World Series Begins Tonight with 11 Former M-Braves on Atlanta Roster

Published 9:11 am Tuesday, October 26, 2021

PEARL – The Atlanta Braves today set their 26-man roster for the World Series against the Houston Astros. The best-of-seven series begins with Game 1 today at 8:09 pm at Minute Maid Park. The roster features 11 players that spent time with the Mississippi Braves on their journey to the majors. There have been 14 M-Braves alums that have appeared in games for the Braves this postseason.

The 2021 season featured a Braves infield that combined to play 282 games in an M-Braves jersey. Each member of that infield hit at least 25 home runs this season. First baseman Freddie Freeman (31), second baseman Ozzie Albies (30), third baseman Austin Riley (33), and shortstop Dansby Swanson (27) combined to become just the second infield in baseball history with each member hitting at least 25 longballs.

Ozzie Albies (2016) – 82 G, .321 AVG, 22 2B, 7 3B, 4 HR, 33 RBI, 21 SB

2021 Recap: 24-year-old Ozzie Albies finished his fourth full major league season, hitting .259 (163-for-629) in 156 games (all starts)…He had a .310 on-base percentage and had a .488 slugging percentage…Albies hit 30 home runs with 106 RBI and 103 runs. NL Ranks: Extra-base Hits (2nd, 77), RBI (3rd, 106), Doubles (3rd, 40), Triples (T3rd, 7), Total Bases (4th, 307), Runs (4th, 103), Stolen Bases (T6th, 20), Hits (9th, 163). He was the only NL player this season to reach the 30/100/100 threshold (7 in AL)… It’s the first time in his career he’s achieved that stat line…Acuña (41/101/127) and Freeman (38/121/113) were the last Braves to do it (2019).

William Contreras (2019) – 60 G, .255 AVG, 9 2B, 3 HR, 17 RBI

2021 Recap: 23-year-old William Contreras played in his second big league campaign in 2021…He hit .215 (35-for-163) with eight home runs, 23 RBI and 19 runs across 52 games. Appeared in 52 games this season after playing in only four last season. Hit his first major league home run on May 5 at Washington off of Erick Fedde.

Freddie Freeman (2009) – 41 G, .246 AVG, 2 HR, 8 2B, 24 RBI

2021 Recap: 32-year-old Freddie Freeman completed his 12th MLB season…He hit an even.300 (180-for-600) with 31 home runs, 83 RBI and 120 runs scored. NL Ranks: Runs (120, 1st), Hits (180, 2nd), Walks (85, 3rd), On-Base Percentage (.393 3rd), Total Bases (302, 6th)…Finished second in the National League with 53 multi-hit games only trailing Trea Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers (58 games).

Austin Riley (2017-2018) – 75 G, .321 AVG, 19 2B, 4 3B, 14 HR, 47 RBI, 2 SB

2021 Recap: 24-year-old Austin Riley finished his third major league campaign…He finished with a .303 batting average (179-for-590), 33 home runs, 107 RBI and 91 runs. NL Ranks: Total Bases (313, 2nd), RBI (107, 2nd), Hits (179, 3rd), Batting Average (.303, 6th), Home Runs (33, 10th). He finished third in the National League with 52 multi-hit games… Toronto’s Bo Bichette (56) was the only other player in baseball, 24-or-younger, with more multi-hit games this season. Finished the 2021 campaign with 33 home runs and 33 doubles, becoming the first Braves third baseman with a 30/30 season aged 24-or-younger since Chipper Jones in 1996…There are just three such seasons in franchise history (Jones, 1996; Eddie Mathews, 1953).

Dansby Swanson (2016) – 84 G, .261 AVG, 13 2B, 5 3B, 8 HR, 41 RBI, 6 SB

2021 Recap: 27-year-old Dansby Swanson completed his sixth season in the big leagues…He finished with a .248 batting average (146-for-588) with 27 home runs, 88 RBI and 78 runs scored. Enjoyed his best stretch of the season from July 24 to August 27…Across 31 games within that time frame, hit .355 (43-for-121) with 17 extra-base hits (8 home runs), 31 RBI and 26 runs scored.

Ian Anderson (2018-2019) – 25 GS, 9-6, 2.62 ERA, 130.1 IP, 56 BB, 171 SO

2021 Recap: Made 24 starts during his rookie season and went 9-5 with a 3.58 ERA (51 ER/128.1 IP) and 124 strikeouts…He became the first pitcher in baseball’s live-ball era (since 1920) to have three starts of at least 6.0 innings and no more than one hit allowed in his first 11 games. Anderson became the first native New Yorker to beat the Yankees and Mets in New York in the same season. The last native New Yorker to beat two New York teams on the road in a single season was Philadelphia’s Jim Konstanty (Strykersville) and Chicago’s Turk Lown (Brooklyn) in 1953…Both pitchers beat the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants in relief that season.

Max Fried (2017-2018) – 21 GS, 3-11, 5.23 ERA, 98.0 IP, 47 BB, 101 SO

2021 Recap: Completed his third full major league season and went 14-7 with a 3.04 ERA (56 ER/165.2 IP) in 28 games, all starts. He was the Braves’ Opening Day starter. NL Ranks: Shutouts (T1st, 2), Complete Games (T4th, 2), Wins (T5th, 14), ERA (9th, 3.04), Winning Percentage (T9th, .667). His 38 wins over the past three seasons are most in the National League and most by any left-hander in baseball. Ended the season with 12 consecutive quality starts, the longest such run in baseball this season…The Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff and the Dodgers’ Walker Buehler had 10-game runs, the only other pitchers in the majors with a double-digit streak this season. Was named NL Pitcher of the Month for September after going 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA (7 ER/41.0 IP) across six starts…It was the first monthly award of his career, and he was Atlanta’s first recipient since Kris Medlen in September of 2013.

Tyler Matzek (2019) – 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.1 IP, 0 BB, 5 SO

2021 Recap: Appeared in a career most 69 games this season with a 2.57 ERA (18 ER/63.0 IP) and an 0-4 record. His 24 holds on the season were tied for the fifth-most in the majors. Ranked second in the majors in strikeouts (120), second in innings (92.0 IP), and tied for third in FIP (2.81 – min. 65.0 IP) among lefty relievers since the beginning of the 2020 season. His 90 appearances over the past two seasons are tied for the third-most among lefty relievers.

AJ Minter (2016-2017) – 21 G, 1-0, 2.08 ERA, 21.2 IP, 8 BB, 34 SO

2021 Recap: Went 3-6 with a 3.78 ERA (22 ER/52.1 IP) in 61 relief appearances with Atlanta. Pitched to a 2.71 FIP over the season, third-lowest among lefty relievers behind Josh Hader and Aaron Loup (min. 50 IP), and pitched to a 1.89 ERA and 9.47 K/9 in 19 games since being recalled on August 10…Had a 4.86 ERA before being optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. Did not allow a hit or surrender a run in seven outings with Triple-A Gwinnett while fanning 10 hitters in 7.1 IP.

Charlie Morton (2007) – 41 G, 6 GS, 4-6, 4.29 ERA, 79.2 IP, 37 BB, 67 SO

2021 Recap: Played his 14th career major league season and pitched to a 14-6 record and a 3.34 ERA (69 ER/185.2 IP) over a career high-tying 33 starts…Struck out 216. NL Ranks: Starts (T1st, 33), Opponents Average (5th, .203), Wins (T5th, 14), Winning Percentage (T5th, .700), Strikeouts (6th, 216), Innings (T7th, 185.2), WHIP (8th, 1.04). Morton made his major league debut with the Braves on June 14, 2008..He made 15 more appearances for the Braves that season. With his first start this season, Morton went 12 years, 194 days between Braves appearances. According to research from the Elias Sports Bureau, only four other Braves in the modern era (since 1900) had a gap of at least 12 years between appearances, with Bucky Walters’ 17-year, 302-day span the longest.

Kyle Wright (2018) – 20 GS, 6-8, 3.70 ERA, 109.1 IP, 43 BB, 105 SO

2021 Recap: The 26-year-old made just two appearances at the Major League level in 2021, allowing seven hits and seven runs in 6.1 innings. He spent the rest of the time in Gwinnett’s rotation and finished the season strong, allowing 26 hits and 10 earned runs over his final six starts, totaling 39 innings. He had 38 strikeouts and just 10 walks over that stretch.

Former M-Braves Cristian Pache, Jacob Webb, Johan Camargo, and Huascar Ynoa have appeared in the 2021 postseason during the NLDS and NLCS, but are not on the postseason roster. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mike Soroka are on the injured list for the Braves.

The Mississippi Braves claimed the 2021 Double-A South Championship by beating the Montgomery Biscuits 3-2 in the best-of-five series. The league title was the second in team history.