Well we are about 1/4 of the way through the 2009 season. Going in, I didn’t have high hopes at all about the team. We lack a power bat in the lineup and I was unsure about our pitching.
As of now, we are 23-21, 1.5 games out of first place. Honestly, that’s not bad at all. Over the last month we have been playing some really good baseball.
Let’s take a look at our starters so far this season:
Derek Lowe has done everything that we could ask for so far. We signed him this offseason and he has outperformed every other pitcher that we were interested in. He has already won 6 games for us and has a 3.45 ERA.
Jair Jurrjens continues to improve as a pitcher. His ERA is a microscopic 2.07. He has won 4 games so far this season.
Javier Vazquez is another guy that the Braves picked up this season. He is a strikeout pitcher and has already K’d 78 batters this season.
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Kenshin Kawakami is also a new Brave. He has pitched fairly consistently but could still stand to improve.
Guys on the DL are Tim Hudson and Tom Glavine. There is hope that both could return this season. Glavine is currently at AAA Gwinnett and is looking to make the jump back, although his last outing wasn’t great. Having both guys back would be huge for our rotation. A rotation of:
Lowe
Hudson
Jurrjens
Vazquez
Glavine
could be very competitive.
Tommy Hanson. Remember the name. He is the best pitching prospect in the minors not named David Price. Look for him to get the call up maybe as early as June.
10 Braves pitching prospects to look out for:
1. Tommy Hanson RHP
2. Kris Medlen RHP
3. Julio Teheran LHP
4. Jeff Locke LHP
5. Cole Rohrbough LHP
6. Craig Kimbrel RHP
7. Brett DeVall LHP (2008 first round draft pick)
8. Todd Redmond RHP
9. Scott Diamond RHP
10. Zeke Spruill RHP
