Atlanta Braves Clippings Wednesday, May 6, 2020 Braves.Com
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Atlanta Braves Clippings Wednesday, May 6, 2020 Braves.com Braves' Top 5 center fielders: Bowman's take By Mark Bowman No one loves a good debate quite like baseball fans, and with that in mind, we asked each of our beat reporters to rank the top five players by position in the history of their franchise, based on their career while playing for that club. These rankings are for fun and debate purposes only … if you don’t agree with the order, participate in the Twitter poll to vote for your favorite at this position. Here is Mark Bowman’s ranking of the top 5 center fielders in Braves history. Next week: Right fielders. 1. Andruw Jones, 1996-2007 Key fact: Stands with Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays and Ichiro Suzuki as the only outfielders to win 10 consecutive Gold Glove Awards The 60.9 bWAR (Baseball Reference’s WAR model) Andruw Jones produced during his 11 full seasons (1997-2007) with Atlanta ranked third in the Majors, trailing only Alex Rodriguez (85.7) and Barry Bonds (79.2). Chipper Jones was fourth at 58.9. Within this span, the Braves center fielder led all Major Leaguers with a 26.7 Defensive bWAR. Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez ranked second with 16.5. The next closest outfielder was Mike Cameron (9.6). Along with establishing himself as one of the greatest defensive outfielders baseball has ever seen during his time with Atlanta, Jones became one of the best power hitters in Braves history. He ranks fourth in franchise history with 368 homers, and he set the club’s single-season record with 51 homers in 2005. 2. Dale Murphy, 1976-90 Key fact: Only Braves player to win two MVP Awards Brought up as a catcher, Dale Murphy became Atlanta’s primary center fielder in 1980, and he won the first of two consecutive National League MVP Awards two years later. Known as one of the premier sluggers of his era, he also won five straight Gold Glove Awards from 1982-86. The Braves moved him to right field in 1987. While serving as Atlanta’s center fielder from 1980-86, Murphy ranked first among all outfielders in home runs (220) and bWAR (34.7). The only player to hit more homers during this seven-season stretch was Mike Schmidt (260). 3. Wally Berger, 1930-37 Key fact: Served as the NL’s starting center fielder in the first All-Star Game (1933) One of the premier power hitters of his era, Wally Berger set a rookie record when he hit 38 homers in 1930. This record stood 57 years, until Mark McGwire broke it with 49 in 1987. But no NL rookie surpassed this mark until 2017 (Cody Bellinger, 39). A shoulder injury in 1936 ended Berger’s days with the Boston Braves and soured what seemingly was the makings of a Hall of Fame career. Even though his ascent was cut short, he still ranks third among center fielders in club history with a 36.9 bWAR. Error! Filename not specified. WALLY BERGER (RIGHT) GIVES A FEW TIPS TO TEAMMATE VINCENT DIMAGGIO, BROTHER OF JOE, IN 1937. AP 4. Ender Inciarte, 2016-present Key fact: Won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 2016-18 Along with earning a Gold Glove in each of his first three seasons with Atlanta, Ender Inciarte produced a 200-hit season in 2017, the club’s first since 1996. He led all NL outfielders with 20 Outs Above Average in 2017 and ranked second with 19 OAA in 2018. Inciarte’s 10.6 bWAR ranks fifth among the modern-era Braves who have played as a center fielder in at least 80 percent of their games with the club. 5. Bill Bruton, 1953-60 Key fact: Hit a 10th-inning walk-off homer in the first home game for the Milwaukee Braves Bill Bruton led the Majors in stolen bases during each of his first three seasons, and he helped the Braves win consecutive NL pennants in 1957 and '58. His 18.0 bWAR over eight seasons with Milwaukee ranks third among modern-era Braves who have played as a center fielder for at least 80 percent of their games with the club. Honorable mentions Before the 2019 Billy Hamilton, the Braves had a Billy Hamilton, who capped his 14-season Hall of Fame career by playing with the Boston club from 1896-1901 … Marquis Grissom solidified the defense and the top of the lineup with his arrival before the start of the 1995 championship season … Multiple leg ailments limited Kenny Lofton on the bases. But he did hit .333 with a .409 on-base percentage during his one season (1997) in Atlanta. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Mike Soroka gets compared with Greg Maddux. It’s not that crazy By Gabriel Burns, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution It was a treat watching the 1995 World Series, which aired on Fox Sports South last week. Kudos to the Braves for doing that – at a time when we’re all desperate for sports, it was nice having that 7-10 p.m. block filled by something besides sitcom reruns and Netflix. You’ll make endless observations watching these old games, from the players to announcers to advertising. In this instance, I especially enjoyed watching the pitching, seeing the “big three” (now an absolutely exhausted term in sports) win their only World Series. I loved seeing the Atlanta- Fulton County Stadium crowd. You could feel the liveliness and passion through the screen. But one of my biggest takeaways, relative to the current Braves: It’s easy to see why Mike Soroka is loosely compared with Greg Maddux. You can call it hyperbole. That’s fair. It’s ridiculous to compare a player who just completed his first full season to one of the greatest pitchers ever. Maddux had arguably the best command of all-time. He was dominant across the vaunted steroids era. If he wasn’t the top pitcher of the 1990s, he’s in the top two. And yet, as I watched Maddux, I kept drawing parallels to Soroka. It was a fun exercise rooted in past comments linking the pair. You’ve heard the talk. You either became insanely optimistic, rolled your eyes or found yourself teetering on the fence of fan and realist. Still, you can’t ignore the similar demeanor, that calmness and smoothness that Soroka and Maddux share. Both pitchers always look in control. Neither was a brash personality, but the quiet confidence is palpable. They’re both control experts, focusing more on location than overpowering the opposition. In an interview with 92.9 The Game last May, John Smoltz coined Soroka “Greg Maddux 2.0.” That’s coming from one of Maddux’s closest friends and teammates. A Hall of Famer who spent much of his prime in the same room as Mad Dog. “He’s a pitcher, and that you can’t say universally in the game,” Smoltz said. “There’s a lot of throwers. There’s a lot of guys with great stuff. He’s Greg Maddux 1.0, 2.0, whatever you want to call him, and that’s a tough, kind of high compliment, to a guy that’s a Hall of Famer and one of the best in the business.” When Smoltz made those comments, Soroka was in the midst of a phenomenal stretch. After making five starts in 2018, his ensuing season couldn’t have started any better. I stress: In a historical context, it really couldn’t have been better. Soroka had a 1.92 ERA through his first 12 career starts, which was the all-time best result for sub-22-year-olds through a dozen outings. He finished the season with a 2.68 ERA, striking out 142 in 29 starts. He was sixth in Cy Young voting. Maddux struggled across his first 32 starts, posting a 5.59 ERA over his first two seasons. His third season was a breakthrough, when as a 22-year- old he garnered his first All-Star appearance. It was the first of 15 consecutive seasons in which he had an ERA no higher than 3.57. He led the league in ERA four times in his career, twice earning a mark under 2.00. Soroka, who’s already had shoulder issues in his recent past, may never be the iron man Maddux was, though that’s additionally a reflection of the times. Maddux logged 200-plus innings in 18 of 19 seasons since his breakout. He led the league in innings five consecutive seasons. That’s a testament to Maddux’s greatness. Often when we make player comparisons, we view it too black-and-white instead of just trying to find similar facets in their skill sets. Soroka isn’t going to lead a league in innings for a half decade. He’s not going to replicate Maddux’s 20-year stretch. He’s going to make his own legacy - he and the Braves hope - that we’ll revisit down the line. Former Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone, who coached the great staffs of the ’90s, didn’t stray from Maddux comparisons either. “What I like about Soroka, I love his mound presence,” Mazzone said in our conversation in March. “I love the way he changes speeds and makes the ball move. If I say he’s a poor man’s Greg Maddux, that’s a compliment. There’s a calmness going on. Just watching his mound presence and listening to him talk, watching him like that, reminds me of a pitcher, not a thrower.” We keep hearing that line with Soroka, that he’s a pitcher not a thrower.