Home of the B-Team

 

So how is the Braves' season going without Ronald Acuna, Michael Harris, Spencer Strider and Tyler Matzek? By and large, pretty alright.

It's very odd that the smallest moves that the Braves made during the offseason are the ones that have most positively impacted this team this year. Trading for Chris Sale to see if he had anything left. Getting Jarred Kelenic to shame the Mets further for trading him for Jay Bruce. Signing Reynaldo Lopez for a year to see what role he could play. Bringing Chavez and Duvall back the second they became available. All of these small moves have provided so much depth, and have given this Braves team the stars they needed in the moment that their biggest pieces became unavailable. 

Jarred Kelenic, even if he's not having the eye-popping year that Sale or Lopez are having, might be the epitome of this. The Braves brought him on because he wasn't hitting his potential in Seattle but he could still be a low-lineup piece in Atlanta. The Mariners needed him to be a star, and he wasn't. The Braves have enough stars, they just need a hitter. Kelenic, though, has gotten a lot done for the Braves this year, as he's hitting .273 with 26 RBIs and 9 homers. When I was last in the Bronx I saw him hit one out, he did very well that day all around. He's not the all-elite athlete Acuna is, but he plays nice defense and he's capable of some solid hitting. He's not THE guy, but he's an above-average hitter who's coming through when the Braves need that.

It's more evident in a year where many of their best hitters, including Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies, are just plain okay. Riley and Olson are hitting .240 or .250 and delivering only a fraction of the power they displayed last year. Albies is also way down from last year. If it weren't for Ozuna they'd be really screwed. The goal, therefore, is rather than overdoing it and being incredible in the regular season and falling short in October, is to build. They want to stop the Phillies after all, and the Phillies are the alpha right now. What they want to do is get the slip on them, and build momentum late as they start to run out of it, then flip the rug from under them, a lot like they did in 2021, and get everybody to turn on. I'm not saying I want it to happen, but it's a strategy they need to employ if they don't want to get walloped. 

The Braves have a lot of good things going for them at the moment, and despite being without some big players, are still a formidable enough force in the NL. Nobody's counting them out at the moment, and considering the Phillies are coming to town, it's a good time to show people the race isn't decided at all yet.

Coming Tonight (?): Seeing as a teammate has him beat at his 'go on a tear and then get hurt' schtick, he's decided to kick things into overdrive.