#23

LF Matt Diaz

He may be jsut a platoon outfielder, but he's OUR platoon outfielder. Diaz played about the same amount as he did in 2006, but he had to endure having Willie Harris as a platoon partner, so Diaz stayed on the bench while Harris put up a .190/.288/.335 for the rest of the year after he had six hits in one game. Diaz did make the most out of his bench role by being a pinch-hitter, which he was all right with. Diaz batted .338/.368/.497 last season in his roles and he also had 14 pinch-hits in 51 plate appearances.

There is no gaurantee that Diaz is going to get a full-time starting role. There are three players who are battling for a left-handed platoon spot: Brandon Jones, Josh Anderson and Joe Borchard. Yes, Joe Borchard. That doesn't seem like a good idea, as he has never established himself as any kind of talent in the majors. I'd rather have Anderson or Jones be the ones to "take away at bats" from Diaz. At least they have some upside.

Wait, why haven't I been talking about Diaz? Well, the fact is that Diaz is going to do what he does; hit a lot of singles and some doubles and homers with his free-swinging ways and that back bend of his.

AVERAGE - 10 - Diaz can simply rake the ball, even if it's just for a lot of singles. He'll succeed with his batting in any role that he's put in.

POWER - 7.5 - In his part-time role, Diaz hits a lot of line drives with his powerful swing, and a few of them add up to his doubles and homers.

BASERUNNING - 4.5 - Diaz stole four bases without being caught once, so he can run when the opportunity calls for it. He rarely moved from first to third (4-20), but he did go from second to home a lot (11-18). He was thrown out advancing twice.

FIELDING - 7.5 - Diaz may run around like a chicken with its head cut off out there, but he rarely makes a mistake out in the field. I don't put too much emphasis on routes to the ball. All that matters to me is that a fly ball is caught in the outfield.

THROWING - 5 - Diaz doesn't have too much of an arm, but it's not terrible. That's all I can really say.

TOTAL - 34.5 (B) - Diaz isn't the best left fielder in the league, but he is certainly the best one the Braves have had since Chipper went back to third. And all it took to get him was Ricardo Rodriguez.

BP: .296/.338/.465, 11 HR, 55 RBI, 5 SB
BJH: .330/.364/.505, 13 HR, 57 RBI, 5 SB
RW: .313/.341/.477, 11 HR, 41 RBI, 4 SB
SN: .295/.325/.459, 14 HR, 62 RBI, 5 SB

Sam: .309/.340/.479, 12 HR, 59 RBI, 5 SB