Big Braves Blog; Part 1

Catcher is perhaps the Braves strongest position going into the 2010 season. Without doubt Brian McCann will start the season behind the plate and, unlike last year, will actually be able to see what he’s catching. McCann has become progressively more important to the team as his major league service has increased, he will be entering his sixth major league season. This year will be the year for McCann to really stamp his mark and make this his team, we already know that Bobby Cox will not be on the Turner Field bench next year and there’s every chance that Chipper Jones won’t be in the line-up either. That means that McCann will be the last remaining member of the 2005 division winning roster, which would make him a 27 year old Braves veteran. While it was the Braves pitching staff gaining most of the press last year hardly any time was spent on how much McCann’s game calling had improved. For most of his career he had been relied on the bench to call the game well not last season. It was something he had made a concerted effort to improve over the course of the last off season, and that hard work paid dividends; Jair Jurjenns and Javier Vazquez both had career years, Tommy Hanson almost won rookie of the year and all three had ERA’s of under 3.00. But McCann came into the Braves team way back in 2005 as a hitting catcher, an offensive force, and that is exactly the role McCann needs to play more than ever for the Braves. If you look at his career stats McCann seems to alternate between great and very good seasons, for example;

Games Avg. HR’s RBI’s
2005 59 .278 5 23
2006 130 .333 24 93
2007 139 .270 18 92
2008 145 .301 23 87
2009 138 .281 21 94

On the balance of McCann’s career he should be aiming for at least a .300 batting average this year, that would include his customary 90+ RBI’s and 20+ homer’s. Batting down the order will also potentially help Brian’s runs batted in total. Last year the young catcher proved his importance in both his absence and his presence. Beginning the year with the widely reported eye problems and his then prolonged absence showed the Braves and Bobby Cox why McCann is the heartbeat of this offence. It was no coincidence that when McCann was playing well the Braves looked most threatening to the playoff teams and, for a period, the Phillies.
The time McCann was on DL he was missed just a little less than normal thanks to his new understudy; David Ross. Acquired from Boston in the 2008 offseason he was expected to see very limited playing time and offer no more than Corky Miller or Clint Sammons before him. Ross showed so much more. In his seven previous big league seasons Ross combined over nine teams to hit a career .222. Nobody, including David, was expecting much other than a few games catching Kenshin Kawakami. As it happened Ross spent a small portion of the season as a significant part of the line up, apparently he responded really well to the responsibility. He played in 54 games, he had only played in more in four of his seasons, he was also playing these 54 games with his home team. Ross was born and raised in Bainbridge, Georgia and play college ball down in Gainesville for Florida. He hadn’t played significant baseball outside of the Southeast until he was 21. Moving straight to Los Angeles from the deep South is a huge cultural shift, maybe it just took Ross eight years to find home in his home state.

Like McCann and Ross Atlanta’s second back-up and triple-A starter Clint Sammons is also a Georgia native. Unlike his senior team mates Sammons can actually call the city of Atlanta home, having been born in Decatur. Like Ross, Sammons could have gone to the Dodgers from high school, instead he went to Athens and the University of Georgia. In 2004 the Braves drafted the Dawgs starting catcher and make him work to come home. Like McCann it took Sammons three years to progress through the Braves system, unlike McCann he has had less success in the big leagues. In 31 games with the major league team Sammons has hit .176, 4 RBI’s and exactly 1 home run, at AAA success hasn’t been much easier in 80 games up at Gwinnett he has 9 homer’s, 31 runs batted in and has only batted .214. Behind the plate Sammons is solid and that is all the Braves need from their third string.

Unlike other teams the Braves are set at catcher for maybe 3 or 4 years so long as McCann doesn’t get seriously hurt, luckily his latest Lasik surgery and continued weight loss should keep him in the line-up for many years.

Next week I will profile and preview the starters who will be throwing to McCann this year.