Braves fans

[tenureplan]

I know it is early in the season, but I can't help to notice a glaring weakness with this team. No true 2 hole hitter. Maybe Heyward is an upgrade to Mclouth batting second; but his average/obp is still not a good fit for that spot. You want your 2 guy to have a high OBP and decent speed. Prado is an ideal 2 guy, he is probably a better fit there than leading off. So maybe the problem is no true leadoff guy.

Though he lacks the speed, at this point in his career, Chipper is probably better suited for the 2 than the 3. He has a couple of homers, but he lacks the power to be a legitimate 3. My order would be Prado-Chipper-McCann-Heyward-Uggla-Freeman-Gonzalez-Mclouth.

 

[tenureplan]

I know it is early in the season, but I can't help to notice a glaring weakness with this team. No true 2 hole hitter. Maybe Heyward is an upgrade to Mclouth batting second; but his average/obp is still not a good fit for that spot. You want your 2 guy to have a high OBP and decent speed. Prado is an ideal 2 guy, he is probably a better fit there than leading off. So maybe the problem is no true leadoff guy.

Though he lacks the speed, at this point in his career, Chipper is probably better suited for the 2 than the 3. He has a couple of homers, but he lacks the power to be a legitimate 3. My order would be Prado-Chipper-McCann-Heyward-Uggla-Freeman-Gonzalez-Mclouth.

 

[MStateFan22]

Chipper is probably the Braves best RBI guy. I want him knocking in guys instead of getting knocked in. Heyward, in my opinion, should be intro #2 spot. He's got speed and pop and don't forget he lead the team last year in OBP.

 

[FISHDAWG]

and let McCann go clean-up ... chipper can still hit but he has lost some power / bat speed .... interesting to see how Freddie will work this out ... maybe trade Gonzales for a better hitting SS

 

[57stratdawg]

Prado is a very good batter, but not a great leadoff guy. He'd be a very good #2 guy. Once more I would like to point out that Heyward is batting .203 on the season. Not sure I can justify moving him somewhere else in the lineup until he starts hitting more.

The Braves seemed to get the bat going late last night. Maybe it'll carry over.

 

[boomboommsu]

Heyward is probably their best OBP guy, he's definitely the best at taking a walk. That has been a wasted talent batting sixth, but it will hurt the other team if they walk him in front of Chipper and McCann. Heyward also has power and speed. He's THE prototypical number two hitter.

And Chipper's power has been fine of late. Not as much as there used to be, but as much as McCann and Uggla. Plus, you don't want to bat Heyward and McCann back to back, as they're both lefties.

 

[boomboommsu]

He's been pitched around a ton. He needs to be somewhere at the top of the order, where his walks are more valuable, and he gets more pitches to hit.

 

[dawgs.sixpack]

uhh, how can you knock heyward's OBP (over 100 points higher than his avg, and the avg isn't gonna stay in the low .200s for long and the OBP is gonna rise accordingly) as a reason to not bat him 2nd and then advocate prada for the 2 hole (.288 OBP even though he's currently hitting ~50 points higher than heyward)?<div>
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[dawgs.sixpack]

chipper is the best RBI guy because he bats 3rd. stick heyward 3rd with plenty of chances to drive in high OBP chipper and actual quality batts (mccann, uggla) behind him and voila, he's your best RBI guy.

 

[tenureplan]

He won't walk as much. Why not walk Heyward when he is batting 6th and Gonzalez is behind him.

 

[57stratdawg]

People act like he's Barry Bonds up there. He's like 3-30 since moving to the 2 hole.

Braves fan act like Heyward is on par with the best hitters in the NL (Fielder, Braun, Howard, etc), but he's just not right now. Heyward has a great deal of potential, but he's got to start hitting getting more hits.

 

[boomboommsu]

He walked so much last year, that they tried to get him to be more aggressive, then backed off of that because an aggressive approach really didn't work for him.

 

[DeltaDawg7]

#friendlybanter

 

[boomboommsu]

He's treated that way, because he posted a 950 OPS his rookie year (minus the time he was hurt). He's looked the same this year, just with some bad breaks. Small sample size and all that. He's been hitting the ball hard, so no one is worried about it.

It's one thing to say he needs to earn a spot in favor of Chipper, McCann, or Uggla. Nate McLouth is a whole other story.

Hell, Buster Posey is hitting clean up for the Giants.

 

[dawgs.sixpack]

part of heyward's hype is his patience and eye at the plate. check those minor league numbers. and yes, he probably was being pitched around SOME in the minors, but plenty of guys like pedro alvarez and other big time prospects weren't putting up walks like that in the minors and were head and shoulders above most of the competition, so the pitched around argument only goes so far.<div>
</div><div>don't be scared to admit heyward is a future beast and the braves need to stop coddling him.</div>

 

[MStateFan22]

Heyward fell into the Braves lap with the #14 pick because he took so many walks. Teams that picked ahead of the Braves that year passed on him because their pro scouts didn't see him swing the bat enough.

 

[tenureplan]

He looks like Pedro Ceranno getting a curveball.

 

[57stratdawg]

I know it's early, but dammit that's low.

Like tenureplan said, Heyward had trouble protecting both sides of the plate. Heyward's OBP isn't that good (.311). He's well behind McCann, trailing Chipper, and slightly ahead of Prato.

He just isn't seeing the ball real well right now. It doesn't matter what position in the lineup he's in.

 

[boomboommsu]

I have missed some of the last few games, but from what i saw last night it was apparant he's being pounded inside relentlessly, both with fastballs and breaking balls. Once he adjusts, he'll probably hit .400 for a few weeks. I don't know if it's him seeing the ball, i think he should back off the plate a bit. i think he's also been trying to pull too much, which is surprising because he's never been that type of hitter. if he backs off the plate, and protects the outside by driving balls to right instead of trying to pull them, he should be back to form.

on the flip side, McLouth is hitting much better OUT of the 2 hole. and nobody else should be batting there, so it's probably Heyward by default now, unless you move Chipper to it, but i think it's apparant that that won't happen.

 

[tenureplan]

Heyward MAY be the most suited for the 2, but he really isn't a good fit there. I would like Chipper there, but his slow *** would clog the basepaths. I still say if we had a legit leadoff man, Prado would be the best fit for the 2.

 

[wbc40]

If he can hit consistently over the course of a month or two, maybe we could slide him into the leadoff spot.

 

[boomboommsu]

The Book Says:
Your three best hitters should bat somewhere in the #1, #2 and #4 slots. Your fourth- and fifth-best hitters should occupy the #3 and #5 slots. The #1 and #2 slots will have players with more walks than those in the #4 and #5 slots. From slot #6 through #9, put the players in descending order of quality.

Prado is a natural #3 hitter (he rarely walks). Chipper and Heyward are natural #2 hitters. McCann and Uggla are perfect at the 4 and 5.

So, Prado batting leadoff is the concession to having two #2 hitters and no leadoff hitter. Chipper batting #3 instead of Heyward is due to Chipper's preference and veteran status.

 

[boomboommsu]

His slugging% is still .429.

Batting average is a useless stat.

True, he's struggling on inside pitches right now, but that's a much more dangerous approach for the pitcher than typical. It's much easier to catch too much of the plate with those pitches than with high fastballs or low breaking stuff. When they're painting the inside black, they're getting him out, when they miss they're either walking him or worse.

 

[dawgs.sixpack]

His slugging% is still .429.

Batting average is a useless stat.

True, he's struggling on inside pitches right now, but that's a much more dangerous approach for the pitcher than typical. It's much easier to catch too much of the plate with those pitches than with high fastballs or low breaking stuff. When they're painting the inside black, they're getting him out, when they miss they're either walking him or worse.

(1) amen on batting avg. obviously you don't want it sub-.200, but give me a .270 avg and a .390 OBP over a .310 avg and a .330 OBP <div>
</div><div>(2) regarding inside pitching, if heyward is sitting in the 6 hole with no protection, then pitches can pound inside and if they miss on a 3-2 count then so be it, they just gotta get out some scrubs now. but stick him in the 2 or 3 spot and pitchers are gonna be more hesitant about going to far inside for fear of walking him for chipper/mccann/uggla, and if the leave the ball an inch further over the plate, he can smash it.</div><div>
</div><div>(3) i think he's seeing the ball fine, only 11 Ks thus far. his BABIP is unsustainably low at .167 right now. that will come up (the league avg is around .300 BABIP). his line drives are a little down, his fly balls are a little up, but that can be fixed with minor work on his swing. he's reduced his K rate by 8%.</div><div>
</div><div>see the numbers for yourself here:http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4940&position=OF</div><div>
</div><div>fwiw fangraphs is a great site if you are like me and enjoy dorking out over some baseball numbers.</div>