Jackie Bradley Jr. burst onto the national scene with a brilliant performance in the College World Series in back-to-back years while playing at the University of South Carolina. He made his big league debut with the Boston Red Sox in 2013, and had shown flashes, but his first three years at the major league level were marred with struggles.
But he seems now to have found his groove at the plate at this level, finishing off a 29-game hitting streak on Thursday night. For the season, he's slashing .341/.408/.610 and has become one of the best hitters in the game.
Not far behind him, though, is teammate Xander Bogaerts, who has an active 20-game hitting streak.
Hitting streaks can do one of two things it seems: shed light on a hitter really seeing the ball well, with the long streak being a culmination of being solid all the way around at the plate. Or, it can begin a slide, as Braves fans know all too well.
In 2011, Dan Uggla had a 33-game hitting streak in his first season with the Braves, which becomes more and more unbelievable with each passing day. It became obvious about two-thirds of the way through it that things were still not great with him. Infield hits and weak bloops were only extending the matter, and once it was finally over, he plummeted.
The streak was fun, and it seems that Bradley, Jr. and Bogaerts will have no trouble continuing their success at the plate. But the Braves know the downside of the end of one.
Around the league, former Braves catfcher David Ross hit his 100th career home run on Friday.
19-year-old lefty Julio Urias threw 2.2 innings in his major league debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. It will be interesting to see if the youngster stays in the big leagues or if the Dodgers choose to send him down in order for him to get some seasoning.
What are your thoughts on the past week in baseball?