The Braves defeated the Washington Nationals 11-8 the other day to imrove their Grapefruit record to 3-1.  Atlanta was delighted with the offensive outburst, but their are many questions that still loom with this ballclub.

The bullpen is a huge question and it showed against the Nationals.  Newly acquired Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito were each charged with 2 earned runs  and 3 hits in one inning of work.  Wagner is 38 years of age and Saito is 40, but the Braves are hoping they can return to form.  I am very concerned about the end of our rotation this season.  I believe that is going to be hard for these two to stay healthy all season. 

Jesse Chavez, acquired in the Soriano deal from the Rays, did not help his case against the Nationals.  Chavez allowed one out back to back walks and that was followed by a Ian Desmond grand slam. He has gone 2 2/3 innings and has allowed 4 walks and 6 earned runs. 

It is going to ne an interesting season to see if the bullpen can get back to an elite level.

A positive from the Nationals game was the performance of verteran Derek Lowe.  Lowe worked 2 scorless inning that consisted of 5 groundout and one strikeout.  He is known for his sinkerballer and he proved it to be on command during his 23 pitch day.  Lowe tweaked his mechanics over the offseason and it proved to be the answer.

Yunel Escobar had a banner day at the plate and he pounded out 3 doubles.  Escobar seems to be on the right track to start off the new season, as he had some issues with manager Bobby Cox last season about his work ethic. 

Martin Prado and Melky Cabrera also added hit during the win.  The offense seems to be on track for the long haul.

The main question is whether the Bullpen can sustain dominace at an elite level?

As Bobby Cox enters his last spring training as Braves skipper, he will have many familiar faces around him.  Chipper Jones, future Hall of Famer, is back in camp in the first year of his 3 year 48 million dollar contract extension extension. 

Joining Jones, is veterans Brian Mccann, Matt Diaz, Yunel Escobar, and Nate Mcclouth.  Maybe the biggest story of camp is whether rookie sensation Jayson Heyward will make the big league club or sent to the minors.  Heyward was impressive in last years spring training, and he is doing the same thus far in his second bug league camp.  Look for Heyward to be starting April 5th when the Braves open up against the Cubs. 

Can Chipper and Troy Glaus stay healthy?

This may be the second biggest questions that Braves fans want answered.  Chipper is coming off his worst year as a professional and Glaus is coming off major off season surgery.  Look for these two to be back to back in the order this year producing some power.  Both seem to be healthy in camp so far as both went 1-2 with a walk in their first few plate appearances of the spring.  I believe that this season is all on them.  If they can stay healthy and get back to all star form , then look for the Braves to snap their playoff drought. 

Pitching is going to be the Braves strong point this year as they return 5 quality starters.  The loss of Javier Vazquez was a huge blow to many fans, but the Braves still have a solid rotation with the capability of taking them to the playoffs. 

The bullpen will be a major question mark this year.  Can Billy Wagner stay healthy and be a solid closer?  This has yet to be proven, but all Braves fans are holding their breath with this acquisition.  The bullpen was overworked last year, and the starters are looking to go deep into ballgames to make relievers more rested come October.

Hopefully some of these question’s will be answered as spring training progresses.  This should be an exciting year, and all Brave’s should be ready for a special season.     

I never thought that I would see the day that Bobby Cox would not be peering out of the Atlanta Braves dugout yelling encouraging remarks.  He is one of the all-time greatest managers to ever come along in Major League Baseball. 

Cox has spent 25 years as the face of the Braves franchise and 25 will be it.  He led the Braves to 14 straight division titles throughout the 90′s, including a World Championship in 1995.

Cox delivered his final spring  training speech on the first day of camp at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. The skipper thanked everyone from the front office to the player’s during his speech.  He spent some time on himself but immediately brought the attention back onto the team and the upcoming season. 

It is going to be tough for the player’s to see him go next year, especially for veteran Chipper Jones, who has spent his whole major league career with Cox has his manager.

This will be an exciting season, and the team hopes to send Cox out a winner.  There has been very little talk of who the next manager will be as this year is all about Bobby.   

72-90 was the Atlanta Braves record in 2008.  They have much improved this season by winning 85 games with a few more chances to add on.  Even though we crumbled this last week, it was still a great run. All Braves fans were able to get excited even with only 6 games left.  Last year at this time nobody was thinking about baseball and the Braves.  It was all football and Hockey.  

The Braves were non existent the first 5 Innings of the game.  Could not come up with any hits with runners in scoring position.  For the second consecutive night the Braves left runners stranded.  Trailing 4-1 last night Atlanta’s Matt Diaz tied the game with a 3 run homer.  I thought this would have sparked the Braves to victory, but I was wrong.  The Marlins were able to squeak a run across the next inning and that was all she wrote for the Braves.  Atlanta was not able to score, and The Marlins were victorious 5-4 at Turner Field. 
Prado was able to find his way on with an infield single to start of the bottom of the ninth.  Chipper, who has not been having is greatest statistical year, grounded into an inning killing double play.  Mccann preceded to fly out and that’s your ballgame.

The Rockies and Braves game last night were totally different.  The Braves hit a 3 run homer to tie it and have all the momentum, but lose.  Colorado gives up a 3 run homer in the ninth to Jason Kendall, who has only hit two homerun’s all year.  But the Rockies were able to put that aside and come back and when in 11. 
Last night was deflating if you are a Braves fan. We are not 3 back with 5 to play.  Its going to be very tough to make the playoffs after last night, but we just need to keep playing hard and win out and see what happens.

As fans left Turner Field last night to the tune of the Braves win, a message appeared on the jumbo screen, and it was Chipper telling the fans to believe.  The Braves have clawed their way to within 2 games of the National League Wild Card leading Rockies with 6 games to play. 

The Braves still have 2 games left with the Marlins and 4 with the woeful Nats.  The Braves can not afford to let up on either opponent and let any games slip away.  Every game is meaningful at this point.  Colorado seems to have the tougher schedule with 3 against the hot hitting Brewers and the Dondgers. 

The Braves crowd was a little disappointing last night.  There were more fans at the Nationals series in Washington than in Atlanta last night.  We need to have a good crowd out at the park for these next six games.

Everyone can tell that the players believe, just watch how they have been playing.  We have won 15-17 and seven in a row.  Just keep believing and good things will happen. 

If you do not believe then just turn on ESPN.  The Braves are finally starting to get some props from everyone in the baseball industry.  2 games is going to be tough to make up but that is why we play the games.

The Braves will host the Marlins tonight at 7pm at Turner Field.  Atlanta will have Tim Hudson on the mound who is coming off Tommy John surgery, and the Marlins will push Johnson out their who’s start was pushed back because of the flu.  Things could get interesting!!!

Go Braves.

     Braves Win! Braves Win!  If you are just looking for a final then you can stop reading after the first four words.  The Braves defeated the Marlins tonight 4-0 in unusual fashion in front of a small but loud crowd at Turner Field.

Jair Jurrjens has allowed two hits through three innings, and Yunel Escobar committed and error on a controversial call. 

So far though, Jurrjens is not dominating. The marlins have tattooed a couple balls to the wall that have been caught right in front of the fence.  The braves also got out of a jam that consisted of men on 1st and 2nd with one out.  This is the luck the braves need. 

The braves are up 3-0 after three.  The braves also have only one hit.  Thats what walks will do to you, just ask Anibal Sanchez.

As i was typing this entry, Larry Wayne just went deep off the foul pole.

We have all heard the saying that “Leadoffs walks always seem to score”.  Well that was the case in top of the first inning between the Braves and the Marlins.  Marlins pitcher, Anibal Sanchez, walked the bases loaded without recording an out.  The Braves were able to capatalize with 2 run on NO hits.  For all the young guys out there playing the game, just throw strikes.  Do not worry about throwing gas all the time.  Sometimes you may need to take a little off to get it over.  It is hard for major leaguers to understand that concept.  Anibal got lucky that the braves only scored 2 runs. 

The lesson is do not try to overthrow or overpower people.  Sometimes pitchers just need to take a little off and find the strike zone. Do not try to aim the pitch because that will only make things worse.  Find your comfort zone and what works for you on a certain night and stick with it.

We are about ten minutes away from first pitch between the Braves and the Marlins.  This is a very crucial game for the Braves and the intensity is high in the locker room.  They know that one mistake can put them in deep water.  Jurrjens needs to come out and pound the strike zone.  We can not let Ramirez beat us.  He is the top hitter in the national league, and he is looking to add on to his total.  Hopefully, the Braves can get on the board in the first and give Jair some room to work with.  Their should be a decent size crowd at Turner Field tonight, and they better be wild and crazy.  Braves need solid defense tonight, and we can not give the Marlins any extra outs or at bats.  So Jair, just throw strikes and do what you have done all year and the rest of the team will produce for you..

GO Braves.