Newspaper Page Text
Riley addition possible tip of the
Braves' iceberg
By Dave Jordan
in last week’s col-
umn was a piece this
' week on “how to fix
the Atlanta Braves.”
Not that the Braves are hopeless
or playing so poorly they need a mas
sive overhaul.
On the contrary, the Braves are
a pretty good baseball team and are
playing about as well as can be ex
pected given their current roster.
Part of the reason they are a .500
ball club, though, is just that: their
current roster.
Too many so-so players. Journey
men, in the vernacular of baseball.
And in this day and age of multi-
million dollar contracts and guys
changing teams like we do under
wear, “so-so” just won’t cut it.
One of the tweaks I was going to
recommend was finding a replace
ment - an upgrade, if you will - for
Ender Inciarte.
Gold Glover that he is, Ender
hasn’t been productive enough this
season to warrant an everyday role.
In short, the boy can’t hit: he
doesn’t get on base enough, doesn’t
hit home runs, doesn’t drive in runs.
There was a reason Ender was
batting eighth in the order most days
and sitting against certain left-hand
ed pitchers.
My suggestion was going to be to
utilize Johan Camargo and Charlie
Culberson more often at the expense
of Ender, while quietly shopping
Ender to other teams for some pitch
ing help.
The Braves beat me to it with an
even better idea: calling up Austin
Riley.
Austin Riley, the top-rated
non-pitcher in the Braves’ minor
league system, a system that may
very well be the best in all of baseball.
Austin Riley, the hottest hitter in
all of Triple-A through the first quar
ter of the season, with 15 homers
and 39 RBIs in just 37 games for the
Gwinnett Stripers.
Austin Riley, the Braves’ long
term answer at third base who had
nothing left to prove at the minor
league level.
And he arrived with a bang, swat
ting a home run in his very first ma
jor league game and going 4-for-7
with two runs batted in and three
runs scored in his first two games.
Suffice it to say, Riley looks very
comfortable in his big league clothes.
Riley’s ascension to the big club
pushes Ronald Acuna - the Braves’
top-rated non-pitcher prospect enter
ing the 2018 season - over to center
field, which he is very capable of pa
trolling with aplomb.
In one fell swoop, the Braves up
graded their offense without signifi
cantly hurting their defense — all
without having to tinker with the
roster save for putting our boy Ender
on the injured list.
So what next?
Time to address the pitching. Julio
Teheran is probably a nice fellow, but
he is not a guy you want to hang your
hat on for a big win nor the stretch
run.
Same for Kevin Gausman.
Same for Mike Foltynewicz.
Entering the weekend, the Braves’
starting five consisted of two really,
really good youngsters - Mike Soroka
and Max Fried - two veterans most
would call journeymen - Teheran
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and Gausman - and Foltynewicz,
whose maddening inconsistency is
likely the straw that stirs the Braves’
brass into finding some help.
And here are the guys who are
going to help the Braves find that
pitching help: Touki Toussaint, Kyle
Wright, Bryce Wilson, Luiz Gohara,
Ian Anderson, Kyle Muller, Joey
Wentz, Kolby Allard, Patrick Weigel,
Hayden Deal and Tucker Davidson
- Braves’ pitching prospects highly
coveted by every other major league
team.
Eleven guys who could turn the
Braves into a perennial powerhouse,
either by pitching for the team them
selves - the long-term solution - or
as part of trades to other teams to
upgrade the current rotation - the
short-term answer.
The Braves could trade literally
any two of those guys to a non-con-
tender for just about any pitcher they
wanted.
They could probably deal Tous
saint today for a bona fide stud on the
final year of his contract.
The Braves have more than
enough pieces to greatly improve
their 2019 roster and their fortunes
going forward.
Stay tuned for more moves.
— Dave Jordan is a native of Ma-
bleton, a University of Georgia gradu
ate, and a diehard St. Louis Cardi
nals fan.
May 20, 2019, The Islander, Page 13
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