Braves' First Week Brings Mixed Feelings in Atlanta

One week has passed in the young MLB season, and the Atlanta Braves, who entered the season with high expectations—and likely still hold them—find themselves at 3-3 as they head into San Diego to start their second week.

With that kind of performance, what did we learn?

Well, I think we figured out that Martin Prado is a monster.

A .500 average with five runs scored?

Ridiculous (even if only two of his 13 hits were of the extra-base variety).

I think it's safe to assume that we also learned that Troy Glaus is rusty.

The big Braves first baseman was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and managed a meager .238 average with two walks to 13 Ks.

I'll cut him some slack—it HAS been about a year and a half since he saw "real" big league pitchers AB-in and AB-out.

But you have to hope that he starts clicking here in a few weeks—lest the Braves lineup lack the nice right-handed punch it promised when this season cranked up.

We also saw a microcosm of what Jason Heyward's rookie season should be.

J-Hey found himself, after loudly introducing himself to Cubs righty Carlos Zambrano on Opening Day with his three-run blast, reaching and going away from his normal game plan—chasing pitches and shooting for the moon rather than the right-center gap.

That's where the nine Ks to three base on balls and 1-for-12 stretch came from.

But when the rookie was being patient, he was great, as he mashed three home runs (two to the opposite field at pitcher-friendly AT&T Park) and drove in eight runs (though four came on Opening Day) while scoring five runs.

Overall, the kid hit .292—pretty good for a 20-year-old facing his first big league breaking pitches.

Additionally, we saw that 2010 won't be the year Chipper Jones plays 162 games, as the venerable Braves third baseman went down in the final game facing the Cubs with a strained oblique and missed the Giants series

Oh, and the bullpen had a stretch of about 13 innings straight without allowing a run.

Not too shabby.

The Braves definitely made some highlights this week—both good and bad.

Heyward's previously mentioned blast and the pitching performances of Kenshin Kawakami and Tim Hudson definitely fall under the good, while Billy Wagner's (though he was solid most of the week—popping the glove at 96 to 98 with nasty movement on his slider) homer allowed to the hot-hitting Giant Edgar Renteria, Derek Lowe's two starts (how'd he win both?), and the McDonough Manchild's somewhat errant throw Sunday night in San Fran definitely fall into the second category.

The pitching, for the most part, was solid (as expected), and the team had almost no problem getting on base.

As long as those remain constant, you have to like Atlanta's chances on a night-in and night-out basis.

If the Braves want to improve, however, they'll need to resolve a couple of issues.

Timely hitting was an issue all week (save April 5), which was exemplified as the Bravos managed to leave 14 runners on in their extra-inning loss to the Giants.

A few more RBI here and there could have meant a 5-1 start as opposed to their pedestrian 3-3.

The defense will also need to be ironed out a bit.

It's not like five errors is impeccably awful (it's also not good), but two specific errors (Glaus falling on a ball at first and Heyward's Panda-striking throw) likely cost the Braves legitimate shots at winning two games.

Granted, it's early on.

But you can't have those kinds of errors if you want to be considered in the upper echelon of teams. 

Oh, and Chipper Jones will need to be a'ight—that should help out the offense a little.

This week, the Braves match up against the Fighting Friars and the Colorado Rockies as they continue their Western road trip.

Let's hope the team is a little...

...this week as they enter games seven through 12.

And before I forget: Jason Heyward doesn't dream. He's too busy giving pitchers nightmares.