Atlanta Braves
Jason Bishop Show With Kipp Branch December 19
Flat Out Crime
By: TJ Hartnett
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
I’ve made the case for several years now that Fred McGriff should be in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
His time on the BBWAA ballot has come to a close with this year’s vote, his tenth shot at immortality the old-fashioned way. As he didn’t surpass 25% last year, it’s a safe bet to assume he won’t be reaching the 75% needed to be inducted into Cooperstown this summer.
That is a shame and has been for a decade now. But something happened earlier in December that makes it all the more shameful: Harold Baines was selected for inclusion in the Hall of Fame.
Now, I don’t mean to knock Harold Baines. He was a force for the White Sox in the 80s, and I’m sure he’s a very nice man but what he was not better than Fred McGriff.
To be clear, Baines was not elected to the Hall via the BBWAA ballot. He was elected by the Eras Committee, which is 16 people who vote in overlooked players from particular eras of the game.
This years’ batch, the Today’s Game Committee, inducted Baines and former all-time saves record holder Lee Smith. This makes the BBWAA’s failure to elect McGriff more palatable. Let’s not rule out the Crime Dog finding himself enshrined through this same process, but Baines is still going to have a plaque on the hallowed walls first.
To the naked eye, it might seem like Baines and McGriff are relatively similar players, or even that Baines is superior. Look closer.
Baines had more hits. He had more RBIs. He had a higher batting average. He also played in 370 more games than McGriff. That’s not insignificant if you’re comparing counting stats. If McGriff had played 370 more games even at his lowest level of production, he’d easily make up the RBI difference and close the hit gap, if not pass him there as well.
There is also the matter of intangibles. If Baines is a Hall of Famer, then surely McGriff is based on their respective significance. Baines was a consistent hitter throughout his long career, but was never a dominant one who could be considered the best. McGriff in the late 80s and early 90s was as feared as any hitter in the game at that time.
Baines was a piece of the puzzle on the teams he played for. McGriff was traded for in 1993 and both literally and figuratively Atlanta caught fire. He was the cleanup hitter for the 1995 championship team, Atlanta’s first ever.
Baines, on the other hand, spent the prime of his career on White Sox teams that were mired, in what would eventually be, an 88-year championship drought.
These “intangibles” are not nothing. Many voters will tell you that they vote as much on whether or not a player “feels” like a Hall of Famer as much as they will vote on their statistics.
Jack Morris’ entire argument for getting into the Hall of Fame was his postseason dominance and his 1991 National League Championship Series Game 7 performance in particular. Morris, for what it’s worth, also failed to get into the Hall through the traditional ballot but was selected by the Modern Era committee for induction last year.
While Baines’ induction this month and McGriff’s inevitable snub next month will be frustrating to those who believe that the slugger (who is just seven home runs shy of 500) is deserving of the call, all hope is not lost.
In fact, Baines’ induction should comfort those same people. Because once the Era Committees cycle back around to Today’s Game, they won’t have a leg to stand on in keeping the Crime Dog out of the Hall. It will be overdue, but it will be very deserved.
Beasts From The East
By: Mike Anthony
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
From beginning to end, the 2018 Major League Baseball season went mostly as the experts predicted.
High payroll teams that fattened up even more before April got the returns on investment that were expected as the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers all lit up scoreboards throughout the season, with Boston ultimately topping Los Angeles in the World Series as the Dodgers came up just short for the second consecutive season.
Other teams that entered 2018 with rosters that were mostly the same as their winning counterparts from 2017 also excelled.
The defending world champs from Houston made it to another American League Championship Series, Cleveland once again dominated the AL Central and the Chicago Cubs looked like a World Series contender until hitting a late snag.
The one division that played against type last season was the National League East. The division was supposed to be the Nationals’ for the taking, but Washington spun its wheels for two-thirds of the season and never looked like a playoff team. The Mets once again had all the pitching in the world and once again watched as all of those pitchers went down with injuries.
In the end, it was Atlanta and Philadelphia. They were picked fourth and fifth in most preseason predictions. The Braves ultimately claimed the lone playoff spot out of the division, only to bow out in the divisional series.
That left an interesting question heading into the offseason and the always-exciting winter meetings. Would the Nationals and Mets take advantage of windows to win that were allegedly still open, or was the standings flip-flop a sign of big changes coming?
The NL East seems to have chosen option ‘C’, in which just about everyone is making moves as if they expect to be making noise in October.
Washington had a busy December, picking up former Braves Kurt Suzuki and Matt Adams for bench depth before signing arguably the best left-handed pitcher on the free agent market in Patrick Corbin.
The Mets were involved in one of the biggest trades of the offseason so far, as they shipped veteran Jay Bruce and some prospects to Seattle in return for eight-time All-Star Robinson Cano and ace closer Edwin Diaz.
The Braves signed former American League MVP Josh Donaldson to upgrade at third base. Another former All-Star – and fan favorite – will return to town as Brian McCann returns to the club where he cut his teeth in Major League Baseball.
Philadelphia traded for an All-Star shortstop in Jean Segura, signed former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen and remain as a team constantly linked to free agent crown jewels Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.
And in much less interesting news, the Marlins will still be the Marlins.
Regardless of the myriad moves sure to be made between now and Opening Day, gauging the National League East will be a tough task.
The recent bullies on the block (Washington and New York) have been too inconsistent to believe that the division will be one of the best in the league. Yet, the quick turnarounds and evident investment into continued improvement of Atlanta and Philadelphia will make it tough to write off any team in the division that isn’t playing its home games in Miami.
Injuries, a brutally long season and the notoriously quirky ups and downs of baseball make it impossible to make a call on the division as the final days of 2018 tick away, but anyone paying attention to the offseason hot stove will agree that the NL East should provide plenty of drama next season.
Acuna Matata
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Braves fans were already chomping at the bit for Ronald Acuna, Jr. to be awarded the NL Rookie of the Year award all the way back in February. As the league’s top prospect, he seemed a safe bet for the award.
A late debut wouldn’t make much of a difference but missing nearly a month to injury and a good, but not stellar initial run in the lineup threatened to derail those plans. Not to mention the emergence of Juan Soto as a legit contender for the award.
Acuna’s return and subsequent move to the leadoff spot has put him firmly in the running once again. The two young phenoms’ numbers are incredibly similar and it looks to be a tight race for the trophy.
But I think Acuna could aim a little higher. As in, Ronald Acuna, Jr.: National League Most Valuable Player.
ROTY tends to be handed to whichever player puts up better pure numbers. The MVP award tends to fluctuate on that point, sometimes going to players with higher slash lines, sometimes going to players who lead a team to the postseason.
What the appropriate criteria should be is a debate for another time. What tends to be the case when an MVP is awarded to a player on a last place team is that their numbers are so gaudy or historical that they are worthy of merit (A-Rod’s MVP while he was on last-place Texas Rangers team, for example).
The NL features no such player in 2018. No one has run away with the award and in fact there could be as many as five or six players worthy of the trophy come season’s end. And one of them, arguably the most deserving, is Ronald Acuna.
Since taking over the leadoff spot in the batting order, Acuna has been on an incredible tear and has been a huge part of solidifying the Braves’ spot at the top of the NL East.
The Braves briefly dropped out of first place over the summer but Acuna heated up and has been the sparkplug that has the Braves on the cusp on an NL East Title.
He’s hovering around .300 and could very reasonably reach 30 homeruns by the time the season comes to a close. He will have barely played in over 100 games.
To that point, his OPS would be tied for best in the National League, except he doesn’t have enough at-bats to qualify.
So regardless of slash line, counting stats (RBIs is a notable deficiency), or impact on a team’s postseason aspirations, Ronald Acuna, Jr. has an incredibly strong case for National League Rookie of the Year AND Most Valuable Player.
There’s precedent too: Ichiro pulled off the trick in 2001, so writers are willing to throw votes at a rookie (Ichiro’s standing as a true rookie was, of course, debatable).
Will it happen? If Acuna can get and stay over .300 and reach 30 home runs for a playoff team, it might convince a few voters.
Standing in his way, ironically, would be his teammates. Freddie Freeman was considered the frontrunner for the MVP for most of the season but his production lately hasn’t been up to MVP level. If Freddie finds another gear to close out the season, it might actually be tougher for either of the Braves stars to win. A split vote would be more likely.
But whatever happens, Atlanta has seen something truly special in 2018 and he’s only 20. So, regardless of whether or not he wins this year, Acuna needs to buy himself a trophy case sometime soon. A big one.
My First Game
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’ve been fortunate over my lifetime to see a number of collegiate and professional games. Out of all the ones I’ve seen- including tickets 13 rows up at the ‘94 Orange Bowl where FSU defeated Nebraska to become first time champions- there are two that stand out.
The first one was a routine summer baseball game back in 1990 between the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants. I was a Giants fan because the Braves were horrible and Kevin Mitchell had hit 49 home runs during the previous season.
So, for my 10th birthday my family made the 4-hour trek from Asheville to Atlanta and my Dad and I went to the game. I can remember almost every detail of that weekend because it was my first professional game.
I remember the anticipation I had on the ride down and being nervous that there wouldn’t be any tickets available. Not only did we get tickets, but they were $3 for the upper deck.
I remember the two players I desperately wanted to see, Kevin Mitchell and Will Clark; both took the game off. Any disappointment I had was quickly erased after a Robby Thompson home run in the 2nd inning put the Giants up for good. San Francisco went on to win 2-0.
I even remember my Dad driving back to the hotel and going the wrong way down a one-way street after the game. And no, he wasn’t drinking; we were just so caught up in talking about my first experience at a professional baseball game, we kind of lost track of where we were.
I’ve been to a few baseball games since, but I honestly could not tell you anything about them outside of who the home team was.
The second game took place on New Year’s Eve of 2014 when my daughter- roughly the same age I was during the Atlanta trip- and I went to Cameron Indoor Stadium to see Duke play Wofford.
Much like the Braves/Giants game, there wasn’t really anything on the line, but she was as excited as I had been 28 years ago. I imagine I felt like my Dad did all those years ago, too.
We talked about the game for the whole 3-hour ride back to our house and even though I didn’t go the wrong way on a one-way street, I did get a little turned around in a McDonald’s parking lot. (I promise these two incidents are not indicative of my family’s sense of direction.)
Normally at this point in the story is where you get the big emotional reveal, but that’s not the case.
My Dad is a 63-year-old triathlete that is better shape now than I’ve ever been at any point in my life. And while my daughter is 13 and has this growth at the end of her arm that resembles an iPhone, she still enjoys hanging out with her old man.
Braves Pitching The Draft
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The MLB draft is never as hyped up as the NBA or NFL drafts, and that’s somewhat fair because baseball has such an extensive minor league system that it is exceptionally rare that player makes the jump directly from the draft to a Major League roster.
There’s also far fewer safe bets in baseball. Top prospects often never go on to be All-Stars in baseball. It’s much more of a crap shoot. That being said, it is always interesting to see how teams draft, both on the level of individual players and on a macro level of what they were looking to do in a broad sense.
Despite the heavy penalties MLB slapped the Atlanta Braves with at the end of 2017, new GM Alex Antholopoulos had the task of drafting a new crop of talent to add to his already stocked pool last week.
Granted, most of the penalties involved were directed at the Braves’ ability to target international prospects (as that’s where former GM John Coppollela spent most of his illicit energies), but the Braves still lost their third round pick this year.
Those penalties did add a new wrinkle, however, as Atlanta needed to replace the 13 international prospects they had to release into the wild.
So, as to not lose years off of the farm system’s development, the Braves drafted 34 college players out of 39 total picks. Only Carter Stewart in the first round and Victor Vodnik in the 14th came out of high school before the last three rounds, where the final three were selected.
As a top 10 draft pick, all eyes will be on Stewart as he moves through the minors in the coming months and years. He is just the kind of player the Braves have coveted as of late, a prep school hurler with high upside.
Stewart’s prize possession is a nasty curveball, possibly the best in the entire draft class. He also has a fastball that sits in the low 90s, though he’s been clocked as high as 98.
At 6’ 6” and only 18 years old he has room to add muscle and apparently that process has already begun, as he has followed my lead and added on 30 pounds since last August.
He likely sealed the deal as the Braves’ choice with an 18-strikeout no-hitter earlier this year.
There were also some fortunate draft picks by the rest of MLB, leaving a player like right-handed pitcher Tristan Beck available in the fourth round, especially after they had to skip the previous one.
They also adhered to the time honored ideal that there is no such thing as too much pitching. They picked up 22 pitchers in the draft, including five lefties, alongside four outfielders, 9 infielders, and 4 catchers.
That might frustrate some folks, and I can understand why. The Braves are going to need position players in the near future (and right now at third base) and they could have filled those gaps with college batters who will be ready for the majors much sooner.
A third baseman (or someone who could be moved for a third baseman) would have solved an immediate need in Atlanta and before too long the Braves will need to look to replace the likes of Nick Markakis, Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki. However, Atlanta stayed true to their beliefs and picked up pitching in droves.
The last bit of business the Braves completed was a heartfelt one. In the 40th round the Braves drafted Mick Mangan, son of Braves groundskeeper Ed Mangan. Don’t sleep on this pick just because it was a nice gesture. The Dodgers once drafted somebody’s son as a favor in the last round too and Mike Piazza is in the Hall of Fame.
Braving Joey Bats
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Even two years ago, the signing of Jose Bautista would have come with tremendous fanfare along with a hefty price and immediate placement in the Major League lineup of any team; but in 2018, none of those things happened.
The Braves have quietly signed Bautista to a minor league contract that cost $1 million with no incentives.
What a difference two years make. The signing of Bautista, who is 37 years old, weirdly only seems noteworthy because he is Jose Bautista and he’s famous. This shouldn’t be.
In the last seven years, the guy was in the top 10 in MVP votes four times, including 2015 when he slugged 40 home runs and drove in 114 along with a league leading 110 walks. He hit 22 and 23 bombs in 2016 and 2017. He’s Jose Bautista. So, why isn’t this a bigger deal?
I wonder if people have always been waiting for the other foot to drop on Bautista. He was a late bloomer and with the exception of hitting .302 in 2011 his game was always power. That was bound to fade past the prime years of a ballplayer’s career, which he already had in his rearview.
Still, there’s a lot to be excited about with this signing. Especially, given that he costs pennies on the dollar to what he would cost any other year. The Braves have certainly taken advantage of a bizarre offseason with this acquisition.
Another bonus is that Bautista signed a minor league deal, which means there’s no actual pressure to put him on the 25-man roster if it looks like he won’t contribute.
Think back to the signing of Ryan Howard just one year ago. The similarities are plenty, including their age at the time. Howard signed for low money and when he didn’t hit in Gwinnett, he was released and there was no skin off the Braves’ nose.
The same will apply to Joey Bats. Once he finishes up his extended spring training run he’ll head to the Stripers and try to earn his way onto the big-league club.
If he does, then the Braves have a power-hitting righty to man third base in 2018; if he doesn’t, then no harm no foul. It’s the epitome of a no-risk move for Atlanta.
The appetizing part of this whole deal of course is the potential for fireworks if this plays out incredibly well. Bautista isn’t going to knock out 50 four-baggers this season even if he finds the fountain of youth. However, if he can turn back the clock and end the year with 20-25 dingers and can hit for at least a reasonable average (looking for around .250) the difference he’d make in the Braves’ lineup is massive.
Think about what Matt Kemp did in late 2016 when he slotted into the cleanup role and lengthened the batting order. The offense took off. There’s a chance Bautista could have that same effect. Plus, his presence as that right-handed power bat would take the pressure off Ronald Acuna, Jr. when he inevitably makes his debut this year.
So, at the end of the day, Bautista is all upside. He could show off and smash the ball, and that would improve the club. Or he could prove his doubters right and continue his decline, and in that case the Braves would be no worse off than they are now.
That’s what we call a win-win.
The Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch April 14
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch April 7
Ready, Set, Go
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Play ball!
The 2018 MLB season is under way and the Braves have wrapped up their first series of the year by winning two out of three against the Phillies.
That’s three games down, 159 to go but let’s unpack this tiny little sample size and see what we can deduce about how the rest of the season might go.
First off, this offense can be potent even without Ronald Acuna, Jr. They put up runs in all three games, including a huge night of 19 hits and 15 runs in the rubber game on Saturday.
That game in particular was a feat because they didn’t hit a single home run in the contest and that’s going to be something to keep an eye one.
This isn’t a team loaded with power (Nick Markakis, despite his walk off bomb on Opening Day, is not a powerful cleanup hitter), but they grinded and scrapped all series long to get the runs they got.
Of particular note were some of the players you might not have realized were on the team. Ryan Flaherty tore the cover off of the ball against Philadelphia (he’s hitting .538 on the season) and platoon left fielder Preston Tucker recorded two hits over the last two games to go along with his knock on Thursday. Along with Chris Stewart, who also featured prominently during the series finale, these are the guys that Alex Anthopoulos added to the team late and they are showing their worth so far.
Let’s not sell short the returning Braves either. Catchers aside, (because they’re both hurt) the returning Atlanta Braves, save one, are all hitting above .300 to start the season.
Ozzie Albies is the odd man out so far but he contributed a home run to the rally on Opening Day and has looked good in both the field and at the plate.
The rest, consisting of Ender Inciarte, Freddie Freeman, Markakis, and most importantly Dansby Swanson, have all racked up several hits on the young season so far.
Swanson went hitless in the first game but collected five in the following two. Hopefully, the rule to Thursdays exception.
The pitching, in particular the starting pitching, has also been good so far. Julio Teheran pitched five solid innings before leaving the field a bit of a mess in the sixth, Mike Foltynewicz through five with seven strikeouts against just one walk and two earned runs and new Brave Brandon McCarthy settled down after a rough first to pick up the first win for a Braves starter on the year.
It hasn’t been a showcase of several Clayton Kershaws but it was never going to be and what they did get was good enough.
But all that good work aside, what really stood out about this series is how inept Gabe Kapler looked as the manager of the Phillies.
From taking Aaron Nola out after 68 pitches and a 5-0 lead in game 1 to using 9 pitchers in game 2, to taking out his starter without having warmed up a reliever in game 3, the guy is going to get eaten alive by the Philadelphia press this week.
The Phillies are a better team on paper but unless Kapler can make some huge strides, and soon, the Braves will be looking forward to plaything them 16 more times before October.
Speaking of managers, a point of interest: Brian Snitker must be chasing Bobby Cox’s career record for ejections, as he’s been tossed twice in three games. It bears mentioning that those are the two victories, so maybe he ought to make it a trend.
