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Comments
If Swanson and Albies can keep hitting and Markakis can have a similar season to last year, the offense has a chance to be really good. Acuna and Freeman will hit, Camargo can fill in and hit from several positions, McCann will contribute as well.
I just think not going after a franchise catcher like Realmuto, and paying the guy was a big miss on our part. I mean Bmac is at the last stage of his career, and we need an all star caliber guy back there to handle all these young arms. I mean why is Teheran still in a Braves uniform? Soroka, Fried, Newcombe, Gohara, Toussant etc have all made at least 7-10 big league starts; and Wright is gonna be a star as well. So they're not being threw into the fire ( so no need to worry about their mentality if they had a bad outing.)
Bottom line; we have too many arms that are worth gold on the trade block. We've been rebuilding for 4-5 years (and that's just being lenient because of the new gm.) It's like the thought "let's see if we can win the division again with what we have again" is floating over this team. Pitching wins championships. Which is why we were dominant with Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz. But we DO need a young stud behind the plate to help these young arms, and to grow with them. Besides that, if we had a legit shutdown closer and another utility player or 2, I'd be content with that.
How many utility guys can a team keep? We have two pretty good ones in Camargo and Culberson. If we added more, where would be subtract? Maybe from the bullpen. Not sure where the other spots would come from.
Braves currently up 4-0 over the Marlins in the 6th.
In other baseball news, Crash Davis is now 0-for-17 with 11 strikeouts.
Make that a 4-0 final score for the Braves tonight.
Gausman with 7 shutout innings.
Biddle with the hold. Vizcaino with the save.
Acuna and Flowers each with a homer.
Summary:
The line up is good enough to win a world series. The pitching is there, but unproven. Don’t give up on them yet. Still a few guys waiting to recover from injury. Once the pen gets back to full strength, watch out. This could be a WS team.
Totally agree. Still think we're gonna need one major FA signing. If not Kimbrel now, then someone else at the deadline. I'll be watching either way. Love it.
No love for our boy Dansby?
I was just about to say about Dansby! Real question: if Dansby can keep up this level of power and RBI production, is it conceivable he moves into the 4 spot in the lineup so that Acuna can move back to leadoff? I know Acuna can mash and that he looks the part of a true cleanup guy, but I think we lose something without Acuna batting 1st.
I'd see him more as a 5-6 guy at most.
If he can give this lineup 15-20 HRs and bat 260-70 we should be thrilled. I'd love for him to keep this up, but let's be realistic, it is a hot streak.
I'm hoping Inciarte can return to his yearly average of batting around .300. Having Acuna bat with more runners on is beneficial for the whole team. Need Inciarte, Acuna, and Donaldson to step it up, and this could be an extremely potent lineup.
They were talking about how Swanson has been working with Chipper on his approach at the plate. Hopefully that turns into long term success we've all been waiting on. Only time will tell if this is a hot streak or him turning the corner.
I think it was mentioned that he chose to be a .280 type hitter with 15-20 HR a season as opposed to a 20-25 HR type guy who hits .240. I hope he makes it. What a boost for the club to have some productivity at the bottom of the lineup. Most of what's he's done has been in the # 8 hole. too. Pitchers don't offer much protection.
Dansby hurt his wrist his senior year at Vandy. He has dealt with it, on some level, for the past four years. It finally got bad enough last season that he opted for surgery. So, there's a chance that what we're seeing now is the real Dansby Swanson (which would explain why he was once the #1 overall pick in the draft.)