The Braves are headed to the World Series!
Not in real life, or at least not yet, but the folks at Sony who make the baseball sim "MLB 11 The Show," say the Braves and Red Sox have the strongest franchises.
The Braves, who are ranked second behind the Red Sox in the video game’s franchise mode, may need to trade some young talent to fill in some Major League holes, particularly at first base, shortstop and closer.
The Braves have super-solid starting pitching. Tim Hudson is the ace of the virtual staff, followed closely by Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens.
The bullpen looks good too, but sophomore southpaw Jonny Venters is designated as closer and his stats are not as good as the 9th-inning guys on other teams.
Offense should not be a problem. Jason Heyward is projected to have a monster season crushing right-handed pitches. And new second baseman Dan Uggla joins a host of other dangerous hitters -- Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and Martin Prado.
Chipper, in a quick simulated season, suffered a season-ending injury in May. Let’s hope Sony got that one completely wrong.
The team’s weakness is defense, among the worst in baseball according to Sony developers.
Here’s the top 10 franchises according to "MLB 11 The Show:"
1. Boston Red Sox
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Colorado Rockies
5. New York Yankees
6. Texas Rangers
7. Cincinnati Reds
8. Toronto Blue Jays
9. New York Mets
10. Philadelphia Phillies
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