Blog by: Garrison Walker
The Atlanta Braves last played a meaningful game on October 18, 2020 in a game seven that broke the hearts of every Braves fan out there. As an Atlanta fan we all are used to this by now, heartbreak is beyond anything new.
Ever since that day the Braves have done everything they can to get better. It started with signing veteran pitchers in Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly. For anyone who watched closely these were signs that needed to be made. The starting rotation was abismul as a group with Fried carrying the load. Ian Anderson came on late in the season and was a huge spark plug, but other than that the Braves had no help from the rotation. Signing these guys with the addition of Mike Soroka coming back from that brutal injury, the Braves are in a good spot to have a full 360 on production from the starters.
Atlanta was nowhere near done after signing those two, right before spring training kicked off the Braves made some key moves starting with resigning Marcell Ozuna. Most of us know the Ozuna situation, but for those who don’t the man was basically asking for loads of money. The money was a lot more than the Braves were willing to pay, and it seemed as if the rest of the league felt the same. Ozuna was searching for around four-years, $100 million according to various reports. As time started ticking, no one bit the bullet on last year’s National League home run leader. Luckily the Braves were able to get him for a steal at four-years, $65 million. This sets the lineup back where it was last season when the Braves had the second best offense in all of baseball.
Some other small additions to the team include signing veteran infielders Jason Kipnis and Jake Lamb to help give the bench some more depth. Kipnis was a two-time All-star with the Indians during their World Series run. Lamb was a one-time All-star with the Diamondbacks.
Atlanta did let some guys with key roles walk away this offseason as well. Adam Duvall, Charlie Culberson, Andieny Hechavarria, Nick Markakis, and Mark Melancon will not be Atlanta Braves anymore. Some of these non-signings sting more than others, but the team as a whole will still be more than fine without them.
Now it’s time to actually look forward to what we see happening in this upcoming 2021 season. As of right now this is the Braves projected lineup
- Ronald Acuna Jr. RF
- Ozzie Albies 2B
- Freddie Freeman 1B
- Marcell Ozuna LF
- Travis D’arnaud C
- Dansby Swanson SS
- Austin Riley 3B
- Christian Pache CF
- Pitcher
As I said earlier, this lineup was second in all of baseball last year only to the Dodgers, who obviously won it all. Acuna has been getting slept on in a sense that he’s not the overall best young talent in the game right now. Most analysts put guys like Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr ahead of him. This is only fuel to the fire for Acuna who is going to be eyeing that coveted 40/40 season. Freeman is coming off and National League MVP, no one is sleeping on him. Marcell has a lot to prove after having last year’s instant success and the entire offseason hold on his contract. D’Arnaud was what every Braves fan has wanted for a while now, a catcher who has actually had some pop to his bat. Ozzie and Dansby have to just do what they always do, produce in the lineup and hold down what is without a doubt the best middle infield in baseball. Riley will be playing for his future this year, the man has got to become more than just either a home run or strikeout type of a hitter. He’ll have Kipnis, Lamb, and Camargo all breathing down his neck ready to take his spot if he doesn’t take a leap forward this year. Pache is the young new guy that Braves fans have been waiting to see for a while now. No one is going to doubt he’s got everything you want defensively, and last year he did have a homerun in the NLCS against Los Angeles, hopefully he rides that momentum into this season and the lineup is set from there.
The starting rotation is projected to be:
- Max Fried
- Charlie Morton
- Ian Anderson
- Drew Smyly
- Kyle Wright
Now there’s obviously one name we notice that’s not there, and that’s Mike Soroka. The 2019 All-Star suffered an achilles tendon injury just a few weeks into the 2020 season. While Soroka is already throwing bullpens again and currently at Spring training, the time table for his return is still up in the air. We all hope when he comes back he still has the stuff that made him as great as he was, or hopefully even better.
For the rest of the staff, Fried had a terrific season last year holding down the ace spot in Soroka’s absence. He posted a 2.25 ERA and showed up in the playoffs as well. All signs point to another successful season for him in 2021. Morton is a veteran who should be very comfortable pitching for the team that drafted him almost 19 years ago. Morton was a key role in the Rays world series run last year when he went 3-1, he’s also a career 7-3 in the playoffs. Anderson joined the big leagues about half way into the 2020 season after Soroka’s injury, and boy was he impressive. Ian posted a 1.95 ERA and 41 strikeouts in six starts, as well as a 2-0 record in the postseason with a 0.95 ERA. Needless to say, we’re expecting big things out of the former first-round pick. Smyly has had an up and down career, but there is no better culture to help find your groove than the Atlanta Braves. He should be able to get comfortable being the fourth guy and having a little bit of the load taken off. It’ll be interesting to see how he produces this year. Wright is the biggest toss up on here, he has mostly struggled so far in his short career, and the last time we saw him the Dodgers torched him for seven runs in the first inning of game three of the NLCS. Wright is young and has plenty of time to figure things out, but at the same time without a Soroka injury would not be in this rotation at all, so it may be now or never for this guy if he hopes to be a staple in this Braves team for years to come.
At the time of this article we are three weeks away from the opening series against the Phillies. No one knows what all could happen between now and then, and who will become stars and who will become busts once the season actually starts. For right now though we as Braves fans have high expectations for all these guys. This team is built to go the distance and we almost saw it happen in 2020. There’s no time like the present and I know the Braves know it, so let’s go make 2021 a season to remember. It’s time to #MixItUp!
