Harris finaly falling back to earth?

Sadly it looks to be true. After his last 10 games his average has fallen over 30 points (.383-.351). During this bad streak Harris has no extra base hits and 4 SBs, 3 of which came in one wonderful game Vs. Florida on the 30th. Now some would say this is a slump, I say this is reality. Harris has looked a little over matched as of late against pitchers everyone and their brother is hitting. Do i think this swoon will continue? Of course not. Harris is a scrappy hitter with a decent eye (6 walks in that period) but much of the time when he's hitting the ball it seems to make it's way feebly to a infielder. Perhaps he's playing hurt?

Either way Harris finds himself with his platoon job in jeopardy as Diaz is raking for power and average. In the same 10 games Diaz has seen his average CLIMB 12 points (.340-.352). He also has a pair of doubles in that stretch and 5 RBIs. KJ is also raking raising his average 14 points (.274-.288) with again a pair of doubles and 4 RBIs and 9 runs scored. What's amazing about that last bit is that he's scoring at a 56.3% clip when he gets on base. That's ridiculous. Harris has 5 runs scored in this span at 62.5% rate, but one of those was pinch running so the actual rate is 50% over a much smaller sample. Last but not least Escobar is raking too. In his last 10 games (of which 4 he was a pinch hitter or runner) he has raised his average 45 points (.264-.309) has 5 doubles, with 5 RBIs 8 runs and 2 stolen bases. This is easily more productive than any of the other 3 in his last 10 games.

Let me put it this way, if Bobby is a stat head he would sit KJ and Harris and let the LHP side of the platoon hit some vs. righties. Or, just give Diaz the job in LF, trade either Escobar or Rent for some pitching with the other playing short and let KJ play 2b. That way we field a stable order and get another pitcher. Bloody logjam.

Braves looking at Dmitri Young

Rotoworld.com is reporting that the braves were looking into Young recently but backed off when the Nats asked for an arm, leg, and one of 3 minor league prospects (JK, they wanted Salt's first born too). Now I'm no JS but I'm pretty sure an aging 1b like young is not what our club needs right now. You have Salty, Thorman, and even Diaz who could play there. Albeit Diaz is an outfielder, but he's built like a first baseman. God i'd love to have Harris's speed and Diaz's bat in the lineup every day.

Anyway, the bottom line is I don't understand the interest. Perhaps the braves are looking to trade Thorman and aren't comfortable with Saly's defense (not that Young will win a Gold Glove any time soon with 9 errors so far), or the braves are trading both and looking to keep the production. Neither case seems likely to me.

Update:
So i may have scooped Rosenthal a little but he's got me on the reason the Braves were interested. He speculates that Atlanta wants to send Salty back to AAA. Not a bad idea, but i'm not sure how he would feel about it.

All Stars?

So John Smoltz and Brian Mccann are All Stars. Yay. We all knew Smoltzie was going, how could he not? Brian had a good chance because of the lack of depth in catching in the NL, it's nice that he got a nod from the players. But I can't help wondering who missed out. So without further ado I offer you my all star list, with a twist. The following is a list of my BRAVES all stars. These three players have made more of a difference to the braves than any other AND they're not getting a nod nationally.

OF: With deference to Matt Diaz I have to give the nod to Willie Harris. The boy is blazing on the base paths and money in the box. His aggressiveness has been the spark the braves need. A few stats realy prove this. First, Willie is hitting .373 overall and .461 in the first 2 pitches he sees. That's something we'd expect from Frenchy (Even though Frenchy never hit that good) not Willie. Second, the OBS .929 is 10th in the NL (w/150 min PA) but his OBP of .444 is second to only Mr. Bonds and his AVG of .373 is first. His SBs are 14th but only 2 back of Jimmy Rollins @ #8. Give me that any day even if he hits much better against lefties (not that he's had a chance against righties with only 15ABs).

IF: With deference to Edgar, I'd have to pick Chipper. He's tops of all the regulars in OPS, AVG, and HRs as well as top 4 in all the other major offensive categories despite missing 25 games so far. That's insane production from someone who's been hurting so much this year.

P: This has to go to Peter Moylan. He's got the best ERA on the staff and the second best WHIP all while racking up the most innings out of the pen. Those numbers are nuts for someone who's a retread.

And there you have it; my picks for Braves All Stars. Scream all you want about leaving Edgar, Diaz, Hudson, and even KJ out but these three are players I'd want on my team (and actually have them on several).