How good are these Braves? 1:16 pm April 1, 2009, by David O'Brien Lakeland, Fla. – Back at Tiger Town, where it feels like we never actually left. Braves were here a few days ago, right? It’s all blending together now, the 6 a.m. alarms going off (and me already up), the drives on I-4 (motorcycle is gone now, in a trailer headed back to Atlanta), the batting-practice soundtracks of ‘70s rock/golden oldies (”Wild Thing” playing as I type this) mixed randomly with nondescript current cheese rock and hip-hop, and the intoxicating smell of sausages and burgers being grilled by vendors beneath the grandstands, causing hunger pangs and bringing back memories of Little League summers. OK, so last day before we pack it up and head north. And what have we learned about these Bravos? Well, we know the starting rotation should be a lot better than it was last season, and that in and of itself should assure the Braves win more games. But what else do we know? I mean, other than they use more mayonnaise for food preparation at the Dark Star press dining room than any other place in North America, and the scenery sure gets nicer at a ballpark (Clearwater) after its team wins a World Series, or when the visiting team is the Yankees or Red Sox (but we already knew that). The bullpen has a ton of potential, no doubt. Remember, however, that it did at this time a year ago, too, and by the end of the first week the two setup guys, Peter Moylan and Rafael Soriano, were both hurt and Mike Gonzalez was still working his way back from Tommy John surgery. A year later, Soriano is again a question mark (Bobby Cox said he thinks Soriano can be ready for opening day, though tomorrow’s scheduled appearance will be just his fifth inning all spring) and Moylan is a month ahead of schedule in his return from TJ surgery. Moylan’s looked good, though, for the most part, nearly back to his old self, pretty impressive given the surgery and the fact he’s not 25. Gonzalez has had some rough outings, but also looked very good a few times out. Most importantly, he says he feels great, even after throwing last night for the first time in back-to-back games. He insists he’s always thrown 86-88 mph for most of spring training (like he did this spring) even back in his dominant season with the Pirates. And he’s gotten it up to 91-92 lately on a regular basis. So we’ll see. You’d prefer to have no question marks at the back of your bullpen, but hey, he’s not the only closer who’s struggled at times this spring, and he might just be one of those guys who doesn’t perform at his best until the bright lights are on, until he’s pitching with real games on the line in the ninth, not in the fifth or sixth innings of exhibition games. Still, between those question marks and the relatively unproven lefty situation, the Braves’ bullpen is still a component that could be a major strength or an area of inconsistency. The lineup? Hey, if you’ve watched these guys on a regular basis this spring, you know that Kelly Johnson and Matt Diaz have looked very good, and so has Casey Kotchman, though he missed a lot of time. Jeff Francoeur, a lightning rod for criticism with plenty of folks, has looked like a different hitter this spring, a far more disciplined hitter with an approach he’s sticking to — even when he struggled a bit early on, and when the power was slow to come around, he kept at it. Those were very good signs, and now he’s hitting the ball hard and getting some carry. Like most people, I’ll wait until he does it in real games before I’m completely sold, but all signs point to him having it together. Garret Anderson has immediately shown in a few games why the Braves got him — professional hitter, you can see that clearly in his at-bats. Works counts, hits the ball hard, hits it to all fields, etc. And last night in the outfield, he moved quite well and got some good breaks on balls on the few that were hit to him. The others – Chipper, Brian McCann, even Yunel Escobar – to me are known commodities at this point. The obvious other question will be in center field, which I’m pretty sure — not entirely, but pretty sure — will go to Jordan Schafer, a very talented kid, but one who hasn’t played above Double-A. Still, we’ve seen him get hits against some good pitchers this spring, and seen him do it for two springs, as well as the Arizona Fall League in 2007. Young as he is, I do think he’d keep his head above water and provide plenty of spark for the Braves, particularly as the season wears on. If they surprise us and go with Gregor Blanco in center, well, I think we’d see Schafer before June anyway. Unless Blanco can play more like he’s done in winter ball and the WBC than he did during the second half of his 2008 rookie season with the Braves. The bench should be one of the best in the National League, with Omar Infante, Martin Prado, Matt Diaz, Greg Norton and backup catcher David Ross. Solid bench, really is. Ross, who injured his groin running out of the batter’s box on a flyout last night, felt a little better this morning, Bobby Cox said. But they probably won’t make a decision on him until Saturday or Sunday, and they brought Clint Sammons over to catch in the meantime. McCann has a bruise above his right knee from a foul ball two days ago, and is DHing today. Bobby said he’ll be ready to catch by opening day. OK, we’re gonna wrap it up and get ready to watch the Tom Glavine Experience, wherein a 42-year-old former Cy Young Award winner continues his comeback with 80-mph fastballs and a vaunted changeup that’s been his trusted friend for decades, but perhaps never more crucial to his craft than it is now. By the way, Glavine will go north with the Braves tomorrow and is scheduled to pitch in a simulated game against Triple-A Gwinnett hitters at their new ballpark on Tuesday. One more thing: Speaking of minor league games, Jason Heyward put on a show yesterday for Double-A Mississippi in a game against Double-A Harrisburg (Nationals) at Viera. How does 4-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs sound? Yes, the big dude from Henry County can play some baseball. And in case you’re wondering, he’s still penciled in to open the season at high-A Myrtle Beach, but they’re just moving him and others around with different teams in spring games. And finally, I’d like to thank these artists for providing the music (and comedy) that’s accompanied me most frequently in my ciga-and-coffee-fueled drives around Florida in the rented Malibu this spring: http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2009/04/01/how-good-are-these-braves/ 今年的SP跟RP大概是近年來最完整的一次，今年重現王朝吧^^ -- 世界上最遙遠的距離 不是我就站在你面前 你卻不知道我愛你 而是 明明知道彼此相愛卻不能在一起 世界上最遙遠的距離 不是明明知道彼此相愛卻不能在一起 而是明明無法抵擋這段思念 卻還得故意裝做絲毫沒有把你放在心上 世界上最遙遠的距離 不是明明無法抵擋這段思念 卻還得故意裝做絲毫沒有把你放在心上 而是 用自己冷默的心 對愛你的人 掘了一條無法跨越的溝渠 --

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