re: The ATL Thread: Spring Training Edition

My wife got me a brick at the legacy walk at Suntrust and the mock up version just got here. By mock up I mean "a brick".

Well boys Big Sexy is pitching today

LINK

see above link

Just saw it, looks like there will be no stream for the first few games

Braves claim Christian Walker from the Orioles.

25, can mash, plays 1B/OF, and has an option remaining. Was once a top prospect. Color me intrigued...

Yeah, was reading that. Why was he waived? He did well in AAA last year?

Doing well at AAA means nothing when you dont project to anything more than maybe a bench player at the next level. He'll be in Gwinnett this year unless Freddie gets hurt. Not going to keep a bench spot on a player that only plays first. We still need someone that can play center field.

Edit:

2015:.257/.324/.423, 18 HR, 136 K
2016:.264/.321/.437, 18 HR, 138 K

Thats not exactly great at AAA.

Its really hard to say. Its going to be a veteran club, at least for the first half of the season.

Starting pitching wise, we should be pretty good. Teheran should continue to be a top 20ish pitcher in all of baseball. Bartolo should be an innings eater and a descent pitcher. If Garcia is healthy, he could have a damn good year. He is in a contract year, and if he is good, Id expect a mid-season trade if we arent in contention. Dickey should be better in the NL, but I wouldnt expect too much from him, and Folty should hopefully continue to build on his good second half from 2016. Wisler, Blair, Newcomb, and maybe others should get some starts sometime if we trade some older guys.

I expect a good year from the pen. Jim Johnson is solid as the closer. Cabrera and Krol showed they were pretty good set up guys last year. Hopefully, Vizcaino is healthy and can be a good arm again. After that, expect young guys like Minter, Jackson, Biddle, and maybe others to make the club and hopefully do well.

I doubt we hit as well as we did towards the end of the season last year, but we still should be middle of the pack in baseball. Freddie is in his prime, and should rake. Dansby should be one of, if not, the favorite for rookie of the year. Kemp is smaller and in great shape, so I expect a descent year hitting from him. Inciarte should be a pretty good lead off hitter still for us. I dont expect much from Phillips. He's been getting worse for the past four years, but he's still better than Peterson. Markakis is Markakis. Garica should get first shot at 3rd, but if he falters, Ruiz will get his chance, and at catcher, Flowers is an ok hitter, but a much better receiver on defense, and thats why we have him.

Id expect right around 78 wins. If things go well, we could get to .500, but I doubt we improve that much.

2018 should be the year we challenge for a playoff spot, but this year should be a fun one.

I believe I heard chuck and chernoff saying that vegas has the over under at 75