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The Braves Are Back
Written by Kent on August 14, 2009 – 9:18 amBack in the day when the Braves were on national television every night, were owned by a flamboyant cable television tycoon, featured a bevy of superstar names, and won the division every single year… there was no shortage of national press aimed in the Braves’ direction. These days, however, the Braves tend to fly a bit under the radar. Maybe that’s why so few in national sports media seemed to have noticed…
The Braves are back.
Do you remember the days when the Braves threw top-of-rotation starters at opponents just about every single night? Those days are back. Remember the days when Atlanta combined timely hitting and superior defense with that pitching to down opponents with regularity? Those days are back.
The Atlanta Braves now hold the best record of any team in the National League since the all-star break (17-9). Since the break, the Braves are 3rd in the league in runs scored, 2nd in homeruns, and 4th in team batting average. Atlanta also leads in the league in “second half” team ERA (3.03).
In fact, Atlanta holds the best record of any team in the NL since June 28th (26-14). That’s a .650 win percentage. To put that in perspective, a .650 clip over a 162 games would translate to 105 wins. That’s how well the Braves have played over the last 40 games. And we’re not talking about an insignificant sample size. As a friend pointed out to me Tuesday night as we sat at “The Ted” and watched the Braves bang around the Nats… 40 games is a full quarter of a season.
Yet, as of August 13th, the ESPN Power Rankings say there are 13 MLB teams better than Atlanta. Really? I’ll take that bet.
The Braves have substantially upgraded fully HALF of their lineup, and baseball’s top prospect, Jason Heyward, might make his big league debut in September. Also, to what is already the league’s best pitching staff, the Braves will soon add Tim Hudson, who is slated to return from his “Tommy John” rehab later this month.
So while the Baseball Tonight folks yap endlessly about the Yankees, Red Sox, and Pedro’s return to the mound, the Braves will look to continue taking care of business. Though, another series win against the Phillies this weekend would certainly make the Braves harder to ignore. And I’m confident that another series win is the only thing on the minds of these resurgent Atlanta Braves.
Braves fans, are you excited yet?
Tags: 2009 Braves, Can the Braves Make the Playoffs, Postseason
Posted in General | 10 Comments »
By phillywhooo on Aug 14, 2009 | Reply
you guys are six games over 500 and in danger of getting effectively eliminated from the postseason this weekend … don't go getting your panties moist just yet.
By Jonathan Brown on Aug 14, 2009 | Reply
6 games over .500, sure, but like Kent pointed out, they are playing .650 ball now and that's all that matters down the stretch, especially when we're just a few behind going into a head-to-head weekend series. I'm excited. I'm coming around on the offense
By Kent on Aug 14, 2009 | Reply
Dude, we all know what the standings are. The Braves dug a hole early, and being 6 games back in the loss column from the Phillies, who have significantly bolstered their pitching… it will be tough, no doubt. And the Wild Card won't be easy either.
My point is simply that the Braves ARE back. Is it too late this year? Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see. But they are CLEARLY a completely different team from the one we saw early in the season, and belong right there in the conversation with the Dodgers and Phillies when we talk about who the best team in the league.
By phillywhooo on Aug 14, 2009 | Reply
You have a nice rotation, no doubt, but a relatively stretch of good ball doesn't really get them into the discussion about the best teams in the NL, unless you also want that discussion to include the cards, cubs, giants, rockies and marlins. The phils and the dodgers are clearly the class of the NL, as evidenced by last year's NLCS and this year's standings. If the Braves sweep this weekend's series, at that point I think you'd have a legitimate claim to be part of the short list, but not before.
By phillywhooo on Aug 14, 2009 | Reply
I will, however, say that it's nice to have an interesting series in August. Too bad the Mets couldn't join us in the pennant race!
By Kent on Aug 14, 2009 | Reply
Phillywhoo, the Braves have more than just a "nice rotation". That's like my saying to you "You have a nice lineup, but…". The Braves have one of the top 3 or 4 lineups in the NL now to go with that pitching. Just as the Phillies have significantly improved pitching to go with their offense.
And 40 games, as I've already pointed out, is not all that small a sample size. It's 1/4 of the season. As for the Rockies and Cardinals… maybe they DO belong in the "best team" conversation. I don't follow those teams as closely, so I'd have to take a closer look before forming an opinion on that.
But to say that RIGHT NOW, TODAY that the Phillies and Dodgers are significantly better than the Braves is to ignore reality. You want to dismiss their success as too small a sample size (even though it's not)… so I'm assuming that means you don't believe the Braves will continue to play well over .600, correct? If so, I'm open to friendly wagers. =)
By josh on Aug 14, 2009 | Reply
Can't wait for this series to begin. I think that with Nate coming back it just makes our bench so much stronger. Infante and Johnson coming off the bench with Diaz, Church and Anderson combo to do what you want with depending on who is pitching. Norton!!! Well he can bat in the btm of the 8th while were up by 6 runs. I'm really not sure what we are going to do when Hudson comes back? It's a good problem to have. Lets win this series tonight and we will actually have something to root for this September down the stretch. PhillyWhooo shouldn't you be in kids section at the mall geting your Vick jersey? Go Braves
By A Delawarean on Aug 15, 2009 | Reply
> so I’m assuming that means you don’t believe
> the Braves will continue to play well over
> .600, correct? If so, I’m open to friendly
> wagers. =)
You are absolutely on crack, sir. The Braves are playing pretty good ball right now, but there’s 47 games remaining in their season. You *honestly* believe that the Braves are going to go
By A Delawarean on Aug 15, 2009 | Reply
Damnit, the post submitted before I finished entering. Anyhow:
You *honestly* believe that the Braves are going to go 30-17 for the rest of the season? They are facing the Phillies seven more times before this season ends, and the Florida Marlins 10 more times. That’s just division rivals. Let’s even assume the Braves are a superior team than these squads (Which I don’t, but I’ll humor it) — that’s more than a third of their remaining schedule. Do you honestly believe they can reliably play that far above Philly and Florida to preserve a .600+ winning percentage? I don’t believe the disparity between the teams are that great.
I am not saying the Braves are gonna suddenly drop six of seven or anything, but you need to expect a bit of regressing to their mean. I could foresee the Braves picking up 26 or 27 games by season’s end, but they ain’t gonna win 30. And unless some sort of catastrophic injuries happen, the Phillies still have the division this year. Assuming the Braves pick up 26, the Phillies need to go 21-28. I just simply can’t see that happening. 32 of those games are to sub-.500 teams.
Unfortunately, the wild card is a bigger mess. Sitting 3.5 games back, the Braves chase 3 teams, but only actually play Florida. At least for the division, you’re the author of your own fate.
By A Delawarean on Aug 19, 2009 | Reply
Aw, still no response.
I wanted that friendly wager too!