Been a month or more and look who is in First place again looking very in control of their destiny? Well Kolb is no longer closing. Reitsma is showing why we loved having Smoltz in the pen and Smoltz is showing why he shouldn't have been there to begin with. Though I have to say... Smoltz's arm would likely not have taken two/three full seasons throwing deep into games. He is grinding it pretty hard like he has always done, and like it did before it will get his arm into trouble. He could gut through it to some degree as a Closer as he only had to grit his teeth and take the pain for one inning. But if he has trouble at the end of the year again I can tell you as a former Pitcher (College) that he is not going to be able to gut out dominating starts if his elbow flares up. I love Smoltzie, but I am concerned if he is going to be there at the end. If he is not it most certainly will not be for a lack of heart. There are few players in the game right now that have more love for what they do than John Smoltz. Add that to the symmetry of having Smoltz healthy when Huddy, Thompson and Hampton bit the dust for a while (and Horacio was iffy for a stretch) and it wouldn't surprise me to see them all hit their stride and Smoltz have to take a seat for a while. But thats just fatalistic talk. Smoltz has carried through fully healthy seasons, and as much as he has thrown, and as consistent as his stuff has been I doubt anything is bothering him at this point.
How about these Rookies ? Braves have now started 16 including the late coming Francouer who has simply been the best of the bunch and may well take home Rookie of the year honors on a half season of play. My first post about the Braves down there I mentioned Mondesi or Jordan have a comeback year being an important part of a successful braves title defense. Well its not Jordan or Mondesi but we certainly are getting the production I was thinking of, just from a very unexpected source. If the Braves win out and clinch number 14 and Cox dosn't get manager of the year its going to be a joke. With all the injuries and failed expectations Cox has simply picked up all the Lemons the season has thrown at him and opened a fricken Lemonade Stand. Now that being said I do kind of wish it one of those Veterens had managed to return to previous form as if we get to the Playoffs it could become problematic having such a Young team. They have plenty of talent and to spare. But young teams are prone to jitters and these guys are going to hit the post season and find that postseason Atlanta is a VERY different atmosphere than regular season. The 14 consecutive titles with only one World Series win makes for a very odd postseason feeling for this team and Veterans are simply better equipped to shrug it off and get on with playing the game. On the other hand the Rookies have put a spark back in this team that really hasn't been seen since the early 90's at the beginning of this ungodly run. So perhaps it is going to be a good thing. They certainly have the swager right now. But remember that Rookies tend to ride pretty high peaks and valleys, and they can crash and burn in a hurry.
Specifically regarding Francouer. The boy is a fantastic talent. But his extreme lack of patience at the plate will cost him by the end of the year. 120 at bats with no walks? He already has 20 some odd K's and that does not project well over an entire seasons worth of stats. Before long Pitchers are just not going to give him much in the zone to work with until he proves he can lay off. If he can't he is going to hit a serious cold streak before long unless he is a better bad ball hitter than Yogi Bera or Vlad Guerrero Combined.
Pitching. Rookies have come up big here too but here we HAVE to have at least three of the 4 we started with as our main guys going into the Playoffs. I am not saying we can't win with the youngsters. Just that there is simply no telling what you are going to get out of a young pitcher under that much pressure. And the results are rarely mediocre. Last time the braves really went to the Post season with a green pitcher in a key position was 91 with Steve Avery and he started from day one in the Rotation that year. For the three of the four. Smoltz and Huddy need to lead the way and toss a Coin between Hampton and Thompson. Personally I'd like Hampton to be sharp with his penchant for ground balls and ungodly competitive streak but I don't really give a flip as long as one of them is on their game. Then we can round out that forth slot if need be. Course give us all four and this lineup producing what it is capable of and I say we take the Series.
