By: Joe Browne

Record: 101-61

The Braves have been nothing but dominant for over half a decade. Six straight division titles in the National League East. Last year, they broke the single season  record for most homeruns as a team, had the NL MVP and won 104 games. Despite all of this, the Braves were sent packing by the Phillies for the second straight year in the NLDS. It was a more quiet offseason in Atlanta. The only two moves of note are the acquisition of veteran Chris Sale and youngster Jarred Kelenic. Sale was bitten by the injury bug time and time again after his 2018 championship run with Boston. However he did make 20 starts in 2023 after just a combined 11 the previous 3 years. Sale slots into this rotation alongside 2 all-stars in Spencer Strider and Max Fried. Strider is the ace of this staff and has a very legitimate chance to take home NL Cy Young honors in 2024. Fried is set to hit the open market after the season and has a lot to prove following an injury bitten 2023. The lineup will surely provide what has become a standard in Atlanta. All-stars all around the diamond who will produce a lot of runs. The core group of Acuña, Albies, Olson, Riley, Harris and Murphy is one of the best in the game. The rest of the regulars accompany this group well with Ozuna, Arcia, Kelenic and d’Arnaud. The aforementioned Kelenic is the only newcomer here following a failure to succeed in Seattle. Kelenic was originally sent to Seattle in the blockbuster that sent the Mets Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz. He received a boatload of hype as a prospect but could never fully put it together in Seattle. No doubt, the talent is there for Kelenic just a matter if Alex Anthopoulus and his regime can get a performance out of it. Lastly, the bullpen is very strong headlined by closer Rasiel Iglesias and newcomers in Reynaldo Lopez and Aaron Bummer. All the pieces are there for this team to win a World Series in 2024. Following two straight NLDS losses to a divisional rival, there may be some doubt if this team can get back to another championship. I believe Brain Stinker and co. most certainly can bring the franchises fifth championship to the A. in 2024.

MVP: Ronald Acuna Jr.

Following his 2023 campaign it is tough to see anybody else but Ronald be the MVP of this squad. A whopping 43 homers and 73 steals just a season ago is just about all you need to know about what to expect from Acuña. While it will certainly be a tough task to repeat that in 2024, he is still the best player on this team. However, Austin Riley, Matt Olson and Spencer Strider do give him a run for his money. He has been at the forefront of this franchise’s dominance over the past six seasons and will continue to be there in year seven. 

Cy Young: Spencer Strider

Another easy pick here in Strider coming off a league leading 281 strikeout season in 2023. As I previously mentioned Strider has a very real chance to not only be the best pitcher on his own team, but also in their entire National League in 2024. His deadly fastball and nasty slider may welcome a new friend this season. In the form of a newly developed curveball that he has shown off early in Braves camp. If Strider can develop a legitimately good third pitch there is no telling what his numbers could look like come seasons end. He is a bonafide ace on a serious World Series threat in 2024. 

Breakout: Pierce Johnson

Johnson is a much lesser known name compared to the likes of Acuña and Strider but he was phenomenal in Atlanta last year. Johnson has a legit two pitch mix with his primary curveball and secondary fastball. What really jumps out here is the exceptional strikeout rate at 32.5% and whiff rate at 33.1%. Once Johnson got out of the pitching depth trap that is Coors Field, he was exceptional with the Braves. In 23.2 innings with the Braves Johnson gave up just two earned runs and pitched to a whopping 591 ERA+. If Johnson pitches like I project he will, he would be a great setup option to Raisel Iglesias for Brain Snitker in 2024. 

ROTY: AJ Smith-Shawver

The Braves do just about everything as an organization perfectly except for one thing, their farm system is subpar. Fangraphs has the Braves ranked as the 25th best farm system in all of baseball. The number one guy in this system is 21 year old AJ Smith-Shawver. He started five games for the Braves last year and pitched to a 4.26 ERA. Smith-Shawver is not projected to start the season in the rotation but an injury or a bullpen opportunity will give him a path to innings. Even if the Braves decide to leave him off the opening day roster we will certainly see Smith-Shawver in the bigs this season. He is a key piece of this organization’s future especially with a rotation containing two older veterans in Morton and Sale and with Fried’s free agency impending at season’s end. 

Sources:

Baseball Reference

Baseball Savant

Fangraphs

Spotrac