Spring Training 2015

For posters to stop bringing up Heyward...I agree.

pyjmlh.jpg
 
DOB reported today that the Braves plan to take things slow with Minor, that he isn't expected back till May if all goes well.
 
Good AB by Peterson vs the lefty that last inning, worked a walk. He has hit righties very well this ST but was only 1-8 vs lefties with no walks and two strikeouts before that AB (small sample size for sure so just saying). Peterson handled lefties fine in the minors btw.
 
Russell's outing was a little better than last week, but that's not saying much: 3 ER over 4 IP on 4 H and 1 BB. If the Braves keep him on this SP schedule, he'll have one more outing before they need to make a decision. They can put him unconditional release waivers and pay him $600K to hit the bricks, which would save the club $1.8m.
 
280 average (doable) with about 60-70 walks. I think that should be right around 350 OBP assuming 650 PA.

Those walks are way too high unless he bats #8. If he's at the top batting in front of Markakis/Freeman, he isn't going to walk much at all. He's going to have to hit over .300 to have a go at .350, in my opinion.
 
Russell's outing was a little better than last week, but that's not saying much: 3 ER over 4 IP on 4 H and 1 BB. If the Braves keep him on this SP schedule, he'll have one more outing before they need to make a decision. They can put him unconditional release waivers and pay him $600K to hit the bricks, which would save the club $1.8m.

There is no way we should drop him, even for free, and we definitely shouldn't pay him to go. This is ST, and he is one of the best we have left in the pen.
 
Those walks are way too high unless he bats #8. If he's at the top batting in front of Markakis/Freeman, he isn't going to walk much at all. He's going to have to hit over .300 to have a go at .350, in my opinion.

From what I've seen I think he will be a high walk guy and if he is at the top of the lineup I think 60 walks is highly possible.
 
There is no way we should drop him, even for free, and we definitely shouldn't pay him to go. This is ST, and he is one of the best we have left in the pen.

I agree, Russell's track record speaks for itself. It seems dak has been reading Bowman too much lately. Every ST we have these overreactions from Bowman and co. over ST performances.

If we went by ST performance instead of track record on Varvaro the previous two ST's then we'd DFA'd him two years ago. That is just one example and a good one since Varvaro not only pitched badly in ST for us but also had velocity issues.

That said, I am fine with trading Russell at some point but I wouldn't just give him away nor pay him money to go away.
 
I don't think he's going to walk quite as much as people seem to think he's going to. Assume 600 plate appearances; maybe hit .260/.270 with a 10% walk rate. (Those are pretty optimistic numbers)

That's 60 walks and about a .265/.339 ish line. That's probably a hair optimistic, but maybe doable.
 
From what I've seen I think he will be a high walk guy and if he is at the top of the lineup I think 60 walks is highly possible.

He might come close to that many walks if he's batting #1 in front of Young, which with Fredi at the helm is a distinct possibility. But if he's #2 in front of Markakis/Freeman, pitchers are going to come right after him.
 
He might come close to that many walks if he's batting #1 in front of Young, which with Fredi at the helm is a distinct possibility. But if he's #2 in front of Markakis/Freeman, pitchers are going to come right after him.

Thats fair analysis. Will be interesting to see what happens.
 
BTW, I also believe the Braves did a good job adding lefty depth in the minors this off-season. One minor league signing I liked was Francisco Rondon for example. Plus it's no secret that I am high on Feigl who we got to see pitch a little this ST (though he may need another year in the minors).

To sum it up, I think we'll be okay if we need lefty help at some point.
 
Back
Top