No Hudson, no Smoltz, no Glavine - no problem. The Atlanta Braves swept the Dodgers over the weekend behind the arms of Jeff Bennett, Chuck James and Jair Jurrjens and an offensive line-up that produced the big hits expected of it coming into the season.
Chipper Jones is hitting like a Hall of Famer right now. I brought up hitting .400 last week and felt a little silly about it. Not anymore. His bat is as hot as I can remember seeing one.
The weekend hopefully was the beginning of a turn-around for Mark Teixeira. He picked up some key RBIs against the Dodgers. Mark Kotsay is hitting the ball well, Jeff Francoeur is getting on base, Yunel Escobar is a tough out every time he steps to the plate...it is fun to be a Brave for a few days.
An interesting situation is playing out in left field. Bobby Cox moved Matt Diaz down to 8th in the batting order before platooning him with Gregor Blanco this weekend. The statistics don't lie - Diaz has been terrible against right-handed pitching this year, hitting just .182, and he has only two extra-base hits so far on the season. Blanco is an exciting player with speed who is a more natural 8th hitter than Diaz.
What is a natural 8th hitter, you ask? Blanco is more likely to get on base so the pitcher spot does not lead off an inning (which usually kills an inning). I suppose Diaz is more likely to produce an RBI, but not the way he is currently swinging the bat. It is sad to see a guy like Diaz finally get his shot to be an everyday player and get off to such a slow start, but the Braves have some young depth that means Cox does not have to watch him wave at bad pitches if he does not want to.
The Nationals come into town tomorrow - are the Braves playing them every other series? It sure feels like it.
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2 comments:
The Braves are on a roll! I think you're right about Chipper. I know it's still April, but damn . . . he's en fuego! You should do a Chipper Jones .400 tracker on the blog. Even if it only lasts through May, it might be fun.
Also, Smoltzie will probably get strikeout #3000 tonight. Is there really any doubt this guy is a first ballot hall of famer?
Great idea on the Chipper tracker - it is on the way.
No doubt on Smoltz, Glavine or Chipper. All first ballot.
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