ATL AM: Atlanta Sports News 5/13

This picture adequately sums up Atlanta’s experience in the Bay this weekend. We all know Uggla isn’t a great defender… but hey, he has amazing forearms right?

Good morning, everyone. In today’s links, we have some troubling Braves pieces, some information to make you feel better with the Falcons wide receivers, and, if you’re a Georgia Tech baseball fan, a big accomplishment, indeed.

AJC–Things have been ugly for the Atlanta Braves lately and they are now just one game up on the Washington Nationals:

"“We haven’t been pretty to watch the last three games,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said after the Braves were outscored 23-4 in the last three games and lost the series 3-1, leaving them clinging to a one-game lead over Washington in the NL East. “We haven’t been getting deep in the game with our pitching, and we haven’t been scoring runs."

Tomahawk Take–Chris Headrick writes an interesting piece about the unrealized potential of Jason Heyward and BJ Upton:

"The Atlanta Braves have a couple of obvious problems right now.  They have at least a couple of players who have great potential, but have not been able to turn their potential into success.  Jason Heyward has proven in his 3+ years in the league that he has a great deal of potential offensive talent, but I would argue that he has never broken out and showed the kind of offensive talent that most believe he has.  I don’t even think you would get an argument from Jason on that.  There’s no question he is talented defensively, and winning a gold glove in the 2012 season proves that aptly enough, but what the Braves need from Jason is for him to figure out how to be consistently strong with his bat.  There has always been that feeling among Braves fans and the organization alike, that you just expect a little bit more out of  a player that was picked 14th in the 1st round of the 2007 draft."

AtlantaFalcons.com–Daniel Cox looks at some of the highlights of Roddy White’s career, and he has quite a few accolades put under his belt:

"When you hear Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff speak about urgent players, he’s talking about guys like Roddy White. In eight seasons, White has put together a career that is worthy of being included in any conversation about the best wide receivers in this decade.White’s put together seasons that have seen four Pro Bowls and his most recent season made him just the fifth player in league history with three straight seasons of at least 90 catches and 1,200 yards. His entire career is something to talk about, but it’s his work in the final month of the season that really exemplifies the kind of player White is."

AtlantaFalcons.com–Daniel Cox also writes about the potential of Julio Jones. Needless to say, this guy is one of the writers you need to keep up with if you are a big-time Falcons fan:

"You won’t find many that would argue Julio Jones isn’t already one of the top receivers in the game, but after the 2013 season that likely won’t be the case anymore.Jones already has a body of work that is hard to ignore and 2013 will bring more of the same. One of the areas that Jones excels in is yards after the catch. Last season Jones had 14 receptions of 25 yards or more, three of them for touchdowns over 40 yards. He already is second in franchise history for big plays (25 yards or more) in a single season after that performance last year and his 27 receptions in two seasons of 25-plus yards ranks him in a tie for third in the league."

RamblinWreck.com–The Georgia Tech baseball team did something no other team in college can say they have done so far this season; They managed to win a series against UNC (Recap of the college games should be up on the site today):

"The Yellow Jackets, whose last two ACC series wins have come over No. 5 Virginia and No. 2 North Carolina – the teams with the two best records in the conference, improved to 32-20 overall and 14-13 in ACC play. Tech also clinched an ACC Tournament spot on Sunday.The Tar Heels slipped to 45-6, 20-5 in dropping a series for the first time since Tech took two of three in Chapel Hill last April. UNC has not won a series from the Tech since 2009.“There was a different atmosphere in the dugout (late in the game),” said Evans, who hit .375 in five games this past week. “Right now we know we have to keep winning. If want to get into a Regional and into the ACC Tournament, we have to keep winning. Whatever needs to be done, we’re finding a way to do it and that’s great out of our team right now.”"