Atlanta Braves place five in top-ten SDI ranking
By Fred Owens
Atlanta Braves Kyle Wright leads all pitchers
Wright’s progress on the mound may go down as the most pleasant surprise of the year. He’s 8-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 85 IP. His SDI of 2.7 leads the list of 48 NL qualifiers.
Anderson’s 4.60 ERA in 74+ IP is higher than hoped, but his defense ties him with seven others in seventh place. Fried sits in 21st place, but only 0.5 behind Anderson, while Morton checks in at number 40, with –0.7.
Batterymate d’Arnaud comes in at sixth. He’s just 0.1 behind Will Smith and JT Realmuto.
Around the Horn
Former Brave Christian Walker’s 5.9 makes him a runaway leader at first base. Olson’s 0.2 puts him in a three-way tie for fourth with Bell, Cron, and Chavis. Our former first baseman sits in eighth place with –0.3.
Albies is currently tied for fourth place but will drop off the list in about two weeks because he’s not playing.
Riley is a disappointing 11th among third basemen, with –1.6. The eye test says he’s a better defender, but he’s posting a –2.8 UZR with no DRS. Old friend Jace Peterson is in third with 4.4, and Manny Machado sits in fourth.
The brightest spot in the infield is shortstop, where Dansby Swanson has become ‘clutch Swanson’ early this year and sits in third place with 2.6 behind Nico Hoerner and Ha-Seong Kim at 4.4.