Thursday, April 14, 2011

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE LINEUP- BRAVES OFF TO A ROUGH START

I think its time Fredi  has to do something- the braves  are struggling right now- they cant get the big hit and  the offense isnt producing much period. I think Nate Mcclouth in the #2  spot is a big mistake. Hes not producing enough to be hitting in front of Chipper.  Maybe they need to try him at leadoff and have Prado hitting 2nd or move Mcclouth down in the order and have Heyward hitting 2nd. I think Fredi right now looks alot like Bobby Cox- stuck in his own ways and not agressive enough. Why didnt Fredi  let Matt Young steal tonight to put him in scoring position for the potential winning run? When are the Braves goin to start running and manufactoring runs like the best teams in Baseball do? Yes it is early in the season but how long can you  keep on going with  this lineup thats not producing?? Come on now changes need to be made.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

MY THOUGHTS AFTER BRAVES FIRST 10 GAMES

 The Atlanta Braves are  4-6..It  is  still   way  to  early  to  be concerned-baseball  is  a  long   season BUT I can  say that Iam dissappointed in the way the Braves  played vs Philly. The  pitching  has been  great-I  feel bad  for  Derek  Lowe-he has  pitched great in his 3 starts this  year   but  only   has  one win to show for it. The Phillies have suprised me   how well  they have  started the season   offensively scoring  7  runs a  game-the Braves offense has been the opposite-so far they have not had the big hits or the big innings.You have to  tip your hat to Roy Oswalt for his preformance saturday and Cole Hamels  pitched  great sunday.

The  Braves offense  will  come  around Iam confident in that. I think Freddi  Gonzalez  should try shaking  things up  a  little bit- move  Mcclouth down  in  the order-give Eric Hinske a start at  first  base.I think Freddy Freeman will  be good  eventually  but  Im not   suprised  one  bit  by his struggles. I  have been presently suprised with  Chipper Jones- he really  looks  good. I would  love to  see the  Braves be  more   agressive manufactoring  runs. In the home opener Friday  night the Phillies  stole  3  bases in the first inning-thats  more steals   then the Braves  have for the season..The best teams in baseball have speed and know  how  manufacture the runs. The Braves  for  the  last  20  years have never done that-and I believe thats why the only   have one Championship to show for it. Thats a  big reason why Nate Mcclouth  is so  important to  the Braves  this year. He has  great speed but hes not  hitting  to  get on  base  to   steal some. The  Braves offense would  be  so  much  better if we had those guys who  could  get on and steal   bases- but  they sit back and wait for the 3 run  homerun   and it doesnt come often enough. Iam   fully confident that Dan Uggla  will  come  around and produce for us.Its still way to early to  panic but  losing 2 of  3 to  the Phillies in the home opening  weekend  was dissappointing.The Phillies out pitched,out hit,out ran and  did everything the Braves didnt do  to win 2 of 3 games.I hope to see different results starting Tuesday with Florida.