Z TrainOh hi guys. I love these moves by the Braves.
In case you missed it, the Braves have called up 3 prospects in the last couple of days: our 2012 1st round pick, Lucas Sims, fellow 2012 1st rounder, Max Fried who was acquired from the Padres in the J-Up trade, and, #19 overall prospect, middle infielder Ozzie Albies. After being highly touted as a big high school arm, Sims' progress slowed as his control never really developed. A tale as old as time, it seems. He has a solid fastball (consistently mid-90s) and a plus curveball, but always had trouble finding the strike zone. Sims finally seemed to put it all together in AAA Gwinnett this year, posting a respectable 3.75 ERA with a .224 opponent average and a solid K:BB of 132:32 (11:3) over 115 innings. I love this move by the Braves. It's time to ramp it up for Lucas. As a 23 year old, it's time to see if he can put together a few solid outings in the pros. Same goes for Max Fried. This is much more of a shock though. Even as the Braves 10th prospect, Max Fried had a pretty rough year for the AA Mississippi Braves, walking 43 batters in 86 innings and sporting a 5.92 ERA with a 2-11 record. However, after going on the DL for blisters (which could explain the poor beginning), he hasn't allowed a run in 3 abbreviated outings, and the Braves decided this was the time. Another 23 year old, the left hander throws heat and has one of the nastiest curveballs in the minors (when he's finding the plate). We've seen this strategy before with Matt Wisler, Sean Newcomb, Aaron Blair and Alex Wood all in recent memory. The Braves have no problem throwing young pitchers into the abyss that is the MLB, a little bit of a baptism by fire. Newcomb has had a tough learning curve but has honestly pitched well. Alex Wood has really turned it around for the Dodgers, arguably one of the best big league pitchers this year... and Blair and Wisler have been another story. Coppolella said before the season that it's nut up or shut up time (paraphrased) for Blair and Wisler, who have both reached that magical age of 25 where they are no longer prospect commodities and need to perform. In this sense, I love these call-ups. Sims was not great, but not bad in his first outing, letting up 3 runs, 6 hits in 6 innings; a quality start. Fried will join the bullpen, as he's seen recent success in these abbreviated outings, and potentially could be a spot starter if called upon. Compared to everyone else we've seen trying to replace Bartolo Colon (rest in peace), Sims looks like the best bet out of Wisler and Blair, and compared to the band of misfit retards that try to complement Vizcaino, Ramirez and Motte in the bullpen, Fried will hopefully be a welcome addition. I don't think these guys are completely ready for the big leagues, but I like the call-ups because it lets the players and the organization better gauge their development. They will probably be back down to AAA before the season is over, but this will definitely aid their progression, and I think they could be solid contributors to the 2018 Braves squad. Ozzie Albies is a whole other animal. He's absolutely torn the Braves system apart. After getting to AAA Gwinnett as a 19 year old last year and struggling, he moved back down to AA and tore the cover off the ball, hitting .321 with an .858 OPS. At only 20 years old, he's become the first MLB player born in 1997 (albeit January 1st), and Atlanta has already announced that he will be the 2B moving forward. Poor Brandon Phillips, but like I said earlier, we should've traded him. I digress. The numbers haven't been great for Ozzie so far, a sub-.200 BA for the switch hitter with a few misplayed balls in the field. But his body language has been tremendous. After the misplayed barehander in the game tonight against the Braves, he's laughing it off, shaking his head. After Ellington threw a 98 mph heater at his dome, he makes a face and gets back in the batters box. He calls off the Braves' best player to catch the game-ending pop fly. That's exactly what you want to see from a top prospect if the numbers aren't there. Confidence and carrying yourself is a big percentage of what it takes to be a professional, and as a supreme talent, the results will come with time. The same can be said for Dansby Swanson. Even though he really struggled this season, he didn't let it deter him from keeping his composure, and we all know he will be back up to the bigs soon after clearing his head and getting some confidence back in the minors. Did you really think I would go a whole blog without talking about locker room glue guys?? I couldn't be more excited for this Ozzie call-up. I thought they would keep him in AAA for the year and let him open up next season as the starting second baseman, but this is a much better move. After getting a lot of big league reps this year, he'll be raring to go in spring training with a lot to expect. People will point back to Swanson's regression this year, but big league reps are priceless and hard to come by, and this experience will be invaluable for the rest of his career. Ozzie has the potential to be among the elite second baseman in baseball some day, and a franchise cornerstone at the leadoff position. In summary, these moves are highly positive, aggressive moves by the Braves, which set a precedence for our other top prospects. Looking through our farm system, top guns Kolby Allard, Mike Soroka, Joey Wentz and Ian Anderson are performing well in the minors, all at 19 years old. Kyle Wright is setting A and high-A on fire, and likely will hit the big leagues late next year or at the start of 2019. Top prospect Ronald Acuna (who is literally destroying the minors, check his stats here) is 19 years old. These aggressive call-ups by the Braves organization basically guarantees we will see Acuna in 2018, and maybe even for a few games this season (I can hope, OK?), and shows that our 19 year old flamethrowers should be prepared for MLB starts as early as 2019. 2019 is the perfect year, where Freddie Freeman will be smack-dab in the middle of his prime at 29, Swanson, Foltynewicz and Newcomb will all be entering their primes, and Albies, Acuna and at least a few of the pitchers will be ready to break onto the scene. In classic Atlanta fashion, next year is our year, but boy am I excited for it. World Series Dynasty 2019-2024. Chop on motherfuckers.
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