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The Official 2018 Atlanta Braves Season discussion thread

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death2redemptions

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Feb 4, 2016
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The Carolina on the Southern side
And the Braves win it!

If we are using winning percentage Braves are tied with the Phillies for the moment (when the Phillies win we'll be half a game under again) but if going by losses (the only stat that matters) then we are still tied with the Phillies and will remain tied with them when the Phillies win.
 

pandes

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Jul 9, 2018
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death2redemptions

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Feb 4, 2016
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The Carolina on the Southern side
I think he can be really good there if he can limit his Ks. Albies doesn't take enough pitches to be a true leadoff hitter in my opinion.

If he can find the ability to limit his strikeouts I believe he'll be able to live up to his true potential as a superstar & potential MVP candidate a few years from now.

If not, I still believe he'll become a well above average player who makes some All-Star appearances down along the line. Even with a below average-to-average contact rate (.250-265 hitter with 150-180 k's a year) he still has 30+ HR power and the ability to steal 20-30 bases if management ever decides to let our players steal more often. He's had some defensive blunders this year but I attribute this to lack of experience and believe he'll become an above average defender with a cannon for an arm the longer he's in the majors.

He's still the second youngest player in the league with minimal experience so I'm not putting much stock into what he does this year when judging his future potential.

Do you think we start looking for a new CF? Ender is bad this year.

Eh, I doubt it. Doesn't seem like management plans to make any major moves this year and he's still on a very team friendly contract where his defense alone is worth the money we are paying for him. Also, in respect to his offensive troubles this year I chalk it up to bad luck. His .265 BABIP is by far the lowest it's ever been in his career, nearly 75 points lower than last year & 55 points lower than his career BABIP so I expect him to eventually go on a similar tear like he did in 2016. Not sure if you remember this but during his first year playing for us he was hitting near the Mendoza line right around the All-Star break and ended up hitting .291 that season. So anyway, based on where his BABIP & avg are right now I'd expect him to find his way to .280-.290 by the end of the season. He should also steal 30+ bases this year

So based on all that I really don't think we'll see Ender going anywhere anytime soon.
 

death2redemptions

New member
Feb 4, 2016
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The Carolina on the Southern side
Why the hell didn't the Braves make a move for Familia?!?

The A's got him for just their 17th ranked prospect & a minor league reliever. We could have easily matched that! What is upper management doing? Jerking off?

Although, the Mets being in the same division and all, they would have likely tried to trade rape us.

Still, get us some relievers!!!!
 

Rabs

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Jan 25, 2011
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Land O Lakes, FL
Eh, I doubt it. Doesn't seem like management plans to make any major moves this year and he's still on a very team friendly contract where his defense alone is worth the money we are paying for him. Also, in respect to his offensive troubles this year I chalk it up to bad luck. His .265 BABIP is by far the lowest it's ever been in his career, nearly 75 points lower than last year & 55 points lower than his career BABIP so I expect him to eventually go on a similar tear like he did in 2016. Not sure if you remember this but during his first year playing for us he was hitting near the Mendoza line right around the All-Star break and ended up hitting .291 that season. So anyway, based on where his BABIP & avg are right now I'd expect him to find his way to .280-.290 by the end of the season. He should also steal 30+ bases this year

So based on all that I really don't think we'll see Ender going anywhere anytime soon.
Strictly from a production standpoint, he is having a bad year. I know his contract is nice but when you aren't a power hitter you need to hit for average and he isn't doing that. Look at his WAR numbers over the past few years:

2015: 5.2
2016: 3.8
2017: 3.0
2018 (over half the year): 1.2

I don't dislike Ender at all and yes he plays a good CF but this is an offensive game especially in this era.
 

death2redemptions

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Feb 4, 2016
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The Carolina on the Southern side
Strictly from a production standpoint, he is having a bad year. I know his contract is nice but when you aren't a power hitter you need to hit for average and he isn't doing that. Look at his WAR numbers over the past few years:

2015: 5.2
2016: 3.8
2017: 3.0
2018 (over half the year): 1.2

I don't dislike Ender at all and yes he plays a good CF but this is an offensive game especially in this era.

Oh, I'm definitely not arguing that his offensive production has been way down this season, I'm only saying that in terms of his batting average he's been really unlucky based on his current BABIP so I expect it to eventually trend in the right direction. When -or if- (just because is BABIP is much lower than his career BABIP doesn't mean he'll necessarily turn it around "this" year) that happens his WAR will also go up.

One positive is that his walk rate is higher than it's ever been in his career (2018- 8.3% 2017- 6.8% 2016 - 7.8% 2015 - 4.6% 2014- 5.6%) although ever so slightly and still too low for what you'd like to see from the prototypical leadoff hitter. Then there's also the fact that his strikeout rate is higher than it's ever been, although barely. It's 1.3% higher than his career strikeout rate.

Regardless what happens, Ender certainly shouldn't be hitting leadoff and I'd prefer to see him at the bottom of the order until he turns it around because I agree, if you hit for very little power you need to be hitting for average & getting on base as often as possible.
 

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