MY THOUGHTS ON BRAVES 2012 SEASON

It wasnt an exciting offseason for Braves fans. The bitter taste of blowing an 8.5 game lead in September isnt soon to be forgotten, the team didnt upgrade much at all so there hasnt been too much to get excited about. A slow spring start only made the tension worse. But a new season is upon us

 I think the offense will be better-  theres no doubt about it that injuries affected the collapse of 2011. Getting Martin Prado back healthy will help the offense, I think the biggest key though is Jason Heyward.This team is in serious trouble if he repeats the 2011 Heyward we saw. Im saying it now I believe he will be good and be a bright spot for our offense. I can see him hitting  22 home runs with 85 RBI. I think hes too good to be a bust.I think Mccann will have a big year for us and bounce back from the worst September of his life in 2011.

I am concerned about Chipper Jones. I think hes going to miss ALOT OF GAMES. I  just cant see him staying healthy. and if he gets hurt we move Prado to third base who plays left field? Eric Hinske? I think Hinske is great- but hes a top guy off the bench not an everyday player.I respect Chipper to the fullest but I do think him & his $14 million contract will hurt this team. I will be shocked if he plays more then 120 games. I dont think the braves will get much of any production from the short stop position.I do think the kid Simmons is the best option for us- we need  defense up the middle to help the young pitchers we have.

I get super excited when I think about havin Michael Bourne with this offense for an entire season. hes goin to hit .300 and get on base and steal 60 bases. I hope him stealing will rubb off on other players- the braves have got to start putting pressure on defenses by running and taking bases. We cant just rely on Bourne to cause chaos on the basepaths. I do think this offense  will highly benefit from a full season with Bourne leading off though. He changes the dynamics of the offense alot. He has got to get on base and make pitchers worry about him swipping bases though. Keep the pressure on the defense and pitchers and let Chipper,Mac,Uggla, and Heyward get good mistakes pitches to hit. Last season the braves couldnt get a big hit with runners in scoring positon to save there life- That has to change in 2012. Good teams get the big hits when they need them. The braves have got to take advantage of chances when there presented.

I know many will disagree with me here but I have big worries about the starting rotation- Hudson is 36 and has back issues, Hanson is great but has shoulder problems, Jurrjens is a stud who cant stay healthy for more then 2 years in a row. Brandon Beachy is a   good young pitcher but he throws too many pitches which leaves him gased by the 6th inning. and then you have Mike Minor whose looked great this spring but Im personally not sold on yet and Delgado and Teheran- which are both good but there rookies. Can you really count on 3 young guys with less then 1.5 years in the big leagues to pitch you into the playoffs and win big games down the stretch?? Im  just see us having big issues with health and too many young pitchers to have big success from our rotation. I think the braves are going to almost have to make a trade at some  point for a proven veteran to pitch in big games down the stretch. Do you really wanna see Delgado or Minor or Teheran pitching in September  middle of playoff race on the road in Philly, or Washington, or St Louis? I dont... there too young to handle it.Experience is the best too- but this team will need innings and your not going to get more then 5 innings from Minor, Teheran, Delgado and Beachy at times. Our bullpen is going to get burned.. but luckily our bullpen is the best in baseball.

Kimbrel and Venters are lights out at the end of the game, You throw in Oflaherty and Medlen and you have a very deep talented pen. If Peter Moylan can come back and produce then this bullpen may  be one of the best ever. I love Kris Medlen . I think he is so underrated. He is a starting pitcher whose putting the team first and going to pitch out of the pen- he will give you the long inning relief and give you quality innings. You cant forget about Christhian Martinez either. He threw alot of long big innings out of the bullpen last year. I hope the Braves will at some point move Kris Medlen to the rotation where I think he is best suited- but until then he will be  apart of the best bullpen in baseball.I just hope that the lack of innings our starters will throw wont overuse the bullpen. Just because we have multiple weapons in the pen doesnt mean we need to use them EVERY night.

I dont think this team is good enough to win the divison but I wouldnt rule it out totally. I think the injuries philly has to Howard and Utley will keep the braves in the race but the braves have got to get off to a hot start and get some distance between them and philly before philly starts to get there key players back from injury. I think the Nationals are a team on the rise and they always give the braves fits.  The national league  East is to me the second toughest divison in baseball. The only team I cant see being a factor is the Mets.I think if the Braves rotation stays healthy and Heyward bounces back then the offense will score enough runs for the Braves to win alot of games

.I think this team will make the playoffs as the wild card team- health is a #1 factor though. we have to stay healthy for a shot at the playoffs.If we start having injuries I dont think this team will make the playoffs and if it does we wont go far in it.But if we stay healthy I think this team can compete with anybody in the national League. Heyward stepping up and getting back to form, and the rotations health and the young guys stepping in and pitching well and giving us innings will show us how far this team can go.I like this team alot.. I just dont like its manager too much- but thats a story for another day.. what do you all think about the 2012  Braves?