Through all the trials and tribulations, the Atlanta Braves won over 90 games this season and are locked into the third seed in the National League.
They will face the Philadelphia Phillies starting Tuesday in the Wild Card series and will host their first home playoff game since 2023. It will be difficult to get through the National League with teams like the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers standing in their way. However, Atlanta certainly has the talent to make it far, but they will have to answer these questions to make it happen.
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Do The Braves Have Enough Starting Pitching?
As of now, the Braves have a clear top two in the starting rotation with Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle. Grant Holmes appears to be the third starter behind them, but depth gets murky beyond that. Martín Pérez—who has been a reliable starter for Atlanta this season—was placed on the IL on Sept. 24 with back inflammation. Moreover, Bryce Elder was placed on the IL for the first time in his career after undergoing knee surgery.
The thing is, the Braves have an excellent bullpen. Walt Weiss will more than likely have to lean on his bullpen throughout the postseason. The Wild Card series is only three games, so Atlanta can line up their starters. However, if the Braves advance to the NLDS, it remains to be seen how they handle starting pitching in a five-game series.
In the modern game, starting pitchers are pitching fewer innings in the postseason as managers look to utilize high-leverage bullpen arms for more innings. With that said, there’s still a question of how Atlanta navigates starters beyond Holmes. It would not be surprising to see Weiss deploy a bullpen game deep in the postseason. The Braves bullpen is strong enough to handle a chunk of the 27 outs needed to win throughout the postseason. They will more than likely be relied upon to get Atlanta through games.
Can The Braves Find Their Offense?
The Braves ranked top ten in MLB this year in the following offensive categories:
- Runs Scored
- Runs Batted In
- Home Runs
- Batting Average
- Slugging percentage
- Strikeout rate
Despite being among the best in baseball in those statistical categories, Atlanta ranked as a below-average offense. They finished the season with a 98 wRC+ (100 is league-average). Perhaps the biggest reason is that the Braves struggled to get on base. They ranked bottom five in all of MLB in walk rate and on-base percentage. If Atlanta can find a way to produce runs consistently, they’ll be in a good spot. As good as the bullpen and pitching overall is, the offense has to do its part and score runs.
An area where the Braves could also improve in the postseason is in stolen bases. They ranked 23rd in MLB in stolen bases this season. Atlanta does have speedsters capable of stealing bases. Guys such as Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies are more than capable threats on the base paths. Timely offense is the key for the Braves to support their pitching staff in this postseason. They have the talent to go toe-to-toe with anyone in baseball, but they have to put it together this postseason.
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