Atlanta Suffers First Major Hiccup of '07

The Phillies completed a three game weekend sweep of the Atlanta Braves today. Ryan Howard, fresh off the DL for the weekend series, has declared himself 100% and proved it today with two 2-run homers.

For much of this year observers have been wondering whether Howard's slow start was going to continue and make last year's monster year at the plant an aberration. Perception tied into much of the feeling on Howard's start due to the rough April the Phillies as a whole had. While Howard's OPS+ versus other NL first basemen has been slightly below average (95+) his start hasn't been any worse than Gary Sheffield's versus other right fielder's (60+). Sheffield is given the benefit of the doubt that Howard isn't due to a 20-year track record in the majors.

Recently Atlanta has been reeling a little bit. The loss of reliever Mike Gonzalez for the season and this weekend's sweep at the hands of a division rival have Atlanta going through it's first extended tough spell of the season. With a 13-13 record in May the Braves look to close the month out strongly against the Brewers in Milwaukee starting tomorrow.