Its been nearly 2 weeks since the Braves broke my heart. September was very difficult to watch as a life-long fan. The starting staff got hurt, McCann and Prado did not return to form after injuries, and this team forgot how to hit. Fredi Gonzalez showed his true colors as a manager (USELESS) and his disregard for the bullpen arms caught up with him during the final few weeks. On the bright side, the epic collapse cost Larry Parrish his job. Had we snuck into the playoffs he may have been extended. Another positive? We have learned that Frank Wren is THE BOSS. I am really enjoying his line of accountability for this ball club.
Looking back to my Blog from July 10th, here is what I predicted for the second half. Obviously my end-game prediction was off, but I am not going to hide away from my predictions. @stevieincognito does not hide!
Stevieincognito's BOLD predictions:
1. Dan Uggla leads the team in HR with 30. He raises his average at end of year to .240
2. Brian McCann finishes with .320 25-90 and is in top 5 for MVP voting.
3. Jason Heyward gets red-hot in August and finishes with .265 20-70
4. Chipper Jones plays in 40 of the last 70. Finishes with .267 13-65
5. We make a trade for a veteran reliever, and a RH bat (gut is saying Willingham), Prado gets on a roll in August, & the lineup scores .75 more runs/game.
6. We add Moylan and Medlen to the pen. Proctor and Gearrin out. Kimbrel saves 46 games. Venters gets 8.
7. Hanson leads the team with 19 wins, Jurrjens gets 18.
8. Second half record: 41-29. Season record: 95-67. Wild card champs, NL champs, WS champs.
Ok, I was right about Uggla. He did lead the team in HR with 36 and did rise his ave to .233 - a major upgrade on the sub .200 ave he had at the time.
I was way off with McCann. As stated earlier, he never recovered from the oblique injury. He played everyday but he was horrible at the plate in the second half. Final stats: .270 24-71
Jason Heyward. Wow, where do I begin? He showed flashes for a game or two and i would feel better about my prediction. Then, he would go a week without hitting a ball hard. Final stats: .227 14-42
Chipper actually played more down the stretch than I thought he would, and exceeded my expectations for the season. He will be back, to further hamstring our chances. .275 18-70
We didn't trade for a vet reliever and it really really hurt us. We needed a guy to take some of the pressure off of the young arms at the end of the pen. The RH batter we brought in was Matt Diaz and his Rafael Belliard type power. However, we did acquire Michael Bourn and the offense did seem to have a bit more stability. However, Martin Prado didn't help much.
My finest prediction moment. Moylan and Medlin did return (Peter went out for the season shortly after). Proctor and Gearrin were out. Kimbrel saved EXACTLY 46 games, Venters saved 5.
Both Hanson and Jurrjens got hurt and finished with 11 and 13 wins respectively. Tim Hudson led the team with 16 victories.
Second half record: 35-35. Season Record: 89-73. 2nd in the East, Missed Playoffs.
Interesting note: The top 9 highest payroll teams are all out of the playoffs now. The Braves were 15th highest.
