Philadelphia may legitimately have the greatest rotation in the history of baseball. The law of averages says probably not, but the eye test certainly screams yes.
However, the Atlanta Braves have something that Philadelphia simply does not: a healthy, complete team. With injuries and key weaknesses spreading across their team, the Phillies look to be nothing more than paper champions.
Atlanta and Philadelphia both boast plus pitching staffs. While Philly's is obviously the more experienced and successful, Atlanta's rotation is one of the best in baseball.
With Hudson, Jurjjens and Hanson all having All-Star capabilities, and Derek Lowe pitching like a Cy Young candidate at the end of last year, the edge is in Philadelphia's favor—but not by much.
The real difference lies in the projected lineups for each team. On top of the Phillies' lineup being extremely lefty-heavy, their most consistently dangerous hitter (Chase Utley) is in danger of missing a seemingly significant amount of the season. Therefore, the Phillies must plan on leaning even more heavily on Ryan Howard.
While this would seem to be just fine, Howard is not the lock that Utley is where batting average and contact numbers are concerned. On top of the Utley situation, Dominic Brown, a prospect the Phillies needed to step up this year in a big way, is hurt and may be out for a while.
Without the money to sign a significant fill-in for either of these players, the Phillies must resort to holding their collective breath and hoping for the best. Meanwhile, the Braves boast the more balanced, productive lineup with prospects for very big things.
The respective bullpens for each club don't ease any of the unrest in the City of Brotherly Love. While Brad Lidge pitched well to end last season, Craig Kimbrel is a young flamethrower that thrived in his first postseason experience and seems to be finding his stride this spring. With Johnny Venters in front of him and a few strategic veteran additions over the offseason, the Braves bullpen seems both solid and talented.
All of this analysis of the two teams can only add up to one thing: while the Phillies have the big names, the Braves have some great, young players.
Obviously, Atlanta is set up much more beneficially as far as the future is concerned. However, if one looks carefully at how this season is shaping up, Atlanta is the better team right now.
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