Braves GM: 'We've gotten Atlanta's attention'

Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY | USATODAY

There was no sorrow in Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren's voice Wednesday afternoon, only confidence.

There was no remorse that the Braves' 10-game winning streak came to a halt, only belief they will start another one.

The Braves, 12-2, are off to their greatest start since the beginnings of their 14-year dynasty in 1991, and not even a 1-0 loss Wednesday to the Kansas City Royals is about to dampen the fervor in Atlanta.

"There's a lot of excitement going around town,'' Wren told USA TODAY Sports, driving home from Turner Field. "We saw it with the addition of Justin Upton back in January, the buzz in the community and spring training. And now with the start we've gotten off to, that's only increased.

"We've gotten Atlanta's attention.''

Yep, right along with the rest of the baseball world.

Producing the greatest record in baseball has a way of making people notice.

The scary part, at least for the rest of the National League, the Braves haven't come close to hitting their stride.

Oh sure, we got a hunch that Justin Upton isn't going to keep hitting homers at this pace -- a franchise-record eight in the first 14 games -- and wind up with 92 this season. The Braves' pitching staff isn't going to continue yielding a 0.73 ERA with rookie catcher Evan Gattis behind the plate. And Paul Maholm, 3-0, surely will give up an earned run sometime this season.

Then again, B.J. Upton, their $75 million man, isn't going to hit .140 all year, either. Right fielder Jason Heyward isn't going to hover around .128 much longer. Second baseman Dan Uggla won't be hitting .163 all year. And power-hitting first baseman Freddie Freeman and All-Star catcher Brian McCann won't be on the DL all year. Freeman is expected back Monday.

We're not going to tell the Washington Nationals what to do, but they may want to rip down that plastic sheeting above their lockers, take the champagne out of the ice buckets, and brace themselves for a little humility.

The Braves are going to have a lot to say this summer long before this NL East race is decided.

The Braves' start may be a surprise to the rest of the world, but sorry, not to the folks at 755 Hank Aaron Drive.

"Not really,'' Wren says. "We felt like our starting pitching would be good. We thought our bullpen would be strong, and maybe it's pitched a little better than we hoped.

"But we still haven't gotten our offense rolling.''

You know you're getting phenomenal pitching when you're 12-0 in games that you simply score a run. The Braves have a major-league best 1.77 ERA, yielding two or fewer runs in 10 games. Three of their starters -- Kris Medlen, Mike Minor and Maholm --are ranked among the top five starters with the lowest ERA since the 2012 All-Star break.

Oh yeah, and remember all of that talk that the Braves were too young, too experienced, and would sorely miss that clubhouse leadership with Chipper Jones and Martin Prado gone? Funny, no one even brings it up these days.

"We're young,'' says Jim Fregosi, the Braves' invaluable special assistant, "but people forget that our players have been around for awhile. This is Heyward's fourth year in the big leagues. (Justin) Upton is 25, but this is his seven years in the big leagues. These guys know how to handle themselves.''

Said Wren: "That was written about and talked about in the media, but that was never an issue for us. It never entered our mind. We felt we had enough strong personalities, and player that have been around long enough to step up.''

Now, here comes the Braves' first severe test of the season. They begin an 11-day, 10-game trip to Pittsburgh, Colorado and Detroit, before returning April 29 to face the Nationals.

Scared?

Uh-uh. Their biggest worry is trying to keep the ice melting when they send over a shipment of prickly pear margaritas to the Arizona Diamondbacks for not only trading them Justin Upton, but infielder Chris Johnson, who's hitting .409.

"We feel like Justin's best days are still to come, and we feel strongly about that,'' says Wren, who soon may be sharing the same sentiments of his entire team.

"Our guys feel like they're going to win every night.''