Who is your pick to have a breakout or career year that we need to be competitive this year. I’m going with Swanson. If everyone else plays to their potential and Swanson breaks out, we’ll have a good year.
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Who is your pick to have a breakout or career year that we need to be competitive this year. I’m going with Swanson. If everyone else plays to their potential and Swanson breaks out, we’ll have a good year.
Albies needs to have an all-around consistent year. Kind of cooled off after the hot start last year.
Kimbrell needs to break the all time save record....
I’m gonna say Donaldson. We paid him a lot for this year and if he has a year he’s capable of then we will he buyers at the deadline.
If we assume that everyone on offense will somewhat match their numbers from last year and Donaldon's healthy, I think one of the pitchers breaking out would really help. It'd be amazing if someone like Touki could come up and give us an all star caliber breakout year to fortify the rotation.
Donaldson. He does what is expected we can live with Nick not quite matching last year and Mac being a downgrade from Zuk. If not we are about to be one hit wonders.
Newk
i say Donaldson too. I think if he's good and healthy the Braves will be right in it.
Fried
I’ll go with Dansby. If he picks up his offense like he did his defense last year...could be a huge boost to the team.
Sobotka
IF he has a great year then he likely is closer which answers that problem for a while.
You could also say Minter but I don't think they trust his health.
Markakis had his great year last year (half year anyway)
Acuna, Freeman, Donaldson you expect to be great or 2019 is likely a wasted year anyway.
Any of the SP will do but they are each 1/5 of the whole.
If you only get 1 player to have a breakout year, I think you have to pick a hitter or a starting pitcher to get maximum value in this pretend fantasy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Horsehide Harry
I'm going with team construction. Sobotka turning into a young Kimbrel would be huge for this team both now and the near future.Quote:
Originally Posted by BeanieAntics
Ender. I trust most of the other players to be who they are. If they are, and Ender can have a monster year...
I'd say one of the young pitchers (Soroka if his shoulder is ok, Gohara, Fried or Touki), and need an MVP year from Donaldson, would also be nice if Ozzie had a complete year and not just a couple good months.
Joc Pederson
Swanson. The kid had his flaws coming up, but he's underachieved pretty heavily given all the hype. We need to see more from him on offense.
Offensively I would agree with you. However with plus base running and defense he has assured himself of not being a complete bust. He was a 65 FV prospect and those players on average have put up 6.9 WAR in their team controlled years with 18.8% busting (less than 1 WAR). Swanson is at 2.4 WAR with 4 years to go so he's certainly not a bust and I would say a safe bet to get to 6.9 WAR unless he completely falls off offensively to the point he's no longer a starter.Quote:
Originally Posted by UNCBlue012
You can see why Swanson was graded that high. Players who play up the middle who do everything well will rack up WAR rather fast. You saw that with Albies last year who was just average offensively on the year.
That said the Braves do have to be feeling pretty good with their current crop of top prospects that have hit the majors. We've had 3 60 FV or better prospects in Swanson, Albies, and Acuna. Looks like we will be getting an average player and two stars out of those talents. Pretty good results for the Braves there.
Sam Freeman is gonna be yuge this year.
Riley/Pache.
Allard, so I can save face.
Sincerely Thethe
sorry could not resist as he go missing in action for many months I have to call him out.
I would say McCann is going to have a huge year.
Camargo. I hope his new utility role doesn't hurt his career. Arguably my favorite player on the team.
If I can only pick one player it's Sean Newcomb. Between him and Teheran, if they both are on one game and off the next and you never know what your going to get from them both, it's going to be a bad year. We need one of them to step up and be a tor pitcher and I think Newcomb is most likely between the two to be able to do that. If I could pick a pitcher and a position player the position player would be Inciarte. I think we really need him to step up and lead off to make the lineup longer.
If Camargo can maintain an ~.800 OPS while serving in a utility role and getting ~400 at bats this year, then I feel pretty good about our offense. He did it last year, but I'm VERY skeptical of him keeping up numbers that good, at least against righties.Quote:
Originally Posted by mossy
See I think the calculus in a question like this is to find the player or players who are the least proven, but with the highest upside. A guy like Inciarte isn't going to give you a 5 WAR season. He is what he is: a solid 3 win CF who relies on great defense. His value has been remarkably consistent over the years and I think we can feel comfortable in him doing the same thing this year. I'd also take Newcomb out. He still has a lot of questions to answer about his game, but I think we can safely assume his floor is around a #4 starter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lenny
I'd also take out Freeman, Acuna, Markakis, Flowers, McCann, Donaldson (tentative on health), Teheran, Gausman, Folty, and the bullpen. There are questions surrounding some of those guys, but most of them have established some sort of value window i.e. the best we could expect vs. the worst.
That leaves guys like Ozzie, Dansby, Camargo, Riley, Touki, Soroka, Wright, Wilson, Anderson, and Gohara. That is the group that I'd be inclined to pick from because so much uncertainty surrounds them. They all have the upside to be stars, but still a generally uncertain floor with maybe the exception of Ozzie.
Now that I think about it, the correct answer to this question may be Allard. If I had a magic wand and could turn one player into a star, I think he'd be the best choice. He's the least likely of all our top prospects to produce anything notable on their own so if I could give him some magic I'd feel comfortable allowing the rest of our guys to develop and provide value on their own.
Get the logic here but I also think some consideration needs to be given to whether that player will have the opportunity to even have a great year and while I wish the best for Allard I think he is currently at best the 4th or 5th option for the 5th spot and would require some significant injuries/poor performance to get an opportunity. If you take it as a given that the top 4 is Folty/Gausman/Newk/Teheran (Not a huge leap here) then you have Touissant/Fried/Gohara/Soroka/Wright/Wilson/Allard as those next options. Of course me being a super Fried fan I think he is first in line. There are just too many bodies for Allard to jump to where he even gets his chance so he would be eliminated in my mind. I kind of mess around with it but I'm kind of serious. Fried is legit and more so than my belief I think the Braves believe that and he will be given first crack. Therefore, as the 'first' fifth starter, if he take the bull by the horns and absolutely lights it up then the Braves all of a sudden have one of the more productive rotations in baseball.Quote:
Originally Posted by BeanieAntics
Edit: Yikes - Forgot Touki. Makes it even more challenging for Allard to be that guy and now my guy Fried.
Duvall. If he gets back on track and has a career year, we could have a 4+ WAR LF masher.
I’m going with Swanson as well
Is it asking to much for him to just be a league average hitter?Quote:
Originally Posted by CrimsonCowboy
Its so easy to dream on Swanson. With his defense and baserunning, I always find myself dreaming that he'll figure it out and be an .800 OPS hitter. Super unlikely, but geez he'd be so valuable.Quote:
Originally Posted by thewupk
Alllbeeez
Not a player. We need our medical staff to step it up.
Ozzie for a full season.
Freeman. We need him to have a monster year and stay healthy. This would be a good time for a Chipper type career year .330 batting average with 45 homers.
His swinging approach need to be altered for that and he will strike out a lot if he do.Quote:
Originally Posted by cajunrevenge
30 homers with a +.300 average, I am cool with which is where he is for his career. Plus he has some backup and that is nice.
not saying you are wrong, but there is some dangers we must be aware of he has this approach. I respect your post in its entirety.
JD. We need him to be a monster. With improved competition and him being our one offseason upgrade, we gotta have him come through.
Right now I’d settle for JD getting a single PA.