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Atlanta Braves 2017 position reviews summary

By Alan Carpenter

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 07: Left fielder Lane Adams #16 of the Atlanta Braves dives late for a ball hit by Ichiro Suzuki #51 of the Miami Marlins (not pictured) in the eighth inning during the game at SunTrust Park on September 7, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 07: Left fielder Lane Adams #16 of the Atlanta Braves dives late for a ball hit by Ichiro Suzuki #51 of the Miami Marlins (not pictured) in the eighth inning during the game at SunTrust Park on September 7, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
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Over the past week or so, we have looked at every position and compared 2017 performances to the rest of major league baseball.  It’s time to see what we learned.

First off, here are all of the Atlanta Braves position reviews, in case you missed something:

PREVIOUS REVIEWS

(At some point I plan to get to the pitching reviews, but don’t hold your breath!)

I decided to do a summary based on what the Braves have… and what they should expect in order to compete better.

For that, we need some more/expanded information, but unfortunately, that requires me to narrow the stat-scope down to a single entity to avoid killing you with more data… so I’m going to use fangraphs’ WAR for this.  It’s not the best idea, but it is at least a comprehensive number that takes both offense and defense into account.

So for this exercise, every major league position player ‘s fWAR was downloaded, ranked, and scored on a percentile basis by position…using fangraphs.com numbers.  This is done to simplify the bottom line, but the full reviews have the details.

This starkly shows the positions in dire need of upgrades.

  • At second base, it’s possible that the upgrade is already in place, and that Albies needs only a full season to show us.
  • At shortstop, we need to know – soon – if Swanson is going to be able to hit major league quality sliders.
  • At third base, I think Johan Camargo has shown more than enough to start at 3rd base for now – in the absence of getting an external upgrade.  I would try him there rather than having him in a ‘Zobrist’ role yet.
  • Left Field:  as I noted in that review, almost any upgrade is probably worth the $40 million remaining on Kemp’s contract if you have to simply release him.  In other words, any trade you can make might be worth the price.
  • Right Field:  Markakis should be able to be dealt… but he’s hardly a butcher, either.  Saving some money on his contract, though, would go some distance toward being able to afford whatever needs to be done for Kemp.

In total, even an outfield of Lane Adams, Inciarte, and Ronald Acuna would be an upgrade.  I don’t know that Adams is a full-on day-to-day starter, but he does represent an upgrade.

I do still like the idea that Fred had a few weeks’ back:  a swap with the Red Sox for Rusney Castillo… and then see what Castillo can do in the majors.

That’s risky, but again, it’s probably not worse than any other quick solution… and in the worst case, you’re not any worse off than before.

The Final Review

The Braves need to upgrade 4 positions: (SS, 3B, LF, RF)… but for at least 2 or 3 of them, internal options may already be available.  Only one of the outfield spots probably needs some external love… or possibly third base.

More from Tomahawk Take

Just how much of an upgrade we’re expecting… that’s another matter.  I’m not expecting that Swanson will suddenly start hitting .300 – though he does still have that kind of potential.

Additionally, if the other positions can be helped out, that can give Swanson some space to get his own game on track without additional pressure to perform.

There’s also still a hole in terms of team ‘thump‘.  The Yankees led the way with 241 homers this year.  The Braves were 28th overall with 165… and were 8th-worst in slugging.

Power isn’t a panacea – the Red Sox were worst in slugging and had only 3 more homers – but it helps to have threats up and down your lineup.  When Kemp, Freeman, and Adams were all hitting well together (for about a week or two), we liked the output they generated.

Without weapons like that, pitchers tend to work around Freeman – thus limiting his production, and that of the club.

Next: So Hart isn't involved... huh

So this is hardly an impossible task… but let’s hope the next GM is up to it the moment he/she arrives.  Thanks for slogging through this series with me.

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