Braves.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

UPDATED 5:48 p.m.

ATLANTA — Tom Glavine will spend the next two weeks resting his shoulder, then the only active 300-game winner hopes to resume his pursuit of a spot in the Atlanta Braves’ rotation.

Glavine was diagnosed with inflammation of his left rotator cuff by Dr. James Andrews today in Birmingham, according to published reports this afternoon.

The Braves don’t believe the injury is serious, but one has to wonder if this is yet another strike against the 43-year-old lefty’s hopes to rejoin the Braves. Glavine will be re-evaluated in two weeks, and if all is well with his shoulder, the future Hall of Famer will resume preparation to take the fifth spot in Atlanta’s rotation.

For now, it’s going to be Jo-Jo Reyes manning the last slot. Reyes really impressed with his mental approach and his aggressiveness on the mound during spring training, after a 2008 season marked by a decent early stretch, followed by a horrid June and July that landed him back in the minors.

But he went 2-0 this spring, and with Charlie Morton still building his arm strength after missing most of spring with an oblique injury, Reyes is the logical choice. Yes, I hear the Tommy Hanson folks screaming to get the super-prospect to the majors, but I think there is value in not rushing the 22-year-old wunderkid to the bigs just yet.

Folks, Hanson WILL be here, and soon. Believe me, the Braves prefer for Reyes to show the toughness and the command he displayed in spring training, giving them a lefty in a rotation that is all right-handed. Also, the Braves prefer for Hanson to get a few more Triple-A starts under his belt before promoting him to The Show.

But if Reyes struggles and Glavine isn’t able to resume getting ready in two weeks … well, then all bets are off and it’s likely going to be Hanson Time, perhaps by early May. We shall see.

And now on to this morning’s original post:

ATLANTA — Tom Glavine’s list of accomplishments speaks for itself: two-time Cy Young award winner, World Series MVP, multiple All-Star selection, 300-game winner, future Hall of Famer …

But one thing the legendary lefty hasn’t done is come back from surgery. He’s never had to until now, and there is strong reason to wonder if the Braves’ projected fifth starter’s next move will be into retirement, and not the starting rotation.

Glavine heads to see Dr. James Andrews today in Birmingham, after feeling shoulder discomfort during an at-bat Sunday for Double-A Mississippi. This comes after the 43-year-old complained of soreness during spring training, yet was on target to make his season debut Saturday at Pittsburgh.

That duty now falls on Jo-Jo Reyes, whose five career victories are exactly 300 fewer than Glavine. But it may be Reyes – or Charlie Morton, or even super phenom Tommy Hanson – who becomes the fifth starter for the surging Braves because it’s quite possible Glavine’s comeback from August elbow and shoulder surgery ends here.

That’s not to say Andrews will find major damage inside Glavine’s shoulder. Perhaps it’s just scar tissue causing the discomfort. But maybe it’s something else, and if it is, it’s likely we’ve seen Glavine for the final time. Just from reading some of his quotes the past few months, it’s unlikely Glavine would go through another lengthy rehab in order to try and pitch again later in 2009 or beyond.

So here we stand, wondering if indeed the next time we see No. 47 on the field, it will be when the Braves retire his number. That’s certainly not what the lefty or the team had in mind when he came back to the Braves after his five years with the Mets.

Glavine only pitched in 13 games in 2008, going 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA. His last year with the Mets, Glavine won 13 games with a 4.45 ERA, numbers which certainly would’ve helped the Braves last season.

And this season, too. While Atlanta reconstructed its rotation, Glavine figured to be the lefty at the back, that veteran presence to go along with newly acquired vets Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez, and Kenshin Kawakami (the later a vet of the Japanese Central League, of course).

Maybe I’m just being cynical, but I’m not expecting good news today. I’d love to be wrong. I’d love to see Glavine make it back, be healthy enough to make 20 starts, and help pitch the Braves into contention.

But the odds are it will be Reyes or Morton – and eventually by mid-summer, Hanson – manning the fifth spot.

—30—

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — They pressed their faces to the gate, staring through the bars toward the field of dreams where, for the past two summers, they have spent quality time with dear ol’ Dad (and, yes, at times with Mom, too).

“Can we go in,” asks Rhett, my 5-year-old who doesn’t accept “no” lying down.

The old journalist in me laughs at his persistence as I patiently try to explain to Rhett and his 6-year-old brother, Chas, that no, it’s not time yet to enter Turner Field. We will be here Friday night, tickets in hand, for the Braves’ home opener, the third home opener in a row my sons have attended.

But on this day, we’re playing tourists.

Or, to be more specific, we’re playing a dad on much-needed vacation from work, with two sons on spring break. An afternoon lunch at The Varsity, followed by a surprise stop-over at the home of the Braves, before we point the car south toward the southern rim of the capital city.

It’s a sun-splashed Wednesday afternoon. The Braves are an hour away from playing their third game of the season, one in which the bullpen totally implodes in losing to Philadelphia. We’re more than 48 hours away from Friday’s home opener against Washington.

But for my boys — and for myself — being here on this day is meaningful. It’s our re-introduction to a place where we’ll spend plenty of time during the next six months.

In Monument Plaza, we stop to take pictures by all the plaques and statues that remind us of the great history of this franchise. There are guys who I saw with my own two eyes, folks like Phil Niekro and Dale Murphy. There are ones who I heard about from my grandfather, like Warren Spahn and Hank Aaron and Eddie Matthews.

To this day, it boggles my mind that we’re strolling through a place that once upon a time served as a parking lot for old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. I wrote a column the day of the All-Star game back in 2000 waxing poetic on strolling through that parking lot — which today is Turner Field — holding my grandfather’s hand as we left old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

And now here I am, holding the hands of my own little double-play combination, walking alongside the new Home of the Braves, amid reminders everywhere of the rich history of my team.

“Who’s that?,” asks Chas, intrigued by the weird way the statue before us is holding the baseball.

“That’s Phil Niekro,” I say, explaining how Knucksie held the knuckleball that led him into the hearts of Braves fans everywhere, that paced a career that led Niekro to 318 career victories and a spot in the Hall of Fame. I go on to tell the story of a 43-year-old Niekro winning 17 games — and homering in his final regular-season start — in 1982, leading the Braves to the NL West title and causing me, as a 9-year-old, to feel like Christmas had come early. I also speak of how gracious and funny Niekro was to talk to, having interviewed him several times during my newspaper career.

This is the essence of baseball, of passing down the names, the memories, the history of the grand old game, from one generation to the next. One minute, I’m explaining that Eddie Matthews hit 521 career homers and is the only player who played for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. The next, I’m showing my guys the Magnolia tree planted in honor of the Atlanta Crackers. A minute later, I’m giving a lesson on Jackie Robinson and all he endured to pave the way for so many of the heroes of today …

One of the coolest things, though, is the fixation my boys have with the parking lot on the north side of Turner Field. From 1966-1996, that lot was a yard in and of itself, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, where I spent countless days and nights with my grandfather as a kid, and with buddies and girlfriends in my high school and college days.

It’s where I saw Francisco Cabrera swing and Sid Bream slide to win the pennant in 1992. It’s where I saw David Justice go yard and Tom Glavine bedazzle and Marquis Grissom glove the final out of Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, thrusting the Braves into the hall of champions.

The old diamond is laid out in the parking lot, and we re-enacted both of those grand moments on a sunny April afternoon. Amazed at the distance in comparison to how far they must run in their Little League games, nonetheless, Chas lumbered around third and raced home just like Bream.

(I don’t think Barry Bonds would’ve thrown Chas out, either.)

“Wow dad,” Chas exclaims, “look at that.”

We stop by the spot marking Aaron’s record-breaking 715th career homer. I’m disappointed that I didn’t realize, until listening to the Braves’ pregame show on the way home, that we performed this exercise on the 35th anniversary of the Hammer’s passing of the Babe on the all-time home-run list.

“It landed here?,” Chas asks.

“Yes son,” I said, unable to hide the smile at my son asking about one of my hometown’s grandest moments. “At this very spot, Hank Aaron became baseball’s home-run king.”

As we pile into our Toyota Camry and prepare to leave, I pull to a spot down the right-field line.

“Imagine there is a stadium here,” I said. “Picture yourself in the upper level, directly above where we are sitting … this is the spot where I was when the Braves won the 1995 World Series.”

The mere thought of it makes my kids giddy, and it makes the hairs stand up on my arms. Both boys start firing questions at me, asking what was it like to see this moment or that moment.

I pause, then collect myself.

“Above all else, above the playoff games and the great players, this place takes me back to being your age, to watching baseball with my grandfather,” I said.

The car falls silent. We drive around the bases, and we turn toward the Downtown Connector. It’s quiet in the car, but I feel something over me.

It’s the greatness of this great sport taking hold of me. A generation ago, I was asking the questions. Today, I’m answering them.

Baseball, and the process of teaching the next generation, marches on.

–30–

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — My oh my, how much better this feels, doesn’t it Braves Nation?

OK, so one game doesn’t make a season, particularly a season where 161/162nds of the schedule remains to be played. But still, after all that the Atlanta Braves endured the past year or so, wasn’t it nice to spend Monday basking in the glow of Sunday night’s season-opening 4-1 victory at Philadelphia?

Sure it was. This is what football feels like, when you open the season with a victory, then get a whole week to savor the flavor of being 1-0 without having to turn around 24 hours later and put that unblemished ledger on the line. No next-day turnaround for the Bravos after winning the lid-lifter. Monday was spent watching the rest of Major League Baseball kick away the covers from its long winter’s nap.

It was a day for watching ball, for talking about Derek Lowe’s precision on the mound, for raving about Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur and Jordan Schafer, of dissecting Mike Gonzalez’s ninth inning …

Or for this correspondent, it was a day that he gladly spent at the house and not at Turner Field. Remember last season? The Braves opened what would become their worst season since 1990 with a heartbreaking loss on Sunday Night Baseball, then flew home and dropped the home opener the very next night in extra innings to Pittsburgh in frosty weather.

That was a cold, miserable night inside Turner Field. But Monday was spent snuggled under a blanket on the couch, watching ball. As the winds whipped outside and some reporting stations up in the North Georgia mountains recorded snow – yes, snow! In April! In Georgia!! Paging global warming – it gave us time to reflect on what we saw Sunday in Philly, and what we hope to see as this campaign takes its second step tonight.

We saw a team – one that was its own worst enemy a season ago — do the things it needed to do to grind out a tough win on the road. It got great starting pitching. It got early offense, placing a muzzle on a hostile crowd. It displayed good defense. It secured the key outs in the ninth inning to snuff out a rally.

These are the things good teams do, what the Braves of 2008 were incapable of doing most nights. But that was then. This is now, and the first steps on the current journey provided plenty of warmth and hope that this summer will be one navigated in more familiar waters.

October tickets aren’t punched the first week in April. This I know. I also know the team I watched Sunday night is one capable of being there when the dance card is filled.

—30—

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — It’s the day all baseball fans look toward for warmth and hope on those cold winter nights, when the flickering embers of the Hot Stove and the memories of summer thrills and October glory just aren’t enough.

It’s the day that arrives with the sunrise on this Sunday morning: Opening Day.

Ah, how those two little words take on such a magical meaning when placed together and placed in the context of baseball. It signals the conclusion of the sport’s long hibernation, the waving of the green flag on a new journey, and all the emotions interwoven from offseason to regular season.

From Seattle to Arlington, from San Diego to Boston, and all reporting stations in-between, this is the moment. We’re about to lift the lid on 2009, and it all starts with the Atlanta Braves looking to reclaim the franchise’s place among the game’s elite.

After the worst season in 18 years, after all the things that flew off the rails in 2008, after the productive, yet volatile offseason, here we go. The Braves line up inside Citizens Bank Park tonight to face a Philadelphia squad that will be in full lather from celebrating its World Series title.

Nothing can temper or quash the surge of feel-good that Opening Day delivers to everybody like losing game No. 1. In a sport where 162 games is required before the postseason begins, it may seem folly to place such emphasis on the first step of a six-month jaunt.

And yet, amid the pomp and circumstance of early April, we see and feel October. The ballparks are filled. The emotions are surging. Every heartbeat pounds as that first pitch flies toward home plate, the first movement of a symphony of thrilling highs and crushing lows that every fan base will live through spring, summer and fall.

There will be a definite postseason feel to tonight’s contest. The Braves walk in as an outsider, having not played in the postseason since 2005. Three consecutive seasons spent on the outside of the dance hall, 90 losses and the myriad of issues that doomed 2008, have the Braves and the denizens of Braves Nation salivating at the thought of kicking off 2009, of putting all of the misery of 2008 in the rear-view mirror once and for all.

And that’s what they’ll do tonight, on national TV, against the defending champions, against a division rival that last year beat them 14 out of 18 times, with their new ace pitcher climbing the bump. It’s just one game, but it would make for a resounding statement indeed if Derek Lowe goes out there tonight and fires six or seven strong innings, and the Braves arrive back at their hotel with a one-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East.

We’ve made it to this point, folks. The offseason officially is over. Go-time has arrived, and the Braves are ready to step on the accelerator. And, unlike last season, there is reason to believe the engine under the hood is robust enough to carry this team into the pack of leaders and keep them there until the winds turn cool, the leaves begin changing colors, and the marathon that is a baseball season turns into its final sprint to October.

Opening Day is here. The journey begins now.

—30—

We’re done with spring training game recaps – the big news Friday was Javier Vazquez’s four perfect innings in the Braves’ 3-1 victory over Detroit at Turner Field. Today, we continue our three-part look at the Braves and baseball in general, with a look at the question marks and critical areas for Atlanta entering Sunday night’s season opener at Philadelphia.

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — Look around outside the sphere of Braves Nation, and there isn’t a lot of people lining up to jump on the Braves’ bandwagon.

Sports Illustrated landed in my mailbox Wednesday, telling me the Braves will finish third in the National League East. Other media outlets have picked Atlanta as low as fourth. MLB Network led one of their talk shows Friday by wondering out loud if anything can be drawn from the Braves’ strong pitching in spring training.

The glass certainly shouldn’t be viewed as half-empty, not with most of the key needs filled and enough talent in place to lead one to believe this team could win 86-90 games in the ultra-tough NL East.

But there are areas of concern when looking objectively at this team, areas that could keep this team from contending in September.

Can the bullpen stay healthy and pitch effectively?

For all the work done to bolster the Braves’ starting rotation – and certainly, adding Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami amounts to bolstering – it’ll all be for naught if the Braves’ bullpen performs like last season. Atlanta’s relievers were among the worst in the NL, particularly after the All-Star Break, when the overwhelming workload of entering games early coupled with the loss of Peter Moylan and Rafael Soriano combined to doom the bullpen.

The Braves were wretched in holding leads. One has to think things will be better in 2009. For one thing, there won’t be anywhere near as many four- and five-inning efforts from the rotation. Soriano and Moylan are healthy – both made the opening day roster. Mike Gonzalez is ready to go as closer, after missing the first two and one-half months of 2008 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

With the loss of Soriano and Moylan last season, and with Gonzalez out until mid-June, the Braves juggled bullpen roles with mostly bad results. This year the roles are more defined. This bullpen will be better. It has to be, because last year was so bad, and because the Braves need the lock-down potential possessed by the guys who sit behind the right-field fence.

Can The Kid do his thing in center field?

Last season, Jordan Schafer hit .316 in limited Grapefruit League play, strutting through the clubhouse at Lake Buena Vista after a blistering showing in the Arizona Fall League.

Then came the fall from grace – a 50-game suspension for alleged HGH use. Schafer bounced back with a strong finish at Double-A Mississippi, and he carried that over into winter ball in Mexico and then into Braves’ camp.

The 22-year-old has earned the right to start in center field. He’s a game-changer with his speed, his defense, his baseball prowess. There are concerns that Schafer’s strikeouts will hurt him in the majors, and there are questions on how he’ll handle things if he struggles out of the gate.

But by all reports, a more mature, a more focused Schafer showed up at Lake Buena Vista this spring. The kid appears ready to handle the inevitable ups and downs he’ll experience as a rookie. I don’t think anything short of a total meltdown or disaster would send him back to the minors and put Gregor Blanco in center.

Schafer is the man. Let’s see how he does.

No power? No problem?

A lot has been made of the Braves’ lack of power in the lineup. Nobody in this bunch is going to hit 30 homers. Only Chipper Jones and Brian McCann figure to approach 25.

But without going out and landing an Adam Dunn to put in the middle of the lineup, the Braves have constructed a batting order that features really good hitters who can fill the gaps with doubles, and who figure to drive in plenty of runs.

Atlanta’s lineup will have to generate runs, will have to do the little things, in order to be successful. One thing that’s going to help is the strength of Atlanta’s pitching staff. This team, even without huge power numbers last season, still finished in the middle of the pack in the NL in runs scored.

Will the real Jeff Francoeur stand up?

What we’ve seen from Francoeur this season has been a consistent, smooth, improved batting approach that’s resulted in plenty of balls driven to all fields, the ability to work counts and lay off the breaking balls down and away, and a more relaxed Francoeur that closely resembles the fun-loving kid with whom we all fell in love with during his first three seasons.

Francoeur has massive natural talent, and I’m not worried about his lack of power this spring. The real litmus test will be when Frenchy goes through an 0-for-10 or 2-for-20 stretch. Will he press? Will he start tinkering with his stance again? Will he begin to press? Will the fans turn on Frenchy as they did last season?

Time will tell. A rebound of any type from Frenchy will help this team tremendously. A repeat of 2008 makes me shudder just typing those words. For all the keys to this team in 2009, Francoeur’s end result is critical to whether the Braves play on past the first weekend in October.

—30—

Editor’s note: We’re finished with spring training game recaps – the big news from Thursday’s 2-1 win over Houston’s Triple-A team being Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan each throwing a solid inning. Today, we kick off a three-part look at the Braves and baseball in general, leading up to Sunday night’s season opener at Philadelphia.

Today: The promise of 2009.

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — Forgive Braves’ fans if they’re a little jumpy right now. Their patience has been stretched like a bungee cord.

A 90-loss season where the handwriting on the wall appeared in June. A historic penchant for losing one-run games on the road. A starting rotation that one-by-one paraded to the disabled list. A bullpen torched by overwork. A franchise pillar beset by a miserable slump. The death of the beloved voice of the franchise.

It didn’t let up once the 2008 season mercifully ended. Jake Peavy. A.J. Burnett. Rafael Furcal. Ken Griffey Jr. All four pursued. None landed. Follow that with the longest spring training ever, thanks to the World Baseball Classic, and you understand why of every Major League Baseball fan base out there today, one can argue the good denizens of Braves Nation are more ready to flip the switch on 2009 than anybody.

What we’ve seen in spring training is what Frank Wren and Bobby Cox constructed through the offseason. While many of us focused, reported, and obsessed over who the Braves didn’t get, the franchise kept plugging away.

What that’s resulted in is a team built on solid – not spectacular, but solid – starting pitching, the type that’s going to give you six or seven strong innings most every night. The additions of Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez provide durable 200-inning guys, and teamed with Jair Jurrjens gives the Braves a very strong three-man front. Kenshin Kawakami could push this rotation into elite status if he makes the transition from Japanese baseball, and Tom Glavine has looked good in three spring starts.

The bullpen is deep, even if questions remain regarding the recovery of Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan. There is no denying this group, if healthy, is going to be vastly improved over the 2008 bully. And certainly, fewer of those three- and four-inning efforts from the starting rotation will help.

The offense looks good. No, the Braves won’t lead the league in homers. But this team isn’t constructed to wait on the three-run dinger anyway. We’ve seen countless times in Florida where the Braves focused on the little things: bunting a runner over, hitting to the right side to advance a runner, driving a ball into the air to bring in a run from third. These are things the Braves have to continue doing once the games count.

The lineup isn’t a Murderer’s Row in the historic sense of big boppers, but there are plenty of guys who could hit .290-.310, who will fill the gaps with doubles, who will drive in 70-90 runs. Teeming with power? No. Able to string together five or six hits in an inning? Absolutely.

At the end of the day, there are a few question marks with this team. But which team doesn’t? We’ll save that discussion for tomorrow. For now, know this:

The climb to October will be steep. But this Braves team is constructed to be in the hunt all season, and is good enough to steal a playoff spot at the finish. After everything this franchise and its legions of followers have endured the past 12 months, just being in the race come mid-September would be quite an improvement.

Opening Night viewing party…

For those of you in the Atlanta area, I’ll be watching Sunday night’s season opener with a group of Braves fans and baseball folks at Jocks N’ Jills Galleria (near the confluence of Interstates 285 and 75, on the northwest side of town). Come join us as the season begins!

—30—

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — Ever since the Braves landed Josh Anderson in a November 2007 trade, I’ve been high on the Kentucky native.

Anderson brings speed to the table, the ability to cover the gaps of left-center and right-center field, and enough talent at the plate to hit .294 in a quarter-season with the big-league club last season.

With all that said, I’m wondering if Anderson will be here in two weeks, because the more Jordan Schafer plays, the more he looks like a major-leaguer.

The only competition among the eight positions in the lineup for Atlanta this spring is who will man center field. For the first three weeks of spring training, Anderson appeared a lock. And while he endured a 1-for-19 streak that ended last week, he’s hitting .292 in spring action.

But Schafer, who missed a week with a shoulder injury, has been lights-out since returning to the field. He’s hitting .385 with a team-high five stolen bases in 11 games, all while posting a .429 on-base percentage. What makes Schafer’s OBP all the more impressive is in 39 at-bats, Schafer’s struck out 10 times.

Anderson, meanwhile, has an on-base percentage of .306 … not exactly the type of OBP you want from a leadoff guy.

What makes this complex is Anderson is out of options, and there is no way the Braves could pass him through waivers without losing him. Just his speed alone makes him a valuable commodity.

And certainly, everybody would feel more comfortable if Schafer starts the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s played just 84 games above Single-A, and a little more plate discipline, which will come with a little more experience, would serve Schafer quite well.

But I can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen if Schafer keeps getting on base, keeps stealing bases, and Anderson struggles just a bit. It’s going to be a difficult call, one the Braves won’t make until the very end of spring training.

—30—

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — March Madness, personified by those sitting around trying to weigh the merits of previously un-thought of entities.

It’s a little like what happens during spring training. At some point, usually around the middle of March, those roster projections that looked so gleaming last month typically go under review. It usually happens because somebody who wasn’t considered a favorite to make the major-league roster steps up and plays better than expected.

With that said, here’s your version of March Madness, Braves-style:

Jordan Schafer: Certainly some thought the 22-year-old prospect had a chance to win the center field job. But after missing 50 games to suspension last season, and the fact Josh Anderson was impressive in his 40 games with Atlanta in 2008, Schafer’s road figured to carry him to Gwinnett to start the season.

And while I still think he’ll end up in Triple-A, he’s been on fire lately and has – at least temporarily – pulled closer to the slumping Anderson. Schafer is 7-for-15 since returning from a shoulder injury, raising his average to .385. He leads the team in steals, is tied for the lead in doubles, and sits third in total bases. He’s also struck out eight times in 26 at-bats, the biggest reason why I think he’ll find himself in Gwinnett come April.

Jo-Jo Reyes: Nobody, and I mean nobody, gave Reyes a chance to make the major-league roster in February. Even if Tom Glavine hadn’t resigned or wasn’t healthy, names such as Charlie Morton, James Parr, and super-prospect Tommy Hanson sat ahead of the little lefty on the depth chart.

Not anymore. Reyes has been arguably the Braves’ best hurler this spring. In four games, he’s 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA, having allowed just three earned runs and nine hits in 13 innings. Throwing his slider for strikes and displaying the confidence that was so lacking after mid-June last year, Reyes likely will go to Gwinnett to start 2009 – the Braves don’t need a fifth starter until April 19, and likely will carry an extra arm in the bullpen. But if the Braves need a starter early on, it’s quite possible Reyes gets the call.

Buddy Carlyle: It looked like the likeable journeyman would be squeezed off the big-league roster, especially with the return of Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan to the bullpen. But with the Braves only needing four starters for at least the beginning of April, and the thinking that Jorge Campillo probably should go to Gwinnett so he can pitch consistently, a spot now appears open at the very end of the Atlanta bullpen.

Carlyle has been super-sharp so far this spring, striking out five hitters while firing three scoreless innings. For a guy who finally had carved out a niche in the majors after spending his career bouncing from continent to continent and minor-league stop to minor-league stop, it’d be awesome if Buddy C. could at least start the season in the majors.

Finally, traditional March Madness: Louisville, Memphis, Pitt, UNC are my Final Four.

—30—

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — Imagine the good people of Braves Nation who awoke Monday morning and saw the headline “Chipper hurt in Classic.”

Think a few hearts skipped a beat?

You better believe it, because Chipper Jones is the single most important player on the Braves’ roster. It’s not only because he won the NL batting title in 2008 by hitting .364. It’s not only because he plays great defense for a guy who’s on the other side of 35 years old.

The Braves are just a different team with No. 10 batting in the third hold and manning the hot corner. Without him for an extended period of time, the Braves just aren’t as good.

Which is why were I part of Atlanta’s management, I’d be taking the news of Chipper’s strained oblique muscle as a sign to hop the first flight to Toronto, sneak into Chipper’s hotel room around midnight, snatch him from his bed and place him on the first flight to Lake Buena Vista.

I’m all for being patriotic. I’m all for Team USA winning the World Baseball Classic. But I’m also of the opinion the top priority for a major-league baseball player in spring training is to get ready for the upcoming season, to try and help his team win the World Series.

Playing against Venezuela and Canada during the second week in March doesn’t advance the Braves’ chances of playing in October. To get there, the Braves must have a healthy Chipper.

Not a Chipper limping through 2009 because of a meaningless international tournament held in March. That’s why the Braves should bring Chipper home now, before more damage is done.

Of course, everybody is saying the right thing. The Braves trust Chipper. Jones believes the injury isn’t serious and expects to play this weekend, when Team USA opens the second round.

Better believe when he takes the field, Braves’ fans everywhere will be holding their breath.

—30—

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

Atlanta 8, Venezuela WBC 4 (exhibition)

Top of the Order: Jeff Francoeur at least temporarily quelled the moaning of an impatient fan base, hitting his first homer of the spring and driving in two runs as the Braves beat Venezuela’s WBC squad at Lake Buena Happy Place.

The Good: Francoeur finished 1-for-3, smacked a two-run homer in the fourth inning, walked once and raised his average to .333 on the season. Minor leaguer Barbaro Canizares doubled home three runs as the Braves rallied from a one-run deficit with a five-run seventh. Young Freddie Freeman doubled, drove in a run and scored a run, continuing his impressive spring. Brandon Jones, Greg Norton and Martin Prado each walked twice. On the mound, Derek Lowe survived a shaky start to fire three no-hit innings, walking two with three strikeouts and a run allowed. Eric O’Flaherty gave up a hit but nothing else in his inning of work. Stephen Marek walked a hitter, but otherwise was perfect. The Braves turned three double plays.

The Bad: For the second time in a week, Jeff Ridgway did absolutely nothing to help his chances of making the team (which was a longshot at best). Ridgway allowed three hits and walked two batters in just 1/3 of an inning. ‘Bout time to kiss him goodbye, folks. Lowe was wild in the first inning, uncorking two wild pitches that led to a run scoring.

View from the Sports Garage: OK, so there’s been some bellyaching about Frenchy, who started 1-for-11 with no power of which to speak. Well, maybe everybody will relax now and realize that it’s MARCH 6. The regular season opens up in one month … all of you need to chill. Besides the wildness, a strong second outing from Lowe, who faced two over the minimum in his three innings. There really is no need to throw Ridgway out there anymore … send him on to the minor-league camp. Speaking of the minor-league camp, Freeman and fellow 19-year-old Jason Heyward will be heading that way in a couple of weeks, but both of those kids have given us a tantalizing glimpse of the future with their play this spring.

Braves in the WBC: Chipper Jones homered, scored twice and drove in three runs, and Brian McCann also went deep as Team USA beat the Phillies in an exhibition game, 9-6.

On deck
Braves vs. Astros
7:05 p.m. today, Lake Buena Vista

The Skinny: Jo-Jo Reyes fired three scoreless innings against the World Series champion Phillies Sunday. Now the little lefty will see if he can follow up his strong debut when he toes the slab tonight against Houston. Also slated to fling it for the Bravos: Jeff Bennett, Manny Acosta, Phil Stockman and Boone Logan.

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