Well I have the greatest voodoo power in the whole Tri-State area but it sadly doesn't work on changing weather conditions. The weather tomorrow in DC is supposed to be s-h-i-t-t-y. 

Cloudy with occasional rain in the afternoon. High near 45F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.

 Damn, damn, damn. This would suck for us if Opening Day got rained out, but let's see. 

 Maybe thinking positive would push the storm north.. towards.. me. Willing to take the rain here and see the game not postponed. Well anywho, IF the game is on, this is my predictions.

- Derek Lowe goes 6.2 innings of work, giving up 5 hits, 1 run, and 2 walks, and striking out 6.

- Freddie Freeman goes 2-4 with a RBI double. Not bad for a debut. 

- Chipper Jones goes 2-3 with a double and a walk. 

- Dan Uggla goes 1-3 in his first game as a Brave.

- Nate McLouth goes 3-4 with 2 doubles, a single, and a stolen base.

- Expect Scott Linebrink, Peter Moylan, Jonny Venters, and Craig Kimbrel pitching out of the bullpen.

- And expect Matt Young and Brandon Hicks playing in the 9th!

And the Braves win by the score of 6-2.

Discuss!

 So, I was dabbling in my notebook during my audio visual class. Had nothing to do so I did a complete 25-man roster for our Atlanta Braves. Let's see our lineup.

LF - Martin Prado

CF - Nate McLouth

3B - Chipper Jones

C - Brian McCann

2B - Dan Uggla

RF - Jason Heyward

SS - Alex Gonzalez

1B - Freddie Freeman

Our pitching rotation would look like this.. 

P - Tim Hudson

P - Derek Lowe

P - Tommy Hanson

P - Jair Jurrjens

P - Mike Minor

I have Mike Minor winning the fifth spot, beating Rodrigo Lopez and Brandon Beachy. I had Beachy winning the spot before Spring Training but Minor has pitch wonderfully. Don't get me wrong, both Lopez and Beachy pitched above-average, but Minor edged out from the race, plus he's a lefty. Overall, this rotation looks beast.

Our bullpen was quite successful in '10, one of the best bullpens I've seen from the Braves in years. Yes, remember the years of Wickman, Retisma, and Kolb? *taps table three times*. Well anyways, here's the bullpen.

RP - Craig Kimbrel

RP - Jonny Venters

RP - Scott Linebrink

RP - George Sherrill

RP - Peter Moylan

RP - Eric O'Flaherty

RP - Scott Proctor

I have Proctor beating out the likes of Cristhian Martinez, Juan Abreu, and Luis Val - wait, Jairo Asencio. I thought also at the beginning of Spring Training that Proctor was going to win the last avaiable spot in the 'pen on a silver platter. But Proctor really has impressed me. By the way, I miss Billy Wags. ): Medlen will come back in August or September to the bullpen, so can't wait for that.

And our bench, our sweet bench. Did so many things for us last year.

C - David Ross

IF/OF - Eric Hinske

OF - Matt Young

IF - Diory Hernandez

IF/OF - Ed Lucas

I had Wilkin Ramirez winning a spot on the bench on what he's doing in ST, but while I was on the train, I literally said, "FREE MATT YOUNG". Yes, I added Matty Y to the bench. (I miss Matty D.) Wilkin Ramirez and Jose Constanza really did stand out to me. (Weird that I didn't mention Conrad and Mather in this section, well, until now.)

I only had five minutes 'till the period ended, so my predictions are..

- Heyward hitting around .290 with 26 HRs and 91 RBIs.

- C. Jones hitting around .275 with 21 HRs and 85 RBIs in 143 games.

- Uggla hitting around .260 with 38 HRs and 109 RBIs.

- McCann hitting around .280 with 29 HRs and 100 RBIs.

- "Pittsburgh" Nate McLouth hitting around .280 with 19 HRs and 88 RBIs with 27 steals.

- Prado hitting around .310 with 17 HRs and 78 RBIs, will lead team in hits.

- Gonzalez hitting around .265 with 20 HRs and 81 RBIs.

- And Freddie Freeman.. will hit around .290 with 16 HRs and 77 RBIs with 32 doubles.

As for the bench..

- Ross and Hinske with the same or slight better numbers than last year.

- Lucas providing hits when we need them most, I said hitting around .270 with 7 HRs with 34 RBIs.

- Hernandez providing backup to Gonzalez, I said around hitting around .250 with 4 HRs with 19 RBIs

- Matt Y will be great, hitting around .300 with 3 HRs, around 80-90 hits, will be the primary pinch runner, getting 20 steals.

To our pitching rotation..

- Tim Hudson goes 18-9 with a 3.35 ERA, striking out 143 in 232 innings.

- Derek Lowe goes 17-11 with a 3.78 ERA, striking out 149 in 216 innings.

- Tommy Hanson goes 14-8 with a 3.40 ERA, striking out 178 in 209 innings.

- Jair Jurrjens goes 14-10 with a 3.29 ERA, striking out 147 in 211 innings.

- Mike Minor goes 12-8 with a 3.56 ERA, striking out 96 in 103 innings.

And lastly, our 'pen..

- Venters and Kimbrel with sub-2.25 ERAs, with Jonny earning 10+ saves and "Blitzcraig" earning 30+ saves.

- Linebrink, Sherrill, and Moylan with ERAs around 3. Will do great in getting out of situations.

- O'Flaherty will do awesome as our left-handed specialist, I said around 2.30-2.45 ERA

- Proctor, I said he'll flip-flop back and forth to Gwinnett and Atlanta, my opinion, but he'll be good. 3.20 ERA tops.

Well, if you took the time in reading this, thanks a lot.

Comment please. 

Oh yeah, Braves goes 94-68, winning the Wild Card! I'm only thinking playoffs right now and when we get there, we'll talk World Series!

 You guys might know me from commenting and chatting on the game threads and all. I'm Jose, an avid Braves fan since the days of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz. I'm only 16 and in high school obviously. Last year was a blast for me.. one of the memorable moments I had was when I was leaving school to home and the Braves were playin' the Reds in a day game. Well, read this..

i ran from the train station to my house in 4 minutes then GS!!! 
I WAS IN MY KNEES!

by Jose Rodriguez on May 20, 2010 1:29 PM PDT actions  

Great!!

by HEYJUDE on May 20, 2010 1:30 PM PDT up actions  

(twss)

by Jose Rodriguez on May 20, 2010 1:30 PM PDT up actions  

you might wanna stay there cause Brooks deserves some service

by kreese555 on May 20, 2010 1:30 PM PDT up actions  

i was at school, Braves were losing 8-1.
i was at the train, Braves were rallying with four straight singles.
i left the station, Braves were rallying 8-6.
i was trenched with sweat running to my house. i ran to my room, Brooks hit the GS.
BEST. GAME. EVER.

by Jose Rodriguez on May 20, 2010 1:32 PM PDT up actions  

 I remember that game like yesterday, I was on my Sidekick seein' GameDay. I was facepalming myself when I saw the Braves' score, 8-1. I remember I was on the 7 train, seein' the Braves hittin' in the 9th. Glaus, Hinske, Escobar..

 Then the double from Nate, I literally was talking to myself, saying "This mother fuckin' train has to go express now!" Sadly, it didn't. 

 By the time Odarp singled on that error from Miguel Cairo, I was at my stop, Junction Boulevard. I decided then and there to run home as fast as I can. Usually, the walk from the station to my house is 10-15 minutes. I dashed my way home, bumped into people and sweating crazy because the sun was strong that day. I called my mother, screaming to my mom, "TURN ON THE TV! BRAVES ARE RALLYING! TURN IT ON!" My mother, my older brother, and my sister were already home. 

 I got to the front of the house, counting only four-five minutes from the station to my home. I was juggling for my keys in my bookbag. I zipped up the stairs and my mother didn't turn on the TV. First time ever I yelled at my mom, so I turned it on, and BAM! Conrad and the Braves were celebrating at home. I was on my knees, in front of the TV, screaming from the win and crying from the pain (sprained my hamstring that day.) One day, you know I'm gonna tell my kids this moment I had. 

As for this year, expect the Braves to win 93 games. Winnin' the East. ;) 

Wherever I go, I know it's now claimed by Braves Country. Let's go Braves. /> |> /> |>