GDT #68. 6/15. Angels(H. Santiago) @ Braves(M. Minor) ESPN

[The Chosen One]

But I'm told he's not that much better than Freddie defensively.

Is Hey still leading the league in DRS? Who's #2?

[The Chosen One]

Not a bad gamble... literally took a perfect relay and he still may have gotten in there

Only gamble with Simmons and Heyward. And my opinion wasn't formed after that one play, he's been pretty crappy the entire year.

You don't make an out like that at home or 3rd with less than 2 outs.

[zitothebrave]

Is Hey still leading the league in DRS? Who's #2?

Yes he is and Josh Donaldson is number 2.

[thethe]

A game like last night is why Heyward cannot be let go. His contributions outside the box score are too important. He's our best player.

Evan Gattis is our best player!

All jokes aside, Heyward is an amazing BASEBALL PLAYER.

[thethe]

Do you guys think LaStella could have done this at the start of the year?

I'm real geeked up that he is doing well but kind of irked that he wasn't starting the year at second.

[thewupk]

Do you guys think LaStella could have done this at the start of the year?

I'm real geeked up that he is doing well but kind of irked that he wasn't starting the year at second.

Well La Stela will decline some as nobodys a .400 hitter. Could of he had runs like this to start the year? I think so yeah. Just hope fans don't start bitching once he does hit his first wall.

[thethe]

Well La Stela will decline some as nobodys a .400 hitter. Could of he had runs like this to start the year? I think so yeah. Just hope fans don't start bitching once he does hit his first wall.

Well I for one don't think he will even hit 330 but I think having his potential 350-370 OBP in the lineup from the start of the year with better defense than Uggla might have helped!

[thewupk]

Well I for one don't think he will even hit 330 but I think having his potential 350-370 OBP in the lineup from the start of the year with better defense than Uggla might have helped!

For sure. IMO he was our best option out of camp. I understand wanting to see what Uggla could do. He did have a good spring and there was hope he could be decent again. The only thing I would of done differently is when the plug was pulled on Uggla I would of brought TLS up. Not give Pastor and Pena a few weeks of playing time.

[thethe]

Would you move him to the top of the order? Its hard because we have a lot of lefties at the top of the order. I think the only way it makes sense to move TLS up is to move Heyward down to the three hole. I hesitate doing that because of hte success he has had at hte top of the order but not that his power is starting to come through in games I am tempted to move him to the 3 hole. Another sticky part about this move is it would move Freeman down in the order with a bad hitter behind him. I think you almost have to leave BJ in the 2 hole to make the lineup flow.

TLS
BEEJ
Heyward
J-Upt
Free
Gattis
CJ
Simmons

Not ideal to have Gattis in the sixth hole but if you put Beej down in the order in this lineup:

TLS
J-Upt
Heyward
Gattis
Free
CJ
Beej
Simmons

Freeman gets no protection and won't be able to clean up the base paths. You have four guys in a row (including pitcher) that are just easy outs and I think pitchers can nagivate that lineup a bit easier.

Hard decisions for Freddi in my opinion. The easy part is knowing to move TLS up. The hard part is how do you do it.

[Tapate50]

Well I for one don't think he will even hit 330 but I think having his potential 350-370 OBP in the lineup from the start of the year with better defense than Uggla might have helped!

Better to err on the safe side. I really like what I see though. He has really been a revelation for us. Been very solid on D also.

[thethe]

TLS has 7 walks and 5 strikeouts. A rookie is not supposed to be this polished at the plate.

What are the odds he finishes the season with more walks than strikeouts?

[Tapate50]

TLS has 7 walks and 5 strikeouts. A rookie is not supposed to be this polished at the plate.

What are the odds he finishes the season with more walks than strikeouts?

I have no idea how to put odds on something like that.

The claims about his defense being poor have seemed to be a little far fetched.

[thethe]

I have no idea how to put odds on something like that.

The claims about his defense being poor have seemed to be a little far fetched.

At worst his defense is average.

[Tapate50]

At worst his defense is average.

Far and away better than that seizure that we did have at 2b.

[KB21]

Jason Heyward is a great player, so I don't want this to sound like a slight to him. As good as he is, he is still a guy that should be getting mentioned alongside Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, and Andrew McCutcheon as the best players in baseball and producing like that from an offensive standpoint.

[thethe]

Jason Heyward is a great player, so I don't want this to sound like a slight to him. As good as he is, he is still a guy that should be getting mentioned alongside Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, and Andrew McCutcheon as the best players in baseball and producing like that from an offensive standpoint.

He absolutely should be. He was a generational type prospect. He will figure it out eventually at hte plate.

[thethe]

Far and away better than that seizure that we did have at 2b.

The fact that he started so many games for us this year was a travesty. He should be cut real soon. I'm sure he is a great guy but he is just a negative for the team right now.

[nsacpi]

Laird is tutoring Uggla to be his deputy in veteran leadership. I wouldn't disturb that training process.

[Braves1976]

La Stella is now hitting over .300 vs lefties. There is no excuse not to move him to the two hole and drop BJ down (actually it is well past due as Fredi is always slow to make needed changes). It really doesn't matter what side your leadoff man hits, but I understand not wanting to go three straight lefties, at least every day. So just put Freeman at 4th and Gattis third while he's hot. Then Justin at 5th and so on. If Freeman slumps again we can drop Freeman to 5th and bat some combo of Gattis and Justin third and fourth (depending who's hitting best, pitcher that day, etc).

I'd also be fine with trying La Stella leadoff down the road and Heyward lower down the road. But Heyward is doing his job and I want him getting as many AB's as possible. So I would try La Stella second first and I expect it would work well.

[thethe]

As per Olney:

Going into Sunday’s game, Freeman had seen the third-fewest pitches in the strike zone in all of baseball, behind Pablo Sandoval and Giancarlo Stanton,