Atlanta Braves: Week in Review and Reaction

The Atlanta Braves have had a hectic week highlighted by calling up Rio Ruiz as well as losing their best player. With Freddie Freeman suffering a broken wrist the Braves made plenty of moves to attempt to continue to play well.

If you are an Atlanta Braves fan you know by now that the Braves have lost their best player this past week in Freddie Freeman for quite some time. They responded by first getting a bit of revenge beaning a Blue Jays player in return before going on to win a series against the Nationals.

That in itself has been a rare occurrence over the past two seasons much less down their best player. Freeman’s fractured wrist will likely leave Freeman out of the season for three months. Without their first baseman the Braves didn’t panic and went out and acquired a replacement.

While Jace Peterson had given an admirable effort at 1st base since Freeman went down he is obviously at his best as a middle infielder and the Braves knew he wasn’t the answer. The Braves traded a minor league player and cash to the Cardinals in exchange for Matt Adams. Adams is a solid hitter though no where near Freeman’s caliber also a clear upgrade over Jace Peterson.

Adding Adams for such a small price was a solid move and one that was needed if the Braves have any hope of getting back to .500. They currently sit second behind the Washington Nationals in the East and have been playing well for the last week.

If that continues it isn’t a stretch to think the Braves could crawl back over .500 if the offense can continue to roll as it did for the last week. The problem for the Braves will be if they can continue to step up and replace Freeman’s production.

Adonis Garcia has gone down as well and with Garcia hurt the Braves decided to call up Rio Ruiz. Ruiz responded by hitting his first career homer this weekend and has looked good at third so far. The move to call up Ruiz was over due and should make the Braves much better if Ruiz performs as expected.

Next: Braves Previewing the lineup

Overall the Braves week has been highlighted by them winning. Something that hasn’t happened much at all over the last two years. If it can continue is the question, and if so for how long?