I personally don't feel there is any difference. He's either going to learn to hit/lay off the slider or not regardless if it's in MLB or AAA. The real issue, as enscheff talked about, is what benefit to the Braves is him learning this at the MLB level? What are possible negative ramifications? Surely they had their own scouting report on him to know he struggled with that pitch.
Braves and the strategy to go young
- Thread starter smootness
- Start date
I personally don't feel there is any difference. He's either going to learn to hit/lay off the slider or not regardless if it's in MLB or AAA. The real issue, as enscheff talked about, is what benefit to the Braves is him learning this at the MLB level? What are possible negative ramifications? Surely they had their own scouting report on him to know he struggled with that pitch.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
One would think so. The Braves are a gold standard franchise.
...yet not only did they keep him in the majors but moved him to the #2 spot in the lineup...
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
we'll see what kind of treatment he gets...the Braves have an interesting recent history of making public comments about the work habits and mental makeup of young players when they struggle...it puzzles me why a gold standard franchise treats its young players like that...somehow I think Swanson will avoid that treatement
goldfly
<B>if my thought dreams could be seen</B>
and if there is anything Tapate50 knows, it's premature ladies and gentleman
boom
thank you, i'll be here all week
please tip your servers and bartenders
FIFY
Thames always had plus power. His issue was contact, which I don't think roids alleviate.
AerchAngel
<B>Secretary of Statistics</B>
and he tested negative and then told the testers they can test him twice a day and even on Sunday.
He hits almost all of his homers in two parks, Brewers and Reds, this can happen with anyone. When a book is out on him, he will become average just like everyone else.
He's been tested 3 times since coming back.
bravesfanMatt
Steve Harvey'd
This.. he is feasting on the Reds right now. something like 7 homers against them. He is like so many others that bolt out the door and then fade as pitchers adjust on them. Much like Story last year.
The narrative is starting...
12:10
Larry: Concerned about Swanson?
12:11
Dave Cameron: Yeah. Last year’s BABIP masked a lot of offensive flaws. He’ll probably be fine long term, but he wasn’t ready to be as good as ATL hoped.
Southcack77
Well-known member
Who is the one player in AA, not a brave, that is younger than Albies?
And Dave Cameron agrees...you're a moron:
12:25
caesarsolid: If Thames keeps up anywhere near his current ISO, how long before suspicions about PEDs drowns out his production?
12:25
Dave Cameron: People who think this is about PEDs don’t know what they’re talking about.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
"None of us are worried. He's gonna be fine." John Hart
Julio3000
<B>A Chip Off the Old Rock</B>
I'm not worried about him long-term, either, but I surely thought the Larkin/Jeter/Trammell talk was premature, and said so.
And he also agrees that you're a moron:
12:31
Collin: I get that this is the Eric Thames show, but lets remember that 8 of his 11 home runs have come against the Reds(triple A pitching pretty much). Still impressive, but he might be the hitter who simply punishes below average pitching.
12:32
Dave Cameron: There are basically no examples of players who could crush mediocre pitching at this level and couldn’t also hold their own against good pitchers.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Well...that's folks on a message board...it really never makes sense to project a prospect to be All-Star or better...except a very small number of guys like Harper
Swanson in the same league as Hall of Famer type players never made any sense.
bravesfanMatt
Steve Harvey'd
And yet in a month he will be mired in a slump of epic proportion. and never be an 'espn' highlight again. He is fun to talk about and entertains the mindless derps like you.. but reality will set in soon and we will all forget about him.
I still think he ends up being very similar to Trammell, but probably without the peak power output.
Being called up early did not "ruin" Dansby Swanson. All it did was cost the Braves control of his age 29 season...which is kind of a big deal for a mid-market team.
Southcack77
Well-known member
The only thing I would add is that if you are worried about the service time, then the player actually learned the lesson and succeeded. The struggles might actually make it easier to sign him to a team friendly deal, but it would certainly depend and could go either way.
I'd probably be in the camp of if someone is good enough to figure out to hit major league pitching, he probably can do it in the majors. The willingness of a major league club to give him the time is the question.
For the extremely rare case of someone like Thames who fails and then plays overseas and completely changes his approach to hitting .... I would find that about as useful to talk about as some other folks might want to talk about Tom Glavine being an example of you don't have to throw hard to be a successful major league pitcher.
Either way, I wouldn't think about Swanson again until June. If he's hitting .200 then and still looks hopeless then send him down, but I don't see why you wouldn't let him try to work it out from the 8 spot on this team.