NL East: Obviously, the Atlanta Braves Take the Division from Philadelphia

It’s so obvious. I don’t know how all the phans in Philadelphia are missing it. 

The Braves are clearly the team to beat in the NL East. They have it all: pitching, power, superior defense, awesome bench. Everything’s there. 

Yet those phans, and most of the national media, just can’t see it.

You wanna talk pitching? Add one part Derek Lowe, one part Tommy Hanson, a handful of Tim Hudson and a pinch of Brandon Beachy (???) and you got a championship rotation, right? 

I mean, come on. Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee are schlubs compared to Lowe and Hanson.  And Roy Oswalt is no Tim Hudson, not even on his best day. Cole Hamels??? What has that guy ever done? 

I mean, besides that World Series MVP thing, he’s a really poor pitcher. Good ole “Double-B” Brandon Beachy makes Hamels look like a Little Leaguer. 

So, you can see when they’re lined up against one another which one the blatantly, obviously better rotation is.

Pitching isn’t the only aspect where the Bravos trump the Phils. Offensively, they are a far superior team as well. 

Just look at each team’s big power hitter: Dan Uggla versus Ryan Howard. I don’t care that Howard was the fastest player in the history of the game to hit 300 home runs. Uggla is better. 

Also, the Braves have Chipper Jones, who is just in the prime of his career. Jimmy Rollins is old. He’s five years younger than Chipper Jones, but he is still old and Chipper is not. 

And Jason Heyward is definitely the next Willie Mays. They even have the same nickname, which Heyward definitely earned, so it has to be true. 

Even though the Braves lineup has never really accomplished anything, they are far and away better than anything the Phils have.

I’m gonna come right out and say it: The Braves are the best defensive team in all of baseball, maybe even in the history of baseball. How can the Phillies compete with that? 

I’m surprised the entire team didn’t win all the Gold Gloves last year. In both leagues. 

Brooks Conrad has the hands of an angel, and there’s no way he could ever, EVER make an error. Forget last year when the Braves were 26th in the majors (out of 30) and the Phillies were eighth; this year will be different and defense will be one of the reasons the Braves take the division.

Last year didn’t really go our way. We didn’t have any magic finishes at the end of games (the Braves won 21 games in their last at-bat in 2010, leading the Majors), all our major contributors were injured constantly (unlike the Phillies), and we certainly didn’t get any extraordinary performances from our bench (Omar Infante).

But as you can see, this year will be ours. Stats and previous performances never mean a thing in baseball, so why even bother with them? 

It all comes down to which team’s fan base believes in it more. Here in the ATL we show up at every game, cheering and dancing and really just willing it to happen, so it will. 

Talent and experience be damned. This year belongs to the Braves. 

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