| Douglas Benton. 3rd May, 2007 - 8:10 pm
 Something wasn?t right in Atlanta last season. They didn?t win the division. They didn?t make the playoffs. They had a horrid bullpen. And they couldn?t get consistent lead-off production. This season, the Braves are in first place, the bullpen is surging and they are getting great production from top spot. The main difference for this is second baseman Kelly Johnson.
Johnson first came up to the Braves in 2005 as a part of the famed, ?Baby Braves,? movement and filled in at left field. During his time, he showed great plate discipline and average fielding skills.
However, Johnson was out the entire 2006 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The surgery also meant a position change from the outfield to second base and a winter full of work with first base coach Glen Hubbard.
The transition was spotlighted and questioned during spring training and early into the regular season, but not anymore.
He is fifth in baseball among second basemen in batting average (.323), first in on-base percentage (.466) and runs (26).
His bat has picked up in recent week as he has demonstrated a great sense of the strike zone and has a fluid swing that has produced hard line-drives to all areas of the field. Johnson also has filled the void of a lead-off left by Rafael Furcal and been an excellent table-setter for the power bats of Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones.
Johnson?s play in the field though has been the talk of Atlanta. In his first month as a second baseman at any level, he has only made one error in 123 total chances. His fielding percentage of .992 is tied for third in baseball and it hasn?t been on all routine plays.
While Johnson isn?t all-world at second, he?s good at starting and turning the double play and has above-average range in both directions. His play has softened the loss of Marcus Giles in the field, who is a top second baseman in the National League.
Johnson is one of main cogs in Atlanta?s early revivals and it will be his continued stellar play that will keep them there.
Douglas Benton can be reached at Douglas.Benton@RealGM.com |
