2006 Atlanta Braves Predictions & 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.

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