The colossal collapse of September last season seems to be in the rearview mirror for the Atlanta Braves. After a sluggish start in their opening series against the New York Mets, the Braves are now 10-6 for the season, two games behind division leader Washington. The Braves are 8-2 in their last 10 games.

The Braves are second in the league in runs scored and sixth in the league in batting average.

With a lineup mixed with older veterans (Chipper Jones, Dan Uggla, Brian McCann) and young sluggers (Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman), The Braves seem to have a balance that could be in the hunt come October.

With the early season injuries and struggles of the national league east favorite Philadelphia Phillies, the Braves could very well win the division, or at least finish with a record worthy of a wildcard spot.

However, we are only a tenth of the way into the season with a lot of baseball still to be played.

The Braves will need to continue to get high run production from Heyward, Freeman, Uggla, and McCann in order stay in contention. They will also need the starting pitching to remain steady and adequate throughout the duration of the season to prevent an implosion reminiscent of last season.

Atlanta will be getting veteran ace Tim Hudson back from injury soon, so that should help their rotation which includes Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens, Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy, and Randall Delgado.

The relief pitching seems to be pretty solid with Jonny Venters, Eric O’Flaherty, Kris Medlen and closer Craig Kimbrel.

Its still too early to say that the Braves can make the playoffs this season, but early indications and a hint of spring optimism lead me to believe that there is a good chance that we’ll be seeing Atlanta playing in October.

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