2013 Atlanta Braves Thread

[jt45]

Will definitely be a platoon at third base with Johnson and Francisco. I am absolutely ecstatic about Upton x2 and Heyward. Good bye gappers.

[aukevin]

Quote: Originally Posted by jt45

Will definitely be a platoon at third base with Johnson and Francisco. I am absolutely ecstatic about Upton x2 and Heyward. Good bye gappers.

I think it might be a good battle this spring for a full time 3B job. Looking at C Johnson's numbers, he's much better against righties, so we might not see his best side if he's just a platoon against lefties.

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP as RHB	123		377	349		103	24	4	11	58	2	1	22	90	.295	.338	.481	.819	168	13	2	1	3	0	0	.367	110	131
vs LHP as RHB	70		151	139		34	4	1	4	18	3	0	9	42	.245	.298	.374	.672	52	5	2	0	1	2	2	.319	74	79
vs LH Starter	45	44	173	159	16	40	9	1	4	24	3	0	8	47	.252	.291	.396	.687	63	6	2	1	3	2	1	.324	77	88
vs RH Starter	91	83	355	329	32	97	19	4	11	52	2	1	23	85	.295	.344	.477	.821	157	12	2	0	1	0	1	.368	111	126

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/24/2013.

[Jgainsey]

Aww man... really sad to see Prado go, but this deal just made too much sense for the Braves not to pull the trigger. With raises coming to many of our younger stars, it may have been tough to afford Prado anyways.

Also, I wouldn't put much stock in Johnson's current reverse split. I could be wrong, but I think it can sometimes take a little while for platoon stats to normalize. Just took a quick look at some of his minor league splits, and his stats look like they definitely favored lefties, which is to be expected.

[TheMatrix31]

Woohoo! We pulled it off! Hate losing Prado though, ****.

Maybe we can trade some prospects for a 3B if the Fatboy/Chris Johnson platoon doesn't work?

I'm crazy excited but apprehensive, because if this offense stalls, oh boy it's gonna stall.

[Jgainsey]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheMatrix31

I'm crazy excited but apprehensive, because if this offense stalls, oh boy it's gonna stall.

Lol, that's for sure. There are definitely going to be periods this season where it feels like the offense is drowning in strike outs.

I wonder if Pastornicky could fake it at 3rd if he gets a few more ABs in AAA or off the big league bench this year? It's not like we really need much power from 3B at this point... If he could just get on base, that probably wouldn't be the worst idea ever. At the very least, he would probably be a huge upgrade defensively over Johnson/Fat Guy.

Either way, Fransisco should probably still start as much as possible against righties.

[Watson]

[TheMatrix31]

Oh good grief lol, SMFH!

[KSUowls]

I'm excited for the trade and it was the right thing to do given the money involved with Prado. It does temper the excitement a little though.

I really like this lineup because when they are clicking they will be unstoppable. I still see it being very streaky though. 5 of 8 starters finished 2012 in the top 55 in strikeouts. 3 of those guys were in the top 20. Add in the platoon of Francisco/Johnson at third and this team is actually set up to see more strikeouts than we did a year ago. Hopefully the surplus of speed and power will make up for it though.