This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat e-newsletter. To learn the total e-newsletter, click on right here. And subscribe to get it frequently in your inbox.
ATLANTA — With the arrival of the New Yr, we’re just a bit greater than a month from the beginning of Spring Coaching. This newest e-newsletter provides you with one other probability to debate what we’d see from the Braves through the the rest of the offseason and into the common season.
What free agent makes probably the most sense to signal?Veteran starter Nathan Eovaldi was a possible goal earlier than he signed a three-year, $75 million cope with the Rangers. Outfielder Max Kepler appeared like a superb match earlier than he agreed to a one-year, $10 million cope with the Phillies. The Braves have understandably checked out different choices, however they could finally have to return again to the 41-year-old Charlie Morton, who has made it clear he’s open to pitching at the least yet another season. Morton has been a key piece of Atlanta’s rotation every of the previous 4 seasons, and he has aided the event of younger starters like Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach. He may now not be a frontline starter, however with a one-year deal price roughly $10 million, he may present the Braves some wanted insurance coverage of their rotation. He has made 30-plus begins every of the previous six 162-game seasons.
Who is that this 12 months’s almost certainly breakout participant?Jarred Kelenic has been a breakout candidate every of the previous few years. Will this be the 12 months he lastly lives as much as the potential envisioned when he ranked as MLB’s No. 4 prospect as just lately as 2021? The 25-year-old outfielder hit 15 homers and loved a few good stretches final 12 months, however he ended the season with a .679 OPS and was relegated to a bench function by the tip of August. Although he debuted in ’21, the gifted athlete remains to be younger. If he lastly finds some consistency this 12 months, Kelenic may present why the Braves have been keen to spend roughly $17 million to safe 5 years of potential management final 12 months.
Who’s a prospect to look at this 12 months?Practically two years faraway from Tommy John surgical procedure, Blake Burkhalter may have an opportunity to point out why his former Auburn pitching coach and former Braves pitcher Tim Hudson believed the hurler was near being a giant league-ready reliever when he was drafted No. 76 general in 2022. The proper-hander, Atlanta’s No. 19 prospect, posted a 2.14 ERA over his first 9 begins for Excessive-A Rome this 12 months after which appeared to fatigue over his ultimate 5 begins. Drue Hackenberg (No. 9), Jhancarlos Lara (No. 14) and Luis De Avila (No. 15) are different pitching prospects to control, particularly if the Braves don’t discover exterior choices to fill bullpen voids. However for now, Burkhalter is the one member of this group who hasn’t produced a regarding stroll fee.
What’s a prediction for 2025?Matt Olson hit a franchise-record 54 residence runs in 2023 after which belted simply 29 whereas tallying an analogous variety of at-bats in ’24. A fast have a look at his Baseball Savant web page reveals he didn’t deal with fastballs in addition to within the earlier two seasons. His barrel fee was additionally noticeably decrease and his chase fee was up, however he slashed .293/.390/.576 whereas hitting 14 homers and developing a .966 OPS over his ultimate 56 video games. His 14.6 at-bats per residence run throughout this span didn’t match the 11.3 mark he produced the earlier season. However the sturdy end created purpose to optimistically predict one other large energy assault in 2025.
What do the Braves must do earlier than Spring Coaching?The first goal is to find out the place to emphasise bettering the roster. The outfield, rotation and bullpen may gain advantage from additions. Is it greatest so as to add one other bat whereas Ronald Acuña Jr. misses the season’s first two months? Or wouldn’t it be higher to deal with including a starter to a rotation that can be with out Strider for the season’s first month? Even when Strider returns from elbow surgical procedure, how lengthy will it take him to regain his type? Can Chris Sale, Reynaldo López and Schwellenbach all do what they did final season? How do you exchange the precious innings the injured Joe Jiménez and free agent A.J. Minter contributed in 2024? And the first query is, how will the Braves reply all of those questions?
