166: CL Asks, “Why 3rd? Why Now?”

CL, basically because there is a small , unique window to try this.

Adonis Garcia

Adonis Garcia is hurt and is not a long term solution at 3rd

Rio Ruiz

base. Rio Ruiz started hot then cooled off quite a bit. He doesn’t look to be, as of June 2017, the long term guy there. So there is little risk of blocking someone in the system at 3rd right now.

 

 

Matt Adams

As much as I was a cheerleader for Matt Adams over James Loney, I had no clue he would do this well!  No one did.  I was hoping for 4 or 5 HRs, 10-15 RBIs, and a .260 BA in his first month here.  Instead, in 30 games as a brave, he has 11HRs and 29 RBIs with a .294 BA.  To put that in perspective, in 37 games, FF had 14 HRs (which lead the league when he was injured, and still lead the league for about a week after he was on the DL), 25 RBIs and a .342 BA.  Matt Kemp, in 60 games, has 12 HRs, 35 RBIs, and a .320 BA.

 

I don’t know if hitting coach Kevin Seitzer saw a flaw in his swing or if Matt Adams, having a chance to relax and know he was going to play everyday for two months unless he was flat out terrible, helped his timing and/or confidence, or what…but something has clicked…for a month at least.

 

Matt Kemp

Nick Markakis

Braves could trade Nick M and move Kemp to right, and Adams in left, but that would more than likely give us 2 subpar outfielders and a very tired CF’er.

 

 

 

Freddie Freeman

So, with basically nothing to lose, it sounds like F.F. talked the braves into giving him a shot at 3rd.  If he makes an error a night, well, Matt Adams has to be traded. If he can be a league average guy or better (and guys like F.F. try harder and work harder than regular guys, which is why he’s a superstar) and if Matt can settle into being a .270 hitter who could hit 25-30 HR’s a year, drive in 90…then the braves have a much more dangerous lineup from here on out.
Also, that would be one less hole to plug as there are few 3rd basemen out there and, though there are several teams that can/will get the guy you want, if you don’t get someone who’s better than Garcia or Ruiz…then you have to play Garcia and Ruiz.

Jonathan Lucroy

Plus there would be more moola to spend on a catcher like the Rangers Jonathan Lucroy (who, by the by, is going to be 32 next year and only has 4 HRs and 19 RBIs) or the braves will have more prospects to use to get a catching prospect or an ace (or a #2 like Archer that Coppy has a man-crush on) and to perhaps upgrade right field production from Nick M.  (I really like the guy, think he’s very good, but he doesn’t have much pop, and you need some pop from your right fielder if you want to compete with the Nats… and unlike other players, isn’t getting any younger 🙄 )

So much can go wrong, either guy can get hurt and make it a moot point, but a comment I saw about the move made a good point I hadn’t thought of:  if FF is ok at 3rd and Matt hits ok from here to the trading deadline, then the braves will look less like a team that has to trade Matt Adams.  They would still have that option but he won’t be sitting on the bench rotting once F.F. is back.

~ BER ~