Big Stretch Ahead For Los Bravos

The situation is not critical... Yet.

But if the Braves decide to go into a serious funk, it could spell trouble. With six road games in a row versus the Mets and Phillies, it could easily be said this is the most important stretch of the season so far.

The Braves have spent most of the season muddling around .500. A quick start that was even more quickly erased by a troubling losing streak has transformed early optimism into concern.

I for one think this Braves team is for real, and has a good chance of not only winning the East (quickly becoming the least), but also competing for the wildcard spot.

The Braves--who have been playing anything but good baseball of late--have managed to stay within two games of the preseason favorite Phillies. One thing that has become clear is that each team in the East has serious holes.

In order to start off strong, the Braves can't simply rely on the two big studs at the top of their rotation. For this weekend to be a success the Braves need the JoJo Reyes who held the Astros scoreless in five, not the one who imploded in the sixth. They need the Javier Vazquez who is among the league leaders in K's, not the Vazquez with the penchant for giving up the untimely home run. They need the Kawakami... on second thought, maybe they don't need Kawakami at all.

If the Braves can take two of three this weekend, they'll ride a five-of-six streak into the new Shea, where Lowe and Jurrjens would both be scheduled to start and hopefully Chipper will pick up where he left off.

Here is hoping the Braves can stay above water, and maybe even swim, because a bad week could be the beginning of a long summer.