The Braves have four players regarded by MLB Network as among the game’s “top 10 right now” at their positions.
The network ranks Freddie Freeman No. 1 in MLB among first basemen, Ozzie Albies No. 4 among second baseman, Ronald Acuna No. 4 among right fielders and Will Smith No. 10 among relief pitchers.
The Braves aren’t represented in the top 10 at starting pitcher, catcher, shortstop, third base, left field or center field.
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MLB Network aired its 10th annual “Top 10 Right Now!” series over the past five weeks, completing the project Saturday by unveiling the third base and relief pitcher rankings. The rankings considered player performance over the past two seasons, with an emphasis on 2019, taking into account offensive, defensive and pitching metrics, including traditional statistics and advanced data, as well as analysis by the network’s research team.
Smith's No. 10 ranking among relief pitchers is probably lower than Braves fans would have expected — and lower than the series' host, Brian Kenny, said he expected, too.
The relief pitchers ranked ahead of Smith: No. 1 Kirby Yates (Padres), No. 2 Aroldis Chapman (Yankees), No. 3 Josh Hader (Brewers), No. 4 Liam Hendriks (Athletics), No. 5 Ryan Pressly (Astros), No. 6 Brandon Workman (Red Sox), No. 7 Seth Lugo (Mets), No. 8 Adam Ottavino (Yankees) and No. 9 Taylor Rogers (Twins). Reflecting the volatility of relief pitching, only two of those 10, Chapman and Hader, were ranked a year ago.
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Freeman was ranked No. 1 at first base by MLB Network’s annual analysis for the first time in his career.
At second base, No. 4 Albies was ranked behind No. 1 Ketel Marte (Diamondbacks), No. 2 DJ LaMahieu (Yankees) and No. 3 Jose Altuve (Astros).
In right field, No. 4 Acuna was ranked behind No. 1 Mookie Betts (whose trade from the Red Sox to the Dodgers is pending), No. 2 Christian Yelich (Brewers) and No. 3 Aaron Judge (Yankees).
The No. 1-ranked players at other positions included the Mets’ Jacob deGrom at starting pitcher, the White Sox’s Yasmani Grandal at catcher, the Rockies’ Trevor Story at shortstop, the Astros’ Alex Bregman at third base, the Nationals’ Juan Soto in left field and the Angels’ Mike Trout in center field.
Former Brave Josh Donaldson, who signed with the Twins as a free agent last month, was ranked No. 6 among third basemen.
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This week, MLB Network will unveil more rankings — baseball’s 100 best players overall. That countdown will begin Tuesday night and end Thursday night. A year ago, the network ranked Freeman No. 17 overall, Acuna No. 35 and Albies No. 85.
