Atlanta Braves State – All-Star Break

THE Atlanta Braves The Red Sox have officially arrived at the 2024 All-Star break, a sign of hope for the team and fans alike. The team’s recent win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday should fill fans with optimism heading into the break, despite the team’s inconsistent offense.

With Marcel Ozuna After playing in the Major League Baseball home run contest on Monday and three of his teammates in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, there are plenty of accomplishments to note in the team’s first half of the season. So it’s a good time to look at the good and bad of 2024.

The Very Good:

The Braves’ pitchers enter the break as the league’s best unit, from starters to relievers. Their 3.40 ERA leads the major leagues. Considering the team has three All-Star pitchers and the rise of Spencer Schwellenbach, The team’s rotation is in a very good position. With Ian Anderson rehabbing at the minor league level, the front-line pitchers have been and should continue to be stellar.

In addition, the team bullpen The team led the National League with a 2.92 ERA and 99 earned runs allowed. Still, adding a pitcher at the deadline should be on management’s mind. There’s a long stretch of baseball left and the team should make sure its starters get as much rest as possible, if not more.

Good:

The team’s pitchers were among the best in the league, and their defense has been honorable. Although the team is missing Michael Harris II as its top outfielder, Jarred Kelenic has been solid along with the other players who have graced the outfield.

Perhaps the most notable player on defense is third baseman Austin Riley. While he is known for being a fantastic hitter, he has also been stellar with his arm and glove this season, displaying a complete range and totality at the hot corner. Both catchers behind the plate have been excellent in framing pitches and minimize thefts throughout the season.

The ugly one:

The most disappointing and surprising aspect of the Braves’ 2024 season has undoubtedly been the team’s offensive struggles over the first half of the season. The Braves are 19th in the major leagues in runs scored.

It’s understandable that the offense is different without Ronald Acuña Jr. However, the usual suspects, who the team is used to providing every day with consistent offensive production, just aren’t the same as they were in the past. For example, look at first baseman Matt Olson.

Over the last 30 days, Olson has been cold with his bat, as he currently owns a .192 batting average as a backup. More concerning is that he only has a .261 batting average and a .327 ERA over that span. Compare his numbers from the first half of the season to last year, and it’s safe to say that his production hasn’t been the same again this season. At this time last year, he was hitting .325/.418/.675 in the aforementioned categories, respectively.

He’s not alone in that, as nearly every Braves this year has struggled at the plate at some point, or even had worse production.

So the fact that the team is just eight and a half games behind the Philadelphia Phillies and still considered the wild-card leader in the National League while its offense isn’t firing on all cylinders is a sign of quality in the team’s second half of the season. Plus, with the team out of the division for the first time in years, general manager Alex Anthopoulos is already losing his mind. more active at the trade deadline to help fix the team’s offensive woes.

Overall, star third baseman Austin Riley believes in the team and explains why Atlanta fans should too.

“There’s a lot of really good players on this club, guys that have been successful year after year. You’d like to think that at some point, it’s going to click. You just have to keep trying your best and eventually it’s going to work out. I’ve seen a lot of hard-hit balls get caught this year and things that haven’t gone your way. You can sit on that all you want, but at the end of the day, it’s part of the game and you have to keep fighting. I think this club does that and will continue to do that.” Riley told the Rome News Tribune

As the former two-time All-Star said, there’s still a lot of baseball left to play. With some players returning from injury and some potential new faces, the Braves’ “best hitter” has yet to be seen in 2024.