Here are the top-5 things that must happen for the Braves to make the playoffs this year:

1. Mark Teixeira must repeat the kind of performance he had in the second half last year (and the Braves, of course, must not trade him).
   
2. Either Rafael Soriano, Tom Glavine, or -- heaven forbid -- Mike Hampton must return to our pitching staff and stay healthy and effective for the remainder of the season.
   
3. Jeff Francoeur must hit with runners in scoring position (.198 BA w/RISP in the first half).
   
4. The team must win twice as many one-run games as they lose in the second half; reversing the trend of losing more then three times as many one-run games as they won in the first half.
   
5. Maturity and major league ability must come quickly to Charlie Morton, Jo-Jo Reyes, Brandon Jones and Brent Lillibridge. All three may be counted on to play important roles in the second half.

Oh, and one more thing... we need a lot of luck. The kind of luck and the kind of breaks we didn't get in the first half of the season. We currently have an 11.9% chance of making the playoffs, so if the Braves like being the underdog, they've certainly played themselves into that position.

And in case you were wondering, I actually wrote this piece yesterday afternoon before the AJC published their list of five.

The damage from last night's 17-inning affair was plenty. Infielder Omar Infante reaggravated his strained groin early in Sunday's contest (after recently straining my groin I can tell you what a pain it is - I used to make fun of players with strained groins, not anymore). Jeff Bennett injured his right shoulder in Saturday's game and Manny Acosta strained his hamstring trying to leg out a bunt in the wee innings of yesterday's marathon.

The Braves recalled Jeff Francoeur from double-A Mississippi, of course I was puzzled by that earlier... still am. The team also recalled infielder Brent Lillibridge and called up for the first time as a Brave, RHP Vladimir Nunez, who last pitched in the majors in 2004 with Colorado. Don't look for Nunez to be anything too spectacular, he's one of those barely marginal major league players.

I wrote earlier today that I thought it was a mistake to demote Jeff Francoeur to the minors. Well, he has now been recalled to the majors, which, to me at least, is puzzling, and in some respects calls the reasons for his demotion into question.

If the point of his demotion was for the team to "straighten him out" or "get him back to his old form," then how can three days in the minors solve those problems? To me this further underlines the real reasons for his demotion. If it really was for him to get his swing back, then the right thing to do would have been to keep him down there until that occurred (as per the original plan). In this instance, the team should have recalled Brandon Jones or Brent Lillibridge or Josh Anderson.

My feeling, especially after this hasty recall today, is that the real decision to demote Francoeur was a punitive measure, and had less to do with him rediscovering himself as was publicly stated.

This decision to recall Francouer also seems like a knee jerk reaction to the possible negative reaction that many had to his demotion.

Some chinks in the Braves front office armor are beginning to show...

It seems that the demotion of under performing players is en vogue this year; Dontrelle Willis, Brett Myers, and now Jeff Francoeur. When it comes to demoting these pitchers, I can see the value of giving them time to rediscover their form in the minor leagues -- pitching is more about the repetition of mechanics than hitting -- but when it comes to Jeff Francoeur demoting him was the wrong move -- because his problems hitting major league pitching cannot be fixed by hitting minor league pitching.

We all know that Frenchy is a free swinger -- that's why some of his love him, but it is also one of his flaws. Announcers often quip that he's never met a pitch he didn't like. But this is not a habit that will be broken at double-A Mississippi. The minors are full of fastball pitchers who locate their pitches nearer to the plate than major league pitchers -- and Francoeur's free-swinging style will no doubt find more pitches to hit in that fastball paradise. The nature of pitching at the double-A level plays right into the bad habits of Francoeur's approach to hitting.

Another reason not to demote him is that we really have no one better to replace him with. We're filling in with Greg Norton and Jason Perry, one of whom is hitting worse than Francoeur since his arrival from Seattle, and there is a reason the other has never made the major leagues in six previous professional seasons.

The right thing to do would have been to continue to let Francoeur work out his problems in Atlanta. He's a major leaguer and that's what they're expected to do. This demotion is possibly a further indictment of at least one other member of the Braves -- hitting coach Terry Pendleton. TP has often practiced a hands-off-I'll-wait-until-you-come-to-me-for-help approach, but it is becoming more apparent that this approach is not working for everyone. It didn't work for Andruw Jones, who likely needed someone to get in his face and tell him what to do; and it also doesn't seem to be working for Jeff Francoeur, who needed TP to tell him to ignore everyone else except him and his advice -- Pendleton needed to be the one to straighten out Francoeur.

This demotion could also pose a serious threat to Francoeur's psyche. This is a player who was held up by the Braves as the new face of the franchise. I understand the need to not have that face struggling, but punishment is not the way to fix him.

In all likelihood Jeff Francoeur will rip into Southern League pitching for the next two or three weeks, and his replacements in the majors will fail to provide any positive replacement value. We'll see Frenchy back up after the All-Star break, after swinging at double-A fastballs for a fortnight, and he'll fall right back into the same bad habits he had before he was demoted, because the problem is not that Francoeur can't hit professional pitching, it's that he can't hit major league pitching. The adjustments he has to make to be able to hit in the majors simply cannot be realized in the minors, this time in the minors will only reinforce his bad habits.

Here is my spring interview with Jeff Francoeur. It's a pretty short one, Frenchy was in a hurry and didn't have that much time to stop and talk. One of my questions is no longer relevant, but I left it in there because I like how he answered it. Hopefully you will enjoy this brief interview with Jeff Francoeur.

Martin Gandy:  How was your off-season?

Jeff Francoeur:  It was good. I got married, obviously. Other than that, just worked out a lot and tried to get ready for the season the best I can.

MG:  How much did the wedding planning and events intersect with your baseball-related off-season?

JF:  It wasn't bad, because I got married so early, so when we got back I just got going right away and kept it going -- it was fun.

MG:  Did you work on anything in particular this off-season?

JF:  Like I said, just really getting stronger -- lifting a lot and trying to work on that and seeing what could happen. So far I feel good this spring.

MG:  How would you assess your 2007 season?

JF:  I would say it was a good step for me in my development as a player. I got a lot better in certain areas and hopefully I can continue to strive for more of that this year, to keep doing better and move up. I feel like I got a good start and made some adjustments last year and hopefully I can continue to make them this year.

MG:  Have you set any goals for yourself this year?

JF:  Not really. Obviously as a power hitter your goal is always 100 RBI if you get the chance. But my goal is really just to concentrate on my on-base percentage going up and getting walks.

MG:  Some people describe you as the sexy guy on the Atlanta roster.

JF:  <laugh>

MG:  Do you feel threatened, now that Javy Lopez is back, that he might steal that title?

JF:  I think that's gone. I think Javy's got it back -- all the girls love Javy. So, what are you gonna do.

MG:  What is your favorite baseball interview cliche that you use?

JF:  Probably "just continue to improve." You hear everybody say it all the time, and it's the truth.