If Plan B fails, the Braves can try Plan FF – Freddie Freeman

[saxontai (黑暗，點綴孤零零的星)]

原文：http://goo.gl/WE8M

If Plan B fails, the Braves can try Plan FF – Freddie Freeman
4:47 pm August 1, 2010,  by Mark Bradley

This deadline deal wasn’t the same as trading for Fred McGriff and
installing him at first base ahead of the still-pretty-good Sid Bream. The
Braves cannot make those moves anymore. This was, duh, a smaller trade for
parts of lesser quality.

Kyle Farnsworth has had one save since 2006. Rick Ankiel, who had already
washed out as a pitcher, was allowed to leave St. Louis after last season and
wound up with Kansas City, a big-league club in charter only. These men are
in no way saviors. But one of them could well make a difference.

Forget Farnsworth. He’s just another arm for a bullpen that has enough of
them. Ankiel is the key, and not because he’s anything special. He isn’t.
But he’s yet another guy the Braves can try in center field, and that’s
really all they can afford. Nate McLouth just got demoted to Gwinnett. Jordan
Schafer just got demoted from Gwinnett. Melky Cabrera can play center, but if
he’s stationed there he cannot be deployed in left.

And that’s what this trade reveals: That the Braves’ lineup, which looked
potent not long ago, has become a batting order based in shifting sand. The
splendid Martin Prado has a broken pinkie. Troy Glaus, who propelled the
Braves into first place, has reverted to being the helpless Glaus of April,
only worse. Glaus had nine RBIs in April; he had five in July. Worse, he
seems to be hurting.

From Bobby Cox’s starting eight against Cincinnati on Sunday, we saw what
this trade enables the Braves to do. (Or at least to try. The Braves lost 2-1
and mustered four hits.) Glaus sat. Eric Hinske, who has been part of a
left-field platoon, started at first base. Cabrera, who played center field
Saturday and uncorked the worst throw since Neil O’Donnell made Larry Brown
the MVP of Super Bowl XXX, moved to left. And Ankiel, a Brave for all of 21
hours, started in center and went 0-for-3 with a walk.

Simply put, the Braves cannot keep running Glaus out there without a Plan B.
The Glaus of May drove in everybody — he had 28 RBIs — but the Glaus of
July stranded way more folks than the S.S. Minnow. Perhaps a bit of rest and
recuperation will change things. If not … well, Hinske has played 91 more
major-league games at first base than has Glaus.

Back to Ankiel: Far from being Willie Mays, he’s not necessarily an upgrade
on Cabrera. But this is what the Braves are. They’re a first-place club
trying to hang on while being chased by a demonstrably more talented opponent
of far greater resources. This doesn’t mean the Braves are doomed to fail.
What it does mean is that a new cohesion must be forged on the fly.

The Braves charged to the top of the National League East because Cox put the
men with the four best on-base percentages atop his lineup and Glaus, on cue,
brought them home. We’re now seeing runners stranded by the busload — 11 in
Sunday’s loss — because nobody else is doing as Glaus did. (His last RBI
came a week ago, and he still leads the Braves with 61; Brian McCann is
second with 53.)

Cox has been reduced to throwing combinations at the wall and hoping one
sticks. It’s possible one will. (Yes, it is. How many among us thought in
mid-April that Glaus would be NL player of month in May?) It’s also possible
the Braves will need a Plan C. In this case, Plan C would be Plan FF.

Freddie Freeman is hitting .295 with 63 RBIs in Gwinnett. He’ll surely be
summoned when the rosters expand in September, but the Braves might not be
able to wait that long. The last thing this organization wants to do is
insert a prized prospect into the pressure of a playoff race, but that’s the
point. If the Braves don’t start scoring again, they will be down to last
gasps.



--
"I don't really feel like I know a whole lot about anything,
 but I know a few things about baseball." -- Greg Maddux

--
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◆ From: 114.136.194.138
推 hung227:支持率出過80%了
推 Martinize:可以請有誰說一下大意嗎?@@
推 OalexO:前略 後面是說若勇士的得分效率還是如此低 就會考慮把自由
→ OalexO:人叫上大聯盟
推 vf3:葛老師的低潮也實在是太久了...
推 MizunoTako:他最後說勇士球團方面不會希望將競爭季後賽的壓力
→ MizunoTako:壓在一個新人的身上...
→ MizunoTako:但是作者認為再不做什麼，等到九月擴編就來不及了...
→ MizunoTako:啊所以rush到未來的1B他要負責嗎？講了不是等於沒講...
推 c0422kimo:雖然說老大還是有一定的貢獻，但是球隊的35兩棒
→ c0422kimo:都只有.250上下的AVG，其中一位好久沒長打出現
→ c0422kimo:真以季後賽為目標，這問題是要趕快解決的吧
推 dahw:我們的打線實在是有點糟 快被費城追上了 @@
推 MizunoTako:解決不了了啊XD...要怎麼解決？派人不小心拿針頭戳？XD
推 evilAllen:學Hunter撞牆吧lol...眾CF
推 Rodriguez:這個月主場賽程佔大多數.希望主場威能能撐到季末
推 Rodriguez:事實上.我們的打線本季完整上場的時間其實不多
→ Rodriguez:打成這樣已經很神奇了
→ Rodriguez:梅子的系列戰-Santana.Dickey.Pelfrey....好硬
推 Rodriguez:最後兩個月的賽程感覺不算硬.好好把握還是有機會擠進季
→ Rodriguez:後賽....至於打線.我想拉一個Freeman上來.應該也改變不
→ Rodriguez:了多大的體質.邊走邊看吧