The calendar has yet to even turn to May, and it’s already clearer than ever that the Braves roster is not championship caliber as currently constructed.

The return of Ronald Acuña Jr. will help, but if Atlanta wants to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy for the second time since 2021, Alex Anthopoulos will have to pull off some magic, much like he did at the 2021 trade deadline.

The Braves have a slew of needs, which MLB insider Jon Heyman recently pointed out in his latest piece for the New York Post.

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“There are multiple problems for a change: rotation, bullpen and shortstop,” Heyman wrote of the Braves.

Rotation

The Braves rotation depth was questionable coming into the season, and it’s gotten dire… quickly. Ian Anderson has already been traded and DFA’d by the Angeles, AJ Smith-Shawver doesn’t look quite ready, Reynaldo Lopez might be out for the season, and Spencer Strider is back on the IL after making just one start.

Strider is dealing with a minor hamstring injury, so he should be back within the next month, but the Braves really have to pray nobody else deals with a serious injury, or this could get ugly fast.

Bullpen

Unfortunately, the bullpen is not going to be picking up the rotation very often.

They currently are near the bottom of the league in every category, and everyone should have seen this coming.

The Braves lost A.J. Minter and Joe Jimenez, yet they did absolutely nothing to replace either of them.

Daysbel Hernandez has been splendid in a larger role, but after him, there aren’t many positive talking points surrounding this group.

Thankfully, finding relievers at the trade deadline is much easier (and less expensive) than acquiring starting arms. This group needs a lot of work.

Shortstop

Letting Dansby Swanson walk in free agency without any resistance a few offseasons ago is looking worse by the day.

He continues to play like one of the best shortstops in baseball, while the Braves haven’t made any attempt to find a long-term answer at the position.

Orlando Arcia is now a full-on tomato can that offers nothing at the plate or with his glove. It’s so bad, the Braves are settling for Nick Allen to be their everyday shortstop.

Unfortunately, not many teams will be looking to trade shortstops at the trade deadline. The Braves might just have to take their medicine at the position and re-evaluate things this offseason.

Photo: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire