forecasting
Familiar faces figure to fill out the Mississippi Braves’ 2010 lineup. Here’s a projected opening day lineup that includes eight players who made at least a couple of appearances with the 2009 M-Braves:
1. Jon Mark Owings, CF
2. Willie Cabrera, RF
3. Brandon Hicks, SS
4. Ernesto Mejia, 1B
5. Cody Johnson, LF
6. Donell Linares, 3B
7. Travis Jones, 2B
8. Benji Johnson, C
9. Jose Ortegano, P
There’s an outside chance Freddie Freeman might be back at first base. He’s a good-looking prospect, but he played only 41 games (hitting .248) for the Double-A club and finished the year on the DL with a wrist/hand injury. But if he fares well in the Arizona Fall League, we’ve likely seen the last of him at Trustmark Park. Hicks showed flashes of big league ability during what was a disappointing season overall (.237, 10 homers, 131 K’s, 28 errors). He, too, could boost his stock in the AFL and land at Triple-A Gwinnett next spring. The others are safer bets to return. Owings, Mejia and the two Johnsons arrived very late in the season and didn’t get much of a taste of Double-A. The new name in that lineup is Linares, a Cuban emigre who had a big year, at age 25, at Class A Myrtle Beach. His numbers: .287, 32 doubles, 15 homers and 87 RBIs. He might be the third base prospect Atlanta has been searching for.
P.S. On the subject of Atlanta, the Braves got their sagging offense back on track Thursday night against a seemingly unlikely suspect: Weir’s Roy Oswalt, the former Holmes CC star. The Braves knocked around the Houston ace for 10 hits and six runs in two innings en route to a 9-7 win. When he’s on, Oswalt’s stuff is magical. But he’s almost never on against Atlanta. He is 0-3 with a 7.58 ERA in seven career regular season starts. … Seems Ole Miss alumnus Chris Coghlan always has something going. The Florida Marlins’ rookie sensation has scored at least one run in nine straight games.