More upside Braun or Fielder?

[Nowak008]

Fielder has been our leader and was the 1st half MVP. Fielder is the front runner to get the MVP especially if the Brewers win the division. Winning that at the age of 23 would be nothing short of astonishing.

Braun has been killing the ball since he has been called up from the minors. He is batting .353 as a rookie, along with 13 HR's and 36 RBI's in just 2 months. What even more amazing is that he is facing these pitchers for the first time around. He is going to get used to the NL pitchers and be even better.

Fielder could be the next Albert and Braun could be the next A-Rod.

Who ya got?

Fielder

[trwi7]

Fielder if Braun wouldn't be batting in front of Fielder there's no way he'd be seeing the pitches that he's seeing now and he does have a tendency to strikeout which would cause his numbers to fall.

But I don't really care, both of them are ours.

[MickeyDavis]

If we had a producting #5 hitter Prince would hasve 40 HR's right now. Braun is damn good though, he's been hitting from the start against pitchers he's never seen before. Now he'll start facing pitchers he's seen before, then look out.

[goirish2107]

i've heard there have been studies done that show there is no such thing as "protection" from hitting in front of a better hitter

[Wrighteous]

It's obvious that Braun is going to be a stud.

But I think it's too early to compare him to a hitter of Fielder's caliber. Braun may have some trouble once the league adjusts to him.

You guys have a crazy 3-4 combo for years to come though, Fielder and Braun. Wow. Kind of reminds me of the Ortiz-Ramirez duo.

[WEFFPIM]

If we had a producting #5 hitter Prince would hasve 40 HR's right now. Braun is damn good though, he's been hitting from the start against pitchers he's never seen before. Now he'll start facing pitchers he's seen before, then look out.

What if Braun gets moved to the 5 hole? I know it will never happen considering that just creates a void at the 3 hole, but there's your producing 5 hole hitter.

[ReasonablySober]

i've heard there have been studies done that show there is no such thing as "protection" from hitting in front of a better hitter

I've heard the same. Don't know how much I believe it but the numbers suggest the theory is correct.

I'll say this though, I don't think that it matters where you bat Braun, he's going to hit them out.

His power to all fields is astonishing. That pitch he hit out last night wasn't a mistake by Francis. Low fastball on the outside corner. Braun simply went with it and took it to the opposite field. Same thing he's done all year.

The fact that he's good enough to to do that at such an early stage in his career is remarkable.

[trwi7]

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What if Braun gets moved to the 5 hole? I know it will never happen considering that just creates a void at the 3 hole, but there's your producing 5 hole hitter.

Then Braun doesn't get any protection. And he's still a rookie who is prone to swinging at pitches that he shouldn't be swinging at.

[humanrefutation]

It's hard to tell. I think we'll be able to better judge that by this time next year. It seems right now that Braun is a better overall hitter than Fielder, as his BA is much higher and he's less strikeout prone. But that might change as ptichers adjust.

[MickeyDavis]

Pitchers may adjust to Braun. But he'll also be adjusting to pitchers once he starts facing them for the second time. This kid can flat out hit.

[brewcityboii]

here is an interesting split for Braun.

537/.600/1.195 off of left-handed pitching
.287/.310/.484 off of right-handed pitching

[ssssssnake]

Right now I just feel tremendous confidence when Braun is at the plate. Fielder not so much but he'll turn it on again and Braun is bound to come back to earth at some point.

I'd guess Braun is a 30 HR, 30 stolen base, .300 hitter over time

I'll say Fielder is 40 HR, 2 lucky stolen bases, .290 hitter over time


I voted Fielder but I'm not so sure Braun isn't the better overall player.

[Siefer]

I think Fielder is going to develope at the plate, and hit for a good average over time. He's got good bat speed, and his dicipline is improving. I think the ceiling for Fielder is in the .300 BA 50 HR 130 RBI range, which is pretty damn saucy. Braun is a bit of a different beast. I think we could be looking at a .330 BA 30 HR 30 SB 120 RBI kind of guy for a long time with him. I wouldn't put one above the other at this point, but they compliment each other extremely well.

[El Duderino]

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Then Braun doesn't get any protection. And he's still a rookie who is prone to swinging at pitches that he shouldn't be swinging at.

This protection stuff is sooooooo overrated.Fielder won NL Player of the Month all the while Estrada was batting after him and stinking up the joint that whole month.

So long as a guy like Braun or Fielder doesn't have a pitcher or a Counsell like hitter following them,they'll always get plenty of pitches to hit.The reason for this is simple,walking them puts a runner on base and baserunners are how runs score.

Lots and lots and lots of hitters have had very big years throughout the history of the games even when a less than stellar hitter followed them.Braun and Fielder rake like crazy not at all because who bats after them,but because they are great hitters.

[El Duderino]

dp

[trwi7]

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This protection stuff is sooooooo overrated.Fielder won NL Player of the Month all the while Estrada was batting after him and stinking up the joint that whole month.

So long as a guy like Braun or Fielder doesn't have a pitcher or a Counsell like hitter following them,they'll always get plenty of pitches to hit.The reason for this is simple,walking them puts a runner on base and baserunners are how runs score.

Lots and lots and lots of hitters have had very big years throughout the history of the games even when a less than stellar hitter followed them.Braun and Fielder rake like crazy not at all because who bats after them,but because they are great hitters.

I never said Braun wasn't a good hitter but don't you think he may benefit from batting in front of Prince? Now would you rather go right after the rookie who is still prone to striking out and swinging at pitches out of the zone (look at his 15 walks and 41 strikeouts for proof) or would you rather pitch to the rookie carefully, risk walking him and face the NL leader in homeruns with at least one runner on?

[Ayt]

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I never said Braun wasn't a good hitter but don't you think he may benefit from batting in front of Prince? Now would you rather go right after the rookie who is still prone to striking out and swinging at pitches out of the zone (look at his 15 walks and 41 strikeouts for proof) or would you rather pitch to the rookie carefully, risk walking him and face the NL leader in homeruns with at least one runner on?

Going right after the rookie hasn't worked all that well so far for teams.

Anyway, His K rate isn't very high at all considering his SLG.

AB/K

Hardy 6.5
Hart 5.5
Prince 4.5
Braun 4.3
Hall 3.8
Weeks 3.7
etc.

His lack of walks may be a bit disconcerting, but players often walk less when they are hitting .347 with a .688 SLG since they are hitting the ball so well when they make contact.

His walk to K rate was absurd in AAA. In 34 games and 114 ABs, he had 11 K's and 15 walks (and 10 HR's!).

He and Prince's K rate throughout the minors was nearly identical, with a slight edge to Prince. Braun did outhit him though with a BA of .313 to .297, and had a higher OPS despite not walking as much because Braun had a SLG of .572 to Prince's .524. Interestingly, the only year Prince bested Braun's career minor league slugging was in 2002 in rookie ball.

You would certainly like to see Braun walk more, but he does project as a high average/high power hitter who doesn't strike out at a high rate (given his power), who will very likely walk a lot more as his career progresses.

[ReasonablySober]

Braun is now leading MLB in OPS. He's simply unreal. Not in a million years did I think he'd have this start to his major league career.

[Ayt]

Braun is now leading MLB in OPS. He's simply unreal. Not in a million years did I think he'd have this start to his major league career.

I think the A-Rod comparison is very apt. Early in his career he was a high average/high power guy who didn't walk as much as you'd like. He could also steal a bag. His walk rate really went up his 5th season and on.

Since Braun reached the majors at an older age, I'd expect his walk rate to go up more quickly than A-Rod's did.

[goirish2107]

i love the arod comparisons because braun has worked out with him a number of times, he helped him make the transition to 3b, etc. i'm sure he's a guy that braun tries to model himself after