The Braves wasted week one of their six-week playoff push. They failed to take advantage of the San Diego Padres at home, losing two out of three to the doormat of the N.L. West. They followed up that lackluster performance with a disappointing showing against the Phillies, again losing two out of three. If the Rockies weren’t on a five game losing streak, the Braves’ playoff hopes would be in the toilet. As is stands now though, their playoff hopes remain alive…barely.

The Braves are tied with the Marlins only 3.5 games back in the Wild Card behind the Rockies and Giants. Unfortunately, the Braves have no control over what happens in the N.L. West, but they can put some distance between themselves and the Marlins in four game series starting today.

Tim Hudson was supposed to start today for the Braves, but his turn was pushed back to Tuesday to avoid having to make a move on their 25-man roster with injuries to Adam LaRoche and Ryan Church leaving them with an already short bench. Instead Kenshin Kawakami will pitch today against Josh Johnson (13-3, 3.04 ERA). Kawakami seems to elevate his game against top pitchers, so hopefully he’ll do the same tonight.

With the arrival of September 1 tomorrow comes expanded rosters. The Braves will likely add an outfielder (Gregor Blanco or Brandon Jones are likely choices), an infielder (Brooks Conrad), a catcher (Clint Sammons), and a pitcher (Luis Valdez). This does not include the addition of Tim Hudson. Unfortunately, Jason Heyward has been dealing with a heel injury that will likely keep him out of Atlanta’s plans for September.

The Braves may go with a six man rotation for a while to give their starters some extra rest, but if the Braves fall out of contention I would not be surprised if they shut Tommy Hanson down for the rest of the season. Hanson has thrown 155 innings this season (66.1 at AAA Gwinnett and 88.2 with Atlanta). That total is 17 innings more than he has pitched in any previous professional season. 138 innings in 2008 and 133 in 2007 were his previous high workloads. Couple the higher workload with the fact that Hanson also pitched 28.2 innings in the Arizona Fall League during the off-season and you can understand why the Braves would want to be protective of their future star.

Go Braves! Filet the Fish!