As stars like Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson move on, the Atlanta Braves keep rolling

When Dale Murphy was traded from the Braves to the Phillies early in August of 1990, it wasthe turning of a page. That era of Braves baseball was over, and while we all loved Murph, it wasa signal that the Braves would survive even without their star player of the 1980s.

In fact, the franchise thrived. It wasn’t because ole number three was gone, but instead because anew group of players, led by Murphy’s replacement in right field David Justice, was ready totake over. The result was a championship a few years later.

Fast forward to last year. Sure, it was shocking to not see Freddie Freeman playing first base forthe Braves. He had been there so long. He was the guy that caught the ball for the final out of theWorld Series the year before. But in a blink of an eye, he was gone, and someone else was atfirst.

The Braves survived. Again, they thrived, with 101 wins, and having Matt Olson at first baseinstead certainly wasn’t the reason the Braves were knocked out in the first round last October.

Now there is someone else not named Dansby Swanson playing shortstop. Many never thoughtthat would happen. He’s a hometown guy, just up the street from Truist Park. But $177 millionwill lure the best of us, even to a place like Chicago to play for the Cubs.

Orlando Arcia? That’s his replacement? The guy the Brewers benched a few years ago and whobecame a backup for the Braves? Yep, that’s him. And, so far, so good. Arcia has done fine thefirst weeks of the season replacing someone most believed would never leave.In fact, Arcia just hit his second home run of the season as I was typing this. Good timing.

Sometimes going with the veteran is the right decision.

That’s what good organizations do – they survive, even when stars leave. Not many teams couldwatch as franchise players like Freeman and Swanson leave. The Braves, however, are different.

This team is a machine right now, winning games, replacing players and not missing a beat.

Sure, it’s early. Small sample size. Titles can’t be won in April. Yada, yada, yada. But watchingthis team the first week of the season has been a joy. It’s great entertainment watching a teamclick on all cylinders from the get-go. It doesn’t always happen that way. Heck, it took twomonths for the Braves to get going a season ago.

We don’t have to worry about manager Brian Snitker calling a team meeting in early June to tryand save this season this year. That likely won’t happen, not with this roster that is deep andloaded.

It was almost comical that in the first six games of the season, five of them wins, two werestarted by rookies and a third by a pitcher who started nine games last season as a rookie. Itdidn’t matter, really. The Atlanta offense was going to support whoever was pitching. An eighthgrader might last a few innings with run support from this bunch.

The lineup, led by an unmatched trio to lead off in Ronald Acuna, Jr., Olson and Austin Riley,might be the best in baseball. Imagine being an opposing pitcher and having to face those three beasts to start the game. It will be fun to see how many first inning runs the Braves have thisseason. So far, it’s eight first-inning runs in the first seven games of the season. That’ll play.

Even when the Braves get behind, which hasn’t happened much, there’s a confidence the offensewill keep them in the game until the very end. There’s power on this team, and the speed that ishelped by the new rules will definitely lead to more run production. Acuna, Ozzie Albies,Michael Harris II, and Eddie Rosario will make things happen on the bases.

The defense has been impeccable. There are questions, certainly, with the ace (Max Fried) andcloser (Raisel Iglesias) on the injured list, but the depth should give most faith they can survivemost injuries.

Did we mention it’s early. It is, and as someone once said, it’s a long way to October. But if theBraves keep playing the way they have early on, they’ll be playing deep into October. The nameson the back of the uniform may change, but the team on the front continues to play well nomatter what.

Listen to The Bill Shanks Show each weekday at 3:00 pm ET on TheSuperStations.com.You can email Bill at TheBillShanksShow@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Atlanta Braves keep rolling without Freddie Freeman, Dansby Swanson