tOfficial 2019 Braves season thread

[Chewbaccer]

Pitchers and catchers report in 12 days, Super Bowl is over, so now it's officially baseball season.

Won the division last year and lost in the NLDS. Anything short of an NLCS appearance this season will be a disappointment, and it feels good to be able to say that again(Before last season I said I'd be happy with .500).

I really hope we're not done adding to the team this offseason. I doubt we're gonna sign anyone of note, but I have a feeling there's gonna be at least one more trade between now and the start of the regular season.

Key additions:

Josh Donaldson
Brian McCann
Darren O'Day(we got him last year, but I'm counting him since he was hurt and didn't pitch for us)

Key subtractions:

Kurt Suzuki
Anibal Sanchez
Brad Brach

Our offense was good enough to win a title last season, and it should be better this season with Donaldson added and more mature versions of Acuna, Albies and Dansby(hopefully).

But we need our pitching to be a lot better. We've got to throw more strikes and cut way down on the walks. The walks absolutely killed us last year. Both the rotation and pen. The two best opponent's batting averages in Atlanta Braves history were 2018 Folty and 2018 Teheran. That tells me the stuff is good, but most damage was done by walks and homers. We had a young rotation and a lot of rookies in the pen last year, so there's realistic hope for improvement.

Like I said, I don't think we're done making moves, but as of what we have now, this is my prediction for the opening day 25 man roster(with my preferred batting order)

1. Ender Inciarte- CF
2. Josh Donaldson- 3B
3. Freddie Freeman- 1B
4. Ronald Acuna- LF
5. Nick Markakis- RF
6. Ozzie Albies- 2B
7. Tyler Flowers- C
8. Dansby Swanson- SS

BN- Johan Camargo- super utility
BN- Brian McCann- C
BN- Adam Duvall- OF
BN- Charlie Culberson- super utility

SP- Mike Foltynewicz
SP- Kevin Gausman
SP- Sean Newcomb
SP- Julio Teheran
SP- Touki Toussaint

BP- Arodis Vizcaino
BP- AJ Minter
BP- Jonny Venters
BP- Chad Sobotka
BP- Jesse Biddle
BP- Dan Winkler
BP- Shane Carle
BP- Sam Freeman(unfortunately)

 

[Mistaken4193]

Very dissapointed in this offseason so far. Other than Donaldson we are fielding the exact same team as last year. Not Good.


Honestly right now I think we are on the outside looking in when it comes to the division and playoffs.

Right now I will guess 87-75. Missing the Playoffs.

 

[Rod Freakin' Dangerfield]

I've had some pessimism creep in. I do not like what we have at catcher. At all.

I also don't like that we didn't add a quality starter or a legitimate closer.

Pieces were in place for a NLCS or WS run, but we've just sat on our hands. I blame the pathetic ownership.

 

[Mistaken4193]

Looks like the Suntrust Park name will only last 2 seasons.

 

[Mistaken4193]

I've had some pessimism creep in. I do not like what we have at catcher. At all.

I also don't like that we didn't add a quality starter or a legitimate closer.

Pieces were in place for a NLCS or WS run, but we've just sat on our hands. I blame the pathetic ownership.

Yes im pessimistic as well. The young core is great but ultimately to win a Championship youve got to add the Veteran pieces to guide the young talent along. We should have gotten a legit #1 and another legit bat.( Preferably would have like to kept Suzuki)

 

[Rod Freakin' Dangerfield]

Yes im pessimistic as well. The young core is great but ultimately to win a Championship youve got to add the Veteran pieces to guide the young talent along. We should have gotten a legit #1 and another legit bat.( Preferably would have like to kept Suzuki)

 

[Hitman Hart]

Looks like the Suntrust Park name will only last 2 seasons.

outside sports venues already named after BB&T:

BB&T Field (Winston-Salem, NC)
BB&T Ballpark (Winston-Salem, NC)
BB&T Ballpark (Charlotte, NC)
BB&T Point (High Point, NC)

 

[Hitman Hart]

also, sounds like Realmuto is going to the Phillies

 

[Hitman Hart]

outside sports venues already named after BB&T:

BB&T Field (Winston-Salem, NC)
BB&T Ballpark (Winston-Salem, NC)
BB&T Ballpark (Charlotte, NC)
BB&T Point (High Point, NC)

woops, sounds like there is going to be a new name for the merger

 

[Rod Freakin' Dangerfield]

also, sounds like Realmuto is going to the Phillies

Damn. Just....................DAMN.

 

[Mistaken4193]

also, sounds like Realmuto is going to the Phillies

Its absolute fucking Bullshit. We offered them a 10× better deal. I think the strength of our farm system is hurting us in trade talks. Because teams want everything from us while giving to other teams for nothing.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Phillies get Realmuto for what amounts to peanuts.

Rest of the division(other than the Marlins) keeps adding pieces to get better. We've done what basically amounts to nothing.

I should be thrilled about the upcoming season considering what we just came off of, but I'm legit worried about finishing 4th in the division.

Liberty Media might be buying all of those local Fox Sports stations too, so the company that owns our team will also be paying us the worst tv contract in major sports.

At this point, I'd be thrilled to sign a mediocre middle reliever just to say we've done something.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Its absolute fucking Bullshit. We offered them a 10× better deal. I think the strength of our farm system is hurting us in trade talks. Because teams want everything from us while giving to other teams for nothing.

It is bullshit in a way. Our 5th best prospect is a lot more highly rated than most any other team's 5th best prospect, but that doesn't seem to matter in trade negotiations. Hell, we have like 7 prospects rated higher than the top Red Sox prospect.

 

[Omar 382]

Its absolute fucking Bullshit. We offered them a 10× better deal. I think the strength of our farm system is hurting us in trade talks. Because teams want everything from us while giving to other teams for nothing.

That's an interesting point and may actually be true.

As to someone upthread who said they don't like what the Braves have at catcher, I thought I'd just throw this out here (not that I necessarily agree with it). I read an article on Fangraphs earlier today where it said that in 2016-2018 rankings by WAR/600 PA's with defensive measurements added in from Baseball Prospectus, Tyler Flowers has the highest WAR in baseball among catchers.



Now, I don't agree with this (and neither does the writer at Fangraphs who wrote the article), but apparently Flowers is a god at framing pitches.

The Argument for J.T. Realmuto as Baseball’s Best Catcher

 

[Hitman Hart]

It is bullshit in a way. Our 5th best prospect is a lot more highly rated than most any other team's 5th best prospect, but that doesn't seem to matter in trade negotiations. Hell, we have like 7 prospects rated higher than the top Red Sox prospect.

Marlins refused to play ball with the Braves, unless Acuna or Albies were included. It is ridiculous. There has to be some type of heat between the two organizations

 

[Hitman Hart]

Hopefully, Riley turns out to be a good player

 

[Mistaken4193]

That's an interesting point and may actually be true.

As to someone upthread who said they don't like what the Braves have at catcher, I thought I'd just throw this out here (not that I necessarily agree with it). I read an article on Fangraphs earlier today where it said that in 2016-2018 rankings by WAR/600 PA's with defensive measurements added in from Baseball Prospectus, Tyler Flowers has the highest WAR in baseball among catchers.

View attachment 197764

Now, I don't agree with this (and neither does the writer at Fangraphs who wrote the article), but apparently Flowers is a god at framing pitches.

The Argument for J.T. Realmuto as Baseball’s Best Catcher

Flowers sucks dude. He was pretty decent in 2017 at the plate but flat out sucked there last year.

Behind the plate, he has a noodle arm and while yes he is good at framing pitches all of our pitchers across the board last year had a better ERA with Suzuki.

The McCann signing is a nostalgia signing. He hasnt been good since 2011.

 

[Mistaken4193]

Marlins refused to play ball with the Braves, unless Acuna or Albies were included. It is ridiculous. There has to be some type of heat between the two organizations

There is no heat....well besides Urena getting a 98mph FB to the head his first plate appearance against us this year.

 

[Chewbaccer]

There is no heat....well besides Urena getting a 98mph FB to the head his first plate appearance against us this year.

Gotta get to him this year. The DH is coming in 2020, and I have no beef with any other Marlin.

 

[Chewbaccer]

That's an interesting point and may actually be true.

As to someone upthread who said they don't like what the Braves have at catcher, I thought I'd just throw this out here (not that I necessarily agree with it). I read an article on Fangraphs earlier today where it said that in 2016-2018 rankings by WAR/600 PA's with defensive measurements added in from Baseball Prospectus, Tyler Flowers has the highest WAR in baseball among catchers.

View attachment 197764

Now, I don't agree with this (and neither does the writer at Fangraphs who wrote the article), but apparently Flowers is a god at framing pitches.

The Argument for J.T. Realmuto as Baseball’s Best Catcher

Flowers is a mountain of a man that looks like he should be hitting 35 bombs a year, and when he gets ahold of one, it goes a long ways, it's just few and far between. Only good thing about Flowers at the plate is he does have a good eye and takes his share of walks.

Behind the plate, the analytics guys say he's one of the best pitch framers in the league, but I'm not so sure I buy that, or maybe he is, he just doesn't call a good game.

Here's the ERA splits between Flowers and Suzuki last year, and they pretty well split time, so neither is a case of small sample size:

Folty with Suzuki catching- 2.66 ERA, with Flowers- 3.10
Newcomb with Suzuki- 2.67, with Flowers- 5.16
Teheran with Suzuki- 3.47, with Flowers- 4.52
Anibal Sanchez with Suzuki- 2.82, with Flowers- 2.97

Those are the 4 starters with enough starts with both to matter, they were worse across with the board with Flowers, significantly worse in 3 of the 4 cases.