Dead computer

Despite some amazing news for the Braves my week has been horrible. First gradschool classes have just resumed, eating much of my free time, and second my main computer committed suicide taking with it 2 weeks worth of work. Joy. So let me catch up a bit.

First off, Braves starters have been very good lately. Behind Smoltz and Hudson, James and Buddy have been all you can ask for. The only knock on the pair is James' inability to pitch over 100 pitches. He seems to hit a wall at 92 pitches. Looking at his delivery it's understandable that he gets tired, you try throwing in the 90's with only your arm. However, 90 pitches a 3rd starter does not make.

Second, the pen has been overused. Add together too many extra inning games with too many short outings by starters and you get a recipe for disaster. Add to that the struggles of Soriano, the inconsistencies of Dotel, and the omnipresent threat of Wickman's forthcoming meltdown and you get one pen that opponents love to face. But hey, Bobby has a formula for who pitches when, past cruddy performance be dammed.

Third, it's no surprise that the Braves are in more late inning games since acquiring Tex. Think about it this way. If you trot out Franco every day (who was the best hitting 1B we had before Tex) you essentially have 2 spots in the order not producing (including the pitcher's spot) and thus you loose about 25% of your production opposed to about 12%. That extra 1/2 to one run has been the difference for the braves all year. There have been a lot of one run losses that now turn into tie games.

Fourth, has anyone seen who shot Andruw in the foot? oh, wait, it's self inflicted. Remember back in April and May when he couldn't get a hit to ave his life? 7th in the order isn't quite right when the guy hitting 8th is batting over .300. I'm just saying.