CURRENT STATE OF THE BRAVES

 The Braves have had a tough week- the negative press about the Roger Mcdowell situation and the DUI that Derek Lowe got were disappointing. But whats more dissappointing to me is the braves are 4-7 at home. They are 6 games behind the Phillies and  right now there bullpen is struggling. Craig Kimbrel is a rookie so I know he will have highs and lows during his first full season. I just hope his lows will be at the start of season rather then end of it- that being sad its not fun to see him struggle right now. When you have your 8th and 9th inning guys with less then 3 years of Mlb experience it does concern you a little but. I still have alot of high hopes for Kimbrel and Venters though. Im confident they will be successful this year. I wouldnt be too suprised to see the braves eventually make a move for some more veteran help in the bullpen

The offense is still struggling- Uggla hasnt hit anything yet. Heyward is hot and cold. Alex Gonzalez seems to blame his struggles more on the umpire then he does himself. This offense needs to step it up. The starting pitching so far has done well. Brandon Beachy doesnt have the wins to show for it but hes  pitched very well. I hope the offense will start scoring more runs for him soon. Its  too early for major concerns but the bullpen has shown it cant fully hold leads and AGAIN this offense is problematic.. I hope as the weather gets warmer the Braves offense will too... by the way  what are your thoughts on Fredi Gonzalez first month as manager???

BRAVES SWEEP THE GIANTS!!

 I dont know about you but Im pumped after this weekends series with the Giants- Beat Lincecum, swept the Giants the team that won world series/ team that ended our season last year. Its not only we swept them but the way we did. The offense hit well- got the big hits when we needed. The pitching rotation pitched well also.I  will say I think the Braves bullpen is being overworked and Peter Moylan being hurt right now is a big loss out there. But Im encouraged by the offense and I will give props to Nate Mcclouth who has hit better in the 8 hole. I was also encouraged by Heywards weekend series because he hadnt hit anything the past 10 days. I hope hes turned the corner. The Braves got to within a game of .500 again which is a step- But now they need to step it up even more because Philly has the best record in baseball and with that pitching staff you wont see them go on many 5-6 game losing streaks. I  dont think the Braves are close to  hitting where they will be but Im more confident in the team now then I was a week ago. I hope the team is more confident to and can go to San Diego and handle business there just like the Phillies did this weekend. Good teams need to capitalize on bad teams. The Braves  have struggled most of April but I hope the sweep this weekend will  get them the fresh of breath air they need to really go hard  and start puting long win streaks together.

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.

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.

OFF TO A 3-4 START

Iam honestly not really concerned about the Braves 3-4  start to season- I believe the offense is just feeling itself out and will get it together and produce- Freeman doesnt suprise me because he is a rookie and I knew he would have  times where he played like it. I do think he will eventually contribute though. I will say this - Dan Uggla's defense hasnt impressed me at all- there have been some balls I thought he should have gotten to that he missed. It makes me miss Prado being there. Our bullpen has been great and the starters have done well so far. I think the Braves have been weary being away from Atlanta so long. I fully expect them to do well after  sleeping  in there own beds and  being able to come to turner field ready to handle buisness. It is way too early in the season to be worried- I trust the offense will come together and produce and the pitching will continue to carry this team. If Mcclouth doesnt start hitting and Freeman looks more like a star struck rookie then a Rookie with potential then yeh I will begin to scratch my head- but at 3-4 I'm not losing any sleep over it.

BRAVES WEAKNESS IN 2011

 I think the defense will again hurt us. I dont think we will be the 2 or 3rd worst defensive team like we were last year but I dont think we will be a great  defensive team. I  hope that Iam wrong though- defense comes up huge in the playoffs.. Its not suprising that the teams that make the playoffs normally are all good defensive teams.I also worry about  center field position. Is Nate Mcclouth going to produce this year? Is he right for the number 2 spot in the batting order?? These are my 2 concerns for this team this year.What do you think will be the weakness of this team this year?

OPENING DAY- PREDICTIONS & EXPECTATIONS FOR 2011

Less then 12 hours from now the Atlanta Braves will begin there quest for deep playoff run in 2011. I know Philly is getting all the hype in the National League East But I really like the makeup of this Braves team. They are young in some areas- but they have major talent. Iam still concerned about Chipper Jones even though he killed it in spring training. I do think Nate Mcclouth will produce decently this year. I expect Freddie Freeman to struggle some as all rookies do butyou cant deny the power this guy has. The offense shouldnt be a burden as much as it was last year for us and the pitching again will be the power of this team. I think Philly will do good this year but pound for pound the Braves pitching depth is better, the relief core is better, the overall offense is better- and the Braves  starting 5 can match up with phillies in a 7 game series. I think Philly and Atlanta will go down to the last 3 games of the season. I think the Braves will suprise and impress many people in baseball this year and win the division- and I think they are strong enough to go to the world series- if they stay healthy.  They are my world series pick from the national League- I think they will win divison by 2 games and I think they will beat philly in playoffs- but it will not be easy by any means.. what do yall think???