The Atlanta Braves may answer to multiple names, which makes sense, after all, since they seem to have a split personality.

Meet Personality #1 - The Hotlanta Braves: Just as the name implies, when they play in Atlanta at Turner Field, the Braves are HOT!

By completing a four-game sweep over their hated division rival, the New York Mets, defeating key offseason acquisition and ace Johan Santana 4-2 Thursday night, the Braves improved their record at home to 20-5.

The Braves currently have the best home record in the NL (second in the MLB only to Boston’s 21-5 home mark). This after Atlanta lost two of their first three home games to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, so in actuality, they have been 19-3 in the last month and a half.

Included in those numbers is an 8-2 record against divisional opponents with a 6-0 mark against the other team (along with the Philadelphia Phillies) that was supposed to compete with Atlanta for the division crown.

They get the clutch hits, the lucky bounces, and seemingly every game-altering play goes in their favor.

While playing in the friendly confines of “The Ted,” the Braves have compiled some impressive statistics, both hitting and pitching. They lead the majors with a .316 home batting average and have the lowest ERA (2.71). In 25 games, the pitching staff has only allowed 15 balls to leave the yard. Then there are all the offensive categories in which Atlanta ranks in the top 5 of NL teams: R, H, 2B, 3B, RBI, TB, BB, AVG, OBP, SLUG.

In their 20 wins, the Bravos are also winning with relative ease only having to pull out a pair of one-run victories (something the Braves have struggled with this season). Instead, the average margin of victory is 4.05 runs for the 20 games they have added to the W column.

Despite all those spectacular numbers and their sensational play at home, somehow Atlanta is still looking up in the divisional standings. How is that?

Meet Personality #2 - The Road-Weary Vagabond Braves: How are the Braves behind the young, inexperienced Florida Marlins?

Frankly, the Marlins are playing like the aged and veteran ball club by winning on the road. At 11-8 in road contests, Florida has the second highest road winning percentage in baseball (and the highest in the NL) and is one of only three teams that can claim a winning record on the road.

Atlanta, on the other hand, well…they look like the youthful squad with a paltry payroll. The Braves have managed to amass a 6-16 record on the road — worst in the majors.

Whether they are missing the tomahawk chop or a pregame meal of glorious greasy hamburgers, chili dogs, and french fries from The Varsity, the Braves have been abysmal on the road. The team ERA rises to 4.30 and the team batting average drops over 60 points to .251.

Rather than being in the top 5 in nearly every offensive statistical category, the vagabond Braves are in the bottom 5 of the NL in R, H, RBI, TB, and BB. The club averages 2.2 fewer hits per game, but even more dismal is that they average 2.1 fewer runs per contest.

When the team needs a clutch hit late in the ball game, the hitters turn into choke artists. Pitchers unravel at inopportune times. They seem to pitch around the bottom of the order and then throw batting practice to the heart of the opposition’s lineup. Untimely errors keep an inning going for the opponent or a slight bobble disrupts what would have been a double play.

It isn’t just one or two players but the entire team. On the road, every single Braves hitter, who receives significant playing time, has his average drop. The league’s batting average leader Chipper Jones (who added his 22nd multi-hit game Thursday night) sees his .441 home average fall to .387. Similarly, Brian McCann (.380 to .284), Matt Diaz (.368 to .167), and Yunel Escobar (.360 to .266) all see dramatic fall offs. Rookie Gregor Blanco is the only one to buck the trend as his average rises from .265 to .297 — nothing even close to being able to compensate for his teammates’ troubles.

Pitchers are not immune to the road let down either. Instead of batting averages falling, it is an inflation of the ERA. Besides Jorge Campillo, who hasn’t allowed a run in 13.1 innings on the road, every starter and significant reliever has seen a hike in his ERA. Not even veteran front end rotation mates John Smoltz (0.75 at home to 3.00 on the road) and Tim Hudson (2.81 to 3.21) or young studs Jair Jurrjens (1.48 to 3.77) and Manny Acosta (2.20 to 4.70) have been able to stave off the out of town issues.

As mentioned previously, the Braves have struggled in one-run affairs this season, and most of their trouble have come while away from home. In such contests, Atlanta is a dreadful 0-9.

While it is highly unlikely for Atlanta to continue to struggle so mightily on the road, especially in one-run games, the Braves also are going to revert back to normalcy while playing at home. But correcting the road woes is an issue of utmost importance because, in the competitive NL East, I don’t think the Braves are going to be able to compile the best record in the NL.

Therefore, if they make the playoffs, they will not have the home field advantage and will be forced to win on the road (just as the Boston Celtics are now going to be challenged to do in the NBA playoffs). Especially if Mike Hampton can provide even a couple of innings this season and Bobby Cox finds away to rest the bullpen a bit more throughout the year, I still believe Atlanta has a great shot to make it back to the World Series and the prominence they once owned.

Of course, they must get some psychiatric treatment to help eliminate certain personalities. It’s either eliminate the Hotlanta personality and face a trail of tears or eliminate the Vagabond personality so that they only have to be called by one name…World Champions.

Shotgun Spratling

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