Juan Francisco Isn’t as Bad as He’s Been
April 10, 2012 at 10:32 am by Ben Duronio under Defense
It’s easy to look at Juan Francisco’s errors over the past few games and get sour on him. It was certainly a reason for the loss yesterday. Martin Prado is a better fielder than Francisco, but Francisco is not nearly as bad as he has shown over the past few games.
Francisco has three errors in two games, two of which are of the throwing variety. This is supposed to be his strongest suit, and he has shown pretty solid strength with his arm over the past few games as well. Despite that, he has been inaccurate with a few which has led to baserunners and eventually runs. His range, however, has impressed me. This was pretty unexpected, but he has gotten to a few balls on both sides that I did not expect him to have the ability to get to. He is definitely a large guy, so the range being as solid as it has been has surprised me. DOB is saying he wouldn’t say Francisco is better defensively than Terdoslavich, but I’d be surprised at this point if that were the case.
Offensively, he has hit the ball really hard thus far. It’s been a small sample size, but he’s ripped three line drives and recorded two fly balls — which is what you want out of a guy with Francisco’s skill set. Don’t let early season performances like Francisco’s, who is a better player than he has shown, make you form an opinion on him that isn’t accurate. He is no world beater, but he is not as bad as he has been in these few games either.
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Francisco is actually the ST signing that I have the most confidence in as being productive this year and into the future. Sure, he’s no Chipper, but no one is expecting him to be. A guy with such sheer power is not expected to hit for a great average every year. The errors, I honestly believe to be a problem of nerves. He’s a new guy on a team and is trying too hard to impress. We have all been there.
With that said, two things need to happen for him to gain confidence and become truly productive…
1) Frediot needs to quit acting like it’s Spring Training and start putting guys in their everyday roles. One of the things you guys mentioned as part of Prado’s problems last year was the fact that he never knew where he was going to be playing. Sure the guys are professionals but it’s still tough to ask a man to come in and be productive when he doesn’t even know when he’ll be playing. I think Fredi needs to set Juan up with a dedicated role (aside from pinch hitting) where he can point to specific dates on the calendar and say “I know I’ll be starting this day, let me get mentally prepared.”
2) Juan needs to recognize that he is a backup this year and will remain in that role unless something happens to Chipper. This stuff about pointing to the minors and saying “I played everyday against lefties, so why can’t I here?” is nonsense. He should accept his role this year KNOWING that he’ll probably be the everyday starter next year (should he show to be productive). If anything, he should realize he had absolutely 0 chance of being a starter in Cincinatti and has moved on to a much better chance in Atlanta.
Thoughts?
You know who is as bad as he’s been? Matt Diaz.
Agreed.
Durbin/Livan too.
Livan I can forgive as he is being mismanaged to the highest degree. Durbin is terrible and hopefully will meet the fate of many trash heap middle relievers soon enough.
Doubtful. Remember they kept Linebrink and Proctor.
Trash heap? Surely you jest! He’s such a veteran! Just look at the back of his baseball card: not just one, but MULTIPLE years of technically pitching at the major league level!
There’s no chance that He gets sent down instead of Constanza eh? (regardless of waivers)
i know the answer is no, but the way Fredi has been doing things this year….. I’m not exactly confident.
Liking the new layout btw, just takes a bit getting used to
Fortunately, I don’t believe the ultimate decision of who gets sent down is Fredi’s to make. Otherwise, we’d be entirely screwed instead of just partially.
I think it is doubtful regardless. While I am sure Fredi may have some input I doubt Wren would let him keep Constanza. As Wren said the hardest commodity to find in baseball is raw power so when you get it you should keep it. Thus, since Francisco is out of options he has to stay on the roster to be kept.
I have not harped on Francisco one bit. Is he a reason we lost? Yeah but so was the mismanagement of the pen. Why in a 1-run game do you put in Livan and Durbin. I really think after Fredi was criticized for being so aggressive with his bullpen use last year he is going ultra conservative now. Even using Martinez or Medlen would have been my 1st out over those two in that situation.
Both of Francisco’s throwing errors to me are acceptable. One was a 360 turn and throw which is pretty tough to do and the 2nd throw to me was sort of a panic on an unexpected situation. I do find it kind of funny though that he is suppose to be better against RHP but his 1st hit came off a lefty.
My complaint is more with FredI. The article stated he played him yesterday because he wanted to see what he could do with lefthanders. it is not springtraining and the Braves were 3-0 with fans disgruntled. Not a good time to check it out. Also with Heyward starting to get his swing back, as a manager, You think he would try to nurture his confidence. Beside his mismanagement of the pitching staff I am beginning to wonder if he can manage the braves.
Wonder? Wonder went out the window after the first game. I think every single Braves fan nationwide is calling for Fredi’s job at this point.
With Bobby’s love for Fredi Is it even a posibility for him to be replaced if the Braves manages to play poorly but don’t completely tank?
Being that the Braves have never been an organization that embraced drama, I don’t really think Wren will make any kind of mid-season changes unless something seriously drastic happened, like the season basically being tanked. And it’s far too early for that.
I thought starting Juan was because they wanted to get him 1 last start prior to Chipper coming back(which all signs are starting to point to today).
Wins go before losses. If a team has won 3 and lost 0, they are 3-0. If they have lost 3 and won 0, they are 0-3. The Braves were 0-3 (now 0-4). Someone else did this the other day and it confused the hell out of me trying to read the context of sentences. The Braves are 0-whatever until they win.
right. 0 for the season.
I blame Fredi more than I blame Francisco. I don’t see a single logical reason to play Prado in LF, Francisco at 3B, and Diaz in RF over Prado at 3B, Heyward in RF, and Diaz in LF. Prado is a better defender than Francisco and Heyward is 10 times better in RF than Diaz. And as is true with most of Fredi’s moves, it backfired in the biggest way last night.
If Frank Wren just booted up MLB The Show for PS3 everyday before the game and let it run the game, we’d be better off managerially.
I say trade Juan to the Cubs for Dewitt I bet he can play a better 3rd then Juan can or why not sign Casey Blake I bet he can play a better third then Juan.
I have no problem with Francisco. I loved the addition when I heard we got him, but he should not have been in the lineup last night. Frediot continues to screw up. He mis-manages the bullpen every night. He benches Heyward because we are facing a lefty, and ultimately puts in another lefty in his place. I didn’t have a problem with Diaz playing. He has good numbers vs Happ. But Heyward should have been playing over Francisco. I realize you want to get Francisco some AB’s. He’ll get plenty when Chipper has his off days.
Not all blame goes on Fredi though. Wren deserves some blame for actually signing Chad Durbin. What was the point of that? Spot would be better off in Gearrin’s hands, or Varvaro, or Flande, or anyone not named Chad Durbin. It’s like we’ve found this years version of Scott Proctor and somehow given him a big league contract. Rant over.
It’s bad enough we gave him a contract, but the blame falls right back to Frediot for giving Durbin the innings in high-leverage situations. I think in both instances he came in with the team only being down a run or two.
It’s like Fredi is doing exactly what we thought he would. Last year he overused our bullpen strength and so now he is under-using the strength.
God this guy really is that terrible. Referring to Fredi…
!st appearance Durbin came in Atlanta was down 1. His second appearance they were down 3. However, he is still pointless. The spot he took was suppose to go to Flande who could have just as easily done this sort of production for a lower cost.
I agree completely that the blame falls on Fredi. The manager’s job is to put people in spots where they can help the team. It’s not Francisco’s fault he got put in vs a lhp. It’s not Durbin’s/Livan’s fault that they are used as high leverage relievers. Francisco has amazing power and if all you have to give up is JJ Hoover, you take that chance.
I think the problem with Fredi is that he thinks he has to manage for us to actually win. If he runs out our projected lineup everyday, not many people would complain and we’d win. If he used the proper relievers in the correct situations, no one would complain. He thinks he has to manage, but sometimes the best is to just roll the balls out and get out of the way
Another problem is he thinks if Livan is brought in for long relief, he HAS TO PITCH MULTIPLE INNINGS. Twice we’ve now seen Livan in an important spot with at least 2 lefties due up and he doesn’t bring in EOF. What is that???????? Does he have to use EOF in the 7th inning? Does he have to keep Livan in after a double switch? It’s like he’s trying to lose the game. I know that sounds crazy, but it seems like that.
All the Braves needs to get going is a little motivational tune from Major League 2:
Warning – amateur scouting below …
In watching Francisco take some ABs in Citi Field this weekend, it is clear to me why he strikes out so often. He’s a violent swinger, yes, but he also moves his front foot so far on the stride that his head moves all over the place. Dialing down the stride a bit seems like a pretty simple mechanical adjustment that would increase his odds of making contact.
Fire Fredi, hire Tito…