27-year old righty swinging LF Martin Prado’s bat caught fire in May. Prado has played in 27 games so far this May and he is 35 for 113 (.310 avg, .839 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 5 homers and 20 RBIs. He has now played in 55 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 65 for 232 (.280 avg, .754 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 7 homers, 32 RBIs and 1 stolen base. It appears that Prado has adapted to playing the outfield for the Braves, and now he’s back on track with the bat.

The Braves have dealt 35-year old righty starting pitcher Rodrigo Lopez to the Cubs for 24-year old lefty reliever Ryan Buchter. Lopez pitched in 9 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Braves this year and he was 6-1 with a 2.59 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Ryan Buchter has pitched in 16 games (0 starts) in A+AA-ball for the Cubs so far this year and he was 4-0 with 1 save, a 3.38 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He has now pitched in 149 games (2 starts) in his six years in the minors and he is 20-7 with 8 saves, a 3.82 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Buchter has whiffed 251 batters in his first 212 innings in the minors so he has a big time arm, but he also has control issues. This was a good deal for both teams as the Cubs need help now, while the Braves get another power lefty for the pen down the road.

The Braves have recently signed 28-year old righty reliever Steven Shell to a minor league deal. Shell has pitched in 10 games (0 starts) so far in AAA-ball and he is 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. Shell last pitched in the majors in 2009 with the Nationals. Shell has pitched in 43 games (0 starts) in parts of two years in the majors and he is 2-2 with 2 saves, a 2.45 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Shell could help the Braves down the road in 2011 if he can get his act back together in AAA.

Righty reliever Gene Garber couldn’t dent a couch with his fastball but he got a lot of batters out when he pitched with the Braves. Garber’s best season with the Braves came in 1982 when he finished 7th in the voting for the Cy Young Award. Garber pitched in 69 games (0 starts) for the Braves inn 1982 and he was 8-10 with 30 saves, a 2.34 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He only gave up 100 hits in 119 1/3 innings in 1982. Garber pitched 10 seasons with the Braves in which he appeared in 557 games (0 starts) and he was 53-73 with 141 saves, a 3.34 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. Garber is #2 in Braves’ history in saves (141) and he’s also tied for 4th with Hall of Famer Kid Nichols with 557 games pitched. Garber might not have been pretty but he got the job done most of the time.

Lefty starting pitcher Warren Spahn played with the Braves when they were still in Boston & Milwaukee. His best year with the Braves came back in 1957 (with Milwaukee) when he pitched in 39 games (35 starts) and he was 21-11 with 3 saves, a 2.69 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP which earned him his only Cy Young Award of his Hall of Fame career. Spahn pitched with the Braves from 1942-1964 (20 years). You say that those numbers don’t add up? That’s because he left the Braves to serve in World War II from 1943-45. Spahn pitched in 714 games (635 starts) in his career with the Braves and he was 356-229, with 29 saves, a 3.05 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Spahn is the Braves’ all-time leader in games started (635), wins (356), innings pitched (5,046) and shutouts (63). He is also #2 in games pitched (714), #3 in strikeouts (2,493) and he’s #2 in complete games (374) in Braves’ history. Spahn won 20 or more games in 13 of his 20 seasons with the Braves! Spahn is currently #6 in Major League history in wins with 363 and he was elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1973.

The Braves have placed 29-year old lefty swinging starting CF Nate McLouth on the 15-day disabled list due to a left oblique strain. McLouth has played in 48 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 39 for 164 (.238 avg, .673 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 3 homers, 11 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Braves have recalled 24-year old lefty swinging outfieler Jordan Schafer to replace McLouth on the active roster. Schafer has played in 42 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 42 for 164 (.256 avg, .633 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 1 homer, 21 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. His lone major league experience came back in 2009 with the Braves. Schafer played in 50 games for the Braves in 2009 and he just wasn’t up to the challenge. He played was 34 for 167 (.204 avg, .600 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 2 homers, 8 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Schafer also whiffed 63 times in 2009 as he was often overmatched. The Braves hope that he’s much better this time around.

The Braves have signed 35-year old righty swinging infielder Julio Lugo to a minor league deal. Lugo played in 93 games for the Orioles last year and he was 60 for 241 (.249 avg, .581 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 0 homers, 20 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,330 games in his first 11 years in the majors and he is 1,273 for 4,714 (.270 avg, .720 OPS) with 685 runs scored, 80 homers, 472 RBIs and 198 stolen bases. Lugo will likely get to the majors soon if he gets off to a quick start in AAA. I like this signing for the Braves.

The Braves have placed 21-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jason Heyward on the 15-day D.L. with recurring soreness in his right shoulder. Heyward has played in 45 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 30 for 140 (.214 avg, .724 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 7 homers, 14 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Braves will replace Heyward in RF with 28-year old righty swinging Joe Mather. Mather has played in 14 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 12 for 30 (.400 avg, 1.053 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. The Braves have recalled 25-year old righty swinging outfielder Wilkin Ramirez to replace Heyward on the active roster. Ramirez has played in 33 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 29 for 117 (.248 avg, .806 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 7 homers, 16 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. His only major league experience came back in 2009 with the Tigers when he appeared in 15 games in which he was 4 for 11 (.364 avg, 1.203 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. The Braves hope Heyward returns to action soon.

The Atlanta Braves’ trio of lefty relievers have been dominating so far this year. Jonny Venters is the set-up man for the Braves and he has been lights out this year. Venters has pitched in 25 games (0 starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 3-0 with 1 save, a 0.68 ERA and a 0.61 WHIP. He has only given up 9 hits in his first 26 1/3 innings this year while whiffing 26 batters as he has been outstanding! Eric O’Flaherty has also been outstanding without much fanfare. He has pitched in 25 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Braves and he is 1-2 with a 1.13 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has given up only 18 hits in his first 24 innings pitched while whiffing 25 batters as he has also been outstanding this year. Veteran George Sherrill has also been solid for the Braves this year. He has pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 1.86 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He has only given up 7 hits in his first 9 2/3 innings while whiffing 11 batters so far this year. The Braves have the best trio of lefty relievers in all of baseball and it will come in handy against the teams in the N.L. the rest of this season.

The Atlanta Braves have placed 24-year old righty starting pitcher Brandon Beachy on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained left oblique. He will likely miss at least 3 weeks due to this injury. Beachy has pitched in 8 games (all starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 1-1 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has whiffed 46 batters this year while only allowing 36 hits in his first 44 1/3 innings, which shows just how good he has been this year. The Braves are likely going to call up 20-year old righty Julio Teheran to replace Beachy in the starting rotation. He made his debut in the majors this year before being sent down to the minors after the game. He is 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in the majors. Teheran has also pitched in 6 games (all starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 3-0 with a 1.91 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.