In 2023, the Braves sent a league-high seven All-Stars to Seattle. It was arguably the best lineup we’ve ever seen, rivaling that of Murder’s Row. Unfortunately, injuries and regression resulted in Atlanta only sending four last season.
Of course, that mark is good for some teams, but not the Atlanta Braves. Everywhere you look on the roster features All-Stars that are capable of being the best player at their respective position. This year, it should be different, right?
David Schoenfield doesn’t think so. In the ESPN pundit’s way-too-early 2025 All-Star prediction, Schoenfiled only has four Braves being selected, with several notable stars missing.
Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna were chosen as backups, which is understandable to a certain extent. With Shohei Ohtani in the National League, every DH is essentially battling it out for the backup spot in the All-Star game. Olson, on the other hand, has the chance to show the 2023 campaign, where he mashed 54 home runs, wasn’t a one-off. However, the position is loaded with talent in the NL. Austin Riley was the only starter selected, but there was one surprise, a “sleeper” pick — Spencer Schwellenbach.
“Shwellenbach is my sleeper pick, even over teammate and Cy Young winner Chris Sale (an injury risk). Schwellenbach is a strike-throwing machine who had a 3.37 ERA as a rookie and excelled at getting batters to chase out of the zone. The stuff is there as well, including a fastball that averaged 95.9 mph.”
I actually couldn’t agree more with Schoenfield here. Schwellenbach has all the makings to be a star in this league, a real ace for the Braves staff. But that’s not what this is about. What about all of the other stars on this Atlanta roster?
Yes, I know Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna Jr. will miss some time, but the former isn’t going to miss more than a month, which is only a couple of starts. From the stuff to the intestinal fortitude, nobody should be surprised when Strider hits the ground running and doesn’t miss a beat.
But that’s not even the biggest snub, in my opinion. What about Chris Sale? Does the reigning Cy Young award winner fall off that much? Or Michael Harris II? The former Rookie of the Year has had All-Star production every season but has yet to earn the honor because it’s a first-half vote. Raisel Iglesias was also quietly one of the five best relievers in baseball last year; no mention of him?
Then, there are the guys like Reynaldo Lopez, who posted a sub-2.00 ERA last year, Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies, who were All-Stars in 2023, or even Jurickson Profar, who was an All-Star last year. Of course, not everyone is going to make it, but I would bet my hard-earned coin on the Braves sending more than four players to Atlanta’s All-Star festivities.
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David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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