27-year old lefty reliever Jonny Venters is having a pretty easy time getting major league hitters out again so far this year. He has pitched in 8 games for the Braves out of the pen this year and he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Venters has whiffed 15 batters in his first 7 2/3 innings as he has been almost unhittable. Venters has pitched in 172 games (0 starts) in his first three years with the Braves and he is 12-6 with 6 saves, a 1.81 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Venters is probably the best set-up man in the N.L., so if you don’t beat the Braves in the first seven innings….it’s usually game over.

29-year old lefty swinging CF Michael Bourn came to the Braves at last July’s trade deadline. He played in 53 games for the Braves last year and he was 63 of 227 (.278 avg, .674 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 1 homer, 18 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. The Braves expected more out of Bourn last year, and he’s trying to make up for that in 2012. Bourn has played in 17 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 23 of 69 (.333 avg, .823 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 0 homers, 4 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. The Braves hope that Bourn keeps up the good work at the top of the lineup to ignite the offense.

The Braves have sent 26-year old righty starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens to AAA-ball. He has pitched in 4 games (all starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 0-2 with a 9.37 ERA and a 2.45 WHIP. Jurrjens has given up 30 hits (5 homers) and he has walked 10 batters in only 16 1/3 innings so far this year. Jurrjens deserved this demotion as he has been awful so far this year for the Braves. He will likely be replaced in the rotation by Tim Hudson this weekend. The Braves are not giving up on Jurrjens though, as they will likely call him back up when he gets back into a good groove in AAA. Jurrjens has pitched in 112 games (all starts) in his first five years with the Braves and he is 47-34 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP.

22-year old lefty swinging 1B Freddie Freeman is red hot at the plate lately for the Braves. In his last four games, Freeman is 10 for 17 (.588 avg) with 7 runs scored, 5 doubles, 3 homers and 12 RBIs as he is locked in at the plate right now. He has now played in 13 games for the Braves overall this year and he is 16 for 54 (.296 avg, .902 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 3 homers and 13 RBIs. Freeman is a big key to the Braves’ offense, so they hope he continues to rake for a while.

Outfielder Ron Gant was a pretty solid player with the Atlanta Braves. He played in 858 games in 7 years with the Braves and he was 836 of 3,192 (.262 avg, .793 OPS) with 515 runs scored, 147 homers, 480 RBIs and 157 stolen bases. In 1991 and 1992, Gant was a 30/30 man, which shows just how good he was at his peak. He scored at least 100 runs 3 times, whacked 30+ homers 3 times, drove in over 100 runs twice and he stole at least 30 bases three times in his 7 years with the Braves. Gant was released in March of 1994 after breaking his leg in an ATV accident. Gant returned to the majors in 1995 with the Reds and he had a solid year. Gant went on to played in 1,832 games in his 16 years in the majors and he was 1,651 of 6,449 (.256 avg, .803 OPS) with 1,080 runs scored, 321 homers, 1,008 RBIs and 243 stolen bases. So Gant had a solid career, but his best years were with the Atlanta Braves.

26-year old righty reliever Cory Gearrin had a rough go of it in his first taste of the majors last year. He pitched in 18 games (0 starts) for the Braves last year and he was 1-1 with a 7.85 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Gearrin came into this season as the Braves’ #29 prospect according to Baseball America and he’s showing why so far in AAA-ball. He has pitched in 5 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 1-0 with 1 save, a 0.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. If Gearrin keeps pitching well in AAA, he’ll get another chance with the Braves at some point this year.

Whenever anyone talks about the young starting pitchers of the Mets, rarely is 25-year old righty Brandon Beachy talked about. But, this guy is the real deal and he keeps getting better. Beachy has started 2 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 1-1 with a 0.75 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has only given up 7 hits in his first 12 innings this year as he has been downright nasty so far this year. Beachy has now pitched in 30 games (all starts) in his first three years with the Braves and he is 8-6 with a 3.42 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.

39-year old switch-hitting 3B Chipper Jones is off to a good start in the last year of his major league career. He has played in 3 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 5 for 12 (.417 avg, 1.417 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 5 RBIs. Jones is pretty much locked in Braves’ history as he is the all-time leader in walks with 1,457. He is #2 all-time in games played (2,390), OPS (.937), runs scored (1,564), doubles (526) and RBIs (1,566). Jones is behind Hank Aaron in all of those categories and he’s too far behind to pass him. He is also #3 in homers in Braves’ history with 456 of them and he trails Hank Aaron (733) and Eddie Mathews (493). I think Jones is going to be in the Hall of Fame five years after he retires.

22-year old lefty swinging RF Jason Heyward burst onto the scene in 2010 when he finished 2nd in the N.L. Rookie of the Year Voting. Last year though, he played through an injured shoulder and the result was a very disappointing sophomore season. Heyward played in 128 games for the Braves last year and he was 90 for 396 (.227 avg, .708 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 14 homers, 42 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. But, the early signs are good for Heyward this year. He has played in 6 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 6 for 19 (.316 avg, 1.013 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Braves are counting on Heyward to have a big year in 2012, so they hope he can keep up the good work.

The Braves were swept by the New York Mets last weekend as they were outscored by a combined score of 12-7. The Braves only hit .151 with a .528 OPS against the Mets. 1B Freddie Freeman was 3 for 12 (.250 avg, .500 OPS) with 1 run scored over the weekend and he was the Braves’ best hitter. The Braves had a 4.50 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP against the Mets. The got a good start out of Tommy Hanson, who is 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. But, Jair Jurrjens (0-1, 6.23 ERA and a 2.31 WHIP) and Mike Minor (0-1 with a 10.80 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP) were both awful for the Braves in their first starts of the 2012 season. The Braves will travel to Houston to take on the 2-1 Astros next.