Jason Heyward

It's been a while since Atlanta Braves fans have had much to cheer about. Long gone are the days of Maddox, Glavine, and Smoltz, the Jones boys broke up after 2007, the streak of 14 consecutive NL East Championships ended five seasons ago, and the 1995 World Series is but a distant memory.

We all knew that their reign atop the NL East couldn’t last forever.

Every so often, you hear people of influence connected to or interested in Major League Baseball fuss about how the black American baseball player is disappearing from the diamond.

When Frank Wren replaced John Schuerholz as General Manager a couple of years ago, Braves’ fans were undoubtedly skeptical that he could come in and make such a difference. I think now that even the skeptics can be silenced by the performance of Frank Wren in building a ballclub that can be defined by words like "deep," "versatile," and "talented."

Tonight showed just how those words ring true about the 2010 Atlanta Braves.

Hey there, Phillies fans, I am not sure if you heard but the Washington Nationals had a young pitcher (I've got his name here somewhere) make his major league debut on Tuesday and he pitched pretty well.

The youngster (again, his name in a second) struck out 14 batters in 7.0 innings, throwing a dominant curveball, a fastball that regularly hit 99 miles per hour, and a changeup and slider that were simply baffling.

Now Phillies fans, I've sure you've heard all about this guy, but what you may not have realized is that he isn't the only youngster coming up in the NL East division.

In less than one month, on July 4, Major League Baseball will announce the starters for the annual All-Star Game in Anaheim. Voting from the fans has taken place, which leads to many fan favorites starting the game. However, the starters of the All-Star game should be the absolute best that the league has to offer.

Here is a list of nine players who should get an additional look, as well as some more votes, before the rosters get finalized.

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It's June 1st and I have an alarming stat for Braves fans—this year's primary starting pitchers (Hanson, Hudson, Kawakami, Lowe and Medlen) are having a more successful year at the plate than the starting centerfielder, Nate McLouth. Through 51 games (nearly a third of the year!) the pitchers are hitting .184 and McClouth is hitting .179 with no signs of coming out of his slump.

The 2007 first year player draft was very pitcher-heavy, but with the exception of the No. 1 overall selection, some of the biggest names to come out of it were actually position players.

A total of 18 pitchers were called in the first round alone, led by Vanderbilt graduate David Price, but there was good overall depth in the draft, especially through the first three rounds.

How many GMs do you think are out there right now still kicking themselves that Jason Heyward fell to No. 14?

Does anyone else remember the hype machine surrounding Jordan Schafer from about, say, 2007 up until 50 games into the 2009 season?

The sky was the limit for this kid.

He was (and still is) a superb glove in center and has the potential from a speed/contact standpoint to turn into something resembling an above-average Major League talent.

Pretty amazing what a 50-game suspension and a broken wrist can do to a career isn't it?

Coming into the 2009 season, the Atlanta Braves' Tommy Hanson was one of the most hyped prospects in baseball, even ranked by some above Jason Heyward.

Despite being seemingly ready for the major leagues, the Braves opted to give Hanson a taste of AAA, and left Jo-Jo Reyes in the rotation.

Instead of getting a full year of Hanson’s 2.89 ERA and 8.18 K/9, the Braves were treated to five starts of 7.00 ERA from Jo-Jo Reyes (Kris Medlen also made a couple starts, not faring much better than Reyes).

We all know the names of guys like Pujols, Fielder, Howard, Teixeira, and Rodriguez. They've been the league leaders in power numbers for most of this past decade.

But now that 2010 is here and a new decade has dawned, who is poised to step into the limelight? Who among the nameless, faceless masses is ready to become the next HR king?

My criteria is as follows:

Player must be no more than 23 years old.
Player must have no more than 500 MLB at bats.
Player must not be a Buffalo Bills fan.