FanNation

Braun Adjusting to New Position; Hitting Coming Around

It looks like Brewers’ third baseman turned outfielder Ryan Braun is back on track after getting 11 hits and four home runs in his last four games and increasing his slugging percentage to .563. Up until a week ago, Braun was slugging .443 – down from .634 in his stellar rookie campaign – and some people were wondering if he was suffering from the “sophomore slump.”

That Braun experienced some early-season slumping was not surprising since he was moving from his natural position of third to the outfield. That’s not an easy transition in any league, but it’s even tougher at the ML level. His reads are totally different now. At third he was taught to charge the ball, and in the outfield he’s now being taught that his first step is back. The focus and consistent thought about what he needs to do in the outfield as opposed to what his body is instinctively telling him to do probably took away from his concentration at the plate. Now that he’s more comfortable with his new position, he can focus more on hitting.

Prince Changes Diet, Loses Power

Braun’s fellow slugger Prince Fielder continues to struggle, slugging at just a .412 clip, and this might be a result of becoming a vegetarian. Anytime you change your diet, especially becoming a vegetarian after eating meat your entire life, it’s a shock to your system. It’s going to take time for your body to adjust to whatever stressful activity (in this case hitting) you undertake. And Fielder made this transition in Spring Training – not good timing. But he’s a good hitter, and he’ll eventually come out of it.

The Sophomore Slump is a Real Thing

Even though I wouldn’t say Braun is going through a sophomore slump, I do believe such a phenomenon exists. Why? First, after a full season the league is now aware of what a player can and can’t do. They’re then able to exploit the player’s weaknesses more often. Second, a player having a good rookie season can tend to put too much pressure on himself to meet or exceed his first year results. Teams don’t generally expect much from rookies. But after a good rookie season, they’ll start to count on them, and the players then feel the weight of this expectation. Third, baseball has its own special way of keeping players in check. Once a player thinks he has things figured out, baseball comes up with a new way to beat him.

I personally experienced the sophomore slump. I had a solid first season and then proceeded to go out and get my ass kicked the first half of my second season. I was able to come out of it somewhat in the second half, finishing with a 12-13 record. But at one point I was 7-12 and my ERA was over 6.00. I lead the AL in home runs allowed, with 33.

Marlins are Legitimate

The Marlins are legitimate. They have a solid nucleus of young, talented position players (Mike Jacobs, Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez, Jeremy Hermida) who play the game hard and don’t give up easily. I think their pitching, especially their starters, will be their Achilles heel in the end. With Mark Hendrickson as the veteran of the staff, they lack a solid veteran presence in the rotation. If I’m a Marlins fan I hope that if they’re still in it before the trade deadline they attempt to add some veteran pitchers off the waiver wire or make a trade, as long as they can keep their core players.

Blown-up Dolls Overblown

The whole White Sox, Ozzie Guillen, blow-up doll situation was a bunch of crap! Bert Blyleven had the best prospective on the situation. He said that when he was a young player coming up to the big leagues, he was taught that what you heard or saw in the clubhouse stayed in the clubhouse. It was the same way for Ozzie coming up. And with his team struggling the way it was, it was just a way to loosen the guys up. Even the reporters knew that some things they saw in the clubhouse were off limits and shouldn’t be reported. When you’re playing professional baseball, you’re with the same guys for 162 games plus seven weeks of Spring Training and, if you’re lucky, the postseason. You’re with your teammates more than your family. Things aren’t always good but you find a way to make it work, or it becomes too difficult to go out play the game. So, no, I don’t have any problem with what Ozzie (or somebody) did.

Questions from readers:

Do you guys scout college players? I’ve watched Jemile Weeks, Rickie Weeks’ litter brother and University of Miami and I think he’ll be even better than Rickie is. What do you think? – Jason Gipe

No, we generally don’t scout amateur players, other than a few Korean players. But I hope that he plays harder in the minor leagues than his brother did at times.

Have a question for Willie? Email him at writers@dugoutcentral.com.

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Willie Fraser was California’s first round pick (15th overall) in the 1985 draft. He pitched eight years in the Majors, for the Angels, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Marlins and Expos, and three in Japan with the Orix Blue Wave. He was part of Orix’s 1996 championship team. Willie played professionally for 15 years and never was on the disabled list. Since his playing days he has been a scout and consultant.