FWIW, Frenchy has a .320/.377/.553 line in day games this year.

Heh. The Braves have kind of a history of this - they also fitted Matt Diaz for a single contact lens after they acquired him, to fix an issue with depth perception.

Best of luck to Frenchy. Maybe it'll help him do a better job of sorting the balls from the strikes.

He's not really that far off his performance the last few years. He started in the majors with a monster first month, 379/394/734. And then he drew his first walk, which may have been the signal that the league had figured out how far outside to throw balls on the guy. From then through the end of last season he hit 271/313/440 in 361 games. So this season he's only 58 points of OPS below what I consider to be his established level of performance.

He's just not a good hitter. I hope the contact lens works; who knows, maybe that HBP in 2004 really did something nasty and long-lasting, but I'm not holding my breath.

Ha. His first walk was an intentional walk. Those balls were pretty far outside.

Ha. His first walk was an intentional walk. Those balls were pretty far outside.

Yeah, well, he laid off 'em. Credit where it's due.

So this season he's only 58 points of OPS below what I consider to be his established level of performance.

He's just not a good hitter.

The problem with this line of thinking is that you are taking the performance of a 21-24 yo ballplayer and treating the same as an "established level" of a 27-30 yo. You are ignoring a player's chances of making the normal improvements that a 24 yo makes.
If he had spent all this time in the minors until this year or last we wouldn't be talking about some 'established levels', we would be talking about a guy with alot of talent who needs to make MLB adjustments. It often seems that some people think once a player reaches the majors he is a finished product and his career production won't really differ much from the production he shows early.

The problem with Francouer this year is that this year seems to show him losing the improvements he made to his game from 06 to 07. The improvements that showed him making his stroke a little less huge - and making HRs into doubles - to increase his batting average and walk rate significantly to become a better player.

Also, I can't see how throwing out a player's best performance helps to evaluate him at all. I think anyone who watches baseball understands that his hot debut wasn't some David-Newhan-hitting-.400 kind of thing. It was a clear demonstration of what he can do when he is at his best.

I'm not saying he isn't killing my team right now. He (among others) is.
But looking at some selectively endpointed career line is the absolute wrong way to look at a talented but shaky 24-yo.

0-3 with a K last night. He's still in his groove.

I think anyone who watches baseball understands that his hot debut wasn't some David-Newhan-hitting-.400 kind of thing. It was a clear demonstration of what he can do when he is at his best.

No, it was a 'the league doesn't yet understand how to pitch this kid' thing. Once they figured it out it's been three seasons of suck with no end in sight.

performance enhancing implement.

Will it stop him from lollygagging around the outfield?

He's just not a good hitter. I hope the contact lens works

Well, nonexistent pitch recognition is one of his problems- so it COULD help.

I think anyone who watches baseball understands that his hot debut wasn't some David-Newhan-hitting-.400 kind of thing. It was a clear demonstration of what he can do when he is at his best.

No, it was a 'the league doesn't yet understand how to pitch this kid' thing.

That was my thought. Here was someone you had to pitch around, you couldn't challenge him in the zone- pitch around him and he'll get himself out. From what I've seen his increased BB totals are not due to any real improvement in selectivity on his part- pitchers just don't throw him strikes- why should they? He can hit those- hard.

FWIW, Frenchy has a .320/.377/.553 line in day games this year.

Yes, in 2008:

Day: .320/.377/.533
Night: .204/.255/.318

But in 2007:

Day: .273/.303/.390
Night: .301/.351/.466

I'm going to assume small sample size. I mean, he doesn't say that it's a lot worse this year or anything, he says it's been deteriorating since 2004.

My question would be, 'does he have any big holes in the strike zone'?

If not, I don't see why, with improved vision, he couldn't learn not to swing at pitches he's getting himself out on.

He's a talented ballplayer with one major flaw. Just like with his eyesight, could it not be corrected?

Between Francoeur's stagnation (regression?), his supposed absurd contract demands, and the wealth of bigtime OF prospects coming up the pipeline (Heyward, Schafer, Hernandez) Frenchy's future with the Braves doesn't look as solid as a year ago. The problem seems to be he's the face of the franchise with Chipper and Smoltzy on the way out. I think there'd be a riot in the Atlanta suburbs if the Golden Boy was traded.

Maybe Liberty will just let him walk in a few years...

He's a talented ballplayer with one major flaw.

Two major flaws that compound each other. First, he has a problem recognizing pitches. Second, he has a very long swing. Because of his long swing, he has less time to recognize pitches. Vision correction may help the inate ability to see the ball, but because of the long swing, pitch selectivity will always be limited.

I'd let him walk. Escobar and mccann are the faces of the franchise to me.

McCann totally. KJ and Escobar are tied for 2nd.

Seems like the Braves will have a tough time being terrible for the next couple years just cause they get so much offense up the middle. And despite this year, it isn't that hard to find offense in the corners. Not to mention some of the young pitching, the over $40M thats getting freed up this winter, and a pretty stacked system.

I think there'd be a riot in the Atlanta suburbs if the Golden Boy was traded.

One thing Frenchy had going for him prior to this year was his absurd splits with RISP, more than 2 years into his career he had consistently hit VASTLY better with men on, than with bases empty, combined with a plethora of men on- that lead to scads of ribbies - and those ribbies are the basis of Brave fan claims that Frenchy= Wright

That "ability" to hit with men on has evaporated this year. He's on pace to hit: .242-17-87- That line would do a great deal insofar as diminishing Frenchy's status in the eyes of Braves fans.

100 OFs have logged 1000+ PAs, 2005-2007. Frenchy is 64th by OPS+ with a 98, the belief that Frenchy IS A STAR (not that he's going to be one), by Braves' fans has been amusing to watch. (especially because Braves's fans, as opposed to Phil's phans, tend to be an otherwise realistic and intelligent bunch).
If you limit it to RFs, Frenchy is 21 out of 26...

IMHO, the Braves and their fans, both above average in terms of perception and evaluation, have seemingly just had a collective brain fart on the subject of Frenchy.

Left field has been a problem this year, and 1b will be a hole once Tex leaves. Those are spots that the Braves need to be concerned with before Francoeur. If he's hitting 6th or 7th in that lineup, he's not going to kill you.

I dunno, most Braves fans I talk to don't think much of Francoeur. My dad hates him and constantly complains about him. My redneck friends who played East Cobb ball in high school all say he should have stuck with football.

1st and LF are gigantic holes. I figure they'll probably end up dealing Schafer or Hernandez to fill one of those voids.

"I dunno, most Braves fans I talk to don't think much of Francoeur. My dad hates him and constantly complains about him. My redneck friends who played East Cobb ball in high school all say he should have stuck with football."

Thats good news. Hopefully the Braves feel the same way.

I will say that Francoeur is very popular with female fans because of his cheerful nature and pearly white teeth. There's always plenty of pink #7 jerseys around.

The long swing and lack of pitch recognition compound each other. If he can learn to recognize pitches better, the swing can work with a few minor adjustments.

As a Braves fan, I want to see Francouer become a good ballplayer, but they're really pretty screwed with him because by the time he becomes good, he'll be overpriced. However, not going to take him out with the trash.

KJ and Escobar are tied for 2nd.

Not in the mind of bobby.

Maybe he wants to shorten his commute and play for the Gwinnett Braves.

"Not in the mind of bobby."

I think the man is going senile, but KJ hasn't been platooned for at least a month. Although, mostly because the super-utility Infante has been needed elsewhere. Is it still OK for me to hate Infante even though he's posted a 283/351/424 line playing all over the diamond?

I certainly still hate infante.

The problem with this line of thinking is that you are taking the performance of a 21-24 yo ballplayer and treating the same as an "established level" of a 27-30 yo.

I could buy that if he'd shown any improvements since he's been in the league, but he really hasn't. He had one hot month before the league figured out how to pitch him. Since then, he's a corner outfielder who's also been a hole in the offense. One year he hits with power but has an OBP below .300. The next year he gets hit lucky, posts a good BA, but has weak, weak power. This year looks a lot like last year, without the lofty BABIP.

He may yet post the kind of turnaround Jermaine Dye posted at age 25 after he got traded to KC and got more time in the minors because he was sucking so badly. And I think Francoeur recognizes that his plate discipline is a problem. But as a starter in the majors he's not in a good place to take apart his approach and his swing and rebuild it into something better.

As others have said, Francoeur's popularity relies on his appeal to the teenage girl crowd, who have absolutely no interest in the type of baseball analysis you'll find at sites like this one. Most Braves fans I know (none of whom are teenage girls) have panned his approach at the plate and have grown increasingly frustrated with him since his hot start in 2005. Just like with Andruw Jones, there is a limit to how many times you can watch a guy swing at strike three in the dirt before you lose patience.

I thought Francoeur was poised for a breakout season in 2008, but that looks pretty foolish now. There's still time, of course, but I'm not optimistic. I really don't know what I expect from him long term; almost nothing would surprise me. He could turn into a regular .300/.350/.500 hitter, or he could remain a terrible hitter. One thing is for sure, the Braves don't have any better options than him for right field in the organization, so he'll get a chance to do whatever he needs to do...

Well, we don't have any better options right now. Jason Heyward sure looks like a better option in a few years. Thank goodness we didn't sign Francoeur to a long contract. I don't expect, but wouldn't be completely surprised, if Jeff is out of a job and cleaning his buddy Brian's pool (and polishing his silver slugger trophies) in a few years.

That would surprise me. I don't think he's going to get any worse than he is right now, and right now he's a 24 year old hitting .250/.300/.400, has a cannon (if sometimes inaccurate) arm in right field, can play center field if needed, and has a moderate brand name pedigree. I'm sure that he'd find plenty of offers as a backup outfielder.

I am looking forward to Heyward, but he might get traded for a pitcher at some point, which I really don't want to see.

For 27 and 28.. that hate Omar Infante.. I have 3 word for you: Chris Fuc*ing Woodward and his 199 .252 .279

Oh, i hated woodward too. I'm an equal opportunity hater. Got tons to go around.

I'd be shocked if they traded Heyward. They're not gonna send him away now and by the winter and '09 season I'd be willing to bet his value will have reached the point where it'd be impossible to find a match because no one trades elite, young pitching.

However, Schafer or Hernandez is probably gone.

#### Woodward.