Month: March 2022

My Atlanta Braves Lineup Predictions

With Opening day just a couple of weeks away, it’s time to start thinking about lineups, rotations, and rosters. The Atlanta Braves are going to have a very fun lineup this year. It will start without Ronald Acuña Jr. given that he is still healing from a torn ACL, but once he is completely healthy and ready to play it is going to be a SOLID lineup. But hey…we won a World Series without Acuña, so I think we can manage without him until he is healthy enough to play. 😉

LINEUP WITHOUT ACUÑA:

  1. Eddie Rosario (Left Field)
  2. Ozzie Albies (Second Base)
  3. Matt Olson (First Base)
  4. Austin Riley (Third Base)
  5. Marcell Ozuna (Designated Hitter)
  6. Dansby Swanson (Shortstop)
  7. Adam Duvall (Right Field)
  8. Travis d’Arnaud (Catcher)
  9. Guillermo Heredia (Center Field)

Having the lineup like this makes sense to me. Eddie Rosario has proven to us that he can get on base. In the 2021 postseason, he was hitting singles, doubles, triples, home runs, and drawing walks… everything that you would want a lead-off hitter to do. To be a lead-off hitter, you don’t have to have crazy power and hit a homer with every swing. You just need to be able to get on base so the players behind you can drive you in and score runs for your team.

LINEUP WITH ACUÑA:

  1. Ronald Acuña Jr. (Right Field)
  2. Ozzie Albies (Second Base)
  3. Matt Olson (First Base)
  4. Austin Riley (Third Base)
  5. Marcell Ozuna (Designated Hitter)
  6. Eddie Rosario (Left Field)
  7. Travis d’Arnaud (Catcher)
  8. Dansby Swanson (Shortstop)
  9. Adam Duvall (Center Field)

We pretty much already know that once Acuña is back, he will probably be hitting lead-off. My opinion, however, is this: with Acuña’s homer-heavy power, wouldn’t it make sense for him to hit clean-up? I think Ronald Acuña Jr. would make such a good clean-up hitter. If he had Eddie Rosario, Ozzie Albies, and Matt Olson in front of him in the lineup, and then he was hitting fourth, he would have the opportunity to drive in so many runners. Not only would that give him a ton of RBI’s, it would also give the Braves more runs on the board and potentially lead to more wins. Although this seems like such a solid idea, I don’t think Acuña would give up hitting first. He likes hitting first and getting those first-pitch, attention-grabbing home runs. Sometimes I feel he needs a reminder that the game and the lineup isn’t about him…ahem. Maybe his time on the injured-list will remind him that baseball is about getting wins for your team, getting to the postseason, and having another shot at winning the World Series.

NOTE:

I have stacked up the bottom of each lineup differently. All of those players (Rosario, d’Arnaud, Swanson, and Duvall – plus Heredia) are very good. They can hit anywhere in the lineup, which is why I have placed them differently in each one. Looking at both lineups next to each other, they are both very deep and none of those players are considered an easy out.

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This is going to be a very exciting season for the Atlanta Braves and I cannot wait to see how it all plays out!

GO BRAVES!

My Thoughts On The Braves Post-Lockout Acquisitions

This offseason was anything but normal. With the lockout, any and all deals with players and clubs got put on pause. This made things challenging. But now with the lockout over, and Spring Training in full swing, the Atlanta Braves have made some deals, trades, and significant changes.

The most significant of these deals came on March 14th, when the Braves traded four of their top prospects for first baseman, Matt Olson. This deal with the Oakland Athletics brought a close to the Freddie Freeman era with Atlanta. It came with a pretty cost, too. The four minor league prospects that the Braves organization traded were: Christian Pache, outfielder and the Braves number one prospect; Shea Langeliers, catcher and Braves number two prospect; Joey Estes, pitcher and Braves number thirteen prospect; and Ryan Cusick, pitcher and 24th pick out of the 2021 draft. All in all, it was a costly deal for the Braves, but they got their first baseman.

And, the very next day, March 15th, the Braves signed Matt Olson to an eight-year $168 million contract through the 2029 season, with a $20 million option for 2030. Like it or not Braves country, Matt Olson is going to be our first baseman for the foreseeable future. He has very good career stats and had an impressive 2021 season. Last year, his average was .271, he hit 39 home runs, and had 111 RBI’s with Oakland. He also made just six errors. Let’s hope he will have the same kind of season with the Braves.

The Braves also signed right-handed pitcher Collin McHugh to a two-year $10 million deal on March 15th. This signing will help bolster the already impressive Atlanta bullpen.

On March 16th, the Braves signed Eddie Rosario to a two-year $18 million deal with a 2024 option. Rosario played a huge role for Atlanta last postseason. He was NLCS MVP and had some huge hits. Not to mention, he made some crazy impressive plays…wether he meant to or not! Eddie will most likely play left-field for Atlanta, and with more practice, I think he could be a really good outfielder. It will just take time for him to get more comfortable out there. It will also be nice to have Rosario’s bat back in the lineup. It is safe to say that last season the baseball was FLYING off his bat. The teams that the Braves were facing couldn’t seem to get him out! This deal brings added depth and energy to the Atlanta Braves’ lineup, and makes them even stronger.

Also on March 16th, the Braves signed relief pitcher Tyler Thornburg to a one-year, $900,000 deal. Thornburg did not play in 2021 due to Tommy John surgery. With this deal from the Braves, it is safe to say he will try and prove that he can still be a good pitcher like he once was before surgery. His best season came six years ago in 2016 with the Milwaukee Brewers. He is 33 years old, and has a lot to prove this season with Atlanta.

And finally, On March 18th, the Braves signed relief pitcher Kenley Jansen to a one-year $16 million deal. In all honesty, this deal surprised me. Don’t get me wrong – Kenley Jansen is a very good closer. He came through time and time again for the L.A. Dodgers. But, before the Braves came to this deal with him, they were in talks with World Series MVP, Jorge Soler. That is what made the Jansen deal more surprising. Instead of signing Kenley Jansen, they could’ve signed Soler and made him their DH. But now Soler is now a Miami Marlin. All this to say, the signing of Kenley Jansen makes the Atlanta bullpen even deeper and more powerful than before.

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It is safe to say that there are quite a few new faces for the Atlanta Braves this year. But the crazy thing is that Matt Olson, Collin McHugh, and Tyler Thornburg all grew up in Georgia. They were also all Braves fans growing up, so this is most likely a treat for them to be able to play for their hometown team. Eddie Rosario quickly became a fan-favorite last season, so I’m sure he is happy to be back. And for Kenley Jansen, he is joining an amazing team with an amazing fan-base. Let’s just hope all these men will be as good as their careers say they can be, and that we know they are!

GO BRAVES!!

BASEBALL IS BACK, BABY!!!!!

Woohoo! This is the news us baseball fans have been waiting a LONG time for. Baseball. Is. Back. It still seems unreal. Just a couple days ago, they were talking about the season being delayed until June and that they were quite far from a CBA deal. And now, all of our fears of no baseball are out the window. Opening Day 2022 is Thursday, April 7th, AND there is going to be a full 162 game season!!!

This new, five-year CBA was ratified with a 30-0 vote on Thursday, March 10th. With that vote, the 99 day lockout was officially brought to a close. Spring Training will begin Sunday, March 13, and exhibition games will start sometime around March 18th.

The new CBA includes quite a few changes. For starters, it includes a new pre-arbitration bonus pool. This will “reward” the younger players in the sport with a higher paycheck. It also includes increased minimum salaries, the largest draft lottery in all of professional sports history, and a raise in the competitive tax balance. These decisions contribute to more money for players and more young players being drafted into the sport. Among these things, they also introduced the universal DH and a 12 team postseason, which is two more teams than the 2021 postseason.

With all this being introduced, it might seem like the game is going to be different. But in fact, the only things that are going to be noticeably different are: a designated hitter in the National League and two more teams in the postseason race. Everything else they have added simply means more money for the players, and more money for the owners.

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Now that the lockout is over, you could say it’s crunch time! Opening day is in twenty-seven days, and there are a lot of high-quality players still in the free agent market. One of the biggest names on that list, especially for the Atlanta Braves, is first baseman, Fredde Freeman. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — I cannot imagine a Braves team without Freddie. He has been with the club since he made his Major League debut and has become the face of the franchise. It would truly be sad to see Freddie Freeman in another uniform, on another team, having to play against the Atlanta Braves. I would say that signing Freddie Freeman should be the Atlanta Braves’ top priority now that the lockout is over.

Along with Freddie Freeman, two other players who made a significant impression with the club and the fanbase are Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler. Since there is going to be a DH in the National League for this season, it makes total sense to me for the Braves to use Soler for this role. When he was with the Kansas City Royals, he was their DH, and while he was with the Braves, his biggest strength was his bat. He came through time and time again with his major power from the plate. While he did a decent job in right field for the Braves, you could tell he was a little uncomfortable. It just makes sense for the Braves to pursue him to be their Designated Hitter, and he would add that depth back to their everyday lineup.

Eddie Rosario – NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario. This is a guy who the Atlanta Braves’ front office signed while he was injured… injured!!! It definitely was an interesting move, but boy did it pay off. He came into the season at the perfect time in mid August, and he was on fire from his first game with the Braves. From his enthusiasm in the dugout and running the bases, to his huge hits and insane catches in left field, Rosario definitely played a significant role in the Braves 2021 World Series win. Now, I know, it seems as though most of those spectacular catches he made during the postseason were total luck, but I could potentially see the Braves using him as their every day left fielder. Luck only gets a player so far, and he proved that he has more than luck on his side! The Braves could potentially swap him out with Adam Duvall or Guillermo Heredia so he doesn’t play every single day, but I could easily see Eddie filling the role of left fielder and becoming better in that position.

That would allow the Braves outfield to line up like this:

Eddie Rosario in left field, Adam Duvall in center field, and Ronald Acuña Jr. in right field.

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There are still a lot of questions to be answered and roles to be filled before Opening Day, but in the end, it is nice to have baseball back.

GO BRAVES!