Introduction
The Atlanta Braves are a great team and they had a really impressive season in 2022. Before I go into this one, I just have to say that I’m a New York Mets fan. So understandably I’m a tad biased and still a little satly about what transpired at the end of the season. However, I promise I won’t shortchange my analysis. The Braves were active this offseason, making a number of trades and free agent acquisitions. The Braves are admittedly one of the smarter teams in the league. They have gone about locking up any and all young and talented players long term. I may not like the Braves but I can respect how they run that franchise. The trade that stands out to me is with the Oakland Athletics for Sean Murphy. The Braves had a lot of depth catching but decided to bolster even further with one of the better catchers in the league. The Braves went 101-61 in 2022, finishing in 1st place over the Mets in a tiebreaker scenario. The last season series vs. Mets really broke Mets players and fans alike. (As a Braves fan I imagine that feels good) However, the Braves didn’t fare so well against the red hot Phillies in the divisional round. I was shocked by this, the Braves had been beating up the Phils all season long. The MGM Power Ranking list ranks the Braves at 7th with an odds of +1000 to win the World Series.
Batting Lineup
There isn’t much to say about this lineup other than the fact it’s really good. The weak spot, if you can call it that, is near the bottom with Rosario and Ozuna. Although Ozuna is very dangerous if he gets hot, he can smack a homerun. The rest of the line up contains some of the best pure hitters in the game. At the top you have Ronald Acuna Jr who hasn’t been the same since his injury but when he’s at his best, he can hit 40 homeruns and steal 40 bases very easily. I often say Ronald Acuna Jr is a player I would love to be on my team (Sacrilege I know) Then you have runner up to Rookie of Year in Michael Harris II along with Young Thick Austin Riley. These two will be hitting anywhere from 60 to 80 homeruns for years to come. It doesn’t stop there, Matt Olson and Sean Murphy are next. Matt Olson had a down year so expect him to bounce back. My standout will be Vaughn Grissom. Grissom showed potential in limited time last season. He has big shoes to fill with the departure of Dansby Swanson. I think given a full season, the Braves were probably smart to let Swanson walk. Overall, there aren’t many lineups you would take over this Braves lineup.
Starting Rotation
The Braves rotation is also very good. I think the only pitcher that really struggled last season was Charlie Morton. But I believe Morton will have a bounce back year. Max Fried is basically a left-handed version of Jacob DeGrom. One interesting note, and my standout is Mike Soroka who has been injured for nearly two years. He was very good when he last played and I believe if he actually returns it’s a huge gift for the Braves. Spencer Strider is another great pitcher who showed some immaturity last season but his stats don’t lie about how good he is. Strider has won me over a little bit though by saying he was going to dress up like Charlie Sheen’s character Rick Vaughn from Major League (My favorite baseball movie). Overall, you can expect a top 10 ranking from this rotation.
Bullpen
The Braves bullpen is absolutely loaded up with studs. The Braves made a few moves to upgrade this bullpen as well. They brought in Joe Jimenez, Lucas Luetge and Dennis Santana. My standout is AJ Minter. Minter has been one of the best relivers in the game for a while now. I think he’s the natural leader and will most likely put up the numbers to back it up. Overall I think the Braves will have a solid bullpen and with their offensive ability, they won’t be stressed too hard.
My Prediction
The Braves will be just as good or maybe better in 2023. I just want to show this timeline of their season which shows wins in green and losses in red. You’ll notice for the first two months they were bad with a lot of red. Then in about June, the green starts to dominate.
The Braves play in the NL East so this means competing against the Mets who spent 400 million this offseason. It means competing against the Phillies fresh off a World Series appearance. I think the Braves will benefit from the balanced schedule. I’m having a mental crisis trying to figure out how to predict the outcome in the NL East. So fair warning, the Braves, Mets and Phillies are getting the same projected best record. The worst record will determine the order. My prediction is a worst record of 90-72 and a best record of 102-60. The floor is 2nd place and the ceiling is first place. I know as a Mets homer you can take this with a grain of salt. But you have to admit the Braves, Phillies and Mets have the potential to all finish with 100 wins or more. It’s so tough to judge who will be at the top.
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Thanks to Baseball Reference and Fangraphs for the charts and statistics!
Technically Analytics 