2012 Atlanta Braves thread

[KSUowls]

It was good to see the team make a pretty good lefty go into a lot of deep counts tonight.

[AUTiger1]

Great offense again tonight. That Jason Heyward we saw tonight is the Jason Heyward that's capable of carrying the Braves.

[TheMatrix31]

Love seeing J-Hey hit the ball like that.

[Watson]

Somebody explain to me why Pastornicky is losing PT to Wilson. I get the experience thing, but sitting the bench won't help that cause out much.

[DonkeyJote]

Quote: Originally Posted by WatsonTiger

Somebody explain to me why Pastornicky is losing PT to Wilson. I get the experience thing, but sitting the bench won't help that cause out much.

It's a defense thing too. Pastornicky's defense is below average at best. Wilson is a former gold-glover.

[ADA885]

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-...d-at-baseball/

Excerpt about Pastornicky situation:

Quote:

• Pastornicky goes yard: He got his first major league homer Tuesday in the 10th official at-bat of his career, but Tyler Pastornicky could be out of the lineup Wednesday. Gonzalez mentioned earlier Tuesday the likelihood of playing veteran Jack Wilson at short Wednesday against Wandy Rodriguez. Wilson is 8-for-26 with a homer against the left-hander, while Pastornicky obviously hasn’t faced him. The other reason Gonzalez gave for possibly resting Pastornicky for the second time on the six-game trip is education. The Braves are trying to make sure the 22-year-old rookie gets plenty of instruction off the field and not just on-the-job training via games. That means sessions in the video room with bench coach Carlos Tosca and others. Gonzalez gave an example of how it was pointed out to Pastornicky that when Jordan Schafer was up Monday, the shortstop was playing a little too deep given Schafer’s speed. He said someone like Rafael Furcal might be able to get away with that because of his plus-plus arm, but any other shortstops need to cheat a bit and play in on a speedy batter when the situation allows. “We are teaching here still with him,” Gonzalez said. “And shortstop is such a position where you’re doing something even if you’re not involved. You’re the leader of that infield.” Not to say the Braves aren’t pleased with Pastornicky’s performance so far. Because they are. He’s 3-for-12 with a triple, a homer, two RBIs, two walks, one strikeout and a .357 OBP while batting eighth in all four games he started through Tuesday. He snuck a homer into the Crawford box seats above the left-field wall, one of the shortest porches in the league. “[Hitting coach] Greg [Walker] asked me what’s the hardest thing to do in the National League, and I said to hit eighth,” Gonzalez said. “And we’re asking a young rookie to hit eighth. There’s times where you’ve got to draw a walk, there’s times where you have to go after pitches out of the strike zone with people on base, because you’ve got the pitcher behind you. From that respect he’s done terrific. We couldn’t ask for anything more.” Pastornicky’s also made some strong fielding plays, and if a few throws have been a little off, they’ve had plenty of zip and most have been close enough for Freddie Freeman to do his thing and snag them. But the bat is what gave Pastornicky an edge over prospect Andrelton Simmons this spring, and the home run Tuesday was a glimpse of one dimension the Braves think he’s got in him. He hit a combined .314 with five triples, seven homers, 27 steals and a .359 OBP last season in 117 games in Double-A and Triple-A. “That’s what he’s all about — he’s an offensive guy,” Gonzalez said. “He got a home run, you can hit-and-run with him, you can do a lot of stuff. He can steal you a base. He’s a nice little weapon to have.”

[CKW11]

Quote: Originally Posted by AUTiger1

Great offense again tonight. That Jason Heyward we saw tonight is the Jason Heyward that's capable of carrying the Braves.

I totally agree. He had some really good at bats, and was really aggressive on the basepaths. He got a stolen base and seemed to really throw Wandy off when he was on 2nd.

Very impressed with what I saw in J-Hey last night.

[p_rushing]

I think losing the weight really helped him. He is able to be more aggressive on the bases and that was really missing from his game last year.

[AUTiger1]

Quote: Originally Posted by p_rushing

I think losing the weight really helped him. He is able to be more aggressive on the bases and that was really missing from his game last year.

With Heyward's speed he should easily be a 20/20 guy if not much better than that on the stolen bases. He's already got 2 in just 6 games. I'm not expecting his power to come too much yet. He's still learning to adjust to this new swing of his.

[DonkeyJote]

The Home Opener is on MLB Network tonight. Finally, I get to watch a Braves game!