Atlanta Braves
MVP
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It seems bonkers to be thinking about and talking about end of the year awards for the Major League Baseball season when not even two months have passed since the first pitch of the season was thrown, but here we are.
The pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign will be over soon and things like Cy Young Awards, MVPs, Gold Gloves, and Silver Sluggers must be given out.
So, with that in mind, I’d like to make a case for a player who should be the National League Most Valuable Player this season: Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Freeman has long been respected as one of the most consistent players in the game, if not the top player at his position.
He’s had All Star appearances, won Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, but the one thing (other than a World Series ring, of course) missing from his trophy case is an MVP award.
This year, for all its flaws and weirdness, presents the best opportunity for Freddie to fill that spot on the shelf.
As with most seasons, Freeman has hit for average and power, with good RBI numbers as well as a great OPS and WAR (for you sabermetric fans out there).
But it also seems like every year he hovers just under the radar for serious award consideration.
This year seemed to be shaping up much in the same way, but Freeman has gotten incredibly hot, slugging his first two career grand slams, tons of multi-hit games, and a two-homerun game to boot.
In that stretch, his batting average skyrocketed over .330 and his OPS topped 1.000 (a whopping, and league leading, 1.075). He also is the top of the league in RBI’s, driving in runs at a torrid clip.
But the case isn’t just made because of his numbers alone. The Braves, who have been favorites to win the NL East all season, have seen their starting rotation decimated over the course of the season, and Cy Young candidate Max Fried hitting the Injured List could very well have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Short of taking the mound himself, Freddie’s offensive explosion has seen him do everything he can to prevent Atlanta from slipping out of first place in the division, as the Philadelphia Phillies have given chase.
Freeman is also a team player. The Braves third hitter for almost his entire career, he responded well to being moved up to the two-hole after leadoff man Ronald Acuna, Jr. was hurt and kept out of the lineup for a few games.
He responded so well that Brian Snitker has kept him there after the young outfielder’s return.
Credit to where it’s due: Freddie always thrives when someone with some thunder hits behind him.
Last season, Freeman was awarded the Silver Slugger after a year of having Josh Donaldson batting in the cleanup spot.
This year Marcel Ozuna has been a revelation, protecting Freddie and giving opposing pitchers a veritable Sophie’s Choice of who to pitch for in any situation.
In fact, for a while there it looked like Ozuna would be the Braves’ most likely MVP candidate.
While Ozuna continued to thrive in Atlanta, Freeman has jumped into the forefront of the conversation both in Atlanta and, I hope, the minds of the MVP voters.
It’s time for Freddie to stop being the bridesmaid and get married. I now pronounce him the NL MVP.
You may win the World Series now.
Mis-Managed
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Major League managers are simultaneously the most overrated and underrated members of a baseball team, depending on the team’s record.
If the team is winning, then the manager is probably being over-credited. If the team is losing, then the manager is probably getting over-blamed.
This isn’t to say that managers don’t have an important role on a team’s success beyond simply penciling in a lineup, just that sometimes the role of a guy who isn’t actually participating in the game can be overexaggerated in one way or another.
I bring this up because I want to discuss Atlanta Braves’ manager Brian Snitker. Specifically, I want to discuss whether or not he’s actually a good manager for the team of which he is currently at the helm.
I’ll go ahead and spoil the ending: I think he is – which isn’t to say there is nothing to discuss, but there are ways in which he seems to be failing the team.
Let’s talk about the obvious first:
Bullpen Usage. All managers are judged most often and often most harshly on how they implement their bullpen.
It’s the easy thing to criticize, as it’s the primary way in which a manager influences the game while it’s being played.
The inspiration for this article is, in fact, because of Snitker’s sometimes flabbergasting use of his relief corps. Specifically that he brought in Charlie Culberson, a position player, to pitch in the second game of a doubleheader when the Braves were down by just one run.
Charlie Clutch delivered, easily getting the one out he was tasked with getting, but the question is still begged…what?
Especially egregious was this move in light of the fact that A.J. Minter, arguably the Braves’ best bullpen pitcher (in a veritable overflowing pot of good ones) was wasted in Game 1 when the Braves were up 7-1.
There seems to be some kind of a disconnect between Snit and any analytics or forethought in this regard.
Taking that same example as a for instance: he knew they had a whole second game to play that day, so why burn Minter and put yourself in a position to then use a position player on the mound in a tight game? Did the Phillies offense worry him that much?
The bullpen has been overused, certainly, and that’s no fault of Snit’s; the starting rotation has got holes on holes on holes, but why use your talent unnecessarily in a blowout when you have to play another game less than an hour after the first one ends?
There’s also the constant, unending use of Luke Jackson in high-leverage situations.
Now, Jackson’s numbers at a glance aren’t awful (though they also don’t warrant how he’s often used), but he’s constantly getting himself into jams through walks or hits.
Jackson was the saving grace of the bullpen for the first two months of 2019, but it seems almost like Snit still feels indebted to the righty when there are better arms available.
Moving away from the ‘pen, there’s also the curious reliance on guys like Ender Inciarte.
Inciarte has played primarily when Acuna has been hurt. But Ender is so bad at the dish now that any start he gets is a head-scratcher.
Even if the normal starting trio of Acuna, Adam Duvall, and Nick Markakis needs a day of rest, then isn’t even Marcel Ozuna’s sub-par defense overshadowed by his bat?
Ender should be a defensive replacement and nothing else at this point. But Snit keeps running him out there nonetheless.
All that being said, I still think Snit is a good manager or maybe it’s more accurate to say that he’s a good leader, since some of his actual managing leaves a little to be desired.
Why do I say that? Well, two primary reasons: one, his players absolutely love him.
Freddie Freeman has long advocated for Snitker to remain as the team’s skipper, and wanting to play for your manager is not nothing.
Two, his record pretty much speaks for itself. He’s won two straight division titles and has a third in sight. And at the end of the day, winning is what he’s supposed to do.
I don’t know if Snitker is the manager in five years, but for now, so long as the team tries their hardest to win for him, and do, then he’s still the guy.
