Is it time to start getting mildly excited about the future of the Atlanta Braves? Is it time to wonder if that 1991 "worst to first" storybook run just might see a repeat in 2017? Is it time to at least consider the notion that the Braves' front office might actually know what it's doing in basically imploding this once-proud franchise to build a more solid foundation for future glory?
I write those words with both hesitancy and hope, for the standings this morning still show the Braves to have no better than the second worst record in all of baseball.
But in its last 10 games prior to Monday night's 8-3 loss to red-hot Cleveland, Atlanta also has been as good or better than all but four teams in the majors: the Indians, Houston, Texas and San Francisco.
(Side note: Having delivered Cleveland its first world championship in 52 years by leading the Cavaliers to last week's NBA crown, is LeBron James now playing baseball for the Indians? Could King James even lift the Browns come the fall?)
Sorry. Blame it on heat stroke.
But those four teams aside, no one else had bettered the Braves' 7-3 mark in their last 10 outings. Beyond that, no one else - save the Los Angeles Dodgers with Clayton Kershaw - would seem to have a pitcher throwing as well or better than Julio Teheran, who's compiled a 1.61 earned run average over his last 12 starts and has surrendered two runs or less in 10 of his 16 total starts.
The toughest thing for the Atlanta front office moving forward in this throw-away season is fighting the urge to trade their ace for an everyday player with power.
And that trade is undeniably tempting, given the fact the Braves have scored the fewest runs in the majors so far this season with 250. That averages out to 3.3 runs a game, which would probably make you respectable only if you had both Kershaw and Teheran in your starting rotation.
But that doesn't mean there aren't multiple signs of better days to come, with or without Teheran. Just look at Freddie Freeman, who entered Monday having hit .348 for the month with five homers, 13 RBIs and 12 runs scored.
Then there's Adonis Garcia, whose three-run homer Sunday clinched the Braves' victory over the Mets. The 31-year-old Cuban native is hitting .333 (16-for-48) with four home runs and 11 RBIs in his last 13 games.
That follows last season, when Garcia hit 10 homers as a rookie, which was the second most on the team.
Yet no one on these Braves has come further since the start of this season than pitcher Bud Norris, who was so bad early in the season (1-4 with a 8.74 ERA in five starts) that he was banished to the bullpen.
Given his struggles last season in Baltimore - a 6.79 ERA in 11 starts before being released - it might have been understandable if Norris sank further into oblivion once he again lost his starting job.
Instead, according to Freeman in a recent MLB.com interview: "I think sometimes a little kick in the butt will help. When (Norris) went down to the bullpen, he started pitching great. He wanted to get back into the rotation, and he's been lights-out ever since he came back in."
He's certainly turned out the lights on opposing offenses of late. In five starts - including four straight Braves wins - since returning to the rotation, Norris has gone 2-1 with a 2.15 ERA.
Said interim manager Brian Snitker after Norris fanned eight Mets: "I love what Bud is doing, really. He made great pitches. (Freeman) got us on the board early, and Bud took over."
It must also be noted that the Braves were 17-21 heading into Monday night since Snitker took over from ousted manager Fredi Gonzalez. In June, his first full month on the job, Atlanta is 11-14.
Given the Braves' scarcity of offense and the lack of a dependable closer, if the team's current pace under Snitker continues or improves from now until the end of the season, it would seem prudent of Atlanta's front office to at least strongly consider naming him permanent manager.
No sport is streakier than baseball, of course. A 162-game schedule almost guarantees multiple highs and lows. Given an April and early May list of opponents that the 1927 Yankees might have struggled to go .500 against, it could be argued the Braves were never as bad as that 9-29 start, nor may they now be as good as that 7-3 stretch before the Indians arrived in town.
But no one can say they haven't improved, that they aren't trying, that they have at least a few quality parts - Freeman and Teheran foremost among them - with which to build for a solid future. The simple fact that this team appears to keep fighting every game after such an awful beginning speaks volumes for its collective character and competitiveness, which is really what made that 1991 team so special.
"This group has really picked it up the last couple of weeks, and it's just been a lot of fun to come to the park every day," Norris told he media after Sunday's win. "We're playing a lot better baseball - playing hard and gritty."
It wasn't enough to deny the Indians a 10th straight win Monday, but it just might be enough to avoid 100 losses by the end of the year. And from where they started, that kind of turnaround just might be enough to play hard and gritty baseball from start to finish come 2017.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.