The Braves have placed 26-year old righty swinging Brent Clevlen on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right toe. Clevlen has played in 3 games for the Braves this year and he is 1 for 4 (.250 avg, .750 OPS) with a double and 2 runs scored. The Braves have recalled 26-year old lefty swinging outfielder Gregor Blanco to replace him on the roster. Blanco has played in 39 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 40 of 136 (.294 avg, .767 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has played in 168 games in his career with the Braves and he is 116 of 473 (.245 avg, .659 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 1 homer, 39 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.

The Braves have to make a move for a power hitting LF to help the offense and they can’t afford to wait for the trade deadline in July. I like the idea of offering Melky Cabrera and lefty reliever Jonny Venters to the Orioles for Luke Scott. Scott would give the Braves another big power bat in the middle of the batting order. I think that Cabrera would have a better chance of finding his bat again in the A.L. of which he is more familiar. While I don’t like the idea of giving up Venters you almost never get something for nothing in the major leagues.

30-year old switch hitting Brooks Conrad is really kicking butt for the Braves right now. He hit a pinch hit, walk off grand slam off of Reds’ closer Francisco Cordero in the Braves’ 10-9 win last night. He has played in 26 games for the Braves this year and he is 7 of 28 (.250 avg, 1.022 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers, 9 RBIs and 1 stolen bases. In his first two years in the majors, Conrad played in 36 games in which he was 14 of 73 (.192 avg, .590 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers, 10 RBIs and 23 whiffs. The Braves really hope that Conrad keeps hitting as he has really helped them off the bench.

The Braves have placed 32-year old righty swinging outfielder Matt Diaz on the 15-day disabled list with a infected right thumb. Diaz has played in 26 games in which he is 13 of 73 (.178 avg, .477 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Braves have activated shortstop Yunel Escobar off the D.L. to replace Diaz on the active roster. Escobar has played in 22 games so far this season and he is 17 of 79 (.215 avg, .561 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 8 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Braves hope the time off that Escobar had will help him get his bat going.

20-year old lefty swinging 1B Freddie Freeman is getting closer to the majors for the Braves. Freeman entered this season as the Braves’ #2 rated prospect according to Baseball America. He has played in 29 games in AAA-ball so far this season and he is 31 of 110 (.282 avg, .815 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 4 homers and 16 RBIs. Freeman has now played in 329 games in his four years in the minors with the Braves and he is 360 for 1,229 (.293 avg, .809 OPS) with 168 runs scored, 36 homers and 199 RBIs. Freeman has a solid upside but he will likely spend all or most of the season in AAA unless something happens to Troy Glaus who is playing well for the Braves right now.

38-year old lefty reliever Billy Wagner said earlier this season that this would be his last year before retirement. He appears to be looking to go out on top based on how he is pitching so far this year. Wagner has pitched in 12 games (0 starts) for the Braves so far this season and he is 1-0 with 4 saves, a 1.50 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He has only given up 6 hits while whiffing 18 batters in only 12 innings showing that his stuff is still there. Wagner likely has his sites on passing John Franco as the lefty reliever with the most saves ever in major league history but he has some work to do to get there. Franco has 424 career saves while Wagner has 389. If Wagner catches up to Franco that would mean the Braves are having a outstanding season.

33-year old righty swinging 1B Troy Glaus’ bat is starting to catch fire for the Braves. In his last 10 games, Glaus is 14 of 39 (.359 avg) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers and 10 RBIs. This is good news for the Braves who figured that Glaus would be good for 90-100 RBIs this season if he could stay healthy and he’s ahead of that pace right now. Glaus has played in 34 games this season and he is 31 of 116 (.267 avg, .755 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 4 homers and 23 RBIs. The Braves need him to keep up the good work because they have been wasting some solid pitching due to a lack of offense.

20-year old lefty swinging RF Jason Heyward has been outstanding for the Braves so far this year. He has played in 27 games for the Braves this season and he is 25 of 85 (.294 avg, 1.037 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 8 homers and 26 RBIs. Heyward has whiffed 26 times already this season but he has also walked 16 times which shows that he has a decent eye. His production numbers are even more amazing when you consider that he doesn’t have much help or protection in the lineup. The Braves are only hitting .232 as a team and no other player besides Heyward has more than 2 homers or 15 RBIs this season. Heyward might really put up some eye popping numbers when other Braves’ hitters start to back him up. The sky is the limit for Heyward.

The Braves have called up 21-year old righty reliever Craig Kimbrel to replace Kris Medlen in the bullpen and Jair Jurrjens on the roster. Kimbrel is the Braves’ #5 prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America. Kimbrel has pitched in 11 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this season and he is 0-0 with 6 saves, a 1.20 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. He has only given up 7 hits while whiffing 21 batters in only 15 innings pitched showing just how nasty his stuff is. He brings high 90’s heat with the excellent breaking pitch and a developing changeup which gives him the needed arsenal to be the Braves’ closer sometime in the near future. In his three years in the minors, Kimbrel has pitched in 84 games (0 starts) in which he is 5-5 with 34 saves, a 1.88 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Kimbrel has only allowed 53 hits in 110 1/3 innings while whiffing 180 batters in the minors which are eye popping numbers. He does have some control issues however as he has walked 65 batters in the minors and the Braves need him to tighten up his control or he could get himself into trouble in the big leagues.

The Braves have placed 24-year old righty starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. Jurrjens has started 5 games this season for the Braves and he is 0-3 with a 6.38 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. The Braves hope that rest is just what the doctor ordered to get Jurrjens back to his old self. 24-year old righty Kris Medlen will come out of the bullpen to replace Jurrjens in the starting rotation. Medlen has pitched in 11 games (0 starts) this season for the Braves and he is 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He has only walked 3 batters while whiffing 15 in 16 2/3 innings pitched so he has the stuff to succeed while Jurrjens is out of action. The Braves will need the bullpen ready when Medlen pitches as he has only started 17 games as a professional pitcher in 150 total games.