FanPost

In regards to Mr. Roy Halladay and our pitching

If you've checked out MLBTraderumors.com the past few days, you'll notice one man's name ALL over the place: Roy Halladay. Don't get me wrong, Roy is a phenomenal pitcher. We all saw first hand how great he is when he dominated the Bravos in late May. His stuff moves all over the place, and he has total control of the ballgame, without blowing anyone away.

But as great as Mr. Halladay is, the Braves really don't have a need for him. Our worst pitcher, Derek Lowe, is 7-7 with a 4.56 ERA. How many teams in baseball would LOVE if their 5th starter (i know Lowe is our "ace", but i'd take Javy, JJ and Tommy over him anyday of the week and most likely KK as well) to have the numbers Lowe has? And those W-L numbers are a horrible reflection of how our pitchers have pitched. Its a joke Javy, JJ and KK are all under .500.

Lets take a look at teams who, like the Braves, don't have a need for the stud pitcher:

Again, the teams crossed out are teams that need Halladay's services.

NL East: Braves Phillies Mets Marlins Nationals

NL Central: Cardinals Brewers Cubs Reds Astros Pirates

NL West: Dodgers Giants Rockies Padres Dbacks

So that means only 3 teams in the NL besides the Braves don't need Halladay.

AL East: Red Sox Yankees Rays Orioles

AL Central: Tigers Twins Royals White Sox Indians

AL West: Angels Rangers A's Mariners

And that also means only 3 teams in the AL don't need Halladay.

So out of the other 29 teams in baseball, only 6 can say they're pitching comes close to the Braves.

The Braves are 6th in ERA (And that number has been falling quickly since Hanson our 5th starter 2nd/3rd best starter has arrived), not to mention we're 7th in K's, 1st in HR allowed, 4th in GO/AO ratio, 5th in total runs allowed, 6th in team WHIP and are tied in 4th place for Shutouts.

Not bad at all.

And as for the 6 other teams in the same category as the Bravos, 4 are in first place or the wild card lead.

Lets take a look at DLowe (our worst starter as of late) and the Phillies, Mets and Marlins #3 starters and see how they compare:

Joe Blanton: 5-4 4.79ERA 96IP 85K/32BB 18HRS (LOL) 1.43 WHIP .336 opp. BA

Mike Pelfrey: 5-4 4.62ERA 91.2IP 47K/34BB 6HRS 1.52 WHIP .354 opp. BA

Ricky Nolasco 6-6 5.42ERA 84IP 82K/20BB 10HRS 1.37WHIP .321 opp. BA

Derek Lowe: 7-7 4.56ERA 106.2IP 56K/36BB 4 HRS 1.43WHIP .328 opp. BA

So if my logic is correct, the Phillies, Mets and Marlins #3 are equal or worse than our #5. Blanton, Pelfrey and Nolasco couldn't even smell a starting spot if they were on the Braves.

I know the bullpen will blow an occasional lead in the 8th, but hey, who's bullpen doesn't? And I know DLowe hasn't been very good lately, but he's quite a bit better than most team's #3 starter. Our pitching staff is REALLY good. Plain and simple. As mentioned before, the 3rd starters on the three other NL East teams couldn't even smell a starting spot in our rotation, and this isn't even including their 4th and 5th starters. Our starters work their butts off almost every start, and the bullpen backs 'em up almost every time they're call upon.

Like Rob Neyer wrote earlier today, DONT GIVE UP ON THE ATLANTA BRAVES. We have the pitching to carry us, and as long as the offense can get a couple of runs along the way, i'm optimistic about our chances the rest of the way. Go Braves.

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Battery Power.