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Atlanta Braves recent draft history, Part 1: position players

By Fred Owens

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 29: Third baseman Chipper Jones #10 of the Atlanta Braves signs a ball for a Girl Scout before the game against the New York Mets at Turner Field on September 29, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 29: Third baseman Chipper Jones #10 of the Atlanta Braves signs a ball for a Girl Scout before the game against the New York Mets at Turner Field on September 29, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA – JUNE 19: Yunel Escobar #19 of the Atlanta Braves against the Kansas City Royals at Turner Field on June 19, 2010, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Position players

BA ranks for position players is an indication of their player’s likely success based on scouting data. Of the 18 positions players who made it to the majors, only four were nationally ranked in the top 100 by Baseball America at the time of the draft; Jeff Francoeur, Jason Heyward, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Brian McCann.

More from Tomahawk Take

Seven of the 18 position players who appeared in the majors qualify as starters for at least two seasons: Francoeur, McCann, Saltalamacchia, Heyward, Freeman, Yunel Escobar, and Andrelton Simmons.

Those players accumulated a total fWAR of 158.7 to date. Heyward, McCann, Freeman, and Simmons remain active at the highest level as do Nick Ahmed (1.9 fWAR), Phil Gosselin (1 fWAR) and Tommy La Stella (2 fWAR).

Awards and recognition

The table below lists the awards and or recognition given to the players that met the criteria in the question.

Player RoY AS GG SS MVP top 5
Jeff Francoeur #3 1
Jason Heyward #2 1 5
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Brian McCann 7 6
Yunel Escobar #6
Freddie Freeman #2 3 1    3
Andrelton Simmons 4

In addition to the awards and recognition in the chart above, I found the following significant accomplishments on the NL Leaders pages of BBR.

  • McCann ranked #6 in average, #7 in base-out wins added (REW), #8 in base-out runs added (RE24) and #10 in position player rWAR in 2006.
  • Francoeur ranked #10 in base hits, #3 in singles in 2007, tied # for sacrifice flies in 2009 and ranked #2 for them in 2010
  • Escobar tied as the eight hardest player to strike out in 2009
  • Heyward ranked  #4 in position player rWAR, #7 in rWAR (all positions) , #9 in oWAR, #4 in OBP, walks, and REW, #5 in RE24, and #6 in WPA/LI in 2010.  In 2012 he ranked #10 in position-player rWAR and runs scored
  • Simmons ranked #4 in dWAR for 2012 and has a Platinum Glove award.
  • Freeman tied for first in sacrifice flies for 2012

For explanations of RE24, REW, and WPA/LI, click this link.

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