Switching Gears To Baseball

With spring training under way, along with local youth leagues getting cranked up, the juices are turning to baseball. We'll get back to UGA football soon enough, with the annual G-Day game coming up in a couple of months, but for now, let's take a look at one of my other life long favorites, the Atlanta Braves.
I'm going to take a look at each position and give my prediction on how each player will do and of course give my year end prediction on where the Bravo's will end up. Let's not forget while doing this, they are by far playing in the toughest division in all of baseball. I know some like to say the American League East is the most competitive, but this year, the National League East has them beat from top to bottom. There's the Philadelphia Phillies, who even without Ryan Howard to start off the season, may have become better than what they were last year. The Florida, uh, Miami Marlins have taken huge strides to get better. They have a new stadium they need to fill up, so they had to get better for their own sake. Even the Washington Nationals took a big step forward with some of their moves this offseason. And they have some pitching this year too. I'm actually thinking the Nats will surprise quite a few people. The Mets, well, who cares about the Mets, right?!?
Now on to the Braves. Their  payroll will stay about the same as it has over recent years, being around 90 million. I still miss the Ted Turner days(of the 90's that is), having an individual owner who wanted to succeed, not just make a few bucks or use the team as some sort of tax write off. Enough of that though, let's run down the lineup. The lineup that I would use, anyhow.
1-M BOURNE-CF...will end up hitting .286, stealing 28 bases, and have a decent year in the field(not a gold glove year). You may say, "he'll only steal 28 bases?", and I say, Yes, only 28. We simply don't steal bases that much. Not that I agree with it, but it's the fact. Fredi don't like to take the bat out of the guys hands who hits behind him. Look for him have some trade rumors swirling around him at mid-season also.
2-M PRADO-LF(and part time 3B)...he'll hit .272, with 13 HR's and make some nice plays in LF, but also miss some balls that a major leaguer should get. It's a step forward from last year, but still not the .290+ we would like to see out of him. The bottom line is, you simply can't find a comfort zone at the plate when you're being moved around in the field.
3-C JONES-3B(trying to keep him comfortable hitting 3rd, as he likes it here)...ends up .262, with 16 HR's. I'm looking for this to be his last season. He's had so many nagging injuries during his career, and as he hits the big 40, the injury bug will bite more often. I look for Chipper to start off strong and hit with some power, but the long season will take its toll on him and he'll finish up playing in about 90-95 games this year and hang em up.
4-F FREEMAN-1B(in position to become our 3 hole hitter in the very near future)...will be a consistent .285 hitter, with 15 HR's. He'll spray the ball all over the field, hitting a lot of doubles with the occasional line-drive homer. Will play 140+ games and may end up with a Gold-Glove at 1B. The Munster(from Freddie Munster-as I like to call him) will end up being one of the fan favorites when it's all said and done. Don't look for any sophomore slump from Freddie
5-B McCANN-C...ends up a disappointing .269, 16 HR's. I hope I'm wrong here. But the fact is, he's played a lot of games as a catcher, and that will age a baseball player faster than anything else. I sense some injuries coming his way and I truly think he has seen his peak. I know they wouldn't do it, but he would be trade bait for me at the half-way point if things weren't going well for us. Again, I hope I'm wrong here, and he can at least one more productive season, but we'll see.
6-D UGGLA-2B...avg improves to .255, with 31 HR's. And I'll take it! Of course, anything will be better than the .233 he gave us last year, and was an abysmal .170 for most of the year. I think Uggs will be more comfortable being here in Atlanta and it will show.(may would flip-flop him and McCann after a few weeks into the season).
7-J HEYWARD-RF...struggles to finish .240, with 12 HR's. Another one who I hope I'm wrong with. To me, he'll have more to prove this season than anyone on the team, and I'm not sure he's up to it. Definite trade bait in my mind, if anyone would take him, that is. Just seems to have a left-handed Jeff Franceour swing, which is way too long and 'sweeping'.
8-T PASTORNICKY-SS...finishes .244, with 20+SB's. I'm officially dubbing him as 'The Pastor'. He'll make some nice plays in the field along with your occasional rookie mistakes. But I'm okay with that. He won't be any better than what we had, nor will he be worse.
Bench
The bench will be okay this season. I like getting Diaz back, along with having Henske and Constanza, who can steal some bases.
In summary, the averages will suffer some with the pitching being so good in our division. The offense will be average, which is a step up from last year.
On to the pitchers...
T HUDSON- He'll start the season on the DL, but will come back to go 10-8, 3.55 ERA. This could be better,  but he'll continue to have the worst luck of any starting pitcher I've seen with us losing games in which we're winning when he gets pulled.
T HANSON-Big Red will have a decent year, when he's not wrecking cars, and finish 12-10, 3.65 ERA. I'm anxious to see how his new delivery goes. Trade bait in my opinion.
J JURRJENS-JJ will go 14-12, 3.12 ERA- if he stays with the team the whole year. He's definite trade bait. We all know he's good when he's not hurt, but he's still got to show he can make it thru a whole year. I actually like JJ a whole lot, and I'm pulling for him to have a good year.
B BEACHY-The surprise of the whole rotation, will finish 15-9, 3.66 ERA. When he figures out how to NOT have that one bad inning, he'll be tough.
5th Starter-whether it be MINOR, DELGADO, TEHERAN, or even MEDLEN(possibly all of the above), will be a combined 13-12. We'll get some good outings from our 5th starter. I, for one, hope we don't trade any of em.
Bullpen
Will be pretty strong, which still has the big 3, O'Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrel. Of the three, Venters is the best to me. O'Flaherty will do his thing in the 7th, Venters in the 8th, and Kimbrel, well, I do see a sophomore slump for him. He throws hard, but still walks way too many guys for me, especially being a closer. I think he ended up with 10 or so blown saves last year, and I see him doing it again this season. Only without having as many saves.
Overall, I think the Braves year will almost be a replay of last season. The hitting, along with the pitching, will be somewhat improved, BUT, so is everybody else in the division. We'll finish 86-76, and make a run at a wildcard berth, only to come up a little short, which is the story of my life....

Look for the Phillies and Tigers to play in the Fall Classic..I know, I know, I'm going out on a limb, huh???

My "keep an eye out  for" pick, the Washington Nationals.

MVP(National League only- because they play REAL BASEBALL)- Chase Utley. Oh, and as far as last years MVP, Ryan Braun- he'll take a giant step backwards, mark my words...the only reason he got off this week, is because of who he is and what his name is...more on this later...