As an Atlanta Braves fan I think I speak for the most of us who have followed the braves over the past two decades or so when I say I’m not surprised.

The Braves started well, had some bumps along the way, but did just well enough that everyone thought they would arrive to the Postseason again (only to be eliminated rather early of course).

Instead of that scenario they melted down as the season concluded, which as it turned out was very unfortunate since the Cardinals decided this was the time of year they would crank it up a few notches.

Perhaps the only thing that took attention away from the Braves meltdown was the AL East equivalent meltdown by the Red Sox. Thankfully it was a duel meltdown.

In spite of the meltdown, it actually was a good season for the Braves overall. With 89 wins they finished the season with a .549 winning percentage. Anytime a MLB team flirts with 90 wins it is a good thing. Of course, they should have won 95 to 100, if the meltdown had not occurred when it did.

Here’s my take on some of the players.

Hitters

Brian McCann

An all-star again this year, Brian continues to be the most valuable catcher in the major leagues. Brian hit a solid .270 but he is capable of peaking over the .300 line (see 2008). He also had nice power numbers this year hitting 24 home runs and knocking in 71 runs.

Additionally, nobody was better behind the plate. Brian has a knack for making the Braves pitchers better. Watching him operate back there is like watching a master Ninja executing the 7-foot twirl kick.

Brian McCann has quickly become the face of the Atlanta Braves (as Chipper fades from view) and no doubt will, Lord willing, continue to be a formidable offensive and defensive force for many years to come.

Chipper Jones

Mr. Jones has had a strong, hall-of-fame career and will evermore be a legendary Brave. This year he surpassed 450 home runs and 1,500 RBI’s, finding himself high among the all time leaders in both categories. He also raised his batting average 10 points from last season to .270 (still low for Chipper).

It is important to say that Chipper was in no way a drag on the Braves this season. He was a strong contributor in the field, at the plate, and in the clubhouse.

The bad news: In April, Chipper will turn 40 and will likely begin his 19th Major League season. Based on his play this season, I think Chipper will have another good season giving the Braves another season of his leadership and giving fans another year to watch him work his magic. However, I think Chipper will play 1 or 2 more seasons at most.

Dan Uggla

Dan was acquired from the Marlins and played all but 1 game for the Braves in 2011. The reality that he played in so many games speaks highly of manager Freddie Gonzalez’s Patience. This was because Uggla’s start to the season was unimaginably bad. Months past before Uggla’s average finally peaked above .200.

The irony of the season for Dan Uggla started around the All-star break. The worst regular player in baseball start hitting…a lot. Uggla hit in 33 straight games and his power numbers accelerated as well. He ended the season with a .233 average (really amazing considering his first half) with 36 home runs and 82 RBI’s. Uggla took one of the worst seasons and somehow managed to turn it into a very strong season.

Brave’s fans worried for awhile about Dan, but suddenly mid-season, Dan became the hero who energized the other players. I look for Dan Uggla to be a strong force in the Braves lineup for many years to come, and perhaps to be the preeminent second baseman in MLB.

Jason Heyward

What can we say about Jason Heyward? The Jay-Hey Kid struggled this season as compared to the last but had some moments of shine. Because of his struggles his playing time was limited however he seemed to keep his chin up all season, never giving up.

I believe with a new hitting coach Jason will make the needed adjustments at the plate to get his swing back. He will definitely have to compete for his position (as all players do), but no doubt his raw talent is at a high level, his character is strong, and in spite of the 2011 bump in the road Heyward will come back strong.

Freddie Freeman

Rookie Freddie Freeman had a rookie-of-the-year kind of season. He hit .282 with 21 home runs and 78 RBI’s tallying up a total of 161 hits. Freddie also received praise for his fielding prowess on the first bag. He played with emotion, zeal, and in spite of his youth seemed to provide leadership to the team.

Freddie is a natural ballplayer and barring injury, or some other plan of the Lord, I believe he will continue to be a strong Braves first baseman.

Martin Prado

In 2011 Prado earned the regular starting position in Left Field. And he really did earn it. However, his 2011 numbers sunk somewhat as compared to 2010 (when he hit .307).

Perhaps the staff infection he endured mid-season drained his energy, but Prado really struggled at the plate the last several weeks of the season, unfortunately contributing to the previously mentioned meltdown.

Braves fans like Prado a lot though and I think he will bounce back. He seems to have a very strong work ethic and will make adjustments to come back strong next season.

Michael Bourn

Acquired from the Astros Bourn is the best base-stealer (by far) in the major leagues. While with the Braves he stole 22 bases in 53 games providing the true lead-off hitter missing from the past several seasons. Bourn is also a powerhouse center-fielder who saves runs by covering ground.

The question is whether Bourn will sign a deal with the Braves or move on. With agent Scott Boras pulling the strings Braves fans are not holding their breath. If a deal is worked out Bourn will be a key component in the 2012 desire for a World Series Championship on the part of the Atlanta Braves.

David Ross

I can’t take the time to write about every bench player (Hinske, Conrad, Diaz for example), but I did want to mention the good work of back-up catcher David Ross. It is conceivable that Ross could be a full-time catcher somewhere, but he really shines in the backup role in Atlanta.

When McCann was out of the lineup due to injury, or for a day of rest, the Braves really did not miss a beat. Not the offensive threat of McCann of course, but Ross proves that he is no pushover at the plate either. In the 53 games he played Ross totaled 40 hits including 7 doubles and 6 home runs.

Watching David, a truly great team player with a really good attitude, support and back-up Brian McCann day in and day out, I became convinced that he was a large part of the Success of the Braves this season. He is commonly called the best back-up catcher in baseball and I agree with this assessment.

Overall Hitting

In spite of some high points (Uggla’s streak for example) the Braves struggled at the plate comparatively speaking. They ranked 26th in the MLB with a low team average of .243. This was a full 40 points lower than the MLB leading Texas Rangers (.283). They were 22nd in runs scored, 22nd in RBI’s, and 26th in on-base percentage. Needless to say, it was not the Atlanta hitters who nearly propelled the Braves into the postseason.

Perhaps it was their pitching?

Starting Pitchers

The Braves started the season with a powerhouse rotation that had serious thoughts of competing with the legendary Phillies fearsome four (Halladay, Hamels, Lee, and Oswalt). That original Braves rotation was rather fearsome as well at least on paper (Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson, and Jair Jurrjens).

The most dominate and consistent of these four was Tim Hudson whose 16 wins and 3.22 ERA were both among the league leaders.

38 year old Derek Lowe had a very disappointing season with only 9 wins, 17 losses, and an ERA of 5.05. Braves fans will also remember his DUI in April.

It is easy to be the kind of fan who gets angry when a high paid player doesn’t live up to his billing and actually becomes a drag on the team. But the love of Christ constrains us to pray for Derek and support him not simply as a pitcher but as a human being. Perhaps he will be the comeback player of the year in the 2012 season.

Jurrjens had some great starts for the Braves and ended up winning 13 games with a 2.96 ERA but was faced with an injury and did not pitch in the month of September.

Tommy Hanson was also impressive but had a similar ending as Jurrjens, pitching only one game in August and none in September.

Loosing these two guys at the end of the season was a painful blow and contributed to the meltdown, even though Mike Minor (who won 6 games in August and September) turned out to be an okay replacement.

Julio Teheran made some attempts to start as well, but in his five starts he only went past the fifth inning once, and lost four of the five games.

Just like with the Braves hitters the starting pitchers were not the reason why the Braves nearly obtained a post-season opportunity. The truth of that point is evident even though the starter’s season should be considered decent.

In all the MLB the Braves starters finished 9th in ERA and 7th in opposition batting average (BAA) at .250.  Additionally, they were 8th in strikeouts and 10th in wins. Not bad but not really enough (especially considering the hitters woes) to achieve post-season status.

So how did the Braves do as well as they did in 2011? It wasn’t the hitting and the starting pitching certainly could not have done it by itself. The answer is in the bullpen.

The Bullpen

In the entire MLB the Braves bullpen had the lowest ERA in the majors (3.03), 1st in strikeouts, and 1st in BAA at .221.

Their success is primarily attributed to the tireless trio of Eric O’Flaherty, Jonny Venters, and rookie closer Craig Kimbrell.

O’Flaherty pitched over 73 innings with an unthinkable .98 ERA.  He struck out 67 while only walking 21 all season.

Jonny Venters had similar numbers pitching in 88 innings with a mere 1.84 ERA. Venters struck out 96 and walked only 43 while giving up only 2 home rums.

Finally, closer Craig Kimbrell had one of the most fantastic rookie seasons of any MLB player in history earning 46 saves while finishing with a small 2.10 ERA.  Kimbrell struck out 127 hitters while only walking 32! Kimbrell was a dominate closer all season and should win the Rookie of the Year award with ease.

The incredible performances of O’Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrell was further supplemented by able bullpensmen like Scott Linebrink, George Sherrill, Christhian Martinez, and others.

Teams that faced the Braves had to score early against the starters if they were going to score. They hardly scored at all from the seventh inning and beyond because of the power of this bullpen.

Conclusion

The Braves had a nice season in 2011 because of their wonderful bullpen. The starting pitching and the hitting performances where less than stellar but with the amazing bullpen Atlanta nearly made it to the post-season. But did I mention the meltdown?

Next year!