Braves are exploding

[Political Hack]

this could be a great 9 game home stand.

JHey could be Ken Griffey Jr disgusting. He's so talented.

[MetEdDawg]

Opposite field. If this lineup could ever do that consistently like they have tonight, we would be unstoppable. It's a mental thing and tonight they've gone with pitches away and hit them well.

[DawgSaint]

Justin Upton really helping out my fantasy team

[msstate7]

Gattis and bj with 2 walks a piece. Don't see that often...

[msstate7]

Very good night. Ready to see how Teheran comes back tomorrow after worst start of his career last time

[chef dixon]

That's stepping out on a limb to compare Heyward to Griffey Jr. He's not exactly a rookie anymore. Its his 5th season in the bigs, can't wait on it forever.

[shoeless joe]

Heyward is much closer to francouer than Griffey.

[Political Hack]

top end talent wise, he's capable of being Griffey. Will he ever reach it consistently? doesn't look like it.

that grab on that ball that sliced back on him in right was awesome. stole 2 bases. goes 3-4. that's a pretty Griffey-esq night.

[msstate7]

top end talent wise, he's capable of being Griffey. Will he ever reach it consistently? doesn't look like it.

that grab on that ball that sliced back on him in right was awesome. stole 2 bases. goes 3-4. that's a pretty Griffey-esq night.

Heyward is an elite defender. I think he's the best defensive rf since Clemente.

Heyward is still young (24). I still think he'll become a great hitter, but he's got work to do

[missouridawg]

JHey could be Ken Griffey Jr disgusting. He's so talented.

When he was a rookie, it was a lefty Albert Pujols. Now Ken Griffey Jr? You guys are setting up this slightly above average baseball player for failure.

In his 5 year career:
0.257 career average
0.349 career OBP
Less than 15 homers per season, on average.
Less than 10 SBs per season, on average
Through 41 games this year, he has 10 RBI. Ten.

Ken Griffey Jr you say? More like a severely tanned Matt Stairs without the gut.

[thf24]

As a casual Braves fan, I can't say I'm not a little disappointed with Heyward at this point based on what he was heralded to be coming in. But he is still fairly young and still has time to turn it on, and it needs to be mentioned that he's missed more time than average with little injuries throughout his career thus far, as well as played hurt at times.

[Political Hack]

I think his face plant hurt him tremendously but it appears he could be on the verge of busting through that mentally. If he does, his top end talent is higher than anyone else on the roster IMO. If he peaks in years 5-10, it'll be a pretty normal trajectory for a baseball player. Most kids don't start out hitting .350 their first year in the league.

five tool. five tool. five tool. five tool. five tool.

[missouridawg]

Most kids don't start out hitting .350 their first year in the league.

You're right, but the elite ones do start out hitting well above .257 through their first 4 years.

I will say this... after putting the chart together (chart shows first 4 full seasons of each player) and comparing Griffey Jr. to Heyward, the only major discrepancy is batting average. Heyward lags a little in OBP, but his homers, runs, and RBIs are pretty dang close when you extrapolate things out.

GAMES PA AVG OBP HRS RBIS RUNS
Ken Griffey Jr. 578 2422 0.301154734 0.364987614 87 344 311
Albert Pujols 629 2728 0.333051206 0.412756598 160 504 500
Jason Heyward 532 2170 0.259416446 0.350691244 73 234 293


Full disclaimer - My 'smartassedness' in these Jason Heyward posts derives from arguments about his rookie year back on SPS. I particularly like to needle Braves fans about hailing him as the next Pujols, as it so often was done. Don't take any of this personally... as it's all in the good-fun of message-boarding.

PS - The chart didn't paste right out of excel. Columns across are games, plate appearances, batting average, OBP, homers, RBIs, and RUNS.

[War Machine Dawg]

Heyward is much closer to francouer than Griffey.

Yep. Been saying this for a while. There's a reason JHey wasn't one of the guys to get an extension during the offseason.

[Political Hack]

You're right, but the elite ones do start out hitting well above .257 through their first 4 years.

I will say this... after putting the chart together (chart shows first 4 full seasons of each player) and comparing Griffey Jr. to Heyward, the only major discrepancy is batting average. Heyward lags a little in OBP, but his homers, runs, and RBIs are pretty dang close when you extrapolate things out.

GAMES PA AVG OBP HRS RBIS RUNS
Ken Griffey Jr. 578 2422 0.301154734 0.364987614 87 344 311
Albert Pujols 629 2728 0.333051206 0.412756598 160 504 500
Jason Heyward 532 2170 0.259416446 0.350691244 73 234 293


Full disclaimer - My 'smartassedness' in these Jason Heyward posts derives from arguments about his rookie year back on SPS. I particularly like to needle Braves fans about hailing him as the next Pujols, as it so often was done. Don't take any of this personally... as it's all in the good-fun of message-boarding.

PS - The chart didn't paste right out of excel. Columns across are games, plate appearances, batting average, OBP, homers, RBIs, and RUNS.

yep. He starts spraying the ball around the field a little and it's pretty close. He just needs to learn that he doesn't need to earn it all back with one swing. As he matures, I think he's going to become a much, much better hitter for average.

[smootness]

Heyward is much closer to francouer than Griffey.

Heyward is no Griffey, at least at this point, but the comparisons to Francouer are absurd. He is way more valuable than Francouer was at any time outside of his crazy first month in the majors.

And the reason he didn't get a long-term extension has far more to do with the fact that he wants to test FA than it does that we don't want to extend him.

Heyward is a valuable RF as it stands now, with the potential to be far more.

[War Machine Dawg]

Heyward is no Griffey, at least at this point, but the comparisons to Francouer are absurd. He is way more valuable than Francouer was at any time outside of his crazy first month in the majors.

And the reason he didn't get a long-term extension has far more to do with the fact that he wants to test FA than it does that we don't want to extend him.

Heyward is a valuable RF as it stands now, with the potential to be far more.

Do you even read the AJC? Because they're the ones saying that JHey's failure to get an extension was somewhat of a mutual decision between both clubs. Management isn't totally sold on him and basically told JHey "earn it." That gave JHey the power to test FA with a good year, but so far he's been awful. Not what you want to see in a contract year from the guy you thought was going to be the new face of the franchise.

The AJC is also the ones who made the Francouer comparisons a couple of years ago. And other than the walks, the numbers at the time were scarily similar. Other than Mac, almost none of the local GA guys have been the player we thought they'd be.

[BoomBoom]

Do you even read the AJC? Because they're the ones saying that JHey's failure to get an extension was somewhat of a mutual decision between both clubs. Management isn't totally sold on him and basically told JHey "earn it." That gave JHey the power to test FA with a good year, but so far he's been awful. Not what you want to see in a contract year from the guy you thought was going to be the new face of the franchise.

The AJC is also the ones who made the Francouer comparisons a couple of years ago. And other than the walks, the numbers at the time were scarily similar. Other than Mac, almost none of the local GA guys have been the player we thought they'd be.

Heyward signed a two-year deal, buying out his last 2 arb years. he's not a FA until 2016.

[msstate7]

Teheran follows worst start of his career with a complete game shutout. His era is now 1.92. I love this kid

[Political Hack]

despite a terrible road stretch I still think this team can play in the NLCA and maybe the World Series this year.