26-year old righty swinging Martin Prado will be the starting 2B for the Braves in 2010. He has been bounced around the infield the last couple of years for the Braves but this season he will focus on 2B. Prado played in 128 games for the Braves last season and he was 138 for 450 (.307 avg, .822 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 11 homers and 49 RBIs. Prado is not only a good hitter but he’s a solid defensive 2B. He made 4 errors at 2B for the Braves last season while showing above average range. It took a little time for Prado to get this starting job but he definitely has earned it.

28-year old righty swinging Omar Infante will be the Braves’ top infield backup in 2010. He played in 70 games for the Braves last season and he was 62 for 203 (.305 avg, .750 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 2 homers, 27 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Infante played in 30 games at 2B for the Braves last season making 2 errors while showing slightly below average range. He is a natural shortstop but he will be the one giving Prado a day off once in a while.

30-year old lefty swinging Joe Thurston will try to earn a bench spot this spring with the Braves. He played in 124 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 60 for 267 (.225 avg, .646 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 1 homer, 25 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Thurston played in 47 games at 2B for the Cardinals in 2009 and he made only 2 errors while showing outstanding range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: B

The Braves have signed 27-year old righty reliever Chris Resop to a minor league deal. Resop left the Braves last season to pitch in Japan. He pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Braves in 2008 and he was 0-1 with a 5.89 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. He has now pitched in 57 games (0 starts) in his four years in the majors and he is 3-3 with a 5.61 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. He has walked 36 batters and given up 68 hits in only 61 innings in the majors so he will need to improve this spring to pitch for the Braves.

Righty swinging Dale Murphy was a great player for the Braves but he just missed playing on the good teams that they had. Murphy played 15 years for the Braves appearing in 1,926 games in which he was 1,901 for 7,098 (.268 avg, .829 OPS) with 1,103 runs scored, 371 homers, 1,143 RBIs and 160 stolen bases. Murphy was at his best during the 1982 and 1983 seasons when he won back to back MVP Awards in the N.L. Murphy played in 162 games for the Braves in 1982 and he was 168 for 598 (.281 avg, .885 OPS) with 113 runs scored, 36 homers, 109 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. He followed that up by playing in 162 games in 1983 in which he was 178 for 589 (.302 avg, .933 OPS) with 131 runs scored, 36 homers, 121 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. Murphy is all over the record books for the Braves. He is #4 all-time in Braves’ history in games played (1,926), #5 in hits (1,901), #6 in runs scored (1,103), #4 in homers (371) and #4 in RBIs (1,143). Despite being one of the best players in Braves’ history I just don’t think his overall numbers justify getting him to the Hall of Fame.

The Braves went cheap at 1B allowing Adam LaRoche to leave as a free agent. They signed 33-year old righty swinging Troy Glaus to play 1B for them in 2010. There is a risk involved with Glaus as he missed most of last season with a bum shoulder. Glaus played in 14 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 5 for 29 (.172 avg, .491 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. The Braves are thinking that if Glaus is healthy that he will provide stats like 78 runs scored, 30.5 homers and 90.5 RBIs which are his season averages between 2005-2008. Glaus is a natural 3B so he will have a lot of work to do defensively this spring as he adjusts to the other side of the baseball diamond. He didn’t make any errors in 2 games at 1B last season for the Cardinals.

32-year old lefty swinging Eric Hinske will spend most of his time in the outfield unless Glaus goes down to injury. He played in 6 games at 1B for the Yankees and Pirates last season and he didn’t make any errors. 26-year old righty swinging Martin Prado is the starting 2B this season for the Braves so don’t expect him to slide to 1B this year. He played in 28 games at 1B for the Braves last season and he only made 1 error.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: C-

The Braves really stunk almost the whole time righty starting pitcher Rick Mahler was there but it wasn’t his fault as he was a workhorse for the team. He pitched in 307 games (218 starts) in his 11 years with the Braves and he was 79-89 with 2 saves, a 4.00 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. But, he was especially good during the 1984 and 1985 seasons for the Braves despite the fact that the team was 146-178 those two years. Mahler pitched in 77 games (68 starts) in 1984 and 1985 and he was 30-25 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Mahler was just at the wrong place at the wrong time or he would have finished with a lot more wins than he did in his career.