One More Time

As has been the case since 1995 third base is the position least open to debate when the Braves finally break camp and head to Washington for opening day. However this year will be slightly different to any other that Chipper Jones has started at the hot corner for his one and only organisation. The last time we Braves fans saw Chipper he was being helped off the Minute Maid field in Houston after practically destroying his left knee making an incredible defensive play. Thanks to the emergence of guys like Brian McCann, Jason Heyward and Martin Prado as well as the acquisition of Dan Uggla the importance of Chipper to the Braves has somewhat lessened. While it is almost preordained that Jones will hit in the third hole the pressure on him to produce the eye popping numbers that he has produced since his debut in 1993 but that doesn’t mean that Braves don’t need some of the old Chipper. Whether it is a psychological thing or simply just the way karma is the Braves do tend to go as Chipper goes, in April when Chipper hit just .230 the Braves were 9-14 although he still posted a .390 OBP, whereas in May Jones hit .265 and posted a beastly .410 on base percentage Atlanta went 20-8 a stretch that redefined the Braves season. Despite seemingly growing roots in the third spot in Bobby Cox’s line-up card Chipper made some comments that suggested he would be willing to give someone else a shot batting third, statements that seem to show Chippers thirst for one more championships now outweighs his desire to be the main man in the line-up.

Last year also represented the completion of Chipper’s transformation from power hitter to something much better rounded. Chipper became much more of an on base percentage player in the season he broke the Braves all time walk record, posting a .381 mark that would have ranked joint eleventh in the National League, a position that would have been greatly helped had he lasted through August, a month he was on base .471% of the time. The impact of a healthy Chipper in the line-up, regardless of where he is hitting, is the assistance he gives to other hitters both on and off the field. When Jones is on one of his torrid on base tears it gives McCann and now Dan Uggla the opportunity to hit with at least Chip on base and, in turn, their presence should result in Jones seeing the kind of pitches he used to deliver directly to the center field bleachers.

Reading Bill James’ predictions for Chippers season should make any Braves fan pretty happy. If you are to believe the father of sabermetrics then the Braves will have Jones on the field for 119 games (not a bard mark for a 39-year-old0 will post an impressive .288 average and an astounding .401 OBP and .481 slugging percentage. Should Chipper put up the numbers that James seems to indicate he could then, in a year that may well be the last of Chippers legendary career, he could have gone a long way to adding some extra jewellery to his collection.