Braves season preview: The infield

As a preview to the upcoming Braves season, AJC staff writer Carroll Rogers breaks down the team by position. Today: The infield.

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AP

Catcher Brian McCann led the Braves in home runs (23) and RBIs (87) last season.

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SEASON PREVIEW

• The rotation | Spring stats
• Sutton's take on the staff
• Q&A with Derek Lowe
• More: The outfield | Murphy's take
• The infield | Lemke on infield

RELATED BRAVES LINKS

• Schedule • Beat blog • Stats

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The Braves know pretty well what they’re going to get at every position on the infield except maybe first base. Casey Kotchman, who was traded to the Braves from the Angels last year, was two different hitters when he arrived: one who hit .157 in his first 20 games with the Braves, and another who hit .305 in his last 22 games. With an offseason and a spring training to get used to this setting, the Braves figure Kotchman will be more like the latter and the one who hit .292 in his last two years with the Angels. Kotchman is not a huge power threat, but he hit a career-high 14 home runs last year between the Angels and Braves. Along with Kelly Johnson (12 home runs last year) and Yunel Escobar (10), the Braves figure to spread the home runs around. Kotchman has shown soft hands at first base, which is important with the sinkerballers on staff such as Derek Lowe and Jair Jurrjens.

Three other things to watch:

• Will Kelly Johnson pick up where he left off in September? As one of the more streaky hitters in the Braves lineup, Johnson ended last season on a high. His 22-game hitting streak raised his average to .287 for the season. He aims to be more aggressive earlier in the count, and according to baseball historian Bill James, that works. When Johnson saw three pitches or fewer in 2008, James said he batted almost 200 points higher than when he saw more.

• Does Brian McCann hit in the cleanup spot? McCann led the Braves in home runs (23) and RBIs (87) last season and is one of their best clutch hitters. But do the Braves want their catcher as a cleanup hitter, when he can’t play every day because of the rigors of catching? The Braves will have other choices with Garret Anderson, who has hit fourth for the majority of his career, or they could drop Chipper Jones out of his familiar third spot.

• How healthy will Chipper Jones be? Jones won the National League batting title last year (hitting .364) at age 36, showing he’s managed to get even better as a hitter with age. What has declined is his durability. He hasn’t played 140 games since 2003, and he was slowed this spring by a strained oblique muscle. That’s one reason the Braves are hesitant to trade Martin Prado because he’s so valuable as a backup to Jones at third base.