jair Jurrjens could not keep up his spectacular start to the 2011 season. Prior to the all-star break, Jurrjens was 12-3 with a 1.87 ERA, and pitching better than any other pitcher at the time. 

This pace could not be kept up, as saber-metrics had to eventually catch up to the pitcher who doesn't strike a lot of hitters out. 

After the all-star break last year, Jurrjens was 1-3 with a 5.88 ERA. Advanced statistics would say that might be a more accurate reflection of Jurrjens because during that time he had a .305 batting average on balls in play (average is .300), while before he was a little fortunate with a .265 BABIP.

In his first start this year, Jurrjens took the loss, giving up seven hits and three runs in 4 1/3 innings. 

Regression was bound to strike Jurrjens, but no one figured he would be hit this hard. 

Tim Hudson Still Resides on the DL

The team's best pitcher, Tim Hudson, is still on the disabled list. Now, the Braves are forced to trot out a young, inexperienced pitcher every fifth day. 

Since coming off Tommy John surgery in 2010, Hudson has looked better than ever in his career. In 2010 and 2011, Hudson was 33-19 with a 3.02 ERA. 

That's not production that can be replaced easily. If any team could, it would be the Braves, but the inexperience of pitcher Randall Delgado will hurt the team in the early months of the year. 

The Braves will likely monitor Delgado's pitch count closely because of his youth. In addition to the low-pitch count, many younger players are inefficient with their pitches, causing them to be pulled very early in games. 

In seven starts last year, Delgado pitched five innings or less in six of them. In Delgado's shining moment, he took a no-hitter into the 7th inning against San Francisco, but was immediately pulled after allowing the hit, only having 74 pitches.  

Chipper Jones Can't Stay Healthy on a Consistent Basis

The face of the Atlanta Braves franchise finds himself on the disabled list—again. It's courageous watching third baseman Chipper Jones come back from two ACL surgeries and battle many more minor injuries, but he has trouble staying in the lineup on a consistent basis. 

Jones knows his time is almost over. Last month he announced he would retire following the 2012 season, and the last significant piece to the Atlanta Braves 14 consecutive division crowns will no longer be on the team. 

When Jones is healthy, he can still contribute to the lineup as an above-average major league player, but his days of a .300 batting average with 30 homers are over.