Atlanta's New Outfield: Young, Fast and Powerful

New Brave Justin Upton joins brother B.J. and Jason Heyward in an outfield that could make power/speed history.The Atlanta Braves ended baseball's longest-running soap opera, "As The Upton Turns," by acquiring Justin Upton from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a seven-player deal. Justin now joins brother B.J., who inked a five-year, $75 million contract earlier this winter, and Jason Heyward in Atlanta's new-look outfield. The Brothers Upton and Heyward all have youth on their side, and they can crack a game wide open with power or speed. How rare is it for a club to have three power-speed threats covering the outfield, let alone three young ones? Turns out, it's unprecedented.

All three of Atlanta's fly-catchers have turned in 20 home run, 20 stolen base seasons in the major leagues. B.J. hit the 20/20 mark in 2007 (24 HR, 22 SB), 2011 (23 HR, 36 SB) and 2012 (28 HR, 31 SB). Justin did it in 2009 (26 HR, 20 SB) and 2011 (31 HR, 21 SB), and Heyward cleared the bar this past year (27 HR, 21 SB in 2012). With the Uptons and Heyward in the prime years of their careers, manager Fredi Gonzalez might just get three 20/20 seasons from his outfielders in 2013:

    2013 Bill James Projections

While Heyward has more than 1,700 plate appearances in the majors and he can grow a beard between innings, he'll be just 23 years old next season. Justin is entering his age-25 campaign, and B.J. is the old man at all of 28. All young dudes, all 20/20 threats in 2013 and for years to come. So, when was the last time that a team boasted three 20/20 outfielders?

The answer, according to Baseball-Reference's Play Index Tool, is "never." In all the years since we began this stick-and-ball business, no team has ever had its left, center and right fielders all go 20/20 in the same season. The Uptons and Heyward could very well make history next season. And the season after that. And the season after that. If Justin re-signs with the Braves following the 2015 season, B.J. keeps his wheels and Heyward stays healthy, they could be at this for a half-decade.

It's incredibly cool -- and rare -- for two brothers to man the same outfield. But if B.J., Justin and Heyward all hit 20 bombs and steal 20 bases next year, the story of the Uptons' shared bloodlines will be downright blasé by comparison.

Courtesy of Baseball-Reference, here's a list of teammates who have gone 20/20 in the same season while in their twenties. Only nine pairs have pulled off the trick, with Justin Upton and Chris Young being the most recent in 2011:

              20/20 seasons by teammates under 30 years old

Extreme Makeover: Arizona Diamondbacks Edition

When the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday traded Chris Johnson and Justin Upton to the Atlanta Braves for Brandon Drury (minors), Nick Ahmed (minors), Zeke Spruill (minors), Randall Delgado and Martin Prado, they have seemingly now completed their offseason makeover, however the meta-question is "Why?"

Arizona's Call to Action

The place to look would be the D-backs performance during the 2012 season which saw the team score the fewest runs in late and close game situations. Arizona's 76 runs were even less than Astros 84 and significantly less than the Reds 139 runs scored.

This is by no means a minor or esoteric stat. Late and close games represent plate appearances in the 7th inning or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck. The fact that Arizona's .199 BA in those settings was the only average under .200 in the NL was a true call to action for GM Kevin Towers.  

Granted the numbers are bad, but you can't help but think that this trade weakens Arizona, but perhaps with manager Kirk Gibson saying he will rotate playing time in the outfield between Jason Kubel, Adam Eaton, Gerardo Parra and Cody Ross and with the other changes and additions to this team...well, we just have to see.

NL Late & Close 2012 | Infographics

Cincy Bets on Choo's Bat

Despite posting the second-highest win total in the majors in 2012, the Cincinnati Reds got precious little out of their leadoff spot. Cincy's sorry collection of table-setters -- mostly Zack Cozart, Brandon Phillips and Drew Stubbs -- ranked dead last with an abysmal .254 on-base percentage. It wasn't close, either: the Dodgers and Mariners tied for second-worst at .281. Given the out parade atop an otherwise dangerous lineup, the Reds' top priority this offseason was finding a leadoff hitter with on-base skills.

GM Walt Jocketty got the offensive threat he so coveted in yesterday's three-team, nine-player deal involving the Reds, Indians and Diamondbacks, acquiring Shin-Soo Choo from Cleveland while surrendering Stubbs and shortstop prospect Didi Gregorius. Whether the 30-year-old Choo, who has all of 83 career innings played in center field and below-average defensive metrics in right field, can cut it in the middle pasture is an open question. But here's what's not up for debate: Choo has one of the best plate approaches in the game.

Check out the lefty hitter's swing rate by pitch location last season, compared to the MLB average:

Choo

MLB average

Choo took a cut at 65.2% of pitches thrown in the strike zone in 2012, topping the overall 64.6% average for MLB hitters. In addition to swinging at plenty of hittable pitches, Choo passed on junk pitches tossed outside of the zone. With a 21% chase rate, he ranked just outside the bottom ten among all MLB hitters:

Lowest chase rate among MLB hitters, 2012

Batter	Chase Pct.
Josh Willingham	18.4%
Rickie Weeks	18.4%
Alberto Callaspo	18.7%
Kevin Youkilis	19.2%
Edwin Encarnacion	19.9%
Carlos Santana	20.0%
Dan Uggla	20.1%
Michael Brantley	20.2%
A. J. Ellis	20.3%
Joe Mauer	20.6%
Denard Span	20.8%
Shin-Soo Choo	21.0%
Jamey Carroll	21.6%
Ben Zobrist	21.8%
Adam Dunn	21.8%
MLB Avg.	28.3%

Choo might have to fake it in center field, but he brings doubles power and a career .383 OBP to the top of the Reds' lineup. Somewhere, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce are smiling.