Atlanta Braves Noonish Chop, Box, Stories
May 15, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher
Jason Grilli(right) celebrates the 5-3 win over the Miami Marlins with catcher
Christian Bethancourtat Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Skeptics aside, Braves are competitive right now
The Braves have won four of their past five games [now 5 of 6], including a 2-1 win last night against a Tampa Bay team that’s tied with the Yankees for first place in the AL East and had its lowest-ERA starting pitcher on the mound (Jake Odorizzi) against a Braves rookie making his first major league start (Williams Perez).
The Braves are 9-8 with a 3.69 ERA, 70 runs scored and nine homers in May, which is barely four runs per game, but enough more nights than not when the pitching is better than it was for most of April, which it has been for most of May.
They’re 4-1 in their past five games with a 2.00 ERA, 26 runs and, by the way, only one homer in that stretch.
What I’m saying is, for those who can get past the “we’re doomed for at least two years” message you’ve been getting from so many places and actually make your own judgment and opinions based on what you’re seeing on the field on a nightly basis, you might agree this team is better offensively than last year’s, and if a couple of starters had performed up to expectations so far, it’d be a couple of games or more above .500 (the Braves are 19-20, which is a better record than Seattle and only a half-game worse than the Padres and Red Sox, teams I mention only because all were picked as playoff contenders or better by most pundits before the season).
[ Ed. note: nothing we haven’t already suggested here… including the notion that absent the bullpen troubles, this team would most likely be in first place … and is still only 3.5 games back of the Nationals with the Mets sliding backward.
But let’s see how things go next week: if the Braves can survive the Dodgers/Giants juggernaut, then… just maybe. ]