Gosh. I thought McCann would be good, but I never expected that so soon. He spent most of the year among the league leaders in batting average, or would have if he’d qualified; his .333 average would have been third. His .572 slugging percentage would have been seventh (including Chipper, who also failed to qualify but was at .596). McCann’s offense was so good in fact that the Braves pretty much have to think about moving him to first base to save his bat, though right now there’s no spot for him there.
There were some complaints about McCann’s defense, but some of that is probably due to the ankle injury he played through for much of the season. He threw out 23 percent of baserunners, which is on the low side but not too bad. There were some mobility problems associated with the ankle, which hopefully has cleared up. He was painfully slow last season, but seemingly average for a catcher in 2005, and again should be okay if the ankle’s healthy.
I don’t think we can expect McCann to hit .333 again, but he could hit .300 and add some power and walks, and thus be just as good as in 2006. 30 homers is doable — even likely, if he’s healthier… Sim Scores has as McCann’s most-similar player Shanty Hogan, who came up with the Braves in 1919 and was the backup plan last year if Eddie Perez was unavailable, but Hogan lacked McCann’s power. As I’ve noted before, few young catchers have hit as many homers as McCann. The real most-similar player is probably someone just one year older, Joe Mauer, but even Mauer hasn’t hit for nearly as much power as yet — 22 homers over the last two seasons, two less than McCann in just 2006.
And he has the coolest nickname in the history of life itself.
Shanty Hogan!!? How about Yogi Berra or someone like that?
I wouldn’t move McCann to first base unless the Braves are desparate for offense there or he turns out to be poor defensively. There’s a lot of value to good hitting catchers.
Didnt Bobby C. say this offseason that the Braves will never move him to 1B? ?
There really isn’t much precedent for McCann’s 2006. It’s just Bench, Williams, Gary Carter if you squint a little. And McCann, great as he was, wasn’t Johnny Bench, who made the All-Star team at 20 and won the MVP at 22.
Bench’s career is a lesson, however, on why the Braves have to at least consider moving McCann if Saltalamacchia can handle the position. Bench had a great career, but his two best seasons, and his two MVP seasons, were at 24 and 22. Bench had 154 homers at 24. His comp list for that age is led by Cal Ripken and and includes Andruw of all people, and Bench had more homers than any of the ten (four more than Andruw). It’s easy to see Bench hitting 500 or more homers if he’d been moved to first base then, but then the Reds hardly needed him at first.
Or we could ride him hard for the next 4 years, then trade him for the next young Pedro. I think I’m kidding.
McCann should only be moved to 1B _right now_ if it makes sense for the team. That is to say, until Jarod Saltamacchia can be reasonably expected to out-perform Adam Laroche, McCann should stay behind the plate. It’s always tempting to guess what an offensive catcher might be worth at 1B but unless the team is best served by moving him it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I agree with Mac if it turns out that McCann is really a .300/.386/.500+ hitter. That kind of bat is valuable enough to try a position switch to get 154 to 162 games out of it rather than 140 or so that he would get as a catcher.
Whoever takes over the catching would have to not suck. No Henry Blanco’s but he doesn’t really have to hit like the 2006 LaRoche.
There really isn’t much precedent for McCann’s 2006.
Well, you could try this…
Top 10 slugging seasons by a 22-year-old:
1. Ted Williams — .735
2. Joe DiMaggio — .673
3. Jimmie Foxx — .637
4. Boog Powell — .606
5. Eddie Mathews — .603
6. Joe Kelley — .602
7. Vladimir Guerrero — .589
8. Johnny Bench — .587
9. Joe Jackson — .579
10. Brian McCann — .572
I just like to bring that one up as often as I can.
Now that’s a list.
The thing is, it’s always going to be easier, I assume, to find offense at first base than at catcher. Granted, it’s tempting to move McCann and see what he could do, but catching didn’t seem to hurt Piazza’s career, although admittedly, he would probably have put up better numbers later in his career if he had not been a catcher. Let’s face it, throwing runners out really isn’t a big deal for a catcher anymore since there is so little running. And I see no evidence that McCann isn’t going to be at least an average or above average defensive catcher. I say keep him behind the plate unless Saltimacchia (however you spell it) is a superior catcher.
And I think the Bench example isn’t really apposite. Bench himself claimed that the lung lesion he had removed in 1972 affected his hitting. I don’t know how valid that is, but it doesn’t seem clearly ridiculous because his hitting tailed off substantially (although still good) after that. Also, Bench came up with a lot of fanfare, whereas McCann didn’t. McCann probably deserved to make the All-Star Team last year at least as much as Bench did in 1969. (I’m not saying, obviously, that McCann is or will be as good as Bench was in his prime, because Bench was possibly the best defensive catcher of all time in an era where a catcher had to be able to throw.)
No kidding. Wow.
McCann is easily my current favorite Brave. He has that Chris Farley everyman likeability factor, in addition to being a monster ballplayer. In a proper world he would be the new face of the team, not Sir Swings-a-lot.
Do I go to hell if I root for Florida tonight?
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/sportscolumns/entries/2007/01/06/with_a_win_gato.html
yes ububba, and hell is hot.
In his own stuffy way, Mark Bradley can deliver a good line every now and again:
“Granted, there are Florida fans who aren’t insufferable. They, alas, number in single digits.”
Ya know what sucks? Really sucks? Working on National title day during the game. I get to follow it online with ESPN and following football online is really no fun.
There’s no reason at all to move McCann now or anytime soon. Practically speaking, you can’t run your roster today on what you hope to be the case ten years from now. If catching will wear down McCann, that’s a problem for the future. In the present the Braves have a nice bat at a defensive position.
Wow, Louisville is moving fast. Apparently I think they knew that Petrino might be leaving, Kragthorpe expected to take over….
http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/9915692
Ububba, I’ll be pulling for the ole Gators tonight also
csg,
I’m torn between going to hell (rooting for Florida) & turning into a pillar of salt (rooting for a Big 10 team vs the SEC). I’m in no-man’s land.
But…it should be an entertaining, talent-filled football game. And a fascinating coaching matchup. I’ll be watching.
BTW, I understand the McCann-to-1B talk, but maybe wait to see how Salty develops—for one year, at least. That is, if we don’t deal Salty.
Hey man, we are supposed to be the salt of the earth.
If you are torn between who to root for, be like me and hope that there is a massive Earthquake in Arizona and sucks both teams into hell.
“Third and eight, Leak drops back and trips and falls. Wait… what’s that shaking…A light tower has just fallen on the Florida band… Oh my God!” (Screan to black)
Fox News Alert!
“This is a Fox News alert, I am Shepard Smith. A magnatude 9.4 earthquake has struck Glendale, Arizona and pulled Pizza Hut/Pink Taco Stadium into the ground, there look to be no survivors. We now send you to ‘When Animals Attack,’ already in progress. We report, you decide.”
I love McCann, too. Smoltz will always and forever, I suspect, be my favorite Brave, but McCann is certainly second among those on the team right now.
Florida wins by at least 10 tonight.
If non-insufferable Gator fans number in the single digits, I don’t like my chances…
I can’t root for Florida it just isn’t in my veins to do so… of course I’m really not an SEC fan either. I like the SEC but my team is in the ACC. I really don’t care about Ohio State all that much either. I’ll just go in a lot like I did the NFL playoffs this weekend. Not really caring and probably picking out a few players to half way root for and a lot of players to make fun of. Just because that makes the game more fun. Especially when following it online.
“Wait how did they miss that field goal? *looks it up* Romo DROPPED IT!!!! BWhahahahaha wonder what ESPN will say about the 2 game wonder now?” Ya know corny stuff like that…
Haha, I like Smitty’s play-by-play.
root for a tie-power failure or curfew. Then for Boise State,
If Bosie State played Florida, i would go buy a Bosie State hat, shirt and flag
Fisher to FSU
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2724432
That’s pretty rough when you can’t keep a job with your father. I guess nepotism doesn’t go as far as it used to.
My Ohio State grad colleague just came in my office to get the lowdown on Florida. He basically wanted to know if there was any way his school could lose. I built him up pretty good and then confirmed that, sadly, there was.
Speaking of supporting the enemy…I just paid for my ’07 Yankee Season Tickets. This year, we’re calling it the Andy Pettitte Fund.
But strangely, for the 3rd year in a row, they didn’t raise the prices for our seats—they remain $17 per game (uppers, 5th row, between home & first). IMO, they are the best entertainment deal in NYC.
But the corporate seats…yikes. The best seats went from $110 to $150 per game. Not exactly Spike-Lee-at-MSG territory, but plenty stiff for a Tuesday night game vs. the D-Rays.
Although, my group & I are more than ready for the move to the new stadium in ’09, we’re terrified in advance to get that season-ticket invoice.
Smitty, you suck. Haha
That’s a pretty good deal, ububba.
Last time I was in NYC, I paid $80 a piece for seats about 15 rows up out in right field. And that was a mid-week game.
Georgia student here, and I’m pulling for the Gators.
I’ve gotten shunned a lot for it, but my reasoning is this: During the regular season, I will never root for my rivals. After the SEC championship game, though, it’s fair game. Florida winning makes a Georgia loss look better just the same as Kentucky beating Clemson did.
As for insufferable Florida fans, well, yeah. That’s pretty much a given. But as I debated with my boss a couple days ago…Florida fans will be gloating that they’ve won two NCs in the past decade and we haven’t won anything since Herschel Walker, and that they’re two sport champions this year. In that case, they deserve to. It sucks to be a Georgia fan in that case, but on the contrary can you imagine all of the NY fans that ububba worked with for the past five or six years? I’m sure ub wasn’t cocky about it, but any snide comment about Atlanta could be responded to by “check the standings” because Atlanta was a better team. And quite frankly, right now Florida is the better team, and they deserve to gloat. However, if the Dawgs don’t win a NC with Stafford (and Cade, and the WR prospect they have coming), then they’re not going to win one for a long, long time. And if they win that NC, it’ll give us the most recent NC, which trumps the past ten years of success (which we as Braves fans can appreciate considering the sting of this year)
How can any fan of an SEC team cheer for FLA? How in the hell can a UGA fan root for FLA? The one team that has owned us for going on two decades. The team who’s fan base is made up of the worst combination of people imaginable, swampy north florida rednecks and obnoxious yankee-bred transplants. How can anyone, in his or her right mind, ever wish joy to fall into the hearts of these horrid people?
Conference pride is no excuse. Conference pride was a reason to pull for FLA over Mich to get into the game, but never to win it.
“Makes UGA look better”. WTF!!! We aren’t south carolina fans, we don’t hang banners from the stadium in honor of “moral victories”, AKA, “close losses to superior teams”.
Any UGA fan worthy of wearing red and black and naming his dog Herschel should hope for only one outcome. My personal dream, not being an fan of OSU as well, is for a 0-0 game going into the final seconds. Then, Florida drives to the 5 yard line. Urban Meyer calls an ill conceived reverse, only to have it foiled as Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow bang knees, resulting in a fumble recovery taken for a TD and 2 ACL’s left in tatters. Please, let this happen.
“McCann’s offense was so good in fact that the Braves pretty much have to think about moving him to first base to save his bat, though right now there’s no spot for him there.”
Why can’t we just accept that he is a good catcher and leave it at that? Why is it that every time there is a great hitting catcher, people want him at first? At catcher, McCann is something special. At first, compared to people like Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard, not so much.
i’m sick of hearing all the talking heads go on and on about “the” ohio state.
i could care less, but go gators!
Maybe this is the reason the Braves are actively shopping LaRoche.
Cos they they believe in Salty, and can see a C-1B rotation between the slugging catchers.
If they trade LaRoche next offseason, they might be worried that they won’t have the same leverage
Dan, McCann’s offense would have been pretty special for first base — not Pujols or Howard, but all-star level. He outhit Justin Morneau. And he is likely to get better, since he’s five years or so younger than Howard.
But at catcher, you lose 100 PA a year or so due to days off, you risk a long injury period (as happened last year) and the aging pattern or catchers are distressing. McCann might lose 1000 hits and 150 homers.
I was always against moving Javy, but this situation is different, because (a) McCann is a better hitter than Javy, and (b) the Braves have a possible quality replacement in Saltalamacchia instead of a decent backup type, Eddie Perez.
Bobby really seems to like the way McCann calls the game and works with his pitchers. He is a well coached and disciplined player. Yes he has physical talent, but he’s got an understanding of the game that most players never have. I see them more willing to move Salty out from behind the plate.
With the Braves’ budget restrictions, what incentives do they have to preserve the value of players beyond their first 5 years or so? The value of years beyond free agency pretty much all accrue to the player, not the team, and most catchers can last as catchers at least to that point.
If Salty proves to be a capable replacement, that’s one thing. But it’s premature to talk about moving McCann before we know that it will actually improve the team. There’s no doubt that catching shortens careers and takes a toll on a player’s hitting, but it’s an important position where there are not many good hitters. It’s easier to find good hitters at other positions. I think there is a lot of value to having a good hitting catcher–even granting that he will lost PAs and games–because it gives you essentially an extra hitter that most teams don’t have. Of course, if you end up with Rico Brogna at first base, it doesn’t work.
I took my coach pitch team to see the Frederick Keys host the MB Pelicans a couple years ago. I pointed out McCann to a dad, and told him that the Braves were pretty high on this kid. But it was pretty apparent to me that he was going to be merely an average backstop.
Wrong again.