The Atlanta Braves have made quite a leap in 2018 going from 72 wins to 89 entering play on Wednesday. The team has clinched its first division title since 2013 and has arrived perhaps year earlier than anyone was expecting.
There are a lot of factors that went in to the Braves’ turnaround but coming into the season new general manager Alex Anthopoulos’ stated goal was to improve the club defensively. Ken Rosenthal outlined their defensive success recently in this article for The Athletic. In the article, Rosenthal spotlights Anthopoulos’ focus on shortstop Dansby Swanson and whether or not he could improve after a rather poor showing defensively in 2017.