Braves Remain in 1st Place

by Scott Coleman on Jun 24, 2010 10:48 PM EDT

NL East Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Atlanta	42	31	.575	0	Lost 3
New York	41	31	.569	0.5	Lost 1
Philadelphia	38	32	.542	2.5	Won 3
Florida	35	37	.486	6.5	Lost 1
Washington	33	40	.452	9	Lost 1

(updated 6.24.2010 at 7:42 PM MST)

Exactly how it should be. Let's all take a deep breath, enjoy the great season so far, and look forward to our upcoming 9-game home stand.

Think about this: The Braves have the 2nd best record in the NL and the 6th best record in baseball and we've played the fewest home games of anyone in either league. We've been without our #2/#3 starter for most of the season, received basically no production from the left side of our infield, and had sub-par seasons from Brian McCann and Nate McLouth. Yet, we're still in 1st place in the NL East.

I love this team.

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But

It’s inevitable that we’re going to be overtaken by a team with a rotation anchored by a beer league knuckleballer.

"To live is to war with trolls..." - Henrik Ibsen

by Sam Jethroe on Jun 24, 2010 10:52 PM EDT reply actions

A rational thread......

Man on every other blog and several people on this blog are acting like the sky is falling! Great Post mvhsbball!

by Jay212033 on Jun 24, 2010 11:00 PM EDT reply actions

Yes

we are! I watched the game and was So happy the Mutts came up short :)
I’m with you mvhsbball, I love our team also!

Go Braves

Chipper: "It has never been about money for me, and it never will be about money. It has always been about winning, comfort and playing for Bobby Cox."

by HEYJUDE on Jun 24, 2010 11:04 PM EDT reply actions

Hope the Tigers are this shaky this weekend. That was not a fun last hour or so.

"To live is to war with trolls..." - Henrik Ibsen

by Sam Jethroe on Jun 24, 2010 11:06 PM EDT reply actions

Like all the best teams in baseball, the Braves will lose 60-70 games this year. We have good pitching, a good offense, a good bench, a good bullpen, Jurrjens and Diaz coming back soon, maybe an addition at the trade deadline and a beneficial schedule. Go Braves, kick some butt the rest of the week.

Heyward is pretty good

by bighop on Jun 24, 2010 11:20 PM EDT reply actions

Someone once said something to the effect of, “You’re going to win 60 and lose 60, that’s a given. It’s what you do in the other 40 games that counts.”

MUST RECONFIGURE STRIKEZONE PARAMETERS TO ACCOUNT FOR FALLIBLE HUMAN UMPIRE - CyborgHanson48

by BullManUGA on Jun 25, 2010 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions

This is where we belong

Go Braves

by Braves24 on Jun 24, 2010 11:23 PM EDT reply actions

wheres riley?

by MacsGlasses on Jun 24, 2010 11:41 PM EDT reply actions

Well said

Tough few games but that’s all it is. This is a great team that probably still hasn’t played it’s best ball yet. With the injuries and couple key guys slumping as mentioned, there’s no reason to think this team isn’t capable of playing at a very high level for the rest of the season. I also love this team. Go Bravos!

by MattyO on Jun 24, 2010 11:49 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

memo to TP...

Heyward is taking strikes and swinging at balls.

"It looks like The Hound of the Baskervilles out there." - Steve Stone
"...I'm reminded of Wuthering Heights." - Harry Caray
~
I see a troll under that bridge!

by Chief Noc-A-Homa on Jun 25, 2010 12:11 AM EDT reply actions

maybe Bobby should call him out publicly again? Last time he did that he raked for three weeks.

by CharlotteChop on Jun 25, 2010 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions

The Phillies will win the NL East.

I’m sorry to be a buzzkill, but I am stating my opinion.

The only time the Mets win is in the offseason.

by GouldisGold on Jun 25, 2010 12:33 AM EDT reply actions

Why is that?

"Sharks have a week dedicated to Jason Heyward."
METS: My Entire Team Sucks.

by Scott Coleman on Jun 25, 2010 12:37 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Everyone has an opinion

But if you don’t have faith in your team what’s the point of even being a fan of that team?

by Jay212033 on Jun 25, 2010 12:51 AM EDT up reply actions

fanhood’s different for everybody.

"Infield hits are sexy, because they require technique."

-Ichiro

by VivaLosBravos on Jun 25, 2010 2:33 AM EDT up reply actions

and (most) everyone's fanhood

is questioned around here

Kawakami is not absolute shit, but he isn’t any good either.

by Nova Scotia Steve on Jun 25, 2010 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions

not really...

Just their reasoning ability.

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti

by sddbaker on Jun 25, 2010 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t think they have the SP as of right now, but I thought that last year as well…

I definitely think they are under-performing and the Mets are over-performing.

Should be a good race. I think we’ll play pretty good baseball the rest of the way. We just got through our roughest stretch of the year and came out beautifully.

by get swoll yunel on Jun 25, 2010 2:09 AM EDT up reply actions

A similiar statement is in SI this week.
I personally disagree and believe the Braves will win the Division and NL titles.
I am courageously holding off on any WS predictions.

by fandave on Jun 25, 2010 6:44 AM EDT up reply actions

I tend to agree, the Mets don’t scare me at all. But we’re in damn good shape for a wild card

I fed a fish to a pelican and Frisco bay and he tried to eat my cell phone he ran away

by TradeAndruw on Jun 25, 2010 9:45 AM EDT up reply actions

This is how it will stay. The Braves will put some distance between them and the rest of the NL East over the next couple of weeks.

The birth of Jason Heyward was God’s punishment for the sins of the people in New York and Philly.

by TonyAlmeyda on Jun 25, 2010 1:17 AM EDT reply actions

We're fine

We caught a team who was on fire and we got beat. It happens.

It’s funny how the playoffs kind of magnify this. I’m pretty damn sure the White Sox are not a better team than we are, but in a short series in baseball anything can happen depending on how well things are clicking for a given team.

This is another reason why the WBC will never work.

by get swoll yunel on Jun 25, 2010 2:03 AM EDT reply actions

And we should do away with the 5 game series in the divisional round. Those are complete crap.

Let’s just get rid of the divisional round. Go back to 2 divisions and get rid of interleague play.

/traditionalist

by get swoll yunel on Jun 25, 2010 2:06 AM EDT up reply actions

Whew!

That was a depressing slide. Let’s hope the home magic remains.

On another note, I am SICK of interleague play. Enough already.

"A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." - George Bernard Shaw

by WienerDog on Jun 25, 2010 8:15 AM EDT reply actions

The Sox were scorching hot. The Bravos caught them at the wrong time. All is forgiven if the Braves beat the Tigers.

by redwards95 on Jun 25, 2010 9:28 AM EDT reply actions

forgiven?

Really? This is baseball. You win some, hopefully you win a lot, but you’re going to lose some. I hardly think they need to be “forgiven” for losing a handful of games.

by sddbaker on Jun 25, 2010 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions

The offense will be forgiven if it turns back into Hyde…..or Jekyll….whichever fits, there.

"It looks like The Hound of the Baskervilles out there." - Steve Stone
"...I'm reminded of Wuthering Heights." - Harry Caray
~
I see a troll under that bridge!

by Chief Noc-A-Homa on Jun 25, 2010 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Great Post

This team is in great shape as long as home field remains so kind to them. This 9 game homestand is very important though with a tough 6 gamer on the road to follow. Go Bravos!

by CharlotteChop on Jun 25, 2010 9:41 AM EDT reply actions

realistically

With the way teams are playing in our division we should expect to be bumped from 1st place sometimes even if we win the division.

The Phillies just got Rollins back, they won’t sit around a wait for their BP to tighten up, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they added a starter.

The Mets have Beltran on the comeback trail and are already known to be shopping for a starter named Oswalt or Lee.

Yes the Braves will be getting Jurrjens back but Medlen has almost pitched just as good as Jurrjens since he’s been gone and Kawakami hasn’t been bad except a couple of starts over that time frame.

For us to stay on top we don’t really need a slugging OF we need the players we have to wake up. McCann, Chip, Escobar, and Heyward are all underperforming right now and last year we all saw what happens when you have great pitching and no offense.

by drumzalicious on Jun 25, 2010 11:14 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Chip and Esco are waking up. I’m hoping Yunel has a really good second half, b/c his first half has been pretty forgettable. I’m used to him popping one out every 20 or so at bats, and I think that’s gotten in his head.

Mac…..should the 5,000 pop-ups be a sign? His vision could be fucked, apparently.

Heyward is, straight-up, taking strikes and swinging at balls. It’s that simple. His strikezone turned from a really decent strikezone, to the size of a fist. Someone needs to flip his switch back to ‘On’…..just not sure who could do that.

"It looks like The Hound of the Baskervilles out there." - Steve Stone
"...I'm reminded of Wuthering Heights." - Harry Caray
~
I see a troll under that bridge!

by Chief Noc-A-Homa on Jun 25, 2010 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions