Is it time to start giving Fredi credit?

[weso1]

I know that we all complain about his in game moves, but I also imagine every fan of every team ever complaining about their manager's daily in game moves. But the bottom line is that we're now 12.5 games in first place and have a record right there with the best in baseball. Fredi has to be doing something right, doesn't he?

We weren't expected to do this well and we haven't escaped injuries and horrible slumps from key players. I think it's time to give Fredi some credit.

[nsacpi]

I pick on Fredi some for bullpen management, but other than that I think he is a good manager. He is patient with slumping hitters, but after a couple months he starts to reduce their playing time. That approach seems about right to me. He's been good in terms of recognizing the value of young players like Gattis and Terdoslavich.

As far as the pen goes, my only real complaint this year was the overuse of Gearrin in the first couple months of the season. I was impressed this last series the way he got the platoon matchups in our favor by using Carpenter and Ayala in some high-leverage situations. Having the second lefty in the pen is going to help him.

And I love the current lineup. I'm a little undecided there whether to congratulate Fredi or ask him why it took so long.

[Gary82]

I hate to give him credit for moving Simba out of the leadoff spot, but I guess I'll give him credit for not being an obstinate ass.

Seriously, he's handling a winning team with a lot of egos. That's not so easy to do.

[VirginiaBrave]

Its been time to give him credit, he followed a legend and the organization didn't miss a beat. Now win this thing.

[GovClintonTyree]

He's real good. I don't like bunting, I'd like to run a little more, I'd like him to argue more and protect his players, but that's not in his nature. He handles the clubhouse and that's 90% of the gig.

[The Chosen One]

He's real good. I don't like bunting, I'd like to run a little more, I'd like him to argue more and protect his players, but that's not in his nature. He handles the clubhouse and that's 90% of the gig.

Maybe it's something as he gets older. Older he gets the grumpier he gets.

[bravesnumberone]

Yes indeed it is. Still not going to back down from pointing out obvious ill-advised moves. But overall, he's doing a good job.

[parkvadawg]

He is a good skipper. His lineup construction sucks. He is bold with the bullpen. I like him

[tiger2vette2]

He is getting better. You can see some definite improvements now from 2011. Not saying he is the reason we collapsed in 2011, far from it, but could it have made a difference if he was managing then as good as he is now? In a one-game scenario, probably. But that's not on him--he's coming along as fast as he can. Ultimately, I've always liked Fredi and I think he's going to be here for a long time.

Remember, we fired Bobby the first time around. Managers need time to grow and adjust and I think Fredi has done that pretty rapidly. Also, don't underestimate the pressure of following a legend. No easy task.

[ChapelHillMatt]

I've been giving him credit all year, glad others are starting to come around.

[Nerfherders]

If you judge him by just wins and losses (as all managers get judged when it's all said and done), he's pretty darn good. .572 WP with the Braves, .530 career, and even got 2 winning seasons out of a mediocre Marlins team. He's +11 career on real record vs. pythagorean record, his only negative seasons coming in his first year (-1), and this year (-2).

[CyYoung31]

I love him to death. Always have.

[chopdrew]

I think it's stupid to ask him to argue more when it doesn't do any good. Then he's just gonna get tossed. Don't get tossed for no reason.

[Tapate50]

He has done an excellent job this year, no question.

[Julio3000]

I think he's a good fit for this team. With regard to all of the guys who've struggled this year (and considering the loss of a couple of veterans), I think he's accurately assessed the situation and responded accordingly—believing in the talent, not acting precipitously. I think he deserves credit for keeping things on an even keel and putting the club in a position to succeed. That said, it's not like the team is overachieving.

[sturg33]

It is not time to give him credit. He's a fool.

We're winning because we are loaded and our division sucks. A competent manager has us probably 3 -5 more wins right now.

This is a man who once publicly stated he would rather have Phillies players than Braves players in his lineup.

He calls out his players in the media.

He is a moron with bullpen management.

He batted our very wost hitter (well second worst) leadoff most of the year. When he didn't, he put our worst hitter there (Upton). Just because he finally did something sensible by changing it doesn't mean anything to me. He should have done it to begin with!

He manages games based on getting his closer saves, rather than putting us in best position to win.

He bunts all the time - when anyone with a brain should know you should almost NEVER bunt unless it is a pitcher at the plate. He is bunting Jason Heward.

I can't speak for his leadership abilities - it's possible that the players love him. But I can only judge him on what I see and we would be a lot better if we moved on. Now, I'll get blasted here because people refuse to join the 21st century but bottom line is - a competent manage gets us to the playoffs 2 years ago. Also - in that wild card game, the smartest decisions is to make it a full bullpen game - but a manager like Fredi would never do something like that bc thats "not how it's done"

[57Brave]

People forget Ted Turner fired Bobby Cox in the 1980's before he went on the great success in Toronto

I've watched FG since his Marlins debut. He is definitely improved And I liked the way he handled BJ's HR / Double last night. Very calmly -- this whole team seems to be that way. Calm -which is how one has to play baseball
Idiot baseball fans only see in game tactics and line up construction. Those are the two easiest parts of running a baseball team. At any level let alone one where 3/4 of the players make more money than you and have more influence wih your bosses. (No ----- not message board posters GM's and CEO's)

[ChapelHillMatt]

Switching the lineup earlier wouldn't have done any good when the guys weren't hitting. People act like going to this lineup was like flipping a switch. The only reason it works is because everyone is swinging the bat well. Every manager manages to get their closers saves. Show me a manager that doesn't. If you get your closers saves you win games. Nothing wrong with bunting either and no he doesn't bunt all the time. Once again that's a fan over exaggerating to make a point. We are beating good teams as well as the bad teams, does the 3 game sweep vs St. Louis not register in your mind? Honestly the only people that think he's not a good manager are the people on this board. He's well respected in the game of baseball and he's not going anywhere. He will be here for a long time as long as he continues to win. He took over for a legend and we haven't missed a beat.

[Russ2dollas]

I honestly think Managers are way overrated and should not be paid like they are. Mostly they make things up. Not sure why a bench coach couldn't fill out a line up and pick hit run/steal. Not sure why the pitching coach can't do the bullpen by himself.

The season is a grind. So a big part of the manger is managing ppl. Freddie does seem to do a good job managing ppl and the locker room. He does ok with the media. He seems willing to learn/try new things.......he's just stubborn to do so.

Putting Heyward at 1, followed by JUp and FF has been suggested on the scout board for at least 2 years (and those posters are here now). I can't give Freddie credit for that. Simmons as leadoff was stupid, and you can pull up archived threads where at least half the posters said so. He still over uses the bullpen. He is still a slave to the save statistic. You do not see us doing much with shifts or thinking outside the box in any way.

I honestly think that the Braves have a really good team. They have flawed players but they have a lot of talent. If you have 3 of Hey, JUp, FF, BJ, Uggla, and Mac hot then you have a good team. CJ has bought into the team and is moving the line up along. Anything Simmons does with his bat is a bonus, which is another reason why he fits at 8 so well.

If we are crediting ppl I'd go Wren 1, Scouting director 2, and McDowell 3. The reason we are where we are is b/c of pitching and it is amazing given the number of injuries to the staff this year.

[JohnAdcox]

He is a good skipper. His lineup construction sucks. He is bold with the bullpen. I like him

In his defense, he DID try pretty much every possible lineup combination. And more or less stuck with the one he found that worked.

[Dunit24]

I look at Washington and Davey Johnson.

Then I look at Atlanta and Fredi G.

Our manager is laid back, but our guys seem to be bought him to Fredi and love playing for him. Hes TOO laid back at times and doesnt make good decisions sometimes, but hes doing a great job managing this team.

[50PoundHead]

I pick on Fredi some for bullpen management, but other than that I think he is a good manager. He is patient with slumping hitters, but after a couple months he starts to reduce their playing time. That approach seems about right to me. He's been good in terms of recognizing the value of young players like Gattis and Terdoslavich.

As far as the pen goes, my only real complaint this year was the overuse of Gearrin in the first couple months of the season. I was impressed this last series the way he got the platoon matchups in our favor by using Carpenter and Ayala in some high-leverage situations. Having the second lefty in the pen is going to help him.

And I love the current lineup. I'm a little undecided there whether to congratulate Fredi or ask him why it took so long.

I actually think Gonzalez does a good job with the bullpen. He rides the hot hand and I suppose one could argue that he does that a bit too much, but Gonzalez, like Cox, realizes that a win in May is equal to a win in September. I think the other thing that needs to be remembered is that our starters haven't been going deep into games consistently and that is causing as much wear and tear on the bullpen as Gonzalez' usage patterns.

As for Gearrin, he was the hot hand for a couple of weeks and sidearmers supposedly do not need as much rest as other pitchers. Gearrin is probably a AAAA guy and I think Gonzalez just wanted to use him until he got "solved," which was likely to happen.

I think we need another arm in the pen. Getting Downs helped and maybe Wood moves back out to the bullpen in the post-season (if we are there). But unless Ayala shows he's to be trusted, I think another RHP would help.

As for line-up construction, given the nature of the players on the team, there's no obvious lead-off hitter and it was bound to be trial-and-error to find the right mix at the top of the line-up. He's managed through some tough injuries and ton of underperformance early. If for nothing else, he deserves credit for that.

[nsacpi]

He has an underrated sense of humor. His comments in spring training about Pastornicky and Schafer missing the first few optional days was pretty funny. Except a lot of people got all worked up taking it seriously. More recently his comment that he "succumbed" to pressure to move Heyward to leadoff was pretty sly and funny.

[thethe]

I'm just happy the lineup is finally looking good. I can't complain with the results.

[Heyward]

Outside of bullpen management at times, no problem with Fredi.

Like how he rests Luis and Walden last night.

Unfortunately Kimbrel isn't available tonight though...

[CyYoung31]

It is not time to give him credit. He's a fool.

We're winning because we are loaded and our division sucks. A competent manager has us probably 3 -5 more wins right now.

This is a man who once publicly stated he would rather have Phillies players than Braves players in his lineup.

He calls out his players in the media.

He is a moron with bullpen management.

He batted our very wost hitter (well second worst) leadoff most of the year. When he didn't, he put our worst hitter there (Upton). Just because he finally did something sensible by changing it doesn't mean anything to me. He should have done it to begin with!

He manages games based on getting his closer saves, rather than putting us in best position to win.

He bunts all the time - when anyone with a brain should know you should almost NEVER bunt unless it is a pitcher at the plate. He is bunting Jason Heward.

I can't speak for his leadership abilities - it's possible that the players love him. But I can only judge him on what I see and we would be a lot better if we moved on. Now, I'll get blasted here because people refuse to join the 21st century but bottom line is - a competent manage gets us to the playoffs 2 years ago. Also - in that wild card game, the smartest decisions is to make it a full bullpen game - but a manager like Fredi would never do something like that bc thats "not how it's done"

Or because people realize that the thing you mentioned aren't all that important when it comes to a manager.

And he doesn't call out his players in the media, and he never said he'd rather have the Phillies players than the Braves players. Stop the hyperbole.

[gilesfan]

Fans of the team always think they are smarter than the manager without full access to data that fans do not get. Every manager obviously makes mistakes, its impossible not to in a 162 game season.

Fredi is fine. He's probably not a great manager and he's certainly not bad. My biggest beef with him is that he doesn't stick up for his players and keep them from getting tossed.

[sturg33]

Or because people realize that the thing you mentioned aren't all that important when it comes to a manager.

And he doesn't call out his players in the media, and he never said he'd rather have the Phillies players than the Braves players. Stop the hyperbole.

I believe it was before 2 seasons ago. During spring training, a reporter asked him how he thinks he stacks up against the Phillies. Then he started saying "Well, I'll take Mac, x, y, and z. Obviously they have Victorino, Rollins, and Utley etc."

He did a comparrison and chose 3 or 4 phillies players over his own guys.

[CyYoung31]

I believe it was before 2 seasons ago. During spring training, a reporter asked him how he thinks he stacks up against the Phillies. Then he started saying "Well, I'll take Mac, x, y, and z. Obviously they have Victorino, Rollins, and Utley etc."

He did a comparrison and chose 3 or 4 phillies players over his own guys.

I know exactly what you're talking about, and yes he did a comparison between the two teams and it was probably something he shouldn't have done in front of the media. However, the point he was trying to make was that the Braves were just as good as the Phillies, which was admirable.

[jpx7]

No.

[Heyward]

I believe it was before 2 seasons ago. During spring training, a reporter asked him how he thinks he stacks up against the Phillies. Then he started saying "Well, I'll take Mac, x, y, and z. Obviously they have Victorino, Rollins, and Utley etc."

He did a comparrison and chose 3 or 4 phillies players over his own guys.

Well, I would of took Utley, Rollins, Vic over our options at those spots 3-4 years ago too.

So....