A Solid Year Considering

[Runnin]

One reads here and there what an awful year the Atlanta Braves had: only 67 wins, almost 100 loses, worst year in forever, worst team in the majors, etc. But that's not the whole picture and doesn't take the rebuild into account.

I'm sure 3Johns would've liked a few more Ws for the fans but that's the way it goes. All in all I don't feel bad about the team's current condition and prospect for the future. I personally felt a LOT worse after the '12 September meltdown.

There were some positives to be taken from this years season:

1. A lot of young players got much needed, priceless big league experience.

2. A.J. went a whole season without an incident and likely remade his image. Is a Clemente Award in his future?

3. The Seitzer hitting philosophy has shown promise.

4. A lot of young players got some big league experience.

5. The team fought all the way to the end where they could've mailed in the last few weeks.

More???

Anyway, it was the kind of season 3Johns predicted. Only time will tell how effective it all is.

[thewupk]

The only thing I would argue with is the Seitzer philosophy showing promise. Now granted he didn't have a lot to work with but the Braves ended as the worst offensive team in baseball.

[Julio3000]

I thought that Seitzer's notable successes were Maybin and Tron. Both guys fell off pretty hard in the second half, so I'd say the jury is still out there.

1. Pitchers, yeah. I'm not confident that any of the younger position players that we saw are core guys going forward.

2. Hell yes.

5. Nice to see them end the season on a high note, particularly good for Wisler, Perez, and Teheran. Castro played his way into my heart, but he looks like a limited-ceiling depth piece. Good guy to have, though. Jace is a question mark to me. Adonis might be a good bench guy. We'll know more about Olivera after a couple of months next year.

[cajunrevenge]

The only thing I would argue with is the Seitzer philosophy showing promise. Now granted he didn't have a lot to work with but the Braves ended as the worst offensive team in baseball.

Considering we traded 3 of our 4 best hitters before the season and still scored the exact same amount of runs as we did in 2014 I would call that a success. Scored 573 runs both years. Go figure. I know I said it before the season, we dont need Gattis, Justin, and Heywood to be a bad hitting team.

[Runnin]

Considering we traded 3 of our 4 best hitters before the season and still scored the exact same amount of runs as we did in 2014 I would call that a success. Scored 573 runs both years. Go figure. I know I said it before the season, we dont need Gattis, Justin, and Heywood to be a bad hitting team.

Isn't that interesting. And with 262 fewer strikeouts and 23 fewer HRs.

[nsacpi]

My main concern with where we are now is that with the possible exception of Wisler, our young players who played in the higher level of the minors and those who reached the majors are not of the variety that will move the needle much in terms of wins and losses going forward.

We will improve some in the near-term, mainly because we were so bad in 2015 and also because of the bigger payroll starting in 2017. But until the cavalry arrives (and that would be the prospects who were 18 or younger in the past season) I think this team will project no better than something in the 80-85 range in terms of wins. That's fine with me, but those fans expecting more will be a bit disappointed.

I also think many fans are underestimating the ETA of the cavalry. I can see one or two reaching the majors in 2018 or 2019. But they will be getting their feet wet. Kind of like the Cubs and Astros in 2014. My expectation is it won't be until 2020 until we really see the impact of guys like Riley, Acuna, Yepez, Soroka, Allard and Albies. And it should go without saying that not all of them will pan out.

[50PoundHead]

My main concern with where we are now is that with the possible exception of Wisler, our young players who played in the higher level of the minors and those who reached the majors are not of the variety that will move the needle much in terms of wins and losses going forward.

We will improve some in the near-term, mainly because we were so bad in 2015 and also because of the bigger payroll starting in 2017. But until the cavalry arrives (and that would be the prospects who were 18 or younger in the past season) I think this team will project no better than something in the 80-85 range in terms of wins. That's fine with me, but those fans expecting more will be a bit disappointed.

I also think many fans are underestimating the ETA of the cavalry. I can see one or two reaching the majors in 2018 or 2019. But they will be getting their feet wet. Kind of like the Cubs and Astros in 2014. My expectation is it won't be until 2020 until we really see the impact of guys like Riley, Acuna, Yepez, Soroka, Allard and Albies. And it should go without saying that not all of them will pan out.

The most salient point in the discussion. Contending in 2017 is possible (almost anything in baseball is possible), but I think people have to remember that teams like the Cubs and Astros were dogsh*t for the past half-decade. Both teams drafted well, were aggressive in Latin America, and did well with player development. They put themselves in the position where they could augment a solid core of players to reach the next level.

I do think we are in a decent place with the starting pitching, but the bullpen needs to be revamped.

I thought Seitzer did a good job and the offense really suffered after Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe were traded. Those guys aren't world-beaters by any stretch, but they supplied quality ABs. The late July typhoon that turned 20% of the team over really seemed to take a psychological toll on the team. They simply weren't the same team after that flurry of activity, both in terms of talent and (seemingly) mental toughness. It was really painful to watch all that sleepwalking.

[nsacpi]

Contending in 2017 is possible (almost anything in baseball is possible)

As the Twins showed this year.

[thewupk]

Considering we traded 3 of our 4 best hitters before the season and still scored the exact same amount of runs as we did in 2014 I would call that a success. Scored 573 runs both years. Go figure. I know I said it before the season, we dont need Gattis, Justin, and Heywood to be a bad hitting team.

We weren't a bad hitting team. We were the worst. I don't see how that is viewed as a success at all.

[nsacpi]

We weren't a bad hitting team. We were the worst. I don't see how that is viewed as a success at all.

But we were just as bad with Heyward, Gattis and Justin.

[clvclv]

The most salient point in the discussion. Contending in 2017 is possible (almost anything in baseball is possible), but I think people have to remember that teams like the Cubs and Astros were dogsh*t for the past half-decade. Both teams drafted well, were aggressive in Latin America, and did well with player development. They put themselves in the position where they could augment a solid core of players to reach the next level.

I do think we are in a decent place with the starting pitching, but the bullpen needs to be revamped.

I thought Seitzer did a good job and the offense really suffered after Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe were traded. Those guys aren't world-beaters by any stretch, but they supplied quality ABs. The late July typhoon that turned 20% of the team over really seemed to take a psychological toll on the team. They simply weren't the same team after that flurry of activity, both in terms of talent and (seemingly) mental toughness. It was really painful to watch all that sleepwalking.

I'd also add that with the renewed focus on continuing to add arms, building a deeper and stronger pen SHOULD become much easier going forward. My hope is that adding Hart's experience and Coppy's more analytical focus will lead to at least somewhat quicker decisions as to who we're really comfortable believing could be contributors to a rotation at the big league level sooner, while transitioning some of the "well, maybe" types into relievers earlier. Guys like A. J. Minter, Anthony Guardado, Josh Graham, Chase Johnson-Mullins, etc. could become really cheap late-inning options that could move fast if they show signs of trouble as starters. I'm not advocating a quick trigger finger when it comes to transitioning them mind you, but when you already have Wisler, Banuelos, Perez, Weber, Folty, Jenkins, Sims, Fried, Toussaint, Allard, and Soroka ahead of them, don't be shy about making a few of those guys relievers earlier in an effort to help the big club. We're likely going to continue to draft at least a couple guys every year with higher ceilings as starters.

[thewupk]

But we were just as bad with Heyward, Gattis and Justin.

Not really true. The teams WRC+ was better last year. Also what does that even mean? That the combination of players last year was almost as bad as those this year? Considering there are like 2 position players at the end of the 2015 season that started the 2014 season I don't see the relevance. Both squads had some really horrible hitters on it.

[Carp]

Considering we traded 3 of our 4 best hitters before the season and still scored the exact same amount of runs as we did in 2014 I would call that a success. Scored 573 runs both years. Go figure. I know I said it before the season, we dont need Gattis, Justin, and Heywood to be a bad hitting team.

Impossible. I was told this offense would most definitely be worse than last years.

[dak]

To add to the comparisons of 2014 vs 2015, here's a look at team defense:

2014: 11th in DRS, 5th in UZR / 150, catcher pitch framing: below average
2015: 24th in DRS, 16th in UZR / 150, catcher pitch framing: below average

Need to find a way to improve on defense going forward. No excuse for not making incremental personnel improvements on this front, and we've got to get out of the stone age when it comes to using defensive shifts. The first step, as they say, is acknowledging the problem. I'm hopeful that Coppy sees the problem. Nervous that other decision makers legitimately feel that guys like Maybin and Markakis are good defenders.

[thewupk]

Impossible. I was told this offense would most definitely be worse than last years.

It was.

[Julio3000]

Impossible. I was told this offense would most definitely be worse than last years.

Were they not, relative to the league?

[nsacpi]

If we had also traded away Freeman, the offense would definitely have been better than 2014's.

[Runnin]

It was.

It went into a funk while Freddie was out. We really missed his RBI ability and that hurt our overall numbers. But watching the games I had more confidence in this year's team to put together hits to score runs. Trouble was, we were often several runs down.

This year we got more hits and more doubles than either of the last two years' teams that included JUp, Jason and Gattis. This year's team was much more efficient based on it's talent level and a built a better foundation for the future.

Patience.

[nsacpi]

It went into a funk while Freddie was out. We really missed his RBI ability and that hurt our overall numbers. But watching the games I had more confidence in this year's team to put together hits to score runs. Trouble was, we were often several runs down.

This year we got more hits and more doubles than either of the last two years' teams that included JUp, Jason and Gattis. This year's team was much more efficient based on it's talent level and a built a better foundation for the future.

Patience.

We also struck out much less.

[thewupk]

It went into a funk while Freddie was out. We really missed his RBI ability and that hurt our overall numbers. But watching the games I had more confidence in this year's team to put together hits to score runs. Trouble was, we were often several runs down.

This year we got more hits and more doubles than either of the last two years' teams that included JUp, Jason and Gattis. This year's team was much more efficient based on it's talent level and a built a better foundation for the future.

Patience.

I would agree on the talent level thing to a degree. As far as a better foundation for the future. We only have 1 core hitter on the team. Not much of a foundation to me.

And overall hits is only a piece of the puzzle. Walks and overall power is important to . Fact is the 2015 braves are one of the worst offensive teams in team history.