Braves Magic Number… 44

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~JB, Braves baseball is back… Do we have a shot? Speaking of shots… where’s my espresso?

The second half officially begins tonight and who better to send to the hill to kick things off than my favorite Braves pitcher of the year; Tim Hudson 

Interesting item worth mentioning first.

The Braves program was updated for the second half (Vol. 2) and I was lucky enough to grab a copy today.  The roster is updated and there are plenty of new articles to be found. However, what I found most interesting was the new profile photo of Mike Hampton that’s in the roster section.

Take a look. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case you’re wondering, the petrified look in Mike Hampton’s eyes is from the mere mention of facing major league hitting again. That and the fact that Little Mac is getting ready for round 2. 

At least Glavine and Diaz are progressing. Yunel on the other hand… may take a while. (sigh)

But back to baseball…

Of course the Braves are hosting the DC Natspos for the weekend and it could be just the right team to get off on the right foot with.  Coming off a series win and a barrage of runs in San Diego can do wonders for the confidence but it’s going to be consistency and hot bats that will give us even a tiny shot at remaining in contention. 

According to Steve Hummer at AJC.com, the Braves are “required to play .657 ball (44-23) from here to the tape.” 

Sounds kind of tough doesn’t it? The truth is, it’s going to take some very good baseball to have a 44-23 record to finish the season. Plus, the Mets and Phillies have to play some very bad ball to make way for a possible resurgence. The problem is, the Braves haven’t been playing exceptional baseball and even truthier… they haven’t been an exceptional team. The Mets on the other hand have been. Winners of 10 in a row, the Willie-less Metro’s seem like they’re for real. Meanwhile the Philies just added another starter in Joe Blanton (not a big time Rich Harden type but still…) another indicator that the Phils want to make it as tough as possible for an unlikely Miracle Braves run.

Let’s look at the next month’s series ahead of us though. 

Washington Nationals

@ Florida Marlins

@ Philadelphia Phillies (God, don’t let it be 9 in a row)

St. Louis Cardinals

Milwaukee Brewers

@ San Francisco Giants

@ Arizona Diamondbacks

Chicago Cubs

San Francisco Giants

With the exception of the Giants and Nationals we don’t face a bad team through this month. 

So what do you think? Can the Braves go 44-23 to finish? 

Is there a pickup in the Braves future and if so who are you hoping for?

Seems like Youkilis and Nady rumors have cooled off but if the Braves are going to make a move in the next two weeks what’s your prediction?

I was on the fence before but at the moment my voice of reason says “Trade Tex!”. Somehow, I think we might be able to get  something worthwhile in return and it would be better for the team. I like Teixeira but I think we need to cash in while we can. 

 

Keep Choppin’

JB, the only Braves blogger that will use “truthier” in a sentence… I’m proud of that.

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Filed under Atlanta Braves, Braves blog, Nationals vs Braves, Trades

Tags: Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Braves Blog, Braves blog, jair jurrjens, Joe Blanton, Mark Teixeira, Matt Diaz, Mike Hampton, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, tom glavine, Trade Tex, washington nationals, Yunel Escobar