2021 Atlanta Braves

The Braves were one of the original 16 teams of the World Series era, just not in Atlanta. First they called Boston home and won a title in 1914. Eventually they moved to Milwaukee where they'd add a 2nd title in 1957. Currently, the franchise resides in Atlanta where in 1995 they won their 3rd title. The question for the Braves by then was could they win again in the same city? They didn't have many chances while in Boston (they had a dominating run of pennants in the 1800's though). They had a couple shots in Milwaukee but still fell short. And while they dominated baseball in the 1990's, they only achieved ultimate victory the one time.

The key to success in the 90s that put them into that position to keep trying to win a 2nd title in Atlanta was how the Braves were rattling off an impressive streak of division titles. In 2021, they were in the midst of another (though not nearly as record setting) streak of owning the NL East. Manager Brian Snitker led them to an 88-73 record, which was 6.5 games better than the Philadelphia Phillies to win a rather weak NL East (4th division title in what would be 6 in a row). The rest of the National League was pretty competitive that season, as the Braves would not have been able to get a Wild Card spot if it came to that...though it's not every year that a 106 win team has to fight for a Wild Card spot.

In the NLDS, the Braves would face the current Milwaukee team, the Brewers. The Brewers struck first with a 2-1 win in Game 1, but Atlanta answered with back-to-back shutouts to set up a clinching opportunity in Game 4 at home. Milwaukee's offense woke up by then and began trading runs back and forth to send the game to the 8th inning tied 4-4, where Freddie Freeman would play the hero and hit the go-ahead homer to ultimately send the Braves back to the NLCS.

Meeting the Braves in the NLCS was that 106 win Wild Card team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the same team that beat the Braves in the previous NLCS and went on to win the 2020 World Series. Despite the almost 20 game gap between win totals, the Braves got the home field advantage as a division winner, and flexed that advantage to jump to a 2-0 series lead. The Dodgers would stage a comeback in Game 3 before the teams traded blowouts to give the Braves a 3-2 lead as the series shifted back to their home turf, where they'd clinch in front of their fans to return to the fall classic for the first time since the 1990s.

The opponent for the Braves in the World Series would be the Houston Astros, and as was normal in baseball since the Astros cheating scandal came to light in 2020, the majority of fans were rooting for the Astros October opponent. Game 1 would go to the Braves, running the Astros home losing streak in the WS to 5, while the Braves would finally snap their 8 game WS losing streak. Houston would take Game 2, but when the scene shifted to Atlanta the Braves would quickly go up 3-1. A 1st inning Adam Duvall grand slam gave Atlanta a great start in Game 5, but Houston's offense would overwhelm to win the game 9-5 and send things back to Texas. That Houston offense had no answer to Max Fried in Game 6, though, as the Braves coasted to a 7-0 win and their 4th title in franchise history.

Freeman loved the Braves and wanted to remain in Atlanta for his entire career. In his contract year, he made sure to look good as he led the league with 120 Runs, while winning the Silver Slugger, making the all star team and finishing top 10 for MVP. He also led the team with 180 Hits. Unfortunately, wining the World Series would become his swan song in Atlanta, as offseason contract negotiations would fall apart and Freeman would head across the country dejected and signing on with LA.

Winning a Silver Slugger and finishing 7th for MVP, Austin Riley would lead the Braves with 33 Home Runs, 107 RBI and a .303 Average.

Albies would get his own Silver Slugger as he gained some MVP votes in his all star season. He finished just behind Riley with his 30 Home Runs and 106 RBI. His 20 Stolen Bases would lead the team.

The other regulars. Acuna jr suffered an ACL tear that ended his season early. He was still able to add an all star nomination to his resume, though the injury forced him to miss the game.

Trade acquisitions for the title run. Rosario would get 14 Hits and 3 Home Runs to win the NLCS MVP, while Soler would almost single handedly overcome the Astros in the World Series, hitting a go-ahead homer in 3 of the 4 series wins, making him the choice for World Series MVP.

Bench options. No, Johan Camargo isn't a pitcher card accidently placed with the hitters. Now normally I ignore a hitter that had 0 Hits on the season because usually it's not their fault they only had 1 or 2 games to make an impact...but Johan here had 18 Plate Appearances in 18 Games, so he had his chances.

Max Fried led all of baseball with 2 Shutouts, and he was the only Braves pitcher to pitch any Complete Games that year. He tied with 14 Wins and led the staff with his 3.04 ERA. In addition, he was the league's best fielding pitcher as he also took home a Gold Glove. He added 2 Wins in October, including the WS clinching victory against the Astros.

Morton tied Fried with the team leading 14 Wins, while being the lone arm at the top of the teams list with 216 Strikeouts and 185.2 Innings. 

Other major rotation guys. Anderson placed 5th for Rookie of the Year with his effort, then followed it up with 2 Wins in the postseason. Smyly also added an October victory.

The man on the mound for 37 Saves for the Braves, Will Smith stepped up big in October. He Saved 6 games through the title run, but those weren't the only games he was called upon for. For both Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS he entered the 9th innings tasked with keeping the games tied and give the Braves a chance to win. Both times he did his job and both times the Braves made him a winner after walking the games off.

Bullpen and other pitchers in 2021. Matzek had a unique distinction as a non-Closer Reliever who was the winning pitcher for both the clinching NLDS game and the clinching NLCS games.

In 2022, MLB would force the DH rule to be universal and thus there would be no more need for pitchers to hit for themselves. And with that, 2021 would be the final year that the Silver Slugger would be awarded to pitchers. Max Fried would be that final winner.