Atlanta Braves Making The Team Meter 2013: Hitters, Week 2

The Atlanta Braves Making the Team Meter concludes for week two with the hitters in Spring Training camp. Click here for last week's hitters MTM. Let's take a look at which positions on the team are up for grabs. First off, the following hitters already have a spot on the opening day roster:

Lineup: Andrelton Simmons, Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Freddie Freeman, B.J. Upton, and Dan Uggla

Bench: Juan Francisco, Chris Johnson, and Reed Johnson

That leaves two spots available for the bench (non-catcher division). One of them will need to be a backup middle infielder, but the other one could go to any one of the candidates below.

Player, Position	Trend	Last Week	Roster Status	Notes and Comments
Jose Constanza, OF			40-man	Jose is still not in camp because of visa issues. With other candidates for backup jobs hitting well, we will move Georgie down a notch. Of course, he could arrive and suddenly steal the show and claim a spot. Don't forget Fredi's undying love for Jose.
Todd Cunningham, OF			NRI	Cunningham is showing a good hit tool early in spring games, and a good eye at the plate. He's done some of what he need to do to impress the Atlanta coaches, but he'll soon be ticketed for minor league camp. We'll keep him on here another week though.
Blake DeWitt, IF			NRI	He hasn't made it into many games, and when he has he's struggled. Last week I said he's behind Pena, and eventually Janish, and that still holds. He's depth stashed at AAA, but he's also got Major League experience so we'll keep him on this list a bit longer.
Joe Leonard, 3B	Cut from MTM		NRI	Having a nice cup of coffee this spring, and drawing rave reviews for his defense, but the bat is still a project. He should be one rung away at AAA this year. We'll cut him from our watch list.
Ernesto Mejia, 1B			40-man	For Ernesto to make a the team he has to make an impact, and so far Gattis and Terdo have stolen the bench buzz with the impact they've made at the plate. We'll move Ernest down a notch, and if he doesn't turn it around he could move out of the bench picture quickly.
Jordan Parraz, OF			NRI	Parraz is a guy who is easy to root for, though I'm not too ra-ra for him to make the team. He's a prototypical role player who could eventually be a decent fifth outfielder in a Reed Johnson-lite type package. He's probably not there yet, and I want him to wow me with the stats. I'd say he's still a dark horse of sorts, but everything has to fall into place for him to make the team. We'll continue to keep an eye on him.
Tyler Pastornicky, IF			40-man	Rev can hit, and he's shown that so far this spring, but he has a Brooks Conrad problem in the field. This will continue to hurt his chances as a bench candidate.
Ramiro Pena, IF	Made team		40-man, out of options	He's hitting good and seems like a solid bench player. We put him on this list to keep an eye on him, but it seems clear he will be on the opening day roster as the backup infielder. We'll add him to our list of players who have made the team for next week's MTM.
Jordan Schafer, OF			40-man	Ah, Jordan Schafer. With Constanza having visa issues and not yet in camp, Schaf has gotten a good deal of playing time. We'll see how things play out. The last bench spot has not been settled, so this is a battle that could come down to he final weeks of spring.
Joe Terdoslavich, 1B/3B			NRI	Terdo is making everyone remember that he can hit. He made a similar splash early in spring training last year, but this year he's doubled his splash, and is leading the team in hits while showing good power. We'll move him up a notch to make the team as a bench bat, though I'm skeptical he can keep this up.

Arrow Key:

= Chance of making the team is good.

= Chance of making the team is slightly better than 50-50.

= Chance of making the team is slightly worse than 50-50.

= Chance of making the team is bad.