SB Nation MLB Question Of The Day
Mar 11, 2011 - There are questions surrounding all 30 MLB teams during Spring Training, and Rob Neyer intends to answer them with his 30-part Question of the Day series. Today, he takes a look at the Atlanta Braves.
The Braves just keep reloading.
This season, 21-year-olds Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman will play key roles in the middle of the lineup.
Meanwhile, the bullpen will be stocked with young flame-throwers while the rotation's No. 5 slot is filled by 23-year-old Mike Minor or 24-year-old Brandon Beachy.
With the infield set and Brian McCann behind the plate, the Braves really have just one area of concern.
It's a big one, though ... two-thirds of Turner Field's spacious outfield.
Everything is copacetic with Heyward in right field.
An ex-infielder is playing left field.
An once-good player is playing center field.
Martin Prado will probably work out well enough in left field. Despite playing all over the infield during the last three seasons, his hitting has been both effective and consistent. Remarkably consistent. But while he doesn't figure to let the position switch bother his hitting, Prado has started only three games in the outfield in his career, and there's just no telling about his defense out there. And it's probably worth noting that if he's got the speed of a rangy left fielder, that has not yet showed up in his speed-related statistics.
Again, though, Prado seems like a pretty good bet for adequacy in left field, at least.
Center field? Maybe not so much.
Nate McLouth's last five seasons have the makings of a lovely bell curve:
74 OPS+
110
125
108
69
The next number in this progression? That's hard to say. The missing number at the beginning of the progression is 96, but that was just 120 plate appearances in 2005 (McLouth's rookie season with the Pirates).
Considering what happened in 2010, the Braves will probably be happy with a 96 OPS+ this year. But of course past results do not guarantee future performance. McLouth might struggle terribly again, or he might revisit his All-Star glories of 2008. And it's not as if we've got real clues.
McLouth did miss a month after suffering a concussion last June ... but he was batting .176/.295/.282 before that injury. On a happier note, McLouth did hit well after returning to action for good in late August -- he first returned in July, but for just a few games -- but that was only 22 games and 16 starts. And despite McLouth's fine September, he wasn't given the starting nod even once during the Braves' Division Series loss against the Giants.
But now, with rent-an-outfielder Rick Ankiel gone, McLouth is back atop the depth chart. Should he falter, the Braves' only in-house option is one-time prospect Jordan Schafer, who has spent the last two years in the Wilderness and has either lost his compass or doesn't know how to use one.
If McLouth falters, the Braves maybe feel compelled to trade for a veteran center fielder ... but they'll have to hope for better than they got from Ankiel last season, who gave them little until his decisive homer in Game 2 of their Division Series.
The Braves are good enough to win 85-90 games with just about anyone in center field. But if they do fall short of paydirt, it's as likely to be due to a gaping hole in center field as anything else.
11 comments
Comments
I saw Martin Prado playing this Spring. He made an over the shoulder basket catch in the gap at a dead sprint. Apparently the guy can play anywhere. I think that a bigger question than who’s going to play center and hit before the pitcher is Chipper’s health. If he’s healthy playing third than like you said it doesn’t much matter who’s playing CF. But if he’s not, Prado moves to third and McLouth and Schafer will both start in the outfield.
by Pflood83 on Mar 11, 2011 12:46 PM EST reply actions
Braves, Mets trade?
I notice that the Braves are pretty flush with pitching prospects and thin on OF prospects, with the Mets being the antithesis. Could they work out a mutually beneficial trade, say Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Zach Lutz for Randall Delgado? Seems silly to rely on McLouth when they actually have a good chance this year and a good trade partner.
by Guy Allen Davis on Mar 11, 2011 1:14 PM EST reply actions
Probably not since they’re in the same division. Maybe a Beltran trade would make some sense at the deadline if the Mets are completely out of it.
by Pflood83 on Mar 11, 2011 7:32 PM EST up reply actions
Who?
“Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Zach Lutz”
???
You must call The FAN with trade proposals. Randall Delgado is an actual prospect. You don’t get good prospects like that for two scrubs.
by Free_AEC on Mar 12, 2011 2:32 AM EST up reply actions
Jordan Schafer lost his PEDS
Third base and the lack of good – even decent – glove work will hurt the Braves, but not enough to keep them from taking 2nd place in the division.
by Free_AEC on Mar 12, 2011 2:29 AM EST reply actions
Schafer doesn't need PEDs
He does, however, need a healthy thumb. The injury he sustained in the first week of the 2009 season has never fully healed, and he’s not been the same player since. He probably never will be.
The fielding is better than you think; Heyward is great in RF, Gonzalez is very good at SS, Freeman is (by all accounts) excellent at 1B, and McCann is fine behind the plate. Whoever plays 3B should be at least passable, whether it’s Chipper or Prado. And Prado will be average in LF—it’s not like the standards are particularly high out there, and early reports are very encouraging. So only Uggla and McLouth will be true defensive liabilities; McLouth will likely be replaced before July, and Uggla’s bat more than compensates. I’d bet that their D ends up being no worse than slightly below average overall.
"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson
by Jacob Peterson on Mar 12, 2011 11:57 AM EST up reply actions
He does, however, need a healthy
thumbwrist but we get the point lolby Braves24 on Mar 13, 2011 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Uninformed opinion
Free_AEC: You sound like a guy who only goes on story headlines and not by the actual meat of the story. Google Schafer and PEDs, and see what the actual story is on that. Go look at stories on Chipper’s performance so far this spring. A hurt, or even a questionable, Chipper Jones would not put up numbers like that against any pitching.
And, I hope you’re not a person who thinks that errors, and errors alone, are indicative of a team’s true defensive talents. That statement sure makes you sound like it though.
by Jonathon McNinch on Mar 14, 2011 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm not worried about Prado in LF,
but CF does not look promising. Sure, McLouth’s numbers in ST have been good, but to me, he looks awful—a swing designed to hit choppers up the middle, a la Melky Cabrera. If he’s even league-average, it’ll be an upset. And if he fails, the replacement is… Matt Young, perhaps? I doubt Schafer will be any better than McLouth.
I foresee a pitching prospect-for-decent-MLB-CF trade in the Braves’ future. And honestly, the sooner, the better.
"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson
by Jacob Peterson on Mar 12, 2011 12:06 PM EST reply actions
As a Dodger fan...
I wish we had the Prado problem in left.
buckshotboogaloo.com
by jessegloyd on Mar 12, 2011 2:29 PM EST reply actions
Prado is the solution, not the problem
I’ll take Prado over the likes of Garret Anderson or Melky Cabrera any day
by Jonathon McNinch on Mar 14, 2011 11:43 AM EDT reply actions
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