Wednesday 30 June 2010

The End and The Start


Whit Merrifield had gone 1-for-9 with 1 RBI in the first nineteen innings of the College World Series Finals, this was a guy who had hit over .320 in the regular season and had made himself a ninth round draft pick. For Merrifield and his superstar teammate Jackie Bradley jr the Finals series had been one big struggle that every was becoming more and more frustrating for themselves and their fans. When Merrifield ripped a 2-0 Dan Klein fastball down the right field line to bring home Scott Wingo the teams stuggles with runners in scoring position were all forgotten, by bringing home the winning run Merrifield brought home the Gamecocks first major national championship and gave the magical Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium a fitting send-off after sixty memorable years hosting the College World Series.

The success the Gamecocks encountered at Omaha should not have been as much of a surprise, after all USC came a game away from winning the Southeastern Conference and finished the year ranked between 7 and 10 in the four major polls. Despite their success it never seemed conceivable to most people that the Gamecocks could actually win this thing, especially after looking so vulnerable in losing their first game to Oklahoma and then squeezing by the Sooners in an elimination game. When they did squeeze past the powerful Oklahoma team something happened to South Carolina. They began to believe. Having been carried for a lot of the year by outstanding sophomore Jackie Bradley and the pitching of Sam Dyson and Blake Cooper the rest of the team began performing. Regardless whether that was Brady Thomas’ game winning RBI against the Sooners, Bobby Haney having a brief offensive explosion or even Wingo working the work in the final inning of the season, everybody contributed.

In the Finals nobody contributed more than senior starter Blake Cooper who pitched twice on three days’ rest and seemed to be getting better every time he did it. Having thrown 97 pitches against Oklahoma and allowing only one run in 5.2 innings Cooper expressively asked Coach Ray Tanner for the responsibility of pitching game one in what would be his final college appearance. Cooper saved his very best for his very last. In the 136 dazzling pitches that came out of Coppers right hand only four resulted in a base runner while ten resulted in dominating strikeouts of a very disciplined offensive team. In opposition to the SC senior was UCLA sophomore stud starter Gerrit Cole who struck out 13 in his last start and looks even better than when the New York Yankees drafted him in the first round in 2008. In opposition to a genuine college superstar Cooper gave eight innings of one run ball and gave the Gamecocks the inspirational performance that can define a short series.

Then came the second game of the finals and one of the best games of baseball played in recent memory. It began with more wonderful pitching, first by Michael Roth and the second round draft pick Rob Rasmussen. By the way all three of UCLA’s aces will be big stars in the Major Leagues, Cole, Rasmussen and Trevor Bauer have all given performances of the highest calibre throughout the College World Series and the regular season. USC were given impressive performances from an all reliever group last night, with Roth starting and giving 5 innings or 1 run ball followed by Jose Mata, Tyler Webb and John Taylor not allowing the Bruins onto the scoreboard for 3.1 innings. After that it became a battle of closers, and they were two of the best. Dan Klein gave one of the bravest, toughest performances in the highest pressure situations imaginable. Unfortunately for the UCLA club Klein slowly began wearing out around 50 pitches only to be left in for 23 more and, against the rapidly emerging Matt Price of the ’Cocks didn’t stand a chance.

As Klein tired into the eleventh Wingo worked a walk for the ages with an at-bat of the highest quality, he advanced to second on Steve Rodriguez’s only lapse in concentration of the day for a passed ball and then got to third on Evan Marzilli’s sac bunt. That set up Whit Merrifield to indelibly etch himself into South Carolina and College World Series history. For giving Rosenblatt the send-off it deserved both UCLA and South Carolina should be commended and remembered regardless of whether they make it to the new stadium next year. With the end of the stadiums era comes the dawn of a new time in Gamecock history, and it couldn’t have been any better.

Saturday 26 June 2010

Unlikely Heroes for an Unlikely Season

Having been lambasted for the majority of his first season in charge, especially after the John Smoltz and Tom Glavine debacles, Frank Wren is all of a sudden looking like a baseball genius. Having assembled a roster for only $84.4 million in a division that includes the New York Mets carrying a $134.4 million payroll and the reigning NL champ Phillies signing a cheque for $141.9 million, the Braves GM has seen his Costco club accumulate the joint most wins in the National League so far in 2010. This hasn’t been done on the back of Chipper Jones and Brian McCann’s bats or the pitching of Derek Lowe, the success of the 2010 Atlanta team has been built on unlikely heroes and shock stars.

The most unlikely of all the Braves heroes but the one that has maybe contributed more than any other to the teams winning ways has been Brooks Conrad, who made his debut with the team last year as a 29-year-old rookie. Conrad is a throwback to a time long before the major league stadiums he plies his trade in where even a twinkle in an architect’s eye, a time before steroids and million dollar contracts. Conrad served hard time in the minor leagues, not playing a major league game until 2008 with the Oakland A’s. He still has no interest in those funny pieces of cloth most other players call batting gloves, preferring instead to just load his bottom lip with gum or, maybe more appropriately, tobacco. Whichever his favored chew happens to be, it is working. In Oakland he played 6 games with that Athletics team collecting only 3 hits in 19 at bats. He contributed significantly more for the Braves in ’09, most famously receiving a classic “silent treatment” following his first big league home run. His previous lack of big league experience has been forgotten this year with the utility infielder being the Braves biggest producer in the clutch, especially during May and June as the Braves put together their run to first place in the National League East. Whether it was hitting the walk off grand slam against Cincinnati on May 20th or dropping down a game winning squeeze bunt on June 12th in Minnesota, Brooks has continued to find himself right in the middle of Atlanta’s most dramatic moments of 2010.

Conrad has not been alone in bringing life to the Atlanta offense through the first three months of the season, with two of the teams other big producers not making it regularly into Bobby Cox’s starting team. While Brian McCann has struggled with the vision problems that have plagued the last two years of his life someone had to take up the catchers job and nobody could have imagined David Ross would achieve the success he has. Having split the first seven years of his career between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds the Georgia native landed with the Braves as McCann’s back-up for the 2009 season and was an instant upgrade from Corky Miller or Clint Sammons, compiling a very respectable .273 batting average in 54 games. So far in 2010 he has surpassed the standard he set for himself last year and done it in a far more important role with a .281 average and obscene .409 on base percentage. Ross has been the insurance for Mac that the Braves have lacked the previous 3 or 4 years. Unlike the back-up catcher former American League Rookie of the Year Eric Hinske was not assured of a place on a major league roster at the conclusion of 2009. Coming off the back of 3 World Series trips Hinske seems to have become baseballs equivalent to a four leaf clover, one that Wren found impossible to ignore. While his career may not have blossomed in the manner many hoped when he burst onto the scene in 2002 with the Toronto Blue Jays but he has developed a knack of being around, and contributing to, winning teams in more ways than can be measured in statistics. The Wisconsin native brings with him the attitude and temperament that is often found in successful ball clubs, the relaxed confidence of a player that knows success. If you watch any Braves game Hinske is repeatedly first to either a celebration or a commiseration, with all his experience in the bigs he knows most situations and his consoling arm or joyful hug has instilled a similar attitude in the young Braves players that has won the former Arkansas Razorback three consecutive American League rings. Add to that his .309 Batting Average and five home runs for only $1 million and Eric has been the kind of cheap producing winner that has defined the General Managers grand plan.

While the big stories have been those at the dish the 2010 season has turned up some unexpected pitching superstars for an Atlanta team that was built on its pitching. With Jair Jurrjens nursing a hamstring injury for the majority of the season and Kenshin Kawakami and Derek Lowe nursing chronic cases of inconsistency the 5 ace rotation was suddenly down to 2. If you include Tommy Hanson suffering some problems on a worryingly regular basis then Tim Hudson was left as the Braves only reliable starter only nine months removed from his return from Tommy John surgery. Because of the rotation depth Kris Medlen began the season as one of the Braves most dependable relievers, having grown into that role during the 2009 season. Following Jurrjens’ lengthy trip to the disabled list Medlen was asked to do slightly more than relief pitching, but not much. The young Californian was asked to simply keep the Braves in games while taking up maybe five or six innings. In his nine starts since his promotion to the rotation he has done much more than been efficient, he had been outstanding. Including his spell in the bullpen he has put together an outstanding 3.15 ERA while already pitching more innings this year than he did in all of 2009, another unexpected player who has taken the unexpected responsibility and grown into one of the most important pieces in the Braves armoury. Unfortunately for Kris he is facing some uncertainty over his future with the impending return of Jair Jurrjens from the DL JJ has been pencilled in to make his first start back on Wednesday, Medlen’s next scheduled start. The idea of Kawakami retaining a spot in the starting 5 and Medlen not has been widely accepted as ludicrous, but, with the Japanese hurler being one of the few Braves paid big bucks ($7,333,666 to be precise) it is very possible that KK may stay and see out his contract in the rotation. This Braves team has not been built on money but the talent of its young players supplemented by some scrappy veterans, if they are to stay true to their philosophy Medlen MUST continue toeing the rubber as a starter every five days.

One man who simply has to stay in the bullpen is the 25-year-old rookie sensation Jonny Venters. The Kentucky native arrived unheralded after putting together a 1.35 ERA in just 6.2 innings at AAA Gwinnett, he was called up to replace Jo-Jo Reyes after Jo-Jo exhausted chance number 37 with the Major League team. Venters first appearance was somewhat overshadowed by Ubaldo Jimenez’s no-hitter at Turner Field on April 17th but what Jonny did that night laid the foundation for what has grown into a rookie year comparable to any other rookie reliever, and that includes Nationals darling Drew Storen. Of players with more than 10 innings pitched Venters’ 1.44 ERA is second to only Billy Wagner (1.19) and he is third in stirkeouts for relievers with 36 in 31.1 innings pitched. While lowering his ERA Venters has only increased the trust that Bobby Cox has in him with Jonny now having been used more than any other reliever, quite a heavy climb for a man no one spoke about in Spring Training. While a lot of talk early in the year centred on 21-year-old Craig Kimbrel being the heir apparent to Wagner as the Braves closer-in-waiting it has been Venters who now looks favorite to succeed the potential hall-of-famer when he hangs it up following this season. Whether he becomes the Braves fireman in 2011 and beyond or not Venters is displaying all the pitching ability that would make him an integral part of any Atlanta success for many years to come. Billy Wagner commented that after facing Venters he’d seen "some of the best hitters walking back to the dugout, like someone killed their dog,"

The players that have formed the nebulous of the Braves success so far in 2010 have all marked a huge swing in the organisations philosophy, even Bobby has caught on. This is has become a scrappy team that plays hard and, most importantly, wins. The calling of squeeze plays coupled with the extraordinary amount of walk off wins the Braves have accumulated in the season’s first three months just go to show the heart and never-say-die attitude of a team that even Chipper Jones acknowledged has, in the last few years, carried “guys who wanted to be somewhere else”. Well not anymore. This version of the Atlanta Braves is one built for success. Tim Hudson said it best in a recent USA Today article: "Our fans haven't had a lot to cheer about the last three, four years, we're giving them something to be proud of. I'm not saying we have it all figured out, but we know we're pretty good. We also know we're having a whole lot of fun."


Thursday 24 June 2010

Future for Fredi


With the firing of Fredi Gonzalez by the Florida Marlins yesterday the waters surrounding the 2011 Atlanta Braves managerial job cleared. Fredi spent four years in the Braves system earlier this decade, working at the Double-A Richmond manager in 2002 before moving to the big league third base coach job from 2003 to 2006, and became very close to Bobby Cox and several other members of the Braves coaching staff during his time in Atlanta. In fact Gonzalez still keeps his family home in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, barely 45 minutes from Turner Field.

After leaving the Braves in 2007 to take up the Florida Marlins managerial job Fredi struggled in his first year back in his hometown of Miami, going 71-91 in a somewhat transitional season for the Fish. Over the next two years Florida improved dramatically winning 84 games in 2008 and then 87 last year missing the play-offs by only 5 games, all the while Fredi was manufacturing this one the lowest payrolls in baseball. The wins the were accumulated under Gonzalez (the most by a manager in Marlins history) are a testament to his ability as a player manager, one who squeezed every ounce of potential out of his players whom he trusted wholly. Remind you of anyone?

Despite his success with such limited resources Marlins owner Jeffry Loria felt that Gonzalez’s teams had underachieved, by not being one of the twelve teams that have made the play-offs during his career with Florida. Loria is the same owner that openly schmoozed former Mets manager Bobby Valentine in the off season to potentially replace Gonzalez; it suddenly appears that Loria may actually get his wish after Marlins club president David Samson confirmed that almost the second Fredi closed the door behind him Marlins management were on the phone to Valentine to try and sell him on their franchise. Not that Loria would be getting anything much more successful with the hiring of Valentine, the ESPN analyst is a lifetime 1,117-1,072 with one World Series appearance. At the Texas Rangers, a slightly more comparable organisation than the Mets, he was an unimposing 581-605. That’s right even Bobby Valentine was under .500 at an average team with little money. The Marlins also dealt with a situation earlier this year that cast Gonzalez in a better light than any potential replacement.

When superstar shortstop Hanley Ramirez booted a live ball earlier this year before lazily wandering after it Gonzalez earned the respect of everyone in the baseball community with the way he handled a potentially explosive situation. Hanley was benched, whined like a spoilt brat and later apologised to Fredi and the rest of the Marlins organisation. The manner in which he handled the Ramirez situation highlights everything good about Fredi, his class, consistency, calm and respect. These traits are ones that many major league manners would be the better for possessing. Unsurprisingly it was his players that summed his departure up best, first baseman Gaby Sanchez felt that the team “let him down” while Chris Coughlan, the outstanding young outfielder said “He was a good man, a good manager. He believed in me. He stood for integrity. He was somebody that had your back.”

With every eulogy for his time in Miami the 46 year-old Cuban sounds more and more like his mentor back in Atlanta. The idea has already been floated that he may be brought in by the Braves as a special coach or assistant, this would be the best thing for the team to do in my opinion. This would mean that the Braves would have three of the top managerial candidates inside the organisation before Bobby has started packing his things. Whether it will be Fredi Gonzalez, Eddie Perez or Terry Pendleton there is the potential to piece together the best coaching staff in the game.

Monday 7 June 2010

Braves Draft Falling into Place


While the Braves do not have a first round pick they were able to pick up the 35th pick of the draft in the first supplemental round thanks to the Baltimore Orioles picking up Mike Gonzalez in free agency. The Braves history in the draft is of picking high school kids and taking a lot of pitchers which has worked incredibly well, just look at the success of some high school guys that came to the Braves, guys like Chipper Jones, Adam Wainwright, Jason Marquis and, most recently Jason Heyward. Despite the success of the Braves regular strategy I don’t think they will go down that route tonight. For starters the organisation has already said they are happy with the stable of pitchers already inside the system and there is a noticeable lack of young bats in the minor league teams, and even guys like Jordan Schafer and Freddie Freeman aren’t developing the way the front office would like. So it’s a consensus opinion that the Braves will take a hitter with the 35th pick and very likely with the 53rd pick as well. I also think the Braves will be way more interested in taking an older college player having seen the collapse of someone like Jeff Francouer from High School and the success of Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen, both of whom were taken out of Community College out in California. History also points to the Braves taking outstanding High School players from Georgia, of which there are none currently on the radar, so the extra video and maturity of College players will appeal to Frank Wren a lot more than a long shot High School player. So with all that I wanted to take a look at who the Braves could realistically take tonight, I am not in any way going to try and say the Braves could end up with Bryce Harper or Zach Cox but I came up with four names that should be right at the top of the Atlanta draft board.

The most interesting name for the Braves is just a Jason Heyward home run distance from Turner Field and that young man is Georgia Tech shortstop Derek Dietrich who has dazzled with the bat in his junior season with the Yellow Jackets. Out of High School Dietrich was selected in the third round by the Houston Astros but his stock is significantly higher than back in 2007 after playing three years in one of the best Conferences in NCAA baseball. Dietrich hit .332 with 14 home runs in his freshman season before he suffered a relative sophomore slump last year in his sophomore year dropping 21 points from his average and only hitting 10 home runs. After spending the summer playing in the wood bat Cape Cod League the Ohio native ripped through ACC pitching hitting .352 and 16 homers in his best year since High School. Dietrich is a highly talented hitter but there are some reservations about his ability with the wooden bat, especially in regard to the power numbers, but he should overcome this with time in the minors thanks to his good hitting mechanics. Dietrich is also extremely disciplined at the plate working 27 walks to his 37 strikeouts and, with the Braves concentrating so heavily on on-base-percentage this has got to be a hugely appealing part of his game. As far as defensive positioning goes Dietrich does not project as a Major League shortstop but could easily switch to a role as an offensive second baseman but, with Martin Prado’s excellence and Chipper Jones’ increasing age, would seem more likely to move to third base. If Dietrich is seen as Chipper’s long term replacement the Braves would want him early to ensure the Astros don’t grab the young man they coveted so much from St Ignatius High. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus also projects Dietrich going to the Braves with the 35th pick as the team’s future third baseman.

There have also been rumblings that in their search for power at the plate the Braves could be interested in taking Clemson Tigers outfielder Kyle Parker. While Parker does not have the natural hitting ability that Dietrich possesses but is quite possibly the strongest player in the draft not names Bryce Harper. In his three season with the Tigers Parker has hit well over 40 home runs in what has essentially been his second sport, more on the later. In his freshman year the left fielder hit .308 in what was a pretty solid first season at the college level but completely disappeared in his sophomore season only managing a .255 average with less works in more at-bats. This year however Parker has bounced back in a similar way to Derek Dietrich, in the same conference Parker has compiled a .358 average which is second on the Clemson team and has hit 19 home runs. Being from Jacksonville makes Parker the local player that usually fits well with the Braves organisation and, with the right development, could prove the power balance in left field to Jason Heyward in right. The huge downside with Parker is his signability. After starring for the Tigers football team last year has not helped any teams chance of signing young Kyle because there is no certainty about which sport Parker is truly committed to. To warrant the 35th pick in the draft Parker would have to prove his dedication to baseball, which no one has thoroughly explored yet. Parker could possibly spend three more years playing college football and at least have another year evaluating his pro prospects in both sports. Draft experts have Parker going anywhere from somewhere in the 20’s to the 43rd pick, if the left fielder is gone by the time the Braves pick it makes a difficult decision much easier, if not Parker could be too good a fit to pass on.

While both the first two players I looked at have plied their trade in the ACC the next two are from the Southeastern Conference, widely considered the closest thing to minor league baseball that college players will ever experience. One of the best of the last three years has been the Louisiana State catcher Micah Gibbs who has played on 3 SEC tournament winning teams, one outright Conference Champion and the 2009 National Championship team. Gibbs has become one of the most talented and heralded defensive players in college baseball, winning gold gloves and all-Defensive team honors from various organisations last year and has been compared to Jason Varitek for his defensive abilities. After hitting .322 in his Freshman season and .294 last year Gibbs had a breakout offensive year this year leading LSU in average (.388), on-base-percentage (.458) and ranked second in slugging percentage (.592). Gibbs’ general athletic ability means that he could easily move into a corner outfield position or even to third if that is what the Braves wanted. With Brian McCann’s ongoing eye problems however the Braves could be very tempted by his ability behind the plate if the worst happens with Mac. Gibbs doesn’t have the same power as Dietrich or Parker but has been a reliable RBI guy for a very successful LSU which projects him as 15 homer and 90+ RBI future if Atlanta came find a place for him. His track record of winning with Louisiana State teams cannot be overlooked, especially for an organisation like the Braves.

The second SEC player worth a look by the Braves is Alabama Crimson Tide Junior shortstop Josh Rutledge, who has not been talked about much despite comparing relatively well to SEC darling Zack Cox. Rutledge is a prototypical Braves selection having been born in Cullman, Alabama which, if you listen to the marketing department inside Turner Field is right in the middle of Braves Country. When he has been discussed his defence has been the major talking at Rutledge is a rare case of someone who projects as a Major League shortstop and would not need moving but, again, is athletic and talented enough to move if need be. The Alabama shortstop would not be the kind of power hitter that Parker could be but has been a good average hitter his entire career. At High School Rutledge hit .454 as a senior before enrolling at Alabama. His freshman season in Tuscaloosa, Rutledge lead the team in average with a .369 average before becoming an all-SEC selection in his sophomore year even despite seeing his average drop to.305. He has played in the Cape Cod summer league for two consecutive seasons compiling a .250 average in 35 games with the wood bat. While that average is in no way eye popping it is a real achievement given he usually hits with the college aluminium bat. To reach the .250 mark demonstrates plenty of room to grow in a team’s minor league system and projects really well as a potential Major League lead off man when coupled with his above average speed. Given the Braves early season issues at the lead-off spot Rutledge’s potential has to be incredibly tempting to explore.

While there is in-state talent at shortstop with Zach Alvord and pitching with Cameron Bedrosian neither has proven enough to warrant such a high draft pick, but could be good options for later rounds. As for the 35th pick all four would be good picks for the Braves and project to having bright futures, for the 35th I think you have to choose either Dietrich or Parker simply because they would be better fits at an earlier stage, both Rutledge and Gibbs would seem to be reaches in the first supplemental round. Both should be available at 53 and maybe later and, should Frank Wren and his team have the opportunity they have to grab whatever combination they could.

Friday 4 June 2010

For Real?!


Are these Atlanta Braves for real? That’s the question that this eleven game road trip will prove. So far everything is starting to fall into place for the now first place Braves with every facet of the team delivering apart from, ironically, the All-Stars. It has all started at the top of the line up when Bobby Cox chose to place the white hot Martin Prado in the lead off in place of the anonymous figures of Nate McLouth and Melky Cabrera. While it was only one position that Martin moved up its importance was never clearer than in the Phillies series when the Braves scored a run in the bottom of the first inning in each of the three games. Prado went 3-for-3. After replacing Kelly Johnson at second last year Prado has come from reliable to brilliant to the team’s best player, and that isn’t some overly optimistic judgement he is proving day-in-day-out how important he is to the success of the team. It seals the deal when his teammates recognise him as their All-Star as happened this week when Peter Moylan took a break from giving us all heart attacks in relief to launch the “Vote for Prado” All-Star game campaign. In one of the best spontaneous demonstrations of togetherness Moylan twisted the “Vote for Pedro” shirt from the movie Napoleon Dynamite that has become such a cultural symbol after the films cult success. Had this been Nick Swisher launching a campaign for Yankee team mate Robinson Cano we would have seen it all over sportscenter and various panel shows across sports, but this is the age of great Southern obscurity and it took Atlanta area blogger to even put it in the news. But Prado deserves every little bit of praise from bloggers, reporters and teammates alike not just because of his incredible hitting but also the spark he brings to the clubhouse, he is clearly one of the most liked members of the roster and should be lauded at every turn for his effect on everyone involved in the Atlanta Braves organisation.
While Prado has been hitting all year one member of the Braves team who’s sudden change of fortune has been almost single handedly responsible for the Braves winning the tight games they lost in April. After being as dormant as the pencil Bobby Cox used to change his line-up card in April the slugging first baseman Frank Wren signed in the offseason appeared in the form of Troy Glaus. While Glaus, Brian McCann and Chipper Jones wasted almost every RBI opportunity they were afforded threw the season’s first three weeks the former Cardinal racked up nearly 30 RBI’s in the space of 31 days. He also managed to hit more home runs than Mac and Chipper combined which makes the often maligned Frank Wren look like a recruiting genius. Glaus has made the middle of the Braves, which has been pretty limited in its production, look a lot more dangerous because, even though neither McCann nor Jones have hit very well they have both worked a tonne of walks. The improvement in Glaus as an RBI guy has made these works important, even crucial. His three-run home runs on consecutive days are the perfect example of Glaus’ importance to the line-up.
Pitching was always the basis of the 2010 Braves team and it looks like this prophecy has come to fruition, with the resurgent Tim Hudson leading the way with his outstanding 2.30 ERA. It has not just been their performances on the mound that makes this pitching staff so impressive but their performance off it. Every night the biggest cheer leaders in the dugout are those pitchers on their day off. There appears to be a closeness with these guys like we haven’t seen in a long time, even Derek Lowe has shown a willingness to join in the fun which has been reflected by his dramatically increased pitching performance. With Hudson, Wagner and Moylan assuming positions of leadership it has allowed the young Braves pitchers to grow, especially someone like Johnny Venters who is quickly establishing himself as a potential cloer-in-waiting even with Craig Kimbrel in the minors. The most impressive young pitcher on the Braves staff has not been the super-hyped and super-impressive Tommy Hanson but his less recognised room-mate Kris Medlen. The youngster who came up last year to bridge the gap to Hanson’s inevitable arrival at the Major League level was unimpressive in several spot starts in 2009, in the bullpen however he was dominant. After Jair Jurrjens went on the DL with an injured hamstring Medlen stepped in and has been the Braves second best pitcher in the 5 starts he has made and should not be the one to lose his place when Jurrjens gets healthy.
While I am certainly not saying the Braves are suddenly in pole position to win the NL East after May they look a lot more competitive than at the conclusion of April and I can’t quite figure out the difference in the team that happened between April 30th and May 1st but whatever happened this is all of a sudden looking like the team every single Braves fan hoped we were on Opening Day. We may know more about this team in just a few days when they get back to Atlanta in eleven days.