Braun continues to brew up big stats

ATLANTA - Ryan Braun tugs at the gloves, pulls an imaginary wrinkle out of the shoulder of his jersey and takes his stance. He takes his initial pose at the plate, feet slightly wider than shoulder width, slightly leaning toward the pitcher, the bat held out defiantly at an angle in his left hand, like some sort of "I dare you" pose out of "Braveheart."

He then settles back, confidently holding the bat high, like trying to entice a lightning bolt out of the sky.

Why not? That seems appropriate, especially to reach for another movie image.

"He looks like 'The Natural,' " said Jim Powell, the Milwaukee Brewers' radio voice.

There is an arrogance to it all. There is a message to the pitcher from Braun that, odds be damned, I own this at-bat, this plate, this game.
In this case, it is exuded by a 24-year-old with a mere 190 games in the major leagues. He's still supposed to be knock-kneed and fetching the doughnuts for the veterans, not up there acting he has Cooperstown on call-waiting.

"From the day he came up he looks like the best major league hitter I've ever seen," Powell said. "We keep waiting for him to tail off, for the flaws to be exposed, the problems to emerge, and it's not happening."

In 77 games this season, Braun is batting .287 with 20 homers and 57 RBIs. He's fifth in the National League in homers, sixth in RBIs, third in total bases, eighth in hits, fifth in extra-base hits.

This after a .324 average with 34 homers and 97 RBIs in 113 games of his rookie season in 2007.

"Come up your first year and just instantly start putting up the numbers he did, you don't see that. Guys don't do that," said Jim Skaalen, the Brewers' hitting coach.

"The guy did it last year and he's doing it again this year," said teammate Rickie Weeks. "He's a great hitter now, and he's getting better and better."

For big-picture stuff, Braun is the Brewers' left fielder, the 2007 National League Rookie of the Year and superstar in the making.

To think locally, Braun will ultimately be considered the greatest major leaguer to have ever worn a Huntsville Stars uniform. Better than Jose Canseco, who became an inflated Marvel Comics character and nowhere near the all-around player he had been in Huntsville. Better than Mark McGwire, who had a season for the ages, but an inconsistent career.

Braun played only 59 games for the Stars and, like McGwire (who played just 55 games for Huntsville), was a third baseman whose defensive skills did not bring to mind the word "smooth."

Hence the Brewers have moved Braun to left. For the most part, he has made the transition nicely. For the most part. Apologies to lip-readers who caught the close-up Wednesday afternoon when a misjudged line drive soared over his head.

"He's already started to look like a guy who has been playing left field for a long time," Powell said.

There's one guy in particular, though, who isn't very impressed with Ryan Braun.

Ryan Braun.

"I'm disappointed in my performance so far," he said, sitting at his locker in the Brewers clubhouse. "I've got to keep working hard. I feel like I've swung the bat OK, but I feel like I can do a lot better than I've done."

That's not false modesty. It's actually a little of that arrogance or confidence.

"He's a nice kid, quite down to earth," Powell said. "He just knows he can play. I don't think he looks down his nose at anybody, but he knows he's a stud. And it's hard to argue with him."

Said Braun, "I know what I'm capable of doing. I've always had high expectations for myself. My goals far exceed anybody else's expectations for me. I don't worry about what anybody else says."

Naturally.

(al.com)