Short Strokes

Hello again everyone from the sunshine state; that would be Michigan, of course, where the mercury hit 68 degrees today! It was so nice that my wife decided that it would be a great day for me to pick up a winter’s worth of dog poop from the yard. I started to post a poll to see how much you guys thought that would weigh, coming from my four eighty-pound labs LOL! It was as crappy as not being able to watch today’s game due to Fox’s Saturday blackout.

Being as Fred already posted a game summary, I thought it would be a good time to post some notes I’ve accumulated. As they’re all short (but not all short and sweet), I thought I’d call the article “Short Strokes”. If you like it, let me know and I might even make it a series.

Freddie Freeman hits the ball harder than anyone on the team. If he can master the art of backspin, he will be a 40 HR guy.

Jason Heyward is in a typical power hitter’s slump. His problems originate from over-swinging. Expect him to break out very soon.

Alex Gonzalez is playing better defense than ever. He won’t win the Gold Glove (an award with a history of indefensible winners), but his defense and FF’s could win the division for the Braves.

What is up with Jason Heyward’s defense? Forget whether the play was ruled an error; he has botched a half-dozen plays that HE should make. Concentrate, man!

Get used to hearing “just by” or “just off” Chipper’s glove a lot, as has already happened. Maybe it’s his right knee, but he has looked like a statue in the field.

That’s acceptable by me, as Chipper is swinging the bat maybe even better than 2008. He’s hit better than his average, as he’s hit a bunch of very near HR’s.

I’m trying very hard to give Fredi Gonzalez the benefit of the doubt concerning his on-field decisions, especially in the pen, but he’s making it hard. And substituting McCann for Ross on defense on Thursday may have cost the game.

Don’t worry about Uggla; he’ll hit. He’s repeating his history right now (which should have been anticipated). If anything, his power is ahead of schedule.

The biggest leverage point towards fixing the offense is finding a decent number two hitter. Fred Owens (trying to avoid Fred confusion 🙂 ) thinks it’s Gonzalez. I think his OBP is too low, but don’t have a better idea. I’d suggest McLouth, but then he’d tank. I think Heyward will stay there.

What do you think? And please give me feedback on the concept!