The Atlanta Braves received some devastating news over the weekend as star right fielder Ronald Acuña tore his ACL in a baserunning mishap. The injury will sideline him for through the rest of the 2024 season and will raise several questions for the front office to address moving forward.
After losing a critical component of their lineup and the reigning NL MVP, most teams would lose any realistic shot of winning a World Series title.
Not the Braves, says John Fricke. Despite losing Acuña and a preseason favorite to win a Cy Young in Spencer Strider, he still feels very confident in the ability of this roster to win a title.
To his point, the Braves have been in this situation before.
"Let's not forget that all is not lost," he said. "Let's not forget that the last time that they lost Ronald Acuña for half a year, or in this case more, because it was the other knee that he blew out in 2021. And what happened? The Braves won a World Series."
A lot of that success has to do with the Braves' chief decision-maker in the front office.
"I think Alex Anthopoulos is the best sports executive in the world right now," Fricke said on Monday. "He's done his magic with this team time and time again... we're going to need a little bit more of that Alex Anthopoulos magic here to help out the Braves."
Back in 2021, the Braves acquired Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler, and Eddie Rosario as they surged towards a title. Perhaps they could try to recreate some of that magic, but the team is also set up in such a way that they may not need to.
The roster is set up for success with several weapons on offense, an elite first four pitchers in their rotation, and one of the best bullpens in the Majors. Anthopoulos will likely need to supplement the roster, but they're still primed for a run.
They may no longer be a favorite without Ronald Acuña, but could they still win a title? They absolutely could.