G-BRAVES JOURNAL: Gwinnett preps for Opening Day

The Gwinnett Braves will open their season on the road tonight against the Durham Bulls. Todd Redmond will take the mound for the G-Braves. Redmond went 10-8 last year with a 2.92 ERA, holding opposing hitters to a .241 batting average.

J.C. Boscan will get the start behind the plate in what will be his fourth season with the G-Braves. Boscan is a 16-year veteran of professional baseball, spending 14 seasons in the Braves organization. Boscan has helped a number of the Braves’ pitching prospects as they have come through the minor leagues and will once again be working with a talented young staff on the G-Braves, led by Julio Teheran. Teheran is rated as the top pitching prospect in the Braves organization for the second year in a row and many thought he would be on the Atlanta opening day roster. However, Teheran will return to Gwinnett to start the year in order to further develop his control and breaking pitches.

Ernesto Mejia is making the move from Mississippi to Gwinnett this season after batting .297 with 16 homers and 99 RBIs in AA in 2011. Joey Terdoslavich, the 2011 Atlanta Braves Minor League Player of the Year, will also be moving to Gwinnett after tearing up Class-A Lynchburg batting .286 with 20 homers, 52 doubles and 82 RBIs. Terdoslavich and Mejia figure to anchor the corner infield spots for the G-Braves this season, with Mejia at first and Terdoslavich at third, and provide some pop in the middle of the lineup.

The G-Braves will look to improve on last year’s effort when the team fell just shy of the playoffs, finishing 2.5 games behind the Durham Bulls in the South Division. This year behind a strong pitching staff led by Teheran and Redmond, and their young corner infielders Terdoslavich and Mejia, the G-Braves hope to be a factor in the International League playoff picture.