Pair Of Braves

There are 2 players on the Atlanta Braves who could win Rookie Of The Year, and one of them is nearly certain to win. One of the canidates is Freddie Freeman, a strong hitting First Baseman. Freddie was the most hyped rookie going into the season, landing on a Sports Illustrated cover, before the season even started. Freddie has a case for rookie of the year, being first among rookies in Hits (138), Second in average (.292) And is also fourth in homers (18). Thoose are great rookie numbers, and under normal circumstances, would win him the ROY. Craig Kimbrel however, isnt a normal circumstance.

Craig Kimbrel was not supposed to be the MLB's best rookie. Craig Kimbrel wasnt supposed to become the braves best player. Craig Kimbrel wasnt supposed to become an elite close. Craig Kimbrel wasnt expected to fill the shoes of Billy Wagner. Nor was he supposed to pitch 31.2 scoreless innings and break Neftali Feliz's one year old Rookie saves record. Yet doing what he wasnt supposed to do, will end up winning him the Rookie Of The Year. And while that alone is certainly amazing, There is something even more amazing about Kimbrel, and that would be that he even is the Braves Closer. So many good decisions had to be made, so many things had to be done, so many things had to go his way, its amazing he made it this far. Here is a short timeline of what lead him to the MLB and the Rookie Of The Year:

2007: The Braves draft Kimbrel in the 33rd round of the draft, but instead of signing, he choose to stay at Wallace State Community College, to try and improve his draft stock.

2007: The Braves pull off a blockbuster move, Sending 2nd baseman Elvis Andres, and a young pitcher named Naftali Feliz to the Texas Rangers for slugger Mark Texiera.

2008: The Braves AGAIN draft Kimbrel, this time in the 3rd round. He signs

2010: Kimbrell Gets called up from Double A Gwinnet to replace Jair Jurrgens, who was injured, on the roster.

2010: Kimbrell got his second call up, again to replace an injured player. This time however, he is in the closers role. He earns his first save against the New York Mets. His 2010 record end up being 4-0, he also finishes the season up with a 0.44 ERA, 40 K's, and 16 walks in over 20 innings of work. He also plays in all 4 games of the Braves Playoff Apperance, shuting down the Giants.

2011: The Braves infamous closer, Billy Wagner, Retires.

2011: Seeing a hole in there bull pen, the Braves have Kimbrel break camp with the team.

And the rest, is history.