Somehow, I Saw This Happening

27 games in, and the Braves are killing me. And by the Braves, I mean the pen.

Chipper Jones is a triple crown threat; Yunel Escobar has lived up to expectations; McCann and Francour have been solid again; Tex is coming around. Mark Kotsay has been a pleasant surprise, and Matt Diaz and Blanco have been good enough in left. Hudson, Smoltz and Glavine have been good when healthy and Jair Jurrjens has proven worthy of the price the Braves paid for him.

And the pen still sucks. Soriano and Moylan out is bad enough. Hopefully Smoltz will help-he's going back to the pen full-time when he gets off the DL. But these guys are killing the Braves right now. The team saves leader has two. Yes, you read that right. Two saves. And last week, they blew a series with the Nats all by themselves.

It's going to be a long, hard slog into third place-and that's if the Marlins don't get there first.