***THE Official Atlanta (chop chop) Braves (chop chop) 2013 Thread *********

He said "a pedestrian offensive first baseman" which he would be correct. Those are nice numbers for an up the middle player but not for a corner position player, especially a 1B. They're maybe league average. A 1B who puts up a .271/.342/.452/.794 isn't a star and is replaceble. Now if you want to make a case that he's only 23 and will improve it's possible but Mainge makes a good point. The expected output at that position is extremely high.

 

Gattis hit .303/.365/.595/.960 with 16 HR in 195 at bats in winter league ball in Venezuela.

 

He has been the previous two seasons. Don't see why it should be considered a joke.

 

You're missing a lot, apparently.

He's been an average offensive first baseman over the last two years. That doesn't mean he's a bad player. League average positional offense making the league minimum is great. But to say he's been average offensively for his position is irrefutable fact.

 

A couple of 1B with somewhat similar numbers:

Brian Daubach: .259/.341/.476/.817
Erubiel Durazo: .281/.381/.487/.868
Mike Jacobs: .253/.313/.473/.786
Garrett Jones: .261/.323/.466/.789

Freddie Freeman: .271/.342/.452/.794

 

I'd say perhaps Freeman is avg wheels, then again the Braves have won a lot of ballgames with him in the lineup, and that is the point of actually playing the games and not just looking at stat comparisons.

BTW, "avg" to me means he does not create GW hits, and is middle of the pack defensively, and does not produce runs (Runs scored+RBI's- Hr's)

 

Okay.

 

Freddie will hit enough HR's to justify keeping him. I think he's a potential 850 OPS guy, which would be fine

 

He's 23 and at the beginning of his career. Don't worry, I knew the stat guys would be all over this one.

 

If he too were at or near the end of his career I guess this would somehow be relevant.

 

I said in my original post that he's only 23 so there is perhaps room for growth, however right now he's not a star player. Not sure why it's such a big deal to say that. Not everyone can be Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder for example. No one is saying Freeman is a bad baseball player either. He's just not as valuable or important as people think he is.

And my post of other 1B was to show his numbers aren't that impressive right now. Can he get better? Of course, no one is saying he won't or can't. Just right now he's ordinary or average for a 1st baseman simply because the demand of production of that position is extremely high.

 

The original post stated that there was no reason to think he'd get any better. That's what surprised me. I'm not the only person in the world who thinks he has a fairly high potential ceiling. We'll see. He was on a tear before he went to the DL. He'll be back soon, we'll get a better look at what he's going to look like in his third MLB season.

 

I said his numbers don't suggest he'll get too much better. That doesn't mean he won't. Guys outperform their minor league numbers all the time and vica versa. He's a really nice player to have around, especially when considering he's controlled for 4 more years.

 

Kimbrel looked like hot garbage last night..game tying HR, then a 2 strike count gives up the GW Hr in Cinci..ouch.

Simmons is one heck of a defensive short stop

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9289676/atlanta-braves-lose-eric-oflaherty-torn-elbow-ligament

Ouch.

 

Bravos are rolling well atm.

 

Simmons with the walk off hit to win the game vs the Pirates tonight

Really enjoying the team this year, would like to see more bunting and contact plays though, was never a fan of waiting for the home run ala Bobby Cox's style.

 

If JHey and BJ start even hitting at an average level it will be a huge boost. I've about given up on Uggla. We'll get some homers from time to time but not expecting anything from him. I wish Gattis could play second.

 

BJ has always was really good at getting walks. Because he takes so many pitches. Unfortunately, he takes to many. Isn't near aggressive enough. A lot of times I got the sense from BJ that he would rather walk then hit.

 

Hudson's ankle was broken last night. He's been up and down all season but of course it happens when he's on a hot streak. We're not having a ton of luck with the injury bug this season.

 

LHRP Scott Downs traded to the Braves for Cory Rasmus.

 

The internet, it's everywhere.

 

Braves just keep rolling along winning ballgames.

J-Hey strained a neck tonight, pssh..love J-Hey but he's no threat to break Garvey's NL consecutive games played streak.

 

Losing his glove in the outfield was the biggest loss. Gattis replaced him at the plate perfectly fine.

 

Guessing you don't agree with that anymore...

 

It would depend. He's virtually the same player he was last year except with an unsustainably high BABIP.

 

Heyward is one of the most frustrating players in baseball atleast fantasy wise... Stay healthy for more then a week damnit!

 

I feel like he's going to randomly explode one year.

 

He did last year actually. He managed to stay on the field. Cant remember a player his age having so many little nagging type injuries though.

 

He stayed healthy last year but I believe his potential to be far greater than an .800 OPS player.

 

I was speaking about his all around game really.. His steals last year were a nice surprise.

 

Atlanta's magic number is 24 with I believe 38 left to play.

 

If you are a Braves fan please don't click the spoiler tag. I don't want to ruin your logo for you!

Spoiler

I noticed this yesterday and the Adrian Monk in me really can't stand the fact that the E is capitalized in their logo.