9/12 Marlins @ Braves
- Thread starter Garmel
- Start date
GovClintonTyree
<B>Vencer a Los Doyers</B>
Me, too. It looks like a shift in philosophy, not regaining lost bat speed. I think the Pads were telling him to be aggressive or some such, and now he's back at his historic BB level. His bat speed was fine.
He's gotten a rap as a Cadillacer - somewhat deserved, but reversible - and he was playing CF long after he'd outgrown the position. He's a big, power hitting corner outfielder, and if that's all you need him to do, he fills that role nicely. I don't care much about defensive metrics, since I don't think you can impact the team more than about .5 WAR one way or another in LF. He's always hit, sometimes a lot.
He's a small town guy who's going to like Atlanta. I look forward to him losing 20 pounds and hitting in the middle of this lineup for the foreseeable future.
I think you need a refresher on my comments about Swanson. I said regardless of how he produces this season it was stupid to call him up and waste service time. Then I came back and said if the service time rules change with the new CBA it might be irrelevant.
But is he ready?
Considering John Hart himself said he wasn't? Probably not. One more reason I think the Johns know something about how the service time rules are going to change with the new CBA. If they know it will take 3+ month in the minors to gain the extra year of control then they lost nothing by calling him up now since there was zero chance Swanson stayed in the minors for half of 2017.
Understanding nuanced arguments is hard for some people. I know you and most of the members of this board need to boil it down to the absolute simplest terms of "Swanson haters" and "Swanson lovers", so I understand why we are having this conversation. What I don't understand is why I'm bothering to explain these nuances again since this additional explanation will undoubtedly be ignored.
My entire issue with Swanson being called up is service time related, but by all means, continue to pin the "Swanson hater" label on me if it makes everything easier for you to understand.
My first comment about Kemp during his first game with the Braves was about how good his plate discipline looked. It was clearly apparent he still had it, and I thought it was a very good sign going forward.
A team can win with a high power, low OBP (not dreadful OBP) hitter that is a butcher in LF if the rest of the team is built properly. If the Braves continue to add a couple good hitters this offense can certainly rank in the upper half of the league in 2017. Then it's a matter of the young pitchers making progress.
I just don't see why it's such a big deal when you yourself have said there is a good chance that's going to change. You've put of lot of energy talking about something that will likely become irrelevant. I've actually enjoyed watching Swanson come up as he is part of the future of this franchise.
You can have reservations about the timing of his call up and still be excited about what we get to see. I think that is the case for the majority of posters.
You can have reservations about the timing of his call up and still be excited about what we get to see. I think that is the case for the majority of posters.
So you're saying there's a chance?
GovClintonTyree
<B>Vencer a Los Doyers</B>
Although it has never happened before, agree fully. If he's mid-.800 and adequate, and I think he will be, he's a definite plus given our marginal investment in him (I.e., the last $8.5m). If you gauge him against $21.5m, he sucks. But that was LA's silly mistake, not ours (Olivera was ours).
I don't think he has to be quite mid 800s (meaning ~.850). A guy with an OPS in the high 700s with lots of power (near .500 SLG) is probably very useful in a lineup where he hits behind 3 guys with ~.350 OBP (Inciarte, Swanson, Freeman).
There is definitely something to a balanced lineup...guys get on base and the power hitters drive them in. Statheads like to refer to sequencing as "luck", but a large portion of sequencing can be encouraged by lineup construction and balance.
Of course this ignores defense. Kemp will certainly be bad defensively, the only part in question is will he be 0 WAR bad, or 1-2 WAR bad.
chop2chip
Well-known member
Even as bad he's been defensively, he's still be around a 1-2 WAR player with us right?
He's played at a 1.2 fWAR pace with the Braves so far
With Atlanta, Kemp has been hitting for his typical .480+ SLG he has carried throughout his career. For whatever reason, he started walking again with the Braves. There is a HUGE difference between a .285 OBP guy with 30 HR power (a bad hitter) and a .330 OBP guy with 30 HR power (a very useful hitter). He had posted 0.7 oWAR with SD in over 400 PAs, and has matched that number with the Braves in 175 PAs...all due to him drawing walks at his career rate.
His defense will always drag down his overall value as it has his entire career, but that's why he is playing LF. If he were a positive defender and an .800 OPS guy the Braves wouldn't have gotten him for Olivera and a few million additional bucks.