Assorted Under-The-Radar Observations

Hello again everyone! I have my iPad pointed in exactly the right direction for the WiFi to connect here by the lagoon in Hawaii, so I’m striking while the iron’s hot writing this post.

Kudos to Fred for all the fine work he’s doing while I’m away. His thoroughness does make it a challenge to find avenues to pursue to write about during the brief interludes of web access, though! Having said that, I did run across a couple of interesting things that haven’t been trampled on, such as:

Brooks Conrad booted a routine ground ball at second today. Can there be much doubt that this is now a mental issue? If Brooks can’t play the field, are the Braves confident enough in him to carry him as a pinch hitter only? With the bench talent they have, can they afford to?

The Braves are dangerously thin at shortstop. Alex Gonzalez is fast approaching the age of major decline for shortstops. He is also due for an off-year, if his past history is any indicator. The only insurance on the roster is Diory Hernandez, who candidly has very little experience and hasn’t looked terribly good when he has played. Can the Braves survive another black hole in the lineup? Should Wren act now or wait until disaster strikes?

Looking out into the not-too-distant future, the Braves may have a critical decision coming up at catcher. Christian Bethancourt is thought to be the Braves future at the position, and is reputed to have the skill set to be an impact All-Star. Watch for him to put up big numbers this year. If he does, do the Braves follow their recent pattern and say bye to McCann as a free agent?

What do you think? Aloha for now!