The Atlanta Braves begin their quest for the World Series on Tuesday afternoon at Truist Park. Is this a perfect team? Of course not. We know of their frequent struggles to score runs, their lack of healthy starting pitchers for a large portion of the season, and, at times, the heavy usage on the bullpen.
But as we await first pitch of the National League Wild Card Round against the Phillies, the Braves do have some key components of a World Series contender. Here’s why the Braves could go all the way
in a loaded National League bracket.
Sale, Mahle and pray for a rally
While the Braves rotation was a carousel throughout the season — and they recently lost Martin Perez and Bryce Elder to injuries late in the year after being without Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep for most, if not all of the campaign — they do have two starters who should give them a strong chance to win every time they take the mound in a short series.
Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle in a best of three, best of five or best of seven? Sign me up. The duo was as good as any one-two punch in the league following the acquisition of the latter at the trade deadline.
Sale, who is well rested heading into game one, will get Cy Young votes. And Mahle, who went under the radar at the deadline as more than a dozen starters swapped teams, was stellar down the stretch with Atlanta to the tune of a 1.99 ERA and 3.32 FIP across nine starts. It goes even beyond the deadline date for Mahle; since returning from an injury on June 24, Mahle ranks 19th in the majors in WAR among starting pitchers. And Sale ranked 2nd in that time, only behind Tarik Skubal.
The Braves may not have great answers for game three (or even game four) of a series — more on the stellar bullpen in a moment — but Sale and Mahle should give them as good a chance as any in October.
Chicks dig the long ball
The great Sarah Langs on X routinely points out the success of offenses who out-homer their opponent in the playoffs. In last year’s postseason, teams to out-homer opponents were an astounding 23-8.
While the Braves may have glaring issues on offense — they ranked 20th in MLB with a team wRC+ of 97 this past season with even worse marks over the last month — they were among the league leaders in home runs with 204, which is 4th most among the playoff teams (HOU, NYY, CHC).
They are going to need the likes of Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr., Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II to hit the ball over the fence, especially against the premiere pitching they will see against Philadelphia, and should they advance to the NLDS, the Dodgers. And if some of their accomplished-but-slumping veterans like Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies can park a few into the bullpen, it would represent a massive boost for this lineup.
A stable of bullpen arms
Baseball changes in October. Starters may only go through a lineup once, if not twice. Only the true elites — looking at you, Chris Sale — ever see a lineup a third time through.
The Braves have as good and as deep of a bullpen as anyone in the postseason, especially if Robert Suarez returns to form following a three-month absence. Raisel Iglesias has been rock-solid in the ninth inning. Didier Fuentes feels like a player ready to introduce himself on a national stage, especially with his ability to cover multiple innings with his wicked fastball. Dylan Lee, despite his recent struggles, is as good as any lefty reliever in the game. Guys like Dylan Dodd, Victor Mederos and Ray Kerr could be real assets in the middle innings. They’ve got guys like Brent Suter and AJ Smith-Shawver who could cover multiple innings, if needed, to help bridge the gap.
The Braves should be able to mix and match their way through opposing lineups and seldom let a hitter see a pitcher multiple times. That tends to be a winning formula in October.
