Looking ahead to the postseason roster

S

Slippyjms

Well-known member
With the trade dead line passed and our new acquisitions on board I thought now would be a good time to look at the construction of the roster and how we may deploy it come playoff time.

The Hitters

Acuna
Albies
Freeman
Donaldson
Duvall
McCann
Swanson
Inciarte

Markakis
Flowers
Culberson
Camargo
Joyce

Riley

So I really like our everyday lineup. I know it’s not guaranteed but I really hope to see Nick back by the end of the season. I’d like to see Duvall do enough to keep the job though. I believe the improved defense will help.

I’m concerned a bit with the bench. Flowers and Camargo have been rough and Joyce is slumping. I’d be interested in picking up Lucroy to replace Flowers and Cabrera to replace Camargo.

Riley I think ends up being the odd man out if the rest of the group is healthy.

The pitchers

Keuchel
Soroka
Folty
Teheran

Jackson
Greene
Meloncan
Martin
Newk
Fried
Swarzak
Gausman

As you can see there are quite a few questions about how to handle the pitching staff. The first one is what are we going to do with Fried? Would he be more valuable as a starter or a multi inning lefty option out of the pen?

Next we need to know the fates of Gausman and Folty. Ideally come playoff time I’d like to have both Gausman and Fried in the pen both for their stuff and length but to protect them as well. Of course if they’re not enough other arms to fill the rotation that discussion doesn’t matter.

I really like the potential strength of the pen but our rotation leaves something to be desired. I’m not too sure what we do about at this point though so I guess we cross our fingers and hope for the best.

What does everyone else think?
 
We really need to explore using an opener. We have enough starters that we should be able to do this effectively. Depends on the team we face as to how exactly to set it up.
 
cajunrevenge said:
We really need to explore using an opener. We have enough starters that we should be able to do this effectively. Depends on the team we face as to how exactly to set it up.
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I definitely agree with you there especially if we don’t either get 2018 Folty back or have one of our top prospects come up and start dominating.
 
Even though Duvall looks bad on sliders, he is not close to Riley level.

He would adjust and his last two hits, both help us were nasty sliders.

This was his problem in Cinncy as well at stages, but the dude does not want to go back to the minors again, you can see it in his eyes, hustle and now judgement.

Riley is just lost at times, just need reps. Did not know he can play first base. He seems to be a player that need reps at a position until he knows he is a major leaguer. If the Dong wants a huge contract, let him walk. Then Seitzer need to spend a lot of time with Riley in recognizing sliders and cutters. He can catch up to a fastball, but it has a wrinkle, he guesses wrong most of the time.

I know he played in Left field and had a few miscues, but he does have a cannon for an arm and just need more practice which he did not get.

Acuna has a certified nuclear missile where ever he plays in the outfield. Dude one hops the catcher from the warning track, ON A LINE.
 
With the news of waters and pache being promoted, I think one of them is starting in the OF playoff game 1
 
Also, with Snit’s track record, the second Markakis comes back he’ll be penciled in as a starter everyday.
 
jpx7 said:
For Gwinnett, in the AAA playoffs.
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Nope. I doubt markakis is ready, and I think duvall crashes before then. The braves are the 2nd best team in the nl. Can't go in the playoffs with a glaring weakness when there's a viable option. Hopefully Duvall, Riley, or Markakis allow us to keep both of pache and waters down, but I doubt it at the moment

ETA... and think about it, AA didn't get an outfielder at the deadline with no options available now other than pache/waters. I doubt seriously AA left duvall down all year, and all-the-sudden had a change of heart about him. Less than a week later, waters and pache are in AAA. If one of them continues to hit...
 
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msstate7 said:
Nope. I doubt markakis is ready, and I think duvall crashes before then. The braves are the 2nd best team in the nl. Can't go in the playoffs with a glaring weakness when there's a viable option. Hopefully Duvall, Riley, or Markakis allow us to keep both of pache and waters down, but I doubt it at the moment

ETA... and think about it, AA didn't get an outfielder at the deadline with no options available now other than pache/waters. I doubt seriously AA left duvall down all year, and all-the-sudden had a change of heart about him. Less than a week later, waters and pache are in AAA. If one of them continues to hit...
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They'd have to be added to the 40 man roster. After the purge we just had at the deadline, I really doubt AA is willing to cut anyone else, so unless someone is moved to the 60 day IL, we won't have an opening. Parsons is probably the likely culprit in such a scenario, but again, I highly doubt it happens.

AA left Duvall down because he wasn't needed until recently. It's hard to justify sending Riley down when he was tearing up the league. And you certainly aren't getting rid of Joyce since he is the best LH bat on the bench. Camargo and Culberson likewise, have position versatility. There simply wasn't a spot for him until Neck went down with injury.

Duvall has a good track record of hitting and, by all accounts, his 2018 can largely be attributed to health issues. It's very likely he's back to his pre-2018 self, which is a starting caliber OFer. No one is going to confuse him with Aaron Judge, but he's a solid starting OFer.
 
Ray-Patrick Didder has been on a tear the last couple of weeks. That's going to continue and Dansby's injury will be considered more serious that initially thought. Camargo continues to struggle. The Notorious RPD is added to the 40-man and becomes the Braves' starting SS. He has a blistering September that continues through the playoffs and he's named the NLDS and WS MVPs!
 
50PoundHead said:
Ray-Patrick Didder has been on a tear the last couple of weeks. That's going to continue and Dansby's injury will be considered more serious that initially thought. Camargo continues to struggle. The Notorious RPD is added to the 40-man and becomes the Braves' starting SS. He has a blistering September that continues through the playoffs and he's named the NLDS and WS MVPs!
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Hitting him lead off and having him step into every pitch he sees is a real weapon.
 
In an interview about a month ago, AA dwelled on starting pitching. He tried at the deadline, but couldn't find a starter at a reasonable price. AA said he wanted four starting pitchers he could have confidence in. At the time he game the interview he said there were only two he had confidence in--Soroka and Keuchel.

Not much has changed since then, except maybe Fried building a bit of a case for himself. With external options are no longer available, I think the front office has a plan to allow the starting pitching candidates every opportunity to step forward. This includes the guys in AAA. And Gausman and Teheran in the majors. I think those two will be kept in the rotation until rosters expand.

Once rosters expand it will be the five who are pitching best, and that could include one or two currently pitching in AAA. August and September are audition time for the starters. AA is looking for one or two to step forward and claim a spot in the post-season rotation.
 
msstate7 said:
Nope. I doubt markakis is ready, and I think duvall crashes before then. The braves are the 2nd best team in the nl. Can't go in the playoffs with a glaring weakness when there's a viable option. Hopefully Duvall, Riley, or Markakis allow us to keep both of pache and waters down, but I doubt it at the moment

ETA... and think about it, AA didn't get an outfielder at the deadline with no options available now other than pache/waters. I doubt seriously AA left duvall down all year, and all-the-sudden had a change of heart about him. Less than a week later, waters and pache are in AAA. If one of them continues to hit...
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Ummmm.... no
 
I wish we had some speed off the bench. Pinch runners in the playoffs can pay dividends in the late innings and we're now running out Fried as our pinch runner when Ender is starting.
 
Chico said:
I wish we had some speed off the bench. Pinch runners in the playoffs can pay dividends in the late innings and we're now running out Fried as our pinch runner when Ender is starting.
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Lane Adams was signed, pretty sure anyway
 
Carp said:
They'd have to be added to the 40 man roster. After the purge we just had at the deadline, I really doubt AA is willing to cut anyone else, so unless someone is moved to the 60 day IL, we won't have an opening. Parsons is probably the likely culprit in such a scenario, but again, I highly doubt it happens.

AA left Duvall down because he wasn't needed until recently. It's hard to justify sending Riley down when he was tearing up the league. And you certainly aren't getting rid of Joyce since he is the best LH bat on the bench. Camargo and Culberson likewise, have position versatility. There simply wasn't a spot for him until Neck went down with injury.

Duvall has a good track record of hitting and, by all accounts, his 2018 can largely be attributed to health issues. It's very likely he's back to his pre-2018 self, which is a starting caliber OFer. No one is going to confuse him with Aaron Judge, but he's a solid starting OFer.
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Well, AA could've went with Duvall over Riley when Riley was promoted. Duvall was crushing at the time too
 
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