Like I do before most of the series against New York teams, I was a guest on the SNY.tv video preview short.

Thanks to Ted Berg and all the folks at SNY.tv for thinking of me for their preview once again. I always enjoy these types of things.

I'm doing a bit of a different series preview this time as the Atlanta Braves face the Cincinnati Reds for three games this weekend at Turner Field. Instead of the usual Q&A with a Reds blogger I'm going to try and encourage fans to go to the ballpark... not there are any other types of sports going on this weekend. If you go to the ballpark, here are the tunes that the Braves organist will be playing for each Reds batter as they come up to bat, via the Twitter feed of Matthew Kaminski, the Braves Organist.

'Brahms Lullaby' for Paul 'Yawn'ish (Janish)

'Paper Moon' for Craig Tatum (O'Neal)

'The Price is Right' for Kevin (Bob) Barker

'Blitzkreig Bop' for Joey 'Ramone' Votto

'Ob, la, di, ob, la, da' for Corky Miller

'Every Rose Has it's Thorn' for Adam Ros(e)ales - gotta love the Poison walk up song!!

California Dreamin' for Brandon Phillips (John and Michelle Phillips were part of the Mamas and Papas)

'Miami Vice' for Drew (S)tubbs

'Andy Griffith' for Jonny Gome(r) Pyle

'Old McDonald Had a Farm' for Darnell McDonald - great for the kids!

'My Funny (B)alentine' for Wladimir Balentien. . . It's always great to throw in some jazz!

I like 'Rawhide' for Scott Rolen . . . 'Rolen, Rolen, Rolen. . . Rawhide!'

'Who's Johnny' for Johnny Cueto

In honor of Dragon-Con, perhaps I should play some sci-fi songs this weekend ;) Trogdor is in order :)

If you're on Twitter, go here and offer up any suggestions for other walk-up music he can play for the visiting team.

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

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We check in again with Peter Baker of the Phillies blog, The Good Phight. I talked with Peter back at the end of June, just before the Braves swept his Phillies at Turner Field. Not that I'm superstitious or anything, but I'm doing everything just the same this series as I did last time, and that includes this Q&A. Actually, this is the only thing I'm doing the same. I'll be headed out of town this weekend to the internetless hills of North Carolina, so RoyHobbs and cbwilk will be filling in at the ol' Chop.

Go to The Good Phight to check out my answers to Peter's questions about the Braves. Here are my questions to him about the Phillies.

Q:  Who has the better starting pitching staff, the Phillies or the Braves, and why?

A:  Oh, the Braves.  I think if I had to choose, I'd take Cliff Lee over Javier Vazquez, but the Braves' clear superiority 2-5 in the rotation makes it an easy choice.

Q:  Who would you rather have long term, Tommy Hanson or J.A. Happ?

A:  Hanson.  Happ is 26 and more or less a finished product.  Hanson's ceiling is tremendous.  I like Happ, but Hanson's future is much brighter.

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More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg

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The Washington Nationals are coming to town to face our Atlanta Braves for a 2-game series -- we had a 2-game series with Philly in April; I wonder why they scheduled two 2-game series this year, that's weird. Anyway, we get to face the Nats at the hottest possible time -- they are on an 8-game winning streak. I figured it was time to check in with a Nats expert, and I summoned Ed Chigliak of the Nats blog Federal Baseball. Below are my questions to him about the Nationals, and his questions to me can be found here.

Q:  How does a team like the Nationals and their fans handle an 8-game winning streak? You're so used to the opposite, does anyone really know what to say when they're winning? Tell us how the Nats have been doing it for 8 straight.

A:  Honestly, writing about wins was really awkward when the Nationals started picking it up recently. I had gotten so used to chronicling losses that it was tough to turn it around and focus on the positives when they were successful. The Nationals fans that I know want the team to be good, and we watch every day expecting the team to do what they've done recently because a decent percentage of us see the team moving in the right direction in terms of rebuilding the organization top to bottom following a nearly decade-long dismantling at the end of the Montreal years. What we've seen on the current 8-game win-streak is a team that leads the league in errors, with 99 in 112 games, committing just 1 error over the last 6 games, while an offense with the second-best team batting average and second-highest team OBP in the NL keeps getting people on and driving in runs. Combine that with average starts and excellent bullpen work and they're 14-11 since Jim Riggleman replaced Manny Acta and 8-0 in the last eight...(so what if it's against the Pirates, Marlins and D-Backs)...

Q:  Will the Nationals sign Stephen Strasburg?

A:  In the Poll I have running at Federal Baseball.com, where people are asked simply Yes or No will the Nationals sign Strasburg?, after 255 votes it's 155 to 100 in favor of the two sides reaching a deal. The Nationals had to have done their homework and come to the conclusion that they could sign Strasburg before they drafted him, otherwise it's a ridiculous decision to take him. I believe Strasburg's going to get a record contract, and I'm hoping that when DC went about courting Mark Teixeira this winter, they made enough of an impression on Teixeira and Strasburg's agent/advisor Scott Boras that he recommends DC as a destination. From the start I've said it's going to cost $20M+ and I'm sticking to that.

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More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

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Our Atlanta Braves head up to Milwaukee to face the Brewers for a 3-game series that is the start of a 6-game, 7-day road trip. As part of our ongoing series of series previews, I exchanged some questions with Kyle Lobner of the Brewers blog Brew Crew Ball. Here are some questions and answers that will hopefully better acquaint us with the Brewers.

Q:  Saturday's pitching matchup will be the best of the series. Who would you rather have and why, Tommy Hanson or Yovani Gallardo?

A:  Can I have both? Certainly, there's no wrong answer here. Hanson is a year younger but also has a year less major league experience. I'll take Gallardo at the moment based on experience and the ability to go a little deeper into games (he's averaging 6.1 innings per start over Hanson's 6). Certainly, both of these guys could win a Cy Young in the next few seasons. Gallardo's hitting is the tiebreaker: he has four home runs in 90 career at bats.

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Like I do before most of the series against New York teams, I was a guest on the SNY.tv video preview short.

Thanks to Ted Berg and all the folks at SNY.tv for thinking of me for their preview once again. I always enjoy these types of things.

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

We're going to be hearling a lot about this guy this weekend.

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The New York Mets are coming to town to face our Atlanta Braves for a four game series that could decide who owns third place in the NL LEast. As part of our ongoing series of series previews, I exchanged some questions with Eric Simon of Amazin Avenue to acquaint us with the issues the Mets are facing in the second half.

Q:  Let's just get this out of the way... are you happy to have Jeff Francoeur? Are you sad to see Ryan Church go?

A:  I don't miss Church so much as I mourn the acquisition of Francoeur. While I've gone through quite an array of emotions in the wake of the trade, I don't know that I'd count "happy" among them. We're talking about an average defensive right-fielder with no on-base skills who has seemingly lost his ability to hit for power; that the Braves were able to get anything for him, let alone somebody useful like Ryan Church, is either a testament to Frank Wren's negotiating acumen or to Omar Minaya's inability to properly evaluate baseball players. By now the harsh reality of the trade has set in and Mets fans have nothing to do but root for Frenchy and hope for the best.

Q:  Before the season began, did you think the Mets would be behind the Braves in the NL East and three games below .500 at the All-Star break?

A:  I thought the Mets, Braves and Phillies would compete for the division crown, with the Braves falling slightly behind and the Mets and Phils entrenched in a dogfight to the finish. I thought the Braves' pitching would be a huge strength while their offense, with a few exceptions, would have a tough time scoring runs. I got the Braves part right so far; the Mets we'll get to shortly.

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More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

Poor J-Roll.

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The Philadelphia Phillies are coming to town to face our Atlanta Braves for the final three games of this last homestand before the All-Star break. As part of our ongoing series of series previews, I exchanged some questions with Peter Baker of the Phillies blog, The Good Phight.

One of the writers at The Good Phight, MattS, is also in the running for the Baseball Prospectus Idol contest. If you're a member of BP, then you can vote for who you think should win. Let's show our support, even for an enemy, and help MattS win the contest. Go here to read this week's article and vote.

Now back to the series preview. Below are my questions and Peter's answers. My answers to his questions can be found here.

Q:  After Cole Hamels, do the Phillies have a starting rotation that can win enough games to get you to the postseason? Do they have enough to win in the postseason if you make it there?

A:  They're basically down Brett Myers, which is a pretty big deal, especially if he's dealing the way he was during the second half last season. Jamie Moyer had a very fortunate season last year, and now he's pitching like, well, a 46 year old. Joe Blanton can be great but he's basically a slightly above average starter (which isn't a bad thing). The team is leaning on a fairly rickety framework of a rotation based on hope and luck, which isn't a great long-term strategy. They need another starter, and I expect they'll go get one.

Q:  What in the hell has happened to Jimmy Rollins (not that anyone outside of Philly has shed a tear)? Do you think the recent time on the bench will help him?

A:  I didn't really know there was a lot of Rollins hate out there, aside from New York and Atlanta. Go figure.

As for what happened, damned if I know. A player who is 30 years old is subject to and likely to decline, but not to fall off a cliff. There isn't much discussion of injury, so I have to think there's something in his head. Rollins has tended to react favorably to managerial discipline and guidance, so I'm hopeful he can rebound to some semblance of his prior self.

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