Braves have adventurous year from the start
ATLANTA -- Whenever Braves fans look back at what transpired in 2017, they will remember the year as being anything but boring.The opening of a new stadium created excitement, and the arrivals of Ozzie Albies and other top prospects heightened hope for the immediate future. The realities of a rebuild
ATLANTA -- Whenever Braves fans look back at what transpired in 2017, they will remember the year as being anything but boring.
The opening of a new stadium created excitement, and the arrivals of
Here is a look at the Braves' top events of this past year:
SunTrust Park opens:
Freeman's fractured wrist:Freddie Freeman was fashioning an MVP-caliber season as he hit .341 with an MLB-best 14 homers and a 1.230 OPS over 37 games before he fractured his left wrist on a pitch from Blue Jays left-hander
Arrival of the young arms: The Braves have long touted the impressive pitching crop they have created during the rebuild, and this past summer, they began introducing some of these top prospects to the Major League level.
Albies' arrival: The most-anticipated prospect arrival of the season occurred on Aug. 1, when Albies made his Major Leauge debut and essentially began his reign as Atlanta's second baseman. He debuted less than a week after the Braves briefly demoted shortstop Dansby Swanson, whose time with Triple-A Gwinnett proved to be short, as he was recalled after
Anthopoulos' arrival: The keys to the rebuild were handed to Alex Anthopoulos, who was named the Braves' GM and placed in charge of the baseball operations department on Nov. 13. Anthopoulos' departure from his role as the Dodgers' vice president of baseball operations was necessitated when MLB's investigation of rules violations on the international market and dealing with the domestic draft forced the exits of former general manager John Coppolella and former president of baseball operations John Hart. The club's punishment included the loss of 13 international prospects and strict restrictions on the international market through the 2020-21 signing period.
Mark Bowman has covered the Braves for MLB.com since 2001.