House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves Veterans Closing In On Significant Milestones

By Alex Burke

Feb 15, 2017; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (right) and starting pitcher Julio Teheran (left) during MLB spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 15, 2017; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (right) and starting pitcher Julio Teheran (left) during MLB spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

Multiple Atlanta Braves veterans are currently on the cusp of very significant career milestones. Just about all of them are possible for this season.

Even if you weren’t already getting excited for this first Atlanta Braves season at SunTrust Park, we’ve got several things for you to watch along the way.  The numbers, please?

Bartolo Colon

If you didn’t know, then this Tweet informed you:

Going into his 20th MLB season, Colon is indeed closing in on Juan Marichal‘s record for most wins by a pitcher from the Dominican Republic.

Colon is sitting on 233 career wins, just 10 behind Marichal’s 243. Are 10 or 11 wins this year obtainable? Certainly.

In the six seasons since missing the 2010 season with elbow surgery, Colon has averaged 13 and a third wins per. If the Braves’ offense doesn’t lay an egg every time he’s on the mound (see: Shelby Miller, 2015), then Colon could reach this milestone with the Braves this season.

Also, a fun number to track this year will be his strikeouts.

Colon is currently 135 away from 2,500. Similar to the wins, if he hasn’t lost anything from last year, then this is possible, as well.

Feb 15, 2017; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher R.A. Dickey catches a ball during MLB spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 15, 2017; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher R.A. Dickey catches a ball during MLB spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

R.A. Dickey

Dickey is closing in on two milestones: 2,000 innings pitched and 1,500 strikeouts. He’s currently at 1,883.2 and 1,341, respectively.

So… he needs 116.1 innings and 159 strikeouts. Both are possible this season, especially the innings, but I wouldn’t bet on either, especially the strikeouts.

Dickey hasn’t K’d more than 126 each of the last two seasons, even after start totals of 33, then 29.

As far as the innings are concerned, it’s tough to say. While he has pitched at least 169.2 innings each of the last seven seasons, there is a lot of competition to make the Braves’ rotation this year.

This could mean a few different scenarios playing out this season:

  • Dickey spends the whole year in the Braves’ rotation (gets to 116.1 IP).
  • Dickey gets traded at some point this season (then gets to 116.1 IP with another team).
  • Dickey loses his starting spot, then moves to the bullpen.

If Dickey is better than expected, or the guys who are close to a call-up are worse than expected, he could see himself reaching both of these milestones in Braves’ uniform because the Braves will most likely exercise their club option on him after this season.

Home/Braves News