Definitely Interesting, Possibly Helpful Team Preview: Atlanta Braves
Baseball is almost here! With an eventful offseason in the books and spring training underway, it’s time to preview all 30 teams in Major League Baseball. With the help of RotoGrinders PlateIQ Premium, DFS ownership trends from Chris Gimino, and our resident Premium MLB guru Dave Potts (aka CheeseIsGood), we take a look at some information that is definitely interesting and possibly helpful for the upcoming 2019 MLB season.
Editor’s Note: Premium members receive daily access to detailed MLB slate breakdowns via Dave Potts’ Million Dollar Musings article (which you can preview here for free), as well as the PlateIQ Premium Ratings mentioned in this article. Sign up now and experience all we have to offer for NBA, PGA, NHL, and more while we await the official launch of the 2019 MLB DFS season!
Preseason Overview
— Vegas Win Total O/U: 86.5
— World Series Odds: 16/1
— Key Additions: Josh Donaldson, Brian McCann, Adam Duvall
— Lineup Update 3/17/2019: Mike Foltynewicz won’t be ready to start the season. Kyle Wright is making a case to take the place in the rotation to start the season, though Max Fried and Bryse Wilson are still fighting for that position.
Other Noteworthy Players for DFS: Johan Camargo, Adam Duvall, Brian McCann, Mike Soroka, Luiz Gohara
— Outlook: The offense on this team is set to be one of the most exciting in the National League. Josh Donaldson joins an already potent combination of Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies, and Freddie Freeman at the core of this lineup. Additional stack options include Nick Markakis (generated his best ever Hard% mark at 40.6% last season) and Ender Inciarte (stole 28 bases). It’s a lineup that should have no issue delivering big DFS performances, though it’s likely you’ll have to pay up for the privilege.
Things start to get messy with this team when it comes to the pitching staff. Mike Foltynewicz can deliver big strikeout games (65.25 PIQ avg. strikeout rating), but they don’t really have a true ace. The balance of their rotation is exploitable on any given start, and it’s possible we see them involved in some very high scoring games. We can call the starting pitchers a weakness on this team without much hesitation.
— DFS Ownership Trends: Old habits die hard, and that’s why Josh Donaldson was the 15th most owned hitter on average in the 2018 season despite his struggles to stay healthy. His powerful allies Acuna (41st), Freeman (45th), and Albies (59th) were also quite popular. We’ll see if DFS players become more apprehensive with Donaldson, but chances are they go right back to the well. The Braves were overall the 11th most popular team in 2018, and played in the 11th most popular park. They’ll be even more popular this season when the price is right.
Definitely Interesting, Possibly Helpful Notes
— Ronald Acuna notched 26 home runs and 16 steals, to go along with a .917 OPS in his debut season at the major-league level. That’s something only one other rookie in MLB history has done, and you may have heard of the guy: it’s Mike Trout. Acuna did the seemingly impossible last season, living up to every one of the superlatives bestowed upon him. He’ll likely be one of the priciest players on any DFS slate, but don’t let his relative youth fool you: at age 21, he’s one of the most dynamic players in the game.
— On the surface, it appears Kevin Gausman just needed a change of scenery. After all, he had a 4.43 ERA in 21 starts for the Orioles last year. For the Braves, he pitched to a 2.87 ERA. He’s a new pitcher, right? If you know anything about baseball, you know it’s never that easy. Gausman’s low ERA in Atlanta was propped up by an unsustainably low .260 BABIP despite his allowing 40.5% hard hits. His 4.56 SIERA as a Brave was actually worse than the 4.13 mark he posted in Baltimore in 2018. The 19.5% strikeout rate actually dropped to 18.2%, as well. People want Gausman to be a thing so much (and I’ve been guilty of this, too), but even with a change of uniform, he’ll likely remain the inconsistent, low-strikeout option we saw during his time with the Orioles.