Atlanta Braves: Worst Players at Each Position Since 2005
Because the Atlanta Braves have struggled mightily to begin the 2011 season, I thought it would be a good time to boost the morale for Braves fans and remind them of just how much worse the team's start could have been, provided these players were still taking the field in Atlanta.
While questions of Nate McLouth's ability to perform continue unanswered, for now, thoughts of a possible repeat of 2010 are left on the minds of many. In addition to McLouth's struggles, Dan Uggla's tough 2011 season may also allow him access to this list with the likes of other Atlanta failures such as Craig Wilson, Mark Redman, Scott Thorman and others.
With that in mind, here are the top worst performers to sport an Atlanta Braves jersey since 2005, a list that will, hopefully, not include McLouth and Uggla. But only time will tell.
First Base: Craig Wilson
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The Atlanta Braves signed free agent Craig Wilson to a one-year contract worth $2 million in the 2007 offseason. Wilson had spent 2006 with both the Pirates and the Yankees, where he ended the season 17 home runs and 49 RBI. However, in 24 games with the Braves that season, Wilson hit a dismal .172 with one home run and two RBI. He was also 0-4 as a pinch hitter. Wilson was released after the Braves played their 40th game of the season in mid-May.
Honorable Mention: Scott Thorman (who, oddly enough, replaced Wilson at first base that season)
Second Base: Willy Aybar
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Willy Aybar never really got going in Atlanta, where he was suspended for violating team rules, missed scheduled treatments for his injured hand and struggled with drinking and drugs while on the Braves’ active roster. Braves players rarely commented on the struggling Aybar, with the exception of Chipper Jones, who made headlines by answering an Aybar-oriented question by saying, “I didn't even know he was still on the team."
Aybar hit a solid .313 in 115 at-bats for the Braves in 2006, but his actions off the field spoke louder than his actions on it.
Shortstop: Chris Woodward
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In December 2006, the Braves signed free agent Chris Woodward to a one-year contract. Woodward, who had spent the previous two seasons with the New York Mets, had a huge down season in Atlanta. In his 92 games with the team, predominantly served as a second baseman, shortstop and pinch hitter, Woodward hit a MLB-position player worst .199 with one home run and eight RBI. Needless to say, Woodward did not return to the team in 2008.
Honorable Mention: Pete Orr
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Third Base: Greg Norton
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Because Chipper Jones has played third base since long before 2005, we’ll examine the worst of his replacements: Greg Norton.
In his first season with the Braves, 2008, Norton hit .246 with seven home runs in 171 at-bats, not terrible numbers by any standard. But 2009 saw Norton lose complete control of his plate discipline. In his 76 at-bats that year, he struck out 20 times, hit zero home runs batted in seven RBI and finished the season batting a freezing .145, which translates to exactly 11 hits all season. Enough said.
Outfield: Raul Mondesi
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The Braves gave the aging Raul Mondesi a chance to make the squad in 2005, which he did coming out of spring training. However, Mondesi quickly proved to everyone that he was not the big-league caliber player that he had been while playing for the Dodgers in the early 1990s.
In 142 at-bats with the Braves that season, Mondesi had 30 hits, which translated to a .211 batting average. He was released immediately following the team’s 41st game of the season
Outfield: Melky Cabrera
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Melky Cabrera's 2010 season was a struggle, to say the least.
Although he finished with a .255 average, he only hit four home runs and drove in 42 runs in 458 at-bats for the National League Wild Card champion Braves.
Many of the Atlanta fans gave up on Cabrera before the calendar even changed to June, as his batting average in mid-May was a frigid .191 and his inconsistencies both in the field and at the plate were costing the Braves wins and ground in the ever-tight NL East.
Starting Pitcher: Mark Redman
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Mark Redman's 2007 season with the Atlanta Braves was over before it really even had a chance to get started.
He was cut after six games with the team, five of which were starts, during which he posted an 0-4 record and an 11.63 ERA. He also gave up 38 hits in 21.2 innings.
Redman, a 2006 All-Star with the Kansas City Royals, was brought in to help bolster Atlanta's starting pitching after starter Mike Hampton went down with an injury, but did little of anything right while with the Braves.
The left-hander went on the Disabled List to have an ingrown toenail removed after his first five appearances with the Braves and was given one last shot to remain on the ball club after returning from surgery. In that final appearance, Redman gave up a grand slam to Boston Red Sox slugger Mike Lowell.
Reliever: Jo-Jo Reyes
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Although this was a close race between Reyes and Chad Paronto, Reyes is the winner of the "Worst Reliever" title because of his record-setting time without recording a win.
Up until winning a game this season, Reyes had posted a 28 game win-less streak dating back to June 13, 2008, during which time he posted an 0-13 record and a 6.59 ERA.
While playing with Atlanta from 2007 to 2010, Reyes never won more than three games per season and never had an ERA lower than 5.81 by season's end. He was moved in and out of the starting rotation based solely on injuries to the Braves' original starting five. The team tried placing him in many different roles, including starter, long-reliever and short-reliever, before finally realizing his inability to win and trading him to Toronto.
Closer: 2005's Kolb, Reitsma Combination
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In 2005, John Smoltz wanted to return to the starting rotation, so the Braves traded highly touted pitcher Jose Capellan and Alec Zumwalt to the Brewers for their closer and 2004 All-Star Dan Kolb.
In 65 games with the Braves that season, Kolb went 3-8 with 11 saves, seven blown saves and an ERA of 5.93. Kolb was constantly booed when taking the mound at Turner Field and the recipient of numerous hate websites. He was removed from the closer's role midseason and replaced by Chris Reitsma.
Reitsma ended 2005 with a 3-6 record, 15 saves, nine blown saves and an ERA just under four. He returned to the Braves' bullpen in 2006, where he finished with an 8.68 ERA.
It was during the 2006 season that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke a story that Reitsma, while walking in his neighborhood with his two and four-year-old daughters, was exposed to one of his harshest critics.
“A guy pulls up in his truck,” Reitsma said in the interview, “rolls down his window and yells, ‘You suck!’”
Reitsma was not retained for the 2007 season.
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