On paper, the Braves‘ offense should be carrying the pitching staff, but it’s actually been the other way around.
Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, A.J. Smith-Shawver, Grant Holmes, and even Bryce Elder have done their parts. Whether that’s pitching like a frontline or back-of-the-rotation arm, each has stepped up. The same mostly goes for the bullpen too.
The lineup, on the other hand, has been dreadful to watch. Alex Verdugo, Eli White, and Nick Allen have regressed, which was inevitable, but the Braves stars — Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, Ozzie Albies, and Michael Harris — haven’t been picking up the slack.
It’s a large enough sample size that we can assume this group will never replicate anything close to what we saw in 2023 when the Braves had arguably the best offense in baseball history, but there’s hope — Ronald Acuna Jr.
Of course, expectations must be tempered, right? When he first tore his ACL and returned, Acuna was a shell of himself, hitting .266 with just 15 homers and a .764 OPS, career lows across the board in every statistical category.
For comparison, Acuna had belted 24 homers in about half of a season with an OPS near 1.000 in 2021 before he tore his ACL. He was well on his way to his first MVP, but it had to wait. Following his first healthy offseason after his initial ACL injury, Acuna set the world on fire, recording the first-ever 40/70 campaign en route to a unanimous MVP.
It’s probably not fair to expect the Venezuelan superstar to return to the Braves and perform like an MVP, but guess what? Life isn’t fair. The simple fact is that if the Braves want to climb the top of the mountain, they’ll need Ronald Acuna Jr. closer to the 2023 version than the 2022 version.
Acuna did say that he learned a lot from his body from the first injury. In 2022, he returned to action less than 10 months after undergoing surgery, but it’ll be more like 12 months this time around.
“We’re gonna make sure when he’s back, he’s full go, and that he can be himself and play the game he plays,” Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said of Acuña during Spring Training. “He’s very competitive, he’s a tremendous base-stealer, and we’re not gonna have any restrictions on him at all.”
If Acuna comes back as the 2022 version of himself, the Braves run of seven straight postseason appearances is in serious jeopardy. If he does come back as La Bestia, it will undoubtedly be a catalyst for the rest of the offense, and Spencer Strider could take the pitching staff to a new level.
It’s not fair to put that kind of pressure on two players returning from injury, but both wouldn’t have it any other way, and to be frank, they’re the Braves two best players. This is on their shoulders at this point.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
