Whoa. Linking this new Atlanta Braves lineup and philosophy. Don't have to be so perfect with the pitching, and doesn't matter if we strike out a lot, because man oh man we finallly have us a great lineup of hitters and mashers.

Now Washington has a great team as well, and I think the series between our two clubs will rival the famous Boston/NY rivalry, especially since the Yankees appear down for the count for the time being (can't say I won't enjoy that because I definitely will. Hope they're down a few years at least.)

What say you, will Braves/Nats be the premier rivalry in MLB the next few years?

yeah regular season you might be right. Playoffs we all know the Braves fall apart so it'll just be the Nats there...

(04-04-2013 09:24 AM)stever20 Wrote:  yeah regular season you might be right. Playoffs we all know the Braves fall apart so it'll just be the Nats there...

ha indeed we should probably expect that. and on another note, in what is probably the early shocker of the season, BJ Upton is 0-11 with 7 Ks. Don't know about you guys but I definitely didn't see that one coming, no way no how

(04-04-2013 09:28 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(04-04-2013 09:24 AM)stever20 Wrote:  yeah regular season you might be right. Playoffs we all know the Braves fall apart so it'll just be the Nats there...

ha indeed we should probably expect that. and on another note, in what is probably the early shocker of the season, BJ Upton is 0-11 with 7 Ks. Don't know about you guys but I definitely didn't see that one coming, no way no how

I think the fat Upton is hitting well enough for both of 'em.

(04-05-2013 09:18 PM)RaiderATO Wrote:  

(04-04-2013 09:28 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(04-04-2013 09:24 AM)stever20 Wrote:  yeah regular season you might be right. Playoffs we all know the Braves fall apart so it'll just be the Nats there...

ha indeed we should probably expect that. and on another note, in what is probably the early shocker of the season, BJ Upton is 0-11 with 7 Ks. Don't know about you guys but I definitely didn't see that one coming, no way no how

I think the fat Upton is hitting well enough for both of 'em.

haha well that's true. although since my post, BJ put up another 0-3 with a couple Ks. and apparently he popped up on a 3-0 count which is sad considering he failed to walk in either spring training or so far this season

(04-05-2013 09:18 PM)RaiderATO Wrote:  

(04-04-2013 09:28 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(04-04-2013 09:24 AM)stever20 Wrote:  yeah regular season you might be right. Playoffs we all know the Braves fall apart so it'll just be the Nats there...

ha indeed we should probably expect that. and on another note, in what is probably the early shocker of the season, BJ Upton is 0-11 with 7 Ks. Don't know about you guys but I definitely didn't see that one coming, no way no how

I think the fat Upton is hitting well enough for both of 'em.

Saw BJ on tv last night and didn't realize just how skinny he is. Looked pretty weird to me, actually. He and his brother did hit homers tonight to rally the Braves back from down 5-1 to beat the Cubs 6-5.

Been a kind of weird start to season in that all teams have one win and one loss 5 games in.

Astros gave a false start, but have quickly established themselves with their 4-game losing streak. Will be a long, lonely summer in Houston.

Yankees lose again! Yay!

Philly is the Nats rival (mostly because Philly fans are so obnoxious and because of the Skins-Eagles rivalry) but I can see the Braves usurping Philly if both the Nats and Braves perform as expected.

Been impressed the Mets are scoring runs almost as good as Cincinnati, and aren't as bad as the Phillies so far.

Anyone concerned about the Justin Upton trade this winter neeed not worry. He's basically carrying the Braves single-handedly.

I'm liking the 7-1 start, but the Braves badly need the rest of their hitters to start hitting.

Also happy Boston is starting well.

Braves are 8-1 to start season. Their best since 1994 (strike season, when the Montreal Expos were leading the NL East, and arguably were the best team in baseball before the strike. The strike of '94 probably led to the breakup of the Montreal Team,since they never were to win a division title even. And eventually, that Montreal team moved to....Washington, DC and became the Washington Nationals.

The Nats and Braves begin their first 3-game series of the year on Friday, April 12, 2013 in Washington DC.

Although the Braves record is gaudy, the Nats are right behind them at 6-2. Braves have swept the Cubs and Marlins, two sub-par teams, and have gone 2-1 to the Phillies, also on a downward trend. Nationals have also swept the Marlins,lost the series 1-2 against the Reds, and have so far won 2 against the White Sox, with the third game tonight in Washington.

Should be a great weekend for baseball!

I think the braves are in good shape. sure Justin Upton will regress back to more human stats, but the guys who aren't hitting like heyward and the other Upton, will start doing so.

(04-08-2013 10:17 PM)Tribal Wrote:  Philly is the Nats rival (mostly because Philly fans are so obnoxious and because of the Skins-Eagles rivalry) but I can see the Braves usurping Philly if both the Nats and Braves perform as expected.

This is going to be the Braves and Nats division for the foreseeable future, the rivalry will definitely intensify. Before last season the Nats were an afterthought to most Braves fans to be honest.

Wow! Braves win the first 2 games at Washington. Nationals power neutralized so far. Tim Hudson (2-0) outpitches Steven Strasberg (now 1-2). Zimmerman makes a couple of costly errors, and Braves comeback from down 4-0 in first game to win 6-5 in extras.

The scary thing is: for Braves, BJ Upton is hitting, like, .105, and Jason Heyward is hitting .089; alos: Starting First baseman Freddie Freeman is on DL, along with All-Star catcher Brian McCann. So....if the first two start hitting at all, and then Freeman and McCann come back in a few weeks, Braves could be scary good. Yes, they strike out a lot every game...but they get the job done anyway. Their scrubs (ss Ramirion Pena, a Yankees castoff, is hitting .400 and helped win game 1 comeback with an excellent bunt single late in game, and a home run even later; 3rd Base platoon of Juan Francisco and Chris Johnson are hitting around .300 and helping take over nicely for the retired Chipper Jones, OF Jordan Schaffer, he of the Astros/Braves/Asros/Braves again, came off the bench and went 4-5 in a spot start.

This is not only a pretty good team, it is a WAY more fun Braves team to watch than those offensively challenged teams of recent years. rank Wren has done an excellent job so far of creating near-perfect lineup balance, and the pitching has mostly been as good as ever. Oh, yeah, in late June, Braves get the return of SRP Brandon Beachey, who had Tommy John surgery. Before that, all Beachey did was lead the NL in ERA at about 2.00 when he went down.

See ya in October?!!!


(BTW- Swoosh- can you describe the situation with Greinke and his major injury if you were watching the Giants-Dodgers game when it happened?)

(04-13-2013 09:55 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wow! Braves win the first 2 games at Washington. Nationals power neutralized so far. Tim Hudson (2-0) outpitches Steven Strasberg (now 1-2). Zimmerman makes a couple of costly errors, and Braves comeback from down 4-0 in first game to win 6-5 in extras.

The scary thing is: for Braves, BJ Upton is hitting, like, .105, and Jason Heyward is hitting .089; alos: Starting First baseman Freddie Freeman is on DL, along with All-Star catcher Brian McCann. So....if the first two start hitting at all, and then Freeman and McCann come back in a few weeks, Braves could be scary good. Yes, they strike out a lot every game...but they get the job done anyway. Their scrubs (ss Ramirion Pena, a Yankees castoff, is hitting .400 and helped win game 1 comeback with an excellent bunt single late in game, and a home run even later; 3rd Base platoon of Juan Francisco and Chris Johnson are hitting around .300 and helping take over nicely for the retired Chipper Jones, OF Jordan Schaffer, he of the Astros/Braves/Asros/Braves again, came off the bench and went 4-5 in a spot start.

This is not only a pretty good team, it is a WAY more fun Braves team to watch than those offensively challenged teams of recent years. rank Wren has done an excellent job so far of creating near-perfect lineup balance, and the pitching has mostly been as good as ever. Oh, yeah, in late June, Braves get the return of SRP Brandon Beachey, who had Tommy John surgery. Before that, all Beachey did was lead the NL in ERA at about 2.00 when he went down.

See ya in October?!!!


(BTW- Swoosh- can you describe the situation with Greinke and his major injury if you were watching the Giants-Dodgers game when it happened?)

it happened during the padres- dodgers game, not against us.

braves are no doubt a pretty sick team but I doubt you'll see that third base platoon hit as well as it has been. also I doubt McCann will do any better than gattis is doing. I do however agree they heyward will start tearing it up and the other Upton will hit better although I still maintain that in a few months you're going to be calling for his head