Braves: Medlen and Beachy hurt, sign Santana

[tcjkbt]

Braves are taking some serious hits. I was expecting them to be a World Series contender this year. Maybe have to back off some now.

[SvFan4life]

3 pitchers requiring Tommy John. Oh dear lord. If the Braves still win the division it'll be amazing.

 

Definitely have to rely heavily on Hale and Wood now.

[halfback20]

3 pitchers requiring Tommy John. Oh dear lord. If the Braves still win the division it'll be amazing. Definitely have to rely heavily on Hale and Wood now.

 

Who is the third?

[SvFan4life]

Who is the third?

 

Never mind. I was think of Medlen and Beachy but also added Beachy again. Lol

[halfback20]

Never mind. I was think of Medlen and Beachy but also added Beachy again. Lol

 

Scared me. :lol2:

[AverageJoesGym]

Sounds like the Braves chances of winning the division may be derailed before the season even starts.

[halfback20]

Sounds like the Braves chances of winning the division may be derailed before the season even starts.

 

 

I honestly don't see why. Beachy didn't play last yr and Medlen struggled for the first half of the season...

 

I think they will be okay with Santana/Minor/Teheran as their top 3.

[AverageJoesGym]

I honestly don't see why. Beachy didn't play last yr and Medlen struggled for the first half of the season...

 

I think they will be okay with Santana/Minor/Teheran as their top 3.

 

He may have struggled for a bit but he still won 15 games and put up a 3.11 with 194 strikeouts in 197 innings. Those kinds of pitchers don't grow on trees. Santana is far from a lock. He's been up and down since he's been in the big leagues. Any depth that they had in their rotation is pretty much gone now. That looked to be the strength of the team given that they lost McCann in the off season and start two of the worst every day position players in all of baseball.

[halfback20]

He may have struggled for a bit but he still won 15 games and put up a 3.11 with 194 strikeouts in 197 innings. Those kinds of pitchers don't grow on trees. Santana is far from a lock. He's been up and down since he's been in the big leagues. Any depth that they had in their rotation is pretty much gone now. That looked to be the strength of the team given that they lost McCann in the off season and start two of the worst every day position players in all of baseball.

 

Medlen played very good towards the end of the season...I just don't think he's impossible to replace. Santana might not be as good , but it's not so much of drop off that I think they won't compete.

[AverageJoesGym]

Medlen played very good towards the end of the season...I just don't think he's impossible to replace. Santana might not be as good , but it's not so much of drop off that I think they won't compete.

 

 

I didn't say that I didn't think they could compete. I think this puts them behind the Nationals as the favorite.

[halfback20]

I didn't say that I didn't think they could compete. I think this puts them behind the Nationals as the favorite.

 

And I don't. Time will tell. Bj and Uggla have been a little better in spring training. Bj is batting over .300! :lol2:

[AverageJoesGym]

And I don't. Time will tell. Bj and Uggla have been a little better in spring training. Bj is batting over .300! :lol2:

 

If you break it down by position:

 

Catcher: Wilson Ramos/Jose Lobaton are better than Evan Gattis/Ryan Doumit

First Base: Freddie Freeman is better than Adam LaRoche

Second Base: Anthony Rendon is better than Dan Uggla

Shortstop: Ian Desmond is better than Andrelton Simmons. (But Simmons' defense makes it closer than it would normally be.)

Third Base: Ryan Zimmerman is better than Chris Johnson.

Left Field: Bryan Harper is better than Justin Upton if healthy.

Centerfield: Denard Span is better than B.J. Upton.

Right Field: I'll call this even but Werth was much better than Heyward last season. If Heyward is healthy and lives up to his potential this would go the Braves way.

 

Starting Rotation: Strasburg/Gonzalez/Zimmerman/Fister/Detwiler is better than Teheran/Minor/Santana/Wood/?

 

Bullpen: Braves get the nod here.

 

I only see the Braves being better at first base and in the bullpen. We'll look at this again in a couple of months.

[DragonFire]

BJ Upton showing that improvement. Instead of being 0/3 with 3 K's he has trimmed that down to merely 2 K's.

[AverageJoesGym]

BJ Upton showing that improvement. Instead of being 0/3 with 3 K's he has trimmed that down to merely 2 K's.

 

At least he didn't spike himself...

[halfback20]

BJ Upton showing that improvement. Instead of being 0/3 with 3 K's he has trimmed that down to merely 2 K's.

 

Patience. It's only game 1. :lol2: