Oh, can't believe I didn't mention this in the podcast... per Peter Moylan (via Twitter), Craig Kimbrel has switched his entry song, after much team pressure, to Welcome to the Jungle!

PERFECT entry song. And as Peter said, it's been long enough since Gagne. OK to use it again. If he comes bolting out just as the guitar starts slamming, it'll bring the house down at the Ted!

(He was using a Shinedown song. Don't remember which one, but it was entirely wrong for this purpose)

Well, Heyward was on pace for a 30 HR year 1/3 of the way into last season. The hand injury derailed him. I don't think anything different has to take place for him to hit for power. Just stay healthy.

I agree with everything else. Well said.

Thanks!!!!

Well, if you go back to the "Understanding the Importance of Uggla" post and look at those numbers... the Braves led the NL in runs scored for 1/3 of the season.

During that time, they got virtually no run production from Chipper at all.

Half of that time, they got nothing from Heyward (1 of those 2 months was washed out with the injured hand).

They got absolutely nothing from Nate McLouth.

And they didn't get much from LF (which is essentially the position that Freeman is replacing in the lineup).

But when they had that big right handed power bat in the middle, the lineup clicked. Uggla likely provides over a full season what Glaus could only give the Braves for 6-8 weeks before his knees gave out. THAT will make a tremendous difference.

Is Chipper's durability a question? Sure. Is Nate a question mark? In my opinion, not anymore, but I'll humor those who are still reserving judgement. Is Freddie Freeman a question mark? Only to the extent that ANY rookie is... and hitting 8th, there's not much pressure on him.

We know Chipper represents an above avg injury risk. And it appears Heyward is more susceptible to nagging injuries than the average 22 year-old. But beyond that, everyone else here has a pretty good track record in terms of durability.

This lineup has exchanged Diaz/Melky for Freeman. Glaus for Uggla. And it certainly appears... the '10 McLouth for something closer to the '08 McLouth. That's a pretty substantial improvement (with or without Chipper) to an offense that already finished 5th last year in runs while playing in a pitcher's park.

Barring MAJOR injury trouble, "good" is the FLOOR for this offense. Not sure where the ceiling is. We'll have to wait and see.

Thank you for that thoughtful rebuttal!

I'm not a fan of FIP. That is the practice of trying to take fielding out of the equation. You simply can't. Many pitchers pitch with the entire goal in mind of TRYING to get the batter to hit it to someone behind them...pitching to contact. So we're going to throw out everything that happens when they succeed in their goal?

Makes no sense to me. Besides, the logic behind it is the notion that everything that happens behind you, as a pitcher, is luck. Not so. Any fielder will tell you that pitchers who work more quickly get better results from their fielders. And a pitcher's ability to command the ball and get the hitter to hit into the defensive scheme also affects defensive efficiency.

Pitching and fielding are symbiotic and cannot be meaningfully separated. As evidenced by the fact that, according to FIP... there were 60 starters better than Tim Hudson this year. And more than 30 starters better than Chris Carpenter and Cole Hamels. I reject the stat.

That said, even if we look at more conventional stats, looking at LAST year's stats... yes, the Phillies look significantly better.

I freely stipulate that my assertion that the Braves rotation can hang with the Phillies' is dependent upon Jurrjens and Lowe pitching as they're capable. For JJ, that means something a little closer to '09 production. For Lowe, that simply means carrying his late season momentum forward to '11... and performing as he did in the second half of '10.

If JJ and Lowe pitch as capable, there won't be a big gap between the two rotations.. Those are IF's, I'll grant you that... though I feel pretty good about both JJ & Lowe. There is more certainty with Oswalt and Hamels than with JJ & Lowe heading into the season... so I too would take Philly's 4. But my point is, if everyone does their job in ATL's rotation, they'll hang right in there with Philly.

And I'm firmly convinced that ATL's 'pen numbers will be better than Philly's.

Thank you sir!

Sounds like the Phillies might be trying to deal Blanton... so it may be Kendrick instead of Blanton. That would be a bit of a step down.

And to clarify, when I say "...the gap, if there is one at all..." I say that only because I think the Braves could have a substantial edge in the 5th starter slot. 1-4, I do think the Phillies have an edge... just not nearly as great an edge as many believe.

I think we're going to stick to our plans for Thursday, game 1. However, if there' s enough interest in a game-2, Friday night, viewing party as well... I'm happy to coordinate that.

Anyone reading this who would like to attend a game-2 viewing party on Friday night in ATL... let me know.

One other person asked about that... I'll try to gather some opinions. Thanks!