]]> http://www.bravesblast.com/2010/09/01/braves-benefit-more-than-most-from-september-call-ups/feed/ 2 http://www.bravesblast.com/2010/08/31/2010-braves-extreme-values/ http://www.bravesblast.com/2010/08/31/2010-braves-extreme-values/#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:53:45 +0000 Thomas http://www.bravesblast.com/?p=1855 Having three of the worst players in the National League would seemingly ruin most teams’ chances of making the playoffs, but not the Atlanta Braves’. While three of their opening day starters (four if you include Derek Lowe) have done their best to continue Atlanta’s postseason absence, three others have been amongst the best in the league. Here are six players, three on each end of the spectrum, that have had the greatest impact on the Braves’ season so far.

The Good

1) Brian McCann (4.9 Wins Above Replacement, tied for 6th in NL)

No one seemed too worried after Brian’s OBP dipped to .349 a season ago and with good reason. His eye problems are seemingly a thing of the past as he has produced a triple slash line of .281/.388./.484 so far this season. The plate discipline is back, and most defensive metrics say he has significantly improved his performance behind the plate as well.

2) Martin Prado (4.0 WAR, tied for 16th in NL)

Many Braves fans were happy to see Kelly Johnson go last off-season. While he has bounced back (in a big way) out in Arizona, Prado has all but matched his output in Atlanta. Although his bat looks better at second, he is clearly more comfortable playing third base, the silver lining of Chipper’s injury.

3) Jason Heyward (3.8 WAR, tied for 23rd in NL)

Undoubtedly the single most important upgrade from last year’s team was the promotion of Jason Heyward. The Braves’ right field, despite Matt Diaz’s best efforts, was a disaster last season. Everything totaled, Francoeur, Diaz, and Ryan Church combined for an OPS of .743 at the position. Heyward’s triple slash line of .278/.389/.475, however, has made the Braves forget about all that. Everyone knew he was going to be something special, just not this good this early.

The Bad

1) Troy Glaus (.4 WAR, 9th worst among all qualified NL players)

Troy’s second half has made May a distant memory, and April seem quite vivid. Bad legs seem to have been his undoing, and the Derrek Lee trade spelled the end of any significant playing time. There is a good chance he has started his last game as an Atlanta Brave.

The Ugly

1) Melky Cabrera (-.6 WAR, dead last among all qualified NL players)

Not much to say here. Francoeur plate discipline + softball power + shoddy glove = worse than a replacement level player. If Frank Wren has any sense, and I believe he has lots of it, Melky will be non-tendered this off season.

2) Nate McClouth (-1.3 WAR, dead last among ALL NL players)

He does not even have enough plate appearances to be qualified, yet he still tops the list for the worst offensive player in the National League. Unfortunately, I just wrote about one of his replacements; the other isn’t much better either. Regardless of what level he plays at next season, the Braves are on the hook to pay him $6.5 million. Oh, and they will have to pay another $1.25 million to buy him out for 2012 as well.

Here’s why Atlanta has the edge…

First of all, obviously, they’re already in first place, three full games up on the Phillies, who just suffered a four-game sweep AT HOME at the hands of the Astros. But beyond the standings, Atlanta has the easier schedule from here on out.

The Braves, owners of baseball’s best home record (44-17), have 20 home games remaining, compared to the Phillies’ 16 games left at home. Also, Atlanta will play only 3 more games this season against a quality team, other than the Phillies. They’ll play a three-game set vs the Cardinals next month at Turner Field. The Braves will not see a single comfortably-above-.500 team on the road for the remainder of this season.

The Phillies, conversely, are about to fly west for 3-game sets in San Diego and Los Angeles. To make that road trip even trip even less pleasant… rather than enjoying a scheduled off-day that was to immediately follow this 6-game west coast trip, the Phillies will instead fly to Denver to make up a game that was rained out at Coors Field earlier this year.

Oh, and one more thing to consider regarding the schedule… If the division race isn’t decided by the end of September, the Bravos have the edge there as well. The Phillies and Braves will wrap up the season with a 3-game set AT TURNER FIELD, October 1-3. That is the regular season equivalent, for the Braves, to having games 6 & 7 of a seven-game series on your home field.

As for the makeup of these two division rivals, the Phillies have compiled and impressive “big-3” at the top of their rotation (Halladay/Hamels/Oswalt). However, that trio is no more dangerous or effective than Atlanta’s trio of Hudson, Jurrjens and Hanson. And when you compare the bottom of each rotation and the bullpens of these two teams, it’s apparent that the Braves still have the advantage in the pitching department. On the other hand, the Phillies have more offensive thunder, when firing on all cylinders.

At this point, I don’t believe either team is clearly or substantially better than the other. But because the Braves already hold a 3-game advantage and have the easier schedule from this point forward, Phillies fans have good reason to watch the Wild Card race more closely than the NL East standings.

Having said all of that, Philadelphia is only 3 games back with 30+ games remaining. The Phillies are still very much in this thing, and this race is far from over. Pennant fever is back in Atlanta! There are roughly 5 weeks of baseball left in this 2010 season, and they should be a helluva lot of fun!

Throw in your 2 cents below! Think the Braves will seal the deal?

PS… find me on Twitter, @FriedBasBallATL

But since the All-Star break, Omar has been much more than just a valuable role player; he has been the Braves’ MVP. While filling in for Martin Prado and Chipper Jones, Infante has had the best stretch of his career. Of all National League players with at least 125 plate appearances since the break, only nine have posted a higher OPS than Infante’s mark of .957. There is also a good chance that the stretch is a result of improved skill rather than statistical variation (a.k.a. a “hot streak” or luck). In 205 PA prior to the break, Omar only drew 9 walks while striking out 39 times. But in his 133 PA since coming back from Anaheim, he has 8 walks compared to just 11 strikeouts. Although the walk rate has remained somewhat similar, his strikeout rate has plummeted over the past 34 games. It is quite possible that Omar’s ability to make contact has improved since becoming an everyday player. Whatever the reason, the change in strikeout rate is so drastic that it appears Omar has actually gotten better as the season has gone along.

The stretch also highlights the fact that Omar is having the best season of his career. A major reason for this is his batting average on balls in play which is a ridiculously high .393. Although this number is almost certainly unsustainable, there is reason to believe that he will continue to post a higher BABIP than his career average of .315. Several weeks ago I wrote that Jason Heyward needed to start hitting more fly balls. In Omar’s case the opposite has proven to be beneficial. For the season, 46% of his batted balls have been grounders compared to his career average of 37%. For someone who is not a power hitter such as Omar, this is a good thing. His homerun to fly ball rate, although still relatively low, is also the best it has been since he hit 16 big flies for Detroit back in 2004.

While I am not ready to confidently say Omar will continue to produce offensive numbers significantly better than those of the past two seasons, the Braves would be crazy to decline his 2011 club option worth $2.5 million. He has clearly improved since coming over from the American League, and there is no one else in the organization that can come close to replacing him. If he can continue to keep the strikeouts down, the Braves should be more than thrilled to start him at second base next season if Chipper decides to hang it up.

Bottom of 1st: J Heyward grounded into double play.
Bottom of 3rd: J Heyward grounded out to second.
Bottom of 5th: J Heyward grounded out to shortstop.
Bottom of 6th: J Heyward grounded into fielder’s choice to first.
Bottom of 8th: J Heyward grounded out to first.

While viewing this performance from Section 211 at the Ted, it dawned on me that Jason Heyward does in fact hit a lot of groundballs. Thanks to fangraphs.com’s “batted ball” data, I now know that my amateur scouting report was accurate. Of all the balls Heyward has put into play this season, a whopping 55% have been hit on the ground.

Only nine players have hit a higher percentage of groundballs this season, and the list isn’t pretty: (in order) Derek Jeter, Juan Pierre, Elvis Andrus, Michael Bourn, Ichiro, Denard Span, Skip Schumaker, Hunter Pence, Ryan Theriot.

However, none of these players have an OPS even close to Heyward’s current mark of .823. This is likely because of two reasons; the first of which is because Jason has a higher bat speed than any of the aforementioned players. Because of this, his grounders are hit “harder” and have a better chance of making it through holes in the infield. Likewise, his fly balls are hit deeper, increasing their chances of making it over the fence. Secondly, Jason has more plate discipline than anyone on the list as well, meaning that he draws more walks. Fortunately, groundball percentage is about the only thing Jason has in common with others on the list.

Regardless of the fact that he is clearly a better hitter than any of the aforementioned players, this is not a list that Jason wants to be on. Pitchers want Jason to hit the ball on the ground, and he is obliging them. In his last 207 plate appearances, he has hit only 1 homerun. Compare this to his first 185 plate appearances in which he hit 10. Remember those majestic bombs he hit back in April and May? They show he is capable of being the power hitter Braves fans yearn for, but he will have to develop into such. In over 1000 minor league plate appearances, Heyward only hit 29 long balls. An old scout’s adage tells us that power is the last tool to develop. Well Jason clearly has it; he just needs to use it by hitting the ball into the air more.

In the season and a half that Ross has been in Atlanta, he has served as a stable backup for Brian McCann, hitting .272 with 38 RBI.  Additionally, this season, he has thrown out 7-of-15 baserunners and only has a single error.

Personally I’m thrilled with the signing as I think David Ross is the best backup catcher the Braves have had in awhile….don’t get me wrong, I loved Corky Miller…..wait no, I didn’t.  I don’t fear a game where McCann sits out and Ross has to play.  There’s power in the bat and solid defense that can be expected when he’s in the game.  I’ve seen some rumblings around the web about people saying McCann should move to first base and let Ross be a full-time catcher in the future.  I’m still not too sure what I think about that however.  As for the extension at hand….love it.  Time for the Braves to get back in the win column tonight against the Nationals.

The Braves sit 4 games atop the National League East with a 4 game lead over the Mets and a 4.5 game lead over the Phillies.  The  Marlins and Nationals round out the division 10 and 13.5 games back respectively.

The first half of the season was far from perfect however.  We’ve tried our best to forget about the abysmal baseball the Braves were playing in April, culminating with a 9-game losing streak.  Injuries have hampered the team at times.  Heyward and Diaz have missed time along with Jair Jurrjens.  Diaz and Jurrjens have recently returned to the squad and things are looking up on that front.  Jason Heyward has decided to sit out in his first All-Star selection to rest his injured thumb.  He should be back in the lineup for the Braves shortly after the break and hopefully picking up where he left off before the injury.

It’s a much needed break for the team, with the exception of the Braves’s 5 All-Stars (6 counting Billy Wagner who will not take part in All-Star festivities).  Here’s hoping the team will come out firing on all cylinders after the break, much like they did in the 2009 season.   It’s great to see winning baseball back in Atlanta and like I said, if the Braves just keep winning series, there will be a little extra baseball around the Ted come October.

]]> http://www.bravesblast.com/2010/07/07/1766/feed/ 5 http://www.bravesblast.com/2010/07/05/does-omar-infante-deserve-to-be-an-all-star/ http://www.bravesblast.com/2010/07/05/does-omar-infante-deserve-to-be-an-all-star/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:12:39 +0000 Thomas http://www.bravesblast.com/?p=1761 You probably don’t need me to tell you this, but…..

Omar Infante is a good utility player, but does not deserve to be an All-Star. Not even close. I know I know, he is a valuable member of the Braves’ roster and has the propensity to deliver clutch hits in critical situations such as last Friday against the Marlins. Great. So does Ryan Zimmerman…or Josh Willingham…or how about the NL OPS leader Joey Votto? Of course Zimmerman or Votto will likely be the last player voted in by the fans, but that still leaves two of the other three that are not on the roster while Omar Infante is.

Perhaps Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel was drawn to the fact that Infante can play virtually every position on the diamond. After all, that, and not his singles bopping bat, is why he is so valuable to the Braves. But with the expanded rosters totaling 34 players per team, the need for a utility man becomes nonexistent as Manuel already has at least one backup at all of Omar’s positions.

In all fairness to the Phillies’ skipper, his hand was forced by the rule that every team has to have at least one All-Star. As a result he was forced to select Marlon Byrd (Cubs), Chris Young (D-Backs), and Michael Bourne (Astros), all of which are outfielders. But he should have picked our old friend Kelly Johnson from Arizona over Young, giving the squad more infield depth. Then he could have selected Zimmerman over Infante, giving the NL three players at second, third, and short each (as well as seven outfielders). Instead Manuel decided to carry a below league average hitter with an OPS of .717 on his roster.

From a Braves fan perspective, this is bittersweet. It is great to see one of our unsung heroes get nationally recognized, but we also need the NL to win this game. There is a good chance Infante will not get into the game, but if he does, I will be wishing that a better, more deserving player were up at the plate or out in the field.

Jason Heyward is the second youngest player to ever be selected to start in an All-Star Game.  Though on the disabled list, Heyward will be activated before the game.  He will travel to Anaheim but will likely not play in the game.

Martin Prado received his first All-Star selection after a dominant first half of the season where he lead the NL in batting average and MLB in total hits.  Prado placed second in voting to Chase Utley, who has been disabled with a thumb injury.  As a result, Prado will likely start the game for the National League.

This is also the first All-Star selection for Omar Infante, whose selection came as a surprise.  Charlie Manuel added Infante to the National League roster on account of the versatility he provides in a utility role for the Braves.

Tim Hudson received his third trip to the All-Star Game, but his first with the Braves.  He last represented the A’s in the 2004 game.  After returning from Tommy John surgery last sesason, Hudson has compiled an 8-3 record and posted a 2.37 ERA in 2010.

Brian McCann receives his fifth All-Star selection in his fifth full season in the majors.  Though his production is down from 2009, McCann still leads all NL catchers in batting average.

The Braves have a chance to send a 6th player to the Midsummer Classic in the form of Billy Wagner.  He has been selected as one of the five NL Final Vote competitors, where the fans have the opportunity to select the final player on the team roster.  Wagner is facing off against Joey Votto, Ryan Zimmerman, Carlos Gonzalez and Heath Bell.

There would be no better send-off in Wagner’s final season, where he has served as a dominant closer for the Braves, than an All-Star selection.  Vote now to get Wagner in the All-Star Game!

Prado had three singles last night, bumping up his average to .337 and furthering his already distended hit count to 114 — SEVEN more than the next closest bat in the entire league (Robinson Cano of NYY).  Clutch aspect: Prado had the first two RBIs of the game.

Blanco continued right where he left off in June, going two for three tonight with a walk.  He was the only Brave to cross the plate through the first 10 innings of play tonight for the Braves.  This play is not out of place for Blanco who has been playing great as of late.  He’s making a strong statement to be part of the lineup, but with Hinske also playing some great baseball, I think we will see these two sharing time out in left.

Glaus came up big in the bottom of the 11th, redeeming the error from the top of the inning in a big way with a huge double.  After being on an 0-20 drought, this hit couldn’t have been any more timely.  Despite going one-for-five in last night’s game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him have some great games to close out the first half of the season.  That smack can inspire confidence in even the lowliest of slumping sluggers (to which fraternity Glaus does not yet belong).

And finally, the hero of the night: Omar Infante.  You can’t say enough about this guy.  Very much in the same vein of Gregor Blanco, Infante has been a quintessential utility player — showing up to play and getting huge clutch hits like we saw last night.  Incredible situational hitting has been the calling card of the 2010 Atlanta Braves.

With all of this in mind, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see an Infante, Blanco, or Hinske move up to the 2-slot behind Prado until Heyward gets back in shape.  I think it would create some fantastic scoring opportunities that we’re going to need to get win these final three series before the break.

In the last 16 series, the Braves are 13-1-2 and currently sit with a 46-33 record on the season.  The Marlins series won’t be an easy one however as we’re catching the dominant portion of the Florida pitching staff.  On the bright side, however, the Braves are sending some top performers to the mound as well in the series.  Tonight Josh Johnson (8-3, 1.83) faces off against Kris Medlen (5-1 (4-0 as a starter), 3.15).  Kris’s first start as an official member of the starting rotation, now that Kenshin Kawakami has taken a role in the bullpen, will have to be a good one.  Hopefully the offense can help him out and get Johnson, who is tied with Ubaldo Jiminez for the best ERA in MLB, out of the game before the 7th.

Saturday’s matchup will be Anibal Sanchez (7-4, 3.18) against Tommy Hanson (7-5, 4.50).  Hanson has struggled as of late, getting knocked around pretty solidly in a few of his recent outings.  Roger McDowell is confident Hanson will spring back, but all eyes will be on him to see if he can get back to dominant form.  If not, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see Kawakami on for him in long relief.  The final game of the series will bring Ricky Nolasco (7-6, 4.84) in to face off against Tim Hudson (8-3, 2.37).  On paper, this game favors the Braves as Hudson has been unstoppable lately and Nolasco likes to give up the long ball (19 in 16 outings this season), but he has won his last two.  Anything can happen.

I’m looking for the Braves to continue their dominance at Turner Field this weekend (their 28-9 home record is the best in MLB) and take care of business with the Marlins.  I’ll be happy with 3 more series victories heading into the All-Star break which would give us a record of at least 52-36 before the break, but why stop there?  I’ll settle for a sweep or two.

1) Martin Prado, Troy Glaus, and Kris Medlen

After a ridiculous April in which he reached base over 42% of his plate appearances, Martin Prado came back down to earth in May. At some point during the month Jerome Jurenovich suggested that he should be starting the All-Star game; I almost fell off the couch laughing. Of course at that point Chase Utley was on fire, and I could never have foreseen the power surge Prado has had. While posting an OPS of .947, Prado led all National League second basemen with 14 extra base hits in the month of June. He now boasts the highest OPS amongst all NL second baggers and almost unquestionably deserves to start the All-Star game. With Utley on the DL and Prado leading the majors in hits, this seems very likely.

Troy Glaus has been no slouch either. A couple of weeks ago I wrote that I would rather have a former Brave who sometimes forgets that he is playing baseball while in the field over TG. I no longer feel this way. After being named National League POTM in May, Glaus has continued to swing a hot bat in June. Although his OBP dipped, he still belted 8 doubles and 6 homeruns to tie Prado for the team lead in extra base hits for the month. He also came close to stopping a couple of balls hit to his left (wink wink).

While Tim Hudson’s numbers are spectacular, I would argue Kris Medlen has been better. According to Baseball Prospectus’s SIERA (Skill-Interactive Earned Run Average), which is basically a stat that shows how lucky Ubaldo Jimenez is, Medlen has out performed Huddy and ranks 33rd in the category amongst all Major League pitchers with at least 70 IP. Perhaps more importantly for the Braves, Medlen has been their saving grace in the absence of Jair Jurrjens and will now allow them to move Kenshin Kawakami to the bullpen.

2) J-Hey to the DL and Big Red struggles

On May 30th Jason Heyward’s OPS was 1.017, tops in the National League. Since then Heyward has struggled mightily, posting an OPS of .532 in June while striking out a whopping 32 times. While the Braves and Jason cite his injured left thumb as the reason for his struggles, I doubt this to be the sole reason. As Mark Bowman of MLB.com pointed out in a recent article, Heyward was on fire for the first fifteen games after jamming his thumb which hardly seemed to be bothering him then. While it apparently got worse, it seemingly became an issue only after he started struggling. Hopefully rest will allow Jason to regain his stroke and return to his spectacular form.

While Tommy Hanson has struggled in his past two starts, I see little reason for concern. His K/BB ratio is slightly better than it was a year ago as he is striking out a batter an inning, and his BABIP is a ridiculously high .347. This is simply a product of bad luck and will almost certainly come down. Two bad starts in a row is not a trend, it is merely an aberration. As long as his velocity remains constant (and according to pitch FX it has) there is nothing to worry about.

Despite their success so far this season, the Braves could easily finish third in the NL East. While I think they are still the favorites to win it at this point, anything can happen over the course of the next three months. Hopefully the return of Jurrjens and the recovery of Heyward will be more than enough for the team to distance themselves from the ailing Phillies and overachieving Mets in July.

It means it’s time to turn on the afterburners and create some separation in the standings from our friends the New York Mets as well as the Phillies. We’re 1.5 and 3.5 games, respectively, in front of the Mets and Phils, and it’s time to make that distance a bit larger.

We just got Jurrjens back from the DL last night (the equivalent of landing another ace) and now our rotation is full of five guys nobody wants to face. Heyward is out for two weeks but will join after the All-Star Break hopefully at full-strength; the equivalent of landing a young clutch power bat. It’s unlikely the Braves will part with their top pitching prospects to land a power bat in left or center field from what I’m seeing, but Chipper and Yunel are turning crucial corners at the right time for the Braves.

It’s our division to run away with. The Mets have pitching depth issues. The Phillies are battling injuries. We need to finish out the first half strong and then run away with the division after the break. Time to put some distance in between us and the rest of the NL East.

This post is just to show off the wives of Braves.

This was no easy task! Admittedly, I was surprised by this, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that, heck, these guys are professional athletes — they want a wife about as much as I want an Isuzu Gemini.  Some of them are real family men — McCann, Hudson — but most of the guys on the team are either a) too young (most of the team is under 26) or b) too unwilling to commit to a steady relationship.  That’s great for them, but it makes this TOTALLY less exciting.  But we’ll work with it.  We still have some material, and it doesn’t disappoint. (Although nothing quite measures up to David Wright’s girlfriends which, I admit, is kind ofblasphemous to say, but c’mon… damn.)

I’ve thought a lot about how to do this, and I am simply going to LIST each of these wives and/or girlfriends in an order that has no preferential bias, EXCEPT for numero uno.  I don’t want to choose who’s fifth and who’s sixth… that just gets dicey, but I think number one is a pretty obvious choice.  Feel free to comment and give us your rankings though! (Pics after the jump)

We’re going to start this off with the golden couples of the Braves: the Hudsons and the McCanns…

Tim and Kim met at Auburn where they fell immediately in love, due in no small part to their names rhyming.

Brian and Ashley McCann holding the secret to sustaining any marriage: alcohol.  It helps if your husband’s head is plastered on the label, too… couldn’t hurt.  (Note: the McCann Merlot is currently sold out.  Gotta have an itchy trigger finger to get yourself this vintage.  2010 will be a good year.)

Next up we have the Hooter’s Girls who Chipper knocked up Chipper Jones’s two wives!  They are in order of betrothals, not in order of which one “got some” first… I can’t, in good faith, make that claim.  There is somewhere in there is a third Hooters waitress who had another one of his kids.  Unfortunately, I can’t find a picture of the woman and so, I give you only the two legitimate mates:

Karin Fulford.  She got all pissed when she found out Larry had sired a child in Michigan.  Geeze, women are so TOUCHY about feelings and junk…

Four months after the divorce was finalized, my man Larry met Sharon Logonov.  This is the best picture I could find of her.  I only later learned that, as a rule, before any picture of Logonov is taken, the lens of the camera must be slathered with copious amounts of Vaseline so as she appears as a platinum-blonde amoeba.

Next on our list of slightly uncomfortable personal lives is Derek Lowe.  From Wikipedia (the most trusted name in biographical information):

On August 3, 2005, FSN West in Los Angeles announced that Carolyn Hughes, anchor of the network’s Dodger Dugout show covering the Dodgers, had been suspended pending an investigation into a potential relationship between her and Lowe. Shortly thereafter, Lowe filed for divorce from his wife of seven years, Trinka Lowe, with whom he fathered two children. Hughes’s husband had also filed for divorce. In the aftermath, Hughes ended her broadcasting career, while she and Lowe continued their relationship. The two were married on December 13, 2008 at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.

Pretty crazy, huh?  I thought so.  Anyway, here’s the two Lowe broads.  I think we can agree that there was a definite step up for someone that has the attention span of a goldfish…

There’s a lot to say about this picture.  I’ll start with the obvious: Did Derek ALWAYS walk like a pimp when he was with Boston?  It’s either a pimp swagger or he’s going to Vulcan Death Grip an unsuspecting bat boy.  Damn it… both of these scenarios are awesome.  Maybe he’s a pimpin’ Vulcan.  Jesus YES.  (Oh yeah, and Trinka — TRINKA! — looks like she’s wearing a wig.  Also, did she go shopping before making her way to the ballpark?  And couldn’t keep her Saks 5th bag in the car?)

Oh Carolyn Hughes.  Blue eyed, blonde haired vixen of FSN.  Quothe Squints from Sandlot: “She knows exactly what she’s doing.”  The only thing keeping her out of the top spot is that biotic jawline that she shares with Giada de Laurentiis of the Food Network.

Alright campers, still with me?  Most of you have probably already scanned down to see who number one is, and is only reading this after the fact, but for those of you who have not, we only have ONE MORE before we get to the hotest Braves wife. Here’s the last runner-up:

Look at Glaus go!  This is Ann Glaus and she is an athlete in her own right.  She is an accomplished equestrian and they live together in New Jersey during the offseason.  I really don’t have too much to say about these two… probably just because they both look like they could kick my ass.  So I will just leave it with this: their children (should they decide to have any) will be built like trucks.

Drumroll!

The winner for the best lookin’ wife of your 2010 Atlanta Braves is Leslee Diaz!

You know, this was a close race.  I think that Ann Glaus OR Carolyn Hughes could have EASILY won this, but in the end, I found the wholesome good looks of Leslee Diaz to just edge out both of them.  Stiff competition this year, but I think we can all get behind the ‘Girl Next Door’ looks…. and let’s be honest, she kind of looks like Jenna Fisher which is a huge plus in my book.

Probably going to be a lot of disagreement on here.  I think a lot of this will come down to personal taste, but feel free to let me know how big of an idiot I am for choosing Diaz over one of the many (well — not many) Braves significant others.

Any others that I missed?  Shoot me an email at khannahs3 at gmail dot com, or twitter (OHNOITSKEN).

Yesterday, Prado was featured in SI.com’s “All-Overlooked All-Star Team,” amidst the likes of Corey Hart, Joey Votto, and Ricky Romero (all names you should go familiarize yourself with if you haven’t yet). The praise from SI’s Tom Verducci was simply “The Braves began to turn around their season when manager Bobby Cox put Prado into the leadoff position. Prado has hit .356 out of the top spot. The guy can flat out rake.” And can he! One of my favorite parts of Martin is how hard he works and how team-focused he is. There’s no attitude or personal glory moments with Prado, he’s always getting dirty and hustling to make things happen and then pushing credit to others.

As of the last vote tally, Prado was firmly in second to Utley in votes for the second base position in the NL. Unless something has changed, Prado will likely be the National League’s starting second baseman for the midsummer classic – and that’s a good thing. There’s not a better top-of-the-order hitter right now than Prado (hitting .331 on the season), and the NL needs someone to set the table to win this one.

The Braves may actually have a vested interest in home field advantage during the World Series this year. One thing’s for sure: If the Braves make it, Prado will be at the front of the lineup setting the table.

No, he’s not leading the league in batting. He’s only hitting .256, but he’s getting better – .230 in March and April, .265 in May, and .271 in June. No, he’s not slugging like he used to. Five home runs is not going to make Chipper Jones happy through three months of the season. He has stolen more bases already this year than any year dating back to 2006 (when he stole six overall).

But he still gets respect at the plate. His 45 walks make him tied for 4th in the NL, And that’s the secret to his .388 OBP. At least in one category (one that matters), Chipper’s still one of the leaders. No, he’s not the slugging third baseman that strikes fear into the hearts of pitchers, but he is the respected third baseman that – literally – walks his way to being a valuable part of the Braves’ very balanced lineup.

It’s obvious that this guy has no passion for a city that, insofar as I can tell, isn’t New York.  The man’s ego is almost larger than his bulging waistline, and his inability to put effort into plays is beyond infuriating.  This is his JOB people. Instead of seeing it as an honor to play for a legendary skipper in his final season, Melky (who is currently being paid 3.1 million dollars — of which the Braves are paying 2.6 million) is half-assing his way through a season.  There is no fire there.  There is no passion.  It’s straight and simple bitterness from being traded from the Yanks to a team and a city he deems inferior.

Perhaps a lot of this is me reading into his dealings, but with all of the other Braves, there is an energy about them — lively and electric — they want the ball to come to them.  They want to be the one to make a big play and be the hero (a role that has largely gone to relative unknown: Brooks Conrad this year) while Melky so sincerely doesn’t want the ball hit to him that when it does, he seems genuinely befuddled.  Watch, if you will, the next time he is in the outfield and a ball is hit to him — it’s almost as if he doesn’t believe it.  This, to me, is a sure sign that the man has no desire to be out there.

But why?  His contract says that he has only one year left, right?  Wouldn’t he want to perform as well as possible for a big contract in a Javy Lopez-esque season?  Well, no.  He only has until the end of the year on his contract, but the Braves can elect to keep him on for an extra year if they so wish because of arbitration.  This means that if he were to play well, the Braves might elect to keep him on for another year.  So instead of performing well and wishing to make an actual career as a baseball player, he wishes only to get paid $3.1 million to do essentially nothing.

There could also just be the fact that he’s just this bad and getting paid 3.1 million to whiff.  Ultimately though, he is very fun to heckle from centerfield bleachers, so there is some sort of morbid satisfaction to be had… I just don’t know if it matches the price-tag.

Man, am I glad we didn’t pay $8M for an outfielder that can’t field or throw particularly well, is hitting .269 with 18 RBI and 3 HR.

Eric Hinske is doing just fine by me. For contrast, we paid him $1M and he’s batting .308, has knocked in 28 runs, has 5 homers, and has struck out 33 times to Damon’s 40. The only thing that Damon is better than Hinske at is walking. Damon has more than double the number of walks Eric’s landed (37 to 15).

In hindsight, I’m so glad we didn’t pay out $8M for a player who is underperforming one of our bargain retreads. Damon’s simply not worth the money the Tigers are paying him.

Plus, we’ve got the salary room to make a move if we decide to pull the trigger on a deal going into the second half of the season.