Record: 97-65, 1st, AL West
Postseason: Lost NLCS (3-0) to the New York Mets
Ballpark: Fulton County Stadium (98 hits, 118 HR)
Runs scored: 818 (1st)
Runs allowed: 694 (6th)
Pythag record: 93-69 (+4)
Recap: The Braves made the postseason for the first time in franchise history, only to be unceremoniously swept by the Mets.
History: The Braves have moved from Boston to Milwaukee and now Atlanta, and for the first chunk of their history they were terribad. Over the past several years, however, they've gotten close several times, most notably in 1965 when they went 100-62 but still finished 5 1/2 games back of the eventual World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
Outlook: They have to be considered the contenders to repeat but man, it's going to be a tough road. Already the pitching staff wasn't great last year and they lost their ace (and Cy Young Award winner) George House at the end of the season to a torn flexor tendon in his elbow that's going to keep him out for most of 1970. They've cleared out their outfield logjam to get pitching help but will it be enough?
Rotation
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+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| George | House | 21 | 8 | 0.724 | 0 | 2.70 | 34 | 34 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 256.2 | 1038 | 251 | 87 | 77 | 17 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 49 | 5 | 175 | 3 | 0 | 8.8 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 6.1 |
| Trevon | Dean | 21 | 5 | 0.808 | 0 | 3.76 | 32 | 32 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 239.2 | 987 | 215 | 108 | 100 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 82 | 2 | 116 | 8 | 0 | 8.1 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 4.4 |
| Felix | Carranza | 9 | 15 | 0.375 | 0 | 4.38 | 33 | 32 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 215.2 | 918 | 230 | 126 | 105 | 22 | 21 | 3 | 11 | 57 | 4 | 116 | 9 | 0 | 9.6 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 4.8 |
| Kevin | Pennock | 18 | 8 | 0.692 | 0 | 3.06 | 31 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 194.0 | 820 | 188 | 79 | 66 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 63 | 2 | 85 | 10 | 0 | 8.7 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 3.9 |
| Tony | Morales | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 4.96 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32.2 | 136 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 5.5 | 1.9 | 5.8 | 4.1 |
| Mickael | Diot | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 0 | 4.18 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.0 | 116 | 32 | 14 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 10.3 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 5.5 |
| Ethan | Fair | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 0 | 6.23 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26.0 | 121 | 30 | 23 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10.4 | 1.7 | 5.5 | 3.8 |
| Mike | Lambert | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 7.50 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 30 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13.5 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 1.5 |
| Damian | Seja | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 3.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.0 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
I've already mentioned the tragedy of George House. He led the league in BB/9 last year and will hopefully be able to drop right back into the rotation somewhere around the end of August. In the meantime they'll call on Trevon Dean to be their staff ace. Dean came out of nowhere to be a co-21 game winner for the Braves last season; the 27 year old's previous high in wins was 9. Then there's Kevin Pennock, a 35 year old who set career highs in every major category last season, and Felix Carranza, who somehow managed to go 9-15 for a team with this offensive profile. The Braves staged a major trade in bringing in Vinny Sanchez (9-19, 4.39) from the A's in exchange for longtime slugger Matt Levario; Sanchez had a rough year for a historically bad Oakland team but went 17-8 as recently as 1967.
Bullpen
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+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| John | Winn | 8 | 4 | 0.667 | 27 | 1.90 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 94.2 | 370 | 72 | 22 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 4 | 102 | 2 | 0 | 6.8 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 9.7 |
| Jake | Cari | 5 | 3 | 0.625 | 0 | 3.48 | 31 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 85.1 | 351 | 70 | 35 | 33 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 39 | 5 | 46 | 2 | 0 | 7.4 | 0.5 | 4.1 | 4.9 |
| Seth | Cokely | 3 | 2 | 0.600 | 0 | 3.83 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 51.2 | 220 | 52 | 24 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 9.1 | 0.7 | 4.4 | 2.1 |
| Andres | Rivera | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 3 | 5.68 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 50.2 | 215 | 57 | 33 | 32 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 10.1 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 5.9 |
| Chris | Wilson | 2 | 4 | 0.333 | 0 | 5.63 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 38.1 | 163 | 42 | 24 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 9.9 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
| Nate | Dolezal | 3 | 2 | 0.600 | 0 | 6.10 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 31.0 | 137 | 30 | 28 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 8.7 | 1.5 | 4.6 | 6.4 |
| Scott | Richey | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 5.60 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 27.1 | 123 | 34 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 11.2 | 0.7 | 4.0 | 4.6 |
| Paul | Hibbert | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 4.01 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24.2 | 98 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 6.6 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 6.9 |
| Tyler | Painter | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 3.97 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 22.2 | 111 | 23 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 | 0.4 | 9.1 | 6.8 |
| Roger | Evans | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 0 | 4.71 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21.0 | 99 | 21 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 9.0 | 0.0 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
| Victor | Reyes | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 6.97 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10.1 | 41 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7.8 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 5.2 |
| Carlos | Ortiz | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Rick | Shattuck | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.4 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
The Braves' bullpen was very top-heavy; even with John Winn as their stopper they were only 7th in the league in ERA. If the Braves are going to repeat, that's got to change. Winn won the NL Cy Young in 1968 as a reliever when he went 10-1 with a 0.28 ERA in 96.2 innings. He wasn't literally unstoppable in '69 but he was still awfully good. After him the pickings were pretty bare. Atlanta traded away the 1968 Gold Glove at 1B to acquire Andres Rivera from the expansion Padres. He rewarded them by being kind of awful in the regular season and then picking up the L for the only game he played in the postseason. They also made a move to acquire Victor Reyes from California, with similarly bad results - he was even left off the postseason roster. Jake Cari, who shuttled back and forth between long relief and the back of the rotation for most of the season, was by default their 2nd best reliever.
Catcher
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Pat | Molina | 110 | 399 | 47 | 90 | 24 | 0 | 13 | 58 | 37 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0.226 | 0.962 | 0.383 |
| C | Pablo | Rey | 61 | 154 | 10 | 43 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.279 | 0.915 | 0.338 |
| C | Shaun | Dennehy | 24 | 51 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.255 | 0.950 | 0.333 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Pat Molina anchored the Braves' defense and, at the age of 38, provided a good helping of veteran leadership. His BA did dip precipitously from '68 to last year (it was .262 the year before); his other numbers were right up there but that has to be watched carefully. Should Molina continue to age, Atlanta has two capable backups in Pablo Rey and Shaun Dennehy ready to step in.
Infield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | Ruberto | Yebra | 83 | 326 | 64 | 100 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 36 | 43 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 36 | 16 | 5 | 0.307 | 0.967 | 0.387 |
| 1B | Jeremy | Holden | 71 | 286 | 51 | 90 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 43 | 33 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 0.315 | 0.976 | 0.458 |
| 1B | Alex | Canales | 38 | 142 | 18 | 38 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.268 | 0.966 | 0.401 |
| 2B | Kevin | Dwyer | 150 | 624 | 95 | 208 | 27 | 6 | 25 | 104 | 44 | 1 | 47 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 0.333 | 0.970 | 0.516 |
| 2B | Chris | Stephens | 5 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 1.000 | 0.500 |
| 3B | Vicente | Luna | 108 | 440 | 66 | 138 | 12 | 0 | 17 | 73 | 27 | 0 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 0.314 | 0.966 | 0.457 |
| 3B | Franklin | Martinez | 73 | 192 | 20 | 64 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 33 | 21 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.333 | 0.989 | 0.479 |
| 3B | Mike | Medford | 56 | 112 | 18 | 33 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 16 | 2 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.295 | 0.963 | 0.455 |
| 3B | Mike | Jaramillo | 9 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.467 | 0.909 | 0.467 |
| SS | Ryan | Dietrich | 144 | 492 | 50 | 98 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 38 | 35 | 7 | 66 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 0.199 | 0.932 | 0.246 |
| SS | Roberto | Villegas | 48 | 112 | 6 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.179 | 0.968 | 0.223 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Atlanta went into last season with an absolute logjam at first base and the outfield corners (ed. note: this was due to AI shenanigans before I took over!). As a result, changes had to be made, most notably sending off Alex Canales to the Padres so that Ruberto Yebra could move to first base. Yebra does not fit the classic profile of the 1B at all but he needed to get into the lineup somehow and, like a lot of guys who can play other positions, was a pretty decent first baseman for them. Of course, then he got hurt, which opened up playing time for Jeremy "Grab 'Em And" Holden, who also is way, way faster than you'd expect a 1B to be. He's penciled in as the starter there in 1970 with Yebra moving back to LF.
Kevin Dwyer is only 30 years old but has made the All-Star Game 9 times for the Braves. He's undoubtedly the best 2B in the NL, if not all of baseball, and is perhaps the team's most reliable player, day in day out.
Vincente Luna is beginning to have issues staying healthy as he enters his mid-30s. Last year he missed 40+ games for the 2nd time in 3 seasons. Last year he suffered a herniated disc that he took a long time recovering from. Franklin "Pendragon" Martinez filled in admirably while he was out but Martinez is no spring chicken himself.
Shortstop was the one position in the field where the Braves had problems producing offense. Ryan Dietrich finished the season below the... Dietrich line (I'm not sure what to call it, really; there are a couple of players in this league a sub-.200 average could be named after) and in spite of some inspired defense the Braves went out and picked up Elijah Patton from the Yankees. Patton is 2 years older than Dietrich and not as good of a fielder but he did hit .232 (an empty .232) and in 1968 slashed 326/359/439 in AAA.
Outfield
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------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Matthew | Levario | 130 | 404 | 85 | 109 | 16 | 4 | 28 | 81 | 89 | 4 | 48 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 0.270 | 0.399 | 0.537 |
| LF | Josh | Damon | 78 | 129 | 17 | 38 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.295 | 0.356 | 0.457 |
| CF | Brian | Dees | 99 | 346 | 56 | 83 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 31 | 61 | 1 | 84 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 24 | 9 | 1 | 0.240 | 0.346 | 0.324 |
| CF | Ed | Salyer | 78 | 241 | 49 | 51 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 35 | 47 | 2 | 61 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0.212 | 0.340 | 0.390 |
| CF | Franco | Panizzi | 6 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.125 | 0.222 | 0.125 |
| RF | Henry | Riggs | 119 | 424 | 85 | 138 | 16 | 0 | 34 | 84 | 82 | 8 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.325 | 0.431 | 0.604 |
| RF | Dante | Chairez | 68 | 173 | 31 | 51 | 9 | 0 | 16 | 41 | 14 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.295 | 0.344 | 0.624 |
| RF | John | Marsden | 70 | 104 | 17 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.240 | 0.322 | 0.356 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
The biggest offseason news of course is that Matt Levario, the #2 man to Henry Riggs in most hitting stats in Braves history, is no longer a part of the team. It's true that there were just too many bats and not enough positions to go around, but even at that Levario missed 32 games last year and Atlanta can't depend on two mid-30s, injury-prone outfielders if they want to contend, even if those two guys are franchise cornerstones. As noted, Yebra takes over this spot, although Dante Chairez could see a lot of time out here too.
Brian Dees is a pretty great defensive CF, something a team with iffy pitching like the Braves needs. He was pushed into leading off in the second half of the season and showed that he's not the best suited guy for that job. The complete lack of power makes him unworthy of the middle part of the order as well.
Henry Riggs is... Henry Riggs. What more is there to say about the guy? The 3-time MVP and all-time MLB leader in HRs (439) has somehow only led the league in dingers once, in 1966, but he certainly has not been the reason why the Braves were the bridesmaids of the 1960s. He did miss 43 games and Dante Chairez filled in admirably in his stead, hitting 16 HRs in just 173 at-bats. He'll be pushing Jeremy Holden for the 1B job, assuming he can learn the position.