Braves Making the Team Meter Special: Brooks Conrad vs. Joe Thurston

by gondeee on Mar 25, 2010 3:54 PM EDT

Don't look now, but Brooks Conrad is just 1-for-his-last-17. Meanwhile, Joe Thurston is 7-for-his-last-16 with two homeruns. Conrad has watched his batting average go from .381 ten days ago to .237, while Thurston has watched his average go from .278 to .353 over that same span of time.

It certainly seemed like Conrad had the inside track on the job, with his hot start this spring, his good defense, and the fact that he was already on the 40-man roster, but Thurston has been around the block as a pinch hitter much more than Conrad and has more Major League experience than Brooks. The 0-for-22 that Conrad took upon his recall last September may also still be fresh in the minds of the Braves. This latest 1-for-17 smacks of that kind of streakiness.

There's still a week and half to turn it around, but the Braves player who is struggling the most right now may have gone from being Nate McLouth to Brooks Conrad.

By the way, we may have to do another full Making the Team Meter tomorrow, because Jesse Chavez just coughed up five runs in a third of an inning. Battles are being won or more accurately lost with every outing.

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Comments

I thought in today's MTM

both of these guys should’ve received sideways blue arrows. And to be honest, I think its as close to 50-50 as you can get. Both have parts of their game they do better than the other. Conrad is more of a vet, but Thurston doesn’t seem to be as streaky as Conrad does.

Oh, and yeah, Chavez needs to go to Gwinett right about….now.

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on Mar 25, 2010 3:58 PM EDT reply actions

I still like Conrad more, but at this point, I feel like it’s a toss up with Thurston slightly ahead with he recent play.

by Sparhawk on Mar 25, 2010 4:26 PM EDT reply actions

he recent play = his recent play

by Sparhawk on Mar 25, 2010 4:26 PM EDT reply actions

But Conrad has such a cute butt!

"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."

by justincredubil02 on Mar 25, 2010 4:28 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, what about Conrad’s butt, we can’t send that thing down!

"Hey Fat Kid...the monster is right behind you! RUNNNN!!" -The Host

by bwellnjonesco on Mar 25, 2010 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions

So I guess the Air Force no longer has...

“don’t ask, don’t tell”?

by Mr. Sanchez on Mar 25, 2010 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions

No, it does.

"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."

by justincredubil02 on Mar 25, 2010 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions

at least…currently….

"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."

by justincredubil02 on Mar 25, 2010 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions

So you just normally go around assessing...

other male buttocks?

by Mr. Sanchez on Mar 25, 2010 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions

hahaha….ass-essing….butts…I like

by thenightstallion on Mar 25, 2010 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions

No, but I do like to refer back to infamous TC posts from time to time.

"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."

by justincredubil02 on Mar 25, 2010 7:14 PM EDT up reply actions

I think I remember those posts. :)

by HEYJUDE on Mar 25, 2010 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions

I like them both

(at least as the last guy on the bench). However, I think Thurston is probably the better choice, at least offensively. He’s also more used to pinch hitting and has some good big league experience. Brooks can play everyday at Gwinnett and if an IF gets hurt, we can call him up and play him semi-regularly up here. It’s a good problem to have.

As for Chavez, ick. He seems like Manny Acosta, verson 2.0. And Venters has come back to Earth a bit recently too. It looks more and more like Proctor will start with the big club…

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson

by Jacob Peterson on Mar 25, 2010 5:11 PM EDT reply actions

I could care less who makes the club, Thurston or Conrad. It’ll probably be Thurston. I’m more concerned with the bullpen, and I’m praying we don’t take Chavez north with us.

by eaheckman10 on Mar 25, 2010 5:45 PM EDT reply actions

Send Conrad to AAA, bring his streaky-self up when we have a DL opening.

by bighop on Mar 25, 2010 6:11 PM EDT reply actions

Question

Not really relevant, but what is the name of the website that shows charts of home runs and how close they were to leaving the park?

The Jordan Schafer Fan Club.

by acie4mvp on Mar 25, 2010 7:01 PM EDT reply actions

Isn’t that on fangraphs?

"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."

by justincredubil02 on Mar 25, 2010 7:15 PM EDT up reply actions

No it’s definitely a separate site

The Jordan Schafer Fan Club.

by acie4mvp on Mar 25, 2010 7:39 PM EDT up reply actions

maybe if you read the left side of the page /sarcasm

It actually is on the left side of the page though, Hittrackeronline.com

"Batting second and playing shortstop-he's Cuban. Yeah, his name's Pablo...no, eh, Yunel Escobar, sorry"

by GoBravesNY on Mar 25, 2010 8:45 PM EDT up reply actions

In 75 career plate appearances as a pinch hitter Thurston has hit .221 with a .284 OBP and a .607 OPS. Being around the block isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

I wrote a novel, it's about baseball, you should buy it: https://www.createspace.com/3407939
www.dropoutproductions.com

by cbwilk on Mar 25, 2010 8:05 PM EDT reply actions

but he’s got moxie and is a gamer and he provides veteran leadership

i like Thurtston over Conrad but its simply becuase i think he is more versatile and we need a black guy on the roster…

Heyward,Hanson,and Shaffer r ready now!! Why do you think they havent signed the "right handed bat"?

by fatazfoot on Jan 7, 2009 8:59 PM EST

by Swo12bv on Mar 25, 2010 10:05 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

The funny thing is, Thurston has this rep for being more versatile, but he’s actually been mostly limited to 3B and 2B the last few years. In 09 he played 68 games at 3B, 47 at 2B, and 4 in LF, in 08 he played 4 game in LF in the Majors, and in the minors he had 30 games in the OF, 99 at 2B, and 1 at SS. He played a lot of SS coming up, but since 03 he’s played just 9 games there. And that time in the outfield is nice, but he only has 67 games there in his 11 year professional career.

Last year in AAA Conrad played 10 games at 1B, 67 at 2B, 8 at 3B, 20 at SS, and 1 in RF. In 08 in AAA he played 53 at 2B, 15 at 3B, 18 at SS, 2 in LF and 14 in RF. After playing almost exclusively at 2B through 2007, he’s actually been incredibly versatile. He even has 2 career games at catcher. Add in that he’s a better power threat off the bench (.474 slugging and .804 OPS in 5 AAA seasons compared to Thurston’s .324 slugging and .630 OPS in parts of 6 ML seasons and .436 slugging and .791 OPS in 7 AAA seasons) and he just seems like the better option to have at the end of your bench. It’s not even like Thurston has an advantage in speed, he’s thick in the legs and while he does usually get between 15 and 20 SB in a full year, Conrad gets between 12-15, so that’s not much of an advantage.

I wrote a novel, it's about baseball, you should buy it: https://www.createspace.com/3407939
www.dropoutproductions.com

by cbwilk on Mar 25, 2010 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs