For the fir
st month of the season at-bats of Troy Glaus were not a good thing to be on the television in my house. Glaus, a former All-Star, had been signed to play first base for the Braves and provided more hair pulling then hand clapping to start the season.
Glaus had been a notoriously hot hitter to start past seasons so his early struggles only blazzed a fire in me that called for his departure from the club. The sooner, the better.
Well that was April. In May Glaus drove in a career best 28 runs in 28 games. To end the month he went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer off Chad Durbin in a Braves win that restored the team to first place in NL East. A win over the Phillies that completed the Braves transformation from worst to first in two weeks.
On May 1 Troy Glaus was hitting .194 with more strikeouts (21) than hits (14). In May he hit .330, six homers and 28 RBI. Numbers that could earn him NL player of the month honors.
Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal Constitution asked the Obvious question: What changed? Glaus’ answer: “It didn’t feel any different in April. It’s the results that are different.”
I wrote back in Spring Training that the Braves 2010 season rest on the back of Glaus. At that time I didn’t expect Jason Heyward to be so good, and I didn’t expect Chipper Jones to be so average. In April the Braves were a boat losing water quickly without the bat of Glaus clicking, in May the big guy took charge from the fourth spot in the lineup and the Braves reeled off 20 wins. That’s more then Baltimore, Cleveland, Seattle and Houston have had all year.
The Braves who once had a dreadful 9 game losing streak at the end of April now seek their seventh win in a row as June starts.
