Atlanta Braves: What Would Constitute a Successful 2016?
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Braves will enter the 2016 MLB Season with tempered expectations, to say the least. What makes up a successful campaign next year for the Braves?
With the weather starting to turn for the worse down here in Braves Country, I’m actually beginning to miss baseball. It’s been over a month since our Atlanta Braves last played a game. The beyond painful 2015 MLB Campaign is graciously over and maybe our 2016 club is next year’s Chicago Cubs or Houston Astros, forcing their way into the MLB Postseason before many thought they were ready for it.
Neither Wild Card team seemed like a playoff bound team entering 2015. Not only did both the Cubs and the Astros make the playoffs as the 5th seed in their respective leagues, they won the Wild Card Game and the Cubs actually made it to an NLCS before getting swept by the Mets. Even the Mets only seemed like a Wild Card caliber team entering 2015 and they ended up playing in the 2015 World Series.
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What I’m getting at is that we have no idea what lies ahead for the baseball world in 2016. While I’m unrealistically optimistic that the 2016 Atlanta Braves end their two-year playoff drought, I’d be ecstatic to see this club finish above .500 (81-81) in 2016. We’re only in Year Two of the three-year rebuild.
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However, part of me doesn’t want to see the final year of Turner Field be a catacomb of losing just south of the Georgia State Capitol. Can the 2016 Atlanta Braves shock the baseball world and get back into the postseason? How unrealistic is that and if so, what are the goals for a “successful” 2016 campaign for the Atlanta Braves?
In my eyes, the 2016 Atlanta Braves need to do four of the following six things to have an acceptable 2016 campaign: 1. Not have the 2015 bullpen. 2. See a third of fourth starter emerge in the rotation. 3. Watch the core four (Freddie Freeman, Shelby Miller, Andrelton Simmons, and Julio Teheran) become account clubhouse leaders. 4. Win road games not in Philadelphia with regularity. 5. Any increase in power at the plate. 6. Finish at .500…okay, win 10 more games and go 75-87.
Last season was rough and hopefully the Atlanta Braves organization come to grips with their worst season in 25 years. That is how bad it was, nearly losing 100 games in 2015. Any of the five realistic goals mentioned above possible of achieving. Let’s start with winning road games not in Philadelphia.
The road woes are what did this club in more than anything. There is nothing worse than going 0-for on a West Coast road trip. While I’m not sure how the team will look at or around the trade deadline, expect the front office to compose a roster that can play respectable ball up until then. That should remedy the repeated road losses to some extent in the spring time. It can’t get worse than last year, can it?
Atlanta should once again stack the bullpen with over the hill veterans whose stock could rise around trade deadline time. The middle relief corps had what we’ll call a baptism by fire in 2015. Maybe the Big League experience does wonders for the unit. I do believe that Atlanta will settle on a closer and possibly a setup man in 2016 before moving into SunTrust Park. Expect the filling of those positions to come in-house. Look forward to those battles next season.
The lack of power was criminal last year. While we all loved not seeing deluge after deluge of strikeouts in 2015, I think we kind of miss the long ball. With a healthy Freddie Freeman, a Nick Markakis being able to lift weights in the offseason, and either a Hector Olivera or a new free agent signing we don’t know about, the power will return at least marginally in 2015.
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In all honesty, what I’m most excited about it the young arms in the rotation: who elevates to Julio Teheran and Shelby Miller’s level on the mound. Is it Matt Wisler, Manny Banuelos, Tyrell Jenkins, Williams Perez, Ryan Weber, or Mike Foltynewicz? Does Mike Minor bounce back in 2016? Do the Atlanta Braves acquire another arm in a trade or in free agency? Regardless, a third or possibly fourth arm will emerge and our club won’t stand all that far away from the Mets in terms of starting rotation talent.
65-97 won’t cut it in 2016. The team needs to play around .500 ball or close to it. For that to happen, accountability from the Core Four needs to happen from Day One. Those All-Star caliber players 26 and younger need to realize this is their team and if the Atlanta Braves are going to win a World Series in SunTrust Park by 2020, it will be because of them. Freeman, Miller, Simmons, and Teheran are stars in the eyes of the baseball world. Good pitching and timely hitting win games. Atlanta may have more pieces in place than we think.
Next: Shae Simmons: Option at Closer for Braves in 2016?
Cautiously enter 2016 with tempered expectations. We tried that last year, but were not ready for the catastrophe in the second half. Now that we know it can’t get any worse, let’s get back to enjoying some Atlanta Braves baseball, in what ever way we feel fit. Finishing in the 3rd place in the NL East sounds like a reachable goal. Go Braves!