Let’s be clear: Tommy La Stella isn’t a prospect on the exalted order of Jason Heyward or Freddie Freeman or — going back a bit — Ryan Klesko or Chipper Jones or — way back now — Gerald Perry or Brad Komminsk. That said, Tommy La Stella just might be the right man at the right time.
As we’ve been made aware on a daily basis, the Braves haven’t hit. They entered Wednesday night’s game at Fenway Park ranked 28th among 30 big-league teams in runs, 27th in on-base percentage and batting average, 21st in walks. That latter number is down from the 13th of last season, and that’s why the OBP has cratered. The strikeout number, alas, remains lofty: The Braves ranked third in the majors in whiffs last season; they’re fifth now. Their power, however, has diminished. They led the National League in home runs in 2013; they’re seventh in 2014.
La Stella surely will outhit the second basemen the Braves have tried so far. He could hardly do worse than the .200 average of Tyler Pastornicky, just shipped back to Gwinnett, or the .164 of Ramiro Pena, whose best position is the bench, or the .177 of Dan Uggla, who’s a Brave only because nobody else wants him. La Stella cannot hit for the other underperformers in this lineup, which would be everyone except Freeman and Justin Upton. But La Stella can hit in a way for which these Braves have shown no aptitude or inclination.
He can hit singles. In 21st century baseball, nobody cares about the puny one-base hit. (Remember when Matty Alou would choke up and flip his dinky singles hither and yon? Remember when Pete Rose stated his intention to become “the first $100,000 singles hitter”? Olden days, people.) Today everybody wants to “go yard” and make the ESPN highlights doing his stylized Tater Trot. Chicks dig the long ball, and who cares if you fan 15 times for every blast?
La Stella arrives in the majors having hit one homer in Triple-A, the one coming Tuesday. Ordinarily the arrival of a middle infielder carrying a .293 average wouldn’t be cause for celebration, but these aren’t ordinary times. The Braves need something to spark this moribund offense. Heyward did it last season when Fredi Gonzalez moved him to the leadoff spot, but that gambit hasn’t worked half as well a second time. The Braves have two capable hitting coaches in Greg Walker and Scott Fletcher, but if we’re judging by results they would do just as well letting Chipper offer counsel via Twitter. (He’s @realcj10, FYI.)
What La Stella does is put the ball in play — of his 49 Gwinnett hits, only eight were for extra bases — but among these Braves that’s no meager skill. As of Wednesday morning, they had mustered 400 hits, the second-worst total in the majors. When La Stella doesn’t put the ball in play, he’s more apt to draw a walk (25 in 47 games) than strike out (14 K’s). He’s doesn’t fit the profile of a modern player, which could be a blessing. The Braves have way too many 21st century men.
Because La Stella does seem a man out of time, scouts have never been that high on him. None of the four major rating services placed him among the Braves’ top five prospects. Baseball America listed him ninth; FanGraphs had him eighth; MLB.com slotted him seventh. For Baseball Prospectus, which ranked him No. 6 in the organization, Jason Parks wrote: “The 25-year-old can swing the bat and knows what he can drive and what he can’t, but he lacks power and speed, and his defensive profile is fringe-average at best. … The hit tool has to really shine against even better arms for La Stella to emerge as a major-league regular.”
In the same paragraph, Parks quoted an unnamed source as saying: “Give me a guy with a plus hit tool and baseball instincts over a guy with elite tools and no clue how to use them.” That’s what the Braves, after two months of trying the big-swinging Uggla and the utility types Pastornicky and Pena, are finally doing. They’re banking on a player who can hit singles and who, in the parlance of baseball, has an idea when at the plate.
Because La Stella doesn’t fit the profile of Frank Wren’s type of player — or, to be fair, most contemporary general managers’ type of player — his arrival will be fascinating. An offense built on the clout-or-out principle must bend to accommodate a Punch-and-Judy hitter who has 21 homers in 288 professional games. And, seeing as how little else has worked, the Braves must hope that this rookie’s retro way of hitting has a trickle-up effect.
