The Braves have not made the playoffs in what seems like forever. Their signature character trait of a solid pitching rotation has dwindled over the past few years. Their former stars are now on big money teams. John Smoltz has ventured to Boston. Andruw Jones is an unsure candidate to return to Atlanta. Everything seems implausible for the Braves to return to the top of their division. However, I still remember the impossible in 1991, the worst-to-first season. I still remember the 1995 victory over the Cleveland Indiands to win the World Series. I still see the fight of the Atlanta Braves; their philosophy is still to play hard and play till the end. It is the very reason why Atlanta should be sitting atop of NL East come September.
The Braves are retooling their starting rotation. They aren’t doing it with big time players that cost a lot of money. (As Compared to big market teams.) They went out to get two reliable pitchers in Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami. Lowe has age as an issue. Kawakami has the issue of whether or not he can adapt to the MLB. However, both should prove to be reliable pitchers. Add in Javier Vaszquez, a Jair Jurrjens and a possible Tom Glavine, the Braves have pitchers that can eat up innings and provide protection to their relief pitchers. The Atlanta Braves pitchers if able to sustain their durability can be the trigger for an explosive offense.
Last season, the Braves lost a lot of close games. But the Braves still have loads of talent offensively. Brian McCann is an all-start catcher, who not only hits for power but he is consistent at the plate. Chipper Jones won the 2008 NL batting title. Yunel Escobar, Matt Diaz, and Jeff Francoeur have all shown that they have the ability to help carry the Braves to victory. Once the Braves bring Andruw Jones back to his natural habitat all will be happy-go-lucky for the Braves. (Hint: I want Andruw back in Atlanta where he belongs.) Anyway, the Braves should never be under-estimated.
At a time when underdogs are surprisingly winning, no one should count out the Braves. The Tampa Bay Rays won the World Series in 2008. The Arizona Cardinals of the NFL made it to the Super Bowl in 2009. The Utah Utes beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Atlanta Braves will have a better starting rotation than perceived. The Braves offense is now more experienced and is defensively pretty solid. The Braves can make as much noise as they want to, because while everyone is sleeping on them, they are steadily at work improving a team that can be CONTENDERS.
Keywords: Andruw Jones, Atlanta Braves, Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawamaki, MLB
