Overheard conventional wisdom from baseball fans: “Ryan Braun can’t hit without the juice and his thumb is all messed up.” “Prince Fielder is breaking down and his best days are behind him.”
Both sentiments could be filed under “non-crazy,” and perhaps ultimately they will be borne out. But for now Braun and Fielder are partying like it’s 2009, with the former hitting 272/.349/.543 with 12 homers and 36 driven in and the latter hitting .365/.417/.575 with nine homers and 35 driven in.
Braun certainly isn’t helping the Brewers compete for a title and, unless he keeps up this kind of production through his mid-30s, his contract gets fairly ugly starting next year. Fielder’s Rangers could be more interesting as the season wears on given how poorly Oakland and Seattle have been playing in the early going. Of course his contract is even more pricey between 2016 and 2020 than Braun’s is. There are no promises that these rebounds will mean much if anything for Braun and Fielder’s clubs or their contracts.
But it sure is neat to see guys some had written off turning it back on again.
