Braves, not Phillies, may be the best team in N.L. East
Jason Heyward, Chipper Jones and Frank Wren may be looking at division title this year.
When they were hanging banners for 14 straight seasons, the Braves had more than merely great parts. A team that wins so often and for so long develops a confidence and a belief that can’t be taught, it has to be experienced.
“You want to get back to that point where you walk onto the field every day and you just expect to win,” Chipper Jones said Tuesday. “That was something we had back in the 1990s and early 2000s. That mentality of, no matter what happens, things will fall right.”
The Braves may be at that point again.
Two years ago, they were hovering barely above .500 in early September. Then they rose, as Don King once put it, “from the media pallet of death.” They went 15-2 and pulled to within two games of the wild card lead, only to eventually start dropping parts on the highway. Last year, we watched a perfect blend of imperfect players get back to the postseason despite a blur of injuries and lineups. The last spasm in game No. 162 got the Braves in. They eventually lost to San Francisco, the team that would win the World Series.
They are better now. More importantly, the majority players on this roster can draw on success that their predecessors from the previous few years couldn’t.
Yes, on paper, Philadelphia has one of the greatest starting pitching rotations ever assembled.
But on the field, the Braves project like National League East Division champions.
“We’ve got to play the games – we’ve got to play 162 games,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said when asked how he felt about the fact most are picking the Phillies to win the East. “They have a great pitching staff. But we feel pretty good about ours, too. So in September, let’s see where we’re at.”
The Braves’ last division title came in 2005. It was the last time they hung a banner in Turner Field until team officials decided to commemorate last year’s wild card team with a flag on banner row — only the sixth of 17 wild card participants to do so.
“Making the playoffs is special and it should be recognized,” general manager Frank Wren said.
This team could be more special. Adding Dan Uggla gives the lineup the potent right-handed bat it needed. Jason Heyward is no longer a prospect — he’s a given. Martin Prado is as good an all-around player as there is in baseball. Nate McLouth looks better. Chipper Jones made it through spring without a limp.
The starting rotation isn’t Philly’s but it is top 10 — at least. Closer Billy Wagner is gone. But Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters might be good enough to fill the void.
Think I’m drunk on the Kool-Aid? Maybe. But a lesser team won 91 games last season with a lineup that on some nights looked like that old stuffed bear you kept as a kid, despite the missing arm and the partially detached head.
About the Phillies: They’re good. They’ve won the division four of the last five years. They have a ridiculous top four in the rotation: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt. (Joe Blanton is Gummo Marx in this exercise.)
But Philadelphia has significant issues:
♦ Chase Utley has been “their heart and soul for the last several years,” Wren said. But he has patellar tendinitis, bone inflammation and something called chondromalacia. That’s Latin for: “My knee hurts.” Utley has risked public humiliation by sitting on a stool while fielding ground balls. His goal is to be back for the All-Star break. Not his projection – his goal. Doctors don’t even believe surgery would help. They’re basically declaring his right knee terminal.
♦ Closer Brad Lidge may not pitch this year. He is one hiccup away from mutating into Mike Hampton. He has had elbow problems, knee problems, biceps problems. Now his shoulder hurts. His tombstone will read: “Doctor, it hurts when I go like this.”
♦ Jayson Werth is gone. He signed a ridiculous $126 million contract in Washington, but that doesn’t diminish what he meant to the Phillies. He brought needed right-handed power.
Philly is more than beatable.
Jones again: “They’ve earned that moniker as the team to beat. But as long as we’re in the mix and people are talking about us, it’s good.”
It will be very good.
By Jeff Schultz
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295 comments Add your comment
Peter
March 29th, 2011
10:02 pm
Pastornicky, Bowman, Lipka, Delgado, Vizcaino, Lucas, Abreu, just to name a few off the top of my head. The guys with names on the back of the jerseys during the spring, so I can at least say I recognize the names. But regardless, there are a lot of players in the system I don’t know.
Hedder
March 29th, 2011
10:10 pm
Just when I think JS can’t be any more of a dumbass, he writes this. Yeah jeff the phillies last year had 6 reg starters on and off the DL, have added cliff lee to the best rotation and won 97 games last year with all those injuries and you expect the braves with adding uggla to be better? Lay off the acid man.
Hedder
March 29th, 2011
10:12 pm
But I forgot the braves have conrad back! His perfection on the field should take them over the top!
Richie_Rich1986
March 29th, 2011
10:14 pm
@ Peter,
Nice 2 of those will be big time players and 2 of them will be maybe average….Not trying to call you out or anything but many people don’t follow it much if at all to even know the names of the top prospects in the organization let alone recognize them if you actually see them. Its amazing during spring training how people can tell who is who if they don’t have their jerseys on with their number and name on the back!
Quicherbichin
March 29th, 2011
10:20 pm
Joe Tess Fish House… Do we have a new player? who is Jay Hayword? won’t he get confused with Jason Heyward? And FYI… joe Torre had a losing career record when he was hired by the Yankees…. How did THAT turn out? one more thing… your teachers should be ashamed of themselves… You couldn’t spell the normal word for feline if I spotted you the c and the a!!! Learn to spell, please!!!
BuzztheKiller
March 29th, 2011
10:22 pm
Hedder- lay off the head dude. The Phillies will have the pitching,but their starting lineup is getting old and broken down. They do look like the Braves in the 90’s, lot of pitching, not enough hitting, and one title to show for it. Braves win the division by 2-3 games.
Pete*
March 29th, 2011
10:27 pm
Hedder: “….and you expect the braves with adding uggla to be better?”
You forgot the part about the Phillies subtracting Werth. So the answer to your question is yes.
Quicherbichin
March 29th, 2011
10:32 pm
Proof that Foghorn Leghorn is wrong… Joe Tess Fish House agrees with him.
Reid Adair
March 29th, 2011
10:37 pm
Entirely too many positive comments from Frank Wren. Wren is probably the who told them to put the banner up for the wild card.
MitchC
March 29th, 2011
10:48 pm
Jeff, Ironicially, I live in Pennsylvania, so I hear about the Phillies on the Philly TV station all the time. (I’ve been a Braves fan since 1983, through thick and thin, even when I lived in NY, btw, that having been said..”.
To the point of your article: I think it’s a bit.. boastful. Yes, the Phillies have some serious injury issues, and.. while their rotation may not be.. Maddux, Glavine.. Smoltz, with three likely Hall of Famers in it, their starting pitching is still very, very good.
Also, our starting pitching has some.. age on it.. Hudson and Lowe are over 35 Tommy Hanson is young and good, but.. what will happen with JJ this year?!
Chipper is healthy now.. but.. we know that somewhere along the line.. he will pull some muscle somewhere in his body. Hopefully, he’ll play more games than last year.
Uggla will help our lineup, definitely, but.. this team’s age.. plus the fact that we have two unproven closers, combined with Philly’s pitching staff,, make me uncomfortable with saying. “We will win the division”.
Honestly, this Braves team is good, better than last year. However. unless Philly’s pitching staff really falters, and we have a lot of things go completely right for us.. it would seem more realistic to think we are the favorite for the wild card.. not the NL East crown.
My call: A win total the same..or a bit better.. than last year, and an easier road to the wild card than last year. Some teams have sowed the wild card earlier than Game 162. We have a good chance to do that, and wrap it up earlier than the final game, if everyone stays realtively healthy, and plays as they should.
Jon
March 29th, 2011
11:13 pm
The Phillies will struggle to score the most they have in years!
http://www.sportswithjon.blogspot.com
Jimbo
March 29th, 2011
11:32 pm
Everyone is drunk on koolaid or something stronger. Phillies by far still the class of the east.
Foghorn Leghorn
March 29th, 2011
11:58 pm
…..Jeff Schultz…….Chipper Jones does not play for the Braves anymore. He’s been replaced by a shell of his former self I now call The Dipper.
Let’s see how well The Dipper’s body holds up when he has to play 14 games in 14 days….when he doesnt get every couple of days off…when he has to play 4 or 5 games in a row without being pulled early for a defensive replacement…because the Braves feel they need his bat in the line-up.
Jake Fox (a journeyman) hit 10 homers for the Orioles this spring. Does that mean that we should anoint him the American League MVP…the winner of the Home Run Derby in the All-Star game?
wayn-o
March 30th, 2011
12:02 am
Schultz with the amazing one-liners in this article! “He is one hiccup away from mutating into Mike Hampton.” yea I actually lol’ed
PaulieOldschool
March 30th, 2011
12:22 am
From your mouth to God’s ear, Jeff, as my grandmother used to say.
Phillies4Ever
March 30th, 2011
12:43 am
Jeff can you please tell me where you got the pot you smoked before writing this article? I got some friends that would really enjoy it. Utley has been our heart and soul for a little while but we played without him last year too and still had the best record in the league. Lidge is only out 6 weeks..get your facts straight. Werth might be gone but we’ll be just fine without him. Oh yeah..i forgot something else. Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels, hell even Blanton. Blanton would be a #3 on every other team. Hamels would be a #1 on just about every other team. Braves don’t stand a chance.
John
March 30th, 2011
12:45 am
Pitching? Yes. Offense? Yes. Defense? No. Defense will be the Achilles Heel and cost the Braves a division title. Hope I’m wrong…
Prognosticator
March 30th, 2011
1:11 am
Kim Cattrall to play has-been porn star
Wasn’t that what she was doing all those years on “Sluts in the City”?
carlchamblee
March 30th, 2011
1:49 am
Braves have as many question marks as Phils if not more – Chipper’s health, McLouth trying not to stink, Jurrjens arm, young pen, and a bad defense that got worse when they put UGH-la at second and moved Prado to left. And I really like Heyward but it’s not a “given” he will have a big year given his ups and downs in his rookie year. Probably will be fine but sophomore slumps and busts have happened.
This best-in-the-division talk sounds a lot like another AJC sportswriter predicting UGA would beat UNC in hoops enroute to a sweet 16. Simply based on homerism and rallying the faithful.
Phils are the best team in the division until someone proves otherwise. You just can’t discount how incredibly good their starting pitching is.
carlchamblee
March 30th, 2011
1:52 am
Might add that it’s funny how anyone in Atlanta would think that the Phils great starting pitchers won’t carry them. Hello 1990s Glavine-Maddux-Smoltz and 14 division titles!
JASon
March 30th, 2011
4:23 am
“That was something we had back in the 1990s and early 2000s. That mentality of, no matter what happens, things will fall right.”
Hey chipper, you know not everyone on this team was here back then. In fact, most of the players weren’t. Its this attitude that has stifled the development of young players on this team for years. NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR PAST SUCCESSES. STOP BEING SUCH A BAD LEADER.
scottbravesfan
March 30th, 2011
4:44 am
The Braves easily have a top three rotation in the national league. Only the Phillies and Giants are better.
Ringtoss999
March 30th, 2011
5:00 am
Start the season with the Nationals on the road.Should give us a taste for what is ahead. Stan Kasten has been working hard to create a good team.162 games is a marathon ,not a sprint.Do we have talent ? Yes.Do the Braves have a swagger ? No. Why ? Too much reminiscing about past glory. And every media scribe continues to wallow in what was (sorry,Jeff). Banner in the outfield for wild card slot. Please. Lets start the season with our eyes wide open and hope,no pray,that Freddie G. can kick some arse when he has to ramp up the productivity.Chipper will be out before the All Star break and be a psuedo bench coach,which is where he should be. He is worth his salary for insight about the opposing teams,not his vocabulary (”moniker”-Really). And he knows all the ladies on the road.
FalconUGAFan
March 30th, 2011
5:40 am
Yea….this is nice spring talk, but like the man says….let’s see where we are in Sept….
Stinger2
March 30th, 2011
7:18 am
I am one Braves fan who is going to wait until at least June before I get too excited and go overboard with predictions where the Braves will finish the season. Jeff and the rest of you can have the fun and I will enjoy reading your posts.
Braves N.L. East Champs?
March 30th, 2011
7:36 am
IF the Braves get into the post season, we know what they are best for doing,CHOKING.
Truth
March 30th, 2011
7:38 am
As much as I like the Braves
We had over 20 last at bat wins. We cannot duplicate that this year. We need take 2 out of 3 or sweep the teams we ought to be
Mitchell
March 30th, 2011
7:51 am
It starts in April.
Okay, technically it starts in March but this thing has to get going right out of the gate.
No more 9 and 10 win Aprils. The Braves need to back up all this talk and start winning now, not in May or June.
If they can be in first place at the end of April, take advantage of the Phillies weaknesses and injury problem then that gives them a real chance to win it.
Because if the Phillies get behind, I mean, like seven or eight games back in the first month or two they could totally fall apart under the pressure and expectations that they would run away with it.
The Braves should win it. They’re just better when you get right down to it but if they don’t come out and play like they are capable of at the start of play, it won’t be so easy.
Jeff R
March 30th, 2011
8:09 am
I’d still pick the Phillies as odds-on-favorites to win the division, though Jeff Schultz’s points are well made.
I do think the Braves will contend for the division, and most certainly are the best of the NL wild card contenders. But some things have to fall into place for the Braves, too.
Chipper needs to stay healthy. Jurrjens needs to… stay healthy. McLouth needs a return to his pre-2010 form. Kimbrel and Venters need to step in and close effectively. Freeman needs to hit close to what he did at Gwinnett last year.
And the Braves defense needs to improve. The team’s middle defense is generally fair, not good.
Having said all that, I think the Braves are positioned to compete for the division and certainly for the wild card. Let the games begin.
BrandonC
March 30th, 2011
8:10 am
I’m always excited and confident this time of year, but ESPECIALLY this year. I think this team is very capable of pulling off 93-95 wins with the addition of Uggla. Whether that will be enough to win the division I’m not sure, but it will be exciting. Philly is hitting the back side of their dominant run due to their age and the Braves are on the rise. Can’t wait for tomorrow!!
KRAMER
March 30th, 2011
8:32 am
BUT WILL ANYBODY SHOW UP , THOSE EMPTY SEATS ARE A BEAUTIFUL THING. YOU WERE WRITING THE SAME NONSENSE WHEN THE BRAVES LED THE PHILLIES BY SEVEN GAMES LAST YEAR, DID THEY REALLY LOSE BY 6 GAMES, ASK THE EMPTY SEATS.
BobDawg
March 30th, 2011
8:36 am
.. I want to see how our “Defense” stacks up… the biggest move we made in “91 was adding Pendleton to 3rd and Sid Bream to 1st which really helped our defense…. Let’s see how many errors we make in first few months.. then I will feel better about things
Rich
March 30th, 2011
8:51 am
They will compete, but the defense, and bullpen are a big concern.
woman in the throes
March 30th, 2011
8:59 am
A little kool aid can be good for what ails ya, but seriously, Martin Prado is one of the best players in baseball? I love Martin but, wow. Might want to lighten up on the hard stuff Schultzie.
idot
March 30th, 2011
9:01 am
It seems that JS has struck a nerve with the Phillies fans, and brought out all of the negativity of some of the so-called Braves “fans”.
The Phillies, DO NOT, have a lock on the NL East, they can be beat, and the Braves can beat them.
The Braves will definitely be in the NL playoffs, and have a chance of taking the WS.
GO BRAVES!!!!!!
idot
March 30th, 2011
9:05 am
FOGHORN LEGHORN……..@8:38pm, 3/29/11…………Chippers “hits .300 over a 20 game period”, and that is not a hot streak?
That comment at 8:38pm is pretty dumb.
Ben
March 30th, 2011
9:20 am
Jeff, the problem is that the Phils lost a huge chunk of their lineup with Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard gone for much of the year and this pitching rotation hasn’t been together for a whole season yet. They still won the division by 6 games.
Do we really think Chipper will make it the whole year? McClouth is the answer in CF? Rawdog has solved his fielding issues? Can Kimbrel do it for a whole season?
I think this team will compete but it just seems that everything has to go right for the Braves to win the division and everything merely has to go “okay” for the Phils to do it.
That said, on opening day…….hope springs eternal. Go Bravos.
Delbert D.
March 30th, 2011
9:32 am
VCU got in the playoffs on a wildcard.
ConVick
March 30th, 2011
9:35 am
Empty seats, yep and it will be the same this year too. The braves are the kings of choke. We have what 15, 16 banners that proudly back that statement up. People talk about how pitiful Atl fans are, and my answer to that is what do they have to be proud about? Braves, 1 championship, since what 1965??
Hawks, None
Falcons, None
Thrashers, None
But who knows, new coach who might actually be able to coach in the post season unlike the vaunted god Bobby Cox.
phil
March 30th, 2011
9:50 am
Boy, that was a pitiful effort last night….the last week hasn’t been much better…we might want to reserve judgment on that division title for a few months until we see if McOut, McFann, Hurtward, Ugly and the rest of the crew actually win some games….
phil
March 30th, 2011
9:53 am
What’s with all this negativity? Don’t you people know it will make us lose?
Joycee Banicheck
March 30th, 2011
9:58 am
Just read through this entire blog since I didn’t catch the game. Sounds like this Foghorn douche needs to drink a glass of shut the hell up. I think I speak for a majority of Braves fans when i say why don’t you take your chipper hatin’ arse to some other blog. Every blog has its idiots and you sir are it…
Dr. Phil
March 30th, 2011
10:06 am
No question the Braves will be in contention. Chipper and McLouth must come through.
mbatl08
March 30th, 2011
10:13 am
I bet this team wins 100 games within the next few seasons. Sure the Phillies have a great rotation, but just imagine how sick our rotation is going to be when we add Teheran and Delgado, and Vizcaino is right behind them. People are saying Teheran could be the second coming of Pedro Martinez (although hopefully with fewer injuries). Frank Wren really has done a commendable job rebuilding our pitching staff. I don’t think we’ll have anything to worry about in that section for a good while.
1994 - 2002 filly attendance
March 30th, 2011
10:15 am
>19,000 per game (or 32,000 empty seats at the vet – PER GAME)
PMC
March 30th, 2011
10:16 am
I think they will or they have developed that belief somewhat because of last year. They had all kinds of issues in the lineup and they found ways to win games. They found ways to win over 90 games. This year they have fixed some of those major issues to go along with the excellent pitching.
The issues of course are health and the fact that they are still really thin in the outfield and that the defense is poor to awful for a major league team.
Runs or lack thereof have always held this team back. I think they’ll find a lot more of them this year.
Joe Tess Fish House
March 30th, 2011
10:23 am
No 1 ansered me as to why they thing this team can be beter then the Philys when they have a loosing managar with a loosing record.
Be prepaid to to be disapointed.
Lum
March 30th, 2011
10:25 am
Hope all you d-wads watched last night’s game all the way to the…bottom of the ninth. LOL, at fair weather fans.
Don
March 30th, 2011
10:33 am
“Philadelphia has significant issues” (relating to their position players) — LIKE, THE BRAVES DO NOT???
At Third Base the Braves have a player trying to come back from injury to what was already a significant downhill age slide – who was already not producing very good offensively, especially for a third place hitter, and whose defensive range is poor – to say nothing of now being another year older.
Their Shortstop is probably below average both offensively and defensively.
At First Base, they have a rookie who has not yet shown that he can hit major league pitching.
Their Center Fielder has had only one good year in his entire major league career and that in a non pressure situation in Pittsburg, and who has been – well really unproductive the last couple of years -especially last year.
Instead of being strong defensively up the middle, they do not really have a single strong defensive player up the middle — and you can add Third Base to that list.
a different Don
March 30th, 2011
11:06 am
OK. The Braves should be better in 2011. But, while enumerating the Phillies problems this year, Jeff forgot to look at what issues the Phillies had last year. Gotta look a both sides of the ledger!
Lidge was hurt and or terrible for half the season.
Madson was out a couple months.
Utley tore his thumb and was out a month.
Howard was out a month and had a sub-par year
Rollins was out a couple months and never got going.
Victorino had a sub par year.
Polanco was injured by the Braves, was out quite a bit and had a sub par year.
Only the catcher, Ruiz, was steady all year.
Is all of that going to repeat itself? Not likely.
Did Jeff bother to see who would replace Werth? The guy is hitting .377 with 5 HR and 14 RBIs this spring and has a career OPS of .775s (and his backup is hitting .299 with 5 HR and 11 RBIs) So, maybe not such a big drop-off.
So the Phillies offense will likely be better in 2011 than in 2010…and the differential will remain about the same.