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Marlins (23-16, First):
Dan Uggla tries to explain his recent power surge, in which he has hit 8 HR and drove in 16 runs since May 1, to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.At his blog for the Sun-Sentinel, Juan C. Rodriguez says the Marlins are missing Mike Jacobs and Josh Willingham in the middle of the order. Rodriguiez also speculates the Marlins maybe a player for the recently released Jacque Jones.
…i’m not sure what to make of the Marlins this season and if they will be around in the long run…they seem to be relying way too much on the long ball and their pitching continues lag in the lower half of the national league…i’ll be interested to see how they fair over the next month, in which they have games versus the Diamondbacks, Mets, Phillies and Rays…
Phillies (22-18, 2 LB):
David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News takes a look at one of the Phillies main concerns this season; their struggles against left-handed pitching this season.
Over at PhilliesFlow, Erik Grissom is curious why Charlie Manuel elected to play Jayson Werth in center and Shane Victorino in right.
Braves (19-19, 3 LB):
David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Rafael Soriano, John Smoltz and Mike Gonzalez are close to returning from their injuries and may be back in the bullpen by the end of May.
…and, that folks is a scary thought…
Nationals (16-24, 8 LB):
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post asks a few Nationals, including Manny Acta, for a response to the criticism they received for their dugout chants during Tuesday’s game versus the Mets.
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is there anything about the nats that isn’t bush league? i can’t believe it, but i’m actually starting to hate a doormat team.
Acta defended it. What a jack ass.
The next month absolutely will be a test for the Fish…Among the biggest things tey have to prove is that they can sustain their level of play against 1st division teams. It has been discussed many times on this blog how the Marlins perform poorly against over .500 clubs, and have feasted on the weaker teams, specifically the Nats, against whom they are 8-1. In addition, they have played a majority of home games, so lets see how they do on the road. Personally, I don’t think they’ll be able to do as well, particularly when they face strong pitching staffs (performance vs. the Padres notwithstanding)
i agree. I doubt the marlins will be able to continue to stay hot when they have to play against good teams. They will cool off eventually. I would worry about then in september as they will assume their regular role as spoilers
Most of the Marlins are batting way over their career numbers. Unless they’ve all suddenly become hall of famers, they should come back to earth a bit.
The Fish had started to make me wonder at what point do we need to take them seriously? Sounds like we’ll know within a month.
well, once again feel the need to state the antics the Nats pulled on monday night were no worse than Reyes’ 45 handshakes and dances he does on the field….my feeling is that Reyes’ antics are awesome so we have no right to complain, as Mets fans, if opposing players/teams do it as well.
Does Reyes do that while another player is CURRENTLY performing?
Actually, from what I remember in that game last year where Benitez was in with the Giants and gave up the two balks, Reyes was pretty much standing on the field with a towel wrapped around his head joking around and doing some kind of voodoo curse.
Then again, I don’t really care what anyone does because I think the players should be allowed to police themselves.
BTW, I didn’t even realize that I was replying to you. I quickly read that and submitted a reply. Just don’t want you to think I’m trying to debate you on everything on the blog. Sorry if it came across like that. I’m actually on my way out the door. :)
No problem, that’s why we are here.
Exactly! It’s one thing to celebrate once you have already SCORED a run (or two)….It’s a completely different thing to cheer (literally) while a teammate is in the batter’s box and has yet to do something worthy of a celebration. I’m one of those people who truly LOVE watching Reyes do his thing and the celebrations have never bothered me at all (I actually missed them early in the year) – because he does them AFTER we have actually scored a run. Celebrate all you want after you score – I have no problem with that. But…..sitting in your dugout performing an organized ‘cheer’ while your guy is up to bat? Sorry, not acceptable. That being said, this is just my opinion….as we already know, we all have different ones.
Other sports have rules against it. Like on the FT line in basketball or in football the defense trying to force offsides.
personally i think that chanting crap is lame when 19yo girls do it
The Nats behavior was pure little league, and that’s where it should have been left.
i personally liked john maine’s answer. first batter in the next game gets hit. end of story.
Agree 100%
The Braves are 5-15 on the road to date and they haven’t even played that tough a road schedule so far. Here is the road schedule to date:
3@ NY Mets
1@ Phillies
6@ Washington
3@ Colorado
3@Florida
4@Pittsburgh
Compare that to the Mets who’ve already played 13 road games at the Braves, Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs and Diamondbacks and the 5-15 road record is truly laughable
“he who laughs last, laughs best” you know….
If the Phillthies have so much trouble against LHPs, Glavine should stamp them out tonight . . . and the Nats’ three LH starters should do the same . . . and Olsen . . . and Santana and Perez . . . any way that Jon Niese could be called up from Binghamton to pitch against them? . . .
so, hes a Washington reporter and he got the chant wrong..
it wasn’t “lets go milledge, lets go”
It was “here we go milli, here we go”
wow, great reporting
Apparently their reporting is little league as well…
Are the Mets supposed to be worried about a player who has been injured for over a year, an up and down reliever, and Smoltz? I think not.
How about, how will the Braves have leads to protect when their rotation is such a mess? Hudson’s still good, obviously, but they have very little beyond that. We all know about Glavine. Jurjenns has been good so far this year, but he has yet to pitch a full season in the majors, so he’s far from a lock to be just as good for the rest of the year. And then there’s Jo-Jo Reyes and Chuck James; nuff said there.
Perhaps you should check the numbers…the Braves starters have the best ERA in the league. Having watched every game, I can assure you the rotation is not “a mess”. I think Bobby Cox probably has a lot more confidence in his rotation that Willie Randolph could possibly have in his.
The Mets have been using a reliever who’s been injured over a year mostly to very good effect so far this season.
And Gonzalez’ career numbers are better than Sanchez’.
Still, Smoltz in the bullpen somehow doesn’t scare me as much as Smoltz in the rotation; he can’t make as big a difference in one inning.
As Joaquin Andujar would say, “in a word – You bet!”
I have a question. At what point can we, as fans,be worried or be conserned? When we are 3, 4, 8 games behind and playing at 400? We should NOT be having this much trouble with these”doormat” teams. We are leaving to many players on base.
We are 8-4 against teams below .500 that includes the Pirates who are 1 game below. Fact is we have not played many games against “doormat teams”
By the way, using my great math skills that’s 12-13 against teams that are above .500. That would be were we are struggling.
You can be worried or concerned whenever you want.
Mets are 10-5 against the “doormat” Marlins, Nats, Reds and Pirates. Not sure that qualifies as having trouble with them.
Can’t put the Marlins in there yet. They are leading the division, LOL.
I included the Marlins based on the assumption that they will likely be below .500 when all is said and done.
Uggla is a certified BEAST. He’s a streaky hitter, but when he heats up, well….he does this. He’s carrying my fantasy team right now :)
I was hoping the Mets could make a run on him, but given that the Marlins actually just did something smart in locking up Han Ram, I’m worried they might try and do the same with Uggla. He was a Rule V pickup and is arb. eligible until 2012, I believe, so it would be a way long shot anyway. Plus F’mart is the only Top-100 prospect we even have, and Uggla could be a franchise player.
But just imagine his bat at second pounding homers instead of Castillo slappin the ball around….Nice to dream
As long Jeff Loria runs the Marlins, you need not give up hope…
Why does everyone want positions 1-9 to be able to hit 40+ HR’s? Uggla is a career .266 hitter, sure its a small sample size but every team needs hitters that can get on base and steal and thats what castillo brings. How have the yanks done lately bringing in power hitters in every position of their lineup? When the playoffs come, its about manufacturing runs and winning close games by the score of 3-2. Castillo is a .293 career hitter and will get on base (yes its not pretty but its effective) in front of the big guys to let them drive him in.
I don’t think people understand the difference inbetween fantasy baseball and real baseball. You are right about production but it’s about cost too. Hudson will want about 15 a year for 7 years when he hits FA. There is no way that he is worth 81 million dollars more than Castillo.
Uggla is also a HORRIBLE second baseman. Awful. The marlins as a team are a joke defensively.
FLA’s record is the product of playing half their sked against three of the weakest hitting teams in the league. They won’t be here at the end.
Florida is like Baltimore a few years ago, when they led the AL East into June. It won’t last.
the braves scare me more than any other team. they have outscored opponents by 45 runs and are at .500. they are in something like 1-12 or 1-13 in 1 run games. that poor record can largely be attributed to bullpen struggles. adding mike gonzalez, rafael soriano, and john smoltz is definitely going to improve their bullpen.
right on…they could easily be leading the division right now, and I feel a lot shakier looking up at the braves than I do the marlins.
Dan Uggla = HGH poster boy
Uggla roid rage!!
Seriously though, Braves bullpen is going to be nasty. Don’t you dare let them get a 1-2 run lead in the 8th inning. However.. isn’t their rotation depleaded without Smoltzie? Who else is the rotation besides Tommy, Timmy, and Jojo Reyes? Is Chuck James still around?
worrying about smoltz, soriano and gonzalez is like counting on pedro and elduque. mainly, ill belive it when i see it.
didnt the nats start out like the fish a few years ago? i think youll see the same thing this time.
isnt the manager for that little league team in dc the same guy who was hailed to be so much better than randolph by so many fans when he left here? personally, i couldnt care less if they chant. the players should focus on the game, and shut em up that way if it bothers them.