Kuzul

The Atlanta Braves are once again looking like a championship-caliber team. The Braves have held first place in the National League East for nearly three months and show no signs of slowing down. In fact, they are showing signs of improvement. (see: Derrek Lee)

Atlanta’s success has undoubtedly been a 25-man effort, but that does not mean that the incredible individual performances should go unnoticed. Here are the handful of Braves that are amongst the top candidates to win some of Major League Baseball’s most coveted awards.

Begin Slideshow

The second base position just got a whole lot beefier, as today three of the position’s top guns have been activated from the disabled list. Proud owners of Dustin Pedroia, Chase Utley, and Martin Prado have been forced to plug holes with stragglers like Adam Kennedy and Blake DeWitt. Now is your time to rejoice.

Dustin Pedroia returns to the Red Sox after breaking his left foot nearly two months ago on June 26. In his stead, Bill Hall received the majority of starts at 2B, with Eric Patterson and Jed Lowrie also seeing action. Hall hit 12 homers after Pedroia went down, providing decent numbers for fantasy owners. Hall will likely get significant starts in CF with Jacoby Ellsbury heading back to the DL after more pain in his slow healing fractured ribs. While Pedroia might not be 100 percent game ready, he is still a must start in all leagues. But be wary, he does tend to run in red-hot and ice-cold streaks. A slow start is a realistic expectation while he shakes off the rust. He was hitting .292 with 12 HR and 41 RBI prior to the injury, and had raised his average .38 points in June (from .254).

Right thumb surgery has sidelined Chase Utley since June 29. It had long been speculated that Utley was struggling with the thumb, forcing him to make adjustments to his swing. That could very well be the reason for his average production in the season’s first three months. His .277, 11 HR, 37 RBI stat line looks solid for most second baseman, but for Utley those figures are a disappointment. If Utley is pain free, expect a big final push from him once he settles in. His stroke is the epitome of ‘simple’ and it shouldn’t take him long to rediscover it. Placido Polanco will now shift back to third base full time, and Wilson Valdez will hit the bench. The 32-year-old Valdez did a more than admirable job being thrust into regular action, but was never a fantasy option.

A career utility man, Martin Prado’s fractured finger might have come at an ideal time (well, no injury is ideal). His batting average had plummeted .22 points from .337 to .315 in the month of July suggesting he needed a breather. Maybe sitting on the sidelines for a short while and re-energizing his body will be a positive in the long run. Unlike his 2B compatriots, he’s only been out since July 31 and could find his groove in a flash. All-star selection Omar Infante continued to rake in his absence putting up seven multi-hit games thus far in August. Infante possesses position eligibility all over the diamond, and should continue to see regular ABs at third base with Chipper Jones on the shelf for the year. Once again, Troy Glaus could be the big loser.

In other injury news, Charlie Manuel characterized first baseman Ryan Howard’s chances of returning to the lineup before Friday as “slim”. Howard has been out since August 2 with sprained ligaments in his ankle. He’s eligible to come off the DL today, but that’s obviously not happening. How exactly the Phillies plan to handle his rehabilitation remains unclear. Patience is the key my fantasy brethren, patience. Meanwhile, Mike Sweeney will continue to get the bulk of starts at 1B and is a realistic option in NL-only leagues until big number six returns.

Written by Adam Ganeles exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Look for Adam’s weekly insight into MiLB & MLB ball.

Who will have the strongest return out of Pedroia, Utley or Prado?
Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on twitter @TheFantasyFix

__________________________________________________________________

Here are some more articles that will smack some sense into you…

Fantasy Baseball

Fantasy Baseball Forecast: Week 20’s Two-Start Pitchers & Mike Stanton

Well Hello Morrow! 17Ks & Why He Should Be On Your Fantasy Team

Fix’s AAA Farm Report

Sabermetric Series: BABIP For Dummies

2010 Fantasy Baseball’s Second Half Ranks: Closers

Fantasy Baseball’s Top 50 Pitchers Post All-Star Break  

MLB Fantasy Baseball Second Half Ranks: Third Base

MLB Fantasy Baseball Post ASB Ranks: Second Base  
 
MLB Fantasy Baseball Post ASB Ranks: First Base

MLB Fantasy Baseball Post ASB Positional Ranks: Catcher

Easy Steals and Cheap Thrills

MLB Closer Carousel: American League Report & Fantasy Baseball Implications

Fantasy Football

Why Tony Romo & Phillip Rivers Should Lead Your Fantasy Team

2010 Fantasy Football’s Top Ten Running Backs: Not Named Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson or MJD

2010 Fantasy Football’s Most Under & Overrated Running Backs

2010 Fantasy Football’s Most Under & Overrated Quarterbacks

Fantasy Football’s Late Round Fliers

MAURICE JONES-DREW & THE SIRIUS XM 2010 CELEBRITY FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT

2010 Sirius XM Fantasy Football Draft Recap

More Good Reads from the Fix Fellas!

MLB Records Are Meant To Be Broken! A Fantasy Fix Roundtable Adventure    
What a Bunch of Dicks: Baseball’s Funniest Names    
Fantasy Baseball Geeks: Meet Kelly Slater
Fantasy Surfer: Jeffreys Bay Recap

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With the news breaking on Thursday that Chipper Jones was done for the 2010 season and, potentially, his career with a torn ACL, the Braves found themselves without some sense of certainty at the hot corner for the first time in nearly sixteen years.

Mark Twain once said: “A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away.  He must have time to modify his shape.”

But, you know what?

The Braves don’t have any men that are really square enough to fit into the hole left behind by the veteran switch-hitter…no one’s had to be shaped into that mold with the stature of the 38-year-old Jones.

And they don’t have the time to allow one of their round pegs to modify their shape.

So, the question for the Braves right now is simple: Who is going to be thrust into the square hole at third base?

On the waiver wire, names like Chone Figgins, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Lopez would all have to pass through all of the American League and the majority of the National League before the Braves would have an opportunity to claim them (and, even then, trade partners would likely have pretty high demands since they would know the Braves’ desperation).

And since the options down on the farm don’t exactly scream “excitement,” (Brandon Hicks, though an amazing talent in the field, lacks the bat to play regularly in the Majors; Wes Timmons is a 30-year-old career Minor Leaguer with a .964 FLD% in 104 games at third in AAA; Freddie Freeman is an amazing option if Troy Glaus moves to third…but Glaus’ running is painful to watch, so I’d imagine that his defense at the hot corner would induce a similar effect; Joe Thurston has posted a .255/.303/.376 line at AAA with the majority of his time coming at 2B) we’ll focus on the three big names currently on the big league roster 

Brooks Conrad, despite his occasional defensive brilliance and title of “Captain Clutch,” is best utilized as a bench player (at least for the time being) and has struggled when given starting opportunities in 2010 (as would be expected from a guy that has a mindset of “hack, hack, hack”).

So I think we can eliminate him from the list of contenders right off the bat (although he will, in my opinion, be a valuable asset off the bench to fill in at 2B and 3B down the stretch in the scenario I will reveal momentarily).

So, that leaves Omar Infante and the soon-to-be activated Martin Prado as the two candidates for the hot corner (with the other playing second base…so we’ll run with this theory).

Prado has shown great improvement with the glove at second base with increased playing time, but UZR likes Prado as a third baseman (3.2) more than as a second baseman (-10.1)…that’s not to say that UZR is the be-all, end-all of all types of defensive profiling–it’s just going to be our base for comparison here.

And while UZR doesn’t love Omar Infante at second (-2.5), the way things would swing with Prado at third (where Omar is at 1.0), the Braves would be at their best defensively.

And by phrasing that last paragraph in the way I did…I’ll go ahead and cut to the chase and say that I think that Martin Prado should be the Atlanta Braves’ third baseman when he returns from the disabled list sometime at the beginning of next week.

So, that brings us to our next question concerning this new-ish (since Chipper has been on-and-off the DL for years now) issue: How does the line-up set-up now?

After all, the Braves just lost the guy that’s been batting third in the line-up since 2005 (the year after JD Drew left Atlanta) and no one, obviously, has much experience being “that guy.”

In that spot, you, ideally, want a guy that’s going to be hitting for a fairly high average with a ton of doubles and a ton of hard line drives to move guys first-to-third for the four- and five guys.

With the choices at hand, you have to like Jason Heyward and Martin Prado…Heyward for the ability to hit balls hard all over the field and Prado for his average and gap power.

With those two guys/thoughts in mind, this is the line-up I’d put on the field if I were a grumpy old man with a No. 6 on my back (joke):

Since four-through-eight here is largely unchanged, I’ll offer a fairly brief explanation of why I chose the 1-2-3 punch that I listed for the Braves.

By sliding Prado into the three-hole, even though Jason Heyward will likely have that spot in 2011, you give a nice doubles-hitter two very nice OBP guys in front of him and a pretty strong home run threat directly behind him. 

While the presence of Chipper Jones in the middle of the line-up was nice, this line-up loses virtually nothing in terms of offense (Chipper’s line for ’10 will go down in the books at .265/.381/.426) besides a name.

It’ll be sad if this is indeed the end of Chipper Jones‘ career, and the hole he (potentially) leaves behind pertaining to leadership and “plate presence” will be tough to replace.

But, even though the Braves are in the thick of a playoff race and will be forced to do some “on the job training” with whoever takes over the third base job, this team is equipped to move up, up, and away into the future.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Despite being home to the all-time home run king, the Atlanta Braves have never been known for their ability to hit the ball out of the park. They are somewhat better known as the “Anti-Yankees,” if you will. They have country accents, less money, and very little power, but they have still found ways to to win.

However, the recent surge of power from the Atlanta Braves’ offense has proven that this team can hit the long ball just as well as the next squad and, with Atlanta’s dominating pitching staff, sometimes the Braves only need one or two of these home runs to win ball games. 

Braves hitters have combined for 11 homers in their last six games, while the pitching staff has limited opponents to one homer in that same span. All of a sudden, the Braves have found that power that they have been searching for the whole season.

Jason Heyward finally reminded us that he can hit the ball over the fence while veterans Chipper Jones and Brian McCann have finally returned to their true form. Alex Gonzalez has three home runs as an Atlanta Brave and 20 for the the whole season. Meanwhile, Troy Glaus is once again showing signs of life, and hitting-machine Martin Prado will be returning from the DL any day now.

Suddenly, the Braves are looking powerful.

The Braves will be an even harder team to beat if they can continue to successfully combine great pitching and explosive offense. This month of August is a crucial month. The Braves must keep on finding ways to win baseball games and separate themselves from Philadelphia. This will be no easy task, but if Atlanta can continue to hit the ball well and shut down opposing offenses, they will be virtually unstoppable.

The long ball is an aspect of the Braves game that has seemed to be lacking for many years. If the Braves batters can stay healthy, that ball will continue to fly out of the park and the Braves will continue to win series.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

What a rough year for second basemen! As if fantasy owners didn’t have enough trouble working around Chase Utley, Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler injuries–now Martin Prado, one of the years best runs producers, goes down with a broken knuckle on his pinkie. So assuming you were playing Prado at second and not third, who are the waiver wire options to replace all those wonderful runs and sweet batting average? Let’s take a look…

Begin Slideshow

The main exports from the country of Venezuela are petroleum and firearms, but the most valuable export from the South American country has been a 6 foot 1 power hitting second basemen with more talent than the all of the nine-year-old Mozarts combined on Oprah’s Most Talented Kids. This hitting machine has added more firepower to the Braves lineup than any amount of petroleum and firearms ever could.

His name is Martin Prado and he leads the league in at bats, runs scored, hits, and has the third best batting average in the National League at .315. However, if you want to know anything about Prado’s history before his minor league career, or if you’re curious about what high school team he played for and whether he was class clown or most likely to win a batting title, good luck finding out.

Not even the most die hard Braves fans know much about their starting second basemen. We know that he signed at the age of 16, then he played a couple of years in a developmental Dominican Republic league and a few years later he magically appeared in the Braves farm system and hasn’t stopped improving since.

We got our first real taste of the South American spice when he stepped in as the Braves’ starter at second base when Kelly Johnson went on the DL midway through the 2009 season. The next thing we know, Kelly Johnson is back from the DL and riding the pine and eventually finds himself in the middle of the desert on a last place team after Prado impressed with a .307 batting average and 11 home runs. Prado has only gotten better.

Besides the fact that he can hit well above .300 with around 20 home runs, the best part of Martin Prado’s game is his determination and his humbleness. That’s the difference between him and players like Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips. Both are talented players, but while Phillips decides to boast about every home run and publicly announce that he is the best second baseman in baseball, Prado blasts a 453-foot homer against the Marlins and says this, “The wind was blowing out, I got lucky. There are tropical storms around here.”

Wait a second. That’s not the difference between Martin Prado and Brandon Phillips. The difference is Prado has a better batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, more RBI’s, more hits, and more total bases. Dont worry Brandon, you’re still the better dancer.

Martin Prado is the number one candidate for MVP of the Atlanta Braves this year and he could be MVP of the Braves for many years to come. It seems like Prado has played in every game this season and he is very rarely not on base for Heyward and the boys to drive him in. There has never been a leadoff hitter for the Braves like the one they have now and hopefully he will bounce back from his recent injury and continue to drive us towards the post season. Until then, I guess we have to depend on the All Star .339 hitter, Omar Infante.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Jay-Hey Kid came through again tonight.  Jason Heyward, a favorite for the NL Rookie of the Year, hit a double, moved to third on a Chipper Jones sac fly, and stole home on the next pitch.  He’s stealing more than bases these days, however.  He is stealing the thunder right out of the Phillies and Mets.

It couldn’t come at a better time.

The Braves, atop the NL East and poised to take their first divisional crown since 2002, are cruising with the help of Heyward, 2010 All-Star Game MVP Brian McCann, Troy Glaus, Martin Prado, Matt Diaz, and the crew.  The Braves possess the depth and talent likened to many of the pennant winners in the 1990s.

With a rotation that features Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, and a surprise in Kris Medlen, the pitching is as solid as the days of Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz-Mercker-Avery.  The bullpen is good, too, with guys like Peter Moylan, Eric O’Flaherty, Johnny Venters, and, of course, the venerable Billy Wagner.

Many of those names made impacts tonight.

Tim Hudson pitched 7 2/3 innings of one run, seven hit baseball, striking out seven in the process and walking just one.  Out of 96 pitches, 63 were strikes, including 18 first-pitch strikes.  Venters struck out Adam Dunn to end the eighth.  Wagner, as is often the case, pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his 23rd save on the year.

Prado continued to flourish in his leadoff role, going 3-5 with a double and two runs scored.  Chipper was 1-4 with 2 RBI.  Brian McCann also stole a base, his fourth of the year. 

The Braves improved their record to 58-42, 16 games above .500 and 3.5 games ahead of Philadelphia.  Philadelphia has been hot of late, riding a seven-game win streak.  Atlanta is fighting to stay atop the NL East, and they are getting contributions from everyone.

This Atlanta team is going to be seeing October for the first time in nearly 10 years, and I couldn’t be happier.

NOTES

• Stephen Strasburg was scratched from what was to be his 10th ML start with shoulder soreness.  He isn’t expected to miss any time and should make his next start.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Fantasy baseball sees changes in position depth every year. What starts the season as a weak position may finish as the best, and vice-versa. Entering the season there were 11 second basemen ranked in the Top 100 players in mixed formats. 

Currently, there are only seven active players who will find their name on that Top 100 list, and only three of them were part of the original 11. Let’s take a look at the current rankings for second baseman after the first half of the 2010 season (Injuries Noted):

Robinson Cano NYY (100% Owned)    His numbers across the board are great for any position (66-18-63-.332). This is an MVP candidate who will continue to improve, and continue to provide consistent statistical production. 

Chase Utley PHI  (100% Owned)  Chase would be number one if he wasn’t injured, even with Cano’s great season. Utley’s consistency over the past seven seasons cannot be ignored, you can pencil in 100-30-100-.295 ever year. Upon his return from the DL, Utley should be considered the top player.

Rickie Weeks   MIL (100% Owned)  Finally his production is matching his potential (65-19-62-.277). Rickie was the second overall pick in the 2003 player draft, and after this season may be the second overall second naseman taken in 2011 fantasy drafts.

Dustin Pedroia BOS (100% Owned) Similar to Utley, Dustin would be third on the list after putting up excellent numbers (52-12-41-.292) when healthy. He has never had a bad single season in his young career. Look for him to immediately bounce back when he returns. (DL)

Tier 1A

Ian Kinsler TEX:  This All Star Second Baseman plays for a first place team with lots of lineup protection. Thus far (53-6-38-.304), and expected for a duplicate second half with the pennant in reach.

Brandon Phillips CIN:   Another player in the midst of a pennant race, and putting up potential career numbers (70-13-33-.288). With the Cardinals and Brewers battling the Reds for Central supremacy, Brandon will need to play to his max if they want to win. Expect an extra effort.

Tier 2

Martin Prado ATL:  All Star, First Place Team, NL Hits Leader (67-11-40-.317)

Ben Zobris t TB:  (49-5-44-19-.277) Multi Position Eligible, Continuous production.

Tier 3 

Dan Uggla FLA:  (59-15-53-.271) May or May Not be traded to Contender. If so he jumps Zobrist. You have to love his power from this position.

Kelly Johnson ARZ: (57-14-46-.275) Can he keep this up all season for the lowly Dbacks? My magic 8 ball says “Decidedly So.”

Howie Kendrick ANA: (42-7-53-.275)  Still a potential injury risk, but his run production in 2010 is undeniable for a second baseman. Worth a Start in any format.

Tier 4 

Gordon Beckham CWS: (26/71-14-3-12-0-.366) Over the Last Month…May be the HOTTEST 2B

Placido Polanco PHI:   (92/288-43-6-30-3-.319) Just back from injury and his timing is great already.

Juan Uribe SF:   (80/312-42-12-51-1-.256) Early Season Utility Super Star. Now Everyday Star.

Tier 5

Jose Lopez SEA:  Still Seattle’s Cleanup Hitter with TONS of potential 39 RBI.

Casey McGehee MIL: 13 HR 55 RBI.

Aaron Hill TOR: 13 HR (Great Upside)

Clint Barmes COL:  42 RBI

Ian Stewart COL: 13 HR, 47 RBI

Neil Walker PIT:  (.320 BA)

Chone Figgins SEA:  25 SBs

Ty Wigginton BAL: 16 HR, 48 RBI

Alberto Callaspo LAA:   (40Runs, 8HRs, 43RBI)

Here are some more articles that will help you win your league…

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Originally posted at The Bravesologist

Lineup: 

The Braves lineup is markedly better than most projected to start the season. Certain players have stepped their game up tremendously. The offense has prospered despite a lack of production from others. Baseball is an odd sport. Some years players produce numbers far better than expected while others perform poorly and seemed destined to be non-tendered. Here is the report card for the lineup.

Martin Prado: A

.325 AVG, .367 OBP, .484 SLG, .851 OPS, 10 HR, 25 2B, 2 3B, 16.8 bRAA, 115 wOBA+

Martin has had an unbelievable first half this season and has been one of thebiggest keys to the Braves great first half. Prado’s ability to get hit after hit and put himself into scoring position over 35 times has ignited this offense. What’s funny about it all is that Prado has really just done what he has always done. His wOBA+ for the past three years is 112, 115, and 112, right along pace with his current 115 mark.

Jason Heyward: A-

.251 AVG, .366 OBP, .455 SLG, .821 OPS, 11 HR, 13 2B, 3 3B, 16.7 bRAA, 120 wOBA+

Before Jason’s thumb injury he was a legitimate MVP candidate. His OPS was near the top of the league and his memorable late inning hits were crucial as the Braves moved up in the standings. His plate patience has been incredible, walking 42 times in just 303 plate appearances. He has an isoOBP over .100 and an isoSLG over .200. I fully expect Heyward to bounce back to form once he returns from the DL.

Troy Glaus: B+

.254 AVG, .361 OBP, .441 SLG, .802 OPS, 14 HR, 13 2B, 12.1 bRAA, 112 wOBA+

Glaus has been the power right-handed bat that many were hoping to get in trade this offseason. With Javier Vazquez or Derek Lowe being expendable, a big right-handed left fielder or first basemen seemed attainable. The Braves ended up trading Vazquez for Melky Cabrera and prospects, but the Glaus signing has turned into one of the best value picks of the offseason across the Majors. He has had some big clutch hits including a game-tying home run against the Philadelphia Phillies and a walk-off home run against the Kansas City Royals. Glaus has stayed relatively healthy as well, which was one of the big questions heading into the season.

Brian McCann: B

.267 AVG, .380 OBP, .447 SLG, .827 OPS, 10 HR, 16 2B, 10.9 bRAA, 113 wOBA+

Brian has had better seasons in the past, but he has increased his patience and is continuing to be one of the top hitting catchers in all of baseball. He is only 15 walks away from surpassing his career high as he has 42 already this season. McCann and Glaus have made for a great cleanup platoon and have been fortunate to have guys like Prado, Heyward, and Chipper Jones getting on base regularly in front of them.

Chipper Jones: C+

.252 AVG, .378 OBP, .393 SLG, .771 OPS, 6 HR, 16 2B, 4.8 bRAA, 106 wOBA+

Chipper has had an odd couple of months at the plate. The first two months he was getting on base at a very high rate but not hitting for much power. Over the past month and a half, Chipper has had a lower on base but is hitting more doubles and homers. He could definitely be performing better, but at his age I believe this is what you can expect out of him.

Melky Cabrera: D

.259 AVG, .316 OBP, .348 SLG, 3 HR, 13 2B, 1 3B, -4.0 bRAA, 95 wOBA+

Melky hasn’t been very productive this season at all. He has had some spurts of success, including a go-ahead home run against the New York Mets last weekend, but for the most part he has struggled. He’s on pace for a similar amount of plate appearances as last year and his numbers are down across the board. He’s played close to every day due to his ability to switch hit and play all three outfield spots but he will likely see his role reduced again when Heyward returns.

Yunel Escobar: F

.238 AVG, .334 OBP, .284 SLG, .618 OPS, 0 HR, 12 2B, -8.9 bRAA, 90 wOBA+

Yunel has seen a dramatic decrease in his production this season and has been close to worthless offensively. He has walked a good amount, as usual, and has kept his strikeouts down, but he has hit for close to no power and his on base has suffered due to a low batting average. He has put himself into scoring position just 17 times and he is staring at a career low fly ball percentage.

Nate McLouth: F

.176 AVG, .295 OBP, .282 SLG, .577 OPS, 3 HR, 9 2B, -9.2 wOBA, 84 wOBA+

Much like Escobar, McLouth has done nothing offensively this year when many expected him to improve. He was better than average last year with the Braves despite popular belief, but he has done nothing offensively aside from one walk-off win this year. The concussion he received against the Diamondbacks was unfortunate, but time off may have been the best thing for him at the time. Hopefully he can return to being at least a decent center fielder when he comes off the DL.

Overall Grade: B+

The reason for the grade is the expectancy. Currently, the Braves are sixth in runs in the NL but many believed pre-season that limited offensive production would be their downfall. Prado, Heyward, and Glaus have been incredible and McCann has done his job, which has made for a very formidable top of the lineup. The improved plate discipline across the lineup is one of the biggest reasons for this team being in first place.

Rotation:

The Braves rotation has been a reason for their success midway through the season. Having five reliable starters is an asset that many teams overlook. The majority of teams slot their starters one through five and have top heavy rotations, but the Braves have done it differently the past two years.

The performances of the starters have taken pressure off of the bullpen and bats. Here are the first half grades for the six starting pitchers.

Tommy Hanson: A-

102.3 IP, 104 K, 34 BB, 3.35 FIP, 16.9 kS%, 12.4 pRAA, 123 tRA+

Tommy is the ace of this staff and has thrown the ball better than he did last season. His strikeouts and walks are actually up while his ERA and WHIP have suffered. The raise in those two almost meaningless statistics is due to his BABIP being the highest in the NL and second highest in the majors at .349. There is really no doubt that Tommy is the best pitcher on this staff — please don’t let the publicized stats make you think differently.

Tim Hudson: B

121.1 IP, 61 K, 43 BB, 4.32 FIP, 11.0 kS%, 5.9 pRAA, 110 tRA+

Hudson has been fortunate on batted balls, posting the lowest BABIP in the NL at .232. He hasn’t pitched nearly as well as his publicized numbers would have you suggest. The defense has played well behind him and he has been able to be successful despite having lower strikeout and higher walk totals than he is used to. His ground ball skills may be a reason for his low BABIP, but even if you factor that in, it’s not enough to explain it being such an absurdly low number. Hudson will either regress or pitch better in the second half to keep his numbers down.

Kris Medlen: B-

68.2 IP, 47 K, 13 BB, 4.38 FIP, 14.9 kS%, -4.4 pRAA, 87 tRA+

Medlen hasn’t been as great as a starter as many would believe, but he has still been pretty solid. Despite his overall numbers as a starter, he has posted a 3.83 xFIP and a 3.78 xFIP in June and July respectively. His overall FIP as a starter is pretty high due to his mark being 5.40 this month, but when you normalize the home run to fly ball ratio you can see he is actually pitching better than the aforementioned numbers would suggest. He doesn’t walk many batters and if he can continue to pound the strike zone he will have success.

Kenshin Kawakami: C

82.1 IP, 57 K, 28 BB, 4.29 FIP, 11.3 kS%, -3.8 pRAA, 91 tRA+

Kenshin was removed from the rotation, but he has had a similar season to Derek Lowe. Lowe’s perception as a consistent innings eater combined with his lofty contract and name factor are why Kawakami was moved to the bullpen and Lowe was never even an option. Kenshin hasn’t been great, he’s been below average, but he has posted a 4.35 xFIP in May and June. He’s better than his face stats suggest.

Derek Lowe: C

113.2 IP, 70 K, 44 BB, 4.24 FIP, 12.1 kS%, -4.7 pRAA, 92 tRA+

Lowe is not worthy of his contract, but as a back-end starter he is successful. He throws a ton of innings and keeps the team in ball games. It’s certainly better than the Kyle Davies of the world that the Braves have dealt with in previous seasons. As I mentioned in the introduction, the Braves have five starters who are solid and Lowe, despite his poor performance since joining the Braves, is no different.

Jair Jurrjens: D+

35.0 IP, 25 K, 16 BB, 4.71 FIP, 15.2 kS%, -1.8 pRAA, 90 tRA+

Jair’s injury kept him out for a majority of the year but when he has pitched he hasn’t been very good. It seems as though his leg injury may have been a product of his spring arm injury and that he was never fully healthy when he was pitching in the beginning of the season. It’s a reasonable argument and he has pitched well in the first two starts since returning. Regardless, he hasn’t helped the team as was expected. You can’t blame him for the injuries, but the injuries hurt his production and overall numbers.

Overall Grade: B

The rotation for the most part has been strong. It hasn’t been the dominant force it was last year, mostly due to Jurrjen’s injury and the loss of Javier Vazquez. Medlen’s and Jurrjen’s stats are a smaller sample size and they should improve. Medlen’s numbers as a reliever would suggest that he is better than his line currently states. Look for the rotation to continue to succeed. More specifically, look for Tommy Hanson to have a great second half.

You can find more from Ben at The Bravesologist, Talking Chop, Roto Experts, or on his twitter @Ben_Duronio

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It sounds funny, doesn’t it?

Chase Utley is being challenged for the starting job at second base for this year’s National League All-Star team.

Up until this year, that was a preposterous thought, but seemingly out of the woodwork.

Now there has emerged a legitimate contender from the Atlanta Braves in the form of leadoff hitter Martin Prado—who is currently standing in second place in voting(though he is far from “nipping at the heels” of the leader) behind the venerable Utley.

Since Utley is by far the sexier name here, we’ll use a sort of a “blind” system by which to judge the two.

Player A has a slash line of .333/.375/.464 (with that .333 being good enough for second in the National League behind the barely-qualified-for-consideration Andre Ethier) with six home runs, 29 RBI, 47 runs scored, and 31 multi-hit games (13 of three hits or more).

Player A has also collected 18 doubles and a single stolen base (to three caught stealing) while putting up a 9.0 UZR/150 in 65 games at second base.

Player B’s slash line looks like this: .260/.376/.461.

Player B has also collected the third most home runs by a full-time second baseman with 10, 26 RBI, 41 runs scored, two steals (to one caught stealing), and 12 doubles.

On the defensive side of the ball, UZR/150 gives this player a rating of 16.3 through the 61 games he has played at second base.

By throwing out on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and stolen bases, we can see how these players separate themselves from one another a bit. Even though RBI and runs scored are close, I think they are each still relevant considering where each of these guys bat in their respective lineups.

Player A: .333 AVG/6 HR/29 RBI/47 RS/9.0 UZR/150

Player B: .260 AVG/10 HR/26 RBI/41 RS/16.3 UZR/150

So, make your pick.

Now, the unveiling, though I’m sure Braves and Phillies fans have already figured out who is who.

Player A is Martin Prado.

Player B is leading vote-getter Chase Utley.

My opinion lies a bit on the subjective side since I get to watch Prado play and collect his 95 current hits every day, but I don’t see how Utley can get the nod when name recognition, which is almost a bit regrettably a pretty big factor in All-Star voting, is thrown out the window.

The way Prado has energized what was an anemic Braves offense before he took over the leadoff spot also throws out the “value to a team’s success” factor that comes into play in some ballots cast.

I’ll grant Utley the fact that he’s been playing hurt, but voting should be based on results (and to potential results, Prado’s BABIP is .366 to Utley’s .264, so Prado has had quite a bit more luck when it comes to “hitting ’em where they ain’t” on the field).

I feel the stats back me up a bit here; Prado has had more of those.

So what do you think (ignoring the fact that Utley’s more than likely getting the starting nod from the fans)?

Should Utley get the nod for his longevity as one of the premier second basemen in the game?

Or should Prado be the man for the impressive numbers he’s posted thus far in the 2010 season?

This article is also featured on The Hey Train.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com