Russell "3TO" Branyan called up Gwynn sent down!

[ELCABALLO45]

Branyan is still the Manyan!

 

He went 0-5 with 3k's. its not like he is going to go 3-4 everyday. He is still 10x a better option then Hall.

[hauser42]

JB12

 

Hall has been all or nothing this year. Too many times he has walked up to the plate saw 3 pitches and went back to eh bench with a K. Right now he is struggling to hit right hander so the team should try something new.

 

Comparing Hardy or Weeks a weak excuse to not bench Hall. Hardy's defensive play allows for him to have lower hitting skills. Not that Hardy and Weeks also need to step up their games.

 

Hall gets too much love because of his late game homeruns that end up on ESPN, while his 2-3 ks in the game get over looked.

[ELCABALLO45]

JB12

 

Hall has been all or nothing this year. Too many times he has walked up to the plate saw 3 pitches and went back to eh bench with a K. Right now he is struggling to hit right hander so the team should try something new.

 

Comparing Hardy or Weeks a weak excuse to not bench Hall. Hardy's defensive play allows for him to have lower hitting skills. Not that Hardy and Weeks also need to step up their games.

 

Hall gets too much love because of his late game homeruns that end up on ESPN, while his 2-3 ks in the game get over looked.

Hall gets to much love because he hit 35 home runs on a bad team. He is a super sub but he had a good 2-3 months and still is living off of that.

[BrewCrewForever]

I thought Hall's 2005 year may have been more impressive then 2006. Sure he only hit 17 HR's in 05 which aint bad but he batted .292 that year which is awesome. I like Billy a lot, but dude just can't hit RHP and he was starting to be a butcher at 3B. I love the platoon though with Russell.

[And That]

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/8a21514990d095262169a7542a10fa90fac66bc.jpg

 

 

[rluzinski]

He is a super sub but he had a good 2-3 months and still is living off of that.

 

I'm no Hall appologist but that's a load of crap.

[BrewCrewForever]

And That, that is the picture perfect snapshot of Russell's awesomeness!

[TheCrew07]

While I agree, Rluz, it's no worse than a certain person whining about Hardy and Weeks everytime Hall's struggles are brought up. Hall isn't a longterm answer anywhere, and debating it endlessly is getting old. It should be obvious that Hardy and Weeks don't have a platoon option, and Hall isn't going to play SS for the Brewers ever again. It's been documented/discussed many times that if Hardy gets hurt management has already said that Escobar would come up... it's time to let it go and just appreciate that we have another LH power option which the team needed.

 

My disdain of Branyan's style has been well documented over the years, and even I don't have anything negative to say about this move, it was that obvious.

[kramnoj]

It's been documented/discussed many times that if Hardy gets hurt management has already said that Escobar would come up

 

That was true when Hall was the full time starter at 3B. You think if Hardy would need a 15 day DL for some reason the Brewers would bring up Escobar and start him at SS over Hall? Has there been a mention of that since Branyan has been brought up?

[ELCABALLO45]

He is a super sub but he had a good 2-3 months and still is living off of that.

 

I'm no Hall appologist but that's a load of crap.

Okay maybe he had a good year, but since then he has been garbage

[Brian the Automator]

Okay maybe he had a good year, but since then he has been garbage

2005: .837 OPS

2006: .898 OPS

 

[kramnoj]

Okay maybe he had a good year, but since then he has been garbage

 

He actually had two good years. In 2005, Hall had an OPS+ of 116, which would have been around a top 5 for SS if he had played there all year.

[endaround]

Well except for those times he was good he really sucked!

[ELCABALLO45]

Ok let me try again, SINCE the beginning of 2007. So last year and this year, he has been garbage.

[Brian the Automator]

Ok let me try again, SINCE the beginning of 2007. So last year and this year, he has been garbage.

So he's had about 1 and 1/3 year (minus injury time) of sub-average play. I suppose I can agree to that.

 

[ELCABALLO45]

Ok maybe garbage is a little harsh, he is just so frustrating.

[Robideaux]

Career OPS:

 

Branyan .807

Hall .781

 

One can't hit righties; the other can't hit lefties...if only there was some solution...

[rluzinski]

Ok maybe garbage is a little harsh, he is just so frustrating.

 

What's more important to you? Your team having the best chance to win or their batters having the most entertaining ABs? I'd love them to be the same thing but often they are not in MLB.

[ELCABALLO45]

Ok maybe garbage is a little harsh, he is just so frustrating.

 

What's more important to you? Your team having the best chance to win or their batters having the most entertaining ABs? I'd love them to be the same thing but often they are not in MLB.

What does that mean?

[Baldkin]

I think he means that David Eckstein will go up and foul off 7 pitches in an at bat and then ground out weakly to the secondbaseman most of the time. While ARod will strike out more than almost anyone in the league... but he's the best baseball player on the planet.

 

"Pretty ABs" and Success are not mutually exclusive.

[rluzinski]

"Pretty ABs" and Success are not mutually exclusive.

 

Correct. I'd love to have my entire team filled with great hitters that also have very entertaining ABs. If I have to choose one or the other, however, I'll take the guy who regularily flails at the first 3 pitches if his overall production is better. Some fans can't seperate the two and usually come to the conclusion that Adam Dunn is overated.

[ELCABALLO45]

That has nothing to do with my argument. Im not saying he is frustrating because he strikes out. Im saying he is frustrating because he is hitting .246 since last year.

[logan82]

That has nothing to do with my argument. Im not saying he is frustrating because he strikes out. Im saying he is frustrating because he is hitting .246 since last year.

What's his OBP and OPS?

[rluzinski]

Im saying he is frustrating because he is hitting .246 since last year.

 

First, you are still using the wrong tools to try and measure offensive value. Second, he's had a total of 163 AB last year and has been great over a palty 13 AB this year. Let's not try and spin that and act like he's been bad for 2 years now!

 

Let's be objective. His 2008 Marcel projection (only uses 2005 to 2007 stats):

 

.237 / .336 / .452 / .788

 

That projection is based off a mostly AB where Branyan had the platoon advantage, so no need to adjust it to his current role. Petco Park might hurt that projection a bit as well but that's probably nitpicking. SO, let's just call that his expected performance for this year in a platoon. Is that great? Nope. Is it terrible? Nope, although you would conclude that it is, if you only looked at BA. The average NL 3B hit a little better than that in 2007 (which includes backups), so to expect even average performance from Branyan this year is probably pushing it.

 

The only real measuring stick should be against this, though: Is it better than Hall's expected performance against RH pitchers? Unfortunately, the answer is, probably.

[jazzytrav]

I think he was talking about Hall hitting .246 since last year...