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December 22, 2008

Player Profile

Jeff Francoeur

by Marc Normandin and Eric Seidman

Jeff Francoeur's career has been a series of ups and downs, the high point coming in his first year in the majors, and his lowest occurring this past season. To avoid becoming a has-been at age-25, Francoeur will need to figure out how to harness his talent. Today we'll take a look at what went wrong in his dreadful 2008, and what we can expect from him going forward.

Jeffrey Braden Francoeur was chosen by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 2002 amateur draft out of Parkview High School in Lillburn, Georgia. As a high school All-American in baseball who helped Parkview High win consecutive Georgia state 5A baseball championships playing right in the Braves' backyard, he was hard to miss, and fit right in with Atlanta's strategy of drafting regional talent.

He was placed in Rookie League with the Danville Braves, where he hit .327/.395/.585 in 147 at-bats, an effort that made him the sixth-best prospect in the organization according to Baseball America, who said that Francoeur had all of the tools needed to become a legitimate baseball star, but that he would have to acquire the experience needed to learn how to utilize them. He had the arm and the instincts to be a great defensive outfielder, with a smooth, no-hitch swing. There is one comment that stands out however, which reasonably presumed that: "as he focuses on baseball, he'll understand how pitchers are trying to set him up at the plate…"

For his first full season, 19-year-old Frenchy was promoted to the Sally League, where his free-swinging tendencies were even worse than they had been the previous season, though it didn't seem hopelessly detrimental at this stage. Francoeur's .281/.325/.445 line was nothing spectacular, and his walk rate dropped from nine percent all the way down to 5.3, but he had also lowered his strikeout rate dramatically to 12 percent of his plate appearances, down from the 20.4 percent the previous year.

Baseball Prospectus 2004 offers a bit more insight:

Francoeur didn't overwhelm in his full-season debut at Rome, but for a guy who played mostly football in high school, it was an impressive start. His power and wheels are for real, and the scouting reports on his defense are better than the DT's would suggest. He'll need to learn how to handle breaking pitches and improve his approach at the plate, but he's got time.