The Braves added the following new players to their projected opening day roster according to FanGraphs:
- Sam Hilliard, OF
- Jose Jimenez, RP
- Lucas Luetge, RP
- Jordan Luplow, OF/1B
- Sean Murphy, C
- Dennis Santana, RP
Murphy at catcher represents the big addition. FanGraphs puts him fifth in the lineup, and he should experience plenty of RBI opportunities given the good OBPs of the players batting in front of him. Luplow walks and hits for power, but his poor BA means the other averages don’t look that good. I suspect Hilliard will eventually be replaced by someone who emerges from the Braves farm system.
On the pitching side, Jimenez is the arm to watch. He always struck out a ton of batters, but in 2022 he dramatically cut down on walks and home runs allowed. We’ll see if that was a one-year aberration.
The Braves added offense at a position where offense is tough to find and solidified the closing part of the bullpen with a good setup man. It’s just the kind of moves one likes to see for a team to stay in contention.