Results tagged ‘ Brian McCann ’
Let the Season Begin
Thank God the season finally starts today. For the first time in my life as a fan I have really followed spring training this year. Most years I just keep an eye on the win-loss record during spring and I catch an occational game on TV. This year however, with Jason Heyward trying to earn a spot on the MLB roster I decided to really follow each play of the spring. And what a spring it was! So with all that being said, here are the biggest stories of the spring and my thoughts on them:
Jason ”The Phenom” Heyward: Jason Heyward may never get a hit in the regular season, but he sure looked good in the spring. Especially in batting practice where he spent his time peppering cars over 450 feet away. Heyward hit .305 with a HR and 5 RBIs. Most impressive to me though was the fact that he walked ten times. For a 20 year old hoping to make a team, that kind of patience is very impressive.
Nate McLouth Slumps: Nate has had a real rough spring. In his first 38 at bats he only had one hit. He finished the spring with a horrific .118 BA with only two extra base hits. At the beginning of spring I was less worried about the slumps of McLouth than I am now. During the offseason I was pretty upset about the Javier Vazquez trade, but as the spring has gone on the more relieved I am to have Melky Cabrera to plug into that leadoff spot. I do think that McLouth will eventually find his swing again, I just hope that he finds it soon because the games in April count just as much as the ones in September.
Huddy’s Back: I’ve never let it be a secret that I am a huge fan of Tim Hudson. But I was a little nervous this time a year ago that Hudson may never be the same again. I know it’s only spring, but Hudson sure has done his part to ease all of our nerves. In his 24 innings pitched he had a 1.50 ERA with 20 strikeouts and only walking four. I hope that this continues into the season, but based on the spring I think we can go ahead and label Hudson the staff’s ace.
Offense We Need You: The one thing that I was most relieved to see this spring was the Braves swinging the bat nicely. Apart from McLouth, the starters all enjoyed a pretty good spring at the plate. This is the biggest question mark going into the season. Although the games didn’t count it was very impressive to see McCann bat .500, Glaus bat .385, Prado bat .383 and Chipper bat .310. What I liked the most though, was the fact that the Braves walked a lot this spring. Patience at the plate is something that has been severly lacking the past few seasons, so maybe that will change this year.
Jake’s Player Profile: Brian McCann
![b-Braves-catcher-Brian-4274992e7445[1].jpg](http://mlblogsbravesblogbyjake.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/b-braves-catcher-brian-4274992e74455b15d.jpg?w=333&h=450)
Below is the final part of a four-part series titled “Jake’s Player Profile”. Each Monday for the past four weeks I have posted a quick profile of my four favorite Braves. I tell you why I like them, what they did in 2009, and my prediction for what they will do in 2010. Here’s my profile of Brian McCann:
Why I like him: Brian McCann is a homegrown guy who loves the Braves and loves the city of Atlanta. I also know first hand that he’s very appreciative of the fans. I had the opportunity to meet McCann at the Braves caravan this year and he really took the time to thank each and every person who stood in line to meet him. Like Tim Hudson, Brian also is involved in many charities including The Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research.
What he did in 2009: Brian had a rocky first month of the season in 2009 due to blurry vision. He spent a small amount of time on the DL then came back with some new Oakleys and better than ever. After returning to the Major League club in the month of May he hit .394, with a .481 OBP and a .576 SLG. He finished the season with decent numbers and a third Silver Slugger award in only four seasons.
My 2010 Prediction: McCann had Lasik surgery for the second time right after the season concluded. By doing so he hopes to eliminate those cool glasses he wore for much of the season I think that if the surgery was successful we can see McCann back to the form he displayed in 2008. Also, with the addition of Troy Glaus and with a Chipper Jones bounce back (hopefully) Brian will not have so much stress placed on him to display huge power numbers. I never liked the idea of a catcher in the NL as a cleanup hitter. When a guy has to take every fifth day off you probably shouldn’t expect him to lead the team in HRs. So maybe guys like Glaus and Heyward can take some of the load off of McCann.
This Week in Baseball
I hope it’s not against any copyright rules for me to use that title. If you’re reading this apparently my account hasn’t been shut down by the FBI. My latest blog post is all the stuff that I found interesting in the past week of MLB and what’s been going on with the Braves.
Sammy’s mug: By now I’m sure you’ve all seen the picture of Sammy Sosa’s skin transformation. If not click here. Someone close to Sosa says that he’s doing a “rejuvenation process”. I think Sammy has always been a little off his rocker and this is no different. Apparently the guy has never really cared what he put in his body. MJ would be proud Sammy!
McGwire’s coming out party: Mark McGwire was named the new hitting coach of the Cardinals a couple weeks ago and still has not said a thing. Tony La Russa made the announcement and I was expecting a press conference by Big Mac sometime in the near future. Unfortunetly McGwire has once again chosen not to say anything. If and when he does give his press conference I’m going to set the over/under for the amount of times a reporter asks a question about steroids at 6. What do you think? Story found here.
Brian gets another Silver Slugger: Congratulations to Brain McCann on yet another Silver Slugger award this week. This is his third time receiving the award. McCann is still young and is positioning himself to maybe win more Silver Sluggers than any other catcher. Right now that record belongs to Mike Piazza with 10.
Hudson gets a deal: The Braves finally announced this week that they have resigned Tim Hudson to a three year deal with a fourth year option. The deal is worth about $9 million a year. I love this deal for a lot of reasons. Tim is a gamer who wants the ball every start. I also believe that he took a pay cut to stay in Atlanta. I think a lot of teams would have given him somewhere close to the $12 mil per year range. Thanks Tim for staying in ATL!
A Letter to Bill Hohn
Mr. Hohn,
let me begin by saying that I realize your job isn’t easy. I came to that realization last summer when a friend of mine asked me to help out with some umpiring at the local YMCA baseball league. By the end of my first game I think both teams were pretty angry with me. I can’t imagine trying to always be right in a game as fast-paced as the MLB.
However, here’s a memo for you: NO ONE COMES TO THE PARK TO WATCH YOU UMPIRE! Your job last night during the game was to call balls and strikes, and the occasional play at the plate. I know you’re probably still a little heated from your exchange with three of the Braves in Boston, but you are an UMPIRE…act like it. You stopped the flow of the game to walk over to the dugout to fabricate a fight. That’s very childish, unprofessional, and just plain stupid!
So the next time you happen to umpire a game that involves the Braves stay in your position and do the best you can. By the way, what was the deal with pulling out your lineup card before anyone was even ejected? Stop trying to get on SportsCenter and stop acting like John Wayne.
Thanks!
Jake
PS…the fist bump with Baker at the end of the game was too much!
Time for Kelly Johnson to find his groove
In the 8th inning of last night’s loss to the Yankees Mariano Rivera was brought in to protect the Yankees then two run lead. I kind of chuckled when I saw who was strolling to the plate for the Braves…Kelly Johnson. I thought to myself, “Can’t this guy get a break?” As most of you already know, Johnson has had a tough time at the plate as of late. As a matter of fact his batting average was .297 in May and so far it is a dismal .132 in the month of June. To make matters even worse he’s had only 2 RBI’s this month after knocking in 18 over the first two months of the season. Bobby Cox has shuffled him every where from 1st to 7th in the lineup trying to find Kelly a groove, but nothing seems to work. Often times we see that when a guy goes into a small slump it turns into a HUGE slump because he’s let it get to his head. Maybe that’s what has happened to Johnson, but whatever it is, it needs to be fixed soon. I say give Kelly a little more time to find his swing, if he doesn’t, let him take a little vacation to AA much like the one Francoeur took last season.
Speaking of Frenchy…how many people were surprised to see him launch one last night? I know I was, but let’s see about 20 more of those by October before we consider taking Francoeur off the trading block.
And finally, the deadline to vote for the All-Star game is 11:59 pm on July 2. At last check McCann was still trailing Yadier Molina, which is ludicrous considering he is beating him in almost every category. Hey, I don’t like that the fans vote for the starters but this is the system for right now. So, let’s keep those votes coming and push McCann to the top!
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