Don’t be so Optimistic about Atlanta Braves 2B Jace Peterson
Why Are We so Optimistic about Jace?
I’m a fairly numbers-oriented writer and fan, but I certainly remember being pleased with Jace coming out of Spring Training and then during the first weeks of the season. We had little depth at middle infield in the minors at the time, but that felt less pertinent all of the sudden. Peterson was and is young, and he looked good out there. Or did he?
We can now see pretty clearly that what he looked like was a league average infielder.
So why were we feeling so bullish on the fella last year, and why do recent insights into the cause of his inept second half put a pep in our step? I’ll take a swing at an answer:
We need to. Generally speaking, the big league roster hasn’t offered much to get jazzed about since the dominoes began to fall in 2014. Seeing a competent body at second base felt refreshing last spring, and renewed signs of his potential feel refreshing now. It’s all relative.
Jace was a novelty. We humans are interested in things that are shiny and new. Nobody knew about Jace, and then we did for a little bit, and then there he was playing convincingly as a starter. Hey, check out the new guy!
It
looked
like a sick double play combination..
.
Every fan wants their team to “win” trades…
especially when their team is ominously venturing into full-fledged rebuild mode. The big story on the Upton return was the pitchers,
Matt Wislerand
Max Fried. Jace providing immediate impact felt reassuring that our blessed club was in good executive hands.
Grit. Fans like a hardnose, 110%-er, and Jace is a picture of the stuff… for reasons that I can’t articulate. Grit is intangible after all. Explanation aside, it seems fair to say that Peterson’s style of game is easy for most fans to like.
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The Andrelton Effect.
This is key, I think. The image of Peterson involved in slick double plays with the modern day Wizard lent him so much credibility. It
looked
like a sick double play combination. It
was
a league average double-play artist greatly benefitting aesthetically from his elite partner in twin killings.
What do you think, dear reader? I’d love to find out in the comments down yonder. Thanks as always for reading.