Southern Trouble Brewing- An Atlanta Braves Franchise (Opening Day Preview) - thesystemx12's Blog

Arena Blog Dynasty Scores Sign Up ☰

thesystemx12's Blog

Southern Trouble Brewing- An Atlanta Braves Franchise (Opening Day Preview)

Posted on April 3, 2011 at 01:23 PM.

(0)

The 2011 Season has finally begun for the Atlanta Braves! After a long offseason, the Georgia team has made a few roster and personnel moves.
IN
Manager- Fredi Gonzalez
Hitting Coach- Larry Parrish
Bench Coach- Carlos Tosca
Second Baseman- Dan Uggla
Relievers- George Sherrill, Scott Linebrink
OUT
Manager-Bobby Cox
Bench Coach- Chino Cadahia
First base Coach- Glenn Hubbard
First Basemen- Troy Glaus and Derrek Lee
Utility Infielder- Omar Infante
Outfielders- Melky Cabrera, Rick Ankiel
Relievers- Takashi Saito, Billy Wagner, Mike Dunn, Kyle Farnsworth

Though the Braves had more quantitative losses, they gained in quality in their roster moves. There were also internal moves after spring training battles were fought. The Opening Day roster projects as:

Starting Lineup by Position:
C- Brian McCann
1B- Freddie Freeman
2B- Dan Uggla
3B- Chipper Jones
SS- Alex Gonzalez
LF- Martin Prado
CF- Nate McLouth
RF- Jason Heyward

Bench
IF-Brooks Conrad
IF-Brandon Hicks
1B/LF-Eric Hinske
C-David Ross
2B/OF-Matt Young

Starting Rotation
1. Derek Lowe
2. Tommy Hanson
3. Tim Hudson
4. Jair Jurrjens
5. Brandon Beachy
Bullpen:
LR- Christhian Martinez
MR- George Sherrill, Scott Linebrink, Eric O�Flaherty
SU- Peter Moylan, Jonny Venters
CL- Craig Kimbrel

Notable Top Prospects and their Roster Placement
AAA- Randall Delgado, Jordan Schafer, Mycal Jones
AA- Tyler Pastornicky, Julio Teheran, Carlos Perez, J.J. Hoover, Brett Oberholtzer, Arodys Vizcaino
A- Matt Lipka, Cory Harrilchak, Christian Bethancourt

The revamped offense of the Braves, combined with the always-solid pitching staff, give Atlanta fans hope that they can improve upon their NLDS exit the year earlier. Young contributors, such as Kimbrel Heyward, and Freeman, add to the strong veteran core of Hudson, Jones, and McCann and form a strong base to give the Braves hope for this year and the future.