A-Z Reviews: S

Jarrod Saltalamacchia
-Salty was called up on May 2nd on his 22nd birthday and immediately performed at a high pace for the Braves, where he split time at catcher and first. His impact was not as high as it could have been because simply put, when you're the only backup catcher, the chances you could get hurt, thrown out of the game, etc. really keep you from playing time elsewhere. Nevertheless, Salty played like a talented rookie and hit .284/.333/.411 in 47 games with the Braves before the trade deadline deal with the Rangers saw him traded. How good he becomes and how long Mark Teixeira is a Brave will decide the winner of the deal. Salty showed a great arm behind the plate, but looked like a bad first baseman at first. Not that surprising considering he was playing it for the first time in games.

2008 Outlook: As a catcher, Salty is an explosive star of the future. Quick, name how many switch-hitting catchers can post .200 IsoSLG's routinely and display solid on-base skills. Jorge Posada. Victor Martinez. Yeah, that's about it. Now whether or not Salty can get to that level is unknown, but I actually think it is highly likely he will and will do so within two seasons. Now, if the Rangers decide to use him at first, his value is lowered. He will probably be a good first baseman, but a far cry from being a great catcher.

Clint Sammons
-Sammons is best friends with Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann and got his shot late in the season after Corky Miller welcomed a new child and the Braves still had little confidence in Brayan Pena's catching abilities. He appeared in a pair of games, starting the finale of the season where he received his first three plate appearances of his major league career. He went 2 for 3 with a double. He's a fairly light-hitting catcher who has displayed solid on-base skills. Right now, he is probably the best catching prospect in the system.

2008 Outlook: Sammons struggled at Mississippi last year after handling Myrtle Beach with ease in his second tour with the Pelicans. After Salty's promotion, Sammons replaced him with the M-Braves and batted just .243 with 15 EBH in 83 games. Expect a return to Mississippi this year. He could battle for the backup catching spot with a great spring, but chances are better he will be working on getting to AAA first.

John Smoltz
-Smoltzie tossed 200 innings for the third straight year despite the occasional health problem. He started off the year trying to throw less pitches, but once he realized that wasn't helping, went back to his strikeout self and recorded 197 of them and had his second best season as a starter in what baseballprospectus calls Stuff. All in all, it was a normal Smoltzie year in which he put up a 3.50 DERA (.09 less than his career average). He became the first person in baseball history to win 200 games and save 150 and with 25 K's, will hit the 3,000 K plateau. He turns 41 next May so how much the Braves can rely on him is questionable, but as he starts his third decade of major league ball (made his debut in '88), Smoltze is just now getting the praise he has deserved as maybe the second best starter of the Atlanta Braves era (behind Maddux, of course).

2008 Outlook: His age is going to be a problem because you can never know when the other shoe will fall and Smoltzie will take one bad pitch, or feel something starting to creep up on his right shoulder/elbow, or whatever and it's going to be time to shut it down for good. But as long as he is pitching, he will have a few downers where he just can't reach back and get his splitter working and a lot of solid games that he will give his team a favorable chance to win.

Rafael Soriano
-Acquired for Horacio Ramirez in one of the most lopsided trades of the year, Soriano started off incredibly, struggled a little, and then finished up with insanely solid numbers yet again. What amazes me about Soriano is that in 72 innings, he allowed just 46 hits and 15 walks. The only thing that hurt him was the gopher ball. He allowed a career high 12 of them. I believe that was a little flukish, but power arms that get so many flyballs will give up homers. Nevertheless, he finished second on the team in saves with nine and after officially taking over the ninth inning again in September, was unhittable in that month. In 13 innings, he allowed four hits (including a solo homer), walked three (one intentional), and struck out 17. That included a three game suspension that MLB handed down for no real reason.

2008 Outlook: Soriano should be the "closer" heading into next season. There is no reason for him not to handle the roll. He may be even better in that role because he won't be brought into so many tie games or ones the Braves are losing by a run. He set career highs in G and ING last year, but may be better suited for the 55-60 game, 55-65 ING type year than the middle man.