There’s no consistency in except for inconsistency in Bobby Cox’s managing style.

…McLouth has hit significantly better than any of our other human outfielders. Playing him against righties is a no-brainer at this point.

I’ve never been a fan of Cox’s tactics and line ups, but right now he doesn’t have a lot of good options when it comes to the outfield. Melky is a poor hitter and an out of shape, slow, often indifferent fielder. Hinske has slumped badly in the 2nd half. If Diaz’ last named was Francoeur, he would get crushed on Braves blogs for his hitting this year. Ankiel is worthless at the plate but is at least okay defensively. McLouth has actually been pretty good since his call up at the end of August, but he needs at least a spring training playing LF to be tolerable out there defensively.

If I were managing, I would try Infante in LF, McLouth at CF, and Conrad at 2B. But I can’t say that would definitely result in more runs scored.

Anyway it’s not just the outfield dragging the team down. McCann and Prado have not been hitting for much lately, and the defense has been horrible.

By the title of this post, I thought there might be some legitimate criticisms being leveled. Not so much.

McLouth – forget the average; he’s our 2nd best hitting OF right now.
Cabrera and Hinske – WS experience? That apparently isn’t making them hit in Sept.
Lee vs. Freeman – that’s next year. For now, Lee is the right choice.

Now, here are the legitimate criticisms you should have been making.

Rotation: Bobby’s explanation for not juggling the rotation for the Philly series was this is “business as usual”. And yet, he in no way managed the series that way. Beachy gets pulled in the 5th having given up only 1 ER? Minor the next night in the 3rd having given up 3? The decisions weren’t particularly bad, especially since the bullpen did fairly well both nights, but you can’t tell me those were “business as usual” decisions. When was the last time Bobby pulled a starter having given up less than 4 ER earlier than the 6th? The answer is May 14. And then, in the 3rd game, he reverts to a true “business as usual” approach, pulling Hanson after 6 when he was still dominating. That’s inconsistency.

Defense: this is mostly on the players – Heyward’s drop in game 1, and I counted 5 missed plays in game 2. I say this team’s biggest problem in the playoffs, if they get there, is going to be defense, not hitting. What’s Cox got to do with it? Why he hasn’t tried swapping Prado and Infante is beyond me. Prado has made far too many mistakes at 3rd. And they both need some rest. He keeps playing Infante in hopes of getting him a batting title, and now he’s 5 for his last 31.

I really don’t see a problem with what has been going on. I think that we have had our best lineup on the field for the way that the guys have been playing. Diaz should ONLY play against lefties. Conrad is a pinch hitter, our infield is fine, dont let a couple of pinch hit home runs make him seem like a good answer. In the outfield Ankiel is our best outfielder with the best arm. I don’t see a problem with him playing most of the time, hitting 8th. McLouth deserves to stay in the lineup as long as he is hitting.

 A healthy Phillies team is better than the Braves over a whole season, but anything can happen if the Braves make the playoffs. It just takes a couple hot hitters to win games in the playoffs. Coaching is not the problem. Heart is not the problem. When you don’t have power in your lineup, it takes at least 3 players that are hot to win consistently, and great pitching, They have not played bad, but neither pitching or hitting has really been good enough this month to win day in and day out. Play well for one week and they are a playoff team, bottom line.