Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
For a team that ended the first half with such a large lead, the Atlanta Braves sure had a rough last week. They ended with an outfield that was patched together with bench players, rookies and even infielders in one instance. If that wasn’t enough the All-Star final vote winner Freddie Freeman injured his thumb on a freak play at first base. It had to leave the Braves wondering just how snake bitten they were for a first place team and how the terrible ending to the first half would translate into the beginning of the second half.
All in all there really isn’t too much to worry about going into the Chicago White Sox series to start the second half. Evan Gattis is back and though he wasn’t totally ready before the break, he certainly is ready now. His timing might take a game or two but he is in there and that matters. Freeman’s thumb will be good enough before the series is over and hopefully won’t even become one of those nagging injuries that slow him down from time to time. He has had a stunning season so far so anything that hampers that would be bad news for sure.
B.J. Upton is getting more time off than anyone else in the outfield because he is injured slightly worse than the other two. That might actually give him time to work some more things out so couldn’t be too terrible. It would be better if Jordan Schafer was healthy but that isn’t happening soon. Hopefully before the first series of the second half is done, there will be only one Braves regular out of place. For the way they play, we’ll just have to wait and see about that but I actually have a really good feeling about it; for whatever that is worth.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google Plus.
