Atlanta Braves II

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#10,880
#10,880
zjcvols said:
They added Greg Walker.
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Greg Walker's teams finished at or below the league average in walks drawn almost every year he was with the White Sox. And yet now he's supposed to be some guru of taking pitches and working deep into the count?

My basic belief about baseball is that there is a ton of randomness going on, all the time. Far more than even the guys who play it realize. This is a sport in which it's common for one team to beat another 9-1 on Thursday and then lose to the same team 8-2 on Friday, after all. But humans don't really believe in randomness, so there's always some kind of a narrative to explain what are essentially results spat out of a random number generator. ("Billy's really locked in this week. He's seeing the ball well.")

This time, it's Greg Walker. The Braves are hitting well; Greg Walker is new; therefore Greg Walker is the difference. Even though there's nothing in his career to suggest that he is likely, in fact, to make any difference.
 
#10,882
#10,882
The nice thing about Heyward is that his BABIP at .307 is very sustainable. After a BABIP of .335 in 2010 and .260 in 2011, hopefully he has regressed to the mean this season and this is the type of hitter he can be. His slugging might come down, but all other numbers suggests he can keep this play up, which a .800 OPS would be nice!
 
#10,883
#10,883
They have on a regular basis put up great offensive numbers as a team. I truly don't see it stopping. Sure the team will slump at some time, but they will also recover. This team is good-great offensively
 
#10,884
#10,884
Vercingetorix said:
Greg Walker's teams finished at or below the league average in walks drawn almost every year he was with the White Sox. And yet now he's supposed to be some guru of taking pitches and working deep into the count?

My basic belief about baseball is that there is a ton of randomness going on, all the time. Far more than even the guys who play it realize. This is a sport in which it's common for one team to beat another 9-1 on Thursday and then lose to the same team 8-2 on Friday, after all. But humans don't really believe in randomness, so there's always some kind of a narrative to explain what are essentially results spat out of a random number generator. ("Billy's really locked in this week. He's seeing the ball well.")

This time, it's Greg Walker. The Braves are hitting well; Greg Walker is new; therefore Greg Walker is the difference. Even though there's nothing in his career to suggest that he is likely, in fact, to make any difference.
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This is spot on and what 90% of baseball fans don't understand. It is why the Braves' probably didn't really choke --even in 96-- by winning only 1 championship and is the main reason why the playoff system in baseball is so flawed. I wish good regular season teams were given more credit. It used to be that way. Back in the old days, the best team in the league won the Pennant, and the World Series was seen as almost icing on the cake. Of course there was less September and October drama. But the game also had more mystique, and greatness got its proper due.
 
#10,891
#10,891
Escape Goat said:
Yes it is. IT'S just a fluke they are leading the national league in runs scored. No way it's real. It will never keep up. Etc, etc, etc.
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You are, of course, deliberately distorting what I've said. All I've said is that I need to see it play out longer than 30 games before I'll seriously believe that the Braves have made some enormous, league-shattering strides in offense. Meanwhile you're ready to crown them the best Braves offense in a decade based on one road trip.

Sorry if that's not enough of a knee-jerk, rah-rah-go-team reaction for you. I've been watching baseball far too many years to start ripping my shirt off and painting my chest about a hot streak in May.
 
#10,892
#10,892
I have to agree with Verc on the aspect that the SS is too small at the moment. However, I also tend to hold on to the belief that this production is something that can be somewhat sustained.
 
#10,893
#10,893
slh1089 said:
I have to agree with Verc on the aspect that the SS is too small at the moment. However, I also tend to hold on to the belief that this production is something that can be somewhat sustained.
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Other than Bourn, nobody's really hitting a level that I think is unsustainable compared to their career numbers. What's probably unsustainable is that everybody's hitting at the same time -- no lineup goes for very long where nobody's in a slump, nobody's hurt, everything's clicking. How's this offense going to be when Bourn comes back toward his career numbers, somebody falls in a slump, and somebody else gets hurt -- ie, the situation most lineups are in 95 percent of the time? That's the difference between a good offense and a great offense.

Also this: the whole team has a BABIP (batting average on balls in play) in May so far of almost .340, which is 40 points higher than it was in April. That's not sustainable either.
 
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#10,899
#10,899
Vercingetorix said:
Other than Bourn, nobody's really hitting a level that I think is unsustainable compared to their career numbers. What's probably unsustainable is that everybody's hitting at the same time -- no lineup goes for very long where nobody's in a slump, nobody's hurt, everything's clicking. How's this offense going to be when Bourn comes back toward his career numbers, somebody falls in a slump, and somebody else gets hurt -- ie, the situation most lineups are in 95 percent of the time? That's the difference between a good offense and a great offense.

Also this: the whole team has a BABIP (batting average on balls in play) in May so far of almost .340, which is 40 points higher than it was in April. That's not sustainable either.
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Heyward is very sustainable.
 
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