Braves April Report Card
The Braves season was supposed to start akin to Ronnie Dunn singing the chorus of “Neon Moon” a cappella. Instead, the 2022 season started more to the tune of Fergie singing the National Anthem for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game.
But, find solace in the fact that the Braves haven’t been above .500 on May 1st since 2014…and I don’t think any of us need reminding of last season’s supposed trajectory vs where it ended up.
Acuña just returned from a torn ACL, earlier than expected. These first few weeks are essentially a quasi-Spring Training for him.
Eddie Rosario played every minute of baseball in 2022 with an actual hole in his retina. A seemingly impossible handicap to overcome when facing the pitchers of today’s MLB. Hitting a baseball with two functioning eyes is hard enough.
Travis Demeritte has been an absolute revelation in the outfield as well as at the plate. Hopefully he keeps it up; It’s unrealistic to expect that from him, but crazier things have happened.
Adam Duvall has always been a streaky hitter. He’s decided to start the year in a slump this year evidently. Duvall has enough data on record however, to where you shouldn’t worry about him. He’s a veteran in this league, he’s shown he can make adjustments. He was the National League’s RBI champion last season, he’ll be fine.
Dansby has been a black hole in our lineup until he stepped foot in the state of Texas. Hopefully New York has reciprocity with the Lonestar State, unlike their concealed carry stance.
Austin Riley is on a tear. He’s been the one constant for Atlanta, even moreso since becoming a father. He’s a franchise cornerstone, expect this start to be the norm for the Mississippi native.
Travis d’Arnaud has started like he has every season, not reaching extremus on either end of the spectrum. He’s a rock back there for the pitching staff, and he’s even throwing would-be base-stealers out this season!
Matt Olson has cooled off here lately, but we can't expect him to maintain a Tony Gwynn Sr. pace all year.
Marcell Ozuna is proving once again that long-tossing isn’t a part of his offseason training program. But hey, he isn’t the one deciding he should be playing left field. He’s a Designated Hitter. You know it, I know it, he knows it. He’ll DH more the healthier Acuña gets.
Our bullpen has been pretty good, outside of a few stinkers here & there from Collin McHugh, the Sean Newcomb Experience, & some outings from guys that no longer pitch for the big league team in this organization. Kenley is 6-for-6 in save opportunities (as of Sunday night, when I’m writing this). Will Smith has settled nicely into his 8th inning role. Matzek & Minter are performing like we all expected them to.
The rotation…has been shaky. Kyle Wright is pitching out of his mind right now. Nothing but admiration for how he’s pitching this year after all his struggles as a Brave up to this point. Max Fried is the Ace & is pitching like it. Charlie has had a tough time with the new baseballs, that’s the only reason I can think of to explain his start. Ian has been hit or miss, but he’ll even out by the time we NEED him. Kyle Muller tossed a stinker Sunday & was optioned (no surprise). Bryce Elder was a victim of numbers. Even when he walked the world, he gave the Braves the opportunity to win.
With the roster being cut back down to 26 players I expect the Braves to use a 5-man rotation from here on out. I also expect Spencer Strider to step into that 5 hole. He’s stretched out, he’s pitched well, & he’s still here. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Rick Kranitz has also moved into second place on my list of favorite pitching coaches all-time, right behind Leo Mazzone.
Elsewhere in the NL East, the Mets are off to a hot start. They’re playing like the team the national baseball media predicted them to be. But as we all know, the Mets are the Mets. Can Buck Showalter keep the Titanic away from the iceberg?