We're rolling good right now, but the Phillies are like a machine, so thank goodness for the Wildcard.
We've gained ground but are still probably unlikely to get close enough to make the last series meaningful. I think our WC lead is up to about 8 games. Freddi can basically start resting guys for the postseason. It looks like we could be getting Milwaukee in the NLDS. A pretty dangerous team at the moment, hopefully they cool by October.
To early to rest guys, except for maybe Chipper and McCann, otherwise the lineup is rolling well but we need J-Hey to get back on track.
Tied the record for ML saves by a rookie last night. He's going to DESTROY it by the time he's done. Nice to see Heyward with three hits, including the grand slam last night. If he can get back on track heading into the offseason, we could give Philly a run for their money.
Philly is scary. They've had some key injuries and are still rolling. Having said that pretty amazing the way the braves keep right on rolling with them as well.
The Braves have had injuries to Chipper, Heyward, McCann, Jurjjens, and Hanson. Both teams are just stacked.
I think the braves have been somewhat lucky pitching wise compared to the Phillies, at least what I've seen. I agree both are stacked. Braves have been really "lucky" or just damn good in the number they've had step up from the minors. Its almost plug and play well at this point, which is great.
They've had a top farm system for years now so it's probably not luck. And Frank Wren is smart enough not to trade away too many prospects. It's just silly how much pitching talent they have right now. Catching Philly is not completely out of the question right now with two head to head series coming up. It may be a better idea to just rest some guys though since we're basically a postseason lock at this point. I'd be shocked if either Kimbrel or Freeman don't win rookie of the year.
Philly has some divisional series starting now and coming up. I'm hoping the mets can pull one out tonight. Then its up to the marlins. Washington helped us out a little bit. The luck thing I think is somewhat in play as well the likely hood that we can pull up so many players and have them not only produce but at a high level is astounding to me. It's funny though I remember Wren getting criticized for not trading for top talent. Glad he didn't now. Even more funny is he's traded for talent, maybe not the sexy names, and still managed to keep our farm system in the top. And yeah braves have had one of the top farm systems voted pretty much every year these past few years.
If we're counting on the Mets and Marlins we might as well just forget about the division and start preparing for our wildcard berth.
so hanson is having trouble still with his shoulder and it looks like mendlen will not be back this season. Bad news. On another note hope you guys saw that double play chipper pulled off at 3rd base last night.
J-Hey has been so bad against lefties that the Braves decided to make a trade and bring back Matt Diaz. A guy they could have had but let walk to begin with..... In other news the Nats are a pain in the *** as usual.
yeah I saw they brought back diaz. Hope j hey figures it out. looks like they can just pay cash for him or give them a player. Hope its just cash.
I've been really happy with this season so far except for J-Hey struggling, to me he has thoroughbred talent, like Chipper and Andruw back in the day.
Just about anyone (with the exception of Lugo) is an offensive upgrade over Gonzalez. Wilson is just as good defensively as well, though I suspect he'll only be bench depth, unfortunately.
Kimbrel broke the rookie save record last night. He'll probably end up in the mid 40s or so. It's going to be a tough record for a future rookie to take down. He threw a slider last night that one of the Nats broadcasters immediately said was, 'the best slider I've seen all season.'
It looks like we probably get swept for the first time this season today facing Kershaw. I realize they have a comfortable wild card lead but I'm not in love with stumbling through another September before the postseason. Philly's up next I believe. We could be looking at a pretty bad six game stretch. Freddie gave away Friday night's game which I think was a mistake.
So it looks like JJ's out for at least two more weeks, but semi good news is hanson is now starting to practice his pitching again. Mc Clouth was put on the 60 day dl, and moylan pitched in the blowout yesterday.
The Braves are up 7 in the loss column for the Wild Card lead, so this month should be more about resting guys and getting them healthy for October.
Well if they have a good showing over the Cards this weekend they can practically consider the spot clinched. Just playing .500 ball or something is fine but we're talking 1-5 in the last six games. That's not going to clinch anything, fortunately there are still several games vs. the Marlins and Mets still on the schedule.
Good news with Tommy. Looks like we may not see JJ again this season. Those bone bruises can really linger.
I still wouldn't worry even if you have a bad weekend. Making up 7 games in the L column with 20 games or so is pretty hard to do. But like you said you still have a bunch of games against the Mets left and they seem to help cure any of the Braves problems. Losing any pitching this time of year is tough but it's more much important that the Braves get Tommy Hanson back for the playoffs. And Jurrgens is not the ace of the staff, based on numbers or stuff/talent. Besides ERA (which is silly stat to judge a pitcher on anyway) it looks like Jurrgens is probably the 3rd or 4th best SP on the team this year behind Hanson, Hudson and Beachy. Although Jurrjens has thrown ~20 more innings than Beachy and Hanson but those two have still been better pitchers when they pitched and still have a better WAR and other advanced stats.