It is a little hard to say that a season has been full of ups and downs when you are sitting on a record of 21-12, and in contention for a seventh straight division title. Despite that though, this 2024 Atlanta Braves season has been a season of ups and downs. Some of the downs include the start of the seasons for Ronald Acuña Jr, Matt Olson and Austin Riley. While Austin Riley and Ronald Acuña Jr have looked better lately at the plate, the same can't be said about Matt Olson. Olson is still hitting under .200 (.198), and hasn't hit a homerun in over a month.
Honestly, I am not worried one bit about these guys coming around, especially Olson, who clubbed fifty-four homeruns last year, so let's move on to the ups. Despite losing Spencer Strider for the year, the pitching staff has been great for the most part. But I think that the most underrated "up" to this Braves' season has been defense. Jared Kelenic has been outstanding in left field, but great defensive plays don't show up in the box score. Outfield Assists do though. Kelenic has three, including assists versus the Dodgers on two consecutive nights. Orlando Arcia has also been a ray of light on defense, and is playing Gold Glove type defense at shortstop, and is rated in the top-three of shortstops in the entire league (Dansby Swanson IS NOT one of the other two). Austin Riley is also playing at a Gold Golve level, with only two errors on the season. Baseball is a fickle game sometimes, and when one part of a team is struggling, another part has to pick it up. Andy Bunker and Randy McMichael talk about the pleasant surprise that has been the Braves' defense in 2024.