Submission deadline: June 16th.

Smoltz main problem last night was his control. He had a hard time controlling his fastball and his slider. His slider looked pretty flat all night and never really threw that pitch for a called strike. His fastball on the other hand was in the mid 90’s and had a great deal of sinking movement. With this new sinking fastball he has, he should be able to get more groundouts. He just has to control his pitches and hit the spot where Brian McCann sets up at.

Quietly Jo Jo Reyes pitched another quality game last night for the Braves. Reyes pitched six strong innings while giving up three earned runs, he gave up five hits, one walk, and four strikeouts. This start wasn’t as good as his last performance in Milwaukee, but the Braves will take this every time out from him. Reyes had some control issues with his fastball during the game, but the best part is that he pitched a quality game without having his best stuff.

To activate John Smoltz last night the Braves sent down Phil Stockman to AAA Richmond. I really don’t agree with this move, because Stockman is far and away a better pitcher than Buddy Carlyle. I really don’t see the point in having Carlyle on the team, because Carlyle is better as a starting than a reliever.

Last night was also the return of super centerfield prospect Jordan Schafer. Schafer returned last night from his 50 game suspension, because he was linked to HGH. Overall he had a pretty good comeback game for the class-AA Mississippi Braves. He went 2-4 including one triple, had one walk and run, and had two RBI’s. If Schafer can continue to play like he did for at least a month in a half, we can see Schafer in the Atlanta Braves outfield after the all star break.

Pitching MatchupFLA: RHP Burke Badenhop (1-3, 6.75 ERA)
Badenhop is the type of pitcher that the Braves usually feast on at home. The Braves are a way better hitting ball club versus right handed pitching than lefties. Badenhop has a low 90’s high 80’s fastball with a pretty good sinker. On April 24, the young pitcher gave up six runs in five innings in a loss to Atlanta. The Braves have to have that same mind sent in their last meeting versus Badenhop and bring it into this game. The hitter to watch out for in this game for the Braves is Chipper Jones. With eleven of his twelve homeruns coming from the left side of the plate, he could be in for a big night for the Braves. With Yunel Escobar having a big night and Kelly Johnson returning to the lineup, he might have a chance to come up to hit with runners on base.ATL: RHP Jorge Campillo (2-0, 0.99 ERA)
Campillo continues to amaze the Braves and opposing batters with his filthy changeup. Campillo isn’t a hard thrower, but he is a very good pitcher. His pitching arsenal is so hard to figure out to its ridiculous. I try guess along with Corky Miller and Campillo, but all of his pitches has so much great movement I don’t know what pitch he is throwing or just threw. It’s going to be key for Campillo to keep his pitches down and keep Jeremy Hermida and Mike Jacobs in the yard today. Jacobs is a very good left handed bopper that loves to swing for the fences on the first pitch. It will be smart for Campillo to give Jacobs a steady diet of breaking stuff away from him to neutralize his power.

Hey Hitters
Chipper Jones
Mike Jacobs

The Braves have put veteran center fielder Mark Kotsay on the 15-day DL because of back problems. Kotsay just couldn’t get is back straighten out and instead of being short handed, Cox choice to put him on the DL. Kotsay has been a great addition to the Braves in so many ways this by his play in the outfield, leadership in the clubhouse, and he is really hitting the ball well. To counter the move to put Kotsay on the DL, the Braves have called up speedy outfielder Josh Anderson from class-AAA Richmond. He is expecting to be in the starting lineup today versus Edinson Volquez and the Reds.

Future Hall of Famer John Smoltz pitched two great innings for low-A Rome on Thursday and impressed a great deal of people. Smoltz started and pitched two innings while giving up one fluke hit, and struck out three batters. He threw a total 27 pitches in his rehab assignment and threw 17 strikes. His new three quarters side arm delivery had Asheville hitters in awe. One of the reasons why Smoltz went to this new delivery was to get more groundball outs. So far so good, he induced three ground ball outs in two innings in his last rehab assignment. In his next assignment he will pitch the eighth and ninth innings for the Rome Braves on Saturday. He is expected to come off of the DL on Monday as the Braves return to Turner Field to take on the surging Florida Marlins.

Another injured reliever pitched last night for the Braves in a rehab assignment. Mike Gonzalez returned and pitched “ok” for the Mississippi. He is coming back from Tommy John Surgery and was a bit rusty in his return. He pitched one scoreless inning, gave up two hits and zero strikeouts. The announcers for the Mississippi Braves said that Gonzalez was fallen behind most of the batters he faced last night. Gonzo is taking a different approach to return to the Braves unlike Rafael Soriano and John Smoltz. Gonzalez is going to take 10-day rehab assignment to see how well he feels or not. He is scheduled to make another rehab assignment on Saturday.

Pitching MatchupCIN: RHP Edinson Volquez (7-2, 1.31 ERA)
Volquez right now should be the leading the candidate for the Cy Young in the NL. He has a low to mid 90’s fastball and a great changeup. Rarely does Volquez give up more than one run in his starts. The Braves just have to stay patient and get the pitch they want and they can’t miss it. It’s also going to be crucial for the Braves to stop hitting into double plays. We rank third worst in the majors by grounding into 54 double plays (Toronto then Boston is next in that same order). The Braves have beaten Brett Myers, Randy Johnson, Johan Santana, and Brandon Webb over the past two weeks so anything is possible.>ATL: LHP Tom Glavine (2-2, 4.76 ERA)
Glavine has to start throwing more strikes and to get ahead of batters. Glavine for the most part this season hasn’t pitched all that well for the Braves. Glavine has to command both the inside and outside part of the plate to keep the Reds hitters off balanced. Knowing that he is going to pitch in a small ball park he has to keep the ball down if he wants to been an affective pitcher for the Braves tonight.

Key Hitters
Mark Teixeira
Jay Bruce

The Atlanta Braves tonight are going to start off a six game road trip that will send the streaky Braves to Cincinnati and Milwaukee. This is going to be a more important road trip than many bravos fans assume. We’re going against two underachieving teams and we need to jump on them early and often. Thus far we swept the Reds in our first meeting, but we haven’t yet played the young Brewers. We are going to have to take this series one pitch at a time.

The Brewers have some energetic and upcoming talented young players that the Braves shouldn’t take lightly at all (Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, and J.J. Hardy). These are some streaky hitters and they can explode really fast. The key to beating this team is to work the count and get into the worst part of the Brewers, in which is their bullpen. The Brewers really don’t have a true closer that they can count on so the Braves should keep on fighting even if they’re down.

The Reds are a bit of a different team since we last seen them in Atlanta. They have called up the best prospect in all of baseball in Jay Bruce. They also designated Shea Hillenbrand for assignment to give way for promising Canadian first baseman in Joey Votto. The Reds still have a better rotation than most teams with Edinson Volquez, Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, and Johhny Cueto. The Braves can only hope that we will skip Harang or Volquez (or both) in our next trip to Cincinnati.

If you look at the next weeks schedule, you will see a make or break home stand for the Braves. The Florida Marlins will come into Atlanta to play four games, and then the Philadelphia Phillies come to the ATL to play three games. So it’s going to be crucial for the Braves this road trip to go 5-1 or 4-2, and of course a sweep isn’t out of the equation. If the Braves can somehow finish the next four series and have a 10-3 or 9-4 record, there is a very good chance the Braves will be in first place in the National League East. It’s going to be key for the Braves to continue their winning ways and take care of their trash on the road. Plus, the potential return of the big three (Mike Gonzalez, John Smoltz, and Rafael Soriano)in the next 2 weeks should be a much needed boost to our team psyche.

Pitching Matchup:RHP, Dave Bush (1-5, 6.56 ERA)
Bush is an inconsistent starter, but we shouldn’t think of him as a easy pitcher to beat. He pitched very well against the Braves last season, so are players have to remember that. Bush allowed one run in seven innings against the Braves last season in his only career start against Atlanta. It’s going to be key for the Atlanta hitters to continue to work the count and get into the sorry (to be optimistic) Brewers bullpen. There pen has blown over five games this season, so any lead for the Brew Crew isn’t safe. It’s also going to be important to give Hudson some runs to play with. We’re going to have to score early and often. This Brewer my no means is a walk in the park.RHP, Tim Hudson (7-3, 2.97 ERA)
Tim Hudson is coming off of a very well pitched game versus the hated New York Mets. Hudson pitched eight quality innings while only giving up two earned runs that came via back to back jacks from Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado. The key for Hudson like every other start is to keep his pitches down in the zone. He also has to be more consistent with his very good changeup. The changeup is the pitch that keeps the hitters off balance and it’s a very good strikeout pitch for Hudson. Mark Teixeira had a breakout game on Memorial Day versus Brandon Webb and the Diamondbacks. He has to keep his same approach and continue his success throughout this road trip. When Teixeira has a good game, the Braves more often than not will win the game.

Key Hitters
Mark Teixeira
Prince Fielder

If Rafael Soriano has a good bullpen session on Tuesday, there is a good chance that he will be activated in the Brewers series or early in the Reds series. He is still feeling minor discomfort in his pitching arm, but it’s nothing to serious as of right now. When and if he does return Buddy Carlyle in all likelihood will be sent down to Class AAA Richmond

Left-hander Mike Gonzalez, who is recovering from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, will be checked by doctors in Atlanta on Tuesday, and is likely to start one or two Minor League rehab assignment with either double-A Mississippi or Triple-A Richmond this week. “He could go to either and crank it up,” Cox said. “It’s all up to how he feels, but technically, everything’s good.”

John Smoltz was scheduled to board the trip with the rest of the Braves players to Milwaukee, but since he is dealing with flu-like symptoms, he is going to make at least one more rehab assignment at Low-A Rome then join the rest of his teammates on the road.

Blisters still continue to bug the Braves starting rotation. Jo Jo Reyes, Jair Jurrjens and Jorge Campillo all are dealing with blisters on there index fingers. Cox said that Jurrjens pitched very well in the series finale versus the Diamondbacks while dealing with two blisters. That could be why his velocity was a bit down from what it was at all this year. If Jorge Campillo or Jo Jo Reyes can’t make there scheduled start on Wednesday or Thursday, Cox has mentioned Charlie Morton or Jeff Bennett as possibilities.

Feel free to comment on the Braves pitching situation at the bottom.

Rafael Soriano: The Atlanta Braves closer coming into this season will be activated either the series finale versus the Diamondbacks or the series opener versus the Brewers. Soriano had two successful relief outings for the AA Mississippi Braves this past week. He said that he felt great and he is ready to help contribute in the Braves pen. His fastball was clocked in the 92-93 range, but that will increase as the season goes along.

Before Soriano’s injury, he completed 4 innings with 5 strikeouts, with a 2.25 ERA and 1 save versus the hated Metropolitans. The best part of Soriano is that he is a power pitcher that throws strikes. Last season for the Braves, in 72 innings pitched, he allowed 15 walk to 70 strikeouts. That is as good as it’s going to get for a reliever. With the addition of Soriano, Phil Stockman is most likely going to be the one sent down just because he has options left. When Soriano returns from the DL, he should return as the closer until John Smoltz returns to the pen days after his return.John Smoltz: The future Hall of Famer had a successful minor league rehab assignment for the AA Mississippi Braves. He pitched one inning giving up one fluke hit, two groundouts and a flyout. This is also a great sign for the Braves fans and players knowing that John Smoltz is a couple of days away from joining the ball club sometime this week. Since Smoltz isn’t going to discuss his feelings on the rehab assignment to the media anymore, we just have to assume he felt good.

Smoltz did feel some tightness after he woke up a day after his one inning assignment. The Braves described the tightness Smoltz was feeling as the type of normal soreness anybody could feel when pitching for the first time in nearly a month. So of course that is a bit of good news for the tomahawk nation.

Smoltz is set to throw a bullpen session on Monday and he will later decide if he wants to pitch another rehab assignment or not. Since he threw only 12 pitches is his first one I will guess that he will go through another assignment and join the Braves in Cincinnati. If Smoltz feels really well throwing his bullpen session on Monday, he can be very well activated during the Braves series versus the Milwaukee Brewers in a couple of days. When Smoltz is activated it’s safe to assume that the Braves will designate Chris Resop for assignment.
Mike Gonzalez: The former Pittsburgh Pirate great is nipping at the heels to returning to the majors. Gonzalez will begin a rehab assignment this week at AAA Richmond. He pitched an inning Friday and again Saturday in extended-spring training, passing the back-to-back days test without incident. The lefty is on his way to Atlanta to be checked by Braves doctors before he heads to Richmond.

If the checkup goes well with the doctors, we can see Mike Gonzalez in a Braves uniform late this weekend versus the Reds or earlier next week as the Bravos take on the Marlins. He was last being clocked in the 90-92 range while pitching in extended spring training. The addition of Mike Gonzalez will almost certainly be the end the Braves career for Will Ohman or Royce Ring. As both of these quality lefties are out of options and both are free agents to be next season.Mike Hampton: Well the good news just keeps on rolling for the Bravos. The former 20 game winner is well on his way for another comeback to join the Braves rotation.
Hampton threw some flat-ground throwing for the second time in three days Saturday and reported no problems in the left pectoral muscle that has kept him on the disabled list since the season’s first series versus the Pirates.

“It felt good; I didn’t feel anything,” said Hampton, 35, we can take any good news from him right now. We really shouldn’t get too overly excited, because Hampton is one pitch away from hurting himself again.

He did three sets of 25 throws from 90 feet, and will increase the distance when he throws Monday. Hampton will probably have a few more flat-ground sessions before he throws from the mound, either during the Braves’ six-game trip that starts Tuesday, or shortly after they return home. So good news all around for the Braves thus far.

Jorge Campillo followed up with his second consecutive great starting outing by keeping the Dbacks hitters off balance. He pitched four scoreless innings while giving up two hits, and striking out three batters. With this great performance he lowered his ERA to microscopic 0.86 ERA. The only bad thing that came from this outing is that Campillo had to leave the game early with a blister on his pitcher finger. Him pitching on three days rest was also a reason why he left the game early. Now the Braves fourth and fifth starters (Jo Jo Reyes and Jorge Campillo) both have blister problems.

The Braves speedy left fielder Gregor Blanco got things going for the Braves with a leadoff triple in the third. After Campillo hit a ground ball to third, Yunel Escobar had a huge one out single to make the game 1-0 Braves.

The game stayed 1-0 nothing majority of the game, because Randy Johnson was just dealing today. He was killing the Braves hitters with inside fastballs and sliders all game. No Braves player really had a good answer to the huge 6”10” power throwing lefty. The Big Unit went six innings, giving up five hits, one earned run, and ten strikeouts. With his great performance today, he helped lower his ERA to 4.03 for the season.

The Diamondbacks got a huge two out hit from super utility hitter Augie Ojeda to tie the score up at 1-1. Ojeda was able to come up with a runner on first and second, because of shaky defense by the Braves. The Braves sure handed Chipper Jones misplayed a grounder towards him and threw to second, and fast running Justin Upton out ran the ball and got called safe. On the bright side of things, Yunel Escobar single handling kept the Braves in the game with his unbelievable defensive play today.

In the ninth Blaine Boyer pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Then it was time for the Braves bats to show up to end the game. Chipper started the inning off by hitting a single to right field. Then power hitting Mark Teixeira hit a weak grounder over the pitchers head to move the runner over to second. Then clutch hitting Jeff Francoeur ended the game with a two run blast deep to left field off of power pitcher Chad Qualls. This was a great pitching performance from both teams today. All in all the team with the better talent and better coach came up victorious.

Game Video Highlight

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3411215&n8pe6c=2

After a nice five game winning streak and sweeping the Mets, life couldn’t get any better for the Braves. The rotation looked solid, and all parts of the team were working together. However, those same Braves learned a lesson today. Don’t play with Diamondbacks, they might bite. They definitely did more than bite today, beating the Braves 11 – 1 in game one of a four game series.

Jo Jo Reyes vs Doug Davis, a tale of two lefties. I thought this was going to be a close game with a huge score. I was right on one of them. It was a horrible night for Jo Jo, going 5 innings, giving up 6 hits and 8 runs (Only were earned runs). He also walked 3, struck out 4, and gave up 3 homers. The bullpen faired a little better for us, giving up only 3 hits and 3 runs, 2 of them homers.

Doug Davis, the cancer survivor, pitched wonderful for the D’Backs, unfortunately. Going seven strong innings, he only gave up 5 hits and 1 run. He walked 2 and struck out 4, and didn’t give up a single homer. It was a really quiet night for the Bravos, only getting 6 hits off the D’Backs pitching.

The series doesn’t look to get any easier. Brandon Webb and Micah Owings have always given the Braves big fits. Brandon Webb is nasty and fools just about every team every chance he gets, and for some reason, we can’t hit Micah Owings. Randy Johnson also pitches against us, but he’s an old guy. I don’t think he’ll give us much of problem, even though he does have somethings to fool you with still. We’ll have to wait and see.

W: Doug Davis (2-1)
L: Jo Jo Reyes (2-2)

John Smoltz: Smoltz is schedule to go on a rehab assignment on Saturday. He is supposed to pitch for the AA Mississippi Braves to test out his shoulder. Smoltz had a successful simulated game for the Braves on Thursday. Smoltz showed off his new three-quarter delivery to relieve stress from his ailing shoulder. Some of the Braves batters said that his slider has a different tilt to it and his fastball has a bit more movement on it. Don’t be surprised to see John Smoltz on the Braves active roster on Tuesday as the Braves travel to Milwaukee to beat down the Brew Crew.

Brayan Pena: The Braves have designated for assignment backup catcher Brayan Pena. I have always been a big B. Pena fan because of his hitting ability. I guess his defense is so bad that the Cox and the rest of the staff got tired of waiting for him to come around. The additions of Omar Infante and Gregg Norton didn’t help him out at all either. Pena is most likely is going to claim by a team or get traded in the next 10 days.

Rafael Soriano: The Braves closer will go through his second rehab assignment at AA Mississippi to check out how well his shoulder reacts from pitching in two games in three days. In his last rehab outing Soriano pitched one full inning giving up a hit and a walk. He manage to pitch a scoreless inning even though he let two men on base. He also got a strikeout in his lone rehab assignment which is always good news. So there is a good chance that the Braves will have Rafael Soriano and John Smoltz in the pen sometime next week. As for Mike Gonzalez, he is schedule to make a couple appearances at extended spring training in Orlando (where Julio Teheran is at) before he is called up for some rehab assignments. So we can expect Mike Gonzalez come back also in sometime in late May.
Diamondbacks: LHP Doug Davis (1-1, 3.72 ERA)
It’s great to see the cancer free survivor Doug Davis back and healthy for the Dbacks. He was able to make two rehab starts for the Dbacks before his return. Davis doesn’t really over power you or pitch deep into games. The key to beating Davis is to work the count and lay off on some his nasty cutters. The Braves hitters have to understand that Davis is going to live on the inside corner with his cutter. They are going to have to make an adjustment to be able not to hit a plethora of broken bat grounders tonight. The real strength to the Dbacks staff his their devastating bullpen. The Braves can’t afford to get too far behind this great pen. If the Braves are trailing by 3 runs or more going into the seventh, it’s game over.Braves: LHP Jo Jo Reyes (2-1, 4.12 ERA)
The key for Reyes just like any other start he has is to keep the ball down and establish his fastball. Reyes has a great fastball for a left handed starter and he can throw any pitch in the book. He really needs his blister problems to go away so he can start being able to throw his changeup more often. He change is his second best pitch behind his fastball and keeps hitters off balance. Reyes has been really impressive this season and will like to keep the Braves home winning streak going tonight versus the talented Dbacks.

Key Hitters in the Game
Diamondbacks: Chris Young
Braves Jeff Francoeur

The Braves so far early in the 2008 season has just been flat out great at home. It was evident in our double header sweep against the hated Mets. The Atlanta Braves have a Major League leading 18-5 record thus far. It seems like the Braves plays more relaxed and execute more on offense at Turner Field. If the Bravos can just concentrate and forget about their road woes, we might have a special team on our hands.

With the way our bullpen has been pitching, plus the additions of Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, and John Smoltz sometime in the near future, we can make it a six inning game. That should also help us a great deal on the road and in one run ball games. Thus far this season that has been our main kryptonite. With Blaine Boyer, Manny Acosta, Jorge Campillo (now in the rotation, and will work on 3 days work vs. the Dbacks on Saturday), and Jeff Bennett all pitching well, they will likely move down an inning or two on the depth chart when the big 3 comes back. With our opponents already having trouble scoring runs on our pen without a legit closer or set up man on our team, our pen can be something special.NYM: RHP Mike Pelfrey (2-4, 4.17 ERA)
Pelfrey has the potential to be a good pitcher down the road if he can develop another quality pitch. For now, he throws fastballs, fastballs, and more fastballs. He has a low to mid 90’s fastball with some great sink edge on it. Pelfrey is still young and can get rattle pretty quickly. The main problem with the young right handed pitcher for the Mets is his control. So the key for the Braves going into this game is to work the count and get the pitch you want to hit. Execution is also going to be key in this game. Not being able to bunt a man over or come up with a sac fly will really hurt a team in a ball game. If we can get into the Mets pen by the 5th inning, we should be in good shape. We just have to be patient at the plate, and work the count.ATL: RHP Jair Jurrjens (4-3, 2.82 ERA)
Jair Jurrjens has been the Braves most consistent starter this whole season. He hasn’t yet had a bad game. Of course sooner or later in the season he might slip up. His last start was probably his worst start of the year. The good thing is that he was pitching on three days rest for the first time in his major league career and only gave up 2 unearned runs in 5 innings pitched. He gave up his second amount of total hits (most was versus the Rockies with 9) of the 2008 season with 8 in his last start versus the Athletics. The key for Jurrjens is to keep his pitches down in the strike zone. He needs to keep Reyes and Wright off base and driving in runs. If he can keep those guys from causing damage, we have a really good chance for winning 3 in a row from the Mets.

Key Hitters in the Game
Mets: Jose Reyes
Braves: Mark Teixeira

Wow, what a good game. We did absolutely no hitting until about the end of it however. Tim Hudson made it hard from the get go giving up 5 runs through the first two innings, but the Braves pitchers kept everything else silent from there on out. Tim Hudson is now 0 – 9 and 2 no decisions in Interleague play with the Braves, which is weird because he absolutely dominated the American League when he was on the Oakland A’s.

All the fun happened in the bottom of the 9th. With runners on first and second, Kelly Johnson came to the plate, and smacked the ball hard to deep right. It sailed over Sweeney’s head and Johnson ran around the bases for a triple. Two runs scored, and the score became 5 – 3. With Johnson on third, Gregor Blanco came to the plate, and on the first pitch slapped it to center field, where Rajai Davis was unfortuneately, playing shallow. He catches the ball, and Kelly tags up for run number 4. Alright, 2 outs, and no one on base. Greg Norton comes to plate. This is where Bobby Cox’s genius shines, putting Norton in earlier in the game, to prepare for this spot. Well, with the first pitch going straight down the middle for strike one, Norton fouling off a ball to the screen for strike 2, ball 1, and then a swinging strike 3, that ended the game for the Braves. Yet another infamous one run loss.

Final score: Braves 4, A’s 5

W – Rich Harden (2-0)

L – Tim Hudson (6-3)