It’s the end of April and it’s time for an end-of-the-month review. The Braves finished the season’s first month with a 10-11 mark. They are in third place behind the Marlins and Phillies, but they are only three games out of first place. Let’s take a look at the team’s performance and see where they need to improve.

Starting pitching: The Braves starting pitching has been rock solid for the most part. Through 21 games the starters have produced a 3.62 ERA, they are averaging 6.03 innings per start. Kenshin Kawakami has proven to be the weak link to this point with a 1-3 record and a 7.06 ERA. Hopefully, Kawakami will be able to settle down as he gets more comfortable. He hasn’t pitched that poorly, and he has been victimized by some shoddy defense and bad luck in a view of his starts. The pleasant surprise has been Javier Vazquez who is 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA and has struck out 42 batters in 32 innings. He and Jair Jurrjens (2-2, 1.72 ERA) have been pitching like All Stars, and Jurrjens has not received any run support to speak of. The Braves are averaging 1.0 run per game over his last three starts resulting in Jurrjens’ two losses and a no decision. Derek Lowe (2-1, 3.10 ERA) has been everything the Braves expected out of the free agent signee. Jo-Jo Reyes is continuing his frustrating history of an excellent start scattered amongst mediocre and poor ones as he holds down a spot until Tom Glavine returns or Tommy Hanson is called up.

Offense: I think terrible may not be a strong enough term to describe the Braves offense in April. The Braves have scored 85 runs in April for an average 4.05 runs per game. Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, and Garret Anderson (remember him?) have all missed significant time due to injury. Kelly Johnson is hovering around the Mendoza line and has been benched for the last two games. Dating back to April 14 when the Braves were 5-1 coming off the opening series win in Philadelphia and the home sweep of the Nationals, the Braves have averaged scoring only 3.1 runs per game, and their record over that time (5-10) reflects it. The Braves have scored fewer than four runs in 11 of the 21 games so far. That’s just not going to cut it in the tough N.L. East.

Bullpen: The bullpen has been okay to this point. Rafael Soriano has looked great to this point (0.90 ERA, 2/2 save opportunities). He and Mike Gonzalez (4.32 ERA, 3/4 save opportunities) have anchored the back of the bullpen. Peter Moylan appears to be settling down after his early season struggles (despite his walk to the pitcher who scored the deciding run in Monday night’s game). Jeff Bennett has done a nice job (0.96 ERA in 10 games) even though he’s allowed a ton of base runners (2.04 WHIP). Eric O’Flaherty has been effective as the situational lefty allowing only a .200 slugging percentage to opposing hitters yet his ERA is 4.76. The jettisoning of Blaine Boyer has also improved my opinion of the bullpen.

Outlook: The Braves have to hope that with a healthy Chipper back in the lineup along with the return of a non-visually impaired Brian McCann and a non-hobbled Garret Anderson, their offensive offense will improve. Kelly Johnson is due to go on one of his two week torrid stretches at the top of the order. Without a true power hitter in the lineup, it is extremely important that everyone in the order do the little things in order to get on, get over, and get in. If the offense can improve and support the tremendous efforts of the starting pitchers, the Braves are still in position to contend in the N.L. East. They have to be well over .500 in May and early June in order to compete for the division. The end of June and early July schedule is brutal with 12 consecutive games against the Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies. If the Braves haven’t improved by then, they will be out of the post-season picture before the All-Star break.