How bad we want Schafer to thrive

Why is everyone so high on Reyes? He’s vastly outperforming his career line this year. I wouldn’t touch him with a 39 and half foot pole, because his profile is pretty mediocre other than the fact that he steals bases (and if you think he won’t regress to those numbers, I have some oceanfront property in Utah I’d like to discuss with you). Add to that his recent slate of injuries and how much they dragged down his numbers last year and I’d rather invest in someone with a better power/obp profile because in the long run those are more valuable than the steals we’d lose by not having him around. He’s 28, so a breakout year like this is not without some merit, but I would be very cautious about betting on him to even halfway repeat.

there it goes. Great rosterbation post there buddy, really well thought out and realistic too.

be sure to call everyone else who’s pointing out how poorly written this thing is for bullying as well.

and with Schafer there’s just a lot more on top of that. We’ve really struggled in CF since Andruw left, and he could fill that void. McLouth has been far from what we thought we were getting, especially defensively with his near refusal to throw it back in on plays, so there’s the desire for something that’s not him, again especially defensively. Then, in addition to the lack of quality in CF, there’s been an overall lack of speed on the team since Furcal left. Speed is fun, and makes things exciting when you see players hump it from 1st to home on a long single, first to third on a soft flair to RF, etc. We all like speed, as evidenced by NASCAR success and the long history of success in racing in general (track as well as others). Humans like to see things that can go really fast, and Jordan Schafer can move pretty swift. We’ve wanted an elite CF for a few years, wanted a leadoff threat for a few years, and Schafer potentially fits both those bills. The young man has an awful lot going in regards to fans wanting him to succeed..

He has over 250 PA this season combined between AAA and at the MLB and has shown no reason for anyone to assume he will hit better this season. It’s pure lunacy to assume that he will. Can he? Sure. But to just assume that he will, as people did previously, is pretty absurd.

Apparently because Nate’s struggles were in everyone’s face every day people easily look over the same struggles Jordan has had over that same span. Were injuries involved? Yes, to both. The argument today is no different than the argument was before the season. If the Braves want to go with Schafer because of his defense then that’s fine and completely understandable, but to say it is because his bat is better than McLouth’s is pretty absurd – not saying you believe this but many here do. McLouth is the better bat and Schafer is the better glove, just as the case was before either had a plate appearance this season.

when his mind is right he has proven the ability to play like a star against professional pitching.

QFT

…based on his description of both, he seems to be discussing both OBP characteristics and OPS characteristics, though the premise is completely off, frankly. OBP is an absolute leadoff hitter stat. Your best leadoff hitters aren’t usually the ones with extreme OBP’s, true, but there’s a level of OBP that is acceptable at the top of the order, and Jordan hasn’t achieved that yet. It he’s playing, he’s batting 8th to maximize utilization of his speed.