BRAVES PREVIEW
January 28th 2009 18:12
CATCHER: Brian McCann is one of the best young catchers in the game. The Georgia native is going into his fourth full season in the major leagues with a .297 career batting average and has averaged 20 home runs and 90 RBIs per season. It’s hard to find something wrong with one of the top catchers in the major leagues, but his defensive still needs some improving. He allowed 93 stolen bases and only threw out 27; both were the most in his career.
1st BASE: Casey Kotchman will be the starting first baseman after coming to the Braves in the Mark Teixeira trade at the trade deadline. He batted .237 with two home runs and 20 RBIs in 43 games. He was rated as the Angels’ top prospect in 2002, 2004 and 2005 by Baseball America but never played to his potential. His best season came in 2007 when he batted .296 with 68 RBIs. This has been an unstable position for the Braves for quite some time so they are looking to Kotchman to finally live up to the hype.
2nd BASE: Last season Kelly Johnson beat out Martin Prado in spring training for the position and he didn’t disappoint. He batted a career-high .287 with 12 home runs, 69 RBIs and 86 runs. There has been some discussion Johnson would move back to his primary position of left field, but going into spring training he is the starting second baseman.
3rd BASE: For 14 seasons Chipper Jones has been part of the Braves’ season preview. He switched to left field for one season, but despite that one season he has been the fixture on the left side of the infield. Many critics thought the 36-year-old was close to being washed up, but finished the season with a .364 batting average after hitting .400 up until June.
He actually had a .399 batting average at home. It’s hard to think Jones will match his 2008 totals, but if the future Hall-of-Famer can stay healthy you can guarantee a .290 average with 25 home runs and 90 RBIs.
SHORTSTOP: Yunel Escobar gets the nod at shortstop after the team couldn’t sign Rafael Furcal. The team intended to move Escobar to second and Johnson to left field, but Furcal decided to re-sign with the Dodgers. Escobar is a good fielding shortstop and hit .288 with 60 RBIs and 71 runs scored. His numbers were lower than his 2007 totals, but He managed to finish the 2008 season batting .357 in September.
OUTFIELD: The team’s question marks going into spring training come from the three outfield positions. The Braves have struggled the last few seasons to get solid production from the outfield and now they open the season with a rookie centerfielder, a career bench player turned starting leftfielder, and a rightfielder that is coming off the worst season in his career. Jeff Francoeur comes into the season after producing career-lows in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. He batted .239 with 11 home runs and 71 RBIs after having two straight seasons with 100-plus RBIs. He has one of the best arms in the game, but needs to improve his offensive production if the Braves are going to be successful this season. After an injury plagued season, Matt Diaz batted only .244 in 43 games. The most games he has started in a season were 77, which came in 2007, so a question would be if he can withstand the grind of 162 games. Gregor Blanco played in 133 games and had 430 at-bats so look for Blanco to push Diaz for the left field position. Josh Anderson will get his first chance to play a full season in the major leagues. He replaced Mark Kotsay in centerfield and finished with a .294 batting average in 40 games last season. He has only played in 61 career games, but should be a regular in the Braves outfield for years to come.
STARTERS: This offseason the team signed Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez to be the top two pitchers in the rotation and be leaders to this young pitching staff. Lowe comes to the Braves after having success career, especially in the postseason where he started both clinching games for the Red Sox in 2004 against the Yankees in the ALCS and Cardinals in the World Series. Vazquez has been a .500 pitcher in his career, but returns to the National League after pitching the last three seasons with the White Sox. The Braves hope Vazquez can pitch like he did with the Expos from 2000 to 2003 or when he was 15-8 with a 3.74 ERA in 2007 with the White Sox. The rest of the rotation is still unclear. Jair Jurrjens, newly acquired Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami, JoJo Reyes, Jorge Campillo and possibly Tom Glavine will compete for the final three spots James Andrews cleared Glavine to start throwing again and he is expected to be ready by the start of spring training.
BULLPEN: Mike Gonzalez opens spring training as the team’s closer. He recorded 14 saves in 16 opportunities last season and has 44 saves in 49 career chances. He needs to improve his ERA from a year agao as he allowed 16 earned runs in 33-plus innings. Rafael Soriano will be the setup man, but will take over the closer role if Gonzalez struggles. Blaine Boyer, Manny Acosta, Boone Logan and Buddy Caryle will round out the bullpen.
OUTLOOK: There are many questions leading into spring training so it’s difficult to think this team will compete for the NL East, but they are the Braves and Bobby Cox always finds a way. There is a mixture of veterans and youth on this roster so if this pitching staff can stop lineups like the Phillies and Mets then they will be in the hunt in September, but it’s difficult to think they are a playoff team with so many things being unclear. They are still a few years away from being the dominate Braves of the 1990s and early 2000s
1st BASE: Casey Kotchman will be the starting first baseman after coming to the Braves in the Mark Teixeira trade at the trade deadline. He batted .237 with two home runs and 20 RBIs in 43 games. He was rated as the Angels’ top prospect in 2002, 2004 and 2005 by Baseball America but never played to his potential. His best season came in 2007 when he batted .296 with 68 RBIs. This has been an unstable position for the Braves for quite some time so they are looking to Kotchman to finally live up to the hype.
2nd BASE: Last season Kelly Johnson beat out Martin Prado in spring training for the position and he didn’t disappoint. He batted a career-high .287 with 12 home runs, 69 RBIs and 86 runs. There has been some discussion Johnson would move back to his primary position of left field, but going into spring training he is the starting second baseman.
3rd BASE: For 14 seasons Chipper Jones has been part of the Braves’ season preview. He switched to left field for one season, but despite that one season he has been the fixture on the left side of the infield. Many critics thought the 36-year-old was close to being washed up, but finished the season with a .364 batting average after hitting .400 up until June.
SHORTSTOP: Yunel Escobar gets the nod at shortstop after the team couldn’t sign Rafael Furcal. The team intended to move Escobar to second and Johnson to left field, but Furcal decided to re-sign with the Dodgers. Escobar is a good fielding shortstop and hit .288 with 60 RBIs and 71 runs scored. His numbers were lower than his 2007 totals, but He managed to finish the 2008 season batting .357 in September.
OUTFIELD: The team’s question marks going into spring training come from the three outfield positions. The Braves have struggled the last few seasons to get solid production from the outfield and now they open the season with a rookie centerfielder, a career bench player turned starting leftfielder, and a rightfielder that is coming off the worst season in his career. Jeff Francoeur comes into the season after producing career-lows in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. He batted .239 with 11 home runs and 71 RBIs after having two straight seasons with 100-plus RBIs. He has one of the best arms in the game, but needs to improve his offensive production if the Braves are going to be successful this season. After an injury plagued season, Matt Diaz batted only .244 in 43 games. The most games he has started in a season were 77, which came in 2007, so a question would be if he can withstand the grind of 162 games. Gregor Blanco played in 133 games and had 430 at-bats so look for Blanco to push Diaz for the left field position. Josh Anderson will get his first chance to play a full season in the major leagues. He replaced Mark Kotsay in centerfield and finished with a .294 batting average in 40 games last season. He has only played in 61 career games, but should be a regular in the Braves outfield for years to come.
STARTERS: This offseason the team signed Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez to be the top two pitchers in the rotation and be leaders to this young pitching staff. Lowe comes to the Braves after having success career, especially in the postseason where he started both clinching games for the Red Sox in 2004 against the Yankees in the ALCS and Cardinals in the World Series. Vazquez has been a .500 pitcher in his career, but returns to the National League after pitching the last three seasons with the White Sox. The Braves hope Vazquez can pitch like he did with the Expos from 2000 to 2003 or when he was 15-8 with a 3.74 ERA in 2007 with the White Sox. The rest of the rotation is still unclear. Jair Jurrjens, newly acquired Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami, JoJo Reyes, Jorge Campillo and possibly Tom Glavine will compete for the final three spots James Andrews cleared Glavine to start throwing again and he is expected to be ready by the start of spring training.
BULLPEN: Mike Gonzalez opens spring training as the team’s closer. He recorded 14 saves in 16 opportunities last season and has 44 saves in 49 career chances. He needs to improve his ERA from a year agao as he allowed 16 earned runs in 33-plus innings. Rafael Soriano will be the setup man, but will take over the closer role if Gonzalez struggles. Blaine Boyer, Manny Acosta, Boone Logan and Buddy Caryle will round out the bullpen.
OUTLOOK: There are many questions leading into spring training so it’s difficult to think this team will compete for the NL East, but they are the Braves and Bobby Cox always finds a way. There is a mixture of veterans and youth on this roster so if this pitching staff can stop lineups like the Phillies and Mets then they will be in the hunt in September, but it’s difficult to think they are a playoff team with so many things being unclear. They are still a few years away from being the dominate Braves of the 1990s and early 2000s
| 43 |
| Vote |
