A Matter of SunTrust

(Music Pun #6. And as an added bonus, I didn't even go for in-his-prime Billy Joel!)

So. First place Braves. And, like, WAY OUT IN FIRST Atlanta Braves. So at least that's contributing to the otherwise predictable nature of this season.

It's the kind of quirky, ragtag-type team that's enough to get the crowd on its side. They've got a nice platoon at catcher with Kurt Suzuki and Tyler Flowers both doing well. They have Charlie Culberson and his surprisingly great bench material waiting in the wings. They have a really nice bullpen, headed up by ace closer Arodys Vizcaino. And, in the momentary absence of staff ace Julio Teheran, they have Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb throwing like hell. And...Brandon McCarthy, Mike Soroka and Anibal Sanchez are ALSO throwing like hell. It's literally the whole rotation. It's glorious.

The best part of this team is the fact that they have a designated leader in Freddie Freeman, as well as the fact that he doesn't have to do all of the work. Sure, Freeman might get an MVP out of it, but Nick Markakis is hitting like it's 2007, Ozzie Albies is making them forget about Andrelton Simmons, Dansby Swanson has figured out how to hit at the major league level, and Ryan Flaherty has made up for the loss of a substantial starter at third.

And they're a few games ahead of the Nationals and Phillies, to the point where they could roll for a while, even if they're far from NL champions quite yet. They need to shore up the extra outfield spot now that Acuna's on the DL, and think about if they need to platoon Flaherty with a certain SS/3B free agent/trade target. They should be in position to take the division, but they shouldn't get too cocky.

Coming Tomorrow- His team's terrible and he's on the DL. And somehow it gets worse.