The Second Base Transition: Mixing and Matching

[zitothebrave]

Pena is superior to TLS defensively almost for sure. I'm not so sure that Pastor is. He's very underwhelming with the glove. He's not brutalitops like he is at SS. But he's not good from what I've seen either. Pena you can make a case for but at this point we know what Pena is, he's a good super sub, a poor man's Omar Infante. Heck I'd say even a more defensive minded version of Infante. He can't hit like Omar, but he can field a mean 2B and SS. Can't wait for Pastornicky to be replaced by Gosselin or Cunningham. Pastornicky and Schafer are guys who're on the team cause something they did in the past. For Pastor it was his offense coming over to the Braves in AA and AAA that gave people (myself included) hope, thinking at his age he'd have some space to improve, well he's 24 now, odds of him adding gobs of power or walking more keep getting smaller and smaller.

With TLS we have a guy who at the very least deserves a shot to prove himself. I know most people are skeptical and he may very well fail. But we have a guy who may be a .300/.380 type of hitter. That's something Pena and Pastor have no shot of and they've shown less pop than TLS has so far as well.

[nsacpi]

I'm not so sure La Stella has significantly more upside than Pastornicky. Last season Pastonicky put up a .746 OPS in AAA at age 23. This season La Stella has a .701 OPS in AAA at age 25. Where's the beef? If La Stella were at .800 I'd be on the bandwagon. But for now I'm not ready to move him to the front of the line.

[50PoundHead]

I'm not so sure La Stella has significantly more upside than Pastornicky. Last season Pastonicky put up a .746 OPS in AAA at age 23. This season La Stella has a .701 OPS in AAA at age 25. Where's the beef? If La Stella were at .800 I'd be on the bandwagon. But for now I'm not ready to move him to the front of the line.

I think the difference is all in the isoOBP v. isoSLG. And the isoSLG may come with La Stella. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that at least in a raw sense, La Stella has better on-base skills than Pastornicky. I'm not a diehard when it comes to La Stella, but he'd get on base. The question is whether he'd do much of anything else. Getting on base in and of itself is very valuable (probably to an extreme given our current line-up and its performance), so I'd be willing to give La Stella a shot.

[nsacpi]

La Stella has an excellent on base track record. Typically over .400. But he isn't doing that in AAA. As I said earlier I'd be on the bandwagon if he were replicating the performances he has given at lower levels in AAA. For now, I'd give him a chance to make the adjustments he needs to make against better pitching in AAA.

[50PoundHead]

La Stella has an excellent on base track record. Typically over .400. But he isn't doing that in AAA. As I said earlier I'd be on the bandwagon if he were replicating the performances he has given at lower levels in AAA. For now, I'd give him a chance to make the adjustments he needs to make against better pitching in AAA.

I'm not going to say I predicted as much, but on-base skills sometimes don't translate as the quality of pitching increases and that will be the question on La Stella. If a player doesn't drive the ball, pitchers are less reluctant (and have a greater ability as the levels get closer to the bigs) to throw strikes and while La Stella K numbers are still stellar, he's likely not putting the ball in play with the authority he did in AA and below. Some attribute that to "luck," which I think is a total cop-out. He's running into a better brand of pitching and he's going to have to make adjustments. My guess is he will do that, but what the adjusted product looks like is still going to be the key question.

I'm not for handing him the 2B job. I'm only for Uggla never getting another AB in a Braves' uniform.

[gilesfan]

I'm not so sure La Stella has significantly more upside than Pastornicky. Last season Pastonicky put up a .746 OPS in AAA at age 23. This season La Stella has a .701 OPS in AAA at age 25. Where's the beef? If La Stella were at .800 I'd be on the bandwagon. But for now I'm not ready to move him to the front of the line.

Im with you. I don't think people realize that Pastor is a year younger than TLS. Comparing the numbers between the 2 are futile bc Pastor is in the majors at age 22, while TLS is in AAA at age 25.

TLS appears to me a lot like Eric Soggard with inferior defense, slightly better OB skills.

Soggard maintained a 12%ish walk rate and 10%ish k rate through the upper minors. TLS is around 10/11%ish with a 8-9%ish K rate. Soggards IsoSLG was .096, .107, .116 in the upper minors while TLS has been .158, .130, .027. Soggards power improved as he moved up levels while TLS has declined.

TLS may be an upgrade over Uggla (remains to be seen), but I don't see the rush to call him up when he's scuffling in AAA. If he comes up and is equivalent to Eric Soggard with lesser defense, have you really even helped the team?

[nsacpi]

I wouldn't say La Stella is scuffling in AAA. But there are some indications that he is having to make some adjustments against the higher level of pitching he is facing there. The best course is to give him the time to make those adjustments. I think sometimes we get spoilt thinking a player can just fly through the minors without a hiccup. Most of the time they have to make an adjustment at certain levels and you see their numbers improve as they make those adjustments. If you look at another of our players in AAA, Todd Cunningham, you see he is doing better this year than last year. He's driving the ball better and you can see it in his ISO numbers. Hopefully, the adjustment doesn't take a whole year for La Stella.

[tomahawkchop10]

I'm not sure I'd call 306/368/701 scuffling. Granted he's hitting for no power. But if that's scuffling I'd like to know what Ugglas doing...If we want to give TLS more time that's fine, but at least give Pastor a shot or platoon him with Pena. This crap Freddi is saying about how Dan is our 2B now and in the future and he wants him to start another 120 games needs to stop. Uggla is seriously doing everything bad right now. The track record of Uggs being bad is too long to ignore. Something needs to change.

[gilesfan]

He's put 99 balls in play and just 3 have gone for extra bases (2Bs). Im sorry, but I call it scuffling if you are 25 in AAA facing pitchers that aren't as good at finding the strike zone and far inferior defenses. The .306 batting average is great, but he's going to have to prove that he can do more than walk at a decent rate and hit singles in AAA to be a legit contender for promotion when you consider his defense.

I think this one might be a case of the Braves knowing better about what how they are handling him.

[The Chosen One]

3 doubles would be about as good as anything uggla is trotting out. Include his walks and tls is already worth more. Pastor has hope

[tomahawkchop10]

3 doubles would be about as good as anything uggla is trotting out. Include his walks and tls is already worth more. Pastor has hope

That's my point. TLS may not be some polished product, but he (or anyone for that matter) would be an upgrade over Dan.

[nsacpi]

I'm hoping to see Pastornicky get a start or two against the Cubs. It is hard to stay sharp with as little activity as he has gotten. Give him a couple games and a chance to sharpen up.

[nsacpi]

That's my point. TLS may not be some polished product, but he (or anyone for that matter) would be an upgrade over Dan.

I don't think there is much doubt about that. The issue at hand is whether to call him up now or give Pastornicky and Pena an opportunity first.

[tomahawkchop10]

Agreed.

[gilesfan]

I don't think there is much doubt about that. The issue at hand is whether to call him up now or give Pastornicky and Pena an opportunity first.

Right. Im not a big fan of Pastor, but I'm not convinced TLS is a better option than him.

[jpx7]

This crap Freddi is saying about how Dan is our 2B now and in the future and he wants him to start another 120 games needs to stop.

I think that exact quote was fabricated.

***from rico***
As a mod., seeing quite a bit of that this year from certain posters. There's a thin line between satire and flat-out lying.

[nsacpi]

I think that exact quote was fabricated.

And in fact we are starting to see more games without Uggla in the lineup. He sat against Lincecum and against Shelby Miller and Wainwright.

[rico43]

I wouldn't say La Stella is scuffling in AAA. But there are some indications that he is having to make some adjustments against the higher level of pitching he is facing there. The best course is to give him the time to make those adjustments. I think sometimes we get spoilt thinking a player can just fly through the minors without a hiccup. Most of the time they have to make an adjustment at certain levels and you see their numbers improve as they make those adjustments. If you look at another of our players in AAA, Todd Cunningham, you see he is doing better this year than last year. He's driving the ball better and you can see it in his ISO numbers. Hopefully, the adjustment doesn't take a whole year for La Stella.

La Stella currently in a 2-for-15 slump.

[Enscheff]

It would be interesting to see what some of the other 2B options from outside the organization we speculated about are doing at this point in the season.

Phillips is very mediocre so far, Ellis is terrible, and I can't even remember the name of the guy on the Angels(?) to look him up.

[jpx7]

It would be interesting to see what some of the other 2B options from outside the organization we speculated about are doing at this point in the season.

Phillips is very mediocre so far, and I can't even remember the name of the guy on the Angels(?) to look him up.

Howie Kendrick, who's batting .293/.369/.421 on the current year in a round 150 PA, and who's a career .292/.331/.429 hitter in nine seasons of 3895 PA.