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.
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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