Jeff

Francoeur

Schuerholz has no intention of moving Chipper Jones back to the outfield to make room for Marte. Instead, he’s talking about Marte as a possible left fielder in 2006. Francoeur, who hit just .197/.197/.342 in 76 at-bats after moving up to Double-A last season, might get a chance to win a job next spring if the Braves don’t bring in quality regulars. He’s still likely to spend 2005 in the minors.

Francoeur, who was expected to be moved up to Double-A next week, won’t be ready to play for four-to-six weeks after he fouled off a bunt and the ball struck him just under the eye. If his season is over, he ends up at .287/.342/.495, which is very impressive for a 20-year-old at Myrtle Beach. He’s expected to take part in the Arizona Fall League.

The 20-year-old prospect was hitting .287 with 25 doubles, 13 homers and 49 RBI, and due to be promoted to Double-A Greenville, when he got hurt. Good to see him come back quickly.

If you ask us, every pitch Francouer sees should be bounced to the plate. We’d encourage managers to fine pitchers who throw him anything in the strike zone. Francoeur is swinging at practically everything tossed in his general direction. It’s certainly working for him right now, but there are ways to get him out.

Francoeur and Kelly Johnson homered to account for both runs off Chris Carpenter. The double came in the ninth off Jason Isringhausen. Francoeur has eight home runs and eight doubles in 22 games for the Braves.

Francoeur has hit safely in 18 of the 21 games in which he’s had an official at-bat. In those 21 games he’s batting .432 with eight doubles and eight homers. His 16 strikeouts compared to zero walks so far mean he’s going to slow down at some point, but he’s absolutely putting on a show right now.

Francoeur, who has made just 24 starts in the outfield, already has eight outfield assists, putting him two shy of the NL leaders (Cliff Floyd and Geoff Jenkins).

He threw out Odalis Perez trying to stretch a single. The triple was his first, the homer his 10th.

Marcus Giles walked to lead off the inning, with Andruw Jones also drawing a free pass with one out. Francoeur then stepped to the plate and delivered a double to the opposite field to plate Giles. The RBI was his 80th of the season.

Francoeur now has 21 homers compared to 10 walks in 108 games this season. His swing-at-everything approach at the plate limits his potential upside and ability to help the Braves, but fantasy owners won’t really care as long as he stays on 30-homer, 100-RBI pace.