Building an ACCEPTABLE offense

[CyYoung31]

By batting him leadoff you take one less bat out of the middle to drive guys in!! BJ is doing well at the top compared to anywhere else he has hit. Jason is made for the 5 hole. Need somebody with legit HR power behind Justin, Heyward fits that bill.

Heyward is not a legit HR threat this year. You want your high OBP guys at the top, ergo, Heyward should be up there.

[VirginiaBrave]

Did you hear joe? Said the same thing, don't get too tied up in the numbers. Look at the skill set.

[CyYoung31]

Did you hear joe? Said the same thing, don't get too tied up in the numbers. Look at the skill set.

And his skill set says he should be at the top of the order.

You actually listen to Joe Simpson? lulz

[Heyward]

I think the question maybe next year (and for sure in 2016) is Peraza v. La Stella. La Stella's a nice player, but he's not an impact guy. Peraza is a potential impact guy. I wouldn't be surprised if they try Peraza at another position (I don't think La Stella can play another position because they probably would have tried him somewhere else already). Just my thoughts.

Move Peraza to 3B.

Future IF of Gattis/GB, FF, TLS, Simba, Peraza, problem solved.

[Heyward]

By batting him leadoff you take one less bat out of the middle to drive guys in!! BJ is doing well at the top compared to anywhere else he has hit. Jason is made for the 5 hole. Need somebody with legit HR power behind Justin, Heyward fits that bill.

And, who do you want to have more AB's, Heyward or BJ?

Heyward.

Heyward for THIS team should be the leadoff hitter unless you go...

TLS
Heyward
Justin
Freeman
Gattis
BJ/CJ/Simba whatever 6-8.

[Braves1976]

I've noted that those in our line-up that hurt our offense the most also happen to be our worst on defense this year. At least outside of Simmons struggles in the 8th spot while playing great defense at short. BJ Upton according to DRS is now a -9 in centerfield, that is already a lot worse than last year. BJ was actually fine in centerfield according to DRS last year. He also started well this year on defense, I remember him being at 4 or 5 DRS at one point. Which tells me he's been about -13 or 14 since his good start. CJ who also has a below .300 OBP and below .700 OPS has been our worst on defense. I noted his -10 DRS a week ago, make that a -12 DRS now for Chris Johnson. CJ has no range to speak of and is one of the worst third basemen I've seen at fielding bunts. He is just too slow to react and doesn't have the arm to make up for it. So for anyone asking if Peraza can play third. How about asking can he possibly do worse there than Chris Johnson? If so that would surely take some doing given Peraza's skill set.

To sum it up, I'd argue that we need to look to upgrade third and/or centerfield soon if we want to make the playoffs. I see our shot at the division and the playoffs probably going down the drain if neither happens (esp. considering the rate Fredi is costing us with his managing). The good news is that even if we only replace one of them we could both upgrade on defense and offense at those positions since they happen to be costing us the most runs with their bats and their gloves. Plus we'd be better off even if we replaced one of them with someone the same on one side that simply upgrades just the offense or the defense. A few more runs scored and a few more runs saved can be the difference in close games.

Lastly, I'd also argue that both Heyward and Simmons deserve a lot of credit for what they do to make up for most others on defense. We lost a ball game by a run recently that we rested Simmons and one of those runs scored on a failed DP Simmons often turns. Further, La Stella who isn't known for his defense has the second best DRS among our infielders. Not that -1 DRS is anything to write home about, but is sure blows away -12 DRS from CJ and what we saw from Uggla. While Heyward has led everyone in DRS this year. Heyward's amazing defense is even more important since both Upton's have cost us runs on defense. But Justin brings it with the bat unlike his brother BJ Upton.

[yeezus]

You actually listen to Joe Simpson? lulz

It all makes sense now.

[cajunrevenge]

What we need to fix the offense is more OBP. I like using the PBS Stat because it balances OBP and slugging %. I would much rather a player have an OBP of .400 and slugging .400 than a player with .300 OBP and .500 slugging %. It's really simple, less outs made = more runs. Solo Homers aren't going to win you a lot of games. Ideally we have a balance of mostly high OBP guys with 1-2 legitimate sluggers.

Right now we have 3 starting players who combined for under a .300 OBP in over 1200 plate appearances and we look to be adding another OBP problem in Bethancourt next year. We just can't afford this many OBP liabilities in the lineup at the same time. I don't think Peraza will be a high OBP guy either. Probably a .300/.330 ba/OBP kind of hitter.