Braves

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Originally Posted by Will James

1. Gattis won't be one of the leagues best hitters

2. He's nowhere near Mac on defensive ability.

3. Kimbrel absolutely starts the inning vs Puig. He especially needs to come in after the double.

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Maybe gattis won't be one of the best hitters in the league, but he will be better than McCann. He was better than McCann this year.

McCann -- 356 ab's 20 hr's 56 rbi's
Gattis -- 354 ab's 21 hr's 65 rbi's

This was gattis' first year. Oh and gattis is pretty dang good behind the plate defensively. Gattis will hit 30 hr's 90+ rbi's next season if he doesn't get hurt. At this point of their careers, gattis is superior to McCann

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Originally Posted by msstate7

Maybe gattis won't be one of the best hitters in the league, but he will be better than McCann. He was better than McCann this year.

McCann -- 356 ab's 20 hr's 56 rbi's
Gattis -- 354 ab's 21 hr's 65 rbi's

This was gattis' first year. Oh and gattis is pretty dang good behind the plate defensively. Gattis will hit 30 hr's 90+ rbi's next season if he doesn't get hurt. At this point of their careers, gattis is superior to McCann

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IF we keep him after this offseason. I see many a team trying to get him from the Braves.

Gattis wasn't a better hitter than McCann. His OPS was 26 points lower; his OBP was below .300.

I really like Gattis' potential if he can develop a little more plate discipline and figure out breaking balls better, and I don't think there's any way we can re-sign McCann, but it will hurt us offensively next year, more than likely.

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Originally Posted by TheRef

IF we keep him after this offseason. I see many a team trying to get him from the Braves.

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McCann will be way too expensive and for too many years. If the braves tie up money in McCann instead of going after David price I'll be sick. Then we'll have bj, uggla, and McCann getting most our money and outs

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Originally Posted by msstate7

McCann will be way too expensive and for too many years. If the braves tie up money in McCann instead of going after David price I'll be sick. Then we'll have bj, uggla, and McCann getting most our money and outs

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Can we call a Mulligan on BJ's contract? I think every MLB team should be entitled to 1 mulligan every year on contracts.

Another thing about McCann... The at bat vs Jensen tells the tale. McCann used to could hit anyone's fastball, but he can't catch up now. When youre a fastball hitter and can't hit a good fastball, you're almost done

well at least the braves didn't start a brawl over uribe's HR trot

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Originally Posted by msstate7

Gattis is gonna be one of the best hitters in mlb

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wut? you mean a .260 hitter with 30 HR power is one of the best hitters in the game now?

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Originally Posted by dawgs

wut? you mean a .260 hitter with 30 HR power is one of the best hitters in the game now?

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When he does it in his 2nd year, he's well on his way. Remember gattis is just getting back in baseball after a long time away. He has a quick stroke with enormous power. As he gets more selective at the plate, he's gonna smash

fwiw, anyone looking for a new team to pull for, i'm pulling for the pirates. their home crowds have been some of the best atmospheres i've ever seen in baseball. and they also built the team very much in the moneyball mold.

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Originally Posted by TheRef

Can we call a Mulligan on BJ's contract? I think every MLB team should be entitled to 1 mulligan every year on contracts.

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The LA Angels approve of this idea

i'd be shocked if he ever hits above .280 for a full season without a ridiculous amount of BABIP luck. he's a nice hitting C who will hit in the .260 range with good power. there will be some improvement in pitch selection, but pitchers will also adapt to his weaknesses. at the end of the day, i think it's mostly a wash and he is what he is with some BB rate improvement, but nothing drastic.

I don't like the Braves, but I have a great disdain for the Dodgers.....I hope the Cards pull it out, but if not I'll pull for the Pirates. But after saying that, GO CARDS!!!!

Gattis doesn't get the credit he deserves. Here's puig's stats vs gattis':

Puig -- 382 ab's 19 hr's 42 rbi's .319 avg

Gattis -- 354 ab's 21 hr's 65 rbi's
.243 avg

Puig is definitely a better hitter as far as average, but gattis produces with his hits more. In 18 less at bats, gattis drove in 23 more rbi's.

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Originally Posted by smootness

Gattis wasn't a better hitter than McCann. His OPS was 26 points lower; his OBP was below .300.

I really like Gattis' potential if he can develop a little more plate discipline and figure out breaking balls better, and I don't think there's any way we can re-sign McCann, but it will hurt us offensively next year, more than likely.

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Sort of like McCann hurt us this year? Tell me what mccann's ops was when it mattered. He followed a terrible September with an 0 for October. McCann has lost bat speed and his production will be down again next season. Like I said before McCann is a fastball hitter that can't hit a good fastball anymore. He used to pull even the best fastballs. Now if he gets around a hit off a good fastball it's to the opposite field. The writing is on the wall

I said that I don't think there's any way we can or will re-sign McCann, and I don't want us to.

But that doesn't mean Gattis was a better hitter this year; he wasn't.

You have to stop relying on RBIs to inform your opinion of hitters. Puig was a far better hitter this year than Gattis.

And I love Gattis' potential. I don't know if his plate discipline will ever progress to the point where he realizes all that potential, but there is no doubt that he makes a lot of very hard contact, and I want him to be a part of the Braves for a long time.

And I think Puig is due for regression next year as teams figure him out; I think they will exploit the fact that he is a free-swinger, and he will definitely strike out a bunch. But Gattis just wasn't as good as Puig this year, not even close.

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Originally Posted by smootness

It isn't hindsight. I said when the inning started that once a baserunner was on, Kimbrel had to be brought in. It's common sense.

Carpenter was a good pitcher all year, but he isn't Kimbrel, he had been killed earlier in the series, and he had just given up a double.

I don't care who would second-guess Fredi had Kimbrel come in and lost it. It would have been the right move. If you lose with your best pitcher on the mound, touche. If you lose and your best pitcher never gets in, well, that's on the manager.

As far as Fredi bringing in Kimbrel after the bunt, I guarantee he wouldn't have. It is Fredi Gonzalez; he said himself after the game that he had it set up to bring in Kimbrel for 4 outs...not 5, and not 6. That is asinine. It makes no sense at all; no one will ever be able to explain to me why a pitcher can easily go 4 outs but can't go 6.

Wednesday will take care of itself. You have to get there first. Obviously you can't go nuts, but 2 innings with a rest day afterward would still allow Kimbrel to pitch game 5.

And if Kimbrel gets worn out, you figure that out when the time comes. Bring in Minor for a couple of outs if you need it. But that option is far better than Kimbrel not even getting in the game because you blew it too quickly. There is just no point in saving him for the bottom of the order and just hoping and praying Carpenter can get you there. You put Kimbrel in, allow him to try to put out the fire, and let him pitch until he's no longer effective.

There's this thought around baseball that pitchers are like machines and once they have the slightest amount more asked of them than they have previously, they will explode. It's crazy. And again, it isn't hindsight. Most of the fanbase wanted Kimbrel in there, because it's obvious.

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Fredi probably knows what Kimbrel can handle since he coaches him. More than likely they had him go two innings in spring training during an outing or two to see what would happen. They have data on his effectiveness after a certain amount of pitches. ALL of that plays into a decision. There's not a "thought around baseball that pitchers are machines"- there's a thought around baseball that pitchers are human beings and that preventing arm injuries leads to maximum production. I think there may be a thought amongst some fans that you can handle a pitching staff like you do on xbox or playstation. You simply can not.

Back in the 70's and 80's managers used to handle bullpens like you are talking about. They stopped because pitchers were breaking down left and they weren't as effective. My uncle was a closer- and it was not uncommon for him to pitch 2-3 innings at a time. He got burned up in four seasons- and in the midst of his four best seasons he had an arm surgery thrown in there for good measure.

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Originally Posted by dawgs

well at least the braves didn't start a brawl over uribe's HR trot

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I laughed. I thought it was a possibility the way that Uribe threw the bat down.

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Originally Posted by msstate7

Gattis doesn't get the credit he deserves. Here's puig's stats vs gattis':

Puig -- 382 ab's 19 hr's 42 rbi's .319 avg

Gattis -- 354 ab's 21 hr's 65 rbi's
.243 avg

Puig is definitely a better hitter as far as average, but gattis produces with his hits more. In 18 less at bats, gattis drove in 23 more rbi's.

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For most of the year Puig batted top 3 in the order including leadoff while Gattis was in the more RBI potential spots in the order. Puig scored more runs and stole more bases. Puig's speed, average and defense combined with his power make him the far more superior player over Gattis. Gattis is a great story but he has no business being compared with Puig. Puig might be better than Bryce Harper.

Pitchers are developing injuries at least as much as they ever have before. Pitchers are now routinely having at least one TJ surgery in their career, sometimes before they're even drafted, and in the past, that literally ended someone's career.

Meanwhile, Nolan Ryan and the Rangers are having their pitchers throw harder and more often, and they seem to be among the best at avoiding injuries recently.

But you're kidding yourself if you think Fredi Gonzalez cares about numbers. He said a couple years ago that he felt like Schafer was getting on base more and was better than both Heyward and McLouth, despite his OBP and all his other numbers being lower than the other two. That was his defense for playing Schafer over them.

He manages on feel, and he is very old-school in that he doesn't do anything that is outside convention. Runner on first, time to bunt him over. Closer hasn't ever gotten 6 outs before, can't do it; must have him pitch the 9th because he's the 'closer' and he's trying to get a 'save'.

If he is actually trying to analyze spring training numbers as a way to make decisions in the postseason, that would exhibit A as to why he is making poor decisions.

Fredi doesn't know what Kimbrel can handle because he's never let him try, even in the biggest game we played all year, when we absolutely had to stop a run from scoring. Again, pitch him in the 8th and find somebody else later if you need them. There's nothing that says once your closer enters, he will remain in the game for the remainder no matter what happens. We needed him right then, and he wasn't used. That's inexplicable.

I'll put it to you this way, which do you think had a better chance of ending the game with a W:
a) Carpenter pitches the rest of the 8th with a runner on 2nd (that he allowed a 2B to) and no outs, with Kimbrel pitching the 9th, OR
b) Kimbrel pitches the rest of the 8th with a runner on 2nd and no outs, then returns for the 9th.

To me, it isn't even a question. It's Kimbrel every time. In the regular season, you may keep Carpenter in because even if you lose, it's one game and you can't just throw Kimbrel constantly in every game.
In an elimination game, you pull the trigger. That is the primary difference between the Braves and organizations like the Cardinals. They know the playoffs are different, we don't seem to get that.