As Spring Training continues in North Port, Florida for the Atlanta Braves they find themselves with the fifth best odds (+1000) to win the World Series this year. The reason for that is this is a Braves team with not a lot of holes or weaknesses.
However, every team has weaknesses or at least a weakness, and Thursday night on The Jon Chuckery Show, Jon told you what he thinks the Braves' biggest weaknesses are heading into the 2023 campaign.
Defense? No, even after the Braves lost Gold Glove shortstop Dansby Swanson to free agency this offseason the Braves having a healthy Ronald Acuña Jr., along with reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II, and after trading for arguably the best defensive catcher in the league, Sean Murphy, the Atlanta Braves defense is still top-tier. Oh yeah, Max Fried is a Gold Glove pitcher as well, Ozzie Albies is a very good second baseman, and they also have a Gold Glove at first base in Matt Olson who should be better this season as well.
Alright, if it’s not defense is it the depth of the Braves lineup? No, even though the Braves have lost Freddie Freeman and Swanson in back-to-back seasons, Atlanta still has plenty of power and speed in its batting order with Acuña Jr., Harris, Austin Riley, Olson, Ozzie Albies, etc.
OK, well how about starting pitching? No, even though Charlie Morton is older he still led the Braves in strikeouts last season. Max Fried is arguably the best left-handed pitcher in baseball. Kyle Wright lead the MLB in wins last season. Spencer Strider was the Rookie of the Year runner up only behind his teammate. And former All-Star Mike Soroka and Ian Anderson, who played an essential role in the Braves winning the World Series in 2021, are battling for the fifth spot in the rotation.
Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself, we get it the Braves are good. What's their weakness? Well, Chuckery points out two areas of concern and the first one is the bench depth.
The Braves acquired one of the best catchers this offseason when they traded for Murphy. But in that deal they lost their young stud catcher, William Contreras. The Braves also parted ways with Adam Duvall and Robbie Grossman this offseason, so the bench could be a little thin which could be an issue for the Braves if they get bit by the injury bug this season.
However, Braves insider Grant McAuley joined The Jon Chuckery Show later on and told Chuckery that he believes the bench is “at least as good as it was a year ago.” Now, what is the biggest weakness for the 2023 Atlanta Braves?
According to Chuckery he believes it’s the NL East.
“While I understand that we won that division five years in a row, you know the Mets have certainly gotten better, the Phillies have certainly gotten better,” Chuckery said. “On paper you have to say that the Mets and Phillies both got better, and obviously the Phillies were in the World Series last year.”
Jon doesn’t have any other fears other than the division when it comes to the Braves and also believes the Braves are still the division favorites, but knows the Braves will have to go through the ringer if they want to win six division titles in a row in what will be a tough NL East in 2023.
