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I wanted to take a look back at the [tag]Atlanta Braves[/tag] outfield for 2007.

Jeff Francoeur

[tag]Jeff Francoeur[/tag] played in all of the Braves 162 games this season, which is a feat to be joyous about. Prior to 2007 the biggest knock on Francoeur was plate discipline. As you can see, he brought his batting average and on-base percentage up considerably higher than expected. He also increased the number of walks he was projected to take, although not dramatically. In bringing up those numbers, Jeff’s power numbers fell a bit. And, he still struck out 129 times in 642 at bats, or 20.1% of the time. The patience at the plate issue is still on the radar of many, but it is getting better.

Grade: B+

Andruw Jones

Disappointment isn’t a strong enough word for what Braves fans had to go through when watching [tag]Andruw Jones[/tag] in 2007. Instead of getting the 46 home runs and 101 RBI that Jones had averaged over 2005 and 2006 while hitting .262, fans got .222/.311/.413 with 26 home runs and 94 RBI. The prior #4 hitter for the Braves poor output in a contract year not only upset fans, but cost Jones big money over the life of his next contract, and more importantly, ran Jones out of town.

Grade: D

Matt Diaz & Willie Harris

The left field situation in Atlanta last season created a good bit of conversation among Braves fans. After Ryan Langerhans was traded, [tag]Matt Diaz[/tag] and [tag]Willie Harris[/tag] split time in left field pretty evenly( Diaz started 95 games and Harris 85). Diaz hit over .300 against both right and left handed pitchers, but didn’t qualify for consideration for the batting title due to lack of enough at bats. This may have been due to his below average left field play or the Braves need for a lead off hitter, that Harris fulfilled.

Willie Harris, being a left handed hitter, platooned against RHP mostly and was fortunate to have a great month of May and June that allowed him to play while he floundered the rest of the season. Harris’ ability to hit lead off and steal bases forced Bobby Cox to play him when his bat was very cold.

Grade: Matt Diaz B- | Willie Harris C-

Outlook for 2008

RF - Jeff Francoeur’s name is etched in stone for the right field position in 2008. If he’s not in RF for any other reason than an injury, fans will riot. No, I’m serious… they will riot. No need to spend any more time talking RF.

CF - Andruw Jones has already been told by the Braves that his services will no longer be desired in 2008. There are a few names that jump out on the free agent market; Mike Cameron, Torri Hunter, Corey Patterson and Aaron Rowand to name a few. While nobody is quite sure how the new Braves owners will spend money this off-season, let’s look at the farm system to see if there may be some help there.

• [tag]Brandon Jones[/tag] | Richmond AAA - Brandon Jones split time between AA Mississippi and AAA Richmond in 2007 and did quite well. His slash stats were .295/.367/.490 while he hit 33 doubles, 19 home runs and drove in 100 while stealing 17 bases.
• [tag]Gregor Blanco[/tag] | Richmond AAA - Gregor Blanco is more of a prototypical lead off hitter hitting .282/.369/.362 with 18 doubles, 3 home runs and 23 stolen bases. Blanco also struck out about 20% of the time last season (18.3% actually) which is something fans got sick of out of Andruw Jones in 2007.

I think Brandon Jones is the front runner here. And if the Braves don’t pursue help on the free agent market in center field, you may see Jones break camp on the “big club” in 2008.

LF - The platoon miffed a lot of people this season and even brought forth blogs calling to “Free Matt Diaz“. Most people want to see Diaz in left field all by himself in 2008, and that may just happen. But let me warn you Diaz supporters about something. If the Braves do go out and grab a center fielder off the free agent market, and Brandon Jones tears up Winter ball and Spring Training, they may bring Jones up to the major league level anyway. And who do you think he’ll platoon with if Jones makes the club out of Spring Training?

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 10:18 am and is filed under Outfielders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.