Don't look now, but Brooks Conrad is just 1-for-his-last-17. Meanwhile, Joe Thurston is 7-for-his-last-16 with two homeruns. Conrad has watched his batting average go from .381 ten days ago to .237, while Thurston has watched his average go from .278 to .353 over that same span of time.
It certainly seemed like Conrad had the inside track on the job, with his hot start this spring, his good defense, and the fact that he was already on the 40-man roster, but Thurston has been around the block as a pinch hitter much more than Conrad and has more Major League experience than Brooks. The 0-for-22 that Conrad took upon his recall last September may also still be fresh in the minds of the Braves. This latest 1-for-17 smacks of that kind of streakiness.
There's still a week and half to turn it around, but the Braves player who is struggling the most right now may have gone from being Nate McLouth to Brooks Conrad.
By the way, we may have to do another full Making the Team Meter tomorrow, because Jesse Chavez just coughed up five runs in a third of an inning. Battles are being won or more accurately lost with every outing.
0 recs | 28 comments
I thought in today's MTM
both of these guys should’ve received sideways blue arrows. And to be honest, I think its as close to 50-50 as you can get. Both have parts of their game they do better than the other. Conrad is more of a vet, but Thurston doesn’t seem to be as streaky as Conrad does.
Oh, and yeah, Chavez needs to go to Gwinett right about….now.
Scott Coleman - March 25, 2010
I still like Conrad more, but at this point, I feel like it’s a toss up with Thurston slightly ahead with he recent play.
Sparhawk - March 25, 2010
he recent play = his recent play
Sparhawk - March 25, 2010
But Conrad has such a cute butt!
justincredubil02 - March 25, 2010
Yeah, what about Conrad’s butt, we can’t send that thing down!
bwellnjonesco - March 25, 2010
So I guess the Air Force no longer has...
“don’t ask, don’t tell”?
Mr. Sanchez - March 25, 2010
No, it does.
justincredubil02 - March 25, 2010
at least…currently….
justincredubil02 - March 25, 2010
So you just normally go around assessing...
other male buttocks?
Mr. Sanchez - March 25, 2010
hahaha….ass-essing….butts…I like
thenightstallion - March 25, 2010
No, but I do like to refer back to infamous TC posts from time to time.
justincredubil02 - March 25, 2010
I think I remember those posts. :)
HEYJUDE - March 25, 2010
I like them both
(at least as the last guy on the bench). However, I think Thurston is probably the better choice, at least offensively. He’s also more used to pinch hitting and has some good big league experience. Brooks can play everyday at Gwinnett and if an IF gets hurt, we can call him up and play him semi-regularly up here. It’s a good problem to have.
As for Chavez, ick. He seems like Manny Acosta, verson 2.0. And Venters has come back to Earth a bit recently too. It looks more and more like Proctor will start with the big club…
Jacob Peterson - March 25, 2010
I could care less who makes the club, Thurston or Conrad. It’ll probably be Thurston. I’m more concerned with the bullpen, and I’m praying we don’t take Chavez north with us.
eaheckman10 - March 25, 2010
Send Conrad to AAA, bring his streaky-self up when we have a DL opening.
bighop - March 25, 2010
Question
Not really relevant, but what is the name of the website that shows charts of home runs and how close they were to leaving the park?
acie4mvp - March 25, 2010
Isn’t that on fangraphs?
justincredubil02 - March 25, 2010
No it’s definitely a separate site
acie4mvp - March 25, 2010
maybe if you read the left side of the page /sarcasm
It actually is on the left side of the page though, Hittrackeronline.com
GoBravesNY - March 25, 2010
In 75 career plate appearances as a pinch hitter Thurston has hit .221 with a .284 OBP and a .607 OPS. Being around the block isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
cbwilk - March 25, 2010
but he’s got moxie and is a gamer and he provides veteran leadership
i like Thurtston over Conrad but its simply becuase i think he is more versatile and we need a black guy on the roster…
Swo12bv - March 25, 2010
The funny thing is, Thurston has this rep for being more versatile, but he’s actually been mostly limited to 3B and 2B the last few years. In 09 he played 68 games at 3B, 47 at 2B, and 4 in LF, in 08 he played 4 game in LF in the Majors, and in the minors he had 30 games in the OF, 99 at 2B, and 1 at SS. He played a lot of SS coming up, but since 03 he’s played just 9 games there. And that time in the outfield is nice, but he only has 67 games there in his 11 year professional career.
Last year in AAA Conrad played 10 games at 1B, 67 at 2B, 8 at 3B, 20 at SS, and 1 in RF. In 08 in AAA he played 53 at 2B, 15 at 3B, 18 at SS, 2 in LF and 14 in RF. After playing almost exclusively at 2B through 2007, he’s actually been incredibly versatile. He even has 2 career games at catcher. Add in that he’s a better power threat off the bench (.474 slugging and .804 OPS in 5 AAA seasons compared to Thurston’s .324 slugging and .630 OPS in parts of 6 ML seasons and .436 slugging and .791 OPS in 7 AAA seasons) and he just seems like the better option to have at the end of your bench. It’s not even like Thurston has an advantage in speed, he’s thick in the legs and while he does usually get between 15 and 20 SB in a full year, Conrad gets between 12-15, so that’s not much of an advantage.
cbwilk - March 25, 2010
All those numbers hurt my eyes.
justincredubil02 - March 25, 2010
Oh no, I’ve gone blind.
cbwilk - March 25, 2010
+1
bravesfan91 - March 26, 2010
Probably thinking about Conrad's butt...
just like justin.
Mr. Sanchez - March 26, 2010
“They” say…
Lizziebeth - March 26, 2010
Interesting bit about C...
with him and Diaz as “emergency” C, maybe that means Ross could pinch hit once in a while with that power bat of his.
Mr. Sanchez - March 26, 2010
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