Atlanta Braves II

Status
Not open for further replies.
#8,516
#8,516
GAVol said:
It still bothers me how often he gets jammed and rolls over pitches. It's like he still hasn't quite figured out how to hit it of the barrel.
Click to expand...

He's 22. He doesn't even really know how to hit yet. He's got a good enough eye that I'm confident he'll be fine. Assuming the Braves don't screw him up trying to make him more aggressive.
 
#8,519
#8,519
Vercingetorix said:
He's 22. He doesn't even really know how to hit yet. He's got a good enough eye that I'm confident he'll be fine. Assuming the Braves don't screw him up trying to make him more aggressive.
Click to expand...

Goes to corner and cries softly at the possibility of this happening.
 
#8,521
#8,521
zjcvols said:
Goes to corner and cries softly at the possibility of this happening.
Click to expand...

It's already happened a little -- even in Heyward's rookie year, when Cox was the manager. They wanted him to be more aggressive, to drive in more runs. Which I think is the stupidest thing you could tell a 21 year old rookie who's seeing major league pitching for the first time -- "go ahead, swing at MORE pitches than you're comfortable doing!"

The Braves are not an organization that values OBP, or even appears to know that it exists. Heyward's clear future is as a #3 guy, driving in the first two guys and getting on base at close to a .400 clip for the RBI guys behind him, but I can absolutely see the Braves ruining him by trying to make him a 5 hitter and telling him that his job isn't to draw walks, it's to hit the ball hard and drive in runs. Especially if Fredi sticks around.
 
Last edited:
#8,522
#8,522
Vercingetorix said:
It's already happened a little -- even in Heyward's rookie year, when Cox was the manager. They wanted him to be more aggressive, to drive in more runs. Which I think is the stupidest thing you could tell a 21 year old rookie who's seeing major league pitching for the first time -- "go ahead, swing at MORE pitches than you're comfortable doing!"

The Braves are not an organization that values OBP, or even appears to know that it exists. Heyward's clear future is as a #3 guy, driving in the first two guys and getting on base at close to a .400 clip for the RBI guys behind him, but I can absolutely see the Braves ruining him by trying to make him a 5 hitter and telling him that his job isn't to draw walks, it's to hit the ball hard and drive in runs. Especially if Fredi sticks around.
Click to expand...

I know.

It drives me crazy. It makes no sense why a potential .350 OBP guy is at the #2 while Jason is at #7. It's ridiculous. I'm still convinced that while the shoulder played a part, the Braves screwed him trying to make him some aggressive hitter. It's mind-boggling. Do they not remember Chipper Jones!!!!!!! ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

I mean, I get not being into some advanced stats. OBP isn't an advanced stats!!! It's always been there!!! How dumb can this Front Office be?
 
#8,523
#8,523
zjcvols said:
I know.

It drives me crazy. It makes no sense why a potential .350 OBP guy is at the #2 while Jason is at #7. It's ridiculous. I'm still convinced that while the shoulder played a part, the Braves screwed him trying to make him some aggressive hitter. It's mind-boggling. Do they not remember Chipper Jones!!!!!!! ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

I mean, I get not being into some advanced stats. OBP isn't an advanced stats!!! It's always been there!!! How dumb can this Front Office be?
Click to expand...

You are a young guy, so I'm not sure how much you fully appreciate how vastly different stats are regarded now. As recently as 20-25 years ago, almost nobody ever talked about OBP because baseball people regarded walks as something the pitcher did while the batter just stood there watching. They hadn't seemed to clue in on the fact that some guys drew 100 walks every year and some guys drew 25, and that the guys who drew 100 walks were a hell of a lot more valuable, all things being equal. Example: Rickey Henderson's the greatest leadoff hitter of all time not because of his SB, but because of his .400 OBP....but at his peak back in the 80s, almost nobody talked about his walks. A whole generation of slap-and-tickle-hitting but fast guys led off for ML teams because teams couldn't figure out that OBP is why Rickey scored 120 runs a year, not stolen bases.

These days almost everybody has figured out that OBP is more important than batting average. The Braves are, unfortunately, one of the last old school holdouts. They regard OBP as as much of an advanced stat as people thought of it in 1985. Remember last year when the whole coaching staff admitted that they had no idea what the OBP of any of their players were?
 
#8,524
#8,524
Vercingetorix said:
You are a young guy, so I'm not sure how much you fully appreciate how vastly different stats are regarded now. As recently as 20-25 years ago, almost nobody ever talked about OBP because baseball people regarded walks as something the pitcher did while the batter just stood there watching. They hadn't seemed to clue in on the fact that some guys drew 100 walks every year and some guys drew 25, and that the guys who drew 100 walks were a hell of a lot more valuable, all things being equal. Example: Rickey Henderson's the greatest leadoff hitter of all time not because of his SB, but because of his .400 OBP....but at his peak back in the 80s, almost nobody talked about his walks. A whole generation of slap-and-tickle-hitting but fast guys led off for ML teams because teams couldn't figure out that OBP is why Rickey scored 120 runs a year, not stolen bases.

These days almost everybody has figured out that OBP is more important than batting average. The Braves are, unfortunately, one of the last old school holdouts. They regard OBP as as much of an advanced stat as people thought of it in 1985. Remember last year when the whole coaching staff admitted that they had no idea what the OBP of any of their players were?
Click to expand...

Yup, which plays into the rift that existed between Ted Williams, the media, and ultimately Boston. A lot of Red Sox fans grind their teeth knowing that Williams would not expand his strike zone in the ninth when down a run. He'd still take the same approach and work the count in this favor to either get a pitch he could drive or just take his base like he did nearly half of his career plate appearances (lifetime .482 OBP).

It's that expectation that the superstar needs to do something magical, when in reality it plays much higher to the percentages of scoring a run by just getting on base any way possible.
 
#8,525
#8,525
True story, my Grandpa caught a Ted Williams home run ball, but unfortunately my father and his 5 brothers snuck in out for a quick neighborhood game, long story short ball was lost and their were some serious red asses around the house for a few days
 
New posts
Status
Not open for further replies.

VN Store



Back
Top