The Cavalry is Coming

(Note: there will be no game-by-game preview of this series, though it's the biggest one of the year. The reason? Well, i've done two such series previews this season and the Braves have been swept in both of them. I'm not saying that my blogging affects the outcomes of games, but is it worth the risk? I don't think so. Enjoy the preview-less blog!)

After he couldn't even DH in the Toronto series, the thinking among most of the media and Braves fans was that Chipper Jones would be placed on the DL today. However, news coming from Turner Field is that Jones may be in the lineup tonight after he said he was able to run at "80-85%" (which is approximately 10-15% faster than Brian McCann at full speed).

I'm not sure how safe it could be for Chipper to play in this series but I think it says a ton about the man as a competitor. In the early years of his career, many Braves fans bashed Jones' "hustle", "fire", and all those other cheap cliches that grumpy old men use to remind everyone that they think the game and players were better "back in the day." The truth is those slights on Chipper were always unfounded. It became obvious that he was clutch when he dominated every big game down the stretch in September, '99. It became obvious that he was selfless when he restructured his contract after the Hudson trade so the Braves could sign Tim long-term. And it has become obvious over the last few seasons that he's as tough as they come.

Jones has played hurt for basically the last 6 years. According to Bobby, this quad injury has been on and off for a couple years and will probably not go away. Regardless of whether or not he actually does play tonight (something that Bobby will have the last word on), Chipper has made it obvious that he wants nothing for himself this season other than to win. This isn't padding stats. He's not going to be able to keep his avg. hovering around .400 by playing hurt, however, he will give the Braves a chance to win consistently.

While the third baseman's return is still up in the air, it's a sure thing that Mark Kotsay will be back tonight. I never thought a Mark Kotsay injury would hurt (no pun intended) as bad as it did, but the Braves are 14-20 since they lost their CF. Before his injury, Kotsay was hitting .294 overall, and .321, 3 HR, 14 RBI in his last 25 games. Think the Braves could've used that kind of production from an outfielder over the past month?

The Phillies series gives the Braves a 2nd chance at the jump into the top of the NL East that they missed out on in these two teams' previous meeting. Last time, it was the biggest series of the season until now. Last time, the Braves did everything they could to lose. This time, it's a struggling Philadelphia team that comes into the Ted. This time, the Braves must make the statement that they failed to three weeks ago.