The Atlanta Braves are picking up right where they left off after a sizzling September to close last season, blasting the Chicago Cubs for a 16-5 opening day victory. The day was highlighted by budding-superstar rookie Jason Heyward, who lived up to the hype by connecting on a three-run homer in his first major league at bat. A perfect start to manager Bobby Cox final season before heading into retirement.
Heyward Leads Braves To Victory
The day belonged to Jason Heyward. After ripping the cover off the ball at every level off the minor leagues, Heyward left the Braves’ organization no choice but to give him the starting nod, supplanting starter Matt Diaz in right field.
Beating out Diaz was no easy task, as he batted .313 with 13 homers in 2009 after supplanting Jeff Francoeur and sending him packing to the New York Mets
Heyward jumped from Single A to Triple A in 2009, bringing along with him comparisons to baseball greats Ken Griffey and Alex Rodriguez who arrived in the big leagues early. At age 20, Heyward stands 6′4″ and 220 pounds. He has multiple tools, hitting for average, hitting for power and stealing you a base when you need it.
The next big star.
Heyward and his teammates have the radar set on the Philadelphia Phillies. While the Braves made a number of moves to improve in the offseason with the acquisitions of Melky Cabrera, Troy Glaus and Billy Wagner, they have coupled budding stars with seasoned veterans to make a big run in 2010.
On the otherhand, the Phillies stood pat. They swapped Cliff Lee for Roy Halladay, which is just an even swap and they added an aging Placido Polanco to replace Pedro Feliz. With the biggest problem being their bullpen, the Phillies chose not to fill that hole and enter 2010 with a bullpen believed to be worse than one of baseball worst pens in 2009. And struggling closer Brad Lidge has started the season on the DL.
If Opening Day is a sign of things to come, the Phillies may be struggling to keep up with the Braves in 2010. While the Phillies have made it to back to back World Series, they did so in unimpressively in many baseball insiders eyes. Thanks to an unbalanced schedule that increases the number of divisional games to 18, the Phillies were able to tee off on the struggling NL East teams. In contrast, St. Louis and Chicago had to struggle to get into the playoffs in the much tougher NL Central and the Dodgers and Rockies had to fend for their lives in the NL West. The Phillies benefited tremendously with 72 games against their NL East combatants.
The Phillies won’t have that luxury this season thanks to the Braves, as well as the improved Florida Marlins and New York Mets. During the Phillies’ World Series Championship run they recorded a losing record against winning-record teams and in 2009 they posted just a breakeven record against the best team’s in baseball. The shortened rotation and rosters in the playoff disguised an incomplete team that struggled over the course of 162 game season. At 19 players, the Phillies are the best team in baseball. At 24 players, they are just slightly better than average.
The Phillies now have more competition that will gnaw at the weaknesses by making the regular season more grueling. With the increased prominence of the Braves and other NL East teams, the Phillies no longer have rollover games against Triple A laden squads. The glaring holes at the back of the rotation and in the bullpen will be ever present for the Phillies this year and Jason Heyward, along with his Braves, are ready to take their place at the top of the heap.
