The Scout's View: Braves

SI asked big league scouts who have closely followed the playoff teams to help prepare these reports on the four League Championship Series participants. The scouts were promised anonymity in return for their candor, and here's what they revealed.

Posted: Wed October 7, 1998

LINEUP

Walt Weiss, SS
Contact hitter. Weak on breaking balls. Will chase pitches out of strike zone. Pound him inside with hard stuff.

Keith Lockhart, 2B
Bust him with pitches up and in. Makes up for shortcomings with hustle.

Chipper Jones, 3B
Impact player. Make a mistake, and he'll hit it out. One weakness: chases high fastballs.

Andres Galarraga, 1B
Eats up fastballs over the middle. Weakness: fastballs inside. That's why he was hit by pitches 25 times this season. Will chase sliders out of strike zone.

Ryan Klesko, LF
Good power. Getting better at hitting breaking balls and changeups. Bust him inside and work the ball away to make him chase.

Javy Lopez, C
Dead fastball hitter who likes the ball from the middle in. He's learning to go the other way late in the count. Weak on breaking stuff.

Andruw Jones, CF
Aggressive hitter. Poor on breaking balls but can turn on any fastball.

Michael Tucker, RF
Has home run power. More of a platoon player than an every-day guy.

Bench

Main threat is OF Gerald Williams, who's above average in left, center and right and possesses good, compact swing. OF Danny Bautista has some power and could become a frontline player in left. 1B Greg Colbrunn is dead fastball hitter with power who likes the ball low; aggressive but shows no discipline. C Eddie Perez is above average defender who throws well; at bat is good fastball hitter but weak on breaking balls. SS Ozzie Guillen doesn't have range he once had but is valuable insurance. INFs Tony Graffanino and Marty Malloy are adequate.

Rotation

John Smoltz, RHP
Good movement on fastball. Superb slider with sharp downward action. Uses split-finger as changeup. Good control with all pitches and works in and out with them.

Tom Glavine, LHP
Fastball sinks and runs with above average movement. Changeup runs away from righties and bottom falls out of it. Sharp downward action on slider. Good curve. Needs to have good control to be effective—and usually does.

Greg Maddux, RHP
Two- and four-seam fastballs with a lot of movement. Bottom falls out of changeup—it's his best pitch. Good sharp, downward action to slider. Average curve. Umpires give him strikes about six inches off the outside corner, making it difficult for hitters to be patient. Best try to wait for a specific pitch and be aggressive when it comes.

Denny Neagle, LHP
Varies velocity on two- and four-seam fastballs to keep hitters off balance. Also changes speeds well on curve and slider, which is more like a cut fastball. Circle changeup is his out pitch. Control outstanding.

Bullpen

RH closer Kerry Ligtenberg has good late life on four-seam fastball he throws at the knees. Also has good snap on slider. Had some trouble late in the year with control. Reaction to postseason pressure a question. RH Kevin Millwood resembles Smoltz in good power slider and fastball. Has to make transition from rotation to bullpen for playoffs. RH Dennis Martinez throws fastball in and out. Has a top-to-bottom break on curveball and likes to backdoor lefthanded batters with curve. Needs pinpoint control to be effective. LH John Rocker's fastball is consistently in high 90s and explodes at the plate, sinking in the zone. Good slider but below average curve is cross between slider and curve that he throws too hard. All arms and legs on delivery, makes it tough to see ball. RH Rudy Seanez has good velocity on fastball, but often it's pretty straight. LH Odalis Perez not likely to get much work despite good, lively arm.

Bottom Line

Starting pitching is strongest in majors. Relievers are young and inexperienced, though they have done a good job. Good offensive club that gets men on base, has a lot of power and plays well together. The Padres can compete with them, but the Braves have the edge because of their postseason experience.

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