These young players aren’t the Baby Braves.
Those 18 rookies who helped the Braves win in 2005, including big names like Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann, were chasing a 14th division title in a row. The stakes are lower for this year’s youngsters as the club rebuilds after trading away most of its veteran core.
But what makes the current youngsters like their famed predecessors is that the Braves wouldn’t be winning without them.
“Coming in, we knew we were going to have to have a lot of help from young guys, especially the guys that are coming up (from the minors),” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Realistically, I think the guys coming up have to help you win five to 10 ballgames to have a good season. They’ve definitely been doing that so far.”
The Braves (18-19) are hovering around .500 with the help of some winning moments from their young players. There were lots of them during the Braves’ three-game weekend sweep of the Miami Marlins.
Rookie second baseman Jace Peterson hit a grand slam in the 6-0 victory on Saturday. Outfielder Todd Cunningham, called up from Triple-A Gwinnett before the series, went 8-for-12. Infielder Phil Gosselin matched Cunningham’s three hits in the 5-3 victory on Saturday. Gosselin, however, fractured his left thumb on a diving play at third base Sunday and will have surgery and miss at least eight weeks.
Cunningham joined a club that already had lots of players like him — young and trying to establish themselves as big-league players.
“Any time you can go through a situation together with a group of guys where we all are kind of in the same situation, you start to feed off of other guys,” Cunningham said. “You are kind of part of this vibe that’s going.”
Cunningham is one of seven rookies on the Braves’ active roster along with Peterson, catcher Christian Bethancourt and pitchers Cody Martin, Brandon Cunniff, Mike Foltynewicz and Williams Perez. Five other rookies have spent time with the Braves this season: pitchers Sugar Ray Marimon, Juan Jaime, Ian Thomas, Andrew McKirahan and John Cornely. With Gosselin on the disabled list, the Braves summoned another rookie, infielder Adonis Garcia.
Martin, Marimon, Cunniff, McKirahan, Cornely and Perez made their big-league debuts this season. The other players had such little previous service time that they are still considered rookies, and Gosselin just barely qualifies as a non-rookie because of his 50 games played before this season.
Peterson said the group is trying to show the veterans they can help the team win.
“Young guys like myself look up to those guys in a way, and we want to come to work and at the end of the day gain their respect,” Peterson said.
Peterson has had the biggest impact of the rookies as he has become the everyday second baseman. In his past 19 games he has hit .353 with a .416 on-base percentage to raise his season numbers to .284 and .350. Peterson’s grand slam was his first big-league home run.
Like Peterson, Martin and Foltynewicz have taken on key roles for the Braves.
Foltynewicz joined the starting rotation and is 2-0 with a 4.24 ERA in three starts. Perez is set to become the second rookie in the rotation when he starts against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
Martin leads Braves relievers in innings pitched (19 2/3) as manager Fredi Gonzalez has used the big right-hander in some tight situations. Recent missteps include a blown save at the Washington Nationals two weekends ago and a tying home run allowed to Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton in the seventh inning of Saturday’s game.
Martin was among the young Braves relief pitchers to start the season strong. He said bullpen veterans Jim Johnson and Jason Grilli have helped him learn how to move on from rough games.
“I can be out there the next day so I’ve got to wash it away,” he said. “it’s going to happen. It happens to everyone. It’s not fun. The first couple weeks were a lot more fun than these last couple outings. But I can go on another streak and have a good rest of this month and turn things around.”
Learning to deal with failure is something Braves veterans know how to do from experience.
“I think they are fitting in very nicely,” Freeman said. “They go about their work, they get their work in, they have a nice routine and it’s been carrying over to the field. They are acting like they belong.”
