Which Brave are you most excited about in 2013 and why?

[Fly]

So none of you has invented a way to combine Gattis and Bethancourt yet? I thought we had some sharp minds in here?

I came up with the idea.

[Coach100]

I'm most excited about the Justing/Jason combo. That is a great LH/RH combo in the OF.

I am most interested in the staff. I expect regression from Minor, inconsistancy from JT, Medlen needs to settle in as the ace, Beach returning from injury and Buddy is another year older. The rotation will be the driving force of this team I think.

I want to see what Gattis can do in the minors. If he continues to mash ATL has a trade piece that will be cost controlled and under team contract throughout his peak years.

[GoBraves]

[QUOTE=Coach100;25285851]I'm most excited about the Justing/Jason combo. That is a great LH/RH combo in the OF.

I am most interested in the staff. I expect regression from Minor, inconsistancy from JT, Medlen needs to settle in as the ace, Beach returning from injury and Buddy is another year older. The rotation will be the driving force of this team I think.

Or you can have him catch the entire year at AAA and see how he does. If he mashes, we have a replacement for McCann, if he doesn't then... We dont have a replacement for McCann and we resign him.

Or we can see what Bethancourt does in AA this year and hope we takes a huge leap. Even then I dont trust him just yet, at least not offensively to call games in ATL

[BRAVE KID]

Most excited- Got to roll with Freedie Freeman. All the hype is with B.J, Justin, and J-hey (and rightfully so, it's a young and talented outfield) but lets not forget we have a young and talented 1B. Freeman is almost like an afterthought when you bring up the Braves. He beat the "sophomore slump," he improved his defense (went from -1 DRS to 3 DRS), he improved his discipline (taking more walks and swinging at less pitches outside the zone), the biggest hit he took was in his average but that's not too big considering his improvement in everything else and his tendency to rake.

Freeman can hit any pitch and can hit it anywhere on the field. I believe he's the true "hitting fool." This is his 3rd year, he should get plenty of AB's with RISP, and I think he understands the importance of plate discipline. Think he is going to go insane.

Most interested in watching- B.J Upton. The class is Justin and J-hey. Those are the golden boys in the OF. B.J is kind of off to the side. Everyone recognizes the potential he has...but I don't get the feeling that folks actually believe he can be a vital reliable part to the lineup. I'm very interested to see how he steps up to that view. Are you going to be that 3rd wheel or are you going to force people to recognize that you are a threat?

Most fun in watching- Simba. Kid is going to hit lead-off and have a full season of starting at SS so we get to see all the grit and plenty of the leather/range. He was already a fun player to follow. We're just going to have a blast watching the journey of Simba.

Most closely watched- Dan Uggla. You get the jist that Braves nation has completely given up on him. I haven't, he has good value, whether some want to believe it or not, and if he can just do what he has been doing for his career (instead of the last two years) he'd be a force, 4.0 WAR easy. Lets see if he can get it all together now. No more 2+ months slumps.

In the minors.

Alex Wood- The kid is like a Jonny Venters..but a starter. He should fly through our system, power arm and a lefty. Should be fun.

[Bravo95]

Justin and Jason have a lot of prove, so I wouldn't call them "golden boys." That label is for someone who can do no wrong and basically gets a pass; we've seen a few of those in this organization over the years.

[Bravo95]

I came up with the idea.

[BRAVE KID]

Justin and Jason have a lot of prove, so I wouldn't call them "golden boys." That label is for someone who can do no wrong and basically gets a pass; we've seen a few of those in this organization over the years.

This may just be your interpretation of golden boy. A golden boy can be considered

a man who is unusually successful at an early age

. I believe J-up and J-hey fall into that category. My context didn't imply that they could do no wrong, it was just they are the class of the outfield. Which they are, B.J doesn't compare to the talent or potential that Justin or J-hey has. If someone asked who are the stars of the OF...it would be Justin and J-hey. Heck, if someone asked who are the stars of the Braves...someone could say Justin and J-hey.

[Bravo95]

Early success has a lot to do with it. By age 23: Justin was a Top 5 MVP candidate and Jason became a Top 3 player at his position. That's why the "hype" is there... but still more room to grow (and we know Braves fans have a long history of turning on their outfielders). I once interned at a court house, and will never forget the supervisor telling me: "The reward for good work, is MORE work." My point on those two was just about raised expectations. Hopefully we see that standard applied to everyone in this organization because it hasn't always been the case. Everyone needs to step their game up if we're going to make a run.

[Getting UGGLA]

All of em. I'm very excited about this season. We are going hit a LOT of home runs and pitch extremely well. I really like our chances this year.

[ATL#22]

This is a tough question and I wish I could go with a sleeper here but being honest its Justin. I've been following him since he was a prospect and I remember Heyward being compared to him when he was 19 so I'm amazed we have them both. We now have two legit MVP candidates and 35 homeruns is a possibility for Justin. If Uggla can get himself straightened out we have 4 players who could top 30 homeruns (Uptons, Heyward, Uggla).

[ATL#22]

And BraveKid is right about Alex Wood. He's a power lefty and this year will be huge for knowing if he is a shutdown RP or a top of the rotation starter.

[GoBraves]

Most excited- Got to roll with Freedie Freeman. All the hype is with B.J, Justin, and J-hey (and rightfully so, it's a young and talented outfield) but lets not forget we have a young and talented 1B. Freeman is almost like an afterthought when you bring up the Braves. He beat the "sophomore slump," he improved his defense (went from -1 DRS to 3 DRS), he improved his discipline (taking more walks and swinging at less pitches outside the zone), the biggest hit he took was in his average but that's not too big considering his improvement in everything else and his tendency to rake.

Freeman can hit any pitch and can hit it anywhere on the field. I believe he's the true "hitting fool." This is his 3rd year, he should get plenty of AB's with RISP, and I think he understands the importance of plate discipline. Think he is going to go insane.

Most interested in watching- B.J Upton. The class is Justin and J-hey. Those are the golden boys in the OF. B.J is kind of off to the side. Everyone recognizes the potential he has...but I don't get the feeling that folks actually believe he can be a vital reliable part to the lineup. I'm very interested to see how he steps up to that view. Are you going to be that 3rd wheel or are you going to force people to recognize that you are a threat?

Most fun in watching- Simba. Kid is going to hit lead-off and have a full season of starting at SS so we get to see all the grit and plenty of the leather/range. He was already a fun player to follow. We're just going to have a blast watching the journey of Simba.

Most closely watched- Dan Uggla. You get the jist that Braves nation has completely given up on him. I haven't, he has good value, whether some want to believe it or not, and if he can just do what he has been doing for his career (instead of the last two years) he'd be a force, 4.0 WAR easy. Lets see if he can get it all together now. No more 2+ months slumps.

In the minors.

Alex Wood- The kid is like a Jonny Venters..but a starter. He should fly through our system, power arm and a lefty. Should be fun.

I agree with you. I too have Freeman as the player to watch this year. What kind of ceiling does Alex Wood have? I havent heard much about him!

[irishfan1582]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this lineup produces. I'm sure everyone can agree that there is a ton of power potential from 1-8, and I think that there could be a chance to either tie or break some team home run records throughout this season.

Most HR by team (NL): 249
Most HR by team (Franchise): 235
Players with 20+ HR in season: 6
Players with 30+ HR in season: 4

I'm sure we could see at least 6 player with 20 bombs, especially with a healthy Mac. The question would be if we see 4 with at least 30. I think you could look at Heyward, J-Up, Uggla, Freeman, and potentialy Mac with a chance of hitting 30.

[beldugo]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this lineup produces. I'm sure everyone can agree that there is a ton of power potential from 1-8, and I think that there could be a chance to either tie or break some team home run records throughout this season.

Most HR by team (NL): 249
Most HR by team (Franchise): 235
Players with 20+ HR in season: 6
Players with 30+ HR in season: 4

I'm sure we could see at least 6 player with 20 bombs, especially with a healthy Mac. The question would be if we see 4 with at least 30. I think you could look at Heyward, J-Up, Uggla, Freeman, and potentialy Mac with a chance of hitting 30.

I could see 6 players hitting 20, Heyward, J.Upton, Uggla , Freeman should be able to get there if healthy. BJ has hit 20+ for the last 2 years playing in a pitchers park so he probably would get there, if Bmac is healthy he will probably hit it too. That will only tie the record though so we need Francisco to go on a tear and hit 20 with limited playing time (i don't doubt him, he probably has the most natural power on the team).

4 with 30 homers i don't think it's possible, Heyward and Upton could get to that but we need Uggla to comeback to his old self for that to happen, and the last two years are not encouraging. Freeman won't get to 30 he is more of a gapper hitter, probably hitting 30+ a couple of times in his career when he get to his prime but not now. I really doubt Upton will get to 30 and Bmac has never done it, so 4 players with 30 Homers i don't think so.

To hit 249 homers we may need to have at least 2 players hitting 40+ at least 1 more players with 30+ and probably 3 more with 20+ and even like that is difficult. So i don't expect to get to that number.

[Getting UGGLA]

The Bravo Bombers. I LOVE it!!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t41WD_40tq8