Who is the Best Atlanta Braves Starting Pitcher Ever? Cast Your Vote

Sixty years of Atlanta Braves baseball, and first base has seen everything: a National League MVP, multiple Hall of Famers, a franchise home run record, a cancer comeback for the ages, and the most famous slide in baseball history. From Felipe Alou in the team's first Atlanta season in 1966 all the way to Matt Olson today, the position has never lacked for legends. Now it's your turn to settle the argument.

Tap up to three players below to build your ballot. Your first tap is your #1. Then cast your vote and share your ranking with Braves Country.

First Base in Atlanta: Sixty Years of Braves History

The list of Atlanta Braves starting pitchers reads like a tour of the franchise itself. Felipe Alou held down the position when the team arrived from Milwaukee in 1966, and Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda manned the bag in the early 1970s while Hank Aaron chased history one spot over. Chris Chambliss brought veteran stability to the early 1980s, and by the dawn of the 1990s dynasty, Sid Bream was there, delivering the slide in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS that sent Atlanta to the World Series and remains the most replayed moment in team history.

The championship era belonged to Fred McGriff, the Crime Dog, whose blockbuster 1993 trade ignited a legendary run and whose bat helped deliver the 1995 World Series title on the way to Cooperstown. Andres Galarraga followed with 44 home runs in 1998, missed all of 1999 battling cancer, then returned in 2000 in one of baseball's great comeback stories. The 2000s brought Adam LaRoche, deadline rental Mark Teixeira, and the ageless Julio Franco, still raking into his mid-40s.

Then came the modern giants. Freddie Freeman owned first base from 2011 through 2021, winning the 2020 National League MVP and lifting the 2021 World Series trophy as the face of the franchise. When contract talks broke down, Atlanta traded for hometown product Matt Olson in March 2022 and signed him to an eight-year deal. Olson answered any doubters by setting the franchise single-season home run record with 54 in 2023.

So who is the best starting pitcher in Atlanta Braves history? Freeman's decade of dominance, McGriff's championship pedigree, Bream's immortal moment, or Olson's record-breaking power? That's exactly what the vote above is for.