Can we ignore wins and losses now? Hanson pitched very well in 2010, putting up a 3.33 ERA (though he allowed 11 unearned runs, for a 3.82 run average, after allowing just one unearned run in 2009) but finished 10-11 due to preposterously low run support in the second half. After the break, his ERA was 2.51… and he went 2-6. He actually pitched better than that 2.51 ERA; his slash line allowed was .205/.256/.311, but he wasn’t getting a lot of defensive help either, and the hits tended to bunch.

Hudson won Comeback Player of the Year and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting, going 17-9 with a 2.83 ERA while throwing 228 2/3 innings. It was a heck of a comeback. Early in the year, he was putting up good results that looked completely unsustainable, walking as many or more than he was striking out but getting bailed out by double plays. Over his first fifteen starts, he was 7-3 but with a 2.54 ERA, having struck out 45 but walked 37. Long term, you’re going to get burned pitching like that Over his last nineteen starts, he struck out 94 and walked 37, went 10-6 with a 3.06 ERA. With his ground ball rates (the highest in the league) you can thrive like that, though you’d want a better infield than the Braves have.

Personally, I don’t get the appeal. He’s basically a right-handed Brooks Conrad — a guy with a long minor league career (ten years!) who doesn’t hit for a high enough average to be really productive despite pretty good power and walk rate. Actually, Conrad’s minor league numbers are a bit better than Mather’s. He’s a few years younger than Conrad, and a four corners guy rather than a second baseman/third baseman, and better as an outfielder than an infielder. He’s a big guy, with real power (though it took him a long time to turn it into any real results) and really shouldn’t play third base any more than Hinske should. For some reason, some people think he can play center, but I just don’t see that either; his defensive stats in the minors aren’t great even in the corners.

Hit at almost exactly his career level (.256/.338/.456; career is .254/.336/.439) but oddly context differences (overall decline in offense, mostly) meant it was actually one of his better years. A solid bench bat who had a hot streak when inserted into the lineup as a platoon leftfielder, which was a big spark in the Braves surging to first place and getting enough wins to hold on to the wildcard. He slumped and fell out of the lineup; after that, he was mostly used as a pinch-hitter, even though nobody really seized the job and the Braves were using Melky more than anyone.

Suck it, Posey. And you were out.

Heyward had as good of a rookie season as anyone could have hoped, hitting .277/.393/.456. In a way, that is misleading, as it doesn’t really reflect how he played at any one time of the year, and he never really established a level. At his best, he was an MVP-level hitter, putting up a .337/.453/.628 line in May. But then he got hurt, hitting only .181/.287/.245 in June before they finally shut him down. When he came back, he hit the ball hard, but mostly on a line, hitting for high averages but little power. The power returned a little in August but then he tired down the stretch, hitting the rookie wall in September and October, though he was still walking a lot; the walks were the big constant all year.

Ugh.

McLouth basically never looked like a professional baseball player last season. He started out with a catastrophic spring training in which he struck out in literally nearly every at-bat. When real games started, he didn’t strike out that much more than he usually does, but virtually never made solid contact, contributing instead a plethora of FB-9s. He got even worse when Jason Heyward leveled him going for a fly ball in June, causing a concussion. He hung around for awhile, went on the DL, came back, and finally was assigned to the suburbs, hitting .168/.279/.265.

Curious. Prado spent a good portion of the year challenging for the batting title, missed huge chunks of time with injuries, was forced off his regular position because of Chipper Jones‘ injury, then was shut down with yet another injury of his own. And yet, he (a) set career highs in plate appearances and games played, and (b) put up an almost identical slash line (.307/.350/.459) to his career averages (.307/.356/.454). I think we can pretty much state that Martin is a .300 hitter with medium power and on-base skills. He finished ninth in the MVP voting; likely he would have been some higher if he’d been healthy.

He is what he is — a pretty-good glove man who avoids being a total offensive zero by poking a few homers and a few doubles. Last year he had career highs with 23 and 42 respectively, but most of the homers came in Toronto, and he only slugged .386 in Atlanta. (But the AL is the tougher league.) Not only does he hit for a low average (career .248 and 2010 .250) but he walks little (career and 2010 OBP of .291) he has basically no peripheral offensive skills; a bad bunter, slow, doesn’t put the ball in play. Should never, ever, hit anywhere but seventh in a National League order; you need someone who will take a walk hitting eighth, and anywhere higher than seventh you’ll lose a lot of baserunners to his myriad outs. Despite all that, he’s probably above the median for a shortstop. He’s also the only thing like a major league shortstop in the organization, so the Braves had no choice but to exercise his option.

The key to the season, in my opinion, is getting Chipper back in the lineup and producing. He doesn’t have to be the Chipper of old — old Chipper will do. He’s lost much of his power, and has hit for a poor average the last two seasons (in which he’s put up all but identical slash lines, with the largest difference being because of fewer intentional walks) but all the walks mean that he’s on base nearly 40 percent of the time, and that’s huge. Actually, he seemed to be reviving in the last few games before he blew out his knee on August 10; in nine games in August, he hit .400/.471/.833. I think it’s safe to say that you can’t expect that on a full-time basis, but if he can hit .300 or so that would be great. I’m not sure what adjustments he made, though he reportedly did make some; he rejected the obvious one, to go to a lighter bat.

Dan Uggla is the kind of guy who makes baseball the great game it is. He was no prospect, just an organization guy in the Diamondbacks’ system, an eleventh-round pick out of the University of Memphis in 2001. He put up some big numbers in the California League, but he was old for the circuit and everyone hits in the California League anyway, and some pretty good numbers in AA Tennessee in 2005, but nobody took him seriously. He wasn’t a great second baseman or a great athlete, and he was 25 years old. The D-Backs exposed him to the Rule 5 draft. The Marlins, needing a second baseman after trading Luis Castillo, took a flyer, and he won the job in spring training. He hasn’t really stopped hitting since. In 2006, he finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting, putting up similar slash numbers to teammate Hanley Ramirez (the winner) and poking 27 homers.

Not the first time that the Braves have handed first base over to a basically untested rookie. Adam LaRoche was given the first base job in 2004 with no major league experience at all; after a pretty severe adjustment period and an injury, he rebounded with his usual fine second half. Freeman lacks LaRoche’s plate discipline, at this point in his development anyway, but has hit for higher averages and is several years younger than Adam was as a rookie, with more pure power potential.

This grew out of a conversation in comments about Mark McGwire. McGwire’s resume is impressive in the category of home runs — 583 career (tenth all-time), four times first in the league, including his record-setting 70 in 1998 and 65 in 1999. I think he’s a Hall of Famer. However, the assumption that he is a slam-dunk Hall of Famer without deducting for steroid use… Well, that’s a bit much. McGwire’s career is awfully short for a Hall of Famer, or rather he didn’t come to the plate that much in a 16-year career — his 7660 career plate appearances are 297th all-time, and he’ll fall out of the top 300 this year, before the All-Star break. McGwire, a very large man even unsupplemented, had chronic problems with his ankles early on, and the usual aches and pains later in his career. Do you give him credit for what he would have done, if healthy?

The best catcher in the league deserves the best backup in the league. Ross had an odd season. Normally, his offensive contributions come largely via power, but he hit only two home runs, the first of which didn’t come until August. However, he hit a career-high .289 and drew 20 walks in just 145 PA to post a .392 OBP, and with 13 doubles and 2 triples wasn’t just a punch-and-judy hitter either, slugging .479. The Braves signed him to an extension during the year to keep the combo intact.

Maybe the most underrated player in baseball. If Jason Heyward can stay healthy, Brian’s term as the Braves’ best player should be over this season, so he’ll just have to settle for being the best catcher in the league. (Yeah, San Francisco, I said it.) McCann had another strong season, albeit one with another little bout with eye problems. Hopefully, that’s all been taken care of for good, and he’ll be able to stay in the lineup. It remains to be seen how Fredi Gonzalez will handle the catchers in 2011. Brian was obviously worn down at the end of the season (he hit just .221/.318/.326 in September and October) and could benefit from a bit more rest. He doesn’t have to be any better to be a star, but if he can put together a couple of home run tears like he’s capable and can stay healthy, he might put up some really impressive numbers. No catcher is a more consistent power threat than McCann, who at 112 is already among the sixty most prolific all-time home run threats at the position and should move into the top fifty, possibly top forty, in 2011.