Atlanta Braves Bullpen Faltering. Solutions? Kohn/Cornely promoted

Moving that out of the way, let’s take a look at Atlanta Braves Jim Johnson

According to Fangraphs, Jim’s sinker has still not rebounded from last year and his entire repertoire relies on its effectiveness. In addition, although it’s an extremely small sample size, JJ doesn’t seem to do well while his partner in crime is A.J. Pierzynski. In fact, every single earned run that he has allowed has come at the expense of throwing to A.J. For now, that doesn’t mean much but keep that info in your back pocket.  We already know that A.J., while being a good offensive catcher, adds little to no value with his catching ability.

While Jim has been Jekyll&Hyde thus far, there is some positive takeaways:

1. His ground ball rate is 78% for the year.  With Andrelton Simmons manning almost the entire infield (and part of the outfield), that is a good thing.

2. His BABIP against is .391, meaning he’s been very unlucky on this young season.

3. His HR/FB ratio is 67% compared to a career rate of 9%. Obviously this is going to drop.

Look for Jim to rebound under the guidance of Roger McDowell.