A few weeks ago my 4.5 yr old daughter and I are watching the Braves on television. Frenchy comes up (I think there was a runner on 2B) and he swings at a high pitch…strike 1. The catcher gets a little high in his crouch and recieves another high pitch..which frenchy promptly swings at and misses….strike 2! The catcher is now basically standing up behind the plate to recieve a 3rd high pitch…this time high enough to be slight below shoulder level…Frenchy ties himself into a big knot going after the third pitch…strike 3!

At this point I am speechless and about ready to twitch. But before I can say anything my 4.5 yr old daughter turns to me and asks “Daddy…why does he keep swinging at the ball? It is too high and he keeps missing.”

Now I am probably simplifying the pitch sequence somewhat for the sake of the story..as I think there was a slider mixed in there somewhere….but the fact that the catcher basically stood up…and the fact that my 4 yr old daughter saw the problem demonstrates the severity of the issue. This season is a wash. Franceuor is not helping the team nor himself right now. He needs to finish the season at AAA and get hot and really work on his swing. When the rosters expand let him come back up and finish the season on a strong note. I still believe he is a legit major leaguer but with every swing and miss at the shoulder high fastballs I see my faith slipping. Before he works himself into a rut beyond recovery…get him down the minors.

If the Braves are goign to have any hope of being successful in the next couple years he HAS to be a reasonably productive RF. I am not looking for .300/350 with 40 HRs and a 120 RBIs…as I think some of us were seeing three years ago. I would be happy with .270/.320 25 100 hitting out of the 6 hole.

So this being said..I plead with the powers that be..Bobby…Wren- my daughter can see it. Let Jeff get some help …and he can’t get it in Atlanta right now.