Keeping up with Chipper Jones
Keeping up with Chipper Jones
Atlanta -- Chipper Jones was choasen the National League's Player of the Week for the first time Monday, recognition he considered for a moment, then shrugged and smiled.

"It's a nice honor, but tomorrow starts a new week," he said. "In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't mean that much."

The Atlanta Braves third baseman has bigger prizes in mind. Player of the month would be nice. An MVP award would be nicer. Another World Series ring would be the ultimate prize. To get there, he must continue putting up big numbers, just like the ones he has posted in the club's first 19 games.

Jones goes into tonight's opener of a five-game homestand at Turner Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies riding an 11-game hitting streak. He has hit .390 with five homers and 15 RBI during that stretch, which has actually dropped his average to .411, while his nine homers and 26 RBI lead the major leagues.

"I'm right where I want to be," he said. "I've got 75 at-bats under my belt and I can't ask for 75 better at-bats. I don't think I've given away more than two at-bats so far."

Last April he hit .322 with only two homers and 20 RBI and finished the season with a .295 average, 21 homers and 111 RBI. His best months have always come when the temperature rises, as his career averages and power numbers indicate: June (.294, 19 HR), July (.314, 14 HR) and August (.313, 13 HR).

"If I had the answer to his hitting so far, Chipper would hit .500 all season," manager Bobby Cox said. "You get better and better the more you're around, I guess."

Jones' sizzling start has been keyed by two factors. First, with the exception of a couple of cold nights in Denver, the Braves have played in relatively mild temperatures during the first three weeks of the season. And, they have faced three teams (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Colorado) whose pitching staffs have ERA higher than 4.00. In the Rockies' case, it's higher than 7.00.

Jones said he is surprised by his April production, but considering the rigorous winter workouts he put himself through, plus the extra two weeks he spent with his father in Florida working on his swing before spring training, perhaps his fast start isn't surprising after all.

"It's a bit surprising, but also it's not surprising because I worked so hard this offseason to figure things out," he said.

Suffice to say, Jones will cool off, though it probably won't happen until next month considering the Diamondbacks and Rockies have the league's worst staffs and the Braves play their next seven games against them.

A survey of pitchers would probably show that Jones is the toughest out in the league right now. He is among the league's top four in nine offensive categories and his walks (12) are keeping pace with his strikeouts (13).

This is the most productive period of his career and he wonders how long it will last.

"When you're locked in like this it seems like you can read the pitcher's mind all the time," he said. "I'm very capable of putting up a month like this, but you just don't expect to throw 75 at-bats out there quite the way I've done it to start the year."

Meanwhile, Mark Wohlers has pitched like a man inching across a tightrope through his first seven appearances and it finally caught up with him Monday night. He walked the first two in the ninth inning.

Cox pulled him and used Alan Embree and Kerry Ligtenberg for the last three touts in the Braves' 7-5 victory over the Rockies.

Wohlers has always struggled with his control early, but it seems more pronounced this season than in the past. He's worked six innings and has seven walks, including two walks in each of his last two appearances.

Cox said Monday's cold temperatures might have led to Wohlers' control problems, but the right-hander indicated the weather had nothing to do with it.

"I felt good," he said. "I had no problem gripping the ball. I've been fooling with trouble all year, getting into jams and getting out, and eventually it's going to catch up with me. I just got messed up mechanically. It's frustrating. I'm trying everything mechanically, watching tape, trying to find the answer."

By Bill Zack
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