Yeah, I know it’s a pipedream considering there’s five teams ahead of them and even if they go 11-2 down the stretch, they wouldn’t be assured of a playoff spot, but they’re playing two of those teams that are ahead of them as well as some of the bottom teams like the Astros and the Marlins. I’m not counting them out quite yet (unless they lose tonight :-)).
You have to like Tim Hudson’s bounceback season this year. The righthander threw his first complete game shutout this year yesterday and he’s looking like the best of the three Athletic’s aces that have gone on their way the past few years. He’s not getting enough Cy Young consideration either and if he can win out, you’re looking at a guy who could win 18 games and log 225 innings. His most impressive number is the fact that he’s given up just nine homeruns all season.
And what can you say about John Smoltz. His ERA is hovering right around 3.00 and while he’ll fall short of 200 strikeouts this year, he’ll get number 3,000 early next year. We’ have Smoltz and Hudson for two more seasons with an option for a third and that’s definitely a core we can build around.
The big decision will be whether to sign Andruw Jones or not. He never did hit out of his slump but his fielding is still very, very good. He leads the all National League centerfielders in revised zone rating and he also leads the National League by a wide margin in plays made outside of his zone. He also leads the team in fielding win shares. What’s strange is, it’s not really reflected in Baseball Prospectus’ fielding runs above average, which has him as a negative.
I have to admit too, I’m an Andruw Jones fan. I’ve been watching him play since he was a teenager and he was at the heart of a lot of those Braves teams in the 1990s that got it done with all of the division titles. Of course I don’t want the team to overspend for him at the expense of needs elsewhere.
I’m slowly but surely catching up on the 1957 Braves diary. I know it’s not the same as if I kept up with and you could check it out daily but I’m hoping to be at real time by the time the Braves play their World Series games. Thanks for stopping by and being patient.
