| Doug Benton. 7th June, 2005 - 4:33 pm
 While the Braves go into their three game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday, some wonder if this is the beginning of the end. Yes the Braves are 30-26 and have lost five of their last seven games, but it is not time to panic. While the expectations are greater this year compared to those of a year ago, both seasons do have some comparisons. Last year, the team battled early slumps and key injuries to bounce back as the weather heated up.
The same could happen this year as the Braves go after their unprecedented 14th division title in a row.
As many could have predicted before the season, the outfield has been a trouble area. Raul Mondesi has already been shipped out of town and none of the other outfielders have really went off with the exception of Andrew Jones in the past month. However, Ryan Langerhas and Kelly Johnson have brought an energy that was sorely missed when Charles Thomas left during the winter. Brian Jordan also has started to heat up, which gives the Braves a 3-man cycle in the corner outfield positions.
Injuries have also been key to recent struggles as Mike Hampton and John Thomson are currently on the DL with Chipper Jones put on the DL yesterday. Hampton and Thomson have taken their early success to the bench and forced Bobby Cox to have a quicker call to an already depleted bullpen. The bullpen?s struggles can be summed up by Dan Kolb, who has struggled all year, which led Cox to take his closer?s role and never putting him in a set position since. Jones on the other hand was the hottest bat on the team, which will make it even tougher for the team to score runs if he is out for an extended time. However, Jones battled injuries in the first half last year and went on to have a great second half.
While all of the above problems look to have some solutions, Rafael Furcal will be the determining factor for the success of this year?s squad. When Furcal gets on base and causes havoc for the opposition, the entire team feeds off of it and the offense begins to produce. The talent is there to be a good offensive, but it must start with Furcal. If he can, the other bats will heat up, which will take pressure off of the starting pitchers and save the bullpen for the most crucial situations. This alone will be a step in the right direction toward a deep run in October.
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