I'm sorry I have not written in so long, but I have been terribly busy this week working on revamping AtlantaBravesNation.com An updated website could come as early as Monday. Anyways I asked my baseball buddy Christian, who is a S.F. Giants fan to share his thoughts about the Braves this year.
Hey there, Braves nation! My name is Christian, and I'll be your guest writer for the day. First, a bit on me: I'm a die-hard Giants fan (no bias here), and I hate the damn Mets. Chief has asked me to write a piece on the Braves chances, so here goes!
Last year, the Braves finished with a dismal 72 wins, 20 games behind the Phillies. 2009, however, looks significantly better for the Braves. The Mets have improved the bullpen, and I'm going to go ahead and say they are the team to beat, but the Phillies and Marlins have only gone backwards. The Phillies replaced Pat Burrell with an older, slower and significantly worse Raul Ibanez. Their set-up man, Ryan Madsen, has received a 50 game suspension for testing positive to a banned substance, and their star 2B, Chase Utley, is attempting to come off hip surgery. The Marlins have also gotten worse, as they have traded several players in cost cutting and rebuilding measures. The Nationals, I won't talk about, because hey, they're the Nationals.
While most everyone else got worse, the Braves have only gotten better. While Teixeira is gone, Kotchman is a very capable replacement first base man, and I'm sure the Angels will sorely miss him this year. Kawakami projects to be a starter very similar to Hiroki Kuroda, but if the scouting reports are to be believed, he has better stuff. 200 innings with an ERA under 4 are easily attainable. While I'm sure Braves fan are upset they missed out on Burnett, Lowe has a very similar ERA, and he's much less injury prone. Across the board, the Braves have improved, and the projections agree. PECTOA preseason projections have Braves tied with the Phillies and only 5 game back of the Mets, while the CHONE projections have the Braves one game back of the Phillies and tied with the Mets. While the Braves are no lock, this year they return to contention.
Thanks Chrisitian! If you want to be a guest writer contact aBn via email at AtlantaBravesNation@gmail.com How do ya'll feel about these projections? Do you think he is spot on or is not seeing the picture. I think its always a good idea to get an 'outsiders' perspective.
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Derek Lowe doesn't have a similar ERA to AJ Burnett, he has a much better one. Lowe's career ERA+ is 122 and Burnett's is 111. In Burnett's best season, he posted a 4.07 ERA. The only category that Burnett is better at is Strikeouts.
ReplyDeletePWHjort I believe Christian was trying to say they have a similar career-ERA which is true. Burnett's career ERA is 3.81 and Lowe's is 3.75. In 2008 Lowe had a better ERA vs. Burnett like you mentioned.
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