Welcome back middle American seam-heads, now let's whip around the Bible Belt as the first month of Major League Baseball is in the books. The divisions are starting to take shape and it's go time for the teams in Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati.
The Atlanta Braves moved lefty reliver Ian Thomas to Triple-A Gwinnett and brought up utility man Pedro Ciriaco. 3B Chris Johnson is out about 6-8 weeks, and Ciriaco will add depth along with Alberto Callaspo and Phil Gosselin. Mike Minor was moved to the 60 day DL recently, and looks like he is not likely to pitch in the big leagues any time soon.
With the Braves sitting back in third place, Atlanta knows they need better starting pitching. So, in comes newly acquired Mike Foltynewicz. Folty was added in the Evan Gattis deal this winter from the Astros. He went 5 innings with 3ks and grabbed his first win versus Cincinnati on Friday. Trevor Cahill is in the bullpen, for now, but is still a disaster.
A home stand versus Philly and a road trip to D.C. makes for a pivotal week for the Braves. Divisional play is always big, but after Atlanta's collapse versus Washington last week, they'll need to step up in a big way. Atlanta held a 9-1 lead on the Washington Nationals Tuesday night, only to lose it 13-12 as Dan Uggla walloped a three run bomb in the ninth.
The St. Louis Cardinals got word that ace starter Adam Wainwright is done for 2015 with an Achilles injury. The Cardinals will definitely be in the market for a starter by late July, after Wainwright was injured on a strange play as he was just leaving the batter's box. This started, once again, the great debate of DH or no DH.
Max Scherzer shot his mouth off in favor of making the DH legal in all of MLB. He's been in Washington for one month, after years in the AL. Pipe down Scherzer, to paraphrase the great Lynyrd Skynyrd a 'NL fan don't need you around anyhow'!
The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds are neck-and-neck with the Pittsburgh Pirates, right behind St. Louis. The beginning of the week, sees a Cubs/Cardinals showdown, along with Reds/Pirates. It doesn't get any bigger or better. Those series will start a summer-long jockeying that should make for a classic race.
Come weekend, the Cubs will face a Milwaukee Brewers team that just fired skipper Ron Roenicke. While they adjust, the Cubbies can take advantage as the Cardinals and Pirates do battle. While the Cubs are out of town, the Reds will take the field in the Windy City against the Chicago Whitesox. Chapman vs. Abreu should be epic!