That Closer Situation

After watching C. Reitsma almost lose the game Sunday, I can't help but ask when is enough; enough! The Braves seem to be cursed at closer since John Smoltz decided to return to the starting rotation last year. Lack of funds have also played a part. With the recent success of Atlanta's youth movement, I think the Braves have hoped for one of their young arms to fall into the closer's role, but for some reason Reitsma was brought back. What can the team do to "seal the deal" in the ninth?
It's already happening with the closer by committe approach. McBride, Ray, Remlinger, Reitsma will all be used in some variation to close the game. Ken Ray has 2 saves already and he could be eased into the closer. I'm anticipating another late July deal from Mr. Schuerholz.

What if Smoltz comes back to closer? If he did then the other problem would getting to him in the ninth. Does anyone have any suggestions of what the Braves should do?

From Joy to Aggrevation

After a nice holiday weekend, the Braves were able to sweep the Cubs and drop one to the Dodgers. What a crazy series with the Cubbies. Zambrano almost pulled a no hitter and the Braves eventually win the game. Atlanta lead by a few in the 9th and Reitsma blows the game, but we came back and won thanks to a headshot from Aramis Ramirez. Horacio looked much better than I anticipated in his return. If he can get rolling, that will be a huge plus to the rotation.
Yesterday's game was downright ugly. 3 E's in the 1st inning!! That kinda set the tone of how this game would turn out. The Dodgers kept scoring as soon as the Braves would creep back into the game. Two more games today & tommorrow with the Dodger Blue before a pretty big 4 game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Jones Bros. Strike Again...

For the second time this season the Braves have taken 2/3 out of the Padres. Andruw broke out of his lack of HR funk with 2 jacks last night. Chippa joined in on the fun with 4 hits while Renteria also homered. Thomson got the win despite giving up 6 runs on 8 hits. Atlanta will have an off day today before heading to Wrigley Field to face a really bad Cubs team. The Marlins just finished sweeping the Cubs, and we swept the Marlins last week so, this should be a easy street, right? Here are the probables for the weekend series.

Fri: Hudson (4-3 3.95) vs. Zambrano (3-2 3.53)

Sat: Ramirez (0-0 15.00) vs. Marshall (3-2 5.29)

Sun: Smoltz (4-2 3.12) vs. Wood (0-1 6.30)

Bobby wants to get Horacio back into the swing of things. Ramirez wasn't successfull during his rehab stint in the minors and probably will continue that pace Saturday. If HoRam can stay healthy for any period of time he probably be dealt as soon as possible. This guy just can't seem to stay healthy and pitch effectively. The Braves still have hopes of a return to his rookie season days, I believe he went 12-3. At one time in the past the Reds were contemplating to deal Austin Kearns for HoRam, I doubt they'll do that today. The return of Kerry Wood. Not what the Cubs were hoping. Wood may not even start Sunday's game. Wood's right shoulder is sore and giving him some trouble, so Glendon Rusch might step in his place.

**New poll has been added. Be sure to check it out.

Can't Blame Jorge Sosa...

You just can't stand to see games come out this way. Your starting pitcher does his job but your team can't suffice a win. Sosa not only pitched well but also provided the only run for the Braves. A solo shot in the sixth is all the Braves would get. Sosa has 2 hits this season, both being homeruns. The Mets beat the Phillies in 16 innings. The Muts remain 5 ahead while the Phils are still 1 up on the Braves.

What happened to Razor Shines?

I was looking through some cards and came across an '86 Topps card of Razor Shines. That has to be one of the coolest names I've ever heard of. Shines who's full name is Anthony Razor Shines played in the majors from 1983-1987 with the Montreal Expos. Early in the 1985 season an upcoming prospect was given the chance to start as Shines was later demoted; that prospect's name was Andres Galaragga. Shines did not shine in the majors only appearing 68 games, batting .185 with 0 HR's and 5 RBI's. Altough he had good success in the minor leagues as he had 134 HR's and over 700 RBI's. Where is he now? Currently Razor is a manager for one of the Chicago White Sox affiliates.

Atlanta tops Padres

Special thanks to Langy and Chippa for providing the gracious run support. Jake Peavy striking out 16 Braves plus getting the loss; How often does that happen? Thankfully Smoltzy also brought his A game to PETCO. This is the second time this year Smoltz & Peavy have battled with Atlanta coming out on top. The Braves have pulled themselves back over .500 to 23-22.

Snake Bite

Dropping 2/3 to the D'backs was not pretty. I'm not even going to bring up Saturday's game. Travis Smith, or Mr. HR Derby should remain in minors. In fact, Brayan Pena was called up after Saturday's game while Smith was sent back down. Friday we blew, Reets blew it. Reitsma isn't a closer, he's a setup guy. He's now blown 3/10 save opportuinities. Yesterday we sqeaked by with three hits off of Juan Cruz?...What, he's starting now. Hudson continues the strong outings and this time he's getting the wins.
How long will Brian McCann be out? He took a shot from Brynes, and is listed day-2-day. My guesstimation will be that he'll miss the San Diego series and at the earliest play in the Cubs series or the latest the return home against the Dodgers.
The Padres are next up for the Bravos. Back in April, Atlanta took 2/3 at the Ted. The probables for the series are:

Mon: Smoltz (3-2 3.47) vs. Peavy (3-4 3.77) 10:05ET Turner South

Tues: Sosa (1-5 5.55) vs. Mike Thompson (1-0 5.40) 10:05ET TBS

Wed: Thomson (1-3 2.76) vs. Chris Young (3-2 3.58) 10:05ET TBS

As usual, late starts for the West Coast games. Have your Mountain Dews handy.

Bring out the Brooms....

As of right now, the Braves lead 9-1 in the bottom of the 8th. A win today will give them a 4 game sweep of the Florida Marlins. After coming back in every game Atlanta has flat out dominated this one. Jorge Sosa is on his way to his first victory of the season, about time! Frenchie has homered twice while Sosa fanned 8. Atlanta has needed wins like these for a while, a funk had been creeping in before the Braves were able to knock it out. Starting tommorrow Atlanta will visit Arizona for a three game set.

Fri: Thomson (1-3 1.87) vs. Vargas (4-2 5.25)

Sat: TBA (0-0) vs. Batista (3-2 4.44)

Sun: Hudson (3-3 4.50) vs. Webb (6-0 2.78)

Not sure for Saturday's game. A decision will probably be made sometime today. Anthony Lerew was called up when Davies went to the DL. Lerew maybe sent back down since Cormier will return to the pen. Travis Smith is a high possibility for Saturday's game. Then again, Chuck James or HoRam may get the call. We shall find out soon enough.

Comeback and Comeback Again....

Atlanta has reached the .500 mark and are just 4.5GB. We are also the only team in the division with a winning streak (3 games).
Holy Cow!,what a series. Hopefully this boost will continue on as the series wraps up today. C'mon on Sosa, you have to win now! On a somber note, Kyle Davies is out indefintely with a torn groin which will require surgery. In comparison this is similar to Nomar's injury last year in which he missed 3 months of the season. If everything goes right I think Davies could return in August. Chuck James and Lance Cormier will be returning to pen soon as they've had successful rehab stints. There's even been hints that James could be placed in the rotation. Horacio is close to a return, but probably another injury will soon follow.

Braves comeback...

Sorry for the sluggish posting, I have a little busy as of late. After this weekend the Braves took 2/3 from the Nats, and have started the series 1 up on the Marlins. For the most part the bats are coming alive. Last night the Braves managed to leave 11 on base, but scored 11 runs on 2 outs. Kyle Davies struggled for another outing and has now landed on the DL with either a torn or strained groin. Right now Kyle has been placed on the 15-day but it could be possibly longer. Bobby wants Horacio to make one more minor league appearence before getting back into the rotation. So who will take the empty spot? Look out for another Travis Smith outing. Smith usually gives up a couple of homeruns a game during his tenure. Here's your matchups for the rest of the week:

Tues: Hudson 3-3 (4.67) vs. Willis 1-4 (6.22)

Wed: Smoltz 3-2 (3.44) vs. Nolasco 2-1 (4.15)

Thurs: Sosa 0-5 (6.52) vs. Olsen 2-2 (5.16)

Last week if you recall Willis was hammered by the Braves, and Huddy pitched magnifico. Will it happen, again? Atlanta has a good chance to take this series and very well should. After this series, the team will venture out west before ending up at Wrigley.

Adam LaRoche

Maybe I should stop being so critical on the guy. The link provides an enciteful article on Adam LaRoche and his ADD disorder.

Mid-Season Fantasy League

Yahoo! is running their midseason fantasy league signups starting Monday. Some of you may already be in a fantasy league, and some of you may have missed signups at the start of the season, but all is welcome. It's free. Leave a comment if you would like to join, also you must have a yahoo account to play and signup for that is free as well. I think I'm going to keep the league as "National League" only. It keeps things interesting.

Nationals @ Braves Weekend Preview

What went wrong with Dontrelle Willis? He's really having trouble connecting with the strike zone. The Braves hammered Willis and Hudson produced another fine performance as Atlanta hooked the Marlins 9-1.
This weekend Atlanta head home to start a seven game homestand begining with the Washington Nationals tonight. The Braves are 1-1 against the Nats this year with a previously postponed game reset for September. Smoltz will take the hill tonight, it was questionalbe whether or not he would pitch or not. Here's your probables for the weekend.

Fri: Smoltz 2-2 (3.72) vs. Ramon Ortiz 0-3 (5.88)

Sat: Sosa 0-5 (6.17) vs. Michael O'Conner 2-1 (2.12)

Sun: Thomson 1-2 (1.88) vs. Tony Armas 3-2 (3.58)

This is a good series for the Braves to continue teeing off on opposing pitching. The Nats come into the series 4-6 the month of May, while the Braves are coming off a series win against Florida. I think Smoltz will dominate tonight, maybe even go the distance. Jorge Sosa, how will he do? I'm not really familiar with O'Conner but based on previous experience the Bravos tend to struggle against the unfamiliar pitchers. Sunday's game could be the pitching duel of the series, but every time I say that it tends to go the other way.

Blah! Frustration sets In...

This game turned out to be the almost exact opposite of the night before. Kyle Davies probably had the worst outing of the season thus far. Renteria's hitting streak ended at 24 games and the Braves were blown out by perhaps the worst team in the National League. Today's game features two marquee pitchers, Huddy and the D-Train. When was the last time you've seen these two have ERA's over 5.00. Willis has been hit hard as of late while Hudson went through a seventh inning meltdown against the Mets over the weekend. Most of you already know, but I would like to point out some transactions that have happened over the past week and a half.

Chuck James (5/6), Lance Cormier (5/3) were sent to the 15-day DL.

Peter Moylan was activated (5/3).

Horacio Ramirez came off the 15 day DL (5/6), just to be sent back the next day (5/7).

John Foster has been transferred to the 60 day DL (5/9). Chad Paronto was activated from Richmond (5/9).

Macay McBride is back to add another lefty to banged up pen.

Foster is pretty much done for the year. I'm not sure what the deal is with HoRam but this guy can't seem to stay healthy for any long period.

5/9: Braves @ Marlins

I come back from vacation and find out the Braves have been badly losing. Right now the Braves are handling the Marlins, up 10-1 in the 7th. There's not really a need to go back over the week and review each game. It's been a rocky road trip before Atlanta arrived in Florida tonight. This is what the team needs to get things rolling again. The Braves have 2 more w/Fla. and then head back home for three against Washington and four against those Marlins again. Counting the game tonight that leaves 10 games in which the Braves can get back into rhythm. And ocne again...the season is young.

No need for a recap.....

Boooo...bullpen blunders yet again. Tonight's game should yet another pitching duel as John Thomson and Cory Lidle battle it out. Thomson, will he get his first win? Let's hope so. Thomson has pitched too good to not be winning.

Mini-Sweep of the Rockies....Back on the Road

Nice series. The team needed this boost as we go on the road for an 8 game interdivisional trip. The bullpen came to the rescue last night as Jorge Sosa once again got into trouble in the 6th. Take away the 3 HR's and he did fairly decent. Regardless a win is a win. Hopefully this will be the start of a hot streak for Marcus Giles. Giles went 4/5 with the gw rbi. So far this week the bats have sprung into action. Tonight we'll be playing a Phillies team that has looked similar to the Braves of late. The Phils just completed a 3 game sweep of the Marlins. On the hill tonight will be:

Wed: John Smoltz 1-2 (4.09) vs. Brett Myers 2-1 (3.23)

Thurs: John Thomson 0-1 (1.32) vs. Cory Lidle 2-3 (4.40)

Starting Friday we'll begin another weekend series against the Mets but this time we'll face the backend of the rotation Trachsel/Zambrano/Maine.

MLB: Early Season Suprises

April is over and we are roughly 25 games into the season. What suprises has the young season seen thus far. Let's take a look at each division.

AL East: Who do you think would be leading this division, the Devil Rays? It's back to the grindstone between the Yankees and the Red Sox. This year an encouraging third party is getting in the mix. The Toronto Blue Jays will compete in the division taking away the 2 horse show from past years. The verdict is still out on Baltimore. The O's started out hot last year, but only to fire their manager by season's end.

AL Central: The Chicago White Sox are in first place to start the month of May. No suprise their, these guys are your defending champions. Just 1.5 games back are the Detroit Tigers! Their backed by the old captian of the Pirate ship Jim Leyland. Wait, we've seen this before, remember a few years back, Kansas City started out strong. The Tigers found a star in April by the name of Chris Shelton. For a time Shelton and Pujols were home runs on a daily basis. Cleveland is at 13-13, there a good team with a bright future. The most dissapointing from this division are the Minnesota Twins. Are they giving up already? The Twins are 9-16 and on a 4 game skid. Could those Tori Hunter trade rumors become true by July?

AL West: Same old song and dance for the West. These teams usually stay so tight during the year that the standings are in continuous change. The Rangers have the lead now, but tommorrow Oakland could jump ahead. This division is a tough call.

NL East: Obviously this is the most talked about division since this is for the most part a Braves blog. The Mets have a 6 game lead over the Phillies and Braves. A majority of people have predicted the Mets to be the ones to dethrone Atlanta as divisional champs. I'm not worried at all. There's too much baseball left to start claiming who wins what. Florida and Washington will battle it out for the cellar.

NL Central: The Cinncinati Reds maybe the biggest suprise thus far. Bronson Arroyo has been a huge impact for the Reds staff. Who would have ever predicted that? Brandon Phillips and Edwin Encarnacion have also been heavy contributors. Did you know this team is 13-5 since Griffey has been on the DL. Right behind them are the Red Birds, the St. Louis Cardinals. By some, the Cards have been picked to be World Series champions. After St. Louis comes the Astros, Cubs, Brewers, and Pirates. The Brewers started out 5-0 before hitting a losing skid and are now back to winning. The Cubs have had a string of bad luck with D. Lee out for a few months. Will Prior/Wood ever be healthy? I think the Astros have a good shot at winning the division when it's said and done. Will Clemens return to Houston? Probably. The Astros also have my prepick for NL Cy Young: Roy Oswalt. Finnally, Pittsburgh will continuing losing.

NL West: Before the season, I picked San Diego to win this division. Colorado currently are 1.5 games up on San Francisco. Both West divisions are similar in the sense that all of these teams will probably stay close throughout the season with the winner getting hot in September.

What happened to Joey Devine?

Lately, I've been wondering what happened to this kid. Here's a timeline of current events.

April 2nd-Devine is optioned to Triple A Richmond

April 6th-Devine is recalled from Richmond.

April 11th-Devine is sent back down to Richmond.

April 17th-Devine is demoted to Danville.

After the second drop to the minors, Joey spent a week at Richmond before being demoted again, this time to the rookie league club, Danville Braves. He's been aggrevated by a sore back which have caused control problems. From there, I can't find anything else on him. Devine maybe on injured reserve and when he gets healthy he begin at Danville and work his way back up to the majors. If anyone else knows anything different feel free to post.

Hudson: Marvelous

Tim Hudson is on top of his game. A one hit shutout of the Rockies was simply marvelous. The hit came at the expense of opposing pitcher Jason Jennings. Wait a minute, pitchers are supposed to be a sure out, right? Well Huddy came back with an RBI single of his own. Renteria's hitting streak continues on to 17 games. Atlanta will play them Rockies again tonight at 7:35ET.

Losing Streak Ends...Rockies @ Braves

Francoeur came to the rescue yesterday as Atlanta ended their 5 game losing streak. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of brighter things ahead. The Braves finished the month of April at 10-14. Not exactly what you want to see, but hey there's 5 months of baseball yet to come. The Braves begin a mini-series against those Colorado Rockies tonight. Were catching the Rockies during a hot streak of their own. Colorado is first place in the NL West, on a 4 game winning streak, and are 10-3 on the road. Don't let that get you down, last year we beat both Jennings and Cook.

Mon: Tim Hudson (1-2) 5.87 vs. Jason Jennings (1-1) 6.60

Tues: Jorge Sosa (0-4) 6.89 vs. Aaron Cook (2-3) 3.44