Talking Chop

This player preview was written by Dan Simpson, who posts here as Zeus12888.

Entering his third full season playing shortstop for the Atlanta Braves, Yunel Escobar is poised to take his place amongst the elite shortstops of Major League Baseball. During the offseason, one NL scout was quoted as saying about Escobar: "He's pretty impressive...There are a lot of good young shortstops out there. But I'd put him up there with Hanley [Ramirez] and the others." This shouldn't come as much of a surprise to Braves fans, however, as we have enthusiastically followed Escobar's meteoric rise through the Braves system.

Escobar was drafted in 2005 in the 2nd-round of the entry draft, the 75th-overall pick. Because of the insular nature of Cuban foreign relations, many teams had not had the chance to get a good look at Escobar. The Braves, however, had a leg up on the competition: Escobar's best friend, Brayan Peña, had recently defected to join the Braves, and was able to provide GM John Schuerholz with an in depth scouting report. Escobar played the first 8 games of his American baseball career in Danville, before quickly earning a promotion to Rome, where he finished out the 2005 season. Escobar would play all of 2006 with Mississippi, where he was moved all around the diamond (35 games at 3rd, 24 and 2nd). Ultimately, he was left at shortstop, and after finishing 2006 with a line of .264/.361/.346, he earned a spot in the All-Star Futures Game, and was promoted to Richmond. In Richmond, Escobar lit the world on fire, posting a .333/.379/.456 line in 46 games.

He ultimately forced the Braves' hand, and on June 2, 2007, was called up to the Major League Club. He started the very same day, at third base, against the Chicago Cubs. In his first big league at bat, the promising Cuban roped a single. In the top of the 8th, he hit the go ahead RBI double and finished his first day in the bigs with an impressive 2-4, 1R, 1RBI game. Escobar would finish out the year with a line of .326/.385/451, which was good enough for 6th place in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. Escobar's emergence in 2007 was a twofold blessing for the Braves. Not only did they now have a dynamic hitting, slick fielding shortstop, but it allowed GM John Schuerholz to trade then-Braves shortstop Edgar Renteria to the Detroit Tigers for a little known minor leaguer named Jair Jurrjens.

In 2008, Escobar charged out of the gates to a .315/.385/.435 line in his first 192 plate appearances. But in the last week of May, the Braves waived his best friend Brayan Peña, who was subsequently picked up by (surprise!) the Royals. This shook up Escobar badly, and he slumped terribly. He was able to rebound the last month of the season, however, and finished his first full year in the majors with a line of .288/.366/.401.

Last year, Escobar improved in every facet of his game. He improved his power stroke, recording career highs in doubles (26) and home runs (14), including a very memorable bomb off of NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum to dead center field. His slash stats all improved from 2008, as he posted a line of .299/.377/.436. Escobar showed flashes of sheer brilliance in the field, but was plagued by a lack of focus at the beginning of the season. After being benched by Bobby Cox for loafing, Escobar doubled down, committing only 2 errors in his last 75 games.

Coming into the 2010 season, Yunel is poised to take his game to the next level. Most importantly for Escobar this year will be keeping his focus in the field and on the basepaths. Yunel has always had star power in the field, but his mental lapses have prevented him from becoming an elite fielding shortstop. An increased focus is also necessary for Escobar on the basepaths, where he was picked off multiple times last year. Escobar will have to further develop his power stroke to become more of a force in the Majors. He improved his Iso power by .023 points between 2008 and 2009 (.113 to .136), and given his increasing plate discipline, a further increase in 2010 seems realistic.

Given that the Braves have several ground ball pitchers, Escobar will need to be at the top of his game. And given his new spot as an run producer in the Braves batting order, a continuing improvement in power will be essential to notching RBIs. If Escobar can do both of these key things, there's no reason to believe he can't be an All-Star shortstop with an electric glove who pushes 20 HRs and 90 RBIs. The sky's the limit for Yunel, and this is one Braves fan who can't wait to see what he'll do this year.

Terrific preview by Dan.