So that’s one left-handed reliever that likely won’t be making the Opening Day roster

"Who’s going to be in the Atlanta Braves bullpen come Opening Day 2019? I have no idea! But Matt Harvey Jersey , I now have a better idea of who’s not going to be on it...At first glance, this might seem like a bit of an odd choice. The Braves stuck with Sam Freeman through all of 2018, a year in which circumstances led to him posting a goose-egged 0.0 RA9-WAR and a team-worst -1.21 WPA. Of course, that was all mostly context, as Freeman’s 0.3 fWAR, 91 FIP-, and 94 xFIP- on the year placed him pretty much in “generic relief human” territory. Even after he spent about three weeks on the shelf with shoulder inflammation, the Braves brought him back and continued to use him through the end of the year. He was, however, left off the roster for the NL Division Series Scott Schebler Jersey , as part of a clean relief sweep where Jesse Biddle, Dan Winkler, and Shane Carle, each of whom pitched fairly well for the team, also failed to secure a spot for the playoffs.Still, it appears as though the Braves are aspiring for something more than “this guy is a reliever,” or at least contorting their roster into something different. Or, this might just be a case of too many lefties for too few slots, as Jesse Biddle, Max Fried http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , and Jonny Venters would have joined Freeman in potentially stuffing the bullpen with southpaws, to say nothing of A.J. Minter’s eventual return. In any case, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Sam Freeman going forward. The Braves are his fourth major league team, and he’s now appeared in parts of seven seasons as a major league reliever. though 2018 was the first time in the 31-year-old’s career in which he didn’t spend a substantial chunk of time toiling in the minors. The Braves outrighted Freeman, and as he’s been outrighted already twice before (once with the Rangers in 2015, once with the Brewers in 2016), he has the option of becoming a free agent in lieu of accepting his assignment to Triple-A — no word on that just yet.For his career, Freeman has 0.7 fWAR, 2.2 RA9-WAR, and 1.41 WPA in 226 and 2鈦? major league frames on the back of an 89 ERA- George Foster Jersey , 98 FIP-, and 104 xFIP-. His 2017 season with the Braves was a revelation, as he didn’t make the Opening Day roster but still threw 60 innings of 58 ERA-/78 FIP- ball en route to 0.6 fWAR and a spot on the 2018 division-winning team. If Freeman does find a new club in the coming days, there may be the hope it’ll use him better than the Braves did: over the last two years, Freeman posted a 3.22 FIP / 3.42 xFIP against lefties but a 3.69 FIP / 4.27 xFIP against righties, yet faced 84 more righty batters than lefty batters in this span. (As a Brave, Freeman held the platoon advantage over just 41 percent of the batters he faced.)Earlier this year, the Braves avoided arbitration with Freeman, signing a one-year, $1.575 million deal with the team. Freeman had been doing okay in Spring Training Tom Seaver Jersey , albeit walking too many: he issued four free passes to go with eight strikeouts in eight frames. Across his 33 batters faced, those amount to a 24 percent strikeout rate and a 12 percent walk rate, both of which are pretty much in line with his expectations and tiny bit little better than his career rates. The Boston Red Sox have advanced to the 2018 World Series and will take on the winner of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers.Books opened the Red Sox as -130 favorites against the Dodgers and -200 favorites against the Brewers in World Series lookahead lines.Following Thursday’s American League Championship Series Game 5 win against the Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox have officially punched their ticket to the 2018 World Series.Their opponent in the Fall Classic has yet to be determined as the Los Angeles Dodgers hold a 3-2 series lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series.>> Sign up for The Action Network’s daily newsletter to get the smartest MLB conversation delivered into your inbox each morning.Los Angeles Dodgers (+100) vs. Boston Red Sox (-130)The Red Sox are expected to be small favorites over the Dodgers should Los Angeles advance to the World Series.The Dodgers’ brand and the popularity of its players are likely keeping Los Angeles as a shorter underdog than it should (or will) be.Milwaukee Brewers (+160) vs. Boston Red Sox (-200)Despite having a better regular-season record than the Dodgers, the Milwaukee Brewers are considered much less likely to beat the Red Sox in the World Series in these odds.Milwaukee currently trails Los Angeles in the NLCS, meaning books are likely anticipating much less action coming in on the Brewers compared to the Dodgers (due to the current perception of each team).