Why I am optimistic for the upcoming season

by zacheyp on Jan 31, 2012 9:57 PM EST

I preface this post by saying that i am not an overly optimistic person in general however I think there is real reason to be optimistic for the upcoming season. To explain my logic i will go to every position and explain why we should expect better production.

Cacher- Brian Mccan is the best cather in baseball period Last year at one point in the season his average was at .318. While i am not saying he will hit that well this year i think a reasonable expectation for this year is .300. He would have hit that had it not been for a freaky oblique injury on a late, hot and humid night.

First- Freddie Freeman i my favorite player in a braves uniform. In fact when i had to write an ode for my english class i composed an ode to freddie freeman. But anyway, Freeman hit .282 last year. I think that we can look for his average to be higher this year as he wont have to deal with an adjustment to the big leagues.

Second- Dan Uggla had one of the strangest seasons ever last year. This being said if he can produce anywhere near how he produced in the second half of last year he could easily hit .270 along with 40 4 baggers.

Short- This is the only position at which we may not improove but expect pastro to hit better that (he's) gonzo.

Third- Chipper is old, but chipper is chipper.

Left- Last year prado did not live up to his career all star numbers. As someone who has had 3 staph infections i can say that they really sap the energy out of you and i expect a staphless prado to return to all star form.

Center- A full year with the fastest man in baseball will improove this position.

Right- I truly believe that Heyward's season was ruined by his shoulder which is now healthy. Look for a monster year.

'pen- With vizciano and medlen joining oventbrel this pen will be just as dominant but deeper than last years.

Starters- If we can stay healthy we can again be among the leagues best.

Addition by subtraction.

Gonzo

Nate

Derek

Parish

Schafer

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Talking Chop.

Tweet Comment 22 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Cacher- Brian Mccan is the best cather in baseball period

I agrea

by WeStillHaveBobby on Feb 1, 2012 12:20 AM EST reply actions

+1

Braves.
Falcons.
Gamecocks.

by walknbalk on Feb 1, 2012 3:31 AM EST up reply actions

by YakuzaFro on Feb 1, 2012 1:39 AM EST reply actions 5 recs

excellent!

Braves.
Falcons.
Gamecocks.

by walknbalk on Feb 1, 2012 3:31 AM EST up reply actions

green

No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.

by royhobbs on Feb 1, 2012 8:38 AM EST up reply actions

Also

GIFSoup

No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.

by royhobbs on Feb 1, 2012 8:41 AM EST up reply actions

I wonder what kind of grade he got on the Ode to Freddie Freeman

by Quilvio Veras on Feb 2, 2012 9:39 AM EST up reply actions

Whatever the grade was, since it was English class, I bet it was marked down quite a few points for incorrect punctuation and spelling errors.

by fandave on Feb 4, 2012 12:47 PM EST up reply actions

“But anyway, Freeman hit .282 last year. I think that we can look for his average to be higher this year as he wont have to deal with an adjustment to the big leagues.”

— I’m pretty sure players are never done adjusting. He in fact maybe have to adjust more in his 2nd year than his 1st.

Braves.
Falcons.
Gamecocks.

by walknbalk on Feb 1, 2012 3:33 AM EST reply actions

what i meant to say was he probably wont start slow like last year

by zacheyp on Feb 1, 2012 7:34 AM EST up reply actions

Let's not forget that the NL got worse this offseason.

Pujols and Fielder are gone.
Phillies have to deal with father time and Howard without an Achilles tendon.
The Giants traded for Melky Cabrera.
The Mets and the Marlins just switched places.
The Astros.

Frank Wren’s moves and lack of moves may prove the be the smart thing. I think the Braves go back to the playoffs.

by another simpsons avatar on Feb 1, 2012 8:24 AM EST reply actions

OK, but....

1. Chipper is another year past his prime
2. Our top 3 starters have injury concerns
3. We over-worked Oventbrel last year
4. We have a mid-level prospect starting at SS with JACK WILSON as a fallback plan
5. Standing pat is never a good plan, oh wait, we did sign JACK WILSON

I hope this works out, and none of these things make a negative impact, but I won’t be surprised if there’s problems.

Go Braves!

by El Bravos on Feb 1, 2012 8:30 AM EST reply actions

answer to number 4

all pastornicky has to do is be able to play defense. you have to remember that agonz was literally worthless with the bat. so as long as pastornicky can play defense, you cant reasonably expect pastornicky to produce worse on the offensive side than gonzo

by MacsGlasses on Feb 1, 2012 11:03 AM EST up reply actions

Can someone wrap Uggla in a heating blanket from now until April?

We need to make sure we do everything possible to eliminate any chance of a “slow start” this season.

~ "Life is hard, God is good and heaven is real."

by NCChopper on Feb 1, 2012 11:24 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

pretty interesting fanpost… thankyou

"Performance comes from work and dedication, belief and strength. Words and excuses get you nowhere." -Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves Rightfielder

by jdelsandro on Feb 1, 2012 12:14 PM EST reply actions

Prepare to defend your stance regarding Schafer.....

by Undocorkscrew on Feb 1, 2012 10:50 PM EST reply actions

After being arrested 10/4/11 in Tampa, there have apparently been no news media updates about his status. Hopefuuly, he got diverted to this program and will be free and good to go for Spring Training.

Maybe its because once upon a time, I was reckless and prone to doing stupid things, but I’m pulling for him not to throw away his chance to have a MLB career.

by fandave on Feb 4, 2012 1:29 PM EST up reply actions

He has had a chance. He isn’t MLB caliber.

by JHeyBravefan on Feb 4, 2012 1:44 PM EST up reply actions

You seem certain of that opinion. Meanwhile, in reality, since he is still on a ML roster, it might be a bit too early to write him off.

by fandave on Feb 4, 2012 2:07 PM EST up reply actions

Not trying to start an arguement here , but

he has a fairly small sample size at the ML level . He has good speed . If he can learn to cut down on his swing some instead of trying to hit home runs and learn to just put the ball in play , I can’t see why he wouldn’t be an effective starting CFer .

by bravesdude on Feb 4, 2012 3:50 PM EST up reply actions

There are indeed may reasons to be optimistic .

There were just so many negative things that happened to the Braves Last year . And the two bright spots in our rotation (JJ and Hanson) couldn’t last all year due to injury . Then you had year long slumps or career lows in production with Heyward and Prado . The few times a couple of our guys seemed to get hot , it didn’t last long or came after a long slump (McCann and Uggla) . Our manager was in his first year of running the team and made some poor decisions in critical situations when there may have been better options (Proctor and Linebrink) . It also took us more than half a season to find our leadoff/CFer in Bourn . And everyones fatigue and poor play all came together at the right time at the end of the year to keep us from winning that 1 game we needed to get into the playoffs .

And with all that , we still managed to win 89 games . We should all expect more if anything from this team going forward this year .

by bravesdude on Feb 2, 2012 12:00 PM EST reply actions