So what?

[quick]

So the Braves swept the only team in the NL playing worse than they are. Does this really change anything? Are the Braves really on a new and better path?

Several of our starters still have huge ERAs and don't look very good.

Our closer looks okay, and Medlen and Ox look okay. The rest of the pen? I dunno.

Our defense is still suspect, although the Astros couldn't make us pay when we made errors; and in terms of mental errors, what was Lowe thinking when he hit that pop bunt and just stood there instead of running to first?

And we hit well against about the worst staff in the league.

So what? :thumbsdown: :thumbsup:

Bonus question: Should we bench Chipper for a while and let Infante man 3d base when Esky comes back, and move HeyWood to 3d in the order?

[Chris_Moderato]

Um...gotta take a little joy where you can get it when watching baseball, and hope this is the start of something.

[Andy G.]

So...they won three games in a row and are only three and half back in the division. Not that the standings mean a whole lot right now, but after a nine game losing streak it could be a lot worse.

[Dreamscape]

So the Braves swept the only team in the NL playing worse than they are. Does this really change anything? Are the Braves really on a new and better path?

Several of our starters still have huge ERAs and don't look very good.

Our closer looks okay, and Medlen and Ox look okay. The rest of the pen? I dunno.

Our defense is still suspect, although the Astros couldn't make us pay when we made errors; and in terms of mental errors, what was Lowe thinking when he hit that pop bunt and just stood there instead of running to first?

And we hit well against about the worst staff in the league.

So what? :thumbsdown: :thumbsup:

Bonus question: Should we bench Chipper for a while and let Infante man 3d base when Esky comes back, and move HeyWood to 3d in the order?
First...the starters...from what I see, most of the big ERA's is just bad luck. Kawakami and Jurrjens both have numbers that are due a major correction to get them back to how they have been pitching. And it hasn't been awesome, but neither are pitching as bad as their ERA makes them out to be. Of course, Hudson and Lowe have been ho-hum, but neither is truly hurting the team. And Hanson has been a monster.

The bullpen has been very surprising to me. Other than the revolving door for the seventh guy, all have pitched very well.

Are there any numbers to suggest the Braves defense is really all that suspect, especially compared to other teams? Defense typically is the one thing that people can't get a good handle on just by watching. The numbers say the Braves are not that bad, though it's more the outfield than the infield. Glaus has been pretty bad, as expected, and Prado really doesn't have much range. He makes the plays he gets to, but he won't be able to do much else. But other than the right side of the infield, I don't see much to be concerned with.

But it's like BFH said. We were not nearly as bad as the nine game losing streak made us out to be. The Braves won't run away with the NL East, but it's simply a better team that the nine game snapshot that made people think the sky was falling.

Added: Oh, I forgot. As for the bonus question, No. That should be a larger font and bold and underlined and italicized and maybe given a little Spanish accent or something above the O. Seriously, this team is either going to win or lose with the team it built in the offseason. No reason to overreact to every bad thing that happens this year.

[Wahoo]

Of course, Hudson and Lowe have been ho-hum, but neither is truly hurting the team.




Umm... watch how your lumping Huddy in there with Capt. Mediocrity. His groundball to fly ball ratio is the highest it's been in years. His walks are slightly up and his K's are down, which is why he may gave the appearance of being "ho-hum", but statistically he's having a pretty good year thus far. He's limiting baserunners (1.21 whip) and inducing groundballs. I haven't seen him pitch (I will on Thursday), but I'm assuming that the K's will start coming. His K/9 is anemic right now, which may be a cause of concern, he seems to be doing everything else right. While he not being function on all cylinders he's outperforming Derek Lowe by leaps and bounds. Lowe's suckage is in a class all by himself (well not all by himself, I think Jose Lima is probably there somewhere).

[Dreamscape]

Umm... watch how your lumping Huddy in there with Capt. Mediocrity. His groundball to fly ball ratio is the highest it's been in years. His walks are slightly up and his K's are down, which is why he may gave the appearance of being "ho-hum", but statistically he's having a pretty good year thus far. He's limiting baserunners (1.21 whip) and inducing groundballs. I haven't seen him pitch (I will on Thursday), but I'm assuming that the K's will start coming. His K/9 is anemic right now, which may be a cause of concern, he seems to be doing everything else right. While he not being function on all cylinders he's outperforming Derek Lowe by leaps and bounds. Lowe's suckage is in a class all by himself (well not all by himself, I think Jose Lima is probably there somewhere).
Hudson and Lowe have very similar expected FIP's so far with Hudson's actually being worse. Hudson has been very lucky so far. Maybe if he starts doing more about the strikeouts, that will help him from receiving a huge turnaround. General rule of thumb, though, is when you strike out as many as you walk, you will not continue to be effective.

But I definitely disagree with how much he is outperforming Lowe. The troublesome thing for Lowe is he's not hiding how he's pitching. The walks are ridiculous right now. Maybe it's not fair to compare the two, especially this early, but I think if their continue to pitch as they have, Lowe will see his ERA start to correct itself while Hudson will run into some trouble.

[Andy G.]

As Wahoo said, Hudson will strike out more hitters. There's really no way that he won't do that. Then his FIP will come down. I agree with Wahoo. He's pitching much better than Lowe.

[Dreamscape]

As Wahoo said, Hudson will strike out more hitters. There's really no way that he won't do that. Then his FIP will come down. I agree with Wahoo. He's pitching much better than Lowe.
Probably, but I have yet to be really impressed with Hudson since his return.

[wordslayer©]

Hudson is the one that is scaring the hell out of me right now. I keep waiting for him to throw in a couple of 7 strike out games, because if he doesn't, he is getting ready for some good ole Redman kind of shellings.

For us to have a good year, either Hudson or Lowe has to pitch well.

[Lauren T.]

The title of this thread made me think of the song by Field Mob, So What (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A5OHPLyW3s). Whatever happened to Ciara? She's pretty hot in this video. :)

I'm a tiny bit worried about our performance now that some guys are coming down with injuries. I don't know the stats, but it feels like we're leaving an extraordinary number of men on base. Runs win ball games. You can have a starting pitcher pitch a great game, give up one or two runs over 8 innings of work, and lose because our guys couldn't score any runs.