I’ll be adding my report in the near future, but I thought i’d go ahead and create this thread to encourage others to chime in about the Braves at the All-Star Break.
Hard to believe that with the June Swoon, we\’re only 2 out heading into the 2nd Half of the season. The Mets really blew their chance to put the Braves away. If we can stay healthy the second half of the season, we should be able to be in the lead or within reach of it when September rolls around.
Starting Pitching: Smoltz and Hudson seemed to falter a bit since the 1/3 season write-up, but they\’re still winning. Chuck James has looked pretty good and seems to be getting more consistent. Davies still is not putting anything together consistenly. He\’s had some gems, but a couple of three inning stinkers to follow them up. For the 5th spot, Carlyle has looked pretty solid. I think that we\’re still one starter away from solidifying the staff and I wouldn\’t be surprised if Schuerholz picks up a starter, especially after hearing Bobby\’s comments on Davies last week.
Relief: Wickman is looking terrible these days. I think he has one 1-2-3 since he came off the DL. Every game, he\’s getting himself into trouble with baserunners. Soriano could replace Wickman if needed, but even he has had a bad stretch lately and seems to be giving up a lot of HR balls. Yates had a strong June, but his last few outings haven\’t been too good. Moynlan has been lights out and is the most consistent guy that we have right now. Villarreal and Paronto have been less than impressive. Overall, we\’ve got to maybe pick up one more guy for the \’pen. Either that, or we need to get three guys back to pitching as well as they were in May and the first half of June.
Hitting: It\’s crazy that the team is 2nd in the NL in hitting; I would\’ve never guessed it. Chipper\’s back and he\’s tearing it up; he\’s really picked this team up. Andruw had a good series in SD (Always rips it in Petco); hopefully, he\’s turning the corner. Kelly and Francoeur seem to have found their swings again have been producing over the past few weeks. Renteria is still showing that he\’s the most consistent hitter on the team. McCann had a pretty good West Coast Trip, but he\’s still in the low .260s. Thorman is brutal and is not the answer at first. It\’s time for Salty to take over; he\’s been awesome at the plate. Willie Harris and Diaz continue to shine in Left and have not faltered one bit in the first half.
With Chipper back and Andruw seemingly on track, we should be able to provide consistent run support for the pitching staff.
Second Half Keys: If the team stays healthy, I think that we\’ll be fine. Chipper\’s gotta stay fit; maybe some Midol PMS tablets will help his cause. Smoltz needs to overcome his injuries as well because he\’s the real leader of this team. As I wrote in the 1/3 season write-up, we need another quality starter, especially with Smoltz\’s problems. We can\’t depend on Davies to come around and i\’m still not sold on James and Carlyle giving us anything overly special for the whole 2nd half.
If we can get everyone on the same page and producing at the same time, we\’re going to contend for the very winnable NL East. If we continue to have breakdowns and inconsistencies, we might still be able to compete, but it\’s much less likely that the Mets will falter as much as they did in June.
One Response for "Braves Mid-Season Report"
Hard to believe that with the June Swoon, we\’re only 2 out heading into the 2nd Half of the season. The Mets really blew their chance to put the Braves away. If we can stay healthy the second half of the season, we should be able to be in the lead or within reach of it when September rolls around.
Starting Pitching: Smoltz and Hudson seemed to falter a bit since the 1/3 season write-up, but they\’re still winning. Chuck James has looked pretty good and seems to be getting more consistent. Davies still is not putting anything together consistenly. He\’s had some gems, but a couple of three inning stinkers to follow them up. For the 5th spot, Carlyle has looked pretty solid. I think that we\’re still one starter away from solidifying the staff and I wouldn\’t be surprised if Schuerholz picks up a starter, especially after hearing Bobby\’s comments on Davies last week.
Relief: Wickman is looking terrible these days. I think he has one 1-2-3 since he came off the DL. Every game, he\’s getting himself into trouble with baserunners. Soriano could replace Wickman if needed, but even he has had a bad stretch lately and seems to be giving up a lot of HR balls. Yates had a strong June, but his last few outings haven\’t been too good. Moynlan has been lights out and is the most consistent guy that we have right now. Villarreal and Paronto have been less than impressive. Overall, we\’ve got to maybe pick up one more guy for the \’pen. Either that, or we need to get three guys back to pitching as well as they were in May and the first half of June.
Hitting: It\’s crazy that the team is 2nd in the NL in hitting; I would\’ve never guessed it. Chipper\’s back and he\’s tearing it up; he\’s really picked this team up. Andruw had a good series in SD (Always rips it in Petco); hopefully, he\’s turning the corner. Kelly and Francoeur seem to have found their swings again have been producing over the past few weeks. Renteria is still showing that he\’s the most consistent hitter on the team. McCann had a pretty good West Coast Trip, but he\’s still in the low .260s. Thorman is brutal and is not the answer at first. It\’s time for Salty to take over; he\’s been awesome at the plate. Willie Harris and Diaz continue to shine in Left and have not faltered one bit in the first half.
With Chipper back and Andruw seemingly on track, we should be able to provide consistent run support for the pitching staff.
Second Half Keys: If the team stays healthy, I think that we\’ll be fine. Chipper\’s gotta stay fit; maybe some Midol PMS tablets will help his cause. Smoltz needs to overcome his injuries as well because he\’s the real leader of this team. As I wrote in the 1/3 season write-up, we need another quality starter, especially with Smoltz\’s problems. We can\’t depend on Davies to come around and i\’m still not sold on James and Carlyle giving us anything overly special for the whole 2nd half.
If we can get everyone on the same page and producing at the same time, we\’re going to contend for the very winnable NL East. If we continue to have breakdowns and inconsistencies, we might still be able to compete, but it\’s much less likely that the Mets will falter as much as they did in June.
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