At the major league level…
… the left-field options are a collection of bad alternatives. There’s no one on the Braves immediate roster that looks appealing as a typical left field bat. The position is one on the Braves that should be used for a big thumper – someone who doesn’t necessarily need to be a good fielder, but can contribute power in the middle of the batting order and give opposing pitchers reason to fear our lineup again.

Last year’s opening day starter in left field, Matt Diaz, is not an everyday player – he’s a pinch-hitter. He has shown that he may be an effective platoon player as the right-handed half of the platoon, and maybe that has some value in the NL East dominated by left-handed starting pitchers, but platoons are not sustainable as a long-term solution, and Diaz will never be that fear-inducing hitter.

Brandon Jones has not given the Braves or their fans too many reasons to think that he can be a steady producer in the outfield. He may still get a chance to be a regular, but he will be "option-B" next year if the Braves can’t sign or trade for a power hitting left-fielder.

The future Braves left fielder…
… The young first round draft pick may have gotten off to a slow start in 2008, but Cody Johnson finished as hot as anyone in the Braves organization. Johnson’s season at Rome is a tale of two halves; his first half was entirely disappointing, he hit only .210 with almost 100 strikeouts in 66 games. But in the second half of the season, Johnson smacked 17 homeruns, hit .296 and controlled his strikeouts (79 in 61 games).

The overall jump in strikeouts was the biggest cause for concern for Cody this year. In 2007 he struck out once every 3.4 at-bats, but in 2008 he struck out once every 2.6 at-bats. His slugging percentage and on-base percentage also declined from last year, but most of that can be attributed to the tough start he had. But what started off as a disappointing season, turned into a promising season, and one in which we saw one of our most touted prospects face on-field adversity and overcome it. How he adjusts to Myrtle Beach next year will tell us a lot about what kind of player he has become.

More for future consideration…
2. Luis Sumoza – Sumo is the prospect we received from Boston in exchange for Mark Kotsay. He’s a young power prospect that the Braves have had their eye on for some time. Still only 20, he’s got time to develop. He should be assigned to the Beach next year as part of the fantastic outfield/DH rotation of Johnson and Heyward.

3. Willie Cabrera – There were so many good hitting performances at Myrtle Beach this year that it’s going to be interesting to see if these guys continue that good hitting in Mississippi next season. Cabrera is a guy who came out of nowhere to put up good numbers at high-A. He is a draft-and-follow guy, and while prospects are supposed to get better, he seemed to come out of nowhere to have one of the best seasons at the Beach. If he continues this rate of improvement next year he will emerge as a very important prospect.

4. Matt Young – He’s really an organizational player, but he’s got a lot of fire and some useful intangibles like speed and good plate discipline.

Others:  Layton Hiller (2008 15th round draft-pick came out of nowhere to show some good power against left-handers in the GCL; if he can figure out right-handers he may be an interesting power prospect to watch)

Photo of Cody Johnson courtesy of Chip Jett