This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat publication. To learn the complete publication, click on right here. And subscribe to get it often in your inbox.
When the Braves’ 2023 season concluded, the thought was that we’d by no means see one other season like that. One of many best offenses the sport has ever seen spent six months setting information within the common season, then it fell asleep for a couple of days in October.
We are able to additionally assume we’ll by no means see something just like the Braves’ 2024 season. Seeing 5 of your 9 Opening Day place gamers and your Opening Day beginning pitcher all miss no less than two months due to accidents is simply absurd.
But, the Braves nonetheless managed to win 89 video games and earn a postseason spot for the seventh straight season. As soon as this workforce welcomes Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider and Austin Riley again into the combination subsequent 12 months, it may as soon as once more take a “World Sequence or bust” method and hope the regulation of averages applies to accidents.
1. Will they profit from the teaching modifications?
An agent despatched a textual content late on Thursday afternoon saying, “You stunned by the strikes?” He, in fact, was speaking about hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes and catching coach Sal Fasano not being retained by the Braves for the 2025 season. Actually the large shock got here final week, when president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos stated teaching modifications would solely be made if any individual retired or resigned.
You possibly can’t undergo a season like this previous one and never anticipate change. Seitzer couldn’t forestall the accidents that wrecked the identical lineup that produced historic numbers in 2023, however there comes time for modifications within the teaching world. And after using Seitzer as their hitting coach for 10 seasons, the Braves most likely may gain advantage from a brand new voice.
Nonetheless, if the Braves’ offense is immediately deadly once more subsequent 12 months, it received’t be as a result of Seitzer is gone. It is going to be as a result of Acuña, Riley and an unrestricted Ozzie Albies are again.
2. What if Max Fried and Charlie Morton each exit?
The idea is Fried will signal elsewhere as a free agent and Morton will retire. If each of those concepts show to be true, the Braves will as soon as once more be pleased about Spencer Schwellenbach’s quick success and Chris Sale’s well being. After I reported final week that Sale threw a bullpen session and would have been on the NL Division Sequence roster, I used to be attempting to quiet the issues of the skeptics — myself included — who had been beginning to assume his lingering again challenge may need been extra than simply spasms.
Sale, Reynaldo López and Schwellenbach can entrance the rotation till Strider is able to return at any level throughout the season’s first couple months. Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder and AJ Smith-Shawver present some inner choices. However don’t be stunned if Anthopoulos makes an attempt so as to add one other veteran starter by way of a short-term deal that might are available in a commerce or in free company.
3. Will Sean Murphy rebound?
Murphy exited the 2023 season nonetheless considered one of many sport’s high catchers. Amongst all certified catchers from 2020-23, he ranked second in fWAR (15.0) and fifth with 118 Weighted Runs Created Plus. So it may be slightly too early to surrender on him after he ranked thirtieth in fWAR (0.8) and thirty third with a 78 wRC+ amongst all catchers who compiled no less than 250 plate appearances this 12 months.
Murphy missed two months after straining his left indirect whereas taking a swing on Opening Day. Why wasn’t he ever in a position to get going once more after lacking two months? Michael Harris II wasn’t precisely bucking the norm when he missed two months and completed the 12 months sturdy.
Murphy’s swing is extra violent than the typical swing. Getting an opportunity to clear his head and erase any lingering issues about aggravating the indirect may be simply what he must bounce again subsequent 12 months. The plan was for him to be behind the plate for about 75 p.c of the video games this 12 months. The identical plan could possibly be put in place subsequent 12 months.
4. What ought to be anticipated from Harris?
Lower than 20 minutes after this season ended, Braves supervisor Brian Snitker stated he was trying ahead to seeing what Harris does when given an opportunity to play almost 160 video games in a season. The 2022 NL Rookie of the 12 months has spent prolonged time on the injured record over the previous two seasons. Then he returned from a hamstring pressure in mid-August and produced a .923 OPS whereas making quite a few spotlight catches in September. This can be a 23-year-old outfielder with infinite potential, and the baseball world would additionally profit from the possibility to see him within the lineup regularly for a few years to return.
5. What’s Snitker’s plan?
Snitker might be 69 years outdated subsequent 12 months, the identical age Bobby Cox was throughout his remaining season because the Braves’ supervisor. Time will inform how for much longer Snitker needs to handle, however he got here away from one of the difficult seasons any supervisor might face trying ahead to subsequent 12 months.
“I am exhausted,” Snitker stated after his workforce was eradicated. “However, actually, I want we might fast-forward and be there tomorrow. I am critical, too. I can not wait to get there with our guys and do that once more.”
