House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves: must act sooner rather than later

By Jonathan Magel

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 22: Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates hitting a three run home run with Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 during the second inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on May 22, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 22: Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates hitting a three run home run with Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 during the second inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on May 22, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – MAY 11: Marcus Stroman #6 of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts after three quality defensive plays were made behind him in the field to end the first inning during MLB game action against the Chicago White Sox at Rogers Centre on May 11, 2019, in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – MAY 11: Marcus Stroman #6 of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts after three quality defensive plays were made behind him in the field to end the first inning during MLB game action against the Chicago White Sox at Rogers Centre on May 11, 2019, in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

The Perfect Fit

The team I will turn my attention to is the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays already sit 13.0 games back of the first place Yankees in the AL East. With this size of a deficit and the Rays surprising run, the Blue Jays are effectively out of the race already.

This means the Jays may be looking to make deals earlier rather than later to garnish a greater return. They also happen to have what the Braves are looking for, a starting pitcher with control and a closer

First the starting pitcher.  Both Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman fit the bill as a starter with control (both have 2 years of team control), but my preference is Stroman.

Now I know he had his struggles last year with an ERA of 5.54, but he has bounced back with an ERA of 2.81. I think he has proven last year was an outlier, and on top of his pitching skills, I love his make-up.

Stroman is a fun and exciting player who shows passion when he plays the game. I think this falls in line with the current Braves team and fits in with the passion that Acuña, Albies, and Donaldson demonstrate. Not to mention Alex Anthopoulos drafted him with the 22nd pick in the 2012 draft.

The second piece to this is Ken Giles, who will provide the Braves with a better closer option. He started his career in 2014 and finished fourth in the rookie of the year. He continued the following year with great output and in 2016 was traded from an out of contention team in the Phillies to the Astros.

His career was up in down in Houston with his best year in 2017 and in 2018 he was traded mid-season to the Blue jays because of his post-season struggles. After a little improvement last year, he has come out this year on fire.

His ERA on the year is 1.37 and strikeouts per nine is 14.2, which both are obviously outstanding.

Another number that should sooth Braves fans is his walks per nine is a meager 2.3. To put that in perspective Craig Kimbrel has only been below that twice in his career.

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