When you think of the stars in the Atlanta sports constellation, you may think of Trae Young, Ronald Acuña Jr., and now Kyle Pitts for the Falcons in the absence of Matt Ryan, but Nick Kayal says that two Atlanta Braves are continuously underrated.
“Max Fried and Dansby Swanson are the two most under-appreciated athletes currently playing sports in the city of Atlanta,” Kayal said.
Following last night’s masterful 6 2/3 innings outing by Fried, the Braves ace was hailed as the best left-handed pitcher in baseball by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Kayal agrees, saying that Fried—with a 7-2 record & 2.77 ERA—is firmly in the Cy Young conversation as we near the All-Star break.
As for Swanson, Kayal shared his belief on 92.9 The Game that the Braves shortstop, who overcame a slow start to the season, is the team MVP at this point of the season and has become one of the leaders in the clubhouse in the post-Freddie Freeman era.
They may not be the flashiest or most vocal of Atlanta's, but Kayal says it’s time to give this duo their due.
“Nobody is sitting here saying that Max Fried and Dansby Swanson aren’t good players, but I don’t know that we have given them the coverage, the attention and the appreciation that they deserve because they were on full display, peak performance, last night in primetime on national television again the Dodgers," he said.
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Swanson is set to become a free agent following this season, and after seeing Freeman head West and with both Acuña and Ozzie Ablies on team-friendly deals, Kayal believes it’s time to lock the shortstop up long-term despite the lofty price tag that could reach $20 million per year.