1980 Braves ready for improved season
The Atlanta Braves will have a new look when they take the field April 9 for opening day against the Cincinnati Reds. It’s a new decade, and after five straight losing seasons the Braves hope for new fortunes in the 1980s.
With that promise comes many new players, and there are also existing players in new positions. Braves manager Bobby Cox has decided to move first baseman Dale Murphy to the outfield. He will play center field to replace the released Rowland Office and the traded Barry Bonnell.
Murphy played 27 games as Atlanta’s starting catcher last season, but his issues throwing the ball back to the pitcher (or more accurately to the center fielder) had him see more time at first base for the second straight season. Murphy had five errors last year as the catcher and 15 more at first base.
Cox believes Murphy, who just turned 24 on March 12, can make the move to the outfield. And to replace Murphy at first base, the Braves acquired 31-year-old veteran Chris Chambliss, who had been traded from the Yankees to the Blue Jays on November 1 and five weeks later was sent to the Braves.
Chambliss has two years to go on a five-year contract worth $1 million. He was New York’s first baseman when Cox was there as the third base coach, so Cox knows Chambliss is a steady player who is good defensively. Cox already plans to hit Chambliss fifth behind Bob Horner, who will start his third season as the Braves’ third baseman.
With Horner and Murphy, the Braves have two of the best young sluggers in the big leagues. They combined for 54 home runs and 155 runs batted in last season. The Braves hope Murphy can reach that next level offensively if he’s not worrying as much about his defense.
Two more veterans, Gary Matthews and Jeff Burroughs, return to join Murphy in the outfield. The Braves admittedly spent much of the winter trying to trade Burroughs, who slumped to a .224 average and only 11 home runs last season in 116 games. For now, Burroughs will still be the starting left fielder.
Matthews was very productive last season, hitting .304 with a .363 on base percentage, 27 home runs, 34 doubles, 18 stolen bases and 90 runs batted in. The Braves hope the middle of the offense, with Murphy, Horner, Chambliss and Matthews can be one of the most dangerous in baseball.
Pepe Frias is gone after having a staggering 32 errors at shortstop in 1979. He’ll be replaced by Luis Gomez, another piece of the Chambliss trade from the Blue Jays. Gomez, replaced last season as Toronto’s starting shortstop last season by Alfredo Griffin, is a light-hitting shortstop known more for his defense.
The Braves hope 22-year-old Rafael Ramirez can break through this season and push Gomez at shortstop. Ramirez hit 10 home runs last season in Double-A Savannah.
Glenn Hubbard should get another chance at second base. He hit .231 in his first full season as the starter, even with Jerry Royster getting additional playing time there. The Braves love Hubbard’s defense at second and prefer Royster to be their main utility man, with his ability to play second, short and third. Royster could also play the outfield if Burroughs falters.
Bruce Benedict should get another shot to be the primary catcher. He handles Phil Nierko’s knuckleball well and the Braves like the promise of the 24-year old to get better offensively. Bill Nahorodny was acquired from the White Sox to replace Joe Nolan as the main reserve.
Mike Lum and Charlie Spikes are back as bats off the bench. Speedy Eddie Miller will be the main pinch-runner, while Larvell “Sugar Bear” Blanks returns after spending three seasons in Cleveland and one in Texas. Blanks can play second, short and third base.
The pitching staff had to improve, as last year’s staff posting a NL-worst ERA of 4.18. Niekro (21-20 in 44 starts and 342 innings last season) remains the staff ace, but he needs help. That’s why the Braves traded for 29-year old Doyle Alexander (along with Blanks) from the Rangers for Frias and reliever Adrian Devine.
Alexander has won only 14 games the last two seasons in Texas, but in 1977 he went 17-11 for the Rangers in 34 starts. The Braves would love to see him get valuable innings in the rotation.
Eddie “Buddy Jay” Solomon is having a bad spring and the Braves are trying to trade him. He went 7-14 last season with a 4.21 in 30 starts. The Braves also hope to improve on Mickey Mahler, who had a 6.64 ERA in his 18 starts.
Soft-tossing right-hander Rick Matula returns after making 28 starts in his rookie season. Matula had 64 walks and only 67 strikeouts in 171.1 innings pitched. The Braves need Larry McWilliams to bounce back. The lanky lefty made only 13 starts last season after showing so much promise in 1978.
And Tommy Boggs went back down to Triple-A Richmond last year and made 33 starts. He was 15-10 with a 3.61 ERA in 227 innings pitched and 16 complete games. Boggs made 12 starts with Atlanta in 1978 and three starts last season, so he likely doesn’t need to go back to the minor leagues.
To help out in the bullpen, the Braves signed Al Hrabosky to a contract that could allow him to eventually join Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren and Skip Caray in the broadcast booth. Team owner Ted Turner gave the Mad Hungarian a contract that could pay him $5.9 million through the year 2014.
Hrabosky saved 11 games in 58 appearances last season for the Royals. He’s got 76 saves in the last five seasons between Kansas City and St. Louis. The lefty should compliment Gene Garber, who led Atlanta last season with 25 saves.
But with Joey McLaughlin (5 saves in 37 games) traded to Toronto, Devine sent to Texas and Jamie Easterly sold to Montreal, the Braves do need others to step up this season. Bo McLaughlin has a neck injury and his status is unclear to start the season.
Left-hander Larry Bradford showed promise last season in 21 games, with a 0.95 ERA in 21 games. And the Braves wouldn’t mind for Rick Camp to be back in the discussion for the bullpen. Camp had arm issues last season and pitched in just 22 games in Richmond.
This will be Cox’s third season as manager, and with the Braves now having a larger national presence on WTBS (formerly WTCG), the pressure will be on to improve on a 66-win season from a year ago. The Braves believe they have made the adjustments to take that next step, and the long-suffering fans of Atlanta are ready for a better record in the team’s 15 season in the south.
Bill Shanks is taking a look back at the history of Braves baseball while we are waiting on the 2020 season to begin. Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia’s ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter at @billshanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.