Talking Chop

This player preview was written by Andrew Meyers, who posts here as alligatorimpersonator.

Before we go in depth about our beloved utility man, I'll lay some groundwork on what Omar Infante has done as a Braves player since he joined us two seasons ago. I think a few folks may be a tad bit surprised to see how valuable he is to our ballclub.

Let's start with his offense. Over the past two seasons, Infante has put up a combined line of .298/.345/.406 and a perfectly league average OPS+ of 100. These are easily the best two seasons of his 8 year career, with the exception being 2004 when he hit 16 home runs (what???). While some may want to attribute his recent success to a spike in his BABIP over the past two years, I'd have to disagree and say that Infante has simply become a better hitter by making two key adjustments since coming to Atlanta.

First, he's cut down on his strikeouts. Infante used to strike out about 18-20% of the time, but in each of the past two seasons, he's managed to strike out less than 14% of the time. The second key adjustment is that he has leveled out his swing to where he hits more line drives rather than fly balls. Before coming to Atlanta, his line drive percentage for his career was about 18.5%, but over the past two seasons, that percentage has increased to about 28.5%! That's a huge increase. It looks like Infante gave up on hitting home runs and focused more on hitting the ball hard.

Now let's talk about his defense. Infante is quite valuable as a defender since he can play positions 4-9 on the diamond, and can play them fairly well. For his career, he has put up solid UZR/150 figures at 2B and SS of -1.6 and 3.2, respectively. Infante hasn't played enough innings at any of the other positions to give an accurate UZR/150 figure, but from what statistics there are, it seems he is slightly above average at 3B and below average in the outfield, which makes sense since Infante is primarily a middle infielder.

My prediction for Infante this season is right in line with what he's been doing for us since we acquired him - hit around .300 with a league average OPS, provide decent speed off the bench in late inning situations, and fill in adequately for any regular who gets hurt or needs a few days off. If Escobar (insert random questionable injury here) needs a few days, Infante can fill in without the team hurting. Omar is a big part of our strong bench this year, and over a 162 game season, a strong bench is crucial because it gives flexibility to the entire team.

I hope this helps some folks see the value in Omar; he's a key piece to our club this year. Here are Omar Infante's three keys to a successful 2010 season:

1) Keep the strikeouts down,

2) Don't try to hit home runs, rather, keep a level swing and try to put the ball in play somewhere hard, and

3) Don't get hit on the hand by a Manny Corpas fastball.

Terrific preview by Andrew.