What will the Atlanta Braves do with the playoff roster?
It is soon to be decision time for the Atlanta Braves as they make the final calls on what will be the original 26 players going for the World Series trophy.
The Atlanta Braves start the 2021 NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers this upcoming Friday. A challenge no doubt, but if the last few weeks were any indication, the Atlanta Braves should be considered the favorites going in.
One of the last few questions now is who will the Atlanta Braves coaches and the team’s front office staff think is the team’s best option to advance to play in the NLCS?
26 players will be selected and I, like many others, believe it will consist of both 13 position players and pitchers.
Of course, some need no explanation and are locks for the roster. I say we go ahead and get them out of the way.
The infield will without a doubt be Freddie Freeman, Dansby Swanson, Ozzie Albies, and Austin Riley. And that quartet may very well be the best infield from an all around feature in the entire postseason this October. Make no mistakes about it, this team will go as far as this group will take them for worse or for better.
The catching duo is no question either as Travis d’Arnaud and William Contreras will share the duties behind the plate. Even if Vogt would have stayed healthy, it would have probably been Contreras getting the nod over him for the playoff roster.
The Atlanta Braves have four more locks in the outfield as well as Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario, and Joc Pederson will be the main group patrolling the outfield grass.
Moving to the mound, we all know who the four Atlanta Braves starters will be and that is Charlie Morton, Max Fried, Ian Anderson, and Huascar Ynoa. I do believe it all depends on how the first 3 games go as to whether or not Ynoa would be used as a traditional starter in a possible game 4 or as “opener” and maybe just try and get him to go through the first 3 or 4 innings. Only time will tell.
Moving right along as we get to the bullpen. The locks there would be Luke Jackson (how far we’ve come), Tyler Matzek, AJ Minter, Richard Rodriguez, Will Smith (Lighten up), Jacob Webb, Chris Martin, and Jesse Chavez.
So all in all, I believe the Atlanta Braves have 22 locks out of the 26 available spots. Let’s get down to the brass tax and start diving into the remaining questions for this roster.
To me the biggest question facing the Atlanta Braves this week is how do they fulfill the bench needs?
Obviously as mentioned earlier, Joc will be the primary bench option and outfield backup.
That leaves 3 bench spots for the following four players to battle it out.
Yes, Heredia has been kind of the cheer captain since early August and his Jack Sparrow’s impersonations are a wonderful addition to the team, but October is about winning and who gives the Atlanta Braves the best ability to do just that.
As it goes, Heredia does do that over the afore mentioned names due to his defensive ability late in a game and as we all know, he can pop off a double from time to time. I believe he makes the roster.
This is where things seem to get real interesting. I’ve got to be 100% honest, I do not buy the narrative that Adrianza is a lock. He has been a quality player for the team this year but I, myself would rather have the long ball threat of Arcia off the bench instead. Plus, it would make a great story if Arcia was able to do anything against his old team in Milwaukee.
I’m not saying Arcia makes the team as he will probably be the odd man out but I would take him over Adrianza off the bench if I was running the shots.
However, the last question would be could Adrianza make the team over Pache?
Again, I do not think so. Pache should be on the major league club at this point considering the fact that he can’t simply take at bats in Gwinnett anymore. His baserunning ability and defensive ability simply make him a better fit off the bench for the Atlanta Braves this October.
Adrianza was a great surprise this year and he did a lot for the Atlanta Braves this year but he would be my odd man out, but obviously just an injury away.
So we have 25 of the 26 spots locked in as of now. It is really down to which one of these last two arms gets in.
First off, let me go ahead and say I do not see Dylan Lee making the cut. The Braves already have an ample amount of lefties down in the pen and I see no reason to add another.
So it is down to Spencer Strider or Drew Smyly.
As far as the NLDS goes, there is no need for a 5th starter and Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker has already said that there will be no Chavez-Smyly pairing to pitch in a game.
You also do not need me to throw out any stats to know that Smyly struggled during his tenure as an Atlanta Brave this season.
I also firmly believe that there was a reason that the Atlanta Braves seemed so hell-bent on getting strider a few opportunities to pitch before the season came to a close this past weekend.
Strikeout pitchers are important at this time of the year and that is exactly what Strider presents himself out to be. A high velocity pitcher who can punch out batters to get out of a jam. Also, it seems like every postseason a young pitcher makes a name for himself.
Maybe that name to be made this year will be young Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider?
I do think Strider will make the team over Smyly at this point. Perhaps if the Atlanta Braves make it to the NLCS once again, plans could change and Drew could find himself back on the club?
Hopefully that is a question the Atlanta Braves have to answer here in a week or so as they will hopefully defeat the Milwaukee Brewers.
I’m not saying that this will definitely be the roster as I do think the Braves will give Adrianza a chance. Whether that’s over Pache or Arcia, I do not know, but this is the roster I would start the playoffs with and see what I could do with it.
Next. MV....Riley. dark
Look for the actual playoff roster to come out most likely Thursday off this week. Stay tuned here all week as we will have tons of postseason coverage.