General Manager of the Atlanta Braves, John Hart made some very sizable organizational changes over the last few months. Hart took everyone by surprise by trading Jason Heyward to the St. Louis Cardinals for Shelby Miller – a seemingly fair trade that was essentially the first bullet out of the gun. Now, after an off-season of trades, the Braves have begun the season with a totally different lineup than last year. With only three returning players that started for them in the field last year, they’re looking to make this new look work.
House That Hank Built
Julio Teheran was given the nod to start on Opening Day, and he didn’t disappoint. Teheran threw six frames of one-run ball, and struck out four batters. Although, it’s not shocking that Teheran impressed, he was the rock of the rotation last year.
What might have come as a surprise for baseball fans and Braves fans alike, was their ability to drive in runs at the right times. Atlanta ranked in the bottom half of the MLB last season in leaving runners on base. The Opening Day game against the Marlins proved once again, that it’s not about how many hits a team gets, it’s about when they get those hits.
Jace Peterson, a player that came over to the Braves from that Justin Upton trade started the game off with a single, and shortly after advanced to second on a balk by Henderson Alvarez. Markasis followed up with a double that drove Peterson in to score. The Braves struck again in the sixth inning. Eric Young Jr. led off with a double, to which Peterson hit a sac-fly that advanced Young Jr. to third. Followed up by a Markakis grounder, that scored Young Jr.
The Braves took the win, as Jason Grilli closed out the ninth inning.
Now, that’s not to say that this win is something the Braves should be raving about, but it’s a start. Even with all of the firepower of Justin Upton, Evan Gattis, Heyward, Melvin Upton Jr., brought, or should have brought to the table, they still ranked last or close to last in team offense last year. Does this year’s Braves team look like a playoff team? No. That’s likely the reason they traded away Craig Kimbrel. It’s comforting knowing that John Hart made the moves that he did with no emotion, he’s making moves for the future.
At first, they were re-tooling the team, now it’s looking more like they’re rebuilding. There are going to be some growing pains, this is a team has a number of guys who aren’t great, and on paper are merely serviceable, but are in a position to shock a lot of people. In time, the wins will come, but it’s a process, how swift that process is, depends on John Hart’s next move.
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