27-year old righty swinging LF Martin Prado’s bat caught fire in May. Prado has played in 27 games so far this May and he is 35 for 113 (.310 avg, .839 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 5 homers and 20 RBIs. He has now played in 55 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 65 for 232 (.280 avg, .754 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 7 homers, 32 RBIs and 1 stolen base. It appears that Prado has adapted to playing the outfield for the Braves, and now he’s back on track with the bat.

The Braves have dealt 35-year old righty starting pitcher Rodrigo Lopez to the Cubs for 24-year old lefty reliever Ryan Buchter. Lopez pitched in 9 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Braves this year and he was 6-1 with a 2.59 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Ryan Buchter has pitched in 16 games (0 starts) in A+AA-ball for the Cubs so far this year and he was 4-0 with 1 save, a 3.38 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He has now pitched in 149 games (2 starts) in his six years in the minors and he is 20-7 with 8 saves, a 3.82 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Buchter has whiffed 251 batters in his first 212 innings in the minors so he has a big time arm, but he also has control issues. This was a good deal for both teams as the Cubs need help now, while the Braves get another power lefty for the pen down the road.

The Braves have recently signed 28-year old righty reliever Steven Shell to a minor league deal. Shell has pitched in 10 games (0 starts) so far in AAA-ball and he is 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. Shell last pitched in the majors in 2009 with the Nationals. Shell has pitched in 43 games (0 starts) in parts of two years in the majors and he is 2-2 with 2 saves, a 2.45 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Shell could help the Braves down the road in 2011 if he can get his act back together in AAA.

Righty reliever Gene Garber couldn’t dent a couch with his fastball but he got a lot of batters out when he pitched with the Braves. Garber’s best season with the Braves came in 1982 when he finished 7th in the voting for the Cy Young Award. Garber pitched in 69 games (0 starts) for the Braves inn 1982 and he was 8-10 with 30 saves, a 2.34 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He only gave up 100 hits in 119 1/3 innings in 1982. Garber pitched 10 seasons with the Braves in which he appeared in 557 games (0 starts) and he was 53-73 with 141 saves, a 3.34 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. Garber is #2 in Braves’ history in saves (141) and he’s also tied for 4th with Hall of Famer Kid Nichols with 557 games pitched. Garber might not have been pretty but he got the job done most of the time.

Lefty starting pitcher Warren Spahn played with the Braves when they were still in Boston & Milwaukee. His best year with the Braves came back in 1957 (with Milwaukee) when he pitched in 39 games (35 starts) and he was 21-11 with 3 saves, a 2.69 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP which earned him his only Cy Young Award of his Hall of Fame career. Spahn pitched with the Braves from 1942-1964 (20 years). You say that those numbers don’t add up? That’s because he left the Braves to serve in World War II from 1943-45. Spahn pitched in 714 games (635 starts) in his career with the Braves and he was 356-229, with 29 saves, a 3.05 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Spahn is the Braves’ all-time leader in games started (635), wins (356), innings pitched (5,046) and shutouts (63). He is also #2 in games pitched (714), #3 in strikeouts (2,493) and he’s #2 in complete games (374) in Braves’ history. Spahn won 20 or more games in 13 of his 20 seasons with the Braves! Spahn is currently #6 in Major League history in wins with 363 and he was elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1973.