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BRAVES NEWS
Albies hits a dinger but Braves still lose
The good news about last night’s game against the Nationals is that Ozzie Albies has continued to hit well. He hit a two-run dinger in the sixth inning to keep up his solid production at the plate, and his dinger actually brought the Braves to within one run of the Nats. Unfortunately, the Nationals took advantage of Matt Wisler and pulled away for a 5-2 victory.
Heyman: Braves will shop their veteran outfielders
Ronald Acuna is more-than-likely going to be on the big league squad in 2018. With Ender Inciarte firmly entrenched as the starting center fielder, that leaves a bit of uncertainty when it comes to the future of Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports seemed to indicate that the Braves are going to attempt to shop both of those outfielders this offseason.
The Braves see Markakis as a fair value at $10.5 million for 2018, so they wouldn’t look to pay down much or any of his contract, depending on the return. However, they understand they’d have to offset the $43 million to go on Kemp’s deal through 2019.
They view Markakis as a solid pro, and different kind of corner outfielder in an era rife with power. Markakis, who turns 34 this November, is hitting .279/.361/.398 this season. His .759 OPS would be his highest mark since 2012 with the Baltimore Orioles.
Youth movement in full swing for pitching staff
Luiz Gohara’s excellent performance earlier this week was another sign that help is on the way for the Braves major league squad. Of course, the youngsters are going to take their lumps when it comes to adjusting to the big leagues, but it’s also clear that there’s still plenty of hope for the pitching prospects. Kyle pointed this out in his latest piece for us.
A closer look at the new front office additions
Meanwhile, the Braves made their front office additions official on Thursday when they brought Perry Minasian and Adam Fisher into the fold. Matt wrote up a deep explanation of what the new guys should bring to the table here in Atlanta.
MLB NEWS
Cleveland wins 22nd straight game
If you thought Cleveland was going to be content with just a “measly” 21-game win streak and the American League record, you were mistaken. Cleveland extended their streak to 22, and did so in what was actually a close game for them. They managed to get past the Royals thanks to a walk-off hit from Jay Bruce in extra innings.
Does a strong regular season finish turn into postseason success?
Our friends over at True Blue LA have a vested interest in this particular question: Does it matter how a playoff team finishes the regular season? The Dodgers may have made the playoffs, but they’re definitely backing into the Postseason with the way they’ve looked for a long time. We’ll see what happens, but this is actually a pretty good deep dive into whether or not a regular season finish correlates with what happens in October.