Disclaimer - I understand that it’s a long season, so take everything you read from here on out with a grain of salt.
The World Series champion Atlanta Braves are 3-5 and coming off a lopsided 12-1 loss to the Padres as they begin their west coast road trip. Is the sky falling and is all hope lost? No, but with shaky performances from their starting pitchers, a slow start at the plate and the third-most errors in Major League Baseball, it’s okay to admit that there are questions to be asked in the early days of the 2022 season.
The one that I have for you is; which area—pitching, hitting or defense—do you think needs to be fixed the fastest?
On the mound, there have been a few bright spots with Kyle Wright, Bryce Elder and Spencer Strider showing that they can each contribute to the staff. However, Max Fried has been hit early in his two starts and is 0-2. Charlie Morton was impressive in his first start against the Reds but was roughed up by the Padres. Ian Anderson made it through just 2.2 innings before he was chased in his first start of the season and Huascar Ynoa didn’t fare much better.
As for the offense, Dansby Swanson leads the majors with 14 strikeouts and NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario is batting a whopping .043 to start the season. Additionally, Alex Dickerson—a primary DH option so far—is 1-13. Marcell Ozuna, Matt Olson and Austin Riley have found their form, but the rest of the team needs to follow suit.
Defensively, Rosario has accounted for 3 of the Braves' 6 errors—including two last night. While Ronald Acuña’s return is highly anticipated because of his bat, his absence is also notable in the field so far this season.
As I said, it’s early in a long season coming off a shortened spring training due to a lockout, so do I think this team is destined for failure? Absolutely not, but I do need to see some improvement before I can completely rule out the ‘World Series hangover’ thoughts that continue to enter my mind.
