Category Archives: Atlanta Braves

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It belongs in a museum!

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Indiana Jones hesitates to take the idol, unsure whether the Incas forged it during the steroid era.

Indiana Jones hesitates to take the idol, unsure whether the Incas forged it during the steroid era.


Maybe Indy wouldn’t be so upset about the Baseball Hall of Fame insanity that we’re subjected to in the new millennium, but I’m growing very weary. Today, around ten players who are obvious, no doubt, sure-fire first-ballot hall of famers were given the shaft by the collected baseball writers of America, most of whom were left out in the cold because they are proven/admitted/suspected steroid users and a few because the voters have no understanding of how to measure greatness.
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Craig Kimbrel For Cy Young

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The NL Cy Young race is exceptionally close this season. There are about 15 pitchers in the National League that are in position to win the award, one of whom is Aroldis Chapman. The case for Chapman was laid out by Jayson Stark in this piece – http://espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/stark_jayson/id/8265725/the-case-aroldis-chapman-winning-national-league-cy-young-award.

The central argument is that Chapman, a reliever, is the dominant pitcher of the year, more so than any other starter. But is he even the best relief pitcher in the NL?
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Atlanta – April 25th

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There is much to take away from the Brave’s comeback victory in the rubber match of the series, not the least of which is the overpowering strength of the Atlanta bullpen, but for my money it’s the nature of Manager Mattingly – the guy seems both timid and conventional, styles that can work well when you walk into a knife fight with a gun, but tend to work less well when you have the talent level of the 2012 Los Angeles Dodgers. Continue reading →

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Atlanta – April 24th

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The Dodgers go for a league leading 14th win.  Spoiler: They do not succeed.

Much of any team’s success is dependent on the back end of the rotation, so while we justly praise players like Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels (All on the same team?  Really?) the reality is you still need about 70 starts and 350+ innings from guys who aren’t ever going to be on the cover of Sports illustrated. Continue reading →

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Atlanta – April 23rd

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L.A. is off to an impressive start at 12-4 entering a six-game homestand against the Braves of Atlanta and the Nationals.  This is partly a result of playing the Padres and Pirates, but still, the best record in baseball is the best record in baseball.  It is also perhaps more directly the result of Matt Kemp’s early season barrage on National League pitching.  Some numbers through Monday’s game:

Matt Kemp 2012 League Ranks:

• 1st in NL in BA (.460)

 • 1st in NL in HR (9)

 • 1st in NL in RBI (22)

 • 1st in NL in R (18)

 • 1st in NL in OBP (.514)

• 1st in NL in SLG (.952)

 • 1st in NL in OPS (1.466)

At this pace, Kemp is on pace to hit 347 home runs and drive in 1,798.  These numbers may be wrong given that I just made them up instead of doing actual math.  But still, I think we all can all agree Kemp is not a terrible player.

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