The Braves are Sixth

by gondeee on Apr 6, 2010 3:45 PM EDT

Jason Heyward is one of the big reasons that the Atlanta Braves are so high in the MLB Power Rankings.

Two different MLB power rankings are out in the first week of the season, and both list the Atlanta Braves as the sixth-best team in baseball. In fact the same five teams are in front of the Braves in each ranking. Here is the SB Nation power ranking for week 1:

Yankees
Red Sox
Rays
Phillies
Cardinals
Braves
Angels
Rangers
Twins
Rockies

And here is the ESPN power ranking:

Yankees
Red Sox
Phillies
Rays
Cardinals
Braves
Rockies
Angels
Twins
Dodgers

Only one team is different between the two top tens (the Dodgers and Rangers). I find it interesting that many folks keep picking the Rockies to beat the Braves in the first round of the playoffs, yet the Braves are ranked ahead of the Rockies when it comes to power rankings. Anyway, that's a long way off and there's a lot of baseball between now and then.

It's good to see the Braves getting this kind of respect. It seems like the top-5 teams in each ranking are the upper echelon of MLB teams, and the next five are teams on the bubble who are trying to break into that upper echelon. Good to see the Braves thought of as "almost" upper echelon, now hopefully their play on the field will work to improve people's opinion and move them to that next level.

By the way, congrats to Peter Hjort, who posts here as PWHjort, for his Braves blog, Capitol Avenue Club, being selected to join Rob Neyer's ESPN SweetSpot Network. He wrote the snippet for the Braves in the ESPN power ranking.

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We were #1 in power rankings after week 1 last season

So I could care less. It’s nice to get a little reconition, but these don’t mean shit.

And congrats to CAC!

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Apr 6, 2010 3:48 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

ugh…

"SIGN PUJOLS OR FIRE WREN" ~ Swo12bv

by Smoltz's Beard on Apr 6, 2010 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions

What are you ugh-ing about??

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Apr 6, 2010 3:56 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

So I couldn’t care less

Fixed. Pet peeve, sorry.

"SIGN PUJOLS OR FIRE WREN" ~ Swo12bv

by Smoltz's Beard on Apr 6, 2010 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh whoops

Yeah, I tend to make a lot of mistakes when I’m posting from a phone. My apologies mr. beard

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Apr 6, 2010 4:03 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

No worries, and I still haven’t gotten around to looking into the mobile messaging, haha.

"SIGN PUJOLS OR FIRE WREN" ~ Swo12bv

by Smoltz's Beard on Apr 6, 2010 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Its the wave of the future.

This Heyward kid is different. -Duk, Big League Stew

by McCann and McWill on Apr 6, 2010 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions

its pretty damn convenient whenever I have class and my dumbass forgot to charge my laptop the night before

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Apr 6, 2010 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Who's your dumbass,

and why do you have him charge your laptop instead of charging it yourself?

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson

by Jacob Peterson on Apr 6, 2010 8:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh geez. That should say

My dumbass self.

I’ll just stop typing today…

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Apr 6, 2010 9:30 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Couldn’t…

This guy wants to suck all the cubs dick can he not have an unbias some what partition reguards
by RWH2 on Apr 5, 2010 10:20 AM CDT

by justincredubil02 on Apr 6, 2010 8:33 PM EDT up reply actions

We were also voted #8 organization over on Fangraphs (#2 in the NL behind Colorado). Of course, I’m pretty sure that we were one of the favorites to win the WS last year, so we all know this doesn’t mean jack. Either way, it’s good to see.

"SIGN PUJOLS OR FIRE WREN" ~ Swo12bv

by Smoltz's Beard on Apr 6, 2010 3:48 PM EDT reply actions

Yes but

In a lot of ways, even some of us here were very reserved about our team last year. We knew Francoeur wasn’t going to turn things around, we knew that Garrett Anderson “The Professional,” wasn’t really worth a damn, and we knew that we’d overpaid Lowe.

What exactly are we secretly reserved about this year? Sure, Lowe still isn’t as good as we’d like, and maybe Glaus doesn’t stay healthy, and Chipper is always an injury risk. But that’s about it. We’ve got a solid line-up, great bench, great pitching, good bullpen.

by Bronn on Apr 6, 2010 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed completely, I was just making the point of people outside the confines of this site, you know?

"SIGN PUJOLS OR FIRE WREN" ~ Swo12bv

by Smoltz's Beard on Apr 6, 2010 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Health is the main concern

that I have. We’re counting on a lot of reclamation projects, but if it pays off its going to pay off big.

by soup du jour on Apr 7, 2010 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions

There is a youthful reserve supply for those projects though...

Glaus—Freeman
Wagner—Kimbrel
Saito—Medlen/Kimbrel/Gearrin
Chipper—Infante/Prado?
If they all go down, not many teams can deal with a bulk of injuries to guys in key positions, but those aren’t bad replacements outside of Chipper, but then that’s been a problem for a while.

by Mr. Sanchez on Apr 7, 2010 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Great news about PWHjort

It goes to show that the commentariat at this blog operates at the highest level, when regulars go on to enjoy blogging success like that.

Kudos

www.takeyourskirtofftombrady.com

by Sid Bream's Moustache on Apr 6, 2010 3:52 PM EDT reply actions

Wow, the coolest news I saw on this was that of Peter doing the snipper on the ESPN power rankings. He’s a very intelligent writer and has great knowledge of the Braves as well as baseball.

The rankings will shuffle as the season goes, but people are starting to understand that this is a talented team with some quality players in all facets of the game.

The question about this team now shifts from if they have the talent and skill to be a playoff team to whether or not they can remain healthy enough to stay competitive.

by BenDuronio on Apr 6, 2010 3:53 PM EDT reply actions

Never thought I’d see the day where we were ranked behind Tampa Bay for ANYTHING.

"My God! Good news fans, the Braves are showing signs of life for the first time in weeks. As a matter of fact, they appear to be beating the crap out of each other."

by bravos1984 on Apr 6, 2010 4:35 PM EDT reply actions

you know they were in the WS a couple of years ago, right?

"If I have asthma, they won't let me scuba. And if I can’t scuba, then what’s this all been about?? What am I working toward??"

"You look like you should be married to one of the San Diego Padres."

by Doghnut on Apr 6, 2010 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes, but I used to go to games at the Trop when they were lucky to break 10,000 in attendance. The only time they would have a decent crowd was when the Yankees were in town. It was sureal to go to a game in April last year and see the place filled to the brim. I hadn’t benn to a game in that place with a full crowd since Cal Ripken was there with the Orioles in his last season.

"My God! Good news fans, the Braves are showing signs of life for the first time in weeks. As a matter of fact, they appear to be beating the crap out of each other."

by bravos1984 on Apr 6, 2010 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions

So 5 of the top 6 teams are from two divisions (AL and NL East)

Kind of cool.

by taney71 on Apr 6, 2010 6:06 PM EDT reply actions

Think about that

Three of them are in the AL east, so one of the consensus top four teams in baseball is missing out on the playoffs. And it’s fairly certain that all three of those will remain in the top 5-8 throughout the season.

by Bronn on Apr 6, 2010 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Crap! I didn't think about that....

I’d love for the 3rd wheel in the AL East to be the Yankees.

by taney71 on Apr 6, 2010 8:04 PM EDT up reply actions

#6 sounds about right to me

Congrats to Peter. Good to see one of our own getting some bigger exposure.

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson

by Jacob Peterson on Apr 6, 2010 8:11 PM EDT reply actions

How is Tampa considered in the Upper Echelon of teams?

This guy wants to suck all the cubs dick can he not have an unbias some what partition reguards
by RWH2 on Apr 5, 2010 10:20 AM CDT

by justincredubil02 on Apr 6, 2010 8:34 PM EDT reply actions

Pitching and Hitting..

I mean their lineup is stacked..

Bartlett
Crawford
Zobrist
Longoria
Pena
Upton
Burrell
Navarro/Shoppach
Aybar

Pitching
Shields
Garza
NIemann
Price
Davis

Granted their 3-5 in the rotation still has a lot to prove, but I bet there are few teams that boast that kind of young major league talent

by UltimaParadox on Apr 6, 2010 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Great defense, good starting pitching, good bullpen. Great minor league stockpiles of talent-which may not count for power rankings, but it sure does factor into their future.

by Bronn on Apr 6, 2010 9:35 PM EDT up reply actions

But this isn’t a organizational power ranking or even an upside power ranking. People really think that the Rays are one of the 3 best teams in baseball???

This guy wants to suck all the cubs dick can he not have an unbias some what partition reguards
by RWH2 on Apr 5, 2010 10:20 AM CDT

by justincredubil02 on Apr 6, 2010 10:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Seriously, this is what I’m wondering.

And ahahaha at your sig. ahaha

by get swoll yunel on Apr 7, 2010 4:16 AM EDT up reply actions

Don't know why that's hard to understand.

by Bronn on Apr 7, 2010 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

They have an MVP candidate at third base. They have a 5 WAR Left fielder. They have a plus defensive CF who still has a lot of offensive potential. They have a first baseman with a huge bat. They have good defense up the middle-and even though Bartlett’s offensive season last year looks flukey, they’re still good on offense there as well.

And that’s a very solid 1-5 rotation. A former top draft prospect and a top 20 prospect before this season are bring up the tail end of it. Price was the #2 prospect coming into 2009 while Heyward was #5.

Yeah, that’s a pretty solid team.

by Bronn on Apr 7, 2010 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Unless Cole Hamels returns to his form of 2008, the Phillies aren’t going to stay that high. If Hamels and Happ are pitching like they were at the end of last season, the Phils’ No. 2 starter is Joe Blanton, and that’s, shall we say, problematic.

by Tokyokie on Apr 6, 2010 9:13 PM EDT reply actions

It’s especially problematic when he is on the DL. They are so thin at SP. I have said all offseason long that their pitching is no where near close to ours, while our offense, barring any injuries or unforseen implosions, is pretty dang close to theirs.

This guy wants to suck all the cubs dick can he not have an unbias some what partition reguards
by RWH2 on Apr 5, 2010 10:20 AM CDT

by justincredubil02 on Apr 6, 2010 10:31 PM EDT up reply actions