Always Braves! A Braves Franchise (MLB 14)

[IXI DECAY IXI]

Welcome to my dynasty featuring the Atlanta Braves. I can't wait to bring you what I hope to be a season full of exciting things. I have a lot of ideas and directions as far as this team goes and I'm looking forward to how it all pans out!

The game will be played on MLB 14: The Show (PS3). I will be using the OSFM Opening Day rosters. As far as sliders go, I will be using Armor and Swords set. Most all games will be played using full counts. The only time quick counts may be used is if I have won games 1 and 2 of a 3 game series.

UPDATE :: THIS FRANCHISE WILL PICK UP FROM APRIL 26 IN THE 2014 SEASON. I HAVE AND WILL PLAY EVERY GAME...

[IXI DECAY IXI]

Reserved for franchise history...

[IXI DECAY IXI]

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: 2013 was a successful season for the Braves as they were able to regain their spot atop the NL East with a record of 96-66. It was however an early exit for the Braves as they lost to the Dodgers of LA in the divisional series.

The Braves enter 2014 with pretty much the same squad they left 2013 with. The biggest loss was easily Brian McCann who made his way to New York to sign with the Yankees. They Braves also parted ways with Tim Hudson but were able to bring in Ervin Santana, Gavin Floyd, and Aaron Harang.

Lets start with what should be a very big bright spot for the Braves this season. A starting rotation that could easily be recognized as one of the best in baseball. The Braves are still trying to nail down who the initial starting rotation will be but as of now it seems the following will be the most likely.

1. Ervin Santana
2. Kris Medlen
3. Mike Minor
4. Julio Teheran
5. Brandon Beachy

The Braves are still trying to find spots for Gavin Floyd, Aaron Harang, Alex Wood, and even David Hale.

Quote:

Last year, we had some late injuries within our rotation that ended up hurting us, so we are excited to have a little more depth this year. - Fredie Gonzalez

The bullpen is another strong area for the Braves as they return the arms of Luis Avilan, Jordan Walden, David Carpenter, and of course Craig Kimbrel. The Braves will also welcome back Jonny Venters. At the moment, it's looking like Anthony Varvaro, Alex Wood, and possibly Gavin Floyd or Aaron Harang will fill out the rest of the pen.

The Braves infield will look exactly the same as last years other than the loss of previously mentioned Brian McCann. Evan Gattis will step into a full time catching role this year and will be spelled by Gerald Laird and Ryan Doumit.

Freddie Freeman, Dan Uggla, Chris Johnson, and Andrelton Simmons will round out the rest of the infield. It has already been stated this spring that Dan Uggla's leash will be quite short this season. Uggla struggled a majority of the 2013 season before being benched in the playoffs and the Braves will be ready to make a change if the time comes.

The outfield will consist of the two Upton brothers and Jason Heyward. B.J. Upton was another Braves that struggled throughout the season last year. The Braves are hoping he can rebound and contribute this season.

Overall, the Braves should look forward to a good season. They should be able to ride their pitching staff throughout the year. With an offense that can be streaky at best, the Braves are hoping to repeat as division winners and push their way deeper into the playoffs.

[Frank is the Tank]

Looking forward to another one of your dynasties, you always do a great job, good luck!

[LopaKa]

looking good so far, i'm always down to follow a Braves franchise, good luck!

[ghosti98]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[IXI DECAY IXI]

Opening day didn't end as well as it started for the Braves as they watched Aramis Ramirez hand them their first loss of the season with a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the 9th inning against Aaron Harang.

The game started off really slow offensively for both teams as neither team was able to muster a run until the Braves struck first in the top half of the 5th with an RBI single by shortstop Andrelton Simmons. The Braves struck again in the top of the 6th with a 2 run homerun by Dan Uggla... Yea, you read that right. Dan Uggla turned in a nice opening day performance as he submitted a 2-4 day with the 2 RBI's. The Braves are hoping this is a good sign for this upcoming season.

Ervin Santana was in cruise control until the bottom of the 7th when Ryan Braun was able to put one of the fences for a 2 run homerun to bring the Brewers within one. Santana took the mound in the 8th inning but after surrendering a leadoff single, the Braves opted to bring in Jonny Venters for his first appearance of the 2014 season. Venters was able to induce a ground ball to get the double play but would quickly give away the lead with a solo homerun by Jean Segura.

With an empty 9th frame for the Braves offensively, they would send Aaron Harang to the mound thinking the game could potentially see a few extra innings. It wasn't so as Harang watched as Aramis Ramirez took him deep on the 3rd pitch of the inning to send the Brewers home with a win on opening day.

Atlanta Braves at Milwaukee Brewers
Mar 31, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (0-1)	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	3	7	0
Milwaukee (1-0)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	4	8	1
W: Henderson (1-0) L: Harang (0-1)

Atlanta Braves
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Heyward, RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Upton, CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Freeman, 1B	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.250
Johnson, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.250
Upton, LF	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.333
Uggla, 2B	4	1	2	2	0	0	1	.500
Gattis, C	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.000
Simmons, SS	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.500
Santana, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Venters, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Schafer, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Harang, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
BATTING: 2B: Johnson 3B: Upton HR: Uggla RBI: Uggla (2), Simmons

Milwaukee Brewers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Segura, SS	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.250
Gennett, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Ramirez, 3B	4	2	2	1	0	0	1	.500
Braun, RF	3	1	1	2	0	1	1	.333
Lucroy, C	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
Gomez, CF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
Davis, LF	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	.000
Henderson, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Reynolds, 1B	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.500
Morris, PH-1B	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000
Lohse, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Overbay, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Gorzelanny	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Gindl, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
BATTING: 2B: Reynolds HR: Segura, Ramirez, Braun RBI: Segura, Ramirez, Braun (2)

Atlanta Braves
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Santana	7.0	6	2	2	0	4	1	2.57
Venters	1.0	1	2	1	0	1	1	9.00
Harang	0.0	1	1	1	0	0	1	INF

Milwaukee Brewers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Lohse	5.2	5	3	3	1	3	1	4.76
Kintzler	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Gorzelanny	1.1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Henderson	1.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

Atlanta Braves at Milwaukee Brewers
Apr 1, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (1-1)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1
Milwaukee (1-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
W: Medlen (1-0) L: Garza (0-1) S: Kimbrel (1)

Atlanta Braves
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG

Milwaukee Brewers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG

Atlanta Braves
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Medlen (W, 1-0)	6.0	3	0	0	0	4	0	0.00
Walden (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Carpenter (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.00
Kimbrel (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

Milwaukee Brewers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Garza (L, 0-1)	7.0	5	1	1	3	7	0	1.28
Kintzler	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Duke	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

Atlanta Braves at Milwaukee Brewers
Apr 2, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (1-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Milwaukee (2-1)	0	0	3	0	1	1	0	1	X	6	8	0
W: Fiers (1-) L: Minor (0-1)

Atlanta Braves
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG

Milwaukee Brewers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG

Atlanta Braves
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Minor (L, 0-1)	5.0	4	4	4	0	2	0	7.20
Walden	2.0	3	1	1	1	0	0	3.00
Avilan	1.0	1	1	1	0	3	0	9.00

Milwaukee Brewers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Gallardo	4.1	2	0	0	1	3	0	0.00
Fiers (W, 1-0)	2.2	2	0	0	0	4	0	0.00
Henderson	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00

[IXI DECAY IXI]

After dropping 2 games out of the 3 to the Brewers to start the 2014 season, the Braves headed up to Washington to play a 3 games series before heading to Atlanta for the first time of the 2014 season. The Braves were able to take 2 games out of the 3 from their division rival.

Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals
Apr 4, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (1-3)	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Washington (4-0)	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	4	10	1
W: Storen (1-0) L: Carpenter (0-1)

Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals
Apr 5, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (2-3)	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	1	6	11	0
Washington (4-1)	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	7	2
W: Beachy (1-0) L: Roark (0-1) S: Kimbrel (2)

Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals
Apr 6, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (3-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	8	0
Washington (4-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	9	0
W: Santana (1-0) L: Strasburg (0-1) S: Kimbrel (3)

The next user game will be game 1 of the 3 game series against New York. It will opening day for the Braves at home so the fans will get their first taste of their 2014 Braves. The matchup will pit Kris Medlen against Bartolo Colon.