[cbgatorade0202]

Quote: Originally Posted by tonybologna

Another one down the drain due to pitching. The fact here is that the pitching we have right now(especially 4th & 5th SP spots) isn't gonna cut it. Carlyle has been pretty solid in the 3rd spot but really only Hudson & Smoltz we can count on really. I think Moylan,Yates,& Soriano are tiring & Wick hasn't showed me anything since the season began. It's pretty sorry when we go into most games thinking we need to score double figures to win the game. We have a lineup capable of doing that but night after night. We better keep our eyes set on the wild card because the Mets are pulling away with the division. With the way our pitching is & not going after at least one SP then I am doubting our chances even at the wild card now. Don't get me wrong, we are surely capable to get the wild card with the lineup we have but you can't expect to try & outscore opponents with the 3rd-5th spots in the rotation right now. We can get 3 runs with Huddy & Smoltz & feel like we can win but we need 10+ to score with the other guys. It's just a fact right now that we have no dependability in these other guys in the rotation. To be honest, I am seeing our bullpen deflate here down the stretch too.Tex has been totally awesome for us. Escobar is a star in the making. Chipper has done his job nicely. Diaz has played great when getting his chances. Harris has been solid all year both in the field & at the plate. Johnson has adjusted to 2B really well & has been solid at the plate too. Andruw has been very disappointing but he's getting those HR's & RBI's back to respectability. I am a big Braves fan & have been for over 30 years now but I am seeing us fade badly. We just don't appear to have enough pitching to carry us into the playoffs. We have the bats to carry us but you can't outscore opponents every game out with these other guys in the rotation. Our bullpen has been used way to much & that's why they're tiring. This spells bad news really. I sure hope we can pick things up & stay in the wild card race but I feel like we are fading out pretty fast. The good thing here is that we're only 1 game back & have games left with Philly to overcome them guys but they're playing better than us right now. Thanks!

I'm sorry but Buddy Carlyle is not much better then our 4th and 5th pitchers. He has had I think 6 bad starts in a row and really only had a few all year. 3 thru 5 in our rotation sucks and I still as much I thought it was a decent Idea wonder why we traded for Dotel instead of a starter.