Chris Johnson is leading the Braves in hitting (batting .330 entering Wednesday night), he’s third on the team in on-base percentage (.377), yet he’s hitting eighth in the Braves order.
So why isn’t he hitting higher? Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Wednesday he has thought about moving Johnson up, but then situations happen like Tuesday night against the Marlins, when Johnson comes up in the eighth spot with the bases loaded and changed the game.
Johnson’s two-out, two run double broke the game open, and the Braves were on their way to an 11-3 win over the Marlins.
“I’ve been tempted to move him up a couple times, but it seems like that hole comes up with some people on base all the time,” Gonzalez said. “Or at the very least you get the other manager thinking about whether you walk him or pitch to the pitcher, at least turning the lineup over.”
Gonzalez said it felt like Johnson has come up with more runners on base recently than Freddie Freeman, batting cleanup, and he has a point. In the first four games of this homestand, Johnson has come to the plate with a total of 15 runners on; Freeman has had 15 runners on too.
“I really like him there and I think it’s a position that I think sometimes get neglected a little bit,” Gonzalez said. “There’s a guy so far who’s been able to produce some runs out of that spot…
“It seems like you always want to put your worst hitter down there. But the more I’m around it seems like you know what? You put a guy there that can handle the bat a little bit, you can cherry pick a little bit. When you get in situations you may drive in some big runs.”
Given Johnson’s batting average, some fantasy leaguers would like to see him batting leadoff over Andrelton Simmons, but Johnson doesn’t have the speed of a typical leadoff hitter. And batting eighth is proving to have its advantages.
Some hitters struggle in the eight spot, but Johnson doesn’t seem to mind. Entering Wednesday’s game, Johnson was hitting .375 in the eighth hole, his highest average at any spot in the order with more than 15 at-bats, including second, fifth, sixth and seventh.
“It’s helping me out actually because I know that they’re not going to just throw it in there because the pitcher is behind me,” said Johnson, a naturally aggressive hitter. “So I’ve got to learn how to be patient, take my walks, hopefully that helps me out in the long run.”
