Tim Hudson commanded the mound for 6.2 innings giving up 5 hits, with only 1 run (earned) and striking out 1. Moylan closed out the 7th with a K and O’Flahrety and Venters each pitched an inning with no issues.

The offense really exploded today, and surprisingly enough Troy Glaus was the center of it all. Going into the game Glaus was batting .194 and within 5 at bats had improved to .221 thanks to 3 hits and 4 RBIs. In the bottom of the 7th Jason Heyward hit his 7th HR of the season with a fly ball to center field. This is the 3rd straight game in which Heyward has hit a home run. Infante and Prado both had 3 hits as well. Combined the Braves has a season high 15 hits this game.

Braves win 10-1. Let’s see how long we can keep this win streak alive. Go Braves!

Next game: Norris vs. Lowe

Braves take on the Cubs at the Ted in what is to be likely Bobby’s last opening day. Lowe is going up against Carlos Zambrano on ESPN at 4:10 PM today.

Don’t miss it.

Go Braves!

So where to start? How about pitching? I think we have to give McDowell credit where credit is due. I am actually very happy with the way our pitching staff is looking. It sucks that we lost Vazquez, but maybe he was one of those cases of over-performing when he was with the Braves (*cough*Jaret Wright*cough*) and not be too good next season, but only time will tell. Besides him, I still think we have a pretty strong rotation, but that really depends on a lot of factors. Hudson can’t be injured. Lowe can’t be pissed off about this team wanting to trade him. Hopefully Hanson doesn’t come back down to earth. Kawakami needs to be able to win non-crucial games and not only a big-game pitcher. Jurrjens desperately needs more than a run or two of support from our offense, but I’ll get into that later.

Next, the bullpen. I like the bullpen. Wagner was a big addition, as was his goatee. We re-signed Moylan. Soriano and Gonzalez are gone, which while I think they did a good job in 2009, they created more drama for the team than was necessary in the 8th and 9th innings.

So, for pitching in general, I’m not too concerned. I think in the past the problem has mainly been the bullpen that screwed us over (going back to 2005 [Kolb, Reitsma,Wickman, Sosa...]). But I think that’s basically been fixed. The problem, as I see it, is this team just doesn’t have a consistent/powerful offense. So let’s look at that.

Chipper did play 143 games last year, which was the most of anyone on the team, but he was exhausted.

“Chipper, do you think you can manage 143 games next season?”

He’s getting older, and at this point in his career, I’d frankly like to see him hitting for average (.364 in 2008), and then have a true power hitter knock him in. The Braves signed Glaus for first base. Unless he produces markedly more than LaRoche, I’m not convinced dumping him was the right thing to do. If he’s worse because of his injuries, then I think this move will have been absolutely terrible. But maybe the Braves can resign LaRoche a few years down the road?

What about the rest of the infield? Prado will probably play second, he’s good, hopefully he doesn’t come back down to earth. I like Yunel, assuming he got rid of his attitude problem. McCann is always going to be McCann, which means some power and a lot of base hits.

And then there’s the outfield, which had the least homers in the majors last year. It looks like it’s going to be Melky, McLouth, and Diaz. McLouth won’t be injured this year, but Diaz and Melky aren’t power hitters. I think we can realistically expect 45-50 homers from the three of them, which is just something I don’t think this team can afford to do again.

The main problem this team has had over the past few years has been its anemic offense that only shows up some of the time. They cannot consistently drive in runs, which leads to a lot of low-scoring games which they ultimately lose. I think the pieces are in place for the pitching staff, although there are a few concerns there, but the heart of the problem lies with the offense. This inconsistent offense means the Braves end up losing a lot of games that they should win to teams like the Reds, the Pirates, the Reds, and the Reds. I think this team could be a contender but is only a piece of the puzzle short. The Braves added Glaus in the off-season, but I think another power hitter in the outfield is still necessary. Maybe I’ll be wrong. I hope I’m wrong. But as for now, we already know this team can compete against the big teams (they pushed the Phillies around last year), but if they can’t win the games they’re supposed to win, they’re going to lose.

Here’s to hoping that I don’t regret purchasing that MLB.tv subscription.

This latest departure, clearly the most severe, is just the icing on top of the most abysmal offseason that any Braves fan has ever laid witness to. We’ve lost out on two ace pitchers. We’ve lost out on a talented young arm from overseas. We were royally conned out of a shortstop that was undoubtedly on our team for several hours. One by one, we’ve seen free agents pen contracts elsewhere, and due to unexplained stubbornness, we’ve been unable to complete trades that seemed very possible to pull off. And now, we have to say goodbye to one of the most recognizable Braves of all-time. A hall of famer who no one could match in intensity or resilience, especially not in the playoffs, will be donning a new uniform this upcoming season. Unbelievable. Wren is now left with no choice but to sign some pitchers now (and now it seems he is doing just that).

But, is this the end? For some bizarre reason, I don’t believe that it is. Smoltz’s departure is just yet another one of the glory day players off on his journey elsewhere. I hate to say it, but wake up Braves fans. We have got to stop clinging to days long since passed. Though we won’t admit it to ourselves, we all know that our next winner won’t involve Smoltz, Glavine, or Chipper, who will most likely follow suit after Smoltz now. I mean, what’s to stop Larry from looking for a winner when he becomes a free agent next offseason? Because, though I think we’ll be improved greatly at the end of the season than from the start, we still won’t be able to achieve championship caliber.

I know. It’s hard. It sucks. Life’s over. But, I believe without a shadow of a doubt, that us fans need this. We’re like drug addicts. We need our Smoltzie, or Tommy, or Chipper fix much too often. It’s about time we kick this habit. It’s deteriorating our health. How can we expect to improve if we keep going back to it, expecting these things to lift us up and beyond?

So, I don’t believe that John Smoltz’s absence marks the end of “The Braves.” No, in fact, I think it marks the beginning of something…new. It may seem like the end right now, but remember, you’re just suffering from with drawl symptoms.

Stay tuned to Braves-Report.com for continuing coverage of this breaking news and all your off-season needs.

The whole ordeal has, more or less, been a fiasco. It appears to me that the Padres, Kevin Towers, their GM, in particular, have lost their mind. While the trade talks were still going, the deal likely would’ve been Peavy for Yunel Escobar, Gorkys Hernandez, possibly Blaine Boyer, and either Jo-Jo Reyes or Charlie Morton. Regardless if I believe that the Braves should find a way to get rid of Reyes by any means necessary, I don’t think this trade would’ve been such a great idea. Sure, the pitching for the Braves has been weak for the past couple of years (since they got rid of Leo Mazzone?), but that wasn’t their fundamental problem. Two or three years ago the Braves’ suckiness definitely could’ve been attributed to their bullpen, who blew something like 26-odd games, but that wasn’t the story last year. From what I remember, even though the pitching staff wasn’t the greatest, it was the truly inconsistent hitting that did them in. I recall a few games where they only managed a handful of hits. To get rid of Escobar, one of about three consistent hitters on the team, then, would be asinine.

Now, I know that the Braves are somewhat eager to get rid of Escobar, despite his solid year. It may have something to do with Bobby thinking he has an attitude problem, or not. I don’t know, but I do believe that the offense is still a problem. It’s essential to get one or two power hitters on this team, either in the outfield or at first base. There has been some talk of Renteria becoming a free agent and possibly rejoining the Braves. This would be great, because he was clutch when he was on the Braves and a fan-favorite, but it’s consistent with the idea of getting rid of Escobar. I propose that if the Braves somehow do land another shortstop, to Escobar move to second, so as to replace the defensive liability that is Kelly Johnson. My rational side is telling me, however, that come Opening Day, we’re going to see Johnson at second and Prado at shortstop. Such is life.

Going back to the Peavy trade, we saw the Braves being dragged along by the Padres while they contemplated other deals with the Cubs, Yankees, and whoever else (all of which have fallen through, by the way), which shows the unrealistic nature of a club that is trying to drastically cut its payroll and is facing some of its own problems. I never recall John Schuerholz dealing with this type of drama, but the way the Padres have been stringing Frank Wren along has been nothing short of disrespectful.

So while the trade talks have since ceased with Peavy and the Padres and the deal seems dead, this Braves fan hopes that they stay dead. Or, at the very least, the notion of even getting rid of Escobar disappears immediately.

Baseball purists believe that this decision will open the floodgates to all future actions and change the game as we know it by eliminating the human error factor. As for me, I’m not so sure. For one, that seems like the ‘slippery slope’ argument, and that just isn’t the case. The umpires’ union is too strong to let its workers be replaced by a QuesTec-type system, and I expect Hell to freeze over before a machine is calling balls and strikes instead of a human being. Rather, I think people need to realize that this will be an aid for the umpires.

As pointed out on this week’s House of Braves Talk podcast, they’re implementing this change to get calls right. Specifically, the ones that really alter a game. Immediately as a Braves fan, one relevant situation that comes to mind is a game a few years ago against the Nationals, where Henry Blanco hit a home run just over the base of the left field wall against the Nationals. Frank Robinson came out to argue that the ball was foul, the call was overturned, Bobby came out and argued some more, was probably ejected, and the incorrect call ended up being the difference maker in the game. Had this system been around those years ago, they wouldn’t have botched the call and cost the Braves the game. The point being, umpires shouldn’t cause a team to lose, especially when the call isn’t subjective, like on a home run.

That said, critics have pointed out that this might extend the length of already long ballgames. While this is probably true, what is another 4 minutes added to one in every 300 games? Honestly, I can’t even really see this system being used much. Apart from maybe 3 or 4 times a year, how often are home runs really called into question? As long as MLB doesn’t go overboard with this, which I don’t think it will, hardly anybody will notice it. Proof of this is that they are starting to use the system on an arbitrary Thursday at the end of August. Personally, I believe they should have waited until the start of the new season, but I doubt that the system will cause a noticeable difference in the way the game is played. Other sports, particularly football, which has a much more extensive replay system, have been using this technology for years without changing the face of those games. Frankly, if this Instant Replay can make the game more fair, I don’t see any reason why MLB shouldn’t go ahead with it.