The Braves have been hot recently. As I write this, they've won six straight, are finally above .500 and are in a better place than they've been all season. The last time they took off like this, they didn't stop til they won a World Series. Is it possible this year? Yeah, in the same way it's possible for Shaquille O'Neal to say no to an endorsement. It could happen, but don't count on it.
What's very clear right now is that the infield is still one of the best in the league even without Freddie Freeman. Getting a slightly smaller star in Matt Olson makes less of a drop-off in between members of the infield, as Olson, Albies, Swanson and Riley are all pretty much on the same page. Right now, Dansby Swanson is surprisingly playing the best out of all of them, with a WAR of 2.1. I think Swanson's development in Atlanta has been frustrating for some fans, as he's really only dabbled in the 2-3 zone in seasonal WARs, and while he's been alright, he hasn't been as good as expected of a former #1 pick. But so far this year, he's hitting .279 with 26 RBIs and 6 homers, and he seems to be on the way to a fuller, more impressive year. Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson are having decent years as well, though maybe not as showy.
Ronald Acuna Jr. is also pretty much back, which must be relieving. He's hitting .320 right now, with 15 RBIs and 5 homers in 27 games since coming back off the IL. While Acuna has become the centerpiece of this team, I don't think his activation is directly related to the rise in wins....though it can't hurt, I reckon.
Lots of fun surprises all around this team. William Contreras has become enough of a strong-hitting backup catcher that Travis d'Arnaud needs to be careful how far his average drops. Michael Harris has been a nice outfield fill-in, and he could be a foundational piece if the Braves eventually get rid of all these contracts. Kenley Jansen is having another uniformly nice season, with 15 saves already and a bit less of his usual woes. Wright and Fried are still a very strong rotation duo in search of a stronger lower half. Spencer Strider is strong enough as a reliever that I can see why they want to start him.
This isn't a perfect team, but they're hot right now, and doing a lot right at the moment. And the good news is that the Mets may be losing some major starting position players. The bad news is that as hot as the Braves are right now, the Phillies seem to be similarly streaking, and that may not be the cushion they were looking for.
Coming Tonight: All that time sitting on the IL really helped this guy become even better.
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