Atlanta Braves II

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#7,551
#7,551
The Braves have the best upside of anyone in the division, including the Phillies. They also have a handful of significant, predictable question marks that, if things don't break the right way, might cause them to finish under .500. Not injuries or unexpected drops in performance, things that were obvious areas of concern back in November.

Any prediction you make about this Braves team going into 2012 is about as likely as any other.
 
#7,553
#7,553
zjcvols said:
Disagree slightly. I can see a 75 win season, but I can also see a 90 wins eason.
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If the young pitching all works out and Hudson comes back strong, and the bullpen doesn't burn up, and Heyward and Freeman hit like their rookie seasons, and Chipper's relatively healthy and relatively productive -- none of which is that big of a stretch -- the Braves could win 95 games and blow the doors off the Phillies. The potential really is there.

Conversely, if the pitching struggles and Heyward/Freeman aren't great, and Chipper sucks or is out most of the year -- none of which is that big a stretch either -- then the Braves could finish under .500. Anything could happen this year.
 
#7,554
#7,554
Vercingetorix said:
If the young pitching all works out and Hudson comes back strong, and the bullpen doesn't burn up, and Heyward and Freeman hit like their rookie seasons, and Chipper's relatively healthy and relatively productive -- none of which is that big of a stretch -- the Braves could win 95 games and blow the doors off the Phillies. The potential really is there.

Conversely, if the pitching struggles and Heyward/Freeman aren't great, and Chipper sucks or is out most of the year -- none of which is that big a stretch either -- then the Braves could finish under .500. Anything could happen this year.
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The key is three things:

1) Health

2) Jason Heyward's emergence

3) The return of good OBP
 
#7,555
#7,555
I still say the bullpen is too good and there's too much starting pitching depth to fall below .500.
 
#7,556
#7,556
I think this could be McCann's MVP campaign season. I'm considering keeping him in my fantasy auction league for $25.
 
#7,557
#7,557
GAVol said:
I still say the bullpen is too good and there's too much starting pitching depth to fall below .500.
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If Heyward doesn't return to something resembling his rookie form and Freeman doesn't avoid the typical sophomore slump and Chipper doesn't contribute significantly, the offense could be so awful that .500 or below is a possibility, regardless of how good the pitching is. And every one of those three things is a tossup.

(The starting pitching has great depth and should be fine. But I can't get too excited about the bullpen because I figure that there's probably about a 5 percent chance that Kimbrel and Venters and O'Flaherty all make it through the year unscathed. We're going to see the 2012 version of Scott Linebrink out there in way too many important situations at some point.)
 
#7,565
#7,565
Escape Goat said:
5 homers already. He is primed for a huge year.
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I heard an interview with him in which he credited his spring success thus far to a change in his approach. Even into the start of the season he used to try to see as many pitches as possible before feeling comfortable. Now he's just trying to time the fastball and let everything else work off of that. Who else takes this very same approach?

Chipper.
 
#7,574
#7,574
tnfalcon said:
My point is that Chipper's advice might be helping Uggla fix his tendency for slow starts.
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It is the fundamental principle of hitting. If you want to credit Chipper, credit Chipper having enough clout for UGGLA to listen to him.
 
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