Apr 05 2008 12:04 PM
It's not looking promising for today either. The forecast is for rain through 8:00 PM tonight. They are currently under a severe weather alert for flooding in the Atlanta area.
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KTE - Mets Look to Rock the Braves...
| Rockin' Doc Apr 04 2008 04:04 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Apr 05 2008 08:47 AM |
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The Mets head to Atlanta after taking two of three games from the Florida Marlins. The Atlanta Braves are off to a rough start having dropped three of four decisions to open their season. Still, this series should give each team their first real look at a key division rival. The Mets offense seems to be hitting on all cylinders at this early juncture, while the Braves offense seems to be sputtering out of the gate. Hopefully the Mets bats can stay hot against the formidable starting pitching of the Braves. The Mets can expect counter with some potent starting pitching of their own.
Atlanta Braves
*Kelly Johnson is splitting time at second base with Martin Prado as part of a platoon. Prado’s numbers are .273/.429/.974 as the right handed half of the platoon. The Benches New York Mets Raul Casanova – Switch hitting catcher. Damien Easley – IF/OF sub. Best right handed bat on the bench. Marlon Anderson – Top left handed bat on the bench. Endy Chavez – Left handed hitting speedster and OF defensive ace. Brady Clark – 5th outfielder. Easley can’t be the only right handed bat on the bench. Atlanta Braves Corky Miller – Right handed hitting catcher. Brayan Pena – Switch hitting catcher. Now that Andruw Jones is gone, I guess Atlanta needed someone else that can’t spell his own name. I think it’s a tradition for the Braves Ruben Gotay – Switch hitting second baseman and 5th outfielder. Martin Prado – See earlier notes…hell, he might be starting. Gregor Blanco – Left handed hitting reserve outfielder. The Starting Pitchers Friday, 4/4/08 @ 7:30 PM – RHP John Maine vs. RHP Tim Hudson – John Maine will make his first start of the season. He showed great promise last season and had a tremendous spring in the grapefruit league. Hopes are high that this will be the year he breaks out and establishes himself as a frontline starter. Tim Hudson had a strong 2007 season and is coming off a very good start in the Braves season opener against the Nationals. Hudson received no decision against Washington though he surrendered only 2 runs on 3 hits over 7 innings of work. If these two are on, this should be a low scoring contest which may come down to the bullpens. Saturday, 4/5/08 @ 3:55 PM – RHP Mike Pelfrey vs. LHP Tom Glavine – Since being drafted out of Whita State in the first round of the June 2005 draft, Mike Pelfrey has yet to fulfill the promise of his potential. The Mets still have lofty expectations for his career, but need him to step forward and become a solid dependable contributor to the rotation. Has a tendency to become a one pitch pitcher and rely solely on his plus-rated fastball at times. That won’t be a problem for Pelfrey’s counterpart, Tom Glavine. Glavine mixes speeds between slow, slower, and slowest on his pitches. Like Pelfrey, he doesn’t have a reliable breaking pitch. The Mets should be quite familiar with this crafty veteran and will hopefully be patient enough to make him stop nibbling corners and throw strikes. If the Mets show patience and work counts, they should be able to hit Glavine’s array of change ups. I suspect one, or possibly both, of the starters will not survive the fifth inning. Sunday, 4/6/08 @ 1:35 PM – Johan Santana vs. John Smoltz. Two of the best pitchers in the National League square off for this game. Johan Santana gave the Mets fans a glimpse of the tremendous talent with his opening day start against the Marlins. He allowed 2 runs on only 3 hits while strking out 8 Marlins in 7 innings. The Mets expect to see such performances with regularity throughout this season and many more to come. John Smoltz returns from the 15 day DL to kick off the 20th season of his stellar career with this start. Smoltz can still throw heat, though not quite like he did in seasons past. However, as long Smoltz still possesses his wicked slider, which is one of the very best in all of baseball, he will always be tough to hit. This one again has the potential to be a great pitchers duel. The Bullpens New York Mets Nelson Figueroa – Long, lean right hander. Likely long reliever and emergency starter. Aaron Heilman – Top right hander in the pen. Scott Schoeneweis – Southpaw is tough on lefties, not so on righties. If he wasn’t a Duke graduate, he probably couldn’t spell his name and we’d be forced to trade him to the Braves. Joe Smith – Side arming right hander. Can be effective against both righties and lefties iwhen he keeps the ball down. Jorge Sosa – Right hander with a nasty slider. Billy Wagner – Left handed, redneck closer. Still throws hard and has a wicked slider that makes him tough to hit. Matt Wise – Right hander off to a rough start. Atlanta Braves Manny Acosta – Hard throwing right hander. Jeff Bennet – Right hander with 4.59 career ERA. Blaine Boyer – Right hander with 4.14 career ERA. Peter Moylan* – Big right hander from “Down Under”. One of Atlanta main men. Will Ohman – Left hander with 4.29 career ERA. Chris Resop – Right hander with 5.52 career ERA. Jo Jo Reyes - Left hander with 6.22 career ERA. Royce Ring – Left handed former Met. Also serves as 5th outfielder. Rafael Soriano – Right hander throws major heat. The Wounded New York Mets Orlando Hernandez – Currently rehabbing for injured right foot. Moises Alou – On 15 DL following Hernia surgery. Pedro Martinez – On 15 day DL with strained left hamstring. Atlanta Braves Chuck James – On 15 day DL with small rotator cuff tear. Mike Hampton – On 15 day DL with chest pains. The official word is that he has strained left pectoral muscle, but I suspect the pain was caused by acute anxiety over possibly facing the Mets line up. *Edited to fix my miscue as scored ERD by JCL.
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| themetfairy Apr 04 2008 04:11 PM |
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It's KTE's like this that intimidate me from doing them myself. Well done RD - I know a lot more about this enemy now!
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| Frayed Knot Apr 04 2008 05:25 PM |
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Brave bullpen off to a tough start:
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| Rockin' Doc Apr 04 2008 05:45 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Apr 05 2008 08:45 AM |
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Their bullpens appears to be comprised mostly of fairly young, inexperienced guys. Six relievers have pitched less than 100 innings at the major league level for their careers. Maybe that's why Cox has opted to carry 9 relievers on the current roster, in hopes of finding a few that can compliment Moylan* and Soriano. Right now it appears to be quantity over quality.
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 04 2008 07:25 PM |
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dynamite job. Moylan, not Maylor. Moylan means "lumpy guy with thick glasses" in Australian, mate.
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| metirish Apr 04 2008 07:32 PM |
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Brilliant , the only thing you didn't clue us in on was the weather :)
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| Frayed Knot Apr 05 2008 07:00 AM |
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New rotation:
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| Fman99 Apr 05 2008 08:36 AM |
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I intend on doing a passable job on mine.
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| Rockin' Doc Apr 05 2008 08:43 AM |
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Lunchbucket - "...Moylan, not Maylor. Moylan means "lumpy guy with thick glasses" in Australian, mate."
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| John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 05 2008 09:53 AM |
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Santana-Glavine matchup Sunday. How awesome is that going to be?
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| metirish Apr 05 2008 10:02 AM |
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I hope it's not as awesome as when Glavine first faced the Braves as a Met.
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| Rockin' Doc Apr 05 2008 10:35 AM |
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I think we're alll hoping that Glavine pitches as well for the Braves, when facing his former team, as he did during his inaugural season as a Met when facing the Braves.
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| Nymr83 Apr 05 2008 11:42 AM |
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Anyone hear an Atlanta weather report? Are we playing today?
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| Rockin' Doc Apr 05 2008 12:04 PM |
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| Rockin' Doc Apr 06 2008 05:57 PM |
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Well, another trip to Atlanta worth forgetting. That really didn't go well at all.
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