R.I.P. 2 the Greg Norton Era: Atlanta Braves 2010

he looks like he's been playing pro ball for 20 seasons

i'm so pleased it went into the bullpen

Leyland compared him to Pujols the other day and I was like "easy now, easy"

slaughtertown

heyward looks lebron-esque imo

szmardjia is one of the worst major league pitchers i've ever seen

so all the prospect-spotters who were let down by Wieters' lack of immediate dominance are gonna get on this dudes bandwagon now eh

you can bet on it (I confess, I got him on both my fantasy teams)

Let us not forget the achievements of Yunel Escobar.

heyward looks lebron-esque imo

8 feet tall, check, 0.9% body fat, check

it's interesting, plate discipline is not usually what rookie phenoms are known for iirc

but if you dont have it, you'll never make it in the show. look at andy marte, joel guzman, etc etc etc

cant find his spring training #s now but iirc he had a good number of walks

obp:.423 avg: .305 10 walks in 59 abs

he looks like he's been playing pro ball for 20 seasons

Yep, he looked about as nervous as playing softball, beer in hand

to make his poise and professionalism even more striking, i spent the early part of the day watching cameron maybin hit against johan santana

so glad for that video upthread. heyward is a MAN.

no braves OF prospect before has ever been underwhelming after hitting a home run on opening day in their first mlb at-bat, no sirree

Heyward's nothing like Schafer, though. Heyward's minor league OPS is over a hundred points higher and he doesn't strike out nearly as often.

also re: rookies without plate discipline: Jeff Francoeur sez hey.

it's entirely possible Heyward struggles from here on out but unlike Schafer and Francoeur there's nothing in his minor league stats to make it seem likely.

Kind of refreshing to see the postgame interview and see that he's just as inarticulate as any other 20 y.o. pro athlete. If he'd been real voluble and broken down the pitches and situations he saw I would have been wondering what planet he's from.

I bought a ticket to see Jason Heyward play baseball, so if he gets rested on Sunday I am gonna flip out.

Unless his shin splints act up, you should be safe from the flipping.

obp:.423 avg: .305 10 walks in 59 abs

Meant to post this yesterday -- 51 BB in 422 PA last year.

the braves got good again?

it took me years into their NL dynasty to shake the image of them as "lovable losers" i had when i was growing up. then it took me years into their mediocrity to shake the image of them as an "NL dynasty." now they're good again?

they might be good this year, and they're definitely looking like a top NL team going forward from there

Short answer: maybe/probably. All the pieces seem to be there for this year except maybe Chipper's durability.

Whole bunch of those geniuses at BP have them winning the division or wild card.

right; same at ESPN iirc.

i must say, i spotted a miami herald article a day or so ago, which implies the marlins might be v. good this year, too. kept their young core, unlike some other years.

Who is in their rotation other than Hudson, Lowe and Hanson?

Hudson could be solid but is an injury risk.. Dont know wtf is the deal with Lowe either. I always thought he had the kind of stuff where he could keep being effective as he got older but maybe not...

Kenshin Kawakami, Jair Jurrjens

GOD DAMN BLACKOUT RESTRICTIONS

yeah, game's not sold out, let me drive over there real quick and catch the last...oh wait, it's a FIVE HOUR DRIVE.

heyward, man

Cable co. called me up and said "Mr C, it turns out the game wasn't blacked out, somebody just didn't switch the feed to the game, just as you thought. It's on now."

So, uh, I chewed out the CSR pretty thoroughly.

great at bats from heyward tonight -- oppo HR & oppo single w/ 2 strikes against a lefty to put the braves up 2

yesterday they KILLED him on low & outside pitches and he really roped an important single on a low & outside slider

Bought a ticket to see him play today and of course it's probably going to be rained out. :(

is this game gonna happen today

There's no effing Braves-Giants on Extra Innings, I guess cuz of ESPN exclusivity on Sun nights?

i was picking it up earlier on mlb tv

I was getting the game via EI as late as half an hour ago (not in front of the television at the moment)...

That's weird, I'm getting it fine on FSS. They shouldn't be blocking it just because it started late.

is there a padres thread? anyway theyre up 14-0 in the 5th

Regression candidate Jair Jurrjens

Of course Blanks is riding my imaginary team's pine tonight

Oh damn, JoJo Reyes given up as a human sacrifice.

Hinske hitting clean-up?!

haha, it seems to be working out okay

<3 pogoing J-Hey

.gif or it idnt happen

another two out, two strike rbi off a lefty

Braves kicking ass today. Basically if the Padres lose today the Braves are in.

look again

it's 7-8 but the Phillies only have three outs left

Can't believe this game ended up so close!

gonna be tough w/out Prado

btw I walked thru the ATL airport yesterday around 2:30 pm, from one end of terminal B to another, and there was nothin on bar TVs but the NFL.

Not surprised.

Hello 2 the Fredi Gonzalez era

No objection.

since Fredi was attending research talks at the SABR convention, i'd say it's a good hire.

Man, if the Braves and the Mets get talented, forward-looking managers the NL wild card'll get a lot tougher.

Ya, if only the Braves had a manager with some talent instead of being stuck with that Cox guy for the past 20 years.

but as Neyer hinted about Cox's decisions in this last series, "there's a reason they go out."

Fine, Cox's shit doesn't work in the playoffs, we already knew that. We know he can't manage his bullpen in the postseason and all that, but luck is still more of a factor in the postseason than anything most managers do or don't do.

But y'know, look out! The Braves might get a forward-thinking manager and jump right into the playoff hunt one of these years.

at least one smart enough to bench Brooks Conrad in a timely fashion?

One would hope.

That wasn't what I meant, William! I was hoping the Bravos would pick some idiot, but I didn't really expect them to.

The Mets, on the other hand - that could be a seismic shift.

Fine, Cox's shit doesn't work in the playoffs, we already knew that.

uh, how many pennants did he win, six?

Yeah, but none after 1999. You could argue that he had lesser talent to work with, or that he made more mistakes than he had in the past (and you could argue that it had something to do with age -- everyone's skills degrade with time). I don't really know. Like you said, failing to make defensive substitutions in the 9th inning of a playoff game is almost indefensible.

Anyway, luck usually trumps managing in the playoffs -- which was the main point of Neyer's post.

Like you said, failing to make defensive substitutions in the 9th inning of a playoff game is almost indefensible

See what I did there!!

(actually it was an accident)

actually 5 pennants but who's counting

Hubbard and Cadahia fired. Fredi's bringing his own guy in as bench coach; Pendleton is out as hitting coach and being moved to 1B coach. All good moves. Chipper as hitting coach is kind of a high risk/high reward thing, but it may be a little early to speculate on that one.