When Jordan Schafer was demoted to AAA Gwinett earlier this month, I wondered what effect it might have on his attitude and what role he may play in Atlanta’s future.  A Braves fan who goes by the moniker Roy Hobbs and I exchanged a few emails, in which he pointed out that McLouth would be moved to a corner spot (likely left when Garret Anderson is done stealing money from the Braves after this season) and Schafer inserted back in center.  This made a lot of sense to me, especially after doing a little digging on the interwebs.  Why does this matter now?  Simple, we have a Schafer update to pass along.

So do not look for Jordan to be back in the Majors anytime soon, as he will not even swing a bat until this weekend at the earliest (according to his two weeks of scheduled inactivity).  He will then need at least a few weeks to get things turned around before being recalled to Atlanta.  He may also need a personel move by the Braves in order to get called back up, because McLouth is now roaming center and injuries notwithstanding he is not sitting down for the 22 year old Schafer.  Does that mean either Garret Anderson or Jeff Francouer could be shipped out of town?  One can only hope.

The Braves sent struggling center fielder Jordan Schafer back to the Minors today, and recalled Gregor Blanco to take his starting job. This move is overdue in my opinion, but no one has called me to ask for advice. Not even an email. Seriously, dude is hitting .203 with two homers, one of which came on opening day in Philly. He has also only driven in eight runs on the year, three of those coming in his first three games for Atlanta. Stolen bases? Two. Runs? 18. You know what he has thrived at? Walking back to the dugout carrying his bat. Schafer has 63 strikeouts in 195 plate appearances. A little math tells me that he strikes out about a little more than once every three times he steps in the box. If I have to tell you how horrible that is, please stop reading now.

His replacement, Blanco, has not exactly been tearing up the Minors himself. With a .242 batting average and paltry .635 OPS, do not expect Blanco to be much of an improvement. To sum it up, the Braves absolutely suck in the outfield this year.

So what do the Braves do now?  After Blanco fails miserably, and I have no reason to think that he will not, they will  give Brandon Jones another look, which is what they should be doing now anyway.  At least Jones is batting .300 in AAA.

It is about time to start considering their trade options if the Braves want to contend this year.  There is no way they can do so with their current slate of outfielders.  There is also no way your fantasy team could contend with any of these guys, so do not bother giving any of them a look.

Tom Glavine threw a bullpen session at Citi Field in New York on Wednesday, and all indications are that he is on track to return to the Braves later this month.  Glaves hopes to pitch in the Bigs in May, but he still has to regain more arm strength.  His velocity, which is sitting around 81mph on his fastball, will probably not improve very much, as dude is 43 years old.  If Glaves does indeed wind up joining the Braves later this month, it will allow them to send Jo-Jo Reyes back down to the Minors.  A move that they desperately need to make, even if Glaves does not come back.

If you are new to this site, please peruse the archives as there is more Hanson and Morton content at your disposal.

We all know who Tommy Hanson is at this point.  If you frequent this blog, then you also know that I do not think he will be called up until June to keep him from becoming a Super Two player, which is the same way I feel about Matt Wieters.  So how is Tommy doing so far this season?  That depends on how you value wins.

Hanson currently does not have any wins for the 2009 season.  He sits here with an 0 – 3 record, despite posting a 29:7 K:BB ratio through four starts.  His ERA sits at 2.18, with the five earned runs he has allowed in his 20.2 innings of work.  He is holding opponents to a .205 batting average as well.  So despite being winless, dude is pitching extremely well.  If you can afford to waste a roster spot for a month, and Hanson is available on your waiver wire, snatch him up.  With Kenshin Kawakami struggling, and Glavine still possibly facing retirement, it is looking more and more like Hanson will be in the Majors before the middle of June.

Last night the number one pitching prospect in the game took the mound in Durham to face the Bulls.  Tommy Hanson gave up one run over 5.2 innings of work while striking out seven batters.  He walked two, and allowed three hits while earning his first loss of the season.  Okay, it is hard to pin the loss on Hanson since the Gwinnett Braves were shutout and he only gave up one run, but that run was indeed fueled by a wild pitch.  Hanson’s counterpart for Durham, Jason Cromer, gave up three hits of his own and struck out three Braves in his five innings.  It was Cromer’s first start of the season, and also his first win.

Hanson is going to be watched very carefully with the Tom Glavine situation brewing.  As I have stated several times, I do not think he will be called up for a while due to the Braves’ desire to keep him from becoming a Super Two player.

Atlanta Braves prospect Charlie Morton has been named the International League’s Pitcher of the Week.  He won that because of his start against the Charlotte Knights on Sunday, in which his Gwinnett Braves won 4 – 3.  Dude was sick for six innings, striking out 12 while only giving up one run, hit and walk apiece.  Do the Braves reward him Saturday by letting him take Tom Glavine’s rotation spot against the Pirates?  Nope, that goes to Jo-Jo Reyes, who got blitzed for four runs and a loss over his six innings against the Knights.  Morton would have had spot start written all over him if he gotten the nod.  Reyes?  Not so much.