23-year old righty reliever Craig Kimbrel has been selected to replace Matt Cain (pitched yesterday) in tomorrow night’s All-Star Game. Kimbrel has pitched in 47 games (0 starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 2-2 with 28 saves, a 2.35 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has only allowed 30 hits in his first 46 innings pitched this year with 70 whiffs, showing just how nasty he is. Kimbrel deserves this honor and he will likely represent the Braves well tomorrow night if he gets into the game.

The Braves are sending 27-year old catcher Brian McCann, 39-year old 3B Chipper Jones, 25-year old starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens and 26-year old lefty reliever Jonny Venters to the All-Star Game next week. Lefty swinging Brian McCann was elected by the fans to start behind the plate. McCann has played in 76 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 87 for 279 (.312 avg, .897 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 14 homers, 47 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Switch-hitting 3B Chipper Jones has remained pretty healthy this year and he has benefitted from the N.L. being pretty weak at 3B. Jones has played in 74 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 71 for 277 (.256 avg, .761 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 7 homers, 44 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Righty starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens has been awesome this year for the Braves. Jurrjens has started 15 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 11-3 with a 1.89 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He has only given up 88 hits while walking 23 batters in his first 104 2/3 innings, so he’s throwing strikes and not getting hit too hard at all. 26-year old lefty reliever Jonny Venters is just downright nasty. Venters has pitched in 48 games (0 starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 4-1 with 3 saves, a 1.53 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He has whiffed 56 batters in his first 53 innings this year and he has only allowed 31 hits, showing just how wicked he has been. This is a good group to represent the Braves next week.

23-year old righty flamethrower burst on the scene in Atlanta last year when he worked in 21 games (0 starts) in which he was 4-0 with 1 save, a 0.44 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. When veteran lefty closer Billy Wagner decided to retire over the winter, the Braves didn’t worry too much about it because they thought Kimbrel was more than ready to replace him. That hunch has been proven correct as Kimbrel has been really good so far this year. He has pitched in 43 games (0 starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 2-2 with 24 saves (leads the majors), a 2.57 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Kimbrel has only given up 29 hits in 42 innings this year while whiffing a simply amazing 67 batters! The Braves hope that Kimbrel finishes this year strongly.

25-year old righty reliever Cory Gearrin has looked pretty sharp overall this year for the Braves. Gearrin has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 1-1 with 2 holds, a 3.60 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has whiffed 19 batters in only 15 innings this year while allowing 10 hits, which shows just how nasty he has been. Gearrin has allowed runs in 4 of his 13 games this year, so he’s far from perfect. But, overall, Gearrin is off to a good start to his career with the Braves.

25-year old righty Jair Jurrjens and 24-year old righty Tommy Hanson are leading the way for the Braves’ rotation in 2011. Jair Jurrjens has pitched in 9 games (all starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 7-1 with a 1.51 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He has only given up 56 hits and walked 11 batters in his first 65 2/3 innings for the Braves so far this year. Tommy Hanson has pitched in 12 games (all starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 6-4 with a 2.82 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He has only given up 51 hits while whiffing 69 batters in his first 70 1/3 innings for the Braves so far this year. Jurrjens and Hanson are not just giving the Braves good innings, they are giving them a lot of them to help save the bullpen work. The Braves need the youngsters to keep up the good work in 2011.