Is The Braves' Rotation Ready for This?

So...it's been established that the Braves are the best team in the NL East, and are probably heading to the playoffs. It's also been established that their lineup is pretty damn unstoppable, now aided by healthy, prominent turns by Ender Inciarte and [double takes] ADAM DUVALL? DUVALL'S HITTING??? OH GOD, I FEARED THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

anyway

After the release of Kevin Gausman (or...DFA-assisted trade, because if the hard deadline is a thing, then teams still want to do silly trades anyway because sure), the Braves rotation seems to have settled on the combination of Julio Teheran, Max Fried, Mike Soroka, Dallas Keuchel and Mike Foltynewicz. So how smart is this combo?

Well, the surest signs of success have to come from Teheran and Soroka, who've pitched like pros this year. Yes, it's worrying that Teheran's not quite as untouchable as he was in 2014 or 2016, but he's still a powerful ace who has 119 strikeouts and a 3.46 ERA so far. Soroka's 10-2 with a 2.45 ERA, so he's definitely an asset. And then you have Max Fried, who, despite a 12-4 record and an impressive start, has a 4.02 ERA and leads all active starters in earned runs. So there's some shakiness here, which shouldn't be a huge issue, but could be.

And then you have Dallas Keuchel, who's back to pitching like himself for better or worse. Good news is that he's got 42 strikeouts and a 3.86 ERA in 9 starts. Bad news is he's got a 3-4 record, and it may be the second year in a row where his tendency to give up runs may stop his otherwise-fine numbers from boosting his name. I do think Keuchel is capable of good September starts, but...he's a very streaky, Jekyll/Hyde kind of pitcher.

...and then you have Mike Foltynewicz, who clearly doesn't have it this year, with a 6.26 ERA and 45 earned runs in TWELVE STARTS. And yet he's been trusted with a rotation spot, solely because he'd been solid in 2017 and 2018, and because the Braves don't want to risk Bryse Wilson or Kyle Wright again. Don't be shocked if some DFA'd pitcher winds up in Atlanta over the next few weeks.

Good news is the bullpen's finally impressing me. Yes, people like Jerry Blevins, Anthony Swarzak, Sean Newcomb, Luke Jackson and Josh Tomlin were already tight, but now the additions of Shane Greene, Chris Martin and Mark Melancon (sadly only the latter has done well in Atlanta so far) make me feel a lot better about this team's depth.

I like the Braves' chances. They still have some work to do, but they could be a sleeper hit this October.

Coming Tonight: If there's one thing the AL needs more of, it's hard-hitting catchers that aren't, like, striking out 100 times. Yeah, the Twins have one of those.