The Atlanta Braves have been busy this offseason. Not making trades or going after free agents but signing their core players. Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward, Julio Teheran, Craig Kimbrel and Andrelton Simmons were all signed to extensions with Freeman receiving the highest of the players above. This team is set for the long hall and will be winning right away. They proved in 2013 that they can handle the pitching staff of the Washington Nationals and will look to prove it again this season as the Nats have added another great pitcher in Doug Fister. Below is the five keys to a successful season for the Atlanta Braves.
5. B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla Need to Perform Better.
The Braves went through the entire 2013 season relying on everyone not named Uggla and B.J. to produce their runs. That might seem fine at first glimpse until you notice that Uggla and B. Upton were the two highest paid players on the team. These two struggled mightily all season long and after awhile it was just expected of them. 2014 on the other hand will be the last chance for both of these guys to prove their worth. It wasn’t only that they couldn’t make contact it was how often they missed in crucial moments. Of all qualified MLB players in 2013 Uggla and Upton ranked number one and two for the worst batting average with runners in scoring position. BJ with the lowest in baseball at an embarrassing .108 and Uggla equally unimpressive at .132. The Braves will still produce runs this season but if these two guys get back to even half of what they can do at their best than this Braves offense could be very scary for opposing pitchers.
4. Freddie Freeman Needs A Repeat Performance of 2013.
Freeman had a coming out party last year in a big way. He finished fifth in the MVP voting and was the Braves most clutch and most consistent hitter all season. He finished sixth in the Majors with a batting average of .319 and fourth in RBIs at 109. His OBP was also within the top ten in baseball at a mark of .396. If that is not enough to get you on board with Freeman than maybe his batting average with runners in scoring position will change your mind. He finished the year with a ridiculous .443 batting average with runners in scoring position which was the second highest in all of baseball. Sure he might not hit .443 with RISP again this season but I find it hard to believe that he will lower it to the point where he isn’t productive. He also signed a franchise record eight year extension worth $135 million, making him the face of the franchise. If this team wants to be considered a World Series threat than they are going to need Freeman to continue producing at the level they are accustom of seeing from him.
3. Kris Medlen or Mike Minor Needs To Become a True Ace.
The main reason the Braves failed to move on in the 2013 playoffs had a lot to do with the lack of a true, number one ace. After Tim Hudson fell to a horrific injury in late July the Braves were left without their leader. Playing Clayton Kershaw in two of the games showed that the Braves need to have another guy that can try and match him and the other league aces. The talks in Braves camp have pointed towards Kris Medlen becoming the true ace this season but don’t disregard Minor. These two both had pretty good seasons but neither proved to be “that guy”. Medlen had a rocky first half of the year but pitched amazing in the second half. Once the All Star Game was done Medlen went on to pitch a 2.38 ERA with nine wins in 13 starts.
Minor’s number on the other hand flip flopped. He was the best pitcher in the Braves rotation pre-All Star break with an ERA of 3.08 over 19 starts. His second half wasn’t bad but didn’t produce the same as his first half. He posted a 3.48 ERA and surrendered 32 earned runs over 82.2 innings. If both of these guys can pitch like they did and even better the Braves rotation will likely have a repeat performance of 2013 where they led the MLB in team ERA.
2. Jason Heyward Needs to Stay Healthy and Lead Off.
Heyward came into the league at the ripe age of 21 and was dawned the “chosen one”. As to this point in his career he hasn’t lived up to the hype but has certainly shown flashes of what he could become. In 2013 he had to deal with two weird injuries. First he had to have surgery to remove his appendix and then was hit in the jaw by a fastball, needing to receive two plates. Overall he played in 104 games batting .254 and hitting 14 homers. Those numbers might not look great but what he did from the leadoff spot was remarkable.
He became the lead off hitter for 30 days and put up amazing numbers over that time. In those 30 games he hit .322 with a .401 OBP. He also hit six home runs and had an OPS of .551. These numbers are great from your leadoff guy and who knows what they could have become if he was not injured. If this guy can stay healthy and lead off like he did last year the Braves will have a reliable number one hitter which they failed to have much of 2013.
1. The Bullpen Just Needs To Keep Doing What They Do.
After the Braves two best set-up guys; Jonny Venters and Eric O’Flaherty went down to Tommy John injuries a lot of people thought their bullpen would suffer. Turns out those ATL pitchers didn’t get the memo. All they did was provide the best bullpen in baseball for the second time in the past three years. With the help of closer Craig Kimbrel, Jordan Walden, Luis Avilan and David Carpenter the Braves dazzled. The put up a league low ERA of 2.46 with an opponent batting average of .222 which ranked fourth.
Kimbrel was the main man behind the madness as he notched 50 saves with 98 strikeouts over 67 innings pitched! He only blew four saves all season and had a 1.21 ERA which also led all qualified NL closers. But to get to Kimbrel the men in front of him had to pitch well and they did just that.
Avilan led the Braves in holds with 27 and his 1.52 ERA did not hurt in the slightest. If this team can continue to provide a top five bullpen they are going to be very hard to beat. If they are winning after six innings it is basically game over and you can not say that about a lot of MLB teams today.