2017 Atlanta Braves: Improving in the Field, Part 1

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Sep 13, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves second baseman Jace Peterson (8) throws to first base on a double play as Miami Marlins left fielder Christian Yelich (21) is out at second base in the seventh inning of their game at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /

First Baseman

Freddie Freeman

The Good- Freddie Freeman is the best first baseman in baseball.

The Bad- He cannot duplicate smaller versions of himself to fill out an entire team… at least not for a while. Charlie is at least 17 years and 9 months away from being draftable.

Let’s move along, then…

2nd Basemen

Jace Peterson

The Good- Jace was sent down to Gwinnett on May 2nd after an abysmal start where his numbers dipped all the way down to a .465 OPS. So what does he do? He goes down to Gwinnett and…stinks it up: .533 OPS. Then, the unexplainable happens. He gets recalled, immediately goes 2-3, and really hasn’t stopped hitting since.

“Jace on Base” has been tweeted by many a Brave fan over the last few months. His OPS since being recalled has been .789, and within that is a very healthy OBP of .375. His overall OPS is quite healthy for a 2nd baseman, sitting at .744 and there’s not much fluky about it.

When Jace was brought back up he told the press that he was sent down to work on one thing (didn’t specify “thing”..could’ve been yodeling for all we know) and to not worry about his numbers. Hopefully he’s fixed.

The Bad- Jace has shown platoon offensive numbers this year which mirrors his short MLB career. His .522 career OPS against LHP hardly screams to be played everyday. Also, Jace isn’t grading out too well defensively in any metrics. In my opinion, he’s passed my eye test. I know he makes some errors on routine grounders, but aside from that his range and arm seem fine.

Still, across the board, whether it’s fielding %, DRS, UZR, UZR/150, the metrics do not like him. In fact, it has dragged his WAR all the way down to 0.7.

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