Despite a pretty quiet offseason, the Braves are looking good heading into Opening Day
I have to say even after the culling of Travis d’Arnaud and a few relievers from last season, the Braves seem poised to win 90-plus games this season. Their starting five appears to be 2024 Cy Young winner Chris Sale, 25-year-old Spencer Schwellenbach off a great rookie year, Reynaldo Lopez with a big return to starting pitching, AJ Smith-Shawver with an excellent Spring, and Grant Holmes poised to grab a ton of innings. And that’s before Spencer Strider returns, which won’t be a moment too soon for any hapless minor league hitter unfortunate enough to dig in against him.
The offense returns after somehow hitting 213 home runs with a super soggy baseball. They upgraded the outfield with Jurickson Profar and backups Alex Verdugo and Bryan De La Cruz. Austin Riley is healthy and sporting a padded batting glove, and Matt Olson is poised to bounce back. And that’s before Ronald Acuña comes back. And the shortstop position can’t get any worse. Right?
The Braves didn’t soak up all the free agent pitching out there and sure didn’t sign a three-quarter-billion dollar outfielder. But they have plenty to make a postseason run. So if I said Braves had a beautiful roster, are you willing to fight me?