Atlanta Braves Thread VI

Status
Not open for further replies.
#3,776
#3,776
VOLinthaNATI said:
Keith Hernandez is widely regarded as the best fielding first baseman ever.

Just throwing that out there.
Click to expand...

I'm aware of that. I'm old enough to have watched him play in his prime -- with the Cardinals, not the Mets. Freeman doesn't lay out for ground balls as well as Hernandez did, but I think he's every bit as good at saving bad throws across the diamond, and being six inches taller than Hernandez, he's taking probably shortening those throws by almost a foot when he stretches for it. I don't know how you quantify that, but I think I'd rather my first basemen be better at that aspect of it than just diving to his right.
 
#3,778
#3,778
005 said:
Freeman has a huge frame which is really handy. Teixeira won the 2012 fielding bible 1B award. Don't know if they have additional stuff for 1B, though.
Click to expand...

A huge frame? You're trying to hard. This is the big leagues if you didn't know. Most if not all big league first baseman are big, tall, strong guys.
 
#3,780
#3,780
Vercingetorix said:
I'm aware of that. I'm old enough to have watched him play in his prime -- with the Cardinals, not the Mets. Freeman doesn't lay out for ground balls as well as Hernandez did, but I think he's every bit as good at saving bad throws across the diamond, and being six inches taller than Hernandez, he's taking probably shortening those throws by almost a foot when he stretches for it. I don't know how you quantify that, but I think I'd rather my first basemen be better at that aspect of it than just diving to his right.
Click to expand...

How many more ground balls/pop flies/line drives per year you figure they field in a season in comparison to scooping a bad throws?
 
#3,782
#3,782
VOLinthaNATI said:
A huge frame? You're trying to hard. This is the big leagues if you didn't know. Most if not all big league first baseman are big, tall, strong guys.
Click to expand...

Trying too hard to what? I'm fine with the dude who won gold glove last year at 1B. He's smooth and good at what he does. I think Atlanta fans overrate Freeman's defense, but I also think 1B defense is weird to account for.

Yeah, they're all big dudes. Freeman is probably considerably taller than Fielder, Tex, LaRoche, Pujols, Votto... pretty much all of them. He's a LARGE fella.
 
#3,783
#3,783
005 said:
Trying too hard to what? I'm fine with the dude who won gold glove last year at 1B. He's smooth and good at what he does. I think Atlanta fans overrate Freeman's defense, but I also think 1B defense is weird to account for.

Yeah, they're all big dudes. Freeman is probably considerably taller than Fielder, Tex, LaRoche, Pujols, Votto... pretty much all of them. He's a LARGE fella.
Click to expand...

A large man among many large men. I suppose I can agree with that.
 
#3,784
#3,784
I'm not arguing that Freeman is actually better than Hernandez was, by the way; I'm just saying he's really, really good.

Hernandez was spectacular at coming off the bag and fielding grounders after holding a runner on. Zone-based defensive stats measure that well. Freeman is great at corralling throws and generating extra outs at first base -- which I guess help his teammates' zone-based defensive stats rather than his own. It's hard to compare those skills.
 
#3,785
#3,785
Vercingetorix said:
I'm not arguing that Freeman is actually better than Hernandez was, by the way; I'm just saying he's really, really good.

Hernandez was spectacular at coming off the bag and fielding grounders after holding a runner on. Zone-based defensive stats measure that well. Freeman is great at corralling throws and generating extra outs at first base -- which I guess help his teammates' zone-based defensive stats rather than his own. It's hard to compare those skills.
Click to expand...

I know you weren't saying that. You're much smarter than to make an assertion like that :)
 
#3,788
#3,788
Did someone say, Keith Hernandez?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBz3PqA2Fmc[/youtube]
 
#3,789
#3,789
VOLinthaNATI said:
How many more ground balls/pop flies/line drives per year you figure they field in a season in comparison to scooping a bad throws?
Click to expand...

I have no idea to quantify it. Freeman is really, really good at the receiver part of his position. He saves a lot of errors with the glove; his great stretch shortens the throw on bang-bang plays. A lot of extra outs get recorded with him at first rather than an average first baseman. But since even advanced defensive stats don't track all that, I have no idea how to compare the its value to any extra ground balls and pop ups that he might not get to. It sure feels like he saves a ton of extra baserunners though.
 
#3,790
#3,790
VOLinthaNATI said:
A good throwing first baseman might come in handy 5 times a year. Come on now...
Click to expand...

Lol. Came into play twice today. Huge throw on a double play and and even bigger throw to nail a runner at the plate. I know you like to play Devil's Advocate but the thing about that is you are usually wrong. The majority of the time.
 
#3,791
#3,791
005 said:
Trying too hard to what? I'm fine with the dude who won gold glove last year at 1B. He's smooth and good at what he does. I think Atlanta fans overrate Freeman's defense, but I also think 1B defense is weird to account for.

Yeah, they're all big dudes. Freeman is probably considerably taller than Fielder, Tex, LaRoche, Pujols, Votto... pretty much all of them. He's a LARGE fella.
Click to expand...

LaRoche is very good. Freeman is better.
 
#3,793
#3,793
Scotty's Flat Top said:
Lol. Came into play twice today. Huge throw on a double play and and even bigger throw to nail a runner at the plate. I know you like to play Devil's Advocate but the thing about that is you are usually wrong. The majority of the time.
Click to expand...

I was sarcastically pointing out that rarely does having a good arm at first base mean anything.

And I'm guessing that I've forgotten more about the game than most know. Prolly sounds arrogant but oh well...
 
#3,797
#3,797
005 said:
Well, that settles it.
Click to expand...

Haha, come on Dbake I love LaRoche almost as much as Freeman. Rochy makes 4 to 6 bonehead plays a year. Therein lies the rub. That's the difference. Not his fault. It's the AD, he just mentally lapses from time to time. Smoothest swing in the game tho, and very smooth at first.
 
New Posts

Status
Not open for further replies.
Advertisement



Back
Top