Who are these guys?

All the love is going to the Phillies right now.  The Miami Heat of starting rotations (Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels), Ryan Howard at first, Chase Utley at second, the flyin Hawaiian Shane Victorino along side rookie phenom Domonic Brown.  It is a team in the midst of their glory days right now, winning four straight NL East crowns, to go with 3 straight NLCS appearances, which led to the 2008 World Series championship and 2009 pennant.  Looking at the Phillies this year, they seem to once again be a shoe in for the NL East title.

But don't think too quickly.  Because theres another pretty good team in this division too.  That team: the Atlanta Braves.  This was a team that went 91-71 last season, and led the NL East for most of the year.  They would eventually cough up the lead to Philly, but got in the postseason as the wildcard, before losing to eventual World Series Champion San Francisco in the NLDS in 4 games.

Looking back at last season, I see that team as a team that could have easily gone to the World Series.  In fact, I feel that NLDS was the World Series.  If you look at the 2 teams, nobody had a better bullpen, the Braves didnt have the rotation like the Giants, but still had workhorses in Tim Hudson and Tommy Hanson to go along with Derek Lowe, one of the great postseason performers of the past decade.  In retrospect, this team could have easily gone all the way.

Now in a new season, the Braves look like a team that could challenge the Phillies for the division title.  They made a huge trade with the Marlins that brought the best power-hitting second baseman in baseball, Dan Uggla, to Atlanta.  Their bullpen looks to be one of baseball's best yet again despite losing closer Billy Wagner and middle guy Takashi Saito, as a result Scott Linebrink and George Sherill, who can be the closer if Craig Kimbrel can't consistently shut the door in the 9th.  They also replaced legendary skipper Bobby Cox with Fredi Gonzalez, who I feel did a stellar managing job in his 3 plus years with the Marlins, despite being canned midway through the 2010 season.  Overall, the team continues to be the same thing they've been for a while now-a solid mix of young guys and veterans who seem to be right there in the mix.

Is this team good enough to challenge the Phillies? Absolutely.  The biggest reason-the Phillies are not as good as everyone claims them to be, and have some potential problems down the stretch.  The Phils are not a team that is getting any younger, and is already seeing Chase Utley struggling with injuries.  Of the starting 8 players in the field, Domonic Brown is the only one under 30, while everyone in the starting rotation with the exception of Cole Hamels is 30+.  Not just 30, but injury prone as well.  Last year, we saw Ryan Howard do some time on the DL, Jimmy Rollins struggled with injuries, Raul Ibanez did as well.  The lineup is no longer a great one, it is a good one at best.  Last season, the team had 74 games where they scored 3 runs or less, and GM Ruben Amaro did nothing to address that issue over the offseason.  In fact, they lost Jayson Werth to free-agency.  So is this Phillies team coming as advertised?  I don't think so.  This is where my 2011 upset of the year will evolve from.

You heard it from here first.  On September 28, 2011, the Atlanta Braves will be in first place.