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1. Jordan Schafer - RF
2. Justin Upton - LF
3. Freddie Freeman - 1B
4. Chris Johnson - 3B
5. Brian McCann - C
6. Dan Uggla - 2B
7. B.J. Upton - CF
8. Andrelton Simmons - SS
9. Paul Maholm - P
Two questions:
- How do you normally type a person's name like B.J.? Do you insert the punctuation or not? "B.J." or "BJ". Personally, I just want to type BJ because we get that the periods are there, but I was curious what people did, not necessarily whether it's "grammatically" correct.
- What do you think of the game threads as currently constructed, at least when I do them? I try putting some information about that night's starting pitcher below whatever random information I put in this section, but I'm not sure if anyone looks at it or not. I'm not looking for a "Yeah, it's awesome. You're so great!" response. I'm curious what you want/don't want in game threads so that we can make them better. Obviously, we can't make them too detailed because of time constraints, etc., but if there's something simple you would like to see in addition to or instead of the pitcher report, let me know. Thanks.
*wonders if anyone reads this part anyway*
Justin Masterson
Scouting Report: Sinker, slider, sinker, sinker, slider. That's about what you get with Justin Masterson. He's essentially a two-pitch pitcher who slings it in there from a low, low 3/4 angle. Despite the limitations of having two pitches and a low arm slot - fewer pitches to worry about and giving lefties a loooong look at the ball, respectively - Masterson has been an above-average pitcher for most of his career by keeping the ball on the ground.
Analysis: Masterson is having one of his best seasons so far. He's missing more bats - 24% K rate instead of his normal 17% - while adding more sliders to his arsenal than ever before. While the righty doesn't have masterful control, his ability to keep the ball on the ground - a 58.5% GB% that ranks as the best in the MLB - makes him a very good pitcher to have around. As for the splits, they're pretty gnarly as his FIP is a full run and a half higher against lefties than righties. Probably would have been a good night to start Terdoslavich instead of BJ or B.J. or the older Upton.