5 Best Atlanta Braves Players of All Time

While often among the favourites in MLB odds over the last few decades, the Braves have a storied history dating back to the late 1800s. A deep dive is required to weigh up the best Atlanta Braves players in franchise history. 

Their dominant period in the 1990s and 2000s produced plenty of candidates for this list, while some current players could be on their way to making the top five, too. Others excelled when the franchise was less competitive. 

Here are my five greatest Braves ever.

Best Atlanta Braves Players of All Time

1. Hank Aaron

Hammerin’ Hank is quite simply one of baseball’s greats. He broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record, which Aaron then held for more than three decades. Remarkably, he hit 24 or more homers in every season from 1955 through to 1973. 

When Hank Aaron hit his 714th career home run, tying him with Babe Ruth for the most in MLB history.

(April 4, 1974)pic.twitter.com/rv1sTlR729

— Baseball’s Greatest Moments (@BBGreatMoments) January 31, 2024

Starting out in the Negro Leagues, Aaron was a high-profile activist in the civil rights movement. On the field, he amassed 25 All-Star selections, two batting titles, and 3,771 hits.

He places fifth all-time in bWAR, and holds the record for total bases with 6,856. 

2. Greg Maddux

There are four pitchers with more career bWAR than Greg Maddux. Maddux, though, is responsible for three of the Braves’ seven Cy Young Awards, and he collected four ERA titles during his time in Atlanta.

Greg Maddux, Pitch Movement (from 76 pitch complete game). pic.twitter.com/XGLexwz0gU

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 22, 2017

As great as Tom Glavine and John Smoltz were, Maddux’s greatness means he’s the lone representative of The Big Three in these rankings. He was exceptional as a Brave, including three lights-out starts in the NLCS and World Series en route to winning a ring in 1995. 

3. Chipper Jones

A career .303 batting average with more than 460 home runs is quite a combination. Chipper Jones was among the sport’s best third basemen from his spectacular rookie season in 1995 to his late thirties.

At his MVP peak, Jones had big-time power. He paired that with great bat-to-ball skills and an excellent eye, resulting in 103 more walks than strikeouts for his career.

Very few switch-hitters can match Jones’ production at the plate. 

4. Warren Spahn 

Warren Spahn has the most starts, innings pitched, and shutouts in Braves’ history. The southpaw was an All-Star on 17 occasions, had 16 seasons with an MVP vote, and registered five seasons in the top three of Cy Young voting, including winning the award in 1957 after throwing 18 complete games. 

Owner of perhaps the most iconic windup in MLB history, Spahn amassed exactly 100 bWAR and pitched 15.1 innings as the Braves beat the Yankees in the 1957 World Series. 

5. Eddie Mathews

Only Hank Aaron has more bWAR among Braves position players than Eddie Matthews. There was fierce competition for the fifth spot on this list, with Phil Niekro, John Smoltz, Andruw Jones, and Freddie Freeman all in the mix.

Matthews, though, is second in franchise OPS+, fourth in adjusted batting wins, and third in extra-base hits. Rightly voted as an All-Star on 12 occasions, the Texarkana native had a combination of elite peak performance and longevity to edge out some other greats for the final place in these rankings.