Stats

Jered Weaver's Final Line: 9 IP 7 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 10 K 1 GB/FB Ratio

Jered Weaver continued his dominant 2011 campaign with his second consecutive complete game and his first shutout of the season against the struggling Oakland A's lineup. Weaver lowered his ERA to 0.99, and he has struck out 49 batters in 45.2 innings this season.

The Atlanta Braves are just under .500 going into play on April 25, playing below the expectations of the fans in Atlanta. The Braves have done some things to surprise people and not done some things that were expected of them. This is a list of what the Braves have done well, and not so well, through 23 games in the 2011 season.

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In his first two years in the Major Leagues, Boston Red Sox OF Jacoby Ellsbury hasn’t been a guy who has flashed much power. In 2008 and 2009, Ellsbury hit a combined 17 home runs and had an ISO (isolated power) of .114 each season.

After an abysmal 2010 campaign, Nate McLouth was on the hot seat in the Atlanta Braves clubhouse.

The season is already an eighth of the way over, the Phillies are 14-6 and leading the NL East by 1.5 games over the Florida Marlins. Their record is also good for a tie with the Colorado Rockies for the best record in all of baseball.

One of the biggest question marks in the Atlanta Braves lineup before the 2011 season involved who would fill the revolving door position at first base. It was quickly decided that rookie Freddie Freeman would take over at first, but many Braves fans were unsure how the highly touted prospect would fair through an entire season.

This week was an eventful one for the Milwaukee Brewers, with several events of interest that Brewers fans took pride in this week. From the Brewers winning two of three games from the Phillies, especially game two against Roy Halladay, a 9-0 shutout, to Ryan Braun's monster, historic new contract, Brewers fans had plenty to talk about as their team has been battling in a very competitive NL Central, with no team more than 3 games back. 

Surprisingly the Indians are seventh in baseball in ERA, led by the strong performance of the starting rotation. Arguably Josh Tomlin has been the Indians' most consistent pitcher this season, behind Justin Masterson, after throwing another quality start against the Royals last night. His ERA currently sits at 2.33, and his WHIP sits at a stunning 0.89.

The A's are off to a decent start to the 2011 season, going 9-8 in their first 17 games. They currently lead baseball in ERA and are fourth in pitching WAR because of the strong performances of the starting rotation, led by Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill.

Tony La Russa has gotten away with using Ryan Franklin as the Cardinals' closer for two years, and today should be the day he makes a change that is two years overdue. Franklin is nothing more than a replacement level pitcher who has benefited from high strand rate (85.7 percent in 2009), low BABIP (.249 in 2009 and .267 in 2010), and home run-to-fly ball ratios (3.2 percent in 2009 and 8.2 percent in 2010) during his reign as closer.