Tomahawk Take » Braves

2012 Player Projections: Freddie Freeman

Carlos Collazo — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:30:41 +0000

Next on the list is our home grown first baseman, Freddie Freeman. Freeman struggled during the first month of the 2011 season, but after he adjusted to the league (just like he did in practically every league) he never looked back. He performed better than most people expected and would have won the NL Rookie of the Year Award if it wasn’t for teammate Craig Kimbrel. You have to hate saves…

Anyways, a slash line of .282/.346/.448 with 21 homeruns, 76 RBI, and 67 runs is pretty impressive for a rookie. If I remember correctly, Freeman wasn’t predicted to hit more than 20 homeruns and we expected more along the lines of 10-15. 21 home runs might not sound great for a first baseman, but it is certainly better than what we (or at least me) expected.

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2012 Player Projections: Freddie Freeman - Tomahawk Take - Tomahawk Take - An Atlanta Braves Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

2012 Player Projections: Michael Bourn

Carlos Collazo — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:30:50 +0000

I hate the format that everyone seems to go by when doing player projections. C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS etc. It gets boring, and I would hate for you guys to get bored. So let’s start it off with center field to keep things fresh.

Like Ben Duronio says, centerfield is going to be the biggest difference in production from 2011 to 2012. I agree with him on the subject and a lot of people forget that we had Michael Bourn for less than half of the season last year. Nate McLouth and Jordan Schafer were the guys who manned center field for the first half of the season, and while McLouth performed better than we expected offensively, and Schafer was good defensively they don’t compare to the value that Michael Bourn will give us for a whole season.

Bourn brings great base running ability, premium defense at the second most important position, and an above average lead off bat to the table.

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2012 Player Projections: Michael Bourn - Tomahawk Take - Tomahawk Take - An Atlanta Braves Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

Top Ten Atlanta Braves Prospects- #8 Zeke Spruill

Carlos Collazo — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:30:40 +0000

Zeke Spruill is the first pitcher we are hitting on the top ten list, coming in at number 8. Spruill is a guy most people haven’t heard of (thanks Teheran, Vizcaino, Minor, Beachy, and Gilmartin) and a player unlike most of the other pitching prospects the Braves are known for.

Height- 6’4”

Weight- 184

Bats- Switch

Throws- Right

Age- 22

Most of the Braves top pitching prospects are known for their high ceilings as major league pitchers. Teheran is supposed to be the Braves ace of the future, Delgado has been predicted as a good #2 guy, and Vizcaino has been a solid #2 or #3 before making the transition to the bullpen. Spruill has never been thought of like this and likely never will. He is an extremely good pitcher because of his excellent control which—according to Baseball America—is better than Sean Gilmartin.

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Top Ten Atlanta Braves Prospects- #8 Zeke Spruill - Tomahawk Take - Tomahawk Take - An Atlanta Braves Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More