After losing Spencer Strider and most recently Ronald Acuna Jr. for the season, the Atlanta Braves are going to look very different for the rest of 2024. Losing one superstar is difficult enough to recover from but losing two is tragic.
It is no secret that the Braves have high expectations for themselves, even after losing two of their best players to injury. Many people are calling for Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos to make a move to compensate for the loss of Acuna and Strider. While it is likely AA has something up his sleeve, there are three big reasons fans should not anticapte any blockbusters anytime soon.
It’s still too early
As it stands right now, the Atlanta Braves are 31-23 and sit 6.5 games back in the NL East. To be less than 7 games behind the scorching hot Phillies feels like an accomplishment in itself right now with all the bad breaks the Braves are dealing with.
With 54 games down, this also means that there is 108 games left in the regular season and a little over two months until the trade deadline. A lot can happen in the MLB over that time span.
There are so many teams in the league right now that doesn’t know if they will be buyers or sellers by the trade deadline. AA is likely holding out until there is at least a better idea of what high caliber players are avaliable and seems like the best fit in Atlanta. As difficult as it is to do, Anthopoulos should be trusted and fans should be patient.
The offense has a track record of being much better
2023 was a record season for many Atlanta Braves players. They consistently put up ridiculous numbers from an offensive stand point. Even without Ronald Acuna Jr. in the lineup the Braves have fire power.
Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, Austin Riley and Sean Murphy all have the capability to blast 20/30+ homers in a season. Matt Olson set the franchise record for home runs in a single season just last year. However, aside from Marcell Ozuna the lineup has seemed to hit a power drought.
It is worth noting yet again that there is still 110 games left in the regular season. The likelihood that a lineup built like Atlanta’s struggles for a 162 game stretch is low.
Sadly, power is not the only thin lacking from the Braves offense right now. The team is struggling to hit for average and score runs. Marcell Ozuna is hitting .309 and the next highest on the team is Ozzie Albies at .271. WIth the hitters on Atlanta’s lineup card, that is more than underperforming.
Alex Anthopoulos has seen what this lineup is capable of regardless if Ronald Acuna Jr. is there or not and he is going to give them every opportunity to prove themselves before panicking and making a rash trade.
They have four very solid starting pitchers
Last year, the Braves won their games almost exclusively by putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Even though it feels like Atlanta has struggled in 2024, they are still eight games over .500 and currently have the top Wild Card spot in the National League.
The reason the Braves have been able to win a fair share of games this season has been because of their starting pitching led by their two veteran lefties.
Chris Sale has been dominant since putting on a Braves uniform. He is 8-1 with a 2.12 ERA and has struck out 78 batters in 63.2 innings of work. Max Fried is 5-2 and has lowered his ERA below three at 2.97.
Chris Sale is dealing against his former team 😯 pic.twitter.com/yfkqzOeiRj
— MLB (@MLB) May 9, 2024
The way these two are throwing the ball right now, it feels like Atlanta has a really good shot at winning at least two of every five games. The other three spots in the rotation have not been quite as dominant but have been more than respectable.
Atlanta’s pitching staff as a whole (relief core included) currently ranks 7th in all of Major League Baseball at 3.41.
With pitching being able to lead the Braves to low scoring victories when needed should provide Alex Anthopoulos with some comfort. Seeing Atlanta can win games playing multiple styles of baseball it shows that trades are not required to be successful at the moment.
