 |
| Freddie Freeman |
The Atlanta Braves had a bad year in 2016. They finished 68-93, fifth in the National
League East. That said they finished the
second half of the season with a winning record of 37-35. The trade for Matt Kemp seemed to give the
Braves a much needed boost and the Braves have continued to retool during the
offseason. While I wouldn’t say they
will contend this year it should be better year overall.
The starting staff added R.A. Dickey, Bartolo Colon, and
Jaime Garcia to go along with Julio Teheran and probably Mike Foltynewicz. Dickey and Colon should eat up innings and if
we’re lucky will get Atlanta 12 wins each.
Garcia’s career numbers are good but he always seems to disappoint in
the end. I live near St. Louis and the
Cardinal fans do nothing but laugh when this comes up. Hoping for the best, he is another guy that
can get ya 10 -12 wins. With a little
support Julio Teheran should get around 15 wins while Foltynewicz is a bit more
of a wild card. I don’t mind this
starting staff. It won’t wow you per se
but it has more upside than what we saw last year. Dickey and Colon are on one year deals so no
huge loss if they struggle but who doesn’t like Bartolo Colon or the
knuckleball? Bullpen hasn’t changed
much. While Jim Johnson resigned to
handle the closer duties, all hopes are that Arodys Vizcaino will eventually
earn that job from him.
 |
| Bartolo Colon |
At catcher the club will go with Tyler Flowers and Kurt
Suzuki. I think Atlanta is happy to go
with a defensive minded replacement for now until a better option is available. Stud first baseman Freddie Freeman returns
anchoring the lineup as well as the right side of the infield. Brandon Phillips was traded for after free
agent pickup Sean Rodriguez was injured in the offseason. I like this move. Very aggressive even if it is for a veteran
on the downside on his career. Shortstop
will again be manned by Dansby Swanson who has everyone excited with his
potential. Adonis Garcia will be at
third. His batting is below average and
his defense isn’t great. They are stuck
with him until another option is obtainable.
 |
| Ender Inciarte |
The outfield returns Ender Inciarte who has been great in
the field and had a very good second half of the season at the plate. Matt Kemp will man left and I’m hoping he can
hit something close to what he did after he was acquired last year. Light hitting Nick Markakis will be in
right. He at least can get on base at a
decent clip and stays healthy but he won’t really wow you otherwise.
 |
| Dansby Swanson |
Atlanta did a good job in the offseason at least giving
themselves a decent team to put out on the field. Both the offense and pitching should be
respectable. Depth is still an issue so
injuries could put a major hurt on them if they pop up. No one will be expecting them to make a
playoff run this year but I do think 70-75 wins is attainable assuming the
pitching staff stays healthy and a few things go right for them. No matter what happens Atlanta should be
trending up. They still have talent in
the minors and a new ballpark which should provide more revenue and make them a
destination worth looking at for future free agents. That
is the fun part about spring training.
We all still have hope. And check out this funny five tool Bartolo Colon video hyping his coming to Atlanta.
 |
| Brandon Phillips |
No comments:
Post a Comment