Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves facing a lot of similar narratives early in 2019

Chicago Cubs: An offense led by a slugging first baseman – sound familiar?

Cubs fans are pretty adamant that Anthony Rizzo is, at the very least, one of the best first basemen in the game today. One guy who might actually rank higher? The Atlanta Braves’ Freddie Freeman.

Q: Which hitter has looked the best at the plate so far?

A: Freddie Freeman is always the easy answer here, but he’s really gotten off to a hot start. He went 6-for-10 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI and 3 walks in the series against the Phillies. Dansby Swanson swung the bat well in Spring Training and had some big hits in the Phillies series as well.

Make no mistake. Freeman is an absolute monster – capable of changing the game with one swing at any given moment. In his career against the Chicago Cubs, he carries a fairly mediocre .241/.348/.402 line, but as sure as I sit here writing that, he’ll probably go off and crank three homers in the next few days.

Q: Is there a new player or rookie we haven’t heard about we should keep an eye on?

A: The lineup for the Braves should be a lot of familiar names from last year with the exception of Josh Donaldson who is not off to a great start. Max Fried is expected to start the third game of the series, and he’s one of those young arms that has great stuff, he just needs to find that consistency at the big league level. He’s already pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief this year without giving up a run, but it makes me wonder how long he’ll actually go on Thursday if he does start.

Of course, Donaldson joined the Braves this offseason, adding to a lineup that already featured the likes of reigning NL Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuna. But the veteran third baseman struggled this spring, batting just .130 in Grapefruit League action, striking out eight times in 27 at-bats.