Rays Should Keep Price

The Tampa Bay Rays plans going into this off-season were to shop David Price in hopes of getting maximum value in return. Price currently has two years of team control left before he hits free agency.

David Price is a three-time AL All-Star and won
the 2012 AL Cy Young Award.

With the Rays financial restraints they certainly are in no place to re-sign Price so they feel if they trade him with two years of team control left they can get a bounty of a haul in return to keep the team competitive in the tough AL East that features big spending New York, Boston and Toronto.

Last off-season the Rays traded James Shields and Wade Davis to Kansas City for a package of young prospects that included elite OF prospect Wil Myers. Myers made his MLB debut for the Rays in June and went off. Myers, teamed with All-Star 3rd baseman Evan Longoria, to form a deadly tandem that carried the Rays offense for the remainder of the season. Myers won the AL Rookie of the Year award.

Before Myers was called up the Rays were in 4th place in the AL East, hovering at just 3 games above .500 at 36-33 and were 5 games out of first place. After Myers made his MLB debut on June 18th the Rays went 56-38 but it wasn't enough to catch the Red Sox as the Rays finished 5 1/2 games behind Boston.

Wil Myers hit .293/.354/.478 with 13 HR's
and 53 RBI's in 88 games in route to
winning the 2013 AL ROTY award.

The Rays defeated the Rangers in a winner take all game 163 in which David Price completely shutdown Texas, in Arlington, in route to throwing a complete game in a 5-2 Rays victory.

But the Rays weren't done there, they went to Cleveland and defeated the Indians behind 6 2/3 shutout innings by Alex Cobb, to win the AL Wild Card game.

The Rays season eventually ended, losing to the eventual World Series Champion Red Sox, in the ALDS in four games.

The Rays have a very good team that is capable of making one last World Series run with David Price in the fold and I believe the Rays should take that chance. They should sign Grant Balfour to fill their vacant closer's spot. Balfour has been dynamite since 2008 and was a key piece of that Rays team that went to the World Series in 2008 and defeated Boston in the ALCS that season.

Baseball can be a very fickle game. You never know when you're going to get another chance at experiencing greatness as a franchise so when you do you savor it and take any chance possible to make sure it lasts as long as possible.

MLB history is full of teams that were right on the cusp of having a special season before falling off and having a string of disappointing seasons.

The most notable example might be the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates won the NL East (yes they were in the NL East back then) three years in a row, 90, 91 and 92 but lost the NLCS every season. They then lost many key pieces after the 92 season and didn't return to the playoffs again until 2013.

Another great example is the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 93 but have not made the playoffs since.

Yet another great example is the Kansas City Royals. The Royals won the World Series in 1985 and have not made playoffs since.

My point is the Rays have chance to experience a very magically season in 2014. Do not blow it by trading David Price and wondering what might have been. Could the Rays certainly make a run at a World Series without Price? Absolutely but their chances are even better with Price in the fold.

If you keep Price and the season doesn't go as plan you can then trade him at the trading deadline and still receive a great haul in return.

My Rebuttal

This morning ESPN's David Schoenfield posted a post that caught my attention on his SweetSpot blog on ESPN.com. In his blog post he claims that the Nationals look stronger than the Braves and are his pick to win the NL East in 2014.

Well I'm here to offer my rebuttal to Schoenfield's reasons for the Nationals winning the NL East in 2014. I'm going to address two of Schoenfield's claims, 1. that the Braves pitching staff will allow more runs in 2014 and 2. that the Braves are still relying on B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla.

1. Schoenfield claims that the Braves will allow more runs in 2014. Why? His main reasoning is that because in 2013 the Braves finished with the 5th fewest runs given up in a season in the NL in the last 30 years. That of the teams that rank in the top 10 on that list only the 1988 Dodgers allowed even fewer runs the next season. That every other team on that list allowed more runs the next year including the 1993 Braves and 2002 Braves. He claims that because the Braves allowed 52 fewer runs in 2013 than in 2012 they'll regress by at least those 52 runs in 2014 and maybe even more.

Schoenfield goes on to mention how losing Tim Hudson and Paul Maholm will hurt the Braves because they made 47 starts for the Braves in 2013. But he fails to mention that Hudson went down with a season ending ankle injury on July 24th and that the Braves went 39-22 after Hudson went down including a 14-game winning streak that started immediately after the injury.

He also failed to mention that Maholm in his final 13 starts of 2013 posted an ERA of 5.47 and that the Braves went 5-8 in those 13 starts.

He does make a very good point about the question marks surrounding Brandon Beachy and the newly signed Gavin Floyd. Beachy struggled to come back from Tommy John surgery in 2013 making only 5 starts before being shutdown for good after having an additional surgery to remove "loose bodies" in his elbow. Beachy has been cleared to have a normal off-season throwing program and is expected to be fully healthy at the start of spring training in 2014. Beachy was leading the NL in ERA in 2012 before he blew out his elbow, if he is able to regain that form he would be an upgrade over Hudson and Maholm.

Gavin Floyd, if he is able to comeback healthy, would be a superior number 5 starter especially in the NL. In the AL in hitter friendly U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago he was good enough to post fWAR's of 2.4, 4.2, 4.0, 3.9 and 1.9 from 2008-2012 before going down with Tommy John surgery after just 5 starts in 2013. There's not a team in baseball that wouldn't kill to have a pitcher capable of doing that in their #5 spot in the rotation.

Kris Medlen, Mike Minor and Julio Teheran are the top 3 starters and each should continue to progress and improve in 2014. If Beachy and Floyd prove healthy the Braves rotation could be even better in 2014 and that's not to mention Alex Wood and David Hale as options number 6 and 7. Alex Wood in 31 games (11 starts) in his MLB debut season of 2013 posted a fWAR of 1.6 with a 3.05 ERA and 3.57 FIP in his 11 starts.

Hale made 2 starts for the Braves in late September and gave up just 1 run in 11 innings with 1 walk and 14 strikeouts. It's far too small of a sample size to make a judgement on but it certainly was impressive considering it came for a team that was leading it's division and heading to the playoffs.

It's hard to imagine the bullpen being even better than it was in 2013 but it actually could be, even if David Carpenter and Luis Avilan regress some from the amazing seasons they had in 2013. Craig Kimbrel is still Kimbrel but the Braves could get even better if Jonny Venters comes back healthy in 2014 and if the Braves retain Eric O'Flaherty. EOF is currently a free agent. Alex Wood and David Hale could also be options in the bullpen.

So yes realistically the Braves pitching staff could actually improve and allow even less runs in 2014 or even at the worst be just as good as it was in 2013. There's no realistic reason to expect the Braves pitching staff to regress mightily in 2014 like Schoenfield is claiming.

Schoenfield goes on to mention that the Nationals rotation will be better than the Braves because they traded for Doug Fister to replace Dan Haren and that Fister is projected to be 21 runs better than Haren in 2014. He also claims that the Nationals starting pitching is deeper than the Braves which will allow them to survive injuries should they occur. If Beachy and Floyd are healthy and pitch up to the standard they have set for themselves I'll take Medlen, Minor, Teheran, Beachy and Floyd over Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Fister and Ross Detwiler although it is very close.

2. The second reason we come to is that the Braves are still relying on B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla on offense. He mentions that still relying on those two, coupled with losing Brian McCann and having the pitching staff regress will ultimately doom the Braves.

Well it's hard to believe that both Upton (.184/.268/.289) and Uggla (.179/.309/.362) will be even worse in 2014. There's strong reason to believe that both will at least rebound somewhat in 2014. Even with the terrible seasons both had Upton is still a career .248/.329/.409 hitter while Uggla carries a career slash line of .246/.340/.458.

But the Braves still lost Brian McCann (.256/.336/.461). How will they survive that? What he fails to mention is that McCann hit just .220/.296/.384 in the second half of the season including 0-for-13 in the playoffs against the Dodgers. Evan Gattis, who's expected to assume the everyday role as the teams starting catcher, hit .243/.291/.480 in his rookie season of 2013. Even if he doesn't improve any on that line the .480 slugging is more than enough to survive losing McCann.

He mentions that there's reason to expect improvement from Jason Heyward and Justin Upton in 2014. Heyward played just 104 games in 2014 and after Fredi Gonzalez placed him in the leadoff spot he hit .322/.403./.551 in 134 plate appearances. Sure it's a small sample size but we'll get a chance to find out because Gonzalez has already stated that Heyward will begin the 2014 season in the leadoff spot. The Braves also went 25-7 after Heyward was moved to the leadoff spot on July 27th.

Justin Upton after a monster April in which he hit .298/.402/.734, hit just .256/.343/.409. If Upton can be more consistent in 2014 that would go a long way towards improving the Braves offense.

Chris Johnson hit an amazing .321/.358/.457 in his first season in Atlanta fueled by MLB leading .394 BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play). While there's strong reason to expect Johnson to suffer a huge decrease in BABIP this isn't the first time he's had an insanely high BABIP. In 2012 his BABIP was .354 and in 94 games with the Astros in 2010 he carried a BABIP of .387. So maybe there is something that Johnson does that leads to him having a really high BABIP. Even if Johnson regresses to what he hit in 2012, .281/.326/.451, that would still be more than enough in a Braves lineup where he's not counted on to carry the load.

Freddie Freeman took a major step forward in 2013 by hitting .319/.396/.501 and finishing 5th in the NL MVP voting. Freeman, at age 24 and entering his 4th full MLB season, looks primed to continue to improve and anchor what should again be a strong Braves offense in 2013.

The Braves won 96 games in 2013 and finished 10 games ahead of the Nationals who needed 15-7 run down the stretch just to get to 86 wins and close the gap on the Braves to 10 games in the final standings.

Even with all the problems that David Schoenfield mentioned or failed to mention the Braves won those 96 games, ranked 1st in the majors in allowing just 548 runs and ranked 13th in the majors (4th in NL) in runs scored with 688. Even if the Braves pitching staff regresses by 50 or more runs like Schoenfield is expecting the offense could easily improve by 50 or more runs even with the loss of Brian McCann. So you're looking at a wash there.

And one last point I want to make about ESPN and their bias. Schoenfield could have picked any player on either team to list as a breakout candidate in 2014, but who did he pick? He picked Bryce Harper. Really? If you read the blog post he wrote it with the mindset that everything that could go wrong will go wrong for the Braves in 2014 and everything that can go right will go right in 2014 for the Nationals and topped off his extremely biased article by naming Bryce Harper as his breakout candidate.

It's a crying shame that this type of journalism, or lack there of is promoted by a network as big as ESPN. But apparently ESPN is ok with this type of bias and if you ever need to confirm that just spend 5 minutes watching SportsCenter or any other ESPN program.

Revisiting NASCAR History

ESPN's Matthew Willis did some great work for ESPN.com.

Way back in 1975, NASCAR decided to change its points system, using an idea jotted down on a cocktail napkin at the Boot Hill Saloon in Daytona Beach, Fla. Pretty humble beginnings, no?

But what if these innovators had used a slightly bigger napkin -- maybe if they were eating ribs or something -- and had come up with the idea of the Chase three decades ago? How would the history of NASCAR have changed?

Now, a little disclaimer here. I know drivers would've probably driven differently, leading to changed results and altered points championships. But let's just have a little fun here and play the "what if" game.

So let's list the actual champions with who would have won the championship had the Chase format been in place.

YEAR      ACTUAL CHAMPION      HYPOTHETICAL CHAMPION
1975      Richard Petty          Richard Petty
1976      Cale Yarborough        Cale Yarborough
1977      Cale Yarborough        Cale Yarborough
1978      Cale Yarborough        Cale Yarborough
1979      Richard Petty          Richard Petty
1980      Dale Earnhardt         Cale Yarborough
1981      Darrell Waltrip        Darrell Waltrip
1982      Darrell Waltrip        Darrell Waltrip
1983      Bobby Allison          Darrell Waltrip
1984      Terry Labonte          Harry Gant
1985      Darrell Waltrip        Darrell Waltrip
1986      Dale Earnhardt         Dale Earnhardt
1987      Dale Earnhardt         Dale Earnhardt
1988      Bill Elliott           Bill Elliott
1989      Rusty Wallace          Rusty Wallace
1990      Dale Earnhardt         Dale Earnhardt
1991      Dale Earnhardt         Harry Gant
1992      Alan Kulwicki          Kyle Petty
1993      Dale Earnhardt         Rusty Wallace
1994      Dale Earnhardt         Dale Earnhardt
1995      Jeff Gordon            Dale Earnhardt
1996      Terry Labonte          Jeff Gordon
1997      Jeff Gordon            Dale Jarrett
1998      Jeff Gordon            Jeff Gordon
1999      Dale Jarrett           Bobby Labonte
2000      Bobby Labonte          Bobby Labonte
2001      Jeff Gordon            Sterling Marlin
2002      Tony Stewart           Kurt Busch
2003      Matt Kenseth           Jimmie Johnson

As you can see most years the actual champion and the hypothetical champions end up the same. But there are a couple of interesting changes. Both Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip would have ended up as 4-time champions instead of 3-time champions.

Dale Earnhardt still would have won his 7 championships but not in the same years. Rusty Wallace would have won his 2nd championship in 1993 further solidifying his status as one of NASCAR's greatest drivers ever.

Harry Gant who never won a Winston Cup Series championship would have won two championships under the Chase format. Terry Labonte who won two championships would have won no championships under the Chase format. Jeff Gordon who won four championships under the old format would have won just two championships using the Chase format.

And most interestingly Jimmie Johnson would have won his first championship in 2003 and would be on the verge of winning his 7th championship solidifying his status as arguably NASCAR's greatest driver ever.

1975-1979
1980-1984
1985-1989
1990-1994
1995-1999
2000-2003

College Football YouTube Channel

Hey guys. You may be a subscriber to my old YouTube channel or you may not but you need to check out my new YouTube channel. It's for college football only. It's really easy to find. Follow the link below and you'll see the ESPN College Football logo and you'll know you're at the right place.

Big T College Football

Check out my old channel as well if you haven't already done so.

Tim Bliss

All college football games on channel 'Tim Bliss' will eventually be moved over to 'Big T College Football'.

I also have a Google+ page for my new YouTube channel.

Big T College Football

Tim Bliss

Twitter - Tim Bliss

Facebook - Tim Bliss

Freddie Freeman, 2013 Atlanta Braves MVP

Who was the Atlanta Braves team MVP in 2013? You can make difference cases for Craig Kimbrel, Jason Heyward, Justin Upton or Mike Minor. You could also make very strong cases for Andrelton Simmons and Chris Johnson. But the way I see it is that the Braves 2013 team MVP was Freddie Freeman.

On a Braves team that was hit hard by injuries and inconsistency among many of it's key players including terrible offensive seasons from B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla, it was Freddie Freeman that the Braves turned to when the offense needed big hit after big hit to rack up an amazing 96 wins and win their first NL East title since 2005.

Freeman hit from day one of the season through the last day of the season when the Braves were eliminated by the Dodgers in the Divisional Series.

Freeman carried an impressive triple slash line of .319/.396/.501 with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .897. Freeman finished in the top ten in the NL in many offensive stats:

average - .319 (3rd)
on-base percentage - .396 (6th)
slugging percentage - .501 (8th)
on-base plus slugging - .897 (7th)
hits - 176 (7th)
runs - 89 (T-10th)
runs batted in - 109 (T-2nd)
runners in scoring position average - .443 (2nd)

Freeman also continues to show increased improvement in his walk and strikeout percentages. From his rookie year of 2011 through 2013 his strikeout percentage has declined from 22.4% to 20.8% to 19.2% while his walk percentage has increased from 8.3% to 10.3% to 10.5%. Freeman's linedrive percentage has also increased every year from 18.8% to 26.0% to 26.7%.

These trends tell us that Freddie Freeman at the ripe age of just 24 (September 12) that he is a force to be reckoned with for the foreseeable future which is why it would be smart on the Braves part to lock him to a long-term deal sooner rather than later.

Freeman is entering his first year of arbitration and following the 2016 season will be eligible for free agency. Signing him to a team friendly deal now would give the Braves stability at the first base position of which they haven't seen in many years.

2014 Atlanta Braves Schedule

It's never too early to look ahead to the next season so with that said here's the 2014 Atlanta Braves schedule and some random thoughts on how it breaks down.

Mar. 31-Apr. 2 - @ Milwaukee Brewers (3 games)

Braves open the 2014 season in Milwaukee. This series will be interesting for a number of reasons. Will Carlos Gomez still be in a Brewers uniform come next spring? If so what kind of action if any will the Braves take against him? What kind of response will Ryan Braun get?

Apr. 4-6 - @ Washington Nationals (3 games)

A chance for the Braves to send an early season message to the Nationals that this year is no fluke and that the Braves are once again kings of the NL East.

Apr. 8-10 - New York Mets (3 games)

The Braves home opener. There will be a special presentation before the game to reveal the 2013 NL East championship banner out in LF but will there be an extra special presentation to take place? Let's hope so.

Apr. 11-13 - Washington Nationals (3 games)

Another chance to reinforce the message that the Braves will send to the Nationals in Washington.

May 26-27 - Boston Red Sox (2 games)
May 28-29 - @ Boston Red Sox (2 games)

Braves return to Interleague play in 2014 with their rivalry series taking place against the Red Sox. It marks a return to a traditional rivalry instead of the manufactured rival of the Blue Jays that has been forced on the Braves the last few years.

Jun. 24-26 - @ Houston Astros (3 games)

The NL East matches up with the AL West in 2014 and that includes the Braves returning to Houston for the first time since the opening week of the 2012 season. The Braves will also have a great chance of seeing Brett Olberholtzer who was one of the key pieces in the Michael Bourn trade of 2011. Olberholtzer was quite impressive for the Astros this season.

Other AL West matchups for the Braves in 2014 include:

Jun. 3-4 - Seattle Mariners (2 games)
Jun. 13-15 - Los Angeles Angels (3 games)
Aug. 4-5 - @ Seattle Mariners (2 games)
Aug. 15-17 - Oakland Athletics (3 games)
Sept. 12-14 - @ Texas Rangers (3 games)

In the last couple of years the Braves having homestands of 9 games have been been far and few between.

2012 - Jun. 8-17 - 9 Games (TOR, NYY, BAL)
2012 - Jun. 26-Jul. 5 - 10 Games (ARI, WAS, CHC)
2012 - Jul. 27-Aug. 5 - 10 Games (PHI, MIA, HOU)
2013 - Aug. 9-18 - 9 Games (MIA, PHI, WAS)
2013 - Aug. 27-Sept. 4 - 9 Games (CLE, MIA, NYM)

Just 5 such homestands in the last 2 years. In 2014 the Braves get 5 such homestands.

May 2-11 - 9 Games (SF, STL, CHC)
May 19-27 - 9 Games (MIL, COL, BOS)
Jul. 18-Jul. 28 - 11 Games (PHI, MIA, SD) - First 11 games after the ASG break.
Aug. 8-17 - 10 Games (WAS, LAD, OAK)
Sept. 15-25 - 10 Games (WAS, NYM, PIT)

Sept. 26-28 - @ Philadelphia Phillies (3 games)

The Braves wrap up the 2014 regular season in Philadelphia

Braves Off-Season Outlook

So the Atlanta Braves season came crashing to an end after losing their NLDS series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 4 games. Where do the Braves go this off-season? What moves will they make?

Well it's almost certain that Brian McCann has suited up for the Braves for the last time baring he takes some sort of a major hometown discount to stay in Atlanta.

I could see the Braves bringing back Tim Hudson on a 1 year deal worth around $7M. Everything else I really don't have a feel for. Here's how the Braves current roster stacks.

FREE AGENTS
P Luis Ayala
P Scott Downs
P Freddy Garcia
P Tim Hudson
P Kameron Loe
P Paul Maholm
P Eric O'Flaherty
C Brian McCann
OF Reed Johnson - $1.6M club option with a $150K buyout

PRE-ARBITRATION
P David Carpenter - ARB 2015 - FA 2018
P Mike Minor - ARB 2015 - FA 2018
P Luis Avilan - ARB 2015 - FA 2018
OF Jose Constanza - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
C Evan Gattis - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
P Cory Gearrin - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
INF Tyler Pastornicky - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
SS Andrelton Simmons - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
P Julio Teheran - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
P Anthony Varvaro - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
P Alex Wood - ARB 2016 - FA 2019
C Christian Bethancourt - ARB 2017 - FA 2020
OF Todd Cunningham - ARB 2017 - FA 2020
2B Phil Gosselin - ARB 2017 - FA 2020
P David Hale - ARB 2017 - FA 2020
1B/OF Joey Terdoslavich - ARB 2017 - FA 2020

ARBITRATION ELIGIBLE
UT Blake DeWitt - FA 2016
OF Jason Heyward - FA 2016
INF Paul Janish - FA 2016
P Kris Medlen - FA 2016
P Jonny Venters - FA 2016
P Brandon Beachy - FA 2017
1B Freddie Freeman - FA 2017
3B Chris Johnson - FA 2017
UT Elliot Johnson - FA 2017
P Craig Kimbrel - FA 2017
P Cristhian Martinez - FA 2017
INF Ramiro Pena - FA 2017
OF Jordan Schafer - FA 2017
P Jordan Walden - FA 2017

SIGNED DEALS
C Gerald Laird - $1.5M 2014 - FA 2015
2B Dan Uggla - $13M 2014 - $13M 2015 - FA 2016
OF Justin Upton - $14.25M 2014 - $14.5M 2015 - FA 2016
OF B.J. Upton - $13.45M 2014 - $14.45M 2015 - $15.45M 2016 - $16.45M 2017 - FA 2018

Ryan Braun Is A Cheater And Liar

On Monday Major League Baseball dropped the hammer on Ryan Braun, suspending him without pay for the rest of the 2013 season, for violating MLB's "Basic Agreement and it's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program."

Braun had long denied ever using PED's, but on Monday admitted to "mistakes". He would not go into detail on exactly what those "mistakes" were, and until he does, we won't fully know exactly what drugs he took and how much and how long he used these drugs.

But even without knowing the answer to those questions we do know that Ryan Braun is a cheater and a liar. This hurts me greatly as a baseball fan and a fan of Ryan Braun. I have defended Braun to no end and now learn that Braun really doesn't care about baseball fans like myself. He seems to think we're all gullible but we're not.

Now I just wish Ryan Braun would go away, never to resurface ever again in baseball. But I know that won't be the case. Come spring training in 2014, Ryan Braun will be back in a baseball uniform, back on a field, and back in the spotlight.

I can't speak for others, but I can tell you that I am no longer a fan of Ryan Braun and will root hard against him having any sort of success in MLB moving forward. I wish him nothing but the worst on field performance possible because that is what he deserves for being the cheater and liar that he is.

2013 SEC Predictions

So who's going to win the SEC in 2013? Who will be playing in Atlanta come December? I don't know. I'm not Miss Cleo but will give my best guess at what will happen in the SEC this season when it kicks off on Thursday, August 29th with South Carolina playing host to North Carolina and Ole Miss traveling to Nashville to face Vanderbilt.

I went through and picked the winner of each game to the best of my ability and the results were surprising in a few games. But overall I think I nailed it. Texas A&M against South Carolina in Atlanta for the right to go to the BCS National Championship Game.

SEC EAST
1. South Carolina 7-1 (11-1)
2. Florida 6-2 (8-4)
3. Georgia 6-2 (9-3)
4. Vanderbilt 4-4 (8-4)
5. Tennessee 3-5 (6-6)
6. Kentucky 1-7 (4-8)
7. Missouri 1-7 (5-7)

SEC WEST
1. Texas A&M 7-1 (11-1)
2. Alabama 7-1 (11-1)
3. LSU 6-2 (10-2)
4. Mississippi State 3-5 (6-6)
5. Auburn 2-6 (6-6)
6. Ole Miss 2-6 (5-7)
7. Arkansas 1-7 (4-8)

The top 5 games that will shape the SEC season.

1. Alabama at Texas A&M - September 14th - The winner has the inside track to Atlanta and controls their own destiny. Last year the Aggies shocked the nation by going into Tuscaloosa and pulling off the improbable upset, 29-24, in their first year in the SEC. The Tide will be thinking payback this time around and having a week off before the game really helps their chances to pull off the upset in College Station.

2. South Carolina at Georgia - September 7th - The winner has the inside track to Atlanta and controls their own destiny. In 2011 in Athens, South Carolina won a wild game 45-42. Last year at home South Carolina easily dismantled Georgia to the tune of 35-7. Georgia is thinking payback this year.

3. LSU at Georgia - September 28th - In the SEC Championship Game in 2011, LSU humiliated Georgia 42-10. This is Georgia's first chance to get back at LSU since then and with the game being in Athens, Georgia has the advantage.

4. Georgia vs. Florida in Jacksonville, FL. - November 2nd - Georgia could be undefeated going into this game and nothing would make Florida fans happier than to see the Gators take down the Bulldogs and end their hopes of an undefeated season.

5. LSU at Alabama - November 9th - If Alabama loses to Texas A&M on September 14th, this game could decide the Tide's fate in having any slim chance of repeating as SEC champs and nothing would make LSU happier than to get revenge by handing the Tide a crushing 2nd SEC defeat and all but ending their season.

Craig Kimbrel Will Be Fine

If you're sitting there waiting for the 2012 version on Craig Kimbrel to show up, I've got bad news for you, it's not happening anytime soon. The season that Kimbrel had in 2012 was one for the ages and one that will never be duplicated again. But we should at least expect him to the be Craig Kimbrel of 2011 right?

But I do have good news about the 2013 version of Craig Kimbrel. He's not been as bad as things seem right now in light of his third blown save of the season, all coming in his last five appearances.

There's a lot of speculation that Kimbrel has suffered a drop in velocity and that's the reason he is getting hit this season. That's simply a myth. Kimbrel's average fastball velocity this season is 96.0. In 2012 it was 96.8. So mere percentage points separates Kimbrel's velocity the last two seasons.

Taking it back even further and we see that Kimbrel's average fastball velocity was 95.4 and 96.2 in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

The next question you ask yourself, "Is Kimbrel still getting the same movement on his fastball this season?", and the answer is yes.

In fact Kimbrel is generating more movement on his fastball this season than he did last season. He has a horizontal movement this season of -5.7 compared to -5.6 last season.

What that means is that his fastball from his release point is moving -5.7 inches to the left on a horizontal plane. On a vertical plane we see that Kimbrel's fastball moves 7.3 inches down from his release point over 7.0 last season.

So when looking at velocity and movement Craig Kimbrel is the same pitcher he has always been. So why is he getting hit more this season than he did in 2011 or 2012? It's because he is using his fastball more this season than he has in his career.

But it's not just that he's throwing his fastball more. It's the situations in which he is using his fastball move. According to Brooks Baseball, Kimbrel is throwing his fastball when ahead in the count to left-handed hitters 55 percent of the time this season up from 49 percent in 2012.

Against right-handed batter's it's even worse with him throwing his fastball 74 percent of the time when ahead in the count compared to just 62 percent in 2012. That's a huge difference. When ahead in the count to right-handed batters Kimbrel has all but abandoned his curveball, leading to hitters sitting dead red and not missing it.

Any major league hitter will tell you if you see the fastball enough from a pitcher, sooner or later, you'll time it. In order for Kimbrel to get back on track he must start throwing his curveball more to regain the advantage he had with his fastball which is completely overpowering when hitters don't know which pitch is coming.

Craig Kimbrel is a smart guy. He will eventually figure out that he needs to throw his curveball more in order to get back to dominating hitters. Until then we'll just have to deal with him struggling, especially against right-handed hitters who have the advantage of knowing a fastball is coming a whopping 84 percent of the time.

Braves Hit The Road Again

The Atlanta Braves hit the road again for a 10-game, 3-city road trip starting on Monday in Cincinnati. They'll play 3 in Cincinnati, 4 in San Francisco and 3 in Arizona. The Braves are 9-7 on the road this season.

The Braves welcome back 6-time All-Star catcher Brian McCann on Monday. McCann had Labrum surgery on his right shoulder last October. In 7 rehab games spread across Class-A Rome and Triple-A Gwinnett, McCann went 8-for-23 with a double, 4 homeruns and 9 RBIs. McCann's got great numbers in Cincinnati at Great American Ball Park, having hit .333 in his career there with 10 homeruns. Against Monday's starter Bronson Arroyo, McCann is 9-for-18 with 4 homeruns.

Getting McCann back will be huge for a Braves team that has struggled in recent weeks after starting the season 12-1. The Braves ended an up and down 6-game home stand by going 3-3 including Sunday's 9-4 victory over the New York Mets. The Braves have had their share of struggles against the Cincinnati Reds since 2007, going just 14-25 and just 6-17 at Great American Ball Park.

The Braves are just 6-11 in their last 17 games after starting the season 12-1. But despite their struggles they are still in 1st place in the NL East thanks in large part to the struggles of their biggest challenger, the Washington Nationals.

Here are the Braves next 10 games.

GAME 1 - MONDAY - MAY 6TH - @ REDS - 7:10 PM - SPSO, ESPN

Paul Maholm (3-3, 3.08)  vs. Bronson Arroyo (2-3, 3.95)

GAME 2 - TUESDAY - MAY 7TH - @ REDS - 7:10 PM - SPSO, MLBN

Kris Medlen (1-4, 3.38) vs. Homer Bailey (1-3, 3.38)

GAME 3 - WEDNESDAY - MAY 8TH - @ REDS - 12:35 PM - SPSO, MLBN

Mike Minor (3-2, 3.26) vs. Mike Leake (2-1, 4.15)

GAME 1 - THURSDAY - MAY 9TH - @ GIANTS - 10:15 PM - FSS, MLBN

Julio Teheran (1-0, 5.08) vs. Ryan Vogelsong (1-2, 7.20)

GAME 2 - FRIDAY - MAY 10TH - @ GIANTS - 10:15 PM - FSS

Tim Hudson (4-1, 3.83) vs. Matt Cain (1-2, 5.57)

GAME 3 - SATURDAY - MAY 11TH - @ GIANTS - 4:05 PM - FSS, MLBN

Paul Maholm (4-3, 3.09) vs. Madison Bumgarner (3-1, 2.31) 

GAME 4 - SUNDAY - MAY 12TH - @ GIANTS - 4:05 PM - FSS

Kris Medlen (1-4, 3.25) vs. Tim Lincecum (2-2, 4.75)

GAME 1 - MONDAY - MAY 13TH - @ DIAMONDBACKS - 9:40 PM - SPSO

Mike Minor (4-2, 2.96) vs. Wade Miley (3-1, 2.93)

GAME 2 - TUESDAY - MAY 14TH - @ DIAMONDBACKS - 9:40 PM - SPSO

Julio Teheran (1-0, 5.08) vs. Patrick Corbin (4-0, 1.80)

GAME 3 - WEDNESDAY - MAY 15TH - @ DIAMONDBACKS - 3:40 PM - SPSO

Tim Hudson (4-1, 3.83) vs. Ian Kennedy (1-3, 5.19)