Sizzling Start

Wow. The Atlanta Braves are off to a great start for the 2013 MLB season. In fact, their 7-1 record is the best in baseball.

Taking it one step further, if they defeat the Miami Marlins tonight, the Bravos will equal their best start since 1994. That’s the infamous strike season in case you are keeping track.

Anyway, Atlanta has overcome the injuries to cleanup hitter Freddie Freeman and  reliever Jonny Venters. They’ve also played around the fact that starting catcher, Brian McCann started the season on the DL and is likely out until early May after off-season shoulder surgery.

And even though the major storyline in the offseason was how they have bulked up their line-up, they have really started the season relatively cold at the plate.

So, how then, are they 7-1?

For starters, they’ve done it with pitching and defense along with a little timely hitting.

The bullpen has been lights-out. Closer Craig Kimbrel has already converted 4 of 4 in save opportunities and the cast of pitchers in the relief corps has been outstanding. And in the last three games, starting pitchers Tim Hudson, Paul Maholm and Kris Medlen have been outstanding. In fact, the Braves have only allowed two earned runs over the course of those three games and their team ERA through eight games is a paltry 2.13.

Hudson really pitched great on Sunday.

There have been some other nice storylines for the Braves during this opening push.

The trade with Arizona for left fielder Justin Upton is really looking like a winner at the moment. Upton is hitting .400 through eight games with six home runs, nine RBIs and a slugging percentage of 1.100.

Another great story has been the emergence of rookie catcher Evan Gattis. Atlanta Journal Constitution beat writer David O’Brien wrote a great piece telling fans about Gattis’ unconventional route to the majors. And now that he has arrived, Gattis has gotten off to a great start with a BA of .368 and two early home runs. He has also done a wonderful job, defensively, behind the plate.

Atlanta has won some close low-scoring games and some blow-outs. On Saturday night, they rallied from a 5-1 deficit late in the game and scored the tying and winning home runs in the 9th inning from brothers B.J. and Justin Upton in a thrilling 6-5 win. They seem to have a resilient spirit, at least at this early stage of the season. And it seems they can find multiple ways to win ballgames although their total of 13 dingers definitely tells you one of their stronger offensive weapons.

Some have speculated the Bravos could have five or six guys in the line-up top 20 HRs this year and it definitely seems likely.

After they nailed down the win last night, I turned to Holly and Paul and commented that I think this is going to be a fun team to watch this year and they concurred.

We’ve been enjoying the games on cable but, honestly, I can’t wait until we have  a chance to drive down and see them play in person.

JG

(Source: ajc.com)

Originally posted 4/10/2013