Chipper Jones went and blew up. Here's a guy who's made a name for himself as one of the most consistent hitters in the history of the Braves organization, and just about no one expected him to come out and be one of the best hitters through a month and a half of the season.
He's 36, for crying out loud. He's on the tail end of his career.
He's also come out of the gate stronger than ever before, not only hitting a lofty .418, but doing it with 11 homeruns and a straight ridiculous .479 OBP.
Chipper Jones up to bat? Flip a coin. If it's heads, he's getting on base. That's beyond silly.
We knew Jones was a good ballplayer. We knew he was going to hit .300 or better, that he'd be on base 40 percent of the time, that'd he'd knock out 25-30 home runs and knock on the door of 100 RBI.
But this is something else. This is a great hitter taking it to a whole new level, and it's been fun to watch so far.
And small sample sized be damned, Jones is the type of guy who's going to keep it up. Nobody actually thinks he'll finish the season batting above .400 or that he'll really accumulate 260 hits, but it's not at all unreasonable to believe that, at 36 years old and on the tail end of a great career, he's capable of putting up his best season so far.
That's just the type of player Chipper Jones is. In a season where guys like Cliff Lee and Brandon Webb have started the season hotter than imaginable, Mr. Jones may be the player most worth watching.
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