28-year old Nate McLouth began this season as the starting CF but he’s in AAA-ball right now due to his awful bat. McLouth played in 62 games earlier this year for the Braves and he was 31 of 185 (.168 avg, .544 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 3 homers, 14 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 146 games in his two years with the Braves and he is 118 of 524 (.225 avg, .692 OPS) with 81 runs scored, 14 homers, 50 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. He is showing some signs of life in AAA right now. He has played in 14 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 16 of 57 (.281 avg, .845 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 4 homers, 7 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. It’s possible that the Braves could recall McLouth on September 1st if he continues to play well in AAA, but he has been a huge disappointment since coming to Atlanta.

38-year old switch hitting 3B Chipper Jones appears to be on the downside of his career. He has played in 79 games this season for the Braves and he is 66 of 261 (.253 avg, .775 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 7 homers, 37 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Jones still likely has some big hits left in his bat as I do expect him to rise to the occasion as the games get bigger down the stretch. Despite whispers about retirement I don’t think Jones will be packing it in this year. Still, Braves’ fans should get a good look at Jones down the stretch this year in case he does decide to hang it up over the winter. As of today, Jones is #2 all-time in games played (2,245) in Braves’ history. He’s also #2 in runs scored (1,496), #2 in OPS (.941), #2 in hits (2,472), #2 in doubles (488), #3 in homers (433), #2 in RBIs (1,482) and he’s the all-time leader in walks (1,398) in Braves’ history.

Nate McLouth looks lost for the Braves at the plate right now. In his first 17 games, McLouth is 7 for 44 (.159 avg, .582 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He has whiffed 16 times already this season as his bat looks like it has a hole in it right now. He’s kind of lucky that Melky Cabrera and Matt Diaz are also off to slow starts which is buying him some time to get things together. McLouth has been a productive player in the not so distant past and the Braves need his power so they hope he turns things around soon.

25-year old switch hitting outfielder Melky Cabrera was brought in over the winter in a trade with the Yankees to help boost the Braves’ offense. But it hasn’t worked out quite that way yet. Cabrera has played in 11 games for the Braves so far this season and he is 5 for 40 (.125 avg, .389 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 2 RBIs. He has never been a player to build a offense around but he is a better hitter then he has shown so far this year. I think he will get better after a little adjusting time to the N.L.

20-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jason Heyward had a big spring training for the Braves earning the starting RF job. He caught the first pitch of the season from Hank Aaron (ceremonial) and then he went out and was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored, a homer and 4 RBIs on Opening Day. I was watching Sportscenter the next day and they were actually comparing Heyward to Aaron. Please don’t, at least not yet. Pitchers have been carving up Heyward since Opening day. In his last three games for the Braves he is 1 for 12 (.083 avg) with 1 run scored, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. Hopefully Heyward can handle the pressure heaped on him because remember…..he’s only 20 years old.