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Well, we know that we faced them yesterday and lost.
[url=http://cranepoolforum.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=11575]Here's[/url] what we knew two months ago, and here's what has changed:
The Outfield
Back then, the Braves outfield was a source of humor for me, being composed of strikeout machines Jordan Schaefer and Jeff Francoeur, and decomposed of the undead corpse of Garrett Anderson. But now, one of them is in the minors, one of them is a Met, and the last is actually hitting at a markedly improved clip (.280/.311/.415, 6 homers).
Taking over in centerfield is Nate McClouth, who in June was called up from AAA Pittsburgh. McClouth had a breakout season in 2008 after winning a starting job outright. He hasn't experienced a dramatic slide, but his numbers have been a notch below last year's. They'd still be very good for a centerfielder if he wasn't a subpar defensive player at that position.
Ryan Church, the left-handed solid defender whom we're all quite familiar with, jumps into a corner OF rotation with right-handed specialist Matt Diaz (.364/.419/.519 vs. lefties) and aging defensive liability Anderson.
The Infield
Not all that much. Catcher Brian McCann is healthy, not blind, and hitting the way you've come to expect him to hit. Casey Kotchman still has negligible power for a 1st baseman, but gets on-base just enough to be a league average hitter. Kelly Johnson, coming off an awful June line of .125/.229/.167 which punctuated a season-long slump, was put on the DL in early July with wrist tendinitis and rendered irrelevant by Martin Prado, a 25 year old enjoying a solid breakout season. Larry Jones is still a talented jerkoff. Shortstop Yunel Escobar is hitting like he did last year, but with more pop. He's pretty good.
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