Atlanta Braves Week In Review

May 11, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Atlanta Braves infielder

(19) flips the ball to infielder

(26) while helping to turn a double play against the San Francisco Giants in the fourth inning at AT

What’s up everyone, and welcome to another feature here at ATL All Day: Atlanta Braves Week In Review. We figured you guys keep up with a ton of sports information and it would be good to give you a weekly recap of each of the professional Atlanta sports teams once a week. That’s right, the Hawks and Falcons will have these features as well–even during the off season. There are plenty of things going on for all of these teams 24/7 and we will make sure you get a weekly recap 52 times a year.

Going forward we are hoping to have the Braves Week in Review on Mondays but for the first one, Tuesday will have to work.

Looking back to May 6 when the Braves began a series against Cincinnati is a bit bitter-sweet for Braves fans. Since that day the Braves have gone 4-4 with a nice win in a series against the Reds (2-1), but a bit of an embarrassment in San Francisco (1-3). The Braves could salvage the road trip with another win tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks, which would make a .500 10 game trip the worst possibility. A series sweep of the Diamondbacks would give Atlanta a 6-4 record on the trip.

Easily the best news over the past week for Atlanta fans is the impressive return of All-Star catcher, Brian McCann (sorry Mike Minor). Since McCann’s return to the team in the Cincinnati series he has hit .333/.423/.762 in 26 plate appearances (6 games). After having just Justin Upton carrying the team for most of the first month it is great to see McCann healthy and hitting. The best part about his return is probably the power numbers he is putting up. It is encouraging after shoulder surgery to see that McCann is having no problem leaving the yard–of his seven hits, three are homers.

Getting back to Mike Minor, he has been exceptional so far this year and solidified himself as the current best pitcher in the Braves rotation with an impressive outing yesterday to get his fifth win of the season. He threw 6.2 innings while allowing just one run on four strikeouts and two walks. Currently he is 5-2 with a 2.75 ERA, 3.72 FIP, and .97 WHIP. The key for Minor this year has been his incredible control, walking just 1.72 batters per nine innings. This has led to a career best K/BB ratio of 4.20.

In the injury department, Jason Heyward is in the middle of a minor league rehab stint and hoping to be back sometime this week. After starting out poorly, he managed to get a few hits in his past two games with Triple-A Gwinnett. It will be a big boost for the team if Heyward can come back and succeed offensively in the abysmal two-hole.

Unfortunately for everyone B.J. Upton is day-to-day after being pegged last night in the left shoulder. I don’t think tightness in his arm is going to do any good for his .151/.250/.254 triple slash line. Jonny Venters is going to get reevaluated by Dr. Andrews this Thursday and apparently a second Tommy John surgery is a possibility.

What are your thoughts on this past week in Braves country? Be sure to let us know in the comments!