Spoiler alert: The Atlanta Braves blogger believes that the Atlanta Braves are going to be good this season.
(Mhm. Just like last year!)
Needless to say, 2024 did not go according to plan for the Atlanta Braves. If it had, then we may have been coming into this season with a bunch of gold-tinged merchandise after they had gotten done trampling the rest of Major League Baseball on their way to another World Series title. Instead, the Braves are entering 2025 looking to set the record straight after they limped into the Postseason with 89 wins and suffered a very early exit at the hands of the Padres.
Now that they have a (mostly) clean bill of health heading into this season and two of the game’s best players set to eventually return, expectations are once again high for the Braves as they begin to ramp up for this upcoming campaign.
Where were they in 2024?
Just in case y’all forgot, let’s quickly run down what happened last season:
- Braves silence Philadelphia on Opening Day but lose Sean Murphy for a few weeks to an oblique injury. Obliques are tricky and Sean Murphy’s oblique was no exception.
- Spencer Strider limps through his second start and ends up missing the rest of 2024 due to damage to his UCL.
- Braves still go 19-9 in March/April, which is the stretch that probably ultimately saved their season.
- Chris Sale quickly emerges as the ace of the rotation in Strider’s absence and ends up dominating all year (except for the end) in a fantastic comeback season
- Ronald Acuña Jr. struggles a bit out of the gate and doesn’t get a chance to eventually get on track as he tears his other ACL on May 26, costing him the rest of the season
- Thanks to various injuries and underperformance, the Braves proceed to spin their wheels from May through July, going 39-40 and enter into the stretch run fighting for their Postseason lives
- The pitching staff carries the Braves with Marcell Ozuna stepping up to help carry the lineup through the summer. Matt Olson eventually heats up and Austin Riley is on track to do so as well but a wayward heater smacks him on the wrist in Anaheim and his season ends in mid-August.
- Various fill-ins like Ramón Laureano and Whit Merrifield step up their game and help the Braves fight for their spot in October.
- The season eventually comes down to a season-ending doubleheader against the Mets on the Monday after the season was scheduled to end. The Braves lose the first game in absurdly dramatic fashion but win the second to just barely make it to October.
- Chris Sale finally gets bitten by the injury bug and is unable to pitch in October. AJ Smith-Shawver gets thrust into an awful situation and the Braves eventually lose the Wild Card Series in two games.
The less we talk about it, the better! Woof!
What did they do in the offseason?
The Braves spent most of the offseason saying goodbye to guys rather than welcoming them into the fold. They were one of the first teams to make a trade once the season officially ended following the World Series, as they traded Jorge Soler to the Angels. Shortly after that, they declined the options for Travis d’Arnaud and Luke Jackson, fired hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and hired a replaement, Tim Hyers, not too long after that.
Then there was a bit of a lull as the Braves only made a few fringe acquisitions here and there without making any major splashes. That changed once January rolled around, which is when the Braves signed Jurickson Profar in a deal that made an incredible amount of sense for both parties.
However, there was another lull when it came to offseason action and it lasted until this week, which is when the Braves sprung into action by making a pair of signings for familiar faces — one of which is a very familiar face. Craig Kimbrel is back in town and is returning to the Braves after bouncing around with a few teams. Alex Verdugo signed a one-year deal where he’ll likely serve as backup depth for the Braves in their already-talented outfield. Both players will spend some time in Gwinnett to get ready before eventually being added to the big league squad.
Other than the Profar signing patching things up on the fringes with Kimbrel and Verdugo, the Braves appear to be confident that their internal options will make up for any departures that they had during the offseason — and they certainly had their fair share of exits from the fan favorite department.
What’s expected of them in 2025?
Despite the relatively quiet offseason and the woes that they experienced last season, the Braves are nonetheless heading into 2025 as a legitimate World Series contender. While the Dodgers are in a tier of their own (on paper), the Braves aren’t that far behind them as most of the projection models believe that 2024 was an aberration for this squad and that they’ll be right back at or near the top of baseball this season.
They’ll have to deal with two other World Series contenders in their own division in the form of the Phillies and the Mets but the Braves also appear to be well-equipped to battle those teams. If the Braves stay healthy, this is as good of a team as any in baseball.
The bullpen still figures to be pretty reliable, their rotation has the potential to be fantastic once again, guys like Matt Olson, Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies appear primed for bounce-back seasons and even if he’s starting the season injured once again, Sean Murphy should be able to live up to the expectations on the back of his baseball card. Jurickson Profar should fit like a glove in this lineup — whether he’s hitting leadoff to start the season or anywhere else he’s slotted going forward.
On top of the bounce-backs, the Braves will also be getting Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider back eventually. At the risk of sounding like Chip Caray, that’s like making a trade for an MVP candidate and a Cy Young candidate without actually making a trade. If this team can get fully healthy, they’re going to be extremely tough for any team across baseball to deal with. It wasn’t that long ago when a lot of these same players collectively put up one of the best offensive seasons in baseball history and the pitching staff just got done having a season where they were among the best in baseball. This team didn’t win 205 games over two seasons by accident.
How to watch the Braves in 2025
During a contentious legal battle between MLB and Diamond Sports Group, Bally Sports was re-named FanDuel Sports Network. That wasn’t the only change, as ways to watch and follow the Braves have expanded considerably when compared to last season. You no longer need a cable subscription to watch, as FDSN will be available to stream in-market via Prime Video (with an added subscription fee) or on the FDSN app (again, for a fee). The Braves are one of 26 teams that now offer such an option to fans, and it’s very good to see MLB finally meet fans where they’re at in the 21st century with this development.
Additionally, the team will play select Friday night games on Gray TV local affiliates for free over-the-air as well. As a result, it’s now easier than ever to watch the Braves and here’s hoping that as many fans as possible take advantage of this expansion of coverage. It should be a good season and it’s a prime (for lack of a better term) time to start watching as many games as possible.