Braves Question #8

2011 MLB Season Preview

Biggest questions for the Braves:

8. Can Jordan Schafer live up to the hype, or can Nate McLouth find his game?

For so long the Braves never had to worry about who would be patrolling center field at Turner Field. Andruw Jones was one of the best center fielders to ever play the game, and since he left the Braves in 2007, the Braves have struggled to find his replacement.

The trade for Nate McLouth in 2009 was supposed to be the answer to the center field question for the Braves. The McLouth trade was necessary only because Jordan Schafer was unable to fill that void at the beginning of the season. Schafer played in 50 games, hit .204, and struck out 63 times. McLouth never lived up to his early season numbers in 2009 when he was with Pittsburg, but no one could have expected what happened to him in 2010.

McLouth batted just .190 in 85 games for the Braves in 2010, and his average actually came up after being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett in September.

As 2011 rolls around, the center field position is one of the very few position battles for this Braves team. I don’t have a favorite in this fight, but I just hope that one of these guys steps up and wins the spot rather than Fredi Gonzalez having to pick the lesser of two evils.
If either one of these guys could get going and bat leadoff, it would make the Braves lineup a lot better. Here is an example of the Braves lineup with the center fielder at leadoff and then an alternative lineup:

1.Schafer/McLouth 1. Prado
2.Prado 2. Heyward
3.Jones 3. Jones
4.McCann 4. McCann
5.Uggla 5. Uggla
6.Heyward 6. Gonzalez
7.Gonzalez 7. Freeman
8.Freeman 8. Schafer/McLouth
9.Pitcher 9. Pitcher

The two big advantages to having the center fielder at the top of the order revolve around the two youngest everyday players for the Braves. Allowing Heyward to hit 6th instead of 2nd will give him more RBI opportunities, and not require him to try to just get on base. Obviously there should be some days when Chipper Jones doesn’t play that Heyward can bat third for the same reason.

Secondly, being able to start Freeman in the 8th spot would allow him to grow into the majors and really take the pressure off him early in the season. Not to mention that you could be looking at a number 8 hitter that could bat near .300.

However, you have to get production out of the leadoff spot. You can’t just stick one of these guys in there and hope you can make up for the lack of production at the bottom of the order. There are good teams that don’t get much out of their number 8 hitter, but there are no good teams that don’t get production out of the leadoff spot.

Before spring training, I would have put my money on talent (Schafer) winning this job rather than experience (McLouth) , but it seems that Nate McLouth has decided that he wants to resurrect his career in 2011. So far this spring, McLouth is hitting .474 and has yet to strike out, which was a big part of his problem last year. McLouth’s problems started during spring training last year, when he batted only .118.

With about two weeks before the Braves head north for the regular season opener, it seems that Nate McLouth will win the starting job in center field, and if he continues to hit, perhaps even the leadoff spot in the batting order.

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Spring Training News:
Chipper Jones had a huge day against the Mets yesterday. He was on base four times with two doubles and two RBI. Jones is now hitting .323 for the spring. Great news for Braves’ fans.

News out of Mets camp, Johan Santana’s recovery from shoulder surgery is not going well. Santana may not make it back for the 2011 season. If that is the case, the Mets iffy starting pitching just got a whole lot worse.

The Braves will have four games on TV next week: Wednesday at 1 pm against the Red Sox on ESPN, and Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday on CSS!