The Atlanta Braves Field A Nearly Flawless Major League Baseball Team

It is difficult, if not impossible, for this old scout to find flaws in the 2023 edition of the Atlanta Braves.

The 2022 Braves were outstanding, finishing the regular season with a 101-61 record, and capturing first place in a difficult National League East Division.

The Braves lost the NL Division Series to the Philadelphia Phillies last year, 3-1, but they are determined to put that behind them moving forward.

This year’s team is even better. The Braves can hit. The Braves can pitch. And the Braves can play defense.

And the Braves win.

The Braves record is 72-40, the best in baseball. They are 10.5 games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East.

Even though they have hit a bit of a rough patch lately, they are still the team to beat.

All the ingredients are in place for Braves fans to see a lengthy postseason with baseball at its finest at Truist Park in Atlanta.

Braves Offense:

Prior to games August 10, the Braves lead all of Major League Baseball with 215 home runs.

The Braves have the best team batting average in the game, at .272.

And of course, a team can’t win games without scoring runs. The Braves have scored 639 runs, the third most in the game.

In a time when Los Angeles Angels Superstar, Shohei Ohtani is having one of the great seasons in MLB history, the Braves Ronald Acuna, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, and their teammates in the Braves lineups are having their way with opposing pitchers.

Braves hitters are a wrecking crew. They are a collection of fence-busting, impact sluggers who make hitting look easy.

Acuna has hit 26 homers, driven in 69 runs, and scored 101 runs. And for good measure, he has stolen 53 bases…already. When he reaches first base, it is a foregone conclusion he will be at second base in the blink of an eye.

Olson leads the Braves in homers, with 39.

Braves fans have not forgotten first baseman Freddie Freeman, who left for the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent. But they have found plenty of love for Olson, Freeman’s replacement.

How about a second baseman with power? That would be Ozzie Albies. He has already hit 26 homers, and driven in 81 runs.

Outfielder Michael Harris, who started the season in a slump, has rebounded nicely, thank you. He is hitting 292.

And catcher Sean Murphy has certainly contributed to the offensive onslaught. He is hitting .274.

The Braves have nine players with more than 10 home runs!

The Braves offense is the sum of some outstanding, incredibly consistent parts.

Braves Pitching:

The Braves had to overcome some storm clouds when pitchers Max Fried, Kyle Wright, and Kolby Allard all landed on the Injured List with arm or shoulder related injuries.

Fried, probably the ace of the staff, has returned. Wright (strained shoulder) and Allard (shoulder nerve inflammation) remain disabled.

But, even without those critical pitching components, the Braves have sent All Star Spencer Strider, the ageless Charlie Morton, and young Bryce Elder to the mound as the nucleus of a pitching staff that has thrown to a collective 3.92 ERA among the starters and relievers. That is good for 9th place among all MLB pitching staffs.

The opposition is hitting .243 against Braves pitchers, which hovers below the current league average of .248.

Lately however, Braves starters have hit some pot holes. But they’re still darn good.

Right-hander Strider leads Braves starters with a 12-4 record.

The Braves rotation at this point includes Strider, lefty Max Fried, and righties Bryce Elder, Charlie Morton, and Yonny Chirinos.

Manager Brian Snitker:

Much of the Braves success can be attributed to the guiding hand and outstanding demeanor of manager Brian Snitker.

Snitker, 68, has been in the Braves organization as a player, coach, and now the team’s manager since 1977.

Snitker became the Braves manager in 2016, when he replaced Fredi Gonzalez. To this scout, he has been an ideal fit for the club. He is appropriately aggressive, very knowledgable, and highly respected by a diverse, and very talented roster of players. He is signed through the 2024 season.

Heading to this season, the Braves had five consecutive seasons of first place finishes in the NL East. Snitker’s team won the World Series in 2021.

The Future:

The Braves, under the brilliant baseball operations management of Alex Anthopoulos, have an estimated 2023 payroll of $204 million.

Remarkably, every major player is under contract, or under a contract option for next season. Most, including Ronald Acuna, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris II, Sean Murphy, Spencer Strider, and Raisel Iglesias, are signed for multiple seasons.

Not many teams can boast that roster stability.

It will be tough for any team to have sustained, multiple-game success against this year’s edition of the Atlanta Braves.

If the Braves pitcher is having a rough start, the offense can kick in and score runs in bunches.

If the hitters are not having success early in a game, the pitchers can keep the team afloat until eventually one or two of the booming bats erupt to turn the game around.

Lengthly losing streaks likely won’t occur. Not when the team has Ronald Acuna, Matt Olson, and friends holding bats in their hands at home plate.

Not when Veterans Max Fried, Charlie Morton, Spencer Strider, and their rotation colleagues take the mound every fifth game.

To this scout, the Atlanta Braves have a nearly flawless baseball team.

To this scout, the Atlanta Braves will be very difficult to beat going down the stretch and into the postseason.