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Braves camp report
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Five things to know about the Atlanta Braves:
1. The key to the deal this summer might be -- again -- lefty Mike Hampton, who is healthy and throwing free and easy so far in camp. At the very least, with Tom Glavine back, the Braves have three of the top five ranking pitchers in NL quality starts from last summer in John Smoltz (21), Tim Hudson (21) and Glavine (20). "Last year, Smoltz and Huddy were great, but our three-four-five guys couldn't get past the fifth inning and our pen wound up in shambles," Chipper Jones says. "Honestly, we were lucky to get to .500 (the Braves finished 84-78, five games behind the Phillies). Hopefully, with a good year from Glavine and getting some production from Hampton, you're not running rookies out there."
2. Right fielder Jeff Francoeur, coming off of his first Gold Glove and a season in which he collected 105 RBI, put on about 20 pounds this offseason and currently is at 238. It was intentional. "Every year, it seems to kill me come August," Francoeur says. "I've never had a strong August, and I wanted to change that. I'd be gassed by August at the plate, losing bat speed. I knew it was time to make an adjustment." His splits don't reveal a significant decline during August, though his .275 batting average then was his lowest of any month last season, and his .315 on-base percentage was his second-lowest for a month. He's a terrific player, and we'll see what the added weight does. Say one thing: He looks solid. It doesn't appear that the added weight is Big Mac or Quarter Pounder pounds. "I'd like to think it's only two or three pounds of that," Francoeur jokes.
3. Dependable shortstop Edgar Renteria is gone, having been shipped to Detroit to make room for Yunel Escobar, 25, who hit .326 in 94 games with the Braves last season and might be Bobby Cox's Next Big Thing. "We think he'll be a good player for a long time," first-year general manager Frank Wren says. "He's above average defensively, he's an above-average hitter. He does everything very well." On another important replacement front: So far, so good with Mark Kotsay's back as the Braves line him up in center field to fill the gap left by Andruw Jones.
4. After having to fix their bullpen on the fly in each of the past two seasons -- acquiring closer Bob Wickman midway through 2006 and installing Rafael Soriano as closer in '07 after Mike Gonzalez blew out his elbow -- the Braves are hopeful they have the depth to absorb things in '08. Soriano will open as closer, right-hander Peter Moylan and lefty Will Ohman will handle set-up responsibilities and Gonzalez is due back from Tommy John ligament replacement surgery in early June.
5. Two rookies making strong plays to bust into the rotation sometime soon are right-hander Jair Jurjjens, 22, acquired from Detroit in the Renteria trade, and left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes, 23. "I refer to them as the bookends -- one is right-handed, one is left-handed," Wren says. "They're close in experience level, close in ability and close in readiness to pitch at the major league level."