Chipper, Yunel, and my personal favorite Brian McCann are suited up and have kicked off the 2009 season. With opening day right around the corner, I thought a little recap of the first three games and mentioning some major names might be of some service to a couple of Braves fans. 
After defeating the defending World Series champs the Philadelphia Phillies in their new stadium on April 5th and 7th, they lost today 12-11 thus moving them to 2-1. The starting lineup had mostly familiar faces, however their are some new faces on the scene that could be impact players this year. Kelly Johnson at second base, Chipper Jones at third, Yunel Escobar at shortstop, McCann at catcher, Jeff Francoeur at right field, Garret Anderson at left field, Jordan Schafer at center field, and Casey Kotchman at first base. Pitchers include Jair Jurrgens, Rafeal Soriano, Javier Vazquez and Derek Lowe to name a few of the big names.
Jordan Schafer is a 22 year old from Winter Haven, Flordia. He was the 99th player to hit a homerun his first at bat. The Braves are expecting big things out of the youngster, and he seems ready to take on the responsiblity. Derek Lowe, the big man pitcher standing at 6’6 and 230 pounds has been moved into the starting lineup and had a great opener at the Phillies last Sunday. He allowed two hits, no walks, struck out four and went eight innings to get the win 4-1.
I love baseball and look forward to seeing what the new faces can do for the organization. I’ll be at Turner Field on Friday, April 10th at 7:35 pm for the first pitch of the 2009 season at home against the Washington Nationals. Hope to see some of you there!
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