Tuesday, April 30, 2013

I was afraid of this...

            Before the season started there was a lot of talk about the Braves having one of the (if not the) most powerful lineups in the league; especially after signing BJ Upton and trading for Justin Upton.  It was the hot topic of the off season.  There were lots of articles written, MLBN talked about it constantly and my twitter timeline was full of excitement about this team.  The Braves have what has become known as "The Outfield".  There is no limit to what they can do with the two Uptons and Jason Heyward.  And then in the infield there is Freddie Freeman, Dan Uggla and Brian McCann who can also be very powerful hitters.  I was excited too (still am)!  Well, about 90% excited and 10% concerned.  With power hitters like we have also comes strikeouts and streaks (good and bad).  During the American League Championship Series last year, when the Tigers swept the Yankees, the announcers talked about how the Yankees couldn’t make things happen because everyone was trying to hit a homerun.  Everyone wanted to be the hero and no one was content with just getting on base.  I am still learning about the game, so I love when announcers go into analyzing and explaining mode.  This reasoning made sense to me (I will not pretend that the movie Moneyball had nothing to do with it) and now I try to look for things like this.  So when the talk about the Braves’ power hitters started I couldn’t help but worry that at some point they too will have cold streaks because everyone wants a homerun and will not settle for less.

            The Braves started off hot!  They went 12-2 during the first five series, including a ten game winning streak.  And then they cooled off; going 3-7 during the next three series.  As of Sunday the Braves lead the league in homeruns with 36, and they are second in the league in strikeouts with 224.  I know they will come back around, but when?  And then how long before another cold streak?  Another concern is injuries.  Brian McCann has not played a game this season, Freddie Freeman has missed time and Jason Heyward is currently out.

 They just took the first game in a four game series against the Nationals.  Chip Caray just said during the post game show, “It’s great to see the Braves manufacture runs.”  I agree!  This game was the first game they have won that a homerun was not hit.  Jordan Schafer, who got on base four times and stole two bases in the game, scored on a single by Justin Upton in the first.  (What?  Justin Upton hits singles too?!?!)  Freddie Freeman scored on a single by Gerald Laird in the fourth and Laird scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrelton Simmons in the seventh.  It was fun and exciting to see the boys play small ball to get the job done.  If there is a series perfect for turning things back around it is against the Nationals.  They are expected to be the Braves’ main competition in the NL East.  Plus after being swept by the Braves a few weeks ago a few of the Nationals players said during interviews that they still believed they were the better team.  So beating them is just fun.        

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