Braves: Pull one out

Finally got to check out the recording of Friday's Braves-Dodgers spring training matchup.

That kid Saltalamacchia, the new youthful catcher, came up with the game-winning hit, a three-run dinger off a 92 mph fastball down the heart of the plate. Not too shabby; maybe he'll live up to his potential early, but heaven knows he's already gotten a ton of the hype.

Also of note was an interview with GM Jonathan Schuerholz, who said the team's first thing to address this spring is the closer position, with Chris Reistma being the frontrunner, and Oscar Villareal and Joey Devine also pitching well. The fantasy baseball geek in me wants to see Villareal win the job. He's one of the guys ATL got in the deal with Arizone for Johnny Estrada.

Granted this was only the second week of the spring, but Mike Remlinger didn't look too hot in his brief appearance. Still, the pitchers have been working out for a few extra weeks now and as a vet I'd hope he'd be a little sharper.

The announcers also said Andruw Jones was mentioned by Bobby Cox as "almost coming into camp in too good a shape. Like I said last time, baseball is a marathon, but apparently Andruw hosted workouts in his customized batting cage at home in the area, and he's taking it seriously after flirting with an MVP nod for his performance last season.

One last note: James Jurries, who may get the 1B platoon job with Adam LaRoche, laced a heater for a double just before Saltalamacchia's winning HR. Is this farm system stocked or what?

On a personal note, my thoughts go out to the Marcus Giles family, as they are tending to a little girl born prematurely, according to today's AJC. They can work miracles these days with the tiniest of babies, though, so there's plenty of hope.

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