Atlanta Braves: Quick Glance at Possible 2021 Lineup and Rotation
It’s sure to be an interesting offseason for the Atlanta Braves as they look to put together the right combination for a World Series run in 2021.
The Atlanta Braves were on the verge of making the World Series in 2020 and have a lot of key players coming back for next season.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of work to do in order to make sure they return to the postseason and have a shot at that piece of metal.
Let’s start by taking a look at what we know the Braves will have available, and then we’ll use that to springboard into a future article about offseason needs.
For the purpose of this article we’re going to act as if no offseason moves were made and Atlanta works with the players they have.
Before we do that, let’s look at who they’ll be losing.
Braves Players Becoming Free Agents:
Mark Melancon, Cole Hamels, Marcell Ozuna, Shane Greene, Nick Markakis, Tyler Flowers, Adeiny Hechavarria, Felix Hernandez, Pablo Sandoval, and Josh Tomlin.
Of that group, Melancon, Ozuna, and Greene are some key losses and I think they’ll try to bring all of them back. But like I said, in this article we’re going to act like none of that happens.
Possible 2021 Lineup:
Acuna – RF
Albies – 2B
Freeman – 1B
TDA – C
Swanson – SS
Duvall – LF
Camargo – DH
Riley – 3B
Pache – CF
That’s certainly not a terrible lineup. The top three should still be one of the best in baseball, but there is some obvious power missing with Ozuna gone.
And in particular, this lineup could use some help from the left side.
There’s also a chance that Drew Waters could be ready by the beginning of next season (he’s a switch-hitter) and then you could bump Duvall to DH.
Possible 2021 Rotation:
1. Soroka
2. Fried
3. Anderson
4. Wright
5. Wilson
I may actually feel better about the starting rotation than the lineup, which sounds crazy. But assuming Soroka comes back healthy, I’ll put those first three up against anybody.
Wright clearly deserves a spot, as does Wilson — at least to start — based on his postseason performance.
But there will be plenty of other arms fighting for rotations spots as well. Guys like Tucker Davidson, Touki Toussaint, Huascar Ynoa, Sean Newcomb, and possibly even Mike Foltynewicz.
Possible 2021 Bullpen:
Will Smith
Chris Martin
Darren O’Day ($3.5M team option)
Luke Jackson
Grant Dayton
A.J. Minter
Tyler Matzek
Jacob Webb
Jeremy Walker
This will still be a very good, deep bullpen even if no other moves are made. But I think they bring back either Melancon or Greene — if not both.
dark. Next. 4 Lessons Learned
Even if the Braves do nothing this offseason, this is still a very good team capable of making the postseason. But it’s clearly missing a few things to make them World Series contenders.