5/5/15 Phillies at Braves 7:10 PM GDT

it is very odd that the one thing we thought we make us semi-competitive (our starting pitching) has been very bad so far. We're hovering around .500 even with only 1 starter with an ERA under 3.50
 
thethe said:
I demand an explanation from all those posters who said there was no chance we would have a better offense than last year. Has hell frozen over? What's the deal everyone?
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For one thing, Simmons and CJ (although he's on the DL) haven't been bad at the plate. Maybin and Peterson > BJ and Uggla.

KJ and AJ are as hot as they'll be all year.

New hitting coach seems to be doing wonders.

It's the first week of May....

I should also mention that last year's bench was an abortion. This year's is competent.
 
MadduxFanII said:
And kudos to KJ for putting together a nice little career. Hard to believe it's been 10 seasons.
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Yes, indeed. He was one of my favorite Braves back in the day and it's nice to see him doing so well. One might even say he's the best swinging Johnson on the club these days.

This is a pretty likable team, IMO. I like what Gomes and KJ bring to the park every day. Another guy I really appreciate is Cameron Maybin. Every shot of him on the bench, even when he wasn't starting, he's looked positive, smiling and engaged in the game, genuinely congratulating his teammates, et al. He's seemed like he's happy to be here and be contributing to the team. That's not to be taken for granted, considering that he came up as a top prospect and is cashing some pretty big checks. He's been able to handle being a role player on a mediocre team, and is making the most of his opportunity to get on the field.
 
Dalyn said:
Why don't you get COZY and think about that for a minute.
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Carp said:
That's 1 year of a regressing Heyward and an 8th inning reliever who visits the DL on a yearly basis, in exchange for 4 years of a young, promising starter that 2 years ago was the best pitching prospect in baseball and we also got a AA pitcher with a good amount of potential as well. We fleeced the Cards, and it really isn't an argument. Other GMs reportedly believe we fleeced the Cards as well
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Walden's on the DL more than he's healthy the last year.
 
Braves have scored the third most runs in the NL. Just like we all thought in the offseason!
 
I don't expect this offense to continue. I don't expect AJ or KJ to hit like this. I do expect the pitching to get better. At least Tehran and Wood.

I said at the beginning of the year that this could be a year where 87 wins division. I still think there is enough talent in the division that 3-4 teams could be in the low 80s.

We will see.
 
Russ2dollas said:
I don't expect this offense to continue. I don't expect AJ or KJ to hit like this. I do expect the pitching to get better. At least Tehran and Wood.

I said at the beginning of the year that this could be a year where 87 wins division. I still think there is enough talent in the division that 3-4 teams could be in the low 80s.

We will see.
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Just need Tehearn/Wood to turn it around. The pitching is absolutely there and the offense is just working this year.
 
Julio3000 said:
Yes, indeed. He was one of my favorite Braves back in the day and it's nice to see him doing so well. One might even say he's the best swinging Johnson on the club these days.

This is a pretty likable team, IMO. I like what Gomes and KJ bring to the park every day. Another guy I really appreciate is Cameron Maybin. Every shot of him on the bench, even when he wasn't starting, he's looked positive, smiling and engaged in the game, genuinely congratulating his teammates, et al. He's seemed like he's happy to be here and be contributing to the team. That's not to be taken for granted, considering that he came up as a top prospect and is cashing some pretty big checks. He's been able to handle being a role player on a mediocre team, and is making the most of his opportunity to get on the field.
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Re: Maybin. There isn't any reason not to believe that he can't be a contributor. If he can somehow be a 2-3 WAR player then thats going to make the Kimbrel trade a tremendous success, even if Wisler doesn't end up working out.
 
What would Jace Petersons numbers look like had he been playing everyday since the start of the season?
 
chop2chip said:
Re: Maybin. There isn't any reason not to believe that he can't be a contributor. If he can somehow be a 2-3 WAR player then thats going to make the Kimbrel trade a tremendous success, even if Wisler doesn't end up working out.
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Maybin has been an absolute steal so far. At one point he was the centerpiece in a deal for the greatest right handed hitter of the last 50 years and now he is a throw-in in a deal for a closer, albeit a great one. The guy swings and misses a bit more than I would like but he also had a good eye at the plate and hits the ball hard. I'm ok with having 1 or 2 of those type of guys in the lineup if they are surrounded by contact guys.
 
bravesnumberone said:
It's funny that with him pitching like an ACE and stepping up tonight and giving our bullpen a rest, you'd rather keep taking digs at Heyward.
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Only funny since if the tables were turned and Heyward was performing like KJ (or even Markakis) and Miller had a 4.50 ERA and couldn't consistently give us more than 5 innings the Heyward crowd would be cackling quite a bit louder.
 
If you go down the list of offensive stats, there are really only a couple of guys that might not be able to keep up their performances. AJ will decline in probably all areas. KJ will likely see a dip in the power numbers, but his OBP might go up a bit. Other than that there's no reason to think anyone else in the lineup can continue to do what they are doing. Maybin will likely decline, but he's been sharing time with EY Jr. If Fredi just replaces Maybin with the platoon then I think Maybin by himself could continue that production.

The biggest problem with our lineup may just wind up being depth. If the older guys get hurt, like you kind of expect then we don't really have a good replacement. Need Gomes and KJ to both stay healthy for the offense to continue to produce.
 
clvclv said:
Only funny since if the tables were turned and Heyward was performing like KJ (or even Markakis) and Miller had a 4.50 ERA and couldn't consistently give us more than 5 innings the Heyward crowd would be cackling quite a bit louder.
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It would be even more unbearable than it was in the offseason. Its funny how we aren't hearing about how awful John Hart is lately. Basically every big move that was made has worked out well so far. Still only a few months into the rebuild but I feel as if we are already ahead of schedule. Things can change quickly though.
 
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