Week 4 In Review

OffenseThe offense this past week struggled in the first two games against the Marlins, after that it has been pretty good. Lead by the hottest hitter in baseball in Chipper Jones. Chipper is ranked in the top 5 in the majors in every major offensive category. Now we just need for Chipper to start stealing some bases (just playing). Every position player had a very good week besides Matt Diaz. He continues to struggle to swing at horrible pitches. Diaz is similar to Mark Teixeira at starting the season slow. Bobby Cox is doing the right thing in putting him in a platoon role with hot hitting Gregor Blanco. The biggest upgrade in the offense thus far is the reemergence of switch hitting Mark Teixeira. He has hit over .300 this past week and is trying not to let Chipper out do him.

The offense will get a B+ in week 4, because of the struggles earlier in Florida.

Starting PitchingThe story of the past week was our strong rotation. In this young 2008 season, we should start getting use to strong starts from our starters. Unlike last year when our 3-4-5 starters all struggled at times, this year have the best back to end starters in the NL East. The fixture in the 2008 rotation has been Jair Jurrjens. In the weekend game against the Dodgers, Jurrjens pitched his best game in a Braves uniform. Chuck James and Jeff Bennett both had quality starts this past week. Tim Hudson was fighting the flu in his start against the Marlins. As result, he lost some miles per hour on his fastball and struggled. John Smoltz was very good this past week with a 5 inning 10 strikeout performance against the young Marlins. In Smoltzie next start he is going to be gunning for strikeout number 3,000. He is currently sitting on strikeout number 2,996.

I will give the Starting Pitching a solid A, because of Hudson weak start in Florida. Otherwise I would’ve given the starters an A+. Plus, our starters need to start pitching at least one more inning.

The BullpenSince the potential season ending injury of Peter Moylan, the Braves bullpen has been lights out. Minus the one bad inning from Will Ohman in the game versus the Marlins, the pen has held the lead in the entire Braves wins this week. Blaine Boyer and Manny Acosta have just been great after struggling earlier in the season. Those two young set up men have filled the void left by Peter Moylan and Rafael Soriano very well. The part I like about them the most is that they are striking hitters out. Lets not over look the great work from Jorge Campillo, he has come in a pitched multiple innings and has gotten the job done. Now, if Cox and McDowell can workout the problems with Chris Resop and Will Ohman, our pen can be good without Soriano and Gonzalez (we are still going to need those two and possibly more). The Bravos pen is only going to get better with time as these young players mature and when the pen gets healthier.

I will give the Braves pen a rock solid A, because Will Ohman struggled in a close lost in Florida.

The BenchThe Braves bench has really stepped up this week. Martin Prado and Gregor Blanco both played very well. Blanco played great defense and came through with some very good at bats. Blanco played so well that Bobby Cox is starting to platoon him with Matt Diaz. Blanco also brings a speed dimension to the team that we have been missing this year. Martin Prado came off of the bench this week and had some clutch at bats. He should’ve had a bases loaded triple in the final game versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately young talent outfielder Andre Either made one of the best catches of the week to rob Prado.

I will give the bench a rock solid A, because Prado didn’t get that bases loaded hit (tough luck).

The DefenseWhen we never hear anything about the defense, which is great sign. Earlier in the year the defense caused the Braves to lose some games. This week we have seen some good plays from Mark Kotsay, Yunel Escobar, and Mark Teixeira. Kelly Johnson is still a work in progress at second base. He still has some trouble back handing and charging in at the ball. As time goes along, those plays will become second nature to him.

I will give the defense as A+, because they made the routine plays and didn’t cause the Braves any wins.

This past week the Atlanta Braves went 4-2. So I will have to give the Braves an A-.