By: William Robinson
I tried sitting at my desk and writing the typical fluff piece about Opening Day. I tried writing about how exciting it is to finally have baseball back and how much I’ve missed popcorn and peanuts and cracker jacks. I tried to come up with some quotes from Field of Dreams and other classic baseball movies but honestly that feels overdone. I just couldn’t will myself to add my name to the expansive listing of articles that have been written about such things, I needed to make this more my own and so in order to do that I needed to look at it through my coke glass lenses.
I am excited to have baseball back. Don’t get me wrong. I truly am, but doesn’t this year feel the same? I mean does anyone feel anything particularly special towards this season? I’m sure some of you do, especially Phillies fans now that you have Bryce Harper. But for me as a Braves fan I’m very ho hum towards the beginning of this season. This offseason has been an unmitigated disaster for the Braves in my humble opinion. Last season ownership and Alex Anthopolous proudly touted that they would be able to “shop in any aisle” in free agency. That they were going to reach new heights of spending for this team that haven’t been seen since Liberty Media took over ownership.
Instead our team salary is 20 million dollars less than it was last season. This is a team that won the NL East last year, and has one of the newest, brightest and nicest stadiums in baseball. A team that drew amazing crowds to the stadium to cheer them on to a division crown and what do they do? They reward us with a team that on paper may not be any better than it was last season. Yes, I know that technically they are paying the same amount for the players that are on the field but really? That just feels like politician talk. In reality at season’s end their salary was 130 million last year and this year it’s at 110. They could have went out and got a Bryce Harper, or a Manny Machado or a Craig Kimbrel (hell they still could but I wouldn’t hold my breath), instead they give a one year contract to the often injured Josh Donaldson and they brought back Nick Markakis who at the end of last season was not any better than a below average outfielder (yes I know he was great at the beginning of the year). This offseason was such a disaster that I’ve barely wasted any energy thinking about the Braves since their season ended. This is particularly sad when you consider how big of a baseball fan I am.
Now I get it. The Braves have a bevy of young talent in the minors and it’s time to let those players take over and see what we have. There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to Wright, Toussaint, Wilson, Pache, and Waters but not all of those guys are going to have success at the Major League level, and it feels like everything is going to have to break perfectly for the Braves to repeat as division champs. Especially when you look across the diamond at their Opening Day opponent the Phillies and see a team that added Harper, Segura, and McCutchen. I’ll admit it I’m a little bit jealous. I’m also frankly a little bit pissed off. Braves ownership frankly doesn’t care about its fans and as such it’s hard for me to gather up my energy to be excited about this team.
But I am excited as much as I don’t want to be. There is a lot to be excited about and below is just a brief offering:
I’m excited to see Ronald Acuna play on opening day. People forget that last season Ronald Acuna started the season in Minor Leagues due to service time manipulation and so the stud rookie and ROY did not in fact get to play an entire season in the Major Leagues. I personally think that he is the most exciting player in all of baseball (I may be biased) and so I can’t wait to see what he is going to be able to pull off this year. Will he come out and have a sophomore slump? I doubt it. I expect him to be amazing this year and cement himself as the next Mike Trout. He may even win MVP.
I’m excited to see this young pitching staff finally get a chance to pitch at the major league level for extended periods of time and see what the Braves have. Kyle Wright is supposed to be the next big pitcher for the Braves and he’s going to be pitching during out Opening Day series against the Phillies. Touki Toussaint will at some point get his shot and it will be fun to watch his filthy as hell curve ball on a regular basis. Mike Soroka hopefully will be healthy and get his chance to step forward this year and Bryse Wilson could continue to be stellar from out of nowhere.
I’m also excited to see if this is the season that Dansby Swanson finally breaks out. I’ve said it a million times that I really want Dansby Swanson to be a good player. Last year Dansby had an abysmally low .699 OPS and a 88 OPS+. If it wasn’t for his amazing defensive abilities, he honestly wouldn’t have been playable. Frankly speaking he has to improve upon this if he’s going to be the Braves everyday shortstop, and he has to improve upon this if he’s going to live up to his number 1 overall draft billing. I want him to be good so badly. He’s a likeable guy and a hometown player and this is the season that I think is going to either make or break him.
So, take me out the ballgame and take me out to the crowd. Buy me some tacos and beer and cracker jacks because I don’t care if I ever get back. Because 2019 is going to be a fun season and we better hang on because it’s going to be a hell of a ride.