With the season the Atlanta Braves have had, it’s almost hard to believe the team is receiving any serious recognition. Despite that, they still found themselves on CBS Sports’ superlative list, just not for the reasons they were striving for.
Friday, CBS Sports named the Braves the “most disappointing team” of the year, even describing the Braves’ performance as the “biggest shocker of all at the team level this season, in a bad way.”
The CBS Sports Staff admits that while other teams have been quite disappointing, and though the Braves started to play at a high level toward the end of the season, they still finished with a below-average year at best.
“The expectation was that the bats would get back to something closer to their 2023 levels, Spencer Strider would resume being an ace, and they’d enjoy better health than they did in 2024,” the staff said. “By and large, none of that happened, and they’ve secured their first losing season since 2017.”
Health, especially, has plagued the Braves over the last few seasons. Whether it’s superstar Ronald Acuña, Jr, forced to play at a diminished role due to ACL injury, Spencer Strider and Chris Sale forced absent from the rotation due to arm injuries or even Ozzie Albies ending off the season with a wrist injury, the Braves just haven’t been able to escape the injured list. The best they can do is hope for better luck next year.
Even in a year when expectations have been missed, they’ve managed to have some standout moments. Drake Baldwin will, at the very least, be a finalist for the National League Rookie of the Year award. They got to host the All-Star Game in Atlanta, with three players representing the team.
These high-level performances just weren’t enough to help get this team to the postseason for an eighth-straight time. They finish below .500 and a decent ways behind a playoff spot. Regardless of how the remaining games play out, it will be their worst finish since they lost 90 games in 2017.
Many Atlanta sports fans would be quick to echo CBS Sports’ analysis of the Braves. They were expected to compete for a division title and maybe go on another deep playoff run.
All they can do is evaluate what went right and what didn’t, so they can retool properly for the next season.
