It's now 1993, there are no Colorado Rockies and no Florida Marlins, while in a couple years there also won't be no Arizona Diamondbacks & Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. My goal is to see if I can get Atlanta a few more titles than their lone 1995 title during an impressive straight 14 division titles.
We lost a 1991 World Series rematch with the Minnesota Twins, during the 1992 Fall Classic, we dedicated our off-season by trading for ace Greg Maddux (whose contract was actually extended by the Chicago Cubs), while signing first baseman Fred McGriff & starting pitcher Bob Tewksbury. Chipper Jones progressed quicker than expected last season, and my Braves decided to depart with Terry Pendleton early, by trading him for reliever Roger McDowell.
Prior to the season, we were predicted to win the division a few games over the Houston Astros, while our 1992 NLCS counterparts, the Montreal Expos, are predicted to win their division over the Pittsburgh Pirates, who by the way still have Barry Bonds (apparently he still owns a soul in this game).
So the end of April, the Atlanta Braves are where they expected to be, first place with a 13-4 record, 2 games up on the Cincinnati Reds (the same team that finished 2nd, last season). Montreal is 12-5 in 1st place in the N.L. East.
The league's biggest surprise might be the Baltimore Orioles, who went a perfect 18-0!
The Orioles were predicted to do well, 2nd place for 95 wins, but to lose the division to the Toronto Blue Jays; Toronto is currently in third with a 9-6 record (7.5 games out). Chris Hoiles, meanwhile is tops on most of the A.L. charts... Leading the league with 8 HR, 20 RBI & 20 runs, plus tops in On-Base Pct, Slugging, OPS & Wars Above Replacement (1.9)
The O's also have got it done through pitching, led by Mike Mussina (2-0, 0.78 ERA, 0.70 WHIP & 14 K in 23 IP) & Ben McDonald (3-0, 1.27 ERA, 1.17 WHIP & 18 K in 28.1 IP), while Tim Belcher (2-0, 3.65 ERA), Jose Mesa (2-0, 2.92) & Arthur Lee Rhodes (1-0, 2.45 ERA) have not been too shabby as well; Steve Farr (1.42 ERA) currently leads A.L with 7 Saves.
The California Angels lead the A.L. West with a 11-7 record, and the new additions. Wally Joyner returned after one-year away in Kansas City, while they added Bobby Bonilla, Gregg Jefferies, Charlie Leibrandt & Doug Jones to go along with 2nd-year Tim Salmon & rookie Jim Edmonds.
The team predicted to win the A.L. West, the Texas Rangers have been a bit sluggish... That's not the case for free agent Tom Candiotti (3-0, 0.56 ERA, 25 K, 1.02 WHIP & 1.2 WAR in 32.1 innings) who has been excellent.
Now over to the Braves...
The Atlanta offensive trio of Ron Gant, Fred McGriff & Dave Justice are on most of the offensive leaders boards....
- Gant leads the N.L. in HR (7), OPS (1.235) & OBP (.514), while 2nd in Batting Average (.410) & WAR (1.4).
- McGriff leads the N.L. with 23 RBI, while 2nd in .723 SLG, 1.139 WHIP, Extra Base Hits (11) & Total Bases (47).
- Justice is batting .323, 3 HR & 14 RBI, 12 BB in 17 games, that includes a 1.1 WAR.
The Braves rotation has not got rolling yet, but do have Steve Avery leading the way at 3-0, 2.03 ERA with 28 K / 5 BB, 0.94 WHIP, while leading the N.L. pitchers with a 1.3 WAR. John Smoltz (6.35 ERA) & Tom Glavine (8.31 ERA) have been rocked, while Greg Maddux (2-0, 3.18 ERA) & Bob Tewksbury (1-1, 3.05 ERA) have been respectable.
Mike Stanton leads the Braves with 7 Saves, while not allowing a run in 7.2 IP (8 K).
I believe that Atlanta will be unstoppable once Smoltz & Glavine get going, it's going to be hard to doubt such a talented rotation that has Tewksbury as their #5 starter.
That does it for the April report of the current 1993 season.
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