NL East Update: Is Chipper Jones Fading Fast?
Braves Blast worries that Chipper Jones' left-handed swing is fading fast, and after dissecting his splits it is hard to disagree.
Chipper Jones is the only switch hitter in the history of the game to have a career average above .300 and over 300 career home runs. With those type of numbers he has to be included in the discussion for being one of the top five switch hitters of all time, a group that includes names like Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, and Pete Rose. Jones' struggles batting lefty certainly do not make him a liability in the Braves lineup, with one of the sweetest swings in baseball from the left side, he is still always a threat to make an impact. As a natural righty, it comes as no surprise that his left side was the first to go, and with more attention being drawn to his age and injuries, one has to wonder if Chipper will join manager Bobby Cox in walking away from the game.
Phillies Nation recaps Kyle Kendricks impressive bounce back start against the Braves in Atlanta.
Kendrick was phenomenal in his most recent outing tossing 8 innings of shutout ball. Unfortionatly for him, a miracle 9th and 10th innings by the Braves gave Atlanta the win and Kendrick a no decision. If this game proves anything, it's that Phillie starting pitchers are going to have to find a way to go as deep into games as possible, and who better to learn that from then Roy Halladay? Hopefully, the young pitcher can put the result of his last outing in the past and continue to produce quality starts. He, along with everyone else in the Phillie rotation will have to begin to trust the bullpen, no matter how hard that is to do.
Fish Stripes looks at the race between Gaby Sanchez and Mike Lamb for the emergency catching duties.
Hopefully it will never have to come down to this for manager Freddi Gonzalez. The role of "emergency catcher" is probably the one position in baseball that no one wants. Sanchez struggled mightily at first base during Florida's opening series against the Mets so I can only imagine how he would do behind the plate at a position he is not very familiar with, Lamb on the other hand has only three games worth of experience as catcher, and that was way back in 2002. The only thing to do now if you're the Marlins is to hold your breath and hope John Baker can stay healthy long enough until backup Ronny Paulino recovers from his quadriceps injury.
The recent success of Mike Pelfrey has Brooklyn Mets Fan thinking the season may not be over after all.
Pelfrey, the ninth overall pick by New York in the 2005 draft, is finally coming into his own. The difference between this year and the years before is that he looks and plays with an incredible amount of confidence. Since Pelfrey made his debut in 2006 he has been a work in progress, it always seemed like he wasn't comfortable which contributed to his struggles, that and the fact that during his struggles he knew he had the arm and talent to be an effective big league pitcher, he just hadn't "found himself" yet. Pelfrey has quietly secured the number 2 spot in the Mets rotation behind Johan Santana, but if he keeps putting up numbers like this you might as well consider him the number 1.
