House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves: Arbitration Players Who Should be Cut, and Who Should be Extended

By Jake Mastroianni

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 09: Relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino #38 of the Atlanta Braves points to short stop Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves to celebrate after the last out of the baseball game against Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 9, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 09: Relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino #38 of the Atlanta Braves points to short stop Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves to celebrate after the last out of the baseball game against Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 9, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
ATLANTA, GA. – MAY 28: Sam Freeman #39 of the Atlanta Braves pitches in the eighth inning against the New York Mets at SunTrust Field on May 28, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA. – MAY 28: Sam Freeman #39 of the Atlanta Braves pitches in the eighth inning against the New York Mets at SunTrust Field on May 28, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Cut – Sam Freeman

This one may shock some people, but I am not a big fan of Sam Freeman. I know there are some on this site who will argue who was not used correctly last year, but I will argue that he was used too much.

Maybe he does pitch better on two or three days rest, but if that’s the case, he’s not a reliable reliever.

Freeman has shown flashes of brilliance with the Braves and he certainly has the stuff to be a great reliever, but he’s not consistent enough to be a reliable bullpen arm.

Over parts of seven years he has a 3.61 ERA in 226.2 innings pitched with 226 strikeouts. But he also has a career WHIP of 1.41, which I don’t consider great for a lefty specialist.

His K/9 rate has always been solid, and he actually put up his best total in 2018 at 10.4 per nine.

In 2017 he put up his best season to date with a 2.55 ERA in 60 innings with 59 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.25.

Last season he wasn’t really great again lefties or righties as lefties hit .233 against him with a .360 on-base, and righties hit .226 against him with a .341 on-base.

Walks were certainly the issue with a BB/9 rate of 5.7 last year, but it’s not like that’s a big difference from his career average of 5.0.

We all know how bad the Braves pitching staff was at giving up walks last year, and one way to improve in that department is to cut thier losses with Freeman.

They won’t be saving a ton of money as he is owed just $1.375 million in his second year of arbitration, but it will keep me from having to turn games off whenever he comes in.

Home/Braves News