Hopefully I can get a somewhat coherent run-down of the Braves, who I expect from the team and what I expect from each position player. Also you out there should know that I am going to be overly optimistic. Consider my predictions with a grain of salt. But chances are that I'll be close to right, considering I'm a genius.
Lets start with the Pitching Staff
1. Derek Lowe
5. Tom Glavine
At first glance the obvious is that it is completely made over from last year. Last year the Brave depended on 3 old(er) injury prone pitchers to anchor their rotation in Smoltz (traitor) Glavine (the good guy) and Mike Hampton (waste) which failed miserably. Well now Smoltz left us in the dust for his new digs in Boston (gross), Hampton went back to Houston( finally) and Glavine stayed with us for a discount (woohoo). But now Glavine is at the bottom, as you can see, which is where a 43 year old pitcher should be. The Braves went into the offseason hoping to get 3 quality starters, and we got three. Kawakami Lowe and Vasquez join Jurrjens and Glavine to form one of the most solid top-to-bottom rotations in the show. Vasquez was solid for Puerto Rico in the WBC and Lowe has dazzled, along with Kawakami showing that he's going to be accurate and durable. With Lowe being the most likely candidate for Opening Day our 1-4 pitchers have a legitimate shot of all reaching 200 innings. An unbelievable feat considering last year Jurrjens led the Braves in innings with 188 and 2/3. I feel like this rotation is not going to disappoint in the least bit. Lowe is a deadly sinker-baller with impeccable control and produces an incredible amount of sweat on the mound. Im am incredibly excited about Vasquez, he's pitched at least 200 innings in 6 of his major league seasons, including the last two. Vasquez also has been in the top 10 in strikeouts each of the last 3 years, and those were spent in the AL. Last year Jair Jurrjens proved to the world that the Detroit Tigers are idiots. Before last season Jurrjens was traded to the Braves along with super prospect Gorkys Hernandez for Edgar Renteria. Renteria is already gone from Detroit and the Braves might end up with two starting players from the trade. Anyway Jurrjens proved is metal last year and went 13-10 with a 3.86 ERA and finished 3rd in the rookie of the year balloting. He can only improve and is having a terrific spring thus far. Kawakami is sort of the unknown commodity. He won a Japanese version of the Cy Young award a few years ago and is a proven vet in Japanese baseball leagues (which turns out to have some decent players). If Kawakami can give us some solid innings and 10-15 wins we will be in fantastic shape. Next is the wily vet Tom Glavine. Glavine was supremely disappointed with his injury situation last year. He had NEVER been on the DL until last year (looking at you Chipper) and wound up having elbow and shoulder surgery. But he is on his way back and pitched 3 shutout innings against the Mets last week. Any sort of production from Glavine will be added bonus on top of an already rock-solid top 4. Although Glavine will be pushed all season by uber prospect Tommy Hanson. Hanson is giving Bobby Cox a very difficult decision to make. Hanson has made it difficult by his well documented domination of hte hitters dominated Arizona Fall League and his continued success against major league hitters in spring training. When all said and done though, the Braves have one thing they didnt have last year, and that is incredible depth. And on top of all of that, we expect Tim Hudson back by August. Things are looking up.
Predictions:
Lowe- 18-9 3.40ERA
Vasquez- 15-10 3.75 ERA
Jurrjens- 16-11 3.30 ERA
Kawakami- 12-8 4.10 ERA
Glavine- 8-8 4.40 ERA
Hanson- 6-1 3.10 ERA
Well that was fun. I was planning on knocking out the whole team in one post but looks like that will be too long. Tomorrow I'll do Bullpen and Bench.
On another note, there is this guy David Hale who writes for the Macon Telegraph, if you want to know anything concerning UGA athletics, he'll have it on his site. Check it out
No comments:
Post a Comment