Great article on Braun

[swheeler23]

If this has already been posted feel free to move...

I found a great article on Braun. People want to dismiss Braun's lack of power as his being off PEDS. The stats say he is adjusting for injury, according to this article he is the best in MLB at hitting to right field.

 

http://www.thescore.com/#/mlb/news/534360

[SoupTown]

hmmmm, I mentioned that numerous times in posts... Braun seems to be niggled to the point of having to adjust his swing to line the ball to right field. Now, interestingly, the PEDs that Braun took where clearly for healing niggly injuries faster. On the evidence to date it does appear that Braun really was healthy over time from PED help. I really would need to see a year of 'normal' (pre PED caught) performance to change my thinking.

 

Now, what is interesting is this: if a PED helps you overcome an injury you have done bad. But if you have a ligament replacement to overcome injury you have done good. It would be nice to be able to classify PEDs. I mean, if you have a headache and take some paracetamol - and you therefore can play a game... you have taken a PED. It is a drug. Your performance has been enhanced.

 

Maybe what Braun should have done when he needed a PED was go on the DL, then take the thing, get healed, then go off, then play. But I know that is not allowed anyway. And then that would end up with guys being on all sorts of 'stuff', then when the season starts, just go off.

 

The entire episode has just depressed me. I think he took because he was injured. So 'his' injury is not allowed to be treated. But 'other' injuries can be treated. Seems weird.

[hawing]

Now, what is interesting is this: if a PED helps you overcome an injury you have done bad. But if you have a ligament replacement to overcome injury you have done good. It would be nice to be able to classify PEDs. I mean, if you have a headache and take some paracetamol - and you therefore can play a game... you have taken a PED. It is a drug. Your performance has been enhanced.

Along these lines, what if you have an injury that does not have a (reliable) surgical solution? Like maybe Ryan's thumb issue? I can imagine MLB and/or the anti-enhancement-of-any-sort crowd saying that would be the start of a slippery slope, but could we not argue that baseball is already on the slope?

 

Sorry, I don't mean to start another "he's bad/he's not so bad" mega-debate.

[JohnBriggs12]

I've always thought part of Braun's injury issues is that he swings such a big bat. He gets tremendous plate coverage but to generate torque (especially to pull the ball) it puts a lot of strain on his torso. That's part of the reason I believe he spends so much time getting his body loose and ready for every AB (as Segura can attest). As he gets into his 30's one wonders if he shouldn't taper down to an easier to handle bat. I'm sure it's easier said than done for someone who's made a career out of swinging a big stick, but it might help keep him on the field and also restore the ability to pull the ball more.

[Pugger]

What is happening with Braun this year with all of these ailments tells me he is clean right now. I suspect he is tested regularly this season. I hope this latest setback won't keep him out of the lineup very long.

[swheeler23]

What is happening with Braun this year with all of these ailments tells me he is clean right now. I suspect he is tested regularly this season. I hope this latest setback won't keep him out of the lineup very long.

Does the players agreement allow for additional testing?

[Fear The Chorizo]

Unless Braun is even more like ARod than many think, it's logical that Braun was clean during the 2012 season, the year after he won his appeal and after he failed the 2011 PED test to open the playoffs. Braun pretty much replicated his 2011 MVP numbers in 2012, hitting 8 more HR and playing in 154 games. To me, that's what a fully healthy and clean Braun is capable of doing in his prime.

 

The injuries Braun continues to sustain make it difficult to see him getting back to that point this season, and unless that thumb injury can be repaired or heal it's difficult at this point to see him return to MVP-caliber form. A power hitter that can't turn on an inside pitch and slug it over the LF fence is going to get a steady diet of inside fastballs. He's still a very good player even at his diminished production when he's dinged up, but that contract starts looking mighty bad if he can't get healthy and put together some 2012ish years together in the near future.

[chadomac]

2012 was just as good as 2011 and he was probably watched like a hawk testing-wise after what went down in 2011... so I would think he's been clean ever since 2012 started. Does that sound logical? I would be surprised to find out he kept using something after 2011.

 

Because of this, I am still hopeful he someday heals up and produced like he used to. I didn't like that second extension on his contract even when he was a top 5 player in the league... and I obviously like it even less now. It was just completely unnecessary at the time... we got such a great deal with the first extension, why not just leave well-enough alone.

[torts]

he wasnt probably watched like a hawk, he absolutely was in 2012. the JDA states that once a player fails a test they are automatically tested far more often in subsequent seasons at completely random points

[HiAndTight]

he wasnt probably watched like a hawk, he absolutely was in 2012. the JDA states that once a player fails a test they are automatically tested far more often in subsequent seasons at completely random points

 

 

But he didn't "technically," test positive, so he may very well not have been subjected to the additional testing.

 

 

I do think at some point that players are going to be granted more waivers for testosterone boosters to help healing. Under a doctors care, they're perfectly healthy for an ADULT MALE.

 

This isn't to defend Braun, he was cheating, and then what he did after that is what was so deplorable. But if you have the medicine to get guys back on the field and you open it up so that it can be monitored and allowed on a limited basis, I think you should. But after the era we're coming out of, we're probably a long way away from that.

[swheeler23]

I read the article different then most. I think he is adjusting through injury and still being productive. Imagine what he could do if he gets healthy?

[HiAndTight]

I read the article different then most. I think he is adjusting through injury and still being productive. Imagine what he could do if he gets healthy?

 

 

That's what I took out of it myself. And I hope we'll see what he does when he's healthy, and I'm sure we will. I just am not confident we'll see another season in which he plays 150+ games at an MVP type level.

[swheeler23]

I read the article different then most. I think he is adjusting through injury and still being productive. Imagine what he could do if he gets healthy?

 

 

That's what I took out of it myself. And I hope we'll see what he does when he's healthy, and I'm sure we will. I just am not confident we'll see another season in which he plays 150+ games at an MVP type level.

 

Braun has played the following # of games in his career before last year:

113,151, 158, 157, 150, 154

If he can stay healthy for the most part in the second half that could be the key to the Brewers winning the division. I don't think they will if he doesn't