Atlanta Braves: 2016 in Review
In their last year at Turner Field, the Atlanta Braves began to show of the pieces of their future.
The Atlanta Braves continued on their development in this year. After starting just 9-28 and firing Fredi Gonzalez the Braves promoted long time minor league coach Brian Snitiker to manager for the rest of the year.
The Braves took off in the second half of the season finishing two games over .500. They played spoiler the last weekend of the season, closing out Turner Field by taking two out of three against the Detroit Tigers and eliminating them from postseason contention.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
The Good
Freddie Freeman– Fab five Freddie continued to be one of the best first baseman in the NL and emerged as an MVP candidate. Freeman set a career high in homers and had over 100 RBI for the third time in his career. In the second half, Freeman hit .323 with a 1.067 OPS and an OPS+ of 188. The 27 year old is going to be the centerpiece of the new look team.
Julio Teheran– Teheran continues to be underrated. He may not be on the level of Clayton Kershaw or Max Scherzer but the 25 year old continued to develop. Teheran only went 7-10, but he finished fifth in the league in WHIP and 10th in hits per nine. The Braves resisted trading Teheran at the deadline and if they are going to move forward they are going to have him at the top of the rotation.
The offense in the second half– The addition of Matt Kemp for Hector Olivera, the return of Ender Inciarte at the top of the order then the call up of Dansby Swanson after trading away Erick Aybar really helped improve an offense that was horrendous in the first half.
The Farm– The Braves continued to add pieces to their budding farm system. They added five of the top 30 international prospects including the number one prospect infielder Kevin Maitan. They also added Ian Anderson who is the Braves fifth prospect according to MLBpipeline.com and also have the fifth pick in the draft next season.
Let’s move to the bad stuff
The Bad
It wasn’t all good for the Braves in 2016. That’s what happens when you end up with the fifth pick in the draft. Let’s take a look at some of the bad.
Pitching- Outside of Teheran, the pitching was not good. They were 24th in team ERA. They were 25th in quality starts. They were tied for fifth most walks and gave up the sixth most runs in the majors. If the Braves are going to take the next step, their pitching needs to get better.
Pitching prospects- Part of the problem of the pitching was the prospects that came up didn’t make as much of an impact. The higher profile prospects like Anderson, Kolby Allard and Mike Soroka may be a couple years away. Aaron Blair struggled. Matt Wisler and Mike Foltynewicz didn’t take the next step. John Gant, Robert Whalen and Casey Kelly didn’t do a lot with their opportunities.
Adonis Garcia‘s first half- The Braves had a ton of offensive problems in the first half and part of that fell on Adonis Garcia. The Braves needed more production out of the hot corner and Garcia was part of the issue. He hit just .249 with a .686 OPS. Not exactly a lot of production out of a power position. Garica upped his batting average to .293 with a .789 OPS. Garcia is 31 and not the future at the spot, but he may be someone who can be a placeholder.
The Ugly
Now it’s time to take a look at some of ugliness of the Braves season
Fredi’s Firing- The move ended up working out as the Braves ended up fairing well after a change in skipper, but I feel like it could’ve been handled better. Gonzalez may have done a better job with the roster that his successor had to work with. It felt like they made Gonzalez the scapegoat and it wasn’t all his fault for the Braves horrendous start.
Next: Marlins want Ichiro back
The depth- Some of the bench players and production the team got out of them was downright gruesome. Once they started turning over the roster the production increased, but take a look at some of these numbers:
Daniel Castro had a .449 OPS. Reid Brignac hit .207 in 13 games. A.J. Pierzynski hit .219 in 81 games in his final season. Drew Stubbs and Emilio Bonifacio had sub .250 batting averages in their appearances with the club. Those at-bats started going to guys like Inciarte and Dansby Swanson and Kemp, which helped the club improve over the second half.
Offense- Because of some of those depth issues, the offensive numbers for the season were not good. The team finished next to last in runs, last in homers and 27th in OPS. Those numbers should be better with full seasons from Kemp and Swanson plus other changes.
The Braves may not be too far away from contention after their second half surge. With a new ballpark and a top farm system, it’s a good time to be a Braves fan.