03-02-2009, 12:39 AM
03-02-2009, 06:52 PM
Oh cool! So what's next for our Braves? Hopefully a championship? lol
03-02-2009, 06:56 PM
A few losses to the Redlegs maybe? 
03-02-2009, 07:11 PM
Hopefully a championship! woo! haha
03-03-2009, 03:10 AM
We can only hope. I miss Smoltzy already though. I had my fingers crossed on getting Rafael Furcal back. He was my faaaaaaaaavorite player from the first time he played with the Braves. Then he left and I was soooo sad. He got my hopes up this winter. Dang him.
03-03-2009, 04:26 AM
Hopefully our pitching rotation will give atleast 6 innings a game, so that we don't have to rely on our young bullpen. I think that the batting lineup is good enough to score 3-6 runs a game, but pitching is what will make or break the Braves.
03-03-2009, 06:52 PM
^ Agreed.
03-03-2009, 07:34 PM
Reds will be better than the Braves this year
03-03-2009, 08:29 PM
Oh lord. Then we're screwed if that's the truth!
03-03-2009, 08:33 PM
FOX SPORTS Wrote:Reds will be better than the Braves this year
I think that the Reds will win the wild-card outta the NL this season.
03-03-2009, 09:08 PM
The Reds usually start out pretty strong, but when it really matters the Reds true colors really shine. 
03-03-2009, 09:33 PM
Well, we'll see this year won't we?
03-04-2009, 01:51 AM
I'm excited to see Chris Dickerson this season now that he has a bigger role out in left field. I don't see the Reds getting their typical strong start, for once the pitching actually looks good in my eyes its just going to be a matter of scoring runs.
03-04-2009, 04:35 PM
FOX SPORTS Wrote:Reds will be better than the Braves this year
The Reds weren't better than the Braves last year even when ATL lost their entire pitching rotation to injury.
I predict the Braves finish at .500 (+ or - 6 games) and finish 3rd in the East behind the Phillies and Mets.
The Braves are in a "down stretch" but with young superstars like McCann Jurrjens, and Escobar,,, coupled with farm system phenoms like Hanson, Shaeffer, and Hayward. The future looks very bright.
The Braves sseason this year varies directly with these 4 things:
- Chipper's Health
- Hudson's Health
- Franceour's batting
- How many innings Lowe, Kawikami, Vasquez, and Glavine can eat up.
If those four things all work out, the Braves contend for the World Series. If none of those things end favorably Braves end up as bad as Cincy (15 or more games below .500).
03-04-2009, 08:32 PM
EKUAlum05 Wrote:The Reds weren't better than the Braves last year even when ATL lost their entire pitching rotation to injury.
I predict the Braves finish at .500 (+ or - 6 games) and finish 3rd in the East behind the Phillies and Mets.
The Braves are in a "down stretch" but with young superstars like McCann Jurrjens, and Escobar,,, coupled with farm system phenoms like Hanson, Shaeffer, and Hayward. The future looks very bright.
The Braves sseason this year varies directly with these 4 things:
- Chipper's Health
- Hudson's Health
- Franceour's batting
- How many innings Lowe, Kawikami, Vasquez, and Glavine can eat up.
If those four things all work out, the Braves contend for the World Series. If none of those things end favorably Braves end up as bad as Cincy (15 or more games below .500).
You are off...The Braves season will not be influenced by hudson's health simply because he isn't scheduled to come back until August anyway, so basically if he does come back it'll be a plus but they are not worried about him right now..
IMO the Braves have a better team than the Mets. I don't get how you figure they'll finish 3rd behind the Mets because for one the Braves have a stronger rotation and just as good lineup. The only thing the Mets have on the Braves is a top closer. Both teams have a sketchy bullpen right now.
The Phillies are the clear favorite but don't be surprised to see the Braves right there in the mix the whole season.
Francouer is going to be the achillies heel for the Braves offense this year. If he can rework his swing and come back hitting a good average then all is well, but if not don't look for him to be a Brave at season's end, or at the trading deadline is he is heavily struggling.
The Braves rotation looks to be good based on the spring training production. Kawakami faced the Yankees today and pitched 3 scoreless innings allowing 2 hits and 0 runs, walking 3 and striking out 2. He got out of trouble and is 2-0 this spring. Vazquez is the biggest question on what he can contribute and which Vazquez we see because he has been inconsistent throughout most of hid career. If Glavine is healthy then anything he can contribute is definitely a plus. As for Lowe, he'll be a really good pitcher for the Braves throughout his contract IMO, he has good ball control and a good mixup of pitches. Hanson, the prized prospect, will be up in the majors by the summer and is pitching great right now.
The 2nd biggest overall question for the Braves is how will the outfield produce, compared to 2008. With G. Anderson in left and Francouer in right, it's believed either Josh Anderson or Jordan Schafer will man center. The Braves had the worst outfield in the majors last year.
Things to look for in 2009:
* Hanson in rotation by July
* Francouer traded if struggling
* Vazquez traded (teams always looking for pitching and if the Braves are healthy by July he'll be traded to make way for Hanson)
* Braves contending whole season, make playoffs through wild card.
* Chipper playing in contract year (unless extension is reached)