Bench Grows Stronger with Overbay Signing
August 21, 2012 at 2:17 am by David Lee under Atlanta Braves, Transaction Analysis
As I linked to earlier in the news post, the Braves signed first baseman Lyle Overbay to a minor league deal and will send him to Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.
Overbay will be on the Braves bench come Sept. 1 when rosters expand, providing Atlanta a bat to solidify the left-handed half of its pinch-hit crew.
It was reported a couple weeks ago the Braves were looking hard for a left-handed bat for the bench, getting linked to names such as Johnny Damon. It’s a sign that they aren’t satisfied with Eric Hinske’s production, and for good reason. Hinske is hitting a lowly .205/.282/.299 with a .254 wOBA and just one home run. It’s apparent that he can no longer be trusted with the big pinch-hit at-bat late in the game.
Meanwhile, Overbay is hitting .292/.367/.448 with a .347 wOBA and 10.9% walk rate in 110 plate appearances this year. That includes a .364 wOBA against right-handed pitchers, compared to Hinkse’s .273.
Overbay has two 20-homer seasons to his name, but he has never been known for pop. However, he does know how to get on base, owning a career .344 wOBA with an 11.3% walk rate. While the pinch-hit home run is always big, having the ability to get on base late in the game means a lot. Overbay is capable of doing this, while Hinske has proven he can’t right now.
Signing Overbay is another shrewd move by Frank Wren in shoring up what was a weak bench just a few weeks ago. The addition of Reed Johnson in the Paul Maholm deal was a great move in that it gave the Braves a legit right-handed bat that they lacked since Matt Diaz went under. While trading for Paul Janish was out of necessity, it still proved to be a great move, and Janish should provide sound defense off the bench when Andrelton Simmons returns.
The bench was perhaps the Braves’ weakest link earlier in the season, but several solid moves by Wren changed that quickly. Overbay is just the latest example.
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[...] The Atlanta Braves have signed free agent first baseman Lyle Overbay as a left-handed bat off the bench. [Capitol Avenue Club] [...]
Interestingly, the Braves may be set up for the playoffs better than for the regular season (assuming, of course, they get there and survive the (likely now) play-in game). When they won the World Series in 1995, a key was having guys like Mike Devereau and Luis Polonia on the bench (although Devereau actually was MVP, I believe, in the NLCS). At this point, I can’t see the Braves winning the division.and the playoffs are no lock either, obviously.
I had wondered if they’d take a shot at Overbay. Why did the Dbacks cut him? He was having a good year. I realize Goldschmidt is their 1B, but Overbay is a nice piece for the bench.
Might just be something along the same lines as Francisco. They realize that he’s too good of a talent to ride the bench, but they also couldn’t find a spot in the everyday roster for him. Why not give him a chance elsewhere?
If that were the case, wouldn’t they trade him to someone other than Atlanta? He shouldn’t get much more playing time here, but his AB’s may mean more than they did in Arizona.
Well yeah, if it were a trade. But, in this case, it wasn’t their choice where he went since they released him. I’m guessing they are frustrated they didn’t try to move him at the deadline.
If Overbay isn’t called up until Sept. 1, does that mean he wouldn’t be eligible to be on the postseason roster (assuming the Braves make the postseason)? I was thinking you had to be on the 25-man roster before Sept. 1 to be eligible for the postseason unless you were on the DL.
You have to be on the roster by September 1, UNLESS the Braves have an injury. Then they can add someone from the 40-man roster. Many times, teams will even come up with a phantom injury that allows someone else to be added to the playoff roster.
I like the move. Overbay is a big improvement over Hinske as a bench bat. The problem is, Hinske can function as the 5th outfielder, while Overbay can’t.
Putting Overbay on a potential playoff roster with Hinske out leaves a bench of Ross, Francisco, Overbay, Johnson, and Janish. That leaves only 1 bench outfielder, which could be a problem.
That bench is just fine by me. IMO I’d rather be short an extra OF without Hinske on the playoff roster than be short a bench bat WITH Hinske on the playoff roster (if that makes sense, which hopefully it does). He’s an automatic out every time he comes to bat, so I’m sure the Braves could manage without him with Overbay as his replacement.
I guess it would mean that if Chipper has to miss a game in the playoffs, Francisco would play 3B instead of Prado. Otherwise, with Johnson in LF, there are no bench outfielders for that game.
Worst came to worst, they could stick Francisco in left. He has a strong arm and has played handful of innings there in the minors. I can’t believe he’d be much worse than Hinske.