Fear not, Braves fans. Chipper Jones has apparently found his stroke after a painfully slow start to the 2010 season.
He extended his hitting-streak to 10 games on Saturday with a three-run home run, and his bat is looking livelier than it has for a long time.
During the streak, he’s batting .389 with 10 RBI, 6 runs, 2 home runs, and two stolen bases. He has five walks and struck out six. The streak also includes three multi-hit games.
That being said, he’s still only batting .256 on the season with 32 RBI, 28 runs, and 5 home runs.
When you look at his numbers month-by-month, it’s easy to see that he’s improving.
March and April
In the months of March and April, Jones batted an awful .230 and was slugging just .393 He had just six RBI, 10 runs, and two home runs in 61 at-bats.
He only managed to six hits for extra bases and 24 total bases in the first two months of the season.
May
Jones hit .265 in 83 at-bats in May, but his slugging percentage dropped slightly to .373 for the month. Still, his OBP went up from .390 in March and April to .410 in May—slightly higher than his career OBP of .406.
During the month of May, he recorded 15 RBI, 10 runs, and one home run. He also had six doubles and 31 total bases.
While not good numbers by any means, there was definitely improvement in the areas of RBI, batting average, and OBP.
June
So far in June, Chipper is batting .271 in 59 at-bats. He has 11 RBI, eight runs, and two home runs. His OBP has slipped to .353 for the month, but his slugging percentage has gone up to .424 in June.
Those numbers are a little bit more reasonable when you consider that Jones has missed eight games in June compared to six games from March to May.
Putting Everything Together
If Chipper stays on track, his hits will have increased every month of the season. While the power isn’t there yet, his bat is showing some signs of life—especially over the last two weeks.
When the dust settles, I wouldn’t be too surprised if Chipper finishes the season with around 90 RBI, 90 runs, and 20 homeruns with a .285 batting average. If he does, it will be the first time he’s scored 90 runs and reached 90 RBI since 2007.
The Braves could use his bat if they want to create some space between them and the rest of the division. Going into Sunday, only 3.5 games separate the Braves, Mets, and Phillies at the top of the NL East.
* On a seperate note, the Braves’ Kenshin Kawakami finally won a game after starting 0-9.
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