Jun 18, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) takes the walk against the New York Mets in the third inning at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

He doesn’t play the same position.  He doesn’t typically hit in the same spot in the lineup.  He’s not a switch hitter.  He’s bigger, slower, and women might argue over whether he’s as cute.  All that withstanding, I’ll make the argument that if anyone could ever replace the offense and overall leadership of Chipper Jones, it would be Freddie Freeman.  Who would replace Chipper in terms of leadership after he retired was the question last year, and not much has really been written about it since.

Last year, I heard people discuss players such as Jason Heyward and Brian McCann.  I’m not sure if I recall really hearing any other names beyond that, although Freddie Freeman may well have been bounced about.  I never bought into Jason taking over leadership.  He’s roughly the same age as Freddie, is just as experienced, but can be a touch too streaky and just doesn’t have the same club presence as the affable Freddie Freeman.  Brian McCann certainly could fill that role.  He’s loved by all his teammates, staff, and fans, and is one of the most productive catchers in baseball, but there is currently a huge question as to whether Brian will even be with the Braves in 2014.  With the way that baseball is changing these days, fans will rarely see any player staying with a club throughout their career anymore, and unfortunately the same may well be true of Freddie.

All that said, the question  of some sort of day-to-day, tangible clubhouse leadership really doesn’t matter all that much.  Several players in any organization can take leadership roles in various ways.  I think a bigger question is that intangible leadership a player offers by just playing well, being clutch, and being that player you know you can rely on day-in, day-out.  Even though Freddie hasn’t been in the Big Show that long, he would get my vote as that leader who brings both those tangible and intangible qualities to the role.  By all accounts, he’s loved by management, staff, and teammates, and is obviously loved by fans in Braves Country.  He hugs a lot, always has a ready smile, gives freely to reporters, and the most important thing – he’s just a great baseball player, both offensively and defensively.

Freddie Freeman has been on fire recently, and his numbers speak volumes about his value to the Atlanta Braves.  Let’s look a some of his offensive and defensive numbers, to help get a better feel for what I’m writing about.

Below is a table showing Freddie Freeman’s standard, season totals for the 2013 season, including the last week, last two weeks, and last month.  You will note that in the last 7 days alone, in 25 plate appearances, Freddie has hit a whopping .381 BA, with a combined OBP and SLG OPS of 1.051.  During that span, Freddie got 8 hits, with a double, a homer, and 4 RBIs.  Delving a touch deeper, you’ll note that in the last two weeks, the numbers are similar.  In 54 plate appearances, Freddie hit for a similar .375 BA, with a combined OBP and SLG OPS of .944.  During that slightly longer span, Freddie delivered 18 hits, with 3 doubles, a homer, and 9 RBIs.  Please, look at the last month totals, and you’ll see Freddie Freeman has been hot for awhile now.

Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

According to baseballamerica.com’s draft database, the Atlanta Braves have now signed 22 of their 40 draft picks (some conflicting sources as to that exact count).  Yesterday, as reported by this knowledgeable source, first round pick Jason Hursh, a blazing-hard throwing RHP from Oklahoma State, agreed to terms with Atlanta, and will be signed for an on-slot bonus of $1,704,200.  Big plus for Atlanta.

UPDATE:  5pm 6/19

Atlanta Braves ‏@Braves  Braves top pick Jason Hursh has officially signed. He will be in attendance at tonight’s game and will be meeting with the media shortly.

KevinMcAlpin further reports that Hursh has been assigned to the Rome Braves.

BA.com shows Atlanta as $208,200 over budget in their spending for picks thus far, with a total pool allotment of just over $4.5 million.  The Hursh signing, if confirmed, will pretty much guarantee that they blow the cap by that $200K.  Oh well.

Other picks still unsigned:

Round 14 – Tyler Kuresa, 1B, UC Santa Barbara.  BA Rank:  311.  Pick 433.

Round 18 – Chuck Buchanan, LHP, Cal State Bakersfield.  Unranked.  Pick 553.

Round  19 – Jordan Sechler, LHP, Cal State Los Angeles.  Unranked.  Pick 583

Round 23 - Connor Oliver, OF, Manatee Junior Coll. (FL).  Unranked.  Pick 703

Round 24 – Orrin Sears, C, Arizona Christian.  Unranked.  Pick 733.

>> and every additional pick from Rounds 28 through 40.  Of these, two players were ranked by BaseballAmerica:

Round 28 – Stephen Wrenn, OF, Walton HS in Marietta, GA.  Ranked 109.  Pick 853.  Committed to the University of Georgia.

Round 40 – Connor Brogdon, RHP.  Brentwood HS, Bakersfield, CA.  Ranked 430.  Pick 1213.  “I’m definitely leaning toward Fresno State”, he said in an interview 3 days ago… while wearing a Braves hat.  It may also be of some note that (signed) third round pick Carlos Salazar was also in the 2014 recruiting class for Fresno State – until the Braves inked him.

There are two particularly interesting names also among this still-unsigned group:  one is Sterling Sharp (Round 30), a RHP from Farmington Hills, MI… but no, he is not related to the All-Pro wide receiver (who spells his name ‘Sharpe‘).  The other is Jacob Heyward, who is the brother of our current right fielder.  But alas, he is set to start college in Miami.

It is a curiosity to see that four of the unsigned picks shown above hail from California…. and there’s actually a fifth as well:  Jack Klein (Round 32, OF from San Francisco).  Turns out there were only seven of the 40 picks from California, so you do have to wonder if there is a relationship between “from nowhere near ‘Braves country’” and “unsigned”.

The deadline for signing these players is Friday, July 12 at 5 pm EDT.

Atlanta Braves fans have been waiting and waiting on the number 1 prospect in the entire MLB in 2010 to finally appear to his predicted abilities.  So far we’ve been teased with stellar years while bashing our heads against a brink wall during other years.  Jason Heyward has the talent to be a very successful baseball player but hasn’t truly lived up to all his hype.

June 10, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Jason Heyward (22) on deck prior to his at bat during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

2013 has started off rough for JHey as he played in only 17 games before needing immediate appendectomy surgery on April 21st.  He was batting a lousy .121, had a .261 OBP, with only one multi-hit game, two home runs and only five RBI’s when the surgery happened.

Jason was able to return to the lineup on May 17th and showed signs of improvement during the month.  He batted .178 through the 13 games he played in with three multi-hit games.  His OBP jumped in the month as well to .327 as he had eight walks.

During June so far, he has a .328 batting average with a .379 OBP.  JHey has 20 hits and three home runs in the 15 games during the first summer month of the year.  Is this just the beginning of what will be a great summer for Heyward?  Braves fans everywhere surely hope this.

This is Heyward’s fourth season as an MLB ball player and throughout his career so far his best months have been when the sun comes out and it shines bright.  His second half numbers are substantially better with batting average and OBP than the early months of the season.  Here are numbers explaining Jason’s hot summers past and hopefully a summer of fun!

Though with the above chart, you notice Heyward has more runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI’s and stolen bases in the first half of the season BUT take a look further down the chart as his strikeouts lower, his batting average increases as well as OBP.

Heyward may not turn into the number 3 hitter everyone envisioned a couple years ago but could be a very solid number 2.  We need him on base so that the guys who can drive in the guys in scoring position can do so.  Below’s chart is a break down of the different months throughout Jason Heyward’s career and as you look at the numbers June, July and August are the months when he heats up!

In years past, Heyward has been traditionally a slow starter with big months towards the end of the season.  Braves fans everywhere are hoping for the same this season!