Kelly

Johnson

And he was still overshadowed by Jeff Francoeur. Johnson has been slumping since the All-Star break, but he remains the Braves’ best option in left field and manager Bobby Cox shows no signs of giving up on him.

Johnson has been hitting well, but if he can’t throw, he can’t help the Braves. Surgery could be a possibility.

Johnson struggled to return from offseason elbow surgery. Although he was hitting well in his rehab assignment at Triple-A Richmond, he couldn’t throw without pain and elected for surgery now. It’s hard to tell what the future holds for Johnson in Atlanta. The 24-year-old still could emerge as a regular, but the lost year hurts his chances. If he stays with the Braves, he’ll probably compete for a bench job in spring training.

After going 9-for-19 with four extra-base hits at low Single-A Rome, Johnson is 4-for-11 in three games for Richmond. It figured that he’d be optioned to the minors once he completed his rehab assignment, but as well as he’s playing now, maybe there’s a chance that he’ll join the Braves next week as a utilityman. It’s still more likely that his opportunity will come after the All-Star break.

Johnson’s offensive numbers have been only marginally better since his August trade from Arizona to Toronto. Lately he has been significantly worse, with seven hits in his last 48 at-bats (.146). A free agent beginning next week, Johnson could be hard-pressed to duplicate his current $5.85 million salary in 2012.

Johnson batted sixth in 16 out of 32 starts after being acquired by the Blue Jays last August, but his fantasy value would get a nice little boost hitting in front of slugger Jose Bautista. The 30-year-old batted just .222/.304/.413 last season, but he still managed to collect 21 homers, 58 RBI and 16 stolen bases.

The Jays had been batting Yunel Escobar first and Johnson second this spring, but the two were flip-flopped today. For what it’s worth, Johnson has been a whole lot more productive hitting leadoff on his career. He’s hit .263/.350/.477 in 927 at-bats there, compared to .236/.319/.410 in 893 at-bats as a No. 2 hitter.

It was his only hit of the night, but he also drew two walks and scored two runs. Johnson is batting just .224 in the early going, but he’s provided some power and also scored 13 runs.

Leading off seems to agree with Johnson. He’s hitting .333 with two homers and six RBI in six games since switching spots with Yunel Escobar.

Johnson connected on the solo blast off of Jason Hammel in the first inning. He’s off to a very strong start to the young season, batting .281 (9-for-32) with eight runs scored and five RBI.