Assessment after 70 games: What's gone right, and what hasn't

What's gone right:



-The Bullpen.
The bullpen is the best it has been since Smoltz was the closer. Rafael Soriano has been automatic. Mike Gonzalez was as well before his injury. Tyler Yates and Peter Moylan have been outstanding in middle relief. Bob Wickman has been pretty solid when healthy, putting up numbers about what I expected from him. Other than a DL stint in May when he had back pain, he's been good. Oddly enough, the Braves didn't even miss him when he was gone because Soriano and Gonzalez were so good. The depth of the 'pen is great.



-The front of the rotation.
John Smoltz and Tim Hudson have done all you can ask. Both have been horses and eating plenty of quality innings. Smoltz's strikeout to walk ratio is as good as ever. Hudson has only given up 3 homers in about 100 innings and kept his walk rate down, and has gotten lots of ground balls. There is a concern with both of them fighting some minor shoulder injuries, and hopefully it doesn't limit their effectiveness in the 2nd half.



-The Kelly Johnson experiment/middle infield situation.
Kelly Johnson has been great, keeping his batting average close to .300 all year with lots of walks and some power. He has been adequate defensively, even occasionally drawing good reviews. Edgar Renteria is having one of his best years offensively, among the league leaders in batting average and on pace for a career high in homers. His defense has been much improved as of late, as it seems he's getting to a lot more ground balls for some reason plus making great throws.



-Left Field Platoon
Matt Diaz is hitting even better then he did last year, and Willie Harris has been a life saver. The Braves are getting elite production from 2 role players in left field.



-Rookie Production
Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Yunel Escobar have done a great job picking up the slack during some injuries. Saltalamacchia figures to stick around and play first base, but when Chipper gets back in the field, Escobar won't have a place to play. Look for Escobar to be traded for some pitching help.



-Jeff Francoeur's plate discipline.
Jeff Francoeur has been much better waiting on pitches to hit. He's no longer a drag on the team, and has been roughly league average in right field. That's very good considering he's a 23 year old making close to the minimum. The power is a little down, but I figure as the summer goes along that will turn out fine.


-Jon Sciambi is a good announcer.
He makes the SportsSouth games bearable. I still miss the TBS productions, though (not Chip so much, but Pete and Skip). The camerawork, audio, etc. suck.



What has gone wrong


-Mike Gonzalez and Mike Hampton's arms.
Hampton was gone before the season started with yet another surgery, and I wonder if he'll ever pitch again. Mike Gonzalez was outstanding before unfortunately going under the knife. He is projected to return for the 2nd half of 2008.



-What the blank is wrong with Andruw?
Andruw Jones' year reminds me of Mike Lowell's last year with the Marlins. He's just not hitting anything. He is on a pace for a career high in walks, and has stepped it up defensively range-wise, but rarely has anything good happened when he's swung the bat. He's now fighting to keep the average over .200.



-Chipper not staying on the field.
Chipper has been as good as ever with the bat. Too bad he missed a month with severely bruised thumbs he suffered in a collision with Pittsburgh's Jose Baustista. Hopefully he can get himself healthy and stay that way, because without him in the lineup the offense is pretty anemic.



-Brian McCann fighting nagging injuries.
McCann has been a disappointment. After hurting a finger during a bunt attempt, he hasn't been the same. A bad ankle has hampered him as well. McCann's power has been non-existant, and he's basically been a singles hitter this year who can't run. Brian's been a league average offensive player in 2007, and he has been worth what he's been paid, but he hasn't been the middle of the order producer the Braves need.



-Scott Thorman flops.
I don't have much nice to say here. At least Saltalamacchia will be taking his at-bats soon.



-Ryan Langerhans
Langerhans was so horrible that he was released before April ended. Willie Harris has taken his job and ran.



-Pete Orr
He's been on the team a year longer than he should have been. The only thing he does well is run, and he isn't used much to do that. He has options and is a waste of a 25 man roster spot. At least Woodward can bunt and play several positions.



-Back of the rotation
Mark Redman and Lance Cormier threw some spectacular BP. Anthony Lerew came up, sucked, and pissed off the organization lying about his ailing elbow. Kyle Davies has been extremely inconsistent and only remains in the rotation because the Braves have no better options. However, kudos to Buddy Carlyle for doing a very nice job since being called up. I still think the Braves need to give Oscar Villarreal a shot while giving Davies some time at Richmond.


The Bottom Line: The Braves need Chipper and Andruw to do what they're supposed to in the 2nd half for the Braves to remain in contention going into September.