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Thread: Is Freeman why we are struggling to finish the season strong (yet again)?

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    Fredi Gonzalez Supporter Dalyn's Avatar
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    Is Freeman why we are struggling to finish the season strong (yet again)?

    https://sports.yahoo.com/no-days-off...140954730.html

    Some excerpts from the article:

    On the evening of Sept. 9, coaches called Swanson to ask how he felt about being left out of the lineup the next day.

    “Which I appreciate,” Swanson said. “It wasn't like, ‘You're gonna do this.’”

    They stressed to him that he would only come in if it was an absolute emergency. He was to take the day and decompress, watch some baseball, get his perspective right again.

    Once it was cleared with Swanson himself, there was one more person left to call: Freddie Freeman.

    “I got a call at one o'clock [in the morning] to take it easy on Dansby,” the reigning NL MVP and undeniable captain of the club recalled recently.

    “And I said, ‘Oh, that's fine, I'll take it easy.’ So I didn't say anything.”

    But the next day in the clubhouse: “I just took his jersey down, I took his pants down, and put his little sweatshirt up. And right when he walked in, I was sitting at my locker, he just looked at me and he goes, ‘I've been, unfortunately, not waiting for this moment today.’

    “Because everyone knows I'm going to get on him.”



    Sitting in the dugout on a recent rainy afternoon in Atlanta, Freeman tells a story about Adeiny Hechavarría. Two years ago, after Swanson hit the IL with a bruised heel, the Braves signed Hechavarría mid-season to fill the gap at shortstop. One day, he made a game-saving, diving catch and landed hard on his elbow and considered sitting out the next game. The following day, Freeman found him in the trainer’s room and explained to Hechavarría that he had to play.

    “I know it hurts, but you're not injured,” Freeman told him.

    That night, Hechavarría hit a two-run home run in his first at-bat (one of just nine he hit that whole year.) When he got back to the dugout, Freeman was waiting for him.

    “I said, ‘You're welcome.’”




    At the end of August, Albies fouled a ball off his own knee and had to be carried off the field. He missed the next two games, the most rest anyone around the horn has gotten this year.

    “He got two days, there's his two days,” Freeman says. “Now you're out there every single day the rest of the way.”

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    Naturally occurring regression
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    Fredi Gonzalez Supporter Dalyn's Avatar
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    I see this as a HUGE problem, and honestly I'm glad we haven't signed him. This is coming from a guy who destroyed our chances in the playoffs by obviously playing hurt. This coming from a guy who is playing on a team where once again everyone looks exhausted in September. This answers our own questions we've had on this board on why people aren't getting days off when it makes sense to give them one.

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    Naturally occurring exhaustion.
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    Snit's not in control of this team. That's why the players like him.

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    Fredi Gonzalez Supporter Dalyn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Garmel View Post
    Snit's not in control of this team. That's why the players like him.
    I mean, if you have to call and get permission from a player to give them a day off, and then call ANOTHER player to let them know...yeah, you're not wrong. What a joke. Looking at the September stats, the only players other than Freeman who are hitting well are the players who aren't playing every day. His infield buddies are looking TERRIBLE.

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    The DH will help a lot. Part of me understands that it would be incredibly hard to take a bat like Riley or Freeman or a hot Swanson/Albies out of the lineup during a year like this when we were either fighting to get into contention or fighting to stay in first.

    We have 3 of the top 5 in the NL and 4 of the top 8 in games played, and those guys are struggling lately. That being said, you also have three Cardinals in the top 7 and those guys are hot as can be right now. So some of it is just the natural fluctuation of a season coming at the wrong time. If Swanson and Freddie suddenly go on a two week hot streak starting in Arizona, no one will be complaining about a lack of rest anymore.

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    Fredi Gonzalez Supporter Dalyn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by McCann'sCans View Post
    The DH will help a lot. Part of me understands that it would be incredibly hard to take a bat like Riley or Freeman or a hot Swanson/Albies out of the lineup during a year like this when we were either fighting to get into contention or fighting to stay in first.

    We have 3 of the top 5 in the NL and 4 of the top 8 in games played, and those guys are struggling lately. That being said, you also have three Cardinals in the top 7 and those guys are hot as can be right now. So some of it is just the natural fluctuation of a season coming at the wrong time. If Swanson and Freddie suddenly go on a two week hot streak starting in Arizona, no one will be complaining about a lack of rest anymore.
    The problem is that in the middle of a huge slump, the team had to dance around Freeman to give Swanson a day off. The problem is that when Ozzie hurt himself, Freeman tells him those 2 days off were his remaining 2 days off. The problem is that when a player hits a HR, Freeman tells him, "You're welcome." It's a **** attitude, and it's a **** way to "captain" a team.

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    I have been surprised that they haven't used Adrianza much post-trade deadline. All the moves at the deadline involved OF help, which was needed (although 4 OFs may have been overkill), but I was a bit surprised that they didn't look for a better IF utility guy (although it's hard to argue that Adrianza hasn't done what was expected of him). Maybe they thought Arcia would fill that role.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 50PoundHead View Post
    I have been surprised that they haven't used Adrianza much post-trade deadline. All the moves at the deadline involved OF help, which was needed (although 4 OFs may have been overkill), but I was a bit surprised that they didn't look for a better IF utility guy (although it's hard to argue that Adrianza hasn't done what was expected of him). Maybe they thought Arcia would fill that role.
    Or maybe they didn't think it was worth the investment to have a decent utility infielder for a bunch of infielders who refuse to take a day off.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dalyn View Post
    Or maybe they didn't think it was worth the investment to have a decent utility infielder for a bunch of infielders who refuse to take a day off.
    I think that's at the heart of it, but is that Anthopoulos, Snitker, or Freeman? Snitker strikes me as a guy who would run the same eight guys out there on a daily basis (with reasonable rest for the catcher). Roster construction has been a mess all season long. Injuries and suspensions have played into that, but I've been scratching my head a lot this season.

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    I don’t mind Freeman trying to push guys, but he also needs to mind his own business a little bit. The big takeaway here is Snitker having to run decisions on other players by Freeman. Ridiculous.

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    Pretty strange article. If Freeman is essentially bullying his teammates into not taking a day off, that should certainly have been addressed by now.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 50PoundHead View Post
    I think that's at the heart of it, but is that Anthopoulos, Snitker, or Freeman? Snitker strikes me as a guy who would run the same eight guys out there on a daily basis (with reasonable rest for the catcher). Roster construction has been a mess all season long. Injuries and suspensions have played into that, but I've been scratching my head a lot this season.
    Hopefully this is something AA really didn't know about. That way it will be addressed.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dalyn View Post
    Hopefully this is something AA really didn't know about. That way it will be addressed.
    I think we all know how AA is going to address this situation

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    Load management is the next impactful idea in sports, and the Braves are not embracing it.

    If someone has to sit down with Freeman and explain the concept, then it needs to happen before an extension occurs.

    This idea that players actually run the clubhouse is nothing new, but leadership is supposed to lead.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Enscheff View Post
    Load management is the next impactful idea in sports, and the Braves are not embracing it.

    If someone has to sit down with Freeman and explain the concept, then it needs to happen before an extension occurs.

    This idea that players actually run the clubhouse is nothing new, but leadership is supposed to lead.
    And no surprise, if you look at what a team like the Dodgers have done all season, it's certainly embraced that model.

    I'm glad the Cardinals were referenced, because they have an old dinosaur manager just like the Braves do.

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    If Twit's calling card is that 'players play hard for him' and in fact players just play hard because they want to win and they don't really give a **** about twit... then why are we retaining him after this year?
    Coppy

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    Most people like their boss because they are familiar with their leadership style and have adjusted work habits accordingly, not because they are good bosses.

    Now, Snit may very well be an excellent leader of men, but this idea that players won't play hard for another guy is pretty flimsy and should be no excuse for keeping a dinosaur manager around.

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