The Atlanta Braves have been on quite a tear lately. They have 53 wins coming into today’s game and are still in first place in the NL East with a 6.0 game lead.
I think a part of their continuing success is due to their recent lineup swap where the Braves swapped second baseman Ozzie Albies and first baseman Matt Olson in the lineup. Albies now hits second after Acuña and Olson hits in the 4,5, or 6 hole deepening on who the Braves are facing that day.
Honestly, I really like this move. While Matt Olson is a great hitter, I believe he strikes out too much to hit in the second in the lineup. While Ozzie Albies still strikes out, like all players do, his strikeout percentage has gone down a decent amount this year.
Since being swapped in the lineup, both Albies and Olson have hit very well. Olson leads the National League in home runs, with 26 long balls, and he also leads the National league with 62 RBI’s. It’s obvious that he’s got a LOT of power in his bat.
And as for Ozzie Albies, he seems to thrive wherever he hits in the lineup. He’s one of those players that no matter where you put him – he just wants to play and will give you all he’s got in every at-bat. Albies has 18 home runs, and has 56 RBI’s which is the second most in the National League. So it’s safe to say that they are not slacking in the Atlanta lineup.
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The Atlanta Braves have been an exciting team to watch this year, and Albies and Olson have definitely contributed to the excitement! I am looking forward to seeing what they bring next to this hot-hitting team!
On their brief roadtrip, the Braves took two out of three games against the Detroit Tigers, winning the series. Their two wins were in a doubleheader on Wednesday June 14th, because their second game of the previous series was postponed due to rain.
Multiple things happened in this series for the Braves; some good, and some not so good.
THE POSITIVES:
Michel Harris II is finally starting to come to life offensively.
It is no secret that Michel Harris II has struggled big time to start the 2023 season. It was like his rookie magic had completely gone away. He was still showing off defensively – making superb plays in the outfield – but offensively was a serious struggle.
However, over the three games against the Tigers he had seven hits, two home runs, five RBI’s, two stolen bases, and he did not strike out a single time. Those are some impressive numbers considering the slow start that he got off to in the beginning of the season! Hopefully he will continue to hit as well as he has been hitting lately and continue to shine in the remainder of the season.
The Braves are continuing to shine offensively
Over the three game against the Tigers, the Atlanta Braves’ hitters scored a total of 21 runs and hit 6 home runs. Those are some pretty impressive numbers – especially considering they had to play a doubleheader and did not have a lot of time to rest between games.
Not only were they hitting lots of bombs, but they were hitting lots of grounders for hits and line drives for hits, and they were taking walks when they needed to.
The Atlanta Braves might not be a bunting team, but they know how to move runners over in other ways!
THE NEGATIVES:
Jesse Chavez goes on the 15 day IL
In game three of the series, Jesse Chavez came into the sixth inning to pitch. After throwing four pitches, he was hit in the shin by a 100mph comebacker. He immediately went down onto the ground and had to be helped off the field. The Braves medical staff announced this morning that he has a left shin contusion. While we are very thankful that it isn’t anything worse, Chavez will definitely be missed. He has had a good season this year and is always a consistent veteran pitcher.
Braves starting rotation isn’t as sharp as usual
Pitching is SO important for any professional ball club, and historically, the Atlanta Braves have been known to have really good pitching. The Braves started off with having good pitching, and while Bryce Elder is still pitching very well, it seems like the remainder of the starting pitchers (that aren’t hurt) aren’t as sharp as we’re used to seeing. Especially Spencer Strider.
Spencer has a 7-2 recored over 14 games, but he has a 4.12 ERA, which is high for him. Strider had a fantastic rookie season in 2022, so he had high expectations coming into this season. And it’s not that he has pitched badly – he just hasn’t been as sharp as he was last year. That is most likely because he isn’t facing batters for the first time; he’s facing people who have seen him before and have a taste of what is coming.
I am positive that Spencer Strider will figure things out though and be the great pitcher we know he can be.
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I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Braves are an exciting team to watch this year. I believe that if they can stay healthy and keep playing like they are, they have a chance to win it all this year!
It’s safe to say that the Atlanta Braves got off to a hot start for the 2023 season. They have not moved out of first place all season long. The starting rotation, granted it has been injury-plagued, has been pretty consistent and so has the Braves offense and defense.
Towards the end of May, things started to slow down for the Braves. They lost their series with the Dodgers (May 22nd-24th), they split their series with the Phillies (May 25th-28th), and then lost their series against the Athletics (May 29th-31st). I think those games against the Athletics were almost a wakeup call for the Braves, because after they lost the first two of the series, they fought back in game three and it gave them some serious motivation going to Arizona.
The Braves took the series against the Diamondbacks (June 2nd-4th) and have been on a hot streak since!
The Braves just wrapped up a sweep of the Mets at home, and those games were a perfect example of how relentless this Atlanta Braves team is. All three games were come-from-behind wins.
In these three games against the Mets, Atlanta’s starting rotation wasn’t as sharp as usual, but the bullpen was lights out. A.J. Minter and Raisel Iglesias were especially sharp. They came into the games when it mattered the most and did not disappoint.
Offensively, the Braves were locked in. They hit 8 home runs over those three games – five of them came in game three of the series. We know that the Atlanta Braves team can rely on the home run game a lot. Yet in this series they showed that yes, they were capable of hitting home runs, but that they’re also capable of getting base hits when needed and taking walks in high-stress situations. And, in game three of the series, Ozzie Albies smoked a 3-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to send the Braves out in style!!
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It is safe to say that this Atlanta Braves team is getting better and better and they are proving that despite their injuries, they are the team to beat in the National League.
Speaking of Injuries, here is the latest on Max Fried (left forearm strain) and Kyle Wright (right shoulder strain):
Fried was moved to the 60-day IL, but this really doesn’t affect him and the Braves too much. He isn’t expected to return until the later half of July, but he has been ramping up some of his baseball actives like playing catch and doing some of the team workouts. Obviously the Braves are going to take the precautious route with Fried. Because he is their ace, they will need him healthy and ready to go when September come; not to mention they don’t want him to need Tommy John Surgery. But it will be nice to see him back on the pitcher’s mound.
Kyle Wright has had a rough season. He missed Spring Training this year with the same shoulder strain. Then after making just five Starts for the Braves, only one of those being longer than 5 innings, he was placed on the 15-day IL. The Braves later moved him to the 60-day IL because an injury like this is a very serious one – especially with it being his pitching shoulder.
It’s heartbreaking to see these two pitchers on the injured list for the Braves because they both did so well last season, but we have to remind ourselves that these things happen to the best teams. The Atlanta Braves are lucky to have had these injuries happen in early April/May instead of late August/September.
Well, after a great road trip for the Braves to start the season, things cooled off a little bit a home. They lost the series 1-4 against the Padres and then came back to sweep the Reds. It was nice to have the Braves playing at home, and all the games were sold out.
There were definitely some exciting moments from the Atlanta Braves Home-stand. Some of those exciting moments were crucial in the Braves wins. In fact, in every single game against the Cincinnati Reds the Braves won by one run.
Orlando Arcia’s Walk-off win:
A great way to keep the momentum going from the Braves great road trip was to come home and have a very exciting walk-off win against the San Diego Padres. In the bottom of the ninth inning Arcia had a 2-out single that scored Eddie Rosario from second base giving the Braves a walk-off victory. Arcia definitely proved himself in the two and a half weeks of the 2023 season.* He has been a key part of the Braves great start.
Sean Murphy’s Walk-off win:
After losing the remaining three games against the Padres, Sean Murphy got the series against the Cincinnati Reds off right when he hit a walk-off two run home run- the first of his career- in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Murphy hadn’t shown much pop with his bat since joining the Braves, but his walk-off homer proved that he can be just as handy with the bat as he is behind the plate.
Ozzie Albies’ 100th Career Home Run:
After going on a major cold spell at home, Ozzie Albies finally broke out of his hitless streak when he hit his 100th home run of his career. And it wasn’t a cheap one – he smoked that baseball into the Chop House. It was a great home run that ended up being crucial to the Braves win.
Hopefully now that his 100th home run is out of the way, Albies will start producing more offensively like we know he is capable of doing.
Braves Sweep the Cincinnati Reds:
This series was a great bounce back from the series against the Padres. All the games had a lot of action offensively, good defense, and good pitching. Overall it was a well-rounded series.
Pitching wise, it was nice to see Kyle Wright make his season debut for the Atlanta Braves. He was put on the injured list in Spring Training with shoulder inflammation, and the Braves took extra precaution with him.
Wright did decent considering it was his first start of the season. He went 3.0 innings, allowed 4 hits, 4 runs, and allowed 4 walks and had 3 strikeouts. He wasn’t as sharp as we were used to seeing him, but I am confident that with time he will be back to being as sharp as he was last season.
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*For those of you who don’t know, Orlando Arcia was taken out of April 12th’s game as a precaution after he was hit by a pitch on his left wrist. After further examination, it was discovered that he has a microfracture and he was put on the 10-day injured list. It is not clear how much time he will have to miss, but one positive thing about this injury is that it was during the beginning of the season and not in late September.
Because Arcia is now on the IL, Vaughn Grissom will take over the role as shortstop while Arcia recovers. Considering all the playing time he has gotten in Triple-A, Grissom will be ready to go, and it will be nice to see him get some playing time.
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The Braves are showing they are capable of another great season, and I’m excited to watch them play for the remainder of the year!
It’s finally here! The Atlanta Braves’ pitchers, catchers, and some other eager players have reported to North Port, FL to begin Spring Training.
Pitchers and catchers are set to arrive first because pitcher-catcher bonding is important. If your pitcher and catcher aren’t comfortable with each other or don’t have a good understanding of what pitch is being thrown and the location of it, that is going to cause some serious trouble in a game. Communication for catchers and pitchers is why Spring Training is so important and why they arrive a week early.
Spring Training will be especially important for catcher Sean Murphy. He is who Atlanta got out of their three-way trade with the Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers. Just a few days after this trade, the Braves signed Murphy to a 6-year $73 million deal. He will join Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate for the Braves. He could also be used as a Designated Hitter if Marcell Ozuna does not start to perform better than he has the past couple of seasons. It’s safe to say there’s multiple roles Murphy can fill for the Braves.
With d’Arnaud and Murphy behind the plate, it’s time to take a look at the Braves’ starting rotation. Atlanta has a solid starting rotation, that is, if everyone can pitch the way we know they are capable of pitching. Charlie Morton had a down year last season. He still got a good amount of wins, but they were a struggle. The same goes for Ian Anderson. He was sent down to triple A twice last year because he had a hard time commanding any of his pitches. We know that Ian can be a very good pitcher – we saw this first hand in the 2021 Postseason – he just has a tendency to throw WAY too many pitches. Max Fried wasn’t a sharp as we’re accustomed to seeing last season either, but he still came through when the Braves needed it the most.
The two most surprising Braves pitchers in the 2022 season were Kyle Wright and rookie Spencer Strider. Wright had 21 wins last season. That’s crazy! He was Mr. Consistent for Atlanta, and when he was pitching we knew he was going to give a quality start. He seemed so comfortable on the mound, had such a dominating presence, and maintained control of his pitches. These things helped make him such a good pitcher.
Spencer Strider started out in the bullpen last season. But then, after the Braves coaching staff saw the velocity he had on his pitches and the command he had while throwing so fast, not to mention his strike-out-rate, they moved him into the starting rotation and there was no looking back. In just 131.2 innings he struck out 202 batters! He definitely belongs in the starting rotation and has proven how good he can be.
Last but not least, Mike Soroka. Soroka hasn’t pitched since the 2020 season when he tore his ACL during a game in August. It was heartbreaking to see a young pitcher like him, who had such good potential, go down with an injury like that. Then, he tore his ACL again in 2021 walking into the dugout. So, he hasn’t pitched in a major league game in 2 1/2 years. It will be exciting to see if he has the same command on the mound as he did before he was injured.
With all this to consider about these pitchers, it’s time to talk about how the rotation will be stacked. I think the Braves should start with a 6-man rotation at the beginning of the season so they have more guys available and can work their way into the season, eventually moving to a 5-man rotation.
Here’s how I think it would look:
Max Fried LHP
Kyle Wright RHP
Charlie Morton RHP
Spencer Strider RHP
Ian Anderson RHP
Mike Soroka RHP
Ian Anderson and Mike Soroka can easily be switched in their rotation spots. If the Braves start with a 5-man rotation these two will “compete” for that fifth spot. It will all depend on how comfortable Soroka feels on the mound and how Anderson’s command is.
One thing to note about Anderson is the pitch clock. He can take a LOT of time in between pitches. He will shake off a lot of signs and go through his windup multiple times just to throw one pitch. I’m sure the Braves coaching staff will be working with him during Spring Training to get adjusted to the pitch clock and it will be interesting to see how he does.
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It’s so exciting to have baseball back, and I can’t wait to see what goes on in Spring Training for the Atlanta Braves and into the 2023 season!
With pitcher and catchers set to report in less than a month, it’s time to start looking ahead to the Atlanta Braves’ 2023 season. Obviously, we are all excited for our beloved baseball to return, but there are going to be some major changes coming – not only on the Braves team, but also for the MLB rules.
The Atlanta Braves team:
Along with Dansby Swanson, Luke Jackson and William Contreras will no longer be Braves in 2023. Swanson signed a 7-year, $177 deal with the Cubs, Contreras was part of the Braves 3-way trade with the Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics, in which the Braves got catcher Sean Murphy. And most recently, Luke Jackson signed a 2-year, $11.5 million deal with the San Fransisco Giants.
It was sad to see these three loved players go, but we can’t dwell on the past…and the Braves are still the same good team we know them to be.
Rule Changes:
Why is MLB changing/creating new rules?
I recently had someone challenge me on this topic. A lot of people say that the only reason that MLB is changing the rules of the game (i.e. adding the pitch clock) is to speed up the game. That is simply NOT true! Time is a contributing factor, but it is NOT the “ONLY” reason they are adding the pitch clock as some people would like to argue. Part of the reason they are implementing the pitch clock is that it speeds up game play which will help enhance production on the field. That means there won’t be as much “dead time” for players while they’re on the field. On average, a MLB pitcher took anywhere between 15-45 seconds to throw one pitch. 45 seconds is a long time to take to throw a pitch! Not to mention, it seems the longer a pitcher takes to throw a pitch, the more comfortable the batter is facing that pitcher. From the time a batter gets into the batters box to the end of his at-bat (whether he got out or reached base) it’s about intimidation factor. If you go up to the batters box and seem uncomfortable…the pitcher is going to trample all over you. But, if a batter is hard-core staring at the pitcher while he is going through his excessive windup, then it’s going to have an impact on the pitcher and make him redo his windup, causing the at-bat to last longer.
With the pitch clock, MLB pitchers will now get 15 seconds to throw a pitch with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners on base. If they don’t throw a pitch within that amount of time, it is charged as an automatic ball. This rule is going to be harder for some pitchers than others. For example: last year, it took Braves reliever Jesse Chavez roughly 13.5 seconds to throw a pitch. Whereas it took former Braves closer Kenley Jansen roughly 20 seconds to throw a pitch with NO runners on base, and roughly 25.5 seconds to throw a pitch with runners on. I do not mean this rudely, but as a Braves fan, I’m glad we don’t have Jansen as our closer for the first year with the pitch clock.
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There were two other rule changes that will be implemented this year. There will be larger bases, and no more shift.
When I first heard they were enlarging the bases from 15inches to 18 inches I was intrigued. Those three extra inches added onto the bases are to help prevent collisions. It will give the position player and the player running the bases more space to operate. This will especially come in handy with stolen bases – bringing the stolen base rate up that is. But stolen base rate, in the end, is not why they are enlarging the bases. They are doing it to try and prevent collisions and life-threatening injuries to the players. All of Braves Country wish these larger bases would have been on the in-field last year for Ozzie!
The new rule about the shift is that when a pitch is thrown, four infielders must be on the dirt, two on each side of second base. Once the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand, they are allowed to move, but they are not allowed to shift and “prepare” for what the hitter might do before hand.
Adding this rule to the game of baseball is to get more players to reach base. Honestly, some players should be embarrassed that MLB is adding this rule. It almost seems like a pity rule because they can’t pull their hands in and shorten their swing to hit the ball the other way.
However, in some ways I suppose it is good that MLB is adding this rule, because it keeps the infielders in the position they are supposed to be in. When Austin Riley ran across the diamond from third base to play behind first base in shallow right field after every other pitch, that was excessive. And what blew my mind was that when the third base line was WIDE open, players still hit the ball RIGHT at where Riley was positioned. Yes, I know. As a Braves fan I was happy it worked out in our favor – but come on!!!! You’re supposed to be a professional, yet you can’t hit the ball in a wide open gap.
So yes, I think it is a good thing that they are ending the shift, but I also think it embarrassing for players that they are having to take it away. That is my view on the end of the shift.
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Braves Potential in 2023:
The Atlanta Braves are a good team. Just because they lost two of their long time players does not automatically put them at a disadvantage. I believe the Braves are going to have a great 2023 season and are easily title contenders.
Here are a couple reasons why I believe this:
The Braves will have a healthy team coming into this season:
It was clear to see that Ronald Acuña Jr. was no where near 100% in 2022. He was not as comfortable in the outfield and was not the Acuña we were used to seeing at the plate or on the basepads. He was caught stealing 11 out of 40 times. While that doesn’t seem like a bunch, it’s a LOT compared to 2019 when he stole 37 bases and was only caught 9 times. Acuña has been training a lot this off-season. I think, if anything, this season taught him that he wasn’t the invincible “king” he thought he was and that it really is a team effort for all of the wins that the Braves team got. It will be good to *hopefully* see him play with a team attitude and not a me attitude this year.
It will also be absolutely wonderful to have a healthy Ozzie Albies back. Ozzie broke his foot on June 13th of 2022 and was out until September 16th. And then, on September 18th, just two days later – Ozzie broke his finger sliding into second base. It was so painful to see him go down again with another freak accident after he had just worked SO hard to come back. And you could tell that having him back sparked something in the Braves. He brings enormous energy to the club and brings out the best in Ronald Acuña Jr. Just imagine how many wins the Braves could have had in 2022 (keep in mind they had 101) if they had Acuña to his full potential and Ozzie 100% healthy.
Another player the Braves will have healthy in 2023 is RHP Mike Soroka. Soroka hasn’t played in a major league game since he tore his ACL on August 3rd, 2020. It’s been almost three years!!! That’s insane. He could have pitched in the mid 2021 season, but he tore his ACL AGAIN by walking into the Braves clubhouse for some extra rehab. Soroka was a great pitcher in the short amount of time we got to see him pitch before he became injury plagued. I am looking forward to seeing what he can/will bring to the Braves starting rotation.
Braves Young Rookie Duo:
Michael Harris the II and Spencer Strider were a big part of the success that the Atlanta Braves had in 2022. They were both extremely impressive – so impressive that they both got long-term deals with the Braves before the 2022 season was over. Now that says a LOT about their potential!
As soon as he came up, Michael Harris II was a phenomenon. His defense was easily Gold Glove worthy. I still don’t know how he made some of those plays that he did! He also brought more offensive power into the lineup. He hit his homers, got his hits, and took his walks. He found ways to get on base.
Spencer Strider started his 2022 season in the bullpen, then around late April- mid May, the Braves coaching staff made the great decision to put him into the starting rotation and there was no looking back. He had 202 strikeouts in 131.2 innings pitched. That’s incredible! Not to mention he has such a high velocity on his pitches and can control them at the same time. A lot of pitchers either throw fast and have no control of their pitches or the strike zone, or have low velocity and control of their pitches. But Strider is capable of doing both.
Harris won the Rookie of the Year award for 2022 and Spencer Strider was the runner up for the award. They have both proven that they are great players and they are going to have an impact on the Braves for years to come.
There are, of course, other reasons why the Braves have the potential to have a great season in 2023. They have a solid lineup, solid defense, a solid rotation, and a solid relief core. It’s just a matter of getting all of those things to work together at the same time. Many times last year it seemed that we struggled with having great pitching and no offense, or great offense and terrible pitching. Yet, when they got over those slumps, they were almost unbeatable.
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I am beyond excited for the 2023 season! I cannot wait to see the Braves play- and play to their full potential.
While the news of Dansby leaving the Braves was disappointing, it wasn’t all that surprising. The longer the question of “Will Dansby re-sign?” was up in the air, the more it seemed that the answer would inevitably be no. Now that the issue is settled and Dansby has signed with the Cubs, Braves Country must move on. We survived losing Freddie, and we’ll survive losing Dansby.
So…who will be the Braves’ new shortstop?
I think, as of where the Atlanta Braves are at right now, Vaughn Grissom is the most logical choice for our new SS. Grissom showed potential while filling in at second base for Ozzie Albies while he was hurt last season, and his position in the minors was shortstop so that will definitely help him in this position for the 2023 season. He has also been working with third base coach Ron Washington this offseason which tells me that the Braves are planning on making him their shortstop.
It will definitely be different to see someone else at shortstop who isn’t Dansby Swanson, but at the end of the day, whether we like it or not, this is how the game of baseball works. Dansby made the decision that makes the most sense for him and where he’s at in life — and Atlanta fans must move on.
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Regardless of who’s at shortstop, I believe in the Atlanta Braves team. I’m looking forward to the 2023 season for the Braves, and I can’t wait to see what kind of excitement is in store for them!
With each passing day, this becomes a more pressing question. No one wants to see Swanson go, and I don’t think Swanson wants to leave either. Honestly, it just comes down to money and the length of the contract. I don’t see Dansby Swanson as a greedy person, but after what happened with Freddie, and everyone saying that he wasn’t a greedy person, makes me a little more apprehensive regarding Dansby. Not to mention he and Freddie have, or had, the same agent. (Freeman fired his agent in the middle of the 2022 season.)
There hasn’t been a lot of talk regarding Dansby Swanson, but one thing that the Braves organization does well is keeping their movements out of the public eye until something is finalized. They don’t ride (or start) the rumor train.
Coming into the 2022-2023 offseason, there were four big-name FA shortstops on the market: Dansby Swanson, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, and Xander Bogaerts. Turner and Bogaerts have both signed long term deals with the Phillies and the Padres, respectively. That leaves Swanson and Correa as the only big-name shortstops on the market, and there are multiple teams in need of one. That just makes the situation with Dansby more nerve-wracking because some teams (like the Dodgers) could pay big money for him. He will have the ultimate decision of remaining a Brave or seeking out a fat paycheck.
The Winter Meetings are now over, and while there were some big deals made… none of them were made by Braves GM, Alex Anthopoulos. This came as a little bit of a surprise. While Anthopoulos is never big into the rumors or openly discussed deals, he has been known to make some jaw-dropping deals at the Trade Deadline and the Winter Meetings. However, that did not happen this year.
One of my hypotheses as to why they haven’t made Dansby an offer is because he is getting married this Saturday, and Anthopoulos, being one of Dansby’s good friends, is invited to the wedding. They might not want any tensions regarding him hypothetically not being signed during that time. Yes, I know, this idea may seem far-fetched…however, I’m not really sure what else it could be. Unless they really just haven’t made him an offer, OR they did make Swanson an offer that he refused and they’re keeping it under wraps.
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This is a tough situation to navigate. All I know is I wouldn’t want to be in Alex Anthopoulos’ shoes. No one wants to see Georgia-grown, Dansby Swanson leave Braves Country. But at the end of the day, it typically comes down to money. How much are the Atlanta Braves are willing to spend, and how much is Swanson potentially willing to give up when push comes to shove? I guess we will just have to wait and see how things play out- hopefully in the Braves’ favor.
So far, the offseason has been a slow one for the Atlanta Braves. One thing I like about the Atlanta organization is that they don’t get involved with all of the offseason rumors. When they make a deal, then they release the information regarding that deal. It just makes everything less stressful. Regarding Dansby Swanson, however, I think all Braves fans are anxiously awaiting news about him.
But today, I want to take the time and talk about left field for the Braves. This has been a position that hasn’t really seemed secure over the past couple years. The Braves signed Marcell Ozuna in February of 2021 to a four-year contract, and it has not proven to be a good signing. Throughout a lot of his contract he has either been injured or in and out of jail and facing the consequences of that. Also, he does not have a good arm, which makes him a sub-par outfielder; he also gets into major slumps at the plate which makes him not so good offensively. Overall he isn’t a good fit for the Braves in left field — but, unfortunately, we seem to be stuck with him on the roster.
The other options the Braves have for left field are:
1) Using Vaughn Grissom as a left fielder – while his position is naturally a shortstop, the Braves had him do left field drills with outfield coach Eric Young during the 2021 season. Grissom is young and could easily tackle a new position. This would be the cheapest move the Atlanta organization could make to solve their left field problem. However, if things were to go south with Dansby Swanson and he were to go elsewhere, Grissom would assumably fill in the shortstop role.
2) Resigning Adam Duvall – Duvall missed most of the 2022 season with a torn ligament in his thumb, but he has proven to be a key player for the Atlanta team. He is currently a free agent, and could honestly be scooped up for pretty cheap. Although he is known to get into his slumps at the plate, he is a good defender and has made game-saving plays a time or two for the Braves team. He is also a decent home-run hitter in moments that count.
3) Finding a good left fielder on the Free Agent Market – this is also a logical choice, but it could potentially cost a pretty penny. There’s a long list of free agent outfielders – a lot of those being left fielders. However, if Anthopoulos is working to grant Dansby a big contract, the Braves organization probably won’t have much more money to throw towards a big name left fielder.
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In the end, only time will tell what the Atlanta Braves are going to do. If it was me, I would sign Adam Duvall because we know he can be a very good player and he fits in with the Braves club well. But right now, this isn’t really the Braves biggest concern. That, obviously, is the signing of All-Star shortstop, Dansby Swanson. But, left field is a problem that can’t, and won’t, be ignored.
Now that the offseason has officially begun, it’s time to start looking ahead to the 2023 season. The Atlanta Braves locked in three players this season: Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, and Spencer Strider. They Braves have almost all of their everyday players locked up. In fact, only shortstop and whoever is going to play left field are not locked up for the Braves. Obviously, The Atlanta Braves’ front office, the Braves team, and ALL of Braves country want to see Dansby Swanson at shortstop for the Braves for many years to come. He is a Georgia native and all things Atlanta sports. He has made such an impact for the Braves and over the last two seasons. We have really gotten to see the power he has and the top-quality defense he gives every single day. No one wants to see him go, but it’s all a matter of if he really wants to stay in Atlanta like he says he does, or if he wants to go where the money is. Hopefully Dansby won’t be another Freddie, but they had the same agent (Freeman fired his earlier this year). Dansby is obviously the biggest goal this offseason, and it’s my hope that the Braves would go after him first.
Along with Dansby Swanson, Adam Duvall, Robbie Grossman, Kenley Jansen, Luke Jackson, Darren O’Day, Jesse Chavez, and Ehire Adrianza are Free Agents. I would be surprised if the Braves re-signed Grossman, O’Day, or Adrianza. O’Day did not have a great year on the mound, Adrianza didn’t play much other than a couple games when both Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia were hurt before they called Grissom up, and although Robbie Grossman came through in quite a few situations in the 2022 season, I don’t see him coming back over Adam Duvall.
The Braves need a closer, but they need a reliable one. Jansen had his ups and downs this year, but he came though when the Braves needed him the most. I think the Braves will make him an offer, but I don’t know if he’ll take it or not. Luke Jackson did not play this season due to Tommy John surgery. However, in 2020-2021 he showed skill off the pitching mound. With his slider and his fastball, he was able to get batters out and get out of troublesome innings. I can possibly see the Braves using him as a closer, but I think Atlanta will try and find someone who has more closer credentials. The Braves could sign him to add more depth to the bullpen, but there’s no guarantee what he’s going to be like after surgery. Jesse Chavez has become a fan-favorite. He has been traded ten times in his career, and has been a Brave off and on for 2 1/2 seasons. Chavez has come through for the Braves, and like Jackson, I could see the Braves signing him to a 1-2 year deal to add depth to the bullpen.
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In the end, we will have to wait and see what moves the Braves make. I think I speak on behalf of all Braves country when I say that we don’t want to see Dansby Swanson in another uniform. He has become the face of the Braves this year and has proven just how good of a player he is, and everyone wants him to be a Brave for a long long time.
Braves Chop Chat 