Atlanta Braves Morning Chop

Feb 21, 2017; Disney, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (left) and shortstop Dansby Swanson (center) and right fielder Matt Kemp (right) wait for their turn to bat during media day for the Atlanta Braves during MLB spring training at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2017; Disney, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (left) and shortstop Dansby Swanson (center) and right fielder Matt Kemp (right) wait for their turn to bat during media day for the Atlanta Braves during MLB spring training at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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Rob Manfred is on a crusade… that nobody really cares about but him. Fortunately there’s some actual baseball news out there to talk about today.

The Atlanta Braves are done with the preliminaries – everyone is in camp, photo day is done, daily drills are in progress. Games start Saturday afternoon. So here’s a few things of interest to keep us occupied until then:

Top 32 Prospects: Atlanta Braves

ERIC LONGENHAGEN / FANGRAPHS.COM

[Ed. note: okay, yes – it’s yet another prospect ranking. Yet this one has a quite different spin on it… one that’s quite interesting in places.

This is a very lengthy treatment of the Braves’ farm system, and I do recommend it to you, but here is Longenhagen’s prospects chart as a teaser: ]

RkNameAgeHighest LevelPositionETAFV
1Dansby Swanson23MLBSS201765
2Ozzie Albies20AAA2B201860
3Ronald Acuna19ACF202055
4Kolby Allard19ALHP201955
5Kevin Maitan17R3B202155
6Ian Anderson18RRHP202155
7Max Fried23ALHP201855
8Luiz Gohara20ALHP201955
9Mike Soroka19ARHP202050
10Cristian Pache18RCF202050
11Sean Newcomb23AALHP201850
12Joey Wentz19RLHP202150
13Touki Touisaint20ARHP201945
14Patrick Weigel22AARHP201845
15Travis Demeritte22A+2B201945
16Kyle Muller19RLHP202045
17Ray-Patrick Didder22AOF201945
18Dustin Peterson22AALF201845
19Brett Cumberland21RC201940
20A.J. Minter23AALHP201740
21Drew Harrington21RLHP201940
22Derian Cruz18RSS202140
23Yunior Severino17RSS202240
24Alex Jackson21AC202140
25Rio Ruiz22MLB3B201740
26Dylan Moore24A+UTIL201840
27Mauricio Cabrera23MLBRHP201740
28Austin Riley19A3B202140
29Bryse Wilson19RRHP202040
30Ricardo Sanchez19ALHP202040
31Jonathan Morales22AC201940
32Randy Ventura19RRF202040

Still No Grass in Sight

February 22nd… in 37 days, there’s an exhibition game being played against the Yankees at SunTrust Park. And as you can see from the site’s live webcam, there’s still not a blade of grass to be found.

Reminder: Single-game Tickets

You can already get 6-game sets of tickets from the Braves, but the date set for individual games is March 10th… unless you go to the scal… er, professional ticket vendors like Stub Hub.

Atlanta Braves partner with Ryan Seacrest Foundation

PHIL W HUDSON / ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE

"The Atlanta Braves and the Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF) partnered to support the foundation’s work with children’s hospitals throughout the country, including Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.…seacrest’s sister, Meredith Seacrest, said her entire family is delighted that they were able to create the “meaningful partnership” with the Braves.“Our work at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and at other pediatric hospitals across the country wouldn’t be possible without partnerships like the one we have with the Braves – we are so grateful,” she said in a statement.Plans are underway for an annual concert fundraiser at The Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre in The Battery Atlanta, along with other new programs. … Braves player and musician Chase d’Arnaud (interview with d’Arnaud here) linked up with James David Carter at Seacrest Studios at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Feb. 9 to perform for patients and families."

[Ed. note: for all of the press we see about the ‘bad’ stadium deal or ‘billionaire owners’ and the like, these stories just don’t come up enough.

Note that this is not only the team getting involved with a Children’s Hospital project, but there are also players getting involved as well.

More from Tomahawk Take

Frankly, it’s hard for these guys to carve out time – especially in season – to support causes like this. Baseball is truly a full-time effort, and their participation is hardly insignificant to any such cause.

As the father of a cancer survivor, I’ve seen firsthand some of the volunteer efforts from many people – not just sports personalities. So many go way out of their way to try and provide a respite to the treatment and recovery process for these kids.

So to all of these heroes: thank you!

Best Thing You’ll See Today

Finally, we leave you with this – be sure to turn up the music and watch with a close friend.

Coming soon to a suburban Atlanta stadium near more of you than the last stadium was.