September

The Braves find themselves in a very inconvenient position as they enter September. Realistically, there's next to no chance that they can make the playoffs. (Baseball Prospectus's Playoff Odds Reports give them a less than 4% chance.) On the other hand, they're only four games out of the wild card, and this is not a team used to giving up, so they're not likely to concede anything - and I don't know that they should.

So, what will we see when the rosters expand? Not too much, I think. It's already been announced that Kyle Davies will be activated. I'd expect a couple more pitchers to be added off the DL - Stockman, Ramirez, Thomson, and Baez. Lerew, Moylan, and Ascanio are the only other pitchers on the 40 man roster right now.

Brayan Pena will probably get called up, and may even be the primary backup catcher. Don't expect him (or Pratt) to see much action, though, as Cox seems determined to give McCann a shot at the batting title.

Brian Jordan seems a lock to be activated from the DL, but is unlikely to do much more than pinch hit, considering how hot LaRoche has been since the All-Star break. Aybar will probably come off the DL as well.

The biggest addition will probably be Scott Thorman. At the least, he'll give Bobby Cox a legitimate bat on the bench. Maybe that will mean the end of Lil' Tony's role as "first pinch-hitter". I know he hit a home run the other day, but you just know that's going to be the offensive highlight for his career.