Johnson heating up at plate
Eleven days into the month of May, Chris Johnson has started to find his groove.
After hitting .231 in April, the Braves third baseman has looked a lot more like the hitter who came 10 points shy of the National League batting title last year.
He’s raised that average 48 points in the first week and a half of May, to .279, while going 15-for-36 (.417).
Johnson is an aggressive hitter by nature, but he thinks he got too aggressive to start the season.
“The reason I was going so good last year is I was able to be a little bit more patient and wait for my pitch,” Johnson said. “And early in the year I was trying to force it I think a little too much, rather than just take what the pitcher was giving me. I think I’m getting back to that right now.”
Johnson has had six multi-hit games in 10 this month. He had four in April.
He’s made the most of his hits too. Johnson drove in the winning run in a 2-1 win over the Cardinals Tuesday night to help halt the Braves seven-game losing streak. He drove in two runs on a base hit Friday night, which would have been good for the go-ahead runs, if not for a Craig Kimbrel blown save. And he started the two-run rally in the seventh inning of Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Cubs with a bloop single.
“I feel like the swing is coming along a little better,” Johnson said. “I feel like it’s coming on. I’m starting to get back into those at-bats and we’re only 100 at-bats in, so you can build on a slow start and work your way up. I think we’re doing that as a team right now.”
