The Braves announced their 26-man roster for a National League Division Series faceoff with the Brewers, notably omitting right-handers Richard Rodriguez and Chris Martin from the group. They’ll carry some extra speed in the form of Terrance Gore, and rookie left-hander Dylan Lee is a somewhat surprising choice for an southpaw in the bullpen. Here’s how the roster breaks down…
Right-Handed Pitchers
- Ian Anderson
- Jesse Chavez
- Luke Jackson
- Charlie Morton (Game 1 starter)
- Jacob Webb
- Huascar Ynoa
Left-Handed Pitchers
- Max Fried (Game 2 starter)
- Dylan Lee
- Tyler Matzek
- A.J. Minter
- Will Smith
- Drew Smyly
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Rodriguez was one of the Braves’ most notable acquisitions prior to the trade deadline, and he posted a strong 3.12 ERA in 26 innings with Atlanta. However, he’s also surrendered five home runs in his past 10 appearances and, more concerning, has seen his strikeout rate absolutely crater with the Braves. Rodriguez had a 22.8 percent strikeout rate and 10.7 percent swinging-strike rate in Pittsburgh, but he’s fanned just 8.5 percent of his opponents and posted a diminished 8.2 percent swinging-strike rate since the trade. He’s still managed a solid ERA due to a .200 average on balls in play and a 97.1 percent strand rate, but neither of those is sustainable in the long run and the Braves apparently didn’t want to chance it in a short postseason series.
Martin, 35, is in the second season of a two-year, $14MM contract, making his omission something of a surprise as well. He’s pitched to a 3.95 ERA in 43 1/3 innings, but the right-hander has also seen his strikeout rate fall from 30.1 percent in 2019-20 to 18.2 percent this season. Martin has done well to keep runs off the board despite becoming more hittable, but he’s yielded a .312/.347/.447 batting line since June 1.
The 27-year-old Lee only made his Major League debut a week ago, but he’ll now be penciled in as a part of manager Brian Snitker’s relief corps for at least this round of play. Lee allowed a pair of runs in two innings at the end of the regular season, but he dominated in 46 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level in 2021: 1.54 ERA, 30.9 percent strikeout rate, 3.4 percent walk rate. The Braves signed Lee to a minor league contract after he was released by the Marlins late in Spring Training, and his rapid ascension to the Majors with a division-rival undoubtedly stings for Miami. Fellow rookie Spencer Strider was surely considered for a spot as well, but the Braves ultimately opted for an additional lefty.
Gore finds himself in a familiar role as a postseason pinch-running/defensive specialist. He won’t find himself in the starting lineup for any of the upcoming games, but he’ll give Snitker and the Braves one of the game’s fastest baserunners if they need some speed later in a game. Some fans may have preferred to see longtime top prospect Cristian Pache in this role, but Gore was more prolific and more efficient in terms of stolen bases this season.
Both Arcia and Johan Camargo had big seasons in Triple-A this year, but it’ll be Arcia who gets the nod for the Division Series as a versatile infield option off the bench. That seemed like the more probable outcome after Arcia received a September call-up, while Camargo remained in Gwinnett. Arcia, acquired from the Brewers early in the season, only received three starts in September but will provide some insurance at shortstop, second base and third base. The Braves also gave him a look in left field down the stretch.
Ugh… not like Chris Martin or Rich Rod were pitching great at all. I would have taken Strider for some heat out of the bullpen before going with Lee. Smyly is a bit debatable also, fine though. Gore I like, but I hate he literally can’t hit. You know? Like having the speed, but gosh, would be nice to know in the event the game is extended for whatever reason, that he can hit the ball and not be an automatic out
2.94 isn’t good?
something about his FIP or SMIP or NIP… it was too high for their liking. Even though, Smith has been garbage too.
too many high SIMP rates
Re: Gore vs. Pache — Gore has the higher floor with more experience, better SB skills though he doesn’t have Pache’s speed/defense. Just goes to show how they’ll use him. Gore’s OBP is decent despite his low AVG. I’d depend on him more so to draw a walk, play the shift or get a sacrifice over Pache, though Pache is the future (hopefully).
I don’t like going with a extra hitter. I hope Gore is actually put to use. Strider would’ve been my choice. Martin/Rich Rod also have tons of more experience than Lee. I hope I’m wrong and Morton/Fried/Anderson dominate but at first glance to this roster I’m nervous.
If Lee struggles, the Strider/Lee conversation will be a hot topic. Technically, it shouldn’t matter and should not make or break the team. The Braves bullpen is weak from top to bottom. That will be the difference if they win or not.
Remember that Milwaukee has lost BOTH of their setup men in Suter & Devin Williams, so with the exception of Hader, these bullpens aren’t that far apart anymore.
I don’t know. Everybody keeps talking about the Brewers rotation and pitching and how they are so great. I still shake my head when they talk about the Brewers rotation, yet Morton, Fried, and Anderson are very comparable. Morton’s previous PS success only makes the point more accurate.
Comparable as they’re all starters? No way you mean results, especially not this year. They’re comparable if you just remove burnes
Comparable even with Burnes right now, in this series. Don’t care what Burnes did early this year. Anyone who has watched baseball for any length of time knows what matters is who is coming into the playoffs hot. Fried has been one of the top two starters in baseball (along with Sherzer) for a couple months now and Charlie isn’t that far behind. Add to that the success they’ve both had in the postseason and I’ll take my chances with those two over the top two for Mil. The wildcard is Anderson but he’s pitched well of late too and had a lot of success in the playoffs last year as well. So yeah, they are very comparable.
Oh, so comparable if you ignore the majority of the season…got it. Great argument. Are you a braves’ fan by any chance?
Even if you grant his asinine premise, his argument is flawed. Over the last 30 days Anderson has not pitched well, he’s been a negative fWAR player.
’04 don’t remember if anything noteworthy happened in the series against the Astros
’05 Chris Burke game
’10 Conrad game
’11 last season collapse
’12 infield fly game
’13 Uribe game
’18 Acuna era exist
’19 10 run 1st inning
’20 – 3-1 collaspe
’21 – fill in the blank
could the blank be “win the ws”?
I think Trump winning the next election is more likely than a Braves WS.
Wasn’t Chipper’s last season with the Braves in ’12? We know what happened!
Maybe this will turn into ’21 Freeman’s last game in Braves uni.
Then either way it’s a win
What’s the hatred of Freeman about?
In my case, I want Freeman to win a ring and I know it won’t happen in ATL. As for the other guy, I’m assuming he was referring my statement on the election.
If the braves win a bunch of diehard braves literally shouldn’t allow you to celebrate the victory. News flash something usually goes wrong when you lose a short series, it’s still a crapshoot meaning 50/50 coin toss regardless of what your mentally unstable brain thinks.
The argument “anything can go wrong in a short series” does not apply to a team that consistently makes the playoffs and everything always goes wrong for them. Maybe the issue is the team and not some arbitrary excuse you like to regurgitate. Thx for your white knight comment though. I know you couldn’t hold it.
Imagine an existence of hating a team you love so much.
I would love to trade franchises with you. I’ve never seen someone so miserable about one of the better franchises in baseball. I haven’t seen playoffbaseball for my team in over a decade. Enjoy it.
I’m assuming you are a Phillies fan? They won in ’08 and were great enough to win in ’09. It is no different for the Marlins. The Braves celebrated winning useless division titles while the Marlins won 2 rings in the same span.
Would you rather see multiple first-round exits or 2 rings within a decade?
How do you know it won’t happen in ATL?
I don’t think you understand the fluke nature of winning a WS. A team can only build a team with the best odds to win. The idea that you would rather a team be like the Marlins, who have built crap teams nearly every year over the past 2 decade except for complete outliers based on a combination of good fortune and winning at the right time, than a team like the Braves who have consistently put their team in a good place to win every single year let’s me know you are not someone who anyone should ever engage with over the process of decision making in any capacity. I wouldn’t want to hear how you decide on breakfast let alone how you would run a team.
That is a different argument. No one will deny that team composition isn’t important. The ’97 Braves and ’03 Braves were better than the Marlins. We are talking about end results here. The Marlins just happened to fit the argument. Doesn’t matter which team won 2 rings in a decade – it still holds more value than winning division titles and exiting the postseason after 1 round.
You can’t control results. You can only control process. So criticizing someone for having bad results despite better processes fails to understand what they have the ability to do.
You can’t entirely control results, but skewness exists. Maybe if AA did not acquire Milone last season, the Braves might have won that series. The Braves put out good teams yearly, but fail to go all the way with their moves and results prove it.
We will see how Soler and Pederson work out for them this postseason. I love both and hope both are back next season. Duvall and Rosario can go.
Last year it wasn’t Milone that cost the Braves anything the Braves team changed when Adam Duvall went down. Changed the whole line up. To win a World Series now you have you have to win a division series; a league championship series and then the World Series harder than years ago. All any general manager can do is get the pieces and see what happens.
The more teams you go the post season this will be the 4th time in a row the odds start going that one time you should break through and go deep in the playoffs.
22 other teams would love to be in the Braves spot right now.
DontcomebacktoATL I bet you think it’s possible that a team tries to put together a team good enough to make the playoffs but lose In the first round on purpose.
You literally couldn’t even pay a gm to do that even if you rewarded him for doing it. Like just shut up your so ignorant it’s not even funny at this point.
They had Bryse Wilson, Kyle Wright, and AJ Minter (who was fantastic) start 3 of the 7 games they played. Yes, it played a huge factor in them losing to the Dodgers. It was Fried, Anderson, and nothing else.
As for the guy above, dude just block me and move on. You are so hellbent on insults, yet provide zero counterpoints other than your rainbows and unicorns comments…and whatever that comment you just left.
@iverbure DontcomebacktoATL Must be a METS fan, But I dont think they would take him!
Winning a WS should not be a complete measure of success, as it takes a lot of luck and skill. Getting to the playoffs consistently is the sign of a good organization. Thebest teams usually don’t win it all, but they give themselves the opportunity to. The Braves have consistently been a playoff team for the majority of my life.
Do you actually think every series is a 50/50 coin flip? Man, Vegas must be stupid!
Ummm I don’t think you understand how Vegas works.
Just block yourself. I’ll continue to comment on everyone of stupid posts until you get it into your block head you don’t know anything.
“Imagine an existence of hating a team you love so much.”
I feel like 99% of fans (of any sport) don’t have to imagine this lol.
Some people: “Glass is half empty”
Other people: “Glass is half full”
This guy ^ : “Glass is full of poison and we’re all gonna die”
Well, since everybody loves using probability as an argument, you have 1/3 chance to pick the cup with the poison. Pretty big risk playing that game.
@McGriff, @Mohlers, @hd-electraglide, @bhambrave, & the rest of the Braves fellas –
Best of luck to your ballclub. Losing sucks. So.
Thanks @Ducky…..happy hunting. Keep your chin up, Yanks will get ‘em next year. That is assuming there is a season!
Morton and Fried are gonna have to pitch their asses off this weekend. Runs are gonna be in short supply this series.
What the Braves have that no other team right now has is a 1-8 that can hit and hit for power. So a walk a single and a three run home run is very possible. Also who ever their bench bat is Atlanta has a nice power bench bat sitting for the right pitch hit time. Even the games the Braves lost they were never blow outs
I think the comment had more to do w the Brewers pitching than Atlanta’s bats. Good pitching beats good hitting in the playoffs etc.
Good luck with the three-run homer philosophy. Maybe it’ll work…
Milwaukee vs. Atlanta in the Hank Aaron series
Very fitting.
Why Lee over Strider?
Only fit into want to keep talking about the past this is a different year
Webb hasn’t been that good either, 6 runs in his last 2 appearances
Yeah, Webb has no business being on the postseason roster. I’d be happy if he never threw another pitch for Atl.
That’s some pretty questionable pitching, awful bullpen options.
Phillies fan?
Relief pitchers with a 26 IP and 9 K’s 5BB should be left off
All the entertainment this year is in the NL…Houston and Tampa are mortal locks…the two NL series will be fun to watch. It’s like real baseball.
I like MILW and SF, but that can change in a heartbeat. Close teams and perfectly matched up.
I think Martin might not be 100% he was rarely used in the last weeks and I seem to remember something about him dealing with some kind of soreness/pain.
But Rodriguez was surprising for me. I know he went through a rough stretch giving up HRs, but Miller Park is built for pitchers like him. Plus his familiarity with facing the Brewers could come in handy.
It was Martin who basically lost game 7 for the Braves against the Dodgers. I’m glad he is out. He is not mentally ready to be in big games.
DontcomebacktoATLFreeman
It wasnt Martin as much costing the dodger game as the bad base running from I believe Austin Riley that really cost us
I’m surprised to see so many lefties in the pen.
Some of the Braves left handers had reverse splits between against right handed batters.
How are rich rod and Martin worse then lee and minter?
Normally, a Chris Martin post is met with an avalanche of Coldplay references.
Now we get an article with him and the Night Stalker and I’m seeing nothing?
Richard Ramirez? Different name, unless I am missing something.
I get yr coldplay pt, though that is fine w me: no one needs to mention that awful aural mess ever again. Though they are great, just ask them…0
No, Richard Rodriguez. Richard Ramirez turned out to be Ted Cruz.
Well no one said it was easy to pitch in the postseason.
Pack your bag Freeman. You don’t want to be with this organization.
Man, I wish the Braves drop Albies. The guy is one of the worst hitters I’ve seen on the team. Just awful with his approach.
You are the dumbest Braves fan I’ve ever encountered
Hello again. I know as an outsider when looking at his basic stats, you see a “good” hitter. I understand. Hell, he has 5 tools, but if you actually watch him play, you will see a guy with zero discipline, zero approach, and a bunch of selfish at-bats. Wouldn’t hurt me one bit if he ever gets traded. I would not be so hard on him if I didn’t believe in him. He has so much potential, but can’t lay off his homerun chase mentality. It is frustrating!
I’m not high on Riley either. His at bats today prove he still has trouble with sliders. Give be Devers in a 1v1 trade between him and Riley.
There’s a lot more where this guy came from.
When someone can say Albies has “zero approach” they show they are not bright. No discipline? Yes. Approach-wise Albies has increased his fb%, hard hit%, hitting to the opposite field, and exit velocity. All while reducing his strikeout rate. Even with a low babip he managed to be a big part of the braves making the postseason.
He never backs up his statements with data, just gives his BS “eye test” assessments
Results speak for themselves. Those stats you presented will naturally come when you hit 30 homers. No one is denying or arguing the power he has. However, the approach extends beyond what you said. He should bunt more and use his speed. He goes up to the plate trying to bang everything out of the park every at bat. If you watch him play, it is evident.
I don’t know what it is about him hitting third this year, but he performed well. Otherwise, he was bad everywhere else.
“Those stats you presented will naturally come when you hit 30 homers.”
I literally just gave examples of how his approach is solid, while you respond with this garbage. No, he shouldn’t bunt more. Nobody says that except old people.
Metsfan22, please stop posting nonsense like this.