2010 MLB Season Discussion

[Akiyama]

Again I ask, what the fuck? Yeah I know they just played the Royals, but they also had series against the Twins, Dodgers, and Rays. 24-7 at home too. I mean jesus christ, I figured they'd be decent, but where did this come from? If Chipper could up his average by about 40 points, and we actually get a #5 pitcher that can win...

[Headspace]

I'm waiting for dusty to teach people to play small ball.

[Moss]

Again I ask, what the fuck? Yeah I know they just played the Royals, but they also had series against the Twins, Dodgers, and Rays. 24-7 at home too. I mean jesus christ, I figured they'd be decent, but where did this come from? If Chipper could up his average by about 40 points, and we actually get a #5 pitcher that can win...

Hudson, Jurrjens, Hanson, Lowe, Medlen?

I can't remember the last time we were playing this well.

[Bozo]

Probably when they were making a charge for a wild card in September then went on to lose 2 games to Florida and get swept by the Nationals to end the season? Or even more recently in April getting off to an 8-5 start proceeding to go on a 9 game losing streak. Oh how quickly things can turn around in this game of baseball.

[Akiyama]

Well.. I'm sure this isn't the real Braves, but if I say it's 'just a streak'.. they've been streaking pretty much since they snapped that losing streak. I dunno. I know the Phillies will come out of it when Rollins is back, but the Braves will still get a better SP added to the rotation (Jurrjens) and then if Chipper does actually hit.

[Kurp]

You can't stop the mustache, sorry Halladay.

[Alderaan]

Well.. I'm sure this isn't the real Braves, but if I say it's 'just a streak'.. they've been streaking pretty much since they snapped that losing streak. I dunno. I know the Phillies will come out of it when Rollins is back, but the Braves will still get a better SP added to the rotation (Jurrjens) and then if Chipper does actually hit.

The best part is Atl has a ton of home games the second half after having to put up with long road trips early on.

The thing that worries me is that they struggle against left handers and they have 2 coming up against the White Sox. Not to mention they have to go through 2 lefties and Halladay also.

Diaz should be back and always crushes lefties, so that's a plus. Not to mention their 3rd best pitcher(Jurrjens) has been out for a month.

Atl's mlb stats:

5th in runs per game
7th in doubles per game
6th in rbi's per game
1st in walks per game
3rd in on base %
3rd in run differential
6th in era

[Cephius]

Billy Wagner deserves some love from you Atlanta guys too. 1.23 ERA, 17 hits in 29 IP, 43(!!) strikeouts, only 12 walks and 14 saves, 5-0. He's on pace for career bests in almost every pitching category.

Then again, Billy always dominated the regular season and choked in big spots in NY, so we'll see.

If they ever pulled the trigger on a trade and got another big righty bat at the deadline I think they could definitely contend for the NL east title. Their pitching is certainly good enough if everyone stays healthy and JJ comes back strong.

[Alderaan]

Braves payroll is $11 mil less than it was a year ago so i could definitely see them adding a player.

[Moss]

Billy Wagner deserves some love from you Atlanta guys too. 1.23 ERA, 17 hits in 29 IP, 43(!!) strikeouts, only 12 walks and 14 saves, 5-0. He's on pace for career bests in almost every pitching category.

Then again, Billy always dominated the regular season and choked in big spots in NY, so we'll see.

If they ever pulled the trigger on a trade and got another big righty bat at the deadline I think they could definitely contend for the NL east title. Their pitching is certainly good enough if everyone stays healthy and JJ comes back strong.

With Jurrjens healthy we can contend for the NL East title as we are. I don't want Teixeira trade v2.0 happening.

[Cephius]

Well I don't think you need someone of that caliber, but Melky and Glaus have been hot, Mccann has been doing well, and I'd be wary of those guys cooling off and then struggling at scoring runs again. I could see them going for maybe a Xavier Nady (the Cubs stink) or Marlon Byrd (Texas needs cash) or Ty Wiggington to try to add some depth to the lineup.

[Moss]

Well I don't think you need someone of that caliber, but Melky and Glaus have been hot, Mccann has been doing well, and I'd be wary of those guys cooling off and then struggling at scoring runs again. I could see them going for maybe a Xavier Nady (the Cubs stink) or Marlon Byrd (Texas needs cash) or Ty Wiggington to try to add some depth to the lineup.

A "hot" Melky has been a ML average player, Glaus has been hot as far as RBI's but I think he can maintain a .270-.280 average with power. McCann still isn't playing like an all-star so I think he has plenty of room for improvement. All of the trade targets you mentioned would definitely make sense though.

[Akiyama]

Well I don't think you need someone of that caliber, but Melky and Glaus have been hot, Mccann has been doing well, and I'd be wary of those guys cooling off and then struggling at scoring runs again. I could see them going for maybe a Xavier Nady (the Cubs stink) or Marlon Byrd (Texas needs cash) or Ty Wiggington to try to add some depth to the lineup.

...what?

There's a couple things wrong with this post.

1) What does Marlon Byrd and Texas have to do with anything? Byrd plays for the Cubs this year. Plus, even if Texas did still have Byrd, there's no way they'd trade him when they lead the NL West.
2) Pretty sure Nady hardly even plays for the Cubs as is, so not sure what Atlanta would want with him.
3) McCann's been pretty bad for the most part of the year, and is just now semi-coming out of it, and you've got a guy like Chipper who's hitting like 30+ points below his career low average from last year, so if he ever gets hot, it'd make up for Melky for sure.

You are right about Glaus, though. I don't see how he could keep up this record pace.

[Cephius]

Er yeah, forgot Byrd plays for the Cubs now. Either way he'd be a good fit I think.

And Nady didn't play much in the beginning of the year, but he's been playing more recently and doing rather well (.956 OPS in last month or so) and I thought he'd be a right handed bat that the Braves could use.

[Alderaan]

According to some articles Atl is shopping Resop and are looking at a few Royals including DeJesus.

Not what i had in mind but i don't want anything close to a Teixeira deal ever again. That deal set us back a few years and a lot of prospects.

[Moss]

You are right about Glaus, though. I don't see how he could keep up this record pace.

I don't understand. It isn't like is average is through the roof or he has had a bunch of multi-hit games of late. His RBI production will probably slow a tad just because of how crazy it has been, but this team leads the ML in OBP so he is going to have plenty of opportunities.

[Akiyama]

Yeah, he could I suppose, but I dunno. Streaking teams like this scares me. This road set will be a real test. You've got two fairly hot teams back to back in interleague, so we'll see.

[Alderaan]

Heyward hasn't been playing that well recently and Escobar still hasn't hit a homer this year. As crazy as it sounds, they could be a lot better.

Everyone on the team likes each other and they all feel like this could be something special. What did i tell you about them being fine with a 20-20 start? They did this throughout their 14 year run.

[Akiyama]

Well let's be fair. We don't know what's 'good' and what's 'average' for Heyward just yet. He hasn't even had a half a season's worth of action yet. I know his numbers suggest his awesomeness (and I love Heyward a ton), but baseball's a fickle sport. You can be on top of the world one second and get booed the next.

Escobar.. I think sometimes, he tries too hard to hit homers. Dude needs to go oppo more and get those doubles.

[Moss]

I think Heyward will hit around .270 this year and maybe max out around .290 someday with a .400 plus OBP. The fact that I forgot to mention Yunel shows how bad he has been this year, would be great if he could return to form.