The Braves’ Freddie Freeman finished his 2010 minor league campaign hitting .319 in 461 AAA ABs, helped a bit by a .351 BHIP%. He posted a healthy .378 OBP, fueled by a healthy 8.3% BB rate and a .518 SLG% pumped by 18 HRs and 34 doubles. Freddy’s 18.2% K rate is more than acceptable for a .518 SLG%. And all of this comes as a 20-year-old in his first tour of AAA. Pretty impressive. It’s even more impressive when you consider he hit .264 in April and .232 in May. Freddie finished the season with a .333/.395/.549 slash line in July and a .394/.434/.606 August. You love to see a kid get better as the season goes along. A lot will depend on how the Braves handle the position in the offseason, but Freeman has to be number 1 on the Braves’ 2011 depth chart at first base as it stands now. If I am the Braves however, I’d prefer to see him, at his age, play 2-3 more months in AAA next year. That’s speculation on my part and I wouldn’t be shocked to see Freddie starting at first on Opening Day. The point is that Freeman is a worthwhile claim in keeper leagues at this point especially if your league rules allow you the space to carry a kid comfortably, even if he spends 8 weeks in the minors next year.
Jair Jurrjens won his 4th decision in a row on Saturday against the Marlins but more importantly he won his first game in 10 road starts. Jurrjens threw 7 shutout innings at Florida allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7. Jair improves to 1-4 on the road this year with a 5.81 ERA. That’s a nice split to remember but last year Jurrjens was 7-4 on the road with a 2.75 ERA, and in 2008 he was 6-5 with a 3.32 ERA. There’s no sustained history here, so treat his road split as a single-season oddity for now.
The Nationals will replace Scott Olsen in the rotation with 29-year-old Cuban right-hander Yunesky Maya who has rifled through the minors, throwing just 21.1 IP before his MLB debut scheduled for Tuesday. Maya is not overpowering, with a fastball that tops out 90. He throws a good straight change and two different breaking balls. In two starts in AAA, Maya pitched 10.1 IP, allowing 1 ER (0.87) on 8 hits. He did walk 5 but fanned 9. We are working with very small samples here, but I am just not going to get too invested, too early, in a pitcher with less than 25 pro IP who tops out at 90, despite any success he’s had in 10+ AAA IP. You never know what you are going to get with a pitcher about whom hitters have so little intelligence, but there are too many unsecured variables here. In 2011 terms I am still a bit hung up on his velocity which I think lowers his ceiling. There’s still a lot we don’t know yet, however. Maya should be interesting to watch on Tuesday.
Chris Carpenter has had his way with this afternoon’s opponent, the Reds. This year Chris is 4-0, 1.61 in 28 IP vs. Cincinnati and over the course of his career he’s 11-3 against the Reds with a 2.00 ERA over 121.3 IP, allowing just 83 hits and 18 walks (an 0.83 WHIP). In his last three outings overall Chris is 1-1, 2.66 in 20.1 IP. Jay Bruce is just 3- for -17 against Chris (.176), Orlando Cabrera is 4- for -25 (.160), Ramon Hernandez is 6- for -31 (.194), Brandon Phillips is 5- for -30 (.167), Scott Rolen is 5- for -22 (.227), but Joey Votto is 7- for -17 (.412) with a HR.
Jonathan Sanchez has had his issues with tonight’s opponent, the Dodgers. He hasn’t seen the Dodgers this year, but over his career he’s 0-5 against them with a 6.04 ERA in 47.2 IP allowing 50 hits and 27 walks (1.61 WHIP). Last year at Dodger Stadium Jonathan was 0-1 in two starts with an 8.68 ERA in 9.1 IP.
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