Atlanta Braves Preview
The Atlanta Braves have recorded 14 straight NL East Division titles and they
leave me no reason to believe they won’t get number 15 in 2006 as they play in
one of the weakest divisions in baseball, but to their credit, they are one of
the greatest organizations in professional baseball. The New York Mets are off
to a fast start and the Phillies could hang around for a while, but both of
these teams are notorious for choking down the stretch. The Braves are one of
the best coached teams in Major League Baseball and they are able to beat you a
number of ways. Their versatility, being able to play small ball or hit the long
ball, has helped them continue their success while their pitching staff hasn’t
been quite as dominant as it was in the 90’s. But I expect their starting
pitching to be very solid this season. In fact, the biggest reason the Braves
have been the most dominant team in the National League for over a decade has
been their consistent starting pitching. They might not have quite the staff
that they once had with Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz leading the way, but Smoltz
is still around to get the job done and Tim Hudson gives the Braves another
dominant ace. I also like Jorge Sosa to have a breakout year.
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Andruw Jones has been one of the best defensive center fielder’s in baseball
since he entered the league and last season he showed that he can also swing a
big bat as he tallied an unbelievable 51 homeruns. I’m not sold on that fact
that he’ll be able to put together a repeat performance, but I think he can
still record around 40 bombs and he would probably be better served to do so as
is homerun addiction caused his average to suffer. He will need to improve on
his mediocre .263 average and reduce his strikeouts this season. If he can hit
around .300, he will provide an even bigger boost for Atlanta.
Let’s get right to it. You can expect the 2006 Atlanta Braves to make their
backers money. Braves backers have gained an impressive 57 units over the past 4
seasons, and they absolutely destroy left handed pitching. With a solid right
handed hitting lineup led by Andruw Jones‘ newly found pop, and Chipper Jones’
ability to switch hit, the Braves will once again dominate left handed starting
pitching just as they have the past 7 years, during which they have outscored
their opponents by nearly a run per game. They are especially good against
lefties within their usually weak division. You may want to keep an eye on the
Mets in the early going as they are off to a fast start, but when the other
divisional teams have a lefty on the hill, it’s time to load up on Atlanta. The
only exception to the rule would be when the Braves are facing interleague
opponents as often times they don’t put as much emphasis on these games and as a
result they haven’t dominated left handed pitching in the same way.
2006 Baseball Previews
MLB Picks
by Jimmy Boyd
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