Braves' Sosa is one to watch

Spring training is, for most pro baseball players, a chance to stretch some baseball muscles that haven't been used in a while. Get in shape for the marathon that is a 162-game regular season.

As we speak, my TiVo is dutifully recording the Braves game being broadcast on ESPN. We don't get the sports channels here at The Citizen HQ, just all news, all the time.

I plan to bring you local Braves fans some more valuable insight after digesting that game sometime this weekend. For now, this diddy will have to do.

Keep an eye out on Jorge Sosa early on this year. The youngster impressed in an early 13-3 with a 2.55 ERA last year. Likely he was just happy to get out of the baseball purgatory known as Tampa Bay.

Regardless, Sosa has some room for improvement. He allowed 1.48 baserunners per inning, so of course there were times he got into jams. Best part was, usually he pitched his way out of them! Hopefully he can continue to do so, and cut down slightly on his walks and hits.

Pitching out of the 4-hole in the rotation is a nice luxury to have for Sosa, as he is liable to be pretty decent compared to other fourth starters in the league. Factor in the defensive improvement of Edgar Renteria at short (he'll have better range than Furcal, trust me) and we've got some good training ground for younger pitchers.

You won't see Sosa at Camp Disney for a while as he's pitching for the Dominican Republic squad in the World Baseball Classic. So keep your eye on this one; he could become a big-time sensation this year.

It will especially be interesting to see if he blossoms out from under the tutelage of Leo Mazzone. New pitching coach Roger McDowell is a former reliever with a rep (as a player anyway) of a clubhouse comedian. Will Braves pitchers respond to the lighter mood?

Stay tuned.

— John Munford