Braves' Early Takeaways of 2023 MLB Season
The Atlanta Braves have won five straight NL East titles, and they currently sit atop the division standings once again as arguably the best team in the National League.
With a full offseason of rest and recovery, Ronald Acuña Jr. is back to looking like a bona fide NL MVP candidate following a less-than-spectacular return last year. The starting rotation has a breakout star in Bryce Elder, while the bullpen was exposed as a potential weakness before veteran closer Raisel Iglesias returned to action.
There is still a lot of season to be played, but with one month in the books, now is the perfect time to dig into some of the team's biggest early takeaways.
Off we go!
Bryce Elder Is a Groundball Machine
1 of 3
Bryce Elder made his MLB debut last season and showed some flashes over 54 innings of work, including a six-hit shutout of the Washington Nationals in his second-to-last start of the year.
The 23-year-old did not break camp on the Opening Day roster, losing the battle for two available rotation spots to Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd, but he was called up quickly after Max Fried suffered an injury on Opening Day.
Over seven starts, he's gone 3-0 with a 1.74 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 41.1 innings, and his ability to limit hard contact and induce groundballs makes it easy to believe he can continue to pitch at a high level.
His 58.3 percent groundball rate ranks fourth among qualified starters, behind only Alex Cobb (63.1), Framber Valdez (62.6) and Logan Webb (59.9), and he will be a key piece of the puzzle in 2023 as long as his sinker keeps working.
Raisel Iglesias Is Extremely Important
2 of 3
The Braves had the luxury of calling on both Kenley Jansen and Raisel Iglesias in the late innings over the final two months of the 2022 season, but with Jansen gone in free agency, Iglesias has become an extremely important player on the roster.
That became even more apparent when he missed the first 33 games of the season with shoulder inflammation, and in his absence the team was sorely lacking a reliable closer to slam the door.
Before Iglesias took his first save opportunity of the season on May 6, the Braves had gone just 9-for-17 on save chances, and A.J. Minter struggled mightily as the team's primary ninth-inning replacement.
It might be a stretch to call him the most important player on the roster, but it's clear Iglesias belongs in that conversation.
Ronald Acuña Jr. Is Back
3 of 3
Ronald Acuña Jr. missed the first 19 games of the 2022 season before finally returning from the torn ACL that sidelined him just before the All-Star break the prior year.
While he was back on the field, he never quite looked like the same dynamic player he was prior to the injury, hitting .266/.351/.413 for a 113 OPS+ in 533 plate appearances while tallying just 39 extra-base hits.
That inevitably raised some questions about what to expect from him going forward, but those concerns have quickly been erased.
The 25-year-old is hitting .347/.438/.576 for a 173 OPS+ with 19 extra-base hits, 15 steals and 33 runs scored in 36 games, and he won NL Player of the Month in April.
The dynamic power-speed threat is back to superstar-level production, and the Braves are simply a different team when he's firing on all cylinders.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference.
.png?w=256)
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
