Apr 23, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hugs third baseman Chris Johnson after the game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Braves defeated the Rockies 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Freeman spent the weekend with the Gwinnett Braves, where he went 5-10 at the plate. He returns at a pivotal point in the Braves start to the 2013 season. After a 3 game losing streak against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Braves have been struggling to score runs and Freeman proved he is healed and ready to help the team bounce back.

The Braves won both games against the Rockies yesterday with scores of 4-3 and 10-2. The team showed signs of good hitting yesterday with 23 hits in two games. Eight of the 14 runs collectively scored were scored off of 6 homeruns, 3 in each game. It seems as though the curse of either striking out or hitting a home run might be slipping away.

The double header was also a good look for Braves fans at both players involved the Justin Upton/Chris Johnson trade. Johnson secured the role of starting third baseman and made his first official start as the full time third baseman yesterday. Johnson, who is leading the team in batting average with a .397, has proven himself as a huge asset to the team. Upton hit a home run in each game, bringing his season total up to a league-leading 11 home runs in 20 games.

Freeman’s return means great things for the Braves, as he is batting .348 this season through 23 plate appearances. If the team keeps up this fantastic start and are able to produce more hits and less strikeouts, they are surely bound for a magnificent season.

Apr 3, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley (26) scores a run under Atlanta Braves catcher Evan Gattis (24) that is later disallowed by an interference call during the seventh inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Phillies 9-2. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

If you haven’t heard, Gattis has a story like none other. He started off in high school earning a scholarship from Texas A&M University but abandoned it after struggling with substance abuse. He went into rehab for his abuse and when he came out he enrolled in Seminole State College. He injured his knee his freshman year and quit college after that. Gattis wondered the United States for four years trying to ‘find himself’ and decide what to do with his life. He worked as a janitor, a ski-lift operator and even worked in a pizza parlor. He eventually came back to baseball in 2010, playing for the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and was drafted by the Braves in that same year.

As a 26-year-old rookie, Evan Gattis is one of the most interesting players to enter the game of baseball. He has played in five games so far this season and has gone 7-of-19 at the plate with a .368 AVG, 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. He’s been fantastic behind the plate with a perfect fielding percentage through 40 chances and has not committed an error.

As Christian Bethancourt is playing in Jackson, MS and Brian McCann is healing his shoulder, Evan Gattis is making one heck of a name for himself. Suddenly, the talks of Bethancourt being called up to the bigs to challenge McCann have stopped. The hopes that the Braves might resign McCann have fallen and everyone is star struck by a player that they had never heard of going into this spring training. A spring training where Gattis also had a .368 AVG, 6 home runs and 13 RBIs in 24 games.

The Braves have a very difficult situation when McCann returns from the DL though. It’s still unclear as to who would be sent back down. A lot of people expected it to be Gattis; however, I would expect that to change if he continues on this fantastic streak that he’s on. He’s taken over the cleanup position in the lineup since Freddie Freeman was put on the DL and has proven himself quite a bit.

However, his work is not done. As we all know, baseball is a game of streaks. He has to prove that he can be consistent if he wants to potentially challenge McCann for the starting role. If Gattis continues to shine, I think he could potentially take that role away from McCann if he struggles upon his return. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

March 26, 2013; Lakeland, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves left fielder Justin Upton (8) and center fielder B.J. Upton (2) work out prior to the game against the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

B.J. was 0 for 14 coming into last night’s game while Justin was 4 for 13 with 3 homeruns. In the bottom of the ninth inning last night, B.J. got his second hit of the day and season. A homerun just over left-center that gave the Braves the tying run. Then, just two batters later, Justin proves to big brother that he can do it too, getting his second homerun of the night in walk-off fashion.

To say that last night will be the only time we see the brothers battling it out would be an understatement. This is the kind of excitement I hoped for when Justin got traded. I wanna see that “I can do better than that” attitude that you see in two brothers. Now that B.J. has finally found his footing in Atlanta, we might be seeing a lot more of it.

Big things are expected of both Uptons this year, but especially for Justin after the way he’s started. Everyone is hoping he breaks forty homeruns for the first time in his career while hopefully finishing with an average above .300, something that he’s never done. Justin’s highest average was a .300 exactly back in 2009. However, he’s proved himself worthy of the trade so far this season.

As for B.J., he was a bit of a late bloomer last season as well, so there’s nothing unexpected in his performance so far this season. He hit 21 of his 28 homeruns in the second-half of the 2012 season. However, there were questions about his focus on and off the field. Although, I’d assume his focus is pretty well centered on baseball right now given his poor start and the way that Justin had showed him up to start the first week of play. B.J. wants to bounce back from the slouch he had in opening week and did it in tremendous fashion last night. As a Braves fan and someone who has both Uptons on my fantasy team, I look forward to this back and forth for months to come.